Think I missed the point, but how does having more players justify a borderline-punitive drop rate? Regardless of how many people are around you, it doesn’t change how you – as an individual player – would perceive a 1/20 chance versus a 1/100000 chance for a good reward.
You want rare loot to be rare. If you have 4 people playing a game then 1/20 is rare.
If you have 1,000,000 people playing a game, 1/20 is no longer rare.
This is primarily due to the difference in samples. With 4 loot rolls in total on a 1/20 chance item, it most likely won’t drop. With 1,000,000 loot rolls in total on a 1/20 chance item, you’re going to have approximately 50,000 items dropping.
For the individual person, however, all those 50 000 items dropping do not mean anything, if they don’t drop for them. The individual chance for drop is still 1/20, and that’s the only thing that counts.
I don’t care if in a mass lottery chances are big enough that every week someone usually wins the big one. That someone still wouldn’t be me. That’s where statistics and individual fun completely miss each other.
Actions, not words.
Remember, remember, 15th of November
You view the game as a single player and want the rare item to drop for you specificially. The devs look at the game as a population of nearly four million accounts, consider the percentage of those accounts logging in every week, and must consider how millions of loot rolls every hour will produce X rare items, Y exotic items (of which Z are precursors) and what percentage of those will make it to the TP.
If they tweaked drop rates so that everyone got twice as many chances to get a rare/exotic/precursor, then the rate at which everything accumulates doubles, and the rate at which they are sold on the TP more than doubles, because players are now getting rare drops more often that they don’t have as much use for, or see as more valuable when converted into gold instead of bound to a toon.
They generally do not discuss this with players because most of them are not capable of looking at the game as a whole without access to numbers that Anet execs do not want made public. JS is the only dev I know of who posts numbers in response to these threads, and that info is sparse and very specific, like the # of Dusks sold over a specific period of time.
You want rare loot to be rare. If you have 4 people playing a game then 1/20 is rare.
If you have 1,000,000 people playing a game, 1/20 is no longer rare.
This is primarily due to the difference in samples. With 4 loot rolls in total on a 1/20 chance item, it most likely won’t drop. With 1,000,000 loot rolls in total on a 1/20 chance item, you’re going to have approximately 50,000 items dropping.
When there are five players, a 1/100,000 chance per hour of an item dropping means you’ll probably never see one in the game. When there are a million players, the same chance means there are 10 per hour dropping. With hundreds of precursors entering the game every day, it’s not a matter of whether you’ll even see one, it’s a matter of how to get one of the hundreds you know are in circulation.
Well, that is reasonable, but only as far as permanent content goes. It really shouldn’t be applied to a temporary event (even one that’s two months long) and hidden behind two layers of grinding (farming for tickets, then farming for chance bags).
But it is what it is. I’ll just hope they put it in the next Wintersday box like the Dwayna and Grenth pieces and pick up the recipe for 10g.
For the individual person, however, all those 50 000 items dropping do not mean anything, if they don’t drop for them. The individual chance for drop is still 1/20, and that’s the only thing that counts.
I don’t care if in a mass lottery chances are big enough that every week someone usually wins the big one. That someone still wouldn’t be me. That’s where statistics and individual fun completely miss each other.
It doesn’t matter. You’re treating an MMO as if it were a single player game. You are not the center of the GW2 universe. Every player who reaches 5000/10000/15000 etc. AP gets special weapon/armor skins in a rewards chest. I saw a lot of them when the rewards chests were new (and veteran players got several chests over the course of a week or two), but I don’t see so many of them any more. They are not rare or difficult to obtain, and therefore they are not special or desired.
How special are these reward skins to you when you know that everyone in the game will eventually get them?
Well, that is reasonable, but only as far as permanent content goes. It really shouldn’t be applied to a temporary event (even one that’s two months long) and hidden behind two layers of grinding (farming for tickets, then farming for chance bags).
But it is what it is. I’ll just hope they put it in the next Wintersday box like the Dwayna and Grenth pieces and pick up the recipe for 10g.
Data from previous events has probably shown them that a small percentage of players will “farm” the event for as long a possible in order to obtain as many rare items as possible to sell, or to hold until the supply drops after the event and sell then. As time goes on, more players will realize they can make more money by hoarding the items and selling only when supply is nearly gone. This leads to the situation you see – lots of people who obtained the recipes will not sell them until the price is right, when they dump the recipes, if there are enough hoarders, the supply will overwhelm demand and the prices drop as speculators rush to compete with each other and sell before the price drops too far.
This is more the responsibility of the players than the devs. If the devs do increase the drop rate, more players will hoard them and you will still not see the numbers on the TP increase by very much.
You view the game as a single player and want the rare item to drop for you specificially. The devs look at the game as a population of nearly four million accounts, consider the percentage of those accounts logging in every week, and must consider how millions of loot rolls every hour will produce X rare items, Y exotic items (of which Z are precursors) and what percentage of those will make it to the TP.
Yes, that’s the old, old argument. “What is good for the state is good for individual” vs. “what is good for the individual is good for the state”.
How special are these reward skins to you when you know that everyone in the game will eventually get them?
You are really asking the wrong person here. I have always insisted that the real value of the items lies in how good they look, not in how rare they are. Personally i couldn’t care if everyone else had access to the same items i do, as long as i could get things i like. So, to answer your question: it doesn’t matter if i am the only person that has these rewards or if everyone has them. I don’t care about rarity at all.
Actions, not words.
Remember, remember, 15th of November
You are really asking the wrong person here. I have always insisted that the real value of the items lies in how good they look, not in how rare they are. Personally i couldn’t care if everyone else had access to the same items i do, as long as i could get things i like. So, to answer your question: it doesn’t matter if i am the only person that has these rewards or if everyone has them. I don’t care about rarity at all.
Good for you, I happen to agree. Some of my favorite armor and weapon skins (and dye colors) cost me less than 10s on the TP. I’m not chasing ascended or Legendary gear so I can completely outfit a character in level 80 exotics for perhaps 25g or less, plus a few transmute charges.
But I’m really asking you to do what I’m trying to do, and look beyond your personal preferences and view the game as an “average player” who desires these items because few people have them. When many people have them, they become worthless because only those people who do not have them want them. He can’t impress people with Twilight if they already have Eternity.
It’s a paradox – the average player wants the rare gear that only a few players have, but if the average player has it, then by definition it is not “the rare gear that only a few players have” and so he doesn’t want it.
In essence, these posts are demanding that the devs hand the individual posting the rare items instead of distributing them randomly, so that the poster has the things he wants but no one else can have them.
To me this backpiece is part of a series. It even follows the same ingredient requirements for crafting. As such all of the recipes should follow the same distribution pattern.
Now I personally find this piece rather ugly, but I can see that someone might want to collect the profession pieces.
The discrepancy is simply too high vs grenth and dwayna.
“Whose Kitten is this?” – “It’s a Charr baby.”
“Whose Charr is this?”- “Ted’s.”
“Who’s Ted?”- “Ted’s dead, baby. Ted’s dead.”
The discrepancy is simply too high vs grenth and dwayna.
Or those two recipes dropped to much and the devs made the new one more rare. Isn’t there a Balthazar back piece too? I thought I saw a link to it in the Wiki.
The discrepancy is simply too high vs grenth and dwayna.
Or those two recipes dropped to much and the devs made the new one more rare. Isn’t there a Balthazar back piece too? I thought I saw a link to it in the Wiki.
yeah, it’s a pvp reward track, that’s super easy to obtain, with zero rng in obtaining it.
The discrepancy is simply too high vs grenth and dwayna.
Or those two recipes dropped to much and the devs made the new one more rare. Isn’t there a Balthazar back piece too? I thought I saw a link to it in the Wiki.
yeah, it’s a pvp reward track, that’s super easy to obtain, with zero rng in obtaining it.
Ok, I found a page about it in the Wiki but wasn’t sure how you got it. The point is, I said before they have tried different methods of acquisition for similar items. Look at Wintersday, Fused, Sclerite, Jade weapon skins, acquired through the gem shop (“zero rng”), BL chests, event-specific rewards boxes, and finally through a vendor that accepts BL weapon tickets.
Fused weapons were especially difficult to obtain because they were locked in RNG boxes and couldn’t be sold on the TP. Either you bought a lot of keys or accepted you’d probably never get one.
Sclerite and Jade tickets were at least obtainable through playing the game, the rng boxes dropped through doing event-related activities.
I don’t see anything different here. Four god-themed skins obtained in different ways, some are easier than others. The devs will continue to tweak the methods until they are satisfied, and there is the option to re-release them later through different methods.
Difference is they are part of a series, the weapon skins are not. There is nothing wrong with different modes of acquisition, I totally agree there.
I don’t think that John made a mistake of having too many of the other recipes on the market. I would believe that he is pretty aware of the fact that it’s easier to open the faucet slowly than to close it.
Anyways, this is not a right vs wrong.
Edit: I guess we have our answer, drop rate is “increased”. See todays patch notes.
“Whose Kitten is this?” – “It’s a Charr baby.”
“Whose Charr is this?”- “Ted’s.”
“Who’s Ted?”- “Ted’s dead, baby. Ted’s dead.”
The price went down to 100g and I still have to finish the download of the update XD anyway, I suppose this answers the question “was it working as intended?”… guess not
The price went down to 100g and I still have to finish the download of the update XD anyway, I suppose this answers the question “was it working as intended?”… guess not
Buy orders were all suddenly dropped to the highest being 80g :P
That sound you hear are all the speculators who bought recipes sighing in relief because they were able to fill those buy orders before the other speculators who placed them were able to cancel the orders.
In a few hours, the speculators who paid 500g+ for each recipe that has lost 90% of its value will realize how much money they lost, and the river or tears will flow…
You could have easily avoided all this drama with a 20 secs of work. You chose not to.
What drama? No one cares except the people posting on the forums. The devs don’t take orders from us, so no, they aren’t going to post an explanation just because someone threw a tantrum about it. You new here?
Get ready for the “I didn’t get any, so how can they say the drop rate was increased?” complaints.
Don’t you mean the,
“I paid 2500g for this recipe and now you nerf it so that it’s so common? $%@^#$ Anet!!!!”
complaints?
The update and the market crashed while I was at work. I seriously need to change my schedule to working nites, so I don’t miss important updates like this.
The reason why ANet won’t do anything about flippers hijacking markets is because it benefits them greatly to see these higher prices. Remember that gold as a currency is tied to gems which can be purchased for real money. They hope to drive new players into purchasing gold in order to catch up which is exactly why they keep on nerfing popular farm spots.
Unfortunately this short-sighted greed is having an extremely negative effect on the game as a whole. Short of getting extraordinarily lucky a new player will have no way to ever compete on the market. They’re strangling their own game trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of it.
I don’t agree. The best result for the game and therefor the best result for ArenaNet is for the markets to work as efficiently as possible (usually). Fortunately, the nature of the trading post provides a lot of natural force for markets to work efficiently. While nothing is 100% perfect, the large majority of every part of the game’s economy runs incredibly efficiently and we put a lot of effort into making sure that they remain that way.
I wish one gaming company online would have the courage to say “We don’t want an economy, we won’t foster greed in the players. We won’t be a part of this downward spiral of the human condition. We care about creating a world to visit and journey through. A world of what could be, not reflecting what is. A world where there is a uniting force, a unified goal, bringing all the different facets of all that is good and laudable in those walking it’s imaginary streets.” I guess I truly live in a fantasy world, since it seems the reality is, greed and avarice are all that matters to gaming companies today. It is no longer an art form, a form of expression and experience. It’s just another revenue stream, that has no redeeming effect and no positive influence. Guild wars 1, was a wonderful world. While there are glimpses of it in Guild Wars 2, sadly they are far and few between. Greed is the underlying factor, it motivates every step in the game, it drives every story, and infests every journey. It is to weep.. Too bad the BLTC made it through the LA attack. I wouldn’t have missed it at all.
humans are by nature a competitive species and greed is just one facet of that competitive nature. While you see that as a downward spiral others see that as the force driving us forward.
On a side note if you want a game as art in a non competitve non monitary way you should check out Dear Esther. All about exploring and great story told in an innovative way.
humans are by nature a competitive species and greed is just one facet of that competitive nature. While you see that as a downward spiral others see that as the force driving us forward.
On a side note if you want a game as art in a non competitve non monitary way you should check out Dear Esther. All about exploring and great story told in an innovative way.
Those caught in the under current of any occurrence will always try to make it seem more necessary then it is. We greed therefor we are, is what you seem to believe. I want no part of that philosophy. While I appreciate the offer of another game, I can’t help but notice it’s wrapped in the premise that this game will not change it will only go further down the path it has already established. And you’re cool with that and even applaud that fact. To each his or her own.
As fore the BLTC ever changing and the manipulation being combated, it will the millisecond Anet thinks they are being cheated or someone is making more “Real” money then they are, then it will be stopped so fast you won’t believe it. I used to spend real money in game, not as much as some, but what I could I did. After seeing how the game is going forward, I will not spend a dime on it. I’ll go elsewhere before I do, which is why I play several games. One ends another begins.
Anet don’t take this as finger pointing at you alone. The gaming industry itself is to blame. They sold out.
The reason why ANet won’t do anything about flippers hijacking markets is because it benefits them greatly to see these higher prices. Remember that gold as a currency is tied to gems which can be purchased for real money. They hope to drive new players into purchasing gold in order to catch up which is exactly why they keep on nerfing popular farm spots.
Unfortunately this short-sighted greed is having an extremely negative effect on the game as a whole. Short of getting extraordinarily lucky a new player will have no way to ever compete on the market. They’re strangling their own game trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of it.
I don’t agree. The best result for the game and therefor the best result for ArenaNet is for the markets to work as efficiently as possible (usually). Fortunately, the nature of the trading post provides a lot of natural force for markets to work efficiently. While nothing is 100% perfect, the large majority of every part of the game’s economy runs incredibly efficiently and we put a lot of effort into making sure that they remain that way.
I wish one gaming company online would have the courage to say “We don’t want an economy, we won’t foster greed in the players. We won’t be a part of this downward spiral of the human condition. We care about creating a world to visit and journey through. A world of what could be, not reflecting what is. A world where there is a uniting force, a unified goal, bringing all the different facets of all that is good and laudable in those walking it’s imaginary streets.” I guess I truly live in a fantasy world, since it seems the reality is, greed and avarice are all that matters to gaming companies today. It is no longer an art form, a form of expression and experience. It’s just another revenue stream, that has no redeeming effect and no positive influence. Guild wars 1, was a wonderful world. While there are glimpses of it in Guild Wars 2, sadly they are far and few between. Greed is the underlying factor, it motivates every step in the game, it drives every story, and infests every journey. It is to weep.. Too bad the BLTC made it through the LA attack. I wouldn’t have missed it at all.
PLEASE PLEASE play “To The Moon” You will thank me a million times.. If you haven’t yet that is…
On the other side, anet did put some nice content where we joined forces to do honorable things.. One thing that immediately comes to my mind is when we rescued civilians from the horrors of war…
The reason why ANet won’t do anything about flippers hijacking markets is because it benefits them greatly to see these higher prices. Remember that gold as a currency is tied to gems which can be purchased for real money. They hope to drive new players into purchasing gold in order to catch up which is exactly why they keep on nerfing popular farm spots.
Unfortunately this short-sighted greed is having an extremely negative effect on the game as a whole. Short of getting extraordinarily lucky a new player will have no way to ever compete on the market. They’re strangling their own game trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of it.
I don’t agree. The best result for the game and therefor the best result for ArenaNet is for the markets to work as efficiently as possible (usually). Fortunately, the nature of the trading post provides a lot of natural force for markets to work efficiently. While nothing is 100% perfect, the large majority of every part of the game’s economy runs incredibly efficiently and we put a lot of effort into making sure that they remain that way.
I wish one gaming company online would have the courage to say “We don’t want an economy, we won’t foster greed in the players. We won’t be a part of this downward spiral of the human condition. We care about creating a world to visit and journey through. A world of what could be, not reflecting what is. A world where there is a uniting force, a unified goal, bringing all the different facets of all that is good and laudable in those walking it’s imaginary streets.” I guess I truly live in a fantasy world, since it seems the reality is, greed and avarice are all that matters to gaming companies today. It is no longer an art form, a form of expression and experience. It’s just another revenue stream, that has no redeeming effect and no positive influence. Guild wars 1, was a wonderful world. While there are glimpses of it in Guild Wars 2, sadly they are far and few between. Greed is the underlying factor, it motivates every step in the game, it drives every story, and infests every journey. It is to weep.. Too bad the BLTC made it through the LA attack. I wouldn’t have missed it at all.
PLEASE PLEASE play “To The Moon” You will thank me a million times.. If you haven’t yet that is…
On the other side, anet did put some nice content where we joined forces to do honorable things.. One thing that immediately comes to my mind is when we rescued civilians from the horrors of war…
As I said, there are some glimpses of how it was in GW 1. I was really inspired by a video I watched yesterday about the origin of Taimi, then I read today what can be sifted down to quoting Gordon Geko in Wallstreet (Movie) “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works…”.
As I said, there are some glimpses of how it was in GW 1. I was really inspired by a video I watched yesterday about the origin of Taimi, then I read today what can be sifted down to quoting Gordon Geko in Wallstreet (Movie) “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works…”.
I’m out, no one cares anyway.
I was greedy in GW1, just as I am in GW2. I parked myself in Kamadan for hours spamming WTS and WTB, flipping anything I could get my hands on. Someone selling a Mini Dhuum for 700 Ecto? I’d undercut him by shouting one for 650 E. When he dropped his price down to ~600 E after fighting with me, I’d buy his with my second account, and resell it a hour later for 700.
I wish one gaming company online would have the courage to say “We don’t want an economy, we won’t foster greed in the players. We won’t be a part of this downward spiral of the human condition. We care about creating a world to visit and journey through. A world of what could be, not reflecting what is. A world where there is a uniting force, a unified goal, bringing all the different facets of all that is good and laudable in those walking it’s imaginary streets.” I guess I truly live in a fantasy world, since it seems the reality is, greed and avarice are all that matters to gaming companies today. It is no longer an art form, a form of expression and experience. It’s just another revenue stream, that has no redeeming effect and no positive influence. Guild wars 1, was a wonderful world. While there are glimpses of it in Guild Wars 2, sadly they are far and few between. Greed is the underlying factor, it motivates every step in the game, it drives every story, and infests every journey. It is to weep.. Too bad the BLTC made it through the LA attack. I wouldn’t have missed it at all.
So… you want a game that has no loot system at all? It’s called “Halo” and it is right over there >>>>
Engaging in scamming people and abusing trust is something you willingly commit to, not a fact of life.
Good on ANet for the change but again it just shows how messed up things are. We just had an item go from being valued at over two thousand gold to a mere hundred. While I understand the allure of loot manipulation and market control all too well I’d suggest learning from Blizzard’s treatment of Diablo because your players will call you on this kitten every time. Have the drop rate be sensible from the start and then keep your mittens off it.
Engaging in scamming people and abusing trust is something you willingly commit to, not a fact of life.
Good on ANet for the change but again it just shows how messed up things are. We just had an item go from being valued at over two thousand gold to a mere hundred. While I understand the allure of loot manipulation and market control all too well I’d suggest learning from Blizzard’s treatment of Diablo because your players will call you on this kitten every time. Have the drop rate be sensible from the start and then keep your mittens off it.
What if we want to be special snowflakes that get to show off an ultra rare item?
What if we want to be special snowflakes that get to show off an ultra rare item?
I’m not sure why you’d take pride in an item gained through RNG or gold farming to tell you the truth. A legendary in this game means absolutely nothing as it’s just a heap of gold. I’ve been here since the start and as such do have a lot of the rarer skins but I feel no attachment to any of them due to the way I acquired them and that’s the issue with this game as a whole for me at least.
Progressing towards these rarities should be a great adventure in itself. It should be about more than just sitting in the hub and flipping on the trading post or opening lockboxes hoping to eventually luck out. Is it too much to hope for a bit of adventure here?
What if we want to be special snowflakes that get to show off an ultra rare item?
I’m not sure why you’d take pride in an item gained through RNG or gold farming to tell you the truth. A legendary in this game means absolutely nothing as it’s just a heap of gold. I’ve been here since the start and as such do have a lot of the rarer skins but I feel no attachment to any of them due to the way I acquired them and that’s the issue with this game as a whole for me at least.
Progressing towards these rarities should be a great adventure in itself. It should be about more than just sitting in the hub and flipping on the trading post or opening lockboxes hoping to eventually luck out. Is it too much to hope for a bit of adventure here?
You took the words right out of my mouth. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only peron who thinks this way. +1
What if we want to be special snowflakes that get to show off an ultra rare item?
I’m not sure why you’d take pride in an item gained through RNG or gold farming to tell you the truth. A legendary in this game means absolutely nothing as it’s just a heap of gold. I’ve been here since the start and as such do have a lot of the rarer skins but I feel no attachment to any of them due to the way I acquired them and that’s the issue with this game as a whole for me at least.
Progressing towards these rarities should be a great adventure in itself. It should be about more than just sitting in the hub and flipping on the trading post or opening lockboxes hoping to eventually luck out. Is it too much to hope for a bit of adventure here?
You can have your adventure, but let me have my snowflake. Part of the issue is that you want both your adventure and my snowflake. When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
Only because a few people manipulate it up to those prices.
They haven’t manipulated anything, they have bought and sold goods at prices that other players were happy to receive and spend.
The fact that those prices were higher than what you can afford is not manipulation, it is a result of supply and demand.
Not exactly.
It’s not a result of supply and demand with regard to the items being flipped. It’s a result of the supply of gold being highly imbalanced, making gold itself less valuable to those who have more of it, if that makes sense.
The flippers aren’t listing buy/sell orders for 1300/2500g (in this example) because that’s what the market has determined the item is worth; they’re doing it because they can, regardless of whatever the item’s value might be. And why can they do this?
Because of their previous successful speculation.
It’s a cyclical problem that keeps a minority of the playerbase isolated from the majority; they’re operating on two completely separate scales of supply and demand.
What if we want to be special snowflakes that get to show off an ultra rare item?
I’m not sure why you’d take pride in an item gained through RNG or gold farming to tell you the truth. A legendary in this game means absolutely nothing as it’s just a heap of gold. I’ve been here since the start and as such do have a lot of the rarer skins but I feel no attachment to any of them due to the way I acquired them and that’s the issue with this game as a whole for me at least.
Progressing towards these rarities should be a great adventure in itself. It should be about more than just sitting in the hub and flipping on the trading post or opening lockboxes hoping to eventually luck out. Is it too much to hope for a bit of adventure here?
You took the words right out of my mouth. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only peron who thinks this way. +1
I concur. One of the things that attracts players to RPGs is being able to do “X” activity to earn “X” reward. When someone sees me with a set of armor I want them to know, “Oh, he did that thing to get that.” The dungeon armors are a prime example. How long has it been since we got a full, new set of earn-able armor? Does me getting that mean I won’t buy a new set of the BLTC in the future? Heck no! Variety is good in all things, including how we can get items in game.
Leader of The Guernsey Milking Coalition [MiLk] Sanctum of Rall
Progressing towards these rarities should be a great adventure in itself.
You took the words right out of my mouth. It’s nice to see that I’m not the only peron who thinks this way. +1
No one thinks “Wow, what a great player” when someone pings a bunch of legendaries in map chat, people are more inclined to think “lol”. Good with spreadsheets or even worse, used a credit card.
When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
I don’t accept your assertion. Some of the best looking and most memorable characters I’ve seen aren’t using super rare skins or expensive dyes, but finding lesser used skins in different combinations with a coherent color scheme. I don’t claim to be the least bit artistic myself, but I can certainly appreciate what those players have created.
If you want rarity for rarity’s sake, I don’t suggest playing an MMO with 4+ million other people.
When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
I don’t accept your assertion. Some of the best looking and most memorable characters I’ve seen aren’t using super rare skins or expensive dyes, but finding lesser used skins in different combinations with a coherent color scheme. I don’t claim to be the least bit artistic myself, but I can certainly appreciate what those players have created.
If you want rarity for rarity’s sake, I don’t suggest playing an MMO with 4+ million other people.
Rarity exists, even in MMOs. It’s fine that you think someone looks good for using a less used skin in a different combination. But if lots of people copied the same look, then it wouldn’t matter. On the other hand, you can’t copy a look that very few people have.
You can have your adventure, but let me have my snowflake. Part of the issue is that you want both your adventure and my snowflake. When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
And therein lies the issue. The adventure has been separated from the treasure chest at the end. Just imagine playing Legend of Zelda and finding nothing but rupees in every single big chest. Just rupees and rupees all the time. Rescue the princess? Woohoo, here’s some rupees! That’s Guild Wars 2. Just about everything of consequence is tied to gold and just about everything we do we do for the sake of acquiring gold. Not even PvP has been spared.
Quest and reward is a sacred bond. It shouldn’t be quest so you can make gold and then buy your reward from a middle man on the trading post. That’s exactly what makes things feel less special. There isn’t much of a story to tell when you farmed gold like every other sucker to buy your sword of annihilation +10. It cheapens it.
You can have your adventure, but let me have my snowflake. Part of the issue is that you want both your adventure and my snowflake. When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
And therein lies the issue. The adventure has been separated from the treasure chest at the end. Just imagine playing Legend of Zelda and finding nothing but rupees in every single big chest. Just rupees and rupees all the time. Rescue the princess? Woohoo, here’s some rupees! That’s Guild Wars 2. Just about everything of consequence is tied to gold and just about everything we do we do for the sake of acquiring gold. Not even PvP has been spared.
Quest and reward is a sacred bond. It shouldn’t be quest so you can make gold and then buy your reward from a middle man on the trading post. That’s exactly what makes things feel less special. There isn’t much of a story to tell when you farmed gold like every other sucker to buy your sword of annihilation +10. It cheapens it.
Paying a high price for a limited edition Murakami Louis Vuitton bag that no one else in your city has, doesn’t cheapen it. Just as paying 2500 Gold for an item from the TP that’s ultra rare. It’s a status symbol that shows you own something that very few have. Whether you found it or paid for it, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you own it.
Paying a high price for a limited edition Murakami Louis Vuitton bag that no one else in your city has, doesn’t cheapen it. Just as paying 2500 Gold for an item from the TP that’s ultra rare. It’s a status symbol that shows you own something that very few have. Whether you found it or paid for it, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you own it.
But that is no longer about being special. That’s just about flaunting affluence. Unless you sincerely believe that having a lot of money somehow makes you a more interesting and special person?
And at the end of the day it’s just a bag. There is no story to it and it has no real meaning beyond the price tag somebody slapped on it. It’s not like you beat down the doors of a vampire castle and staked its master for it or anything. It’s just a bag. A bag you bought.
You can have your adventure, but let me have my snowflake. Part of the issue is that you want both your adventure and my snowflake. When there’s too many snowflakes around, it just becomes common snow that no one cares about.
Have you played other MMOs? (Yes that’s a bit of a snarky and rhetorical question.) Usually it’s the people who went on the challenging adventure that are the special snowflakes. Not the ones with their butt parked at an Auction House.
Paying a high price for a limited edition Murakami Louis Vuitton bag that no one else in your city has, doesn’t cheapen it. Just as paying 2500 Gold for an item from the TP that’s ultra rare. It’s a status symbol that shows you own something that very few have. Whether you found it or paid for it, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you own it.
But that is no longer about being special. That’s just about flaunting affluence. Unless you sincerely believe that having a lot of money somehow makes you a more interesting and special person?
And at the end of the day it’s just a bag. There is no story to it and it has no real meaning beyond the price tag somebody slapped on it. It’s not like you beat down the doors of a vampire castle and staked its master for it or anything. It’s just a bag. A bag you bought.
So having tons of virtual gold doesn’t make you an interesting and special person, but winning a virtual sword from playing a game does?
I don’t particularly like the way the wealth seems to be currently balanced and prioritized in GW2’s market, but your argument here is nonsensical. At the end of the day beating down the fictional doors of a non-existent vampire castle to stake its master – as is being done by thousands of other players in the same game at the same time – has no “real” meaning either.
Paying a high price for a limited edition Murakami Louis Vuitton bag that no one else in your city has, doesn’t cheapen it. Just as paying 2500 Gold for an item from the TP that’s ultra rare. It’s a status symbol that shows you own something that very few have. Whether you found it or paid for it, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you own it.
But that is no longer about being special. That’s just about flaunting affluence. Unless you sincerely believe that having a lot of money somehow makes you a more interesting and special person?
And at the end of the day it’s just a bag. There is no story to it and it has no real meaning beyond the price tag somebody slapped on it. It’s not like you beat down the doors of a vampire castle and staked its master for it or anything. It’s just a bag. A bag you bought.
Yawn.
I could say the same when my group did all the work to take down the Great Wurm, and the pug who got in a few tags shares the title. Or how I finally got my Liadri mini and title for beating her legitimately, yet exploiters who spammed lifesteal got the same.
At the end of the day, yes it’s an item that you bought. But it’s also an item that a lot of other people doesn’t have. Not that it would make me an interesting person. But it would make me a special one, since people would be jealous of my stuff when I show it off.
But we’re talking about an online game, where any rarity is artificially imposed.
Is super-ultra rare items fundamentally a good thing for the game? I don’t think so.
Arenanet wants to keep most of their players playing, right?
Having achievable goals that players can progress towards, and can feel good about achieving keeps players playing. Having unattainable goals and no alternative just makes most people frustrated.
CoL is around 150g on the TP as I’m writing this. I don’t think we’re at risk of everyone having one, but we’re at the point where it is achievable for a moderately dedicated player to get it if they want it.
So having tons of virtual gold doesn’t make you an interesting and special person, but winning a virtual sword from playing a game does?
I don’t particularly like the way the wealth seems to be currently balanced and prioritized in GW2’s market, but your argument here is nonsensical. At the end of the day beating down the fictional doors of a non-existent vampire castle to stake its master – as is being done by thousands of other players in the same game at the same time – has no “real” meaning either.
It gives the object a story to it. Would Excalibur truly be worthy of legend had Arthur bought it from the local blacksmith? While you’re right in that everybody doing the same thing does make things feel a whole lot less special I think the illusion is to be preferred over nothing at all which is what we have right now what with everything being just another commodity to be peddled about.
I could say the same when my group did all the work to take down the Great Wurm, and the pug who got in a few tags shares the title. Or how I finally got my Liadri mini and title for beating her legitimately, yet exploiters who spammed lifesteal got the same.
At the end of the day, yes it’s an item that you bought. But it’s also an item that a lot of other people doesn’t have. Not that it would make me an interesting person. But it would make me a special one, since people would be jealous of my stuff when I show it off.
I view all of that zerg content as atrociously designed to tell you the truth. And yeah, sucks about Liadri but that’s all on ANet. I never did care for the encounter much myself but I did all the achievements the honest way and I suppose I do feel more proud over that than anything else I’ve done in this game. Which is sad.
That said, when I talk about special I mean something like the journey to a legendary back in EverQuest or obtaining Carsomyr in Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Heck, even World of WarCraft had some really rare items back in the day which required you to go through lengthy quests. Now that warranted admiration.
