Guild Wars 2

There are apparently some Guild activities that cause a loud BOOMING noise (much like fireworks) to be broadcast across the entire map. It is by far the LOUDEST sound effect in the game, and often startles me right out of my socks. It is nearly constant in some zones (Dredgehaunt Cliffs and Harathi Hinterlands to name a couple).

As a non-participant in the activity, is there any reason I should be hearing this at all? Even if you lowered the volume, it would still be very annoying. If I turn my generic sound effects volume down to where the Boom-Booms are tolerable, then I can barely hear my own action noises. Please make it go away!

Is that what that noise is from? I could not locate it last time I encountered it. I hope it gets attended to.

Yes, I asked in MAP chat on several occasions, in different zones. That’s what I was told. One of three things needs to be done with that sound effect:

1. The volume needs to be drastically lowered.
2. It needs to have a much smaller range… not the entire map.
3. It needs to be heard only by participants.

I don’t know the significance of the noise. My Guild is too small to ever be able to do any Guild Activities. (Unfair to smaller Guilds! – But that’s another issue). There may be a reason that they want non-participants to be able to hear this. If so, then they need to institute option 1 or 2, or give us a personal volume slider for Guild Sounds, like the Musical Instrument slider.

I may be wrong, but I believe it is primarily from the sound we get when someone passes the finish line during a guild rush which would makes sense in Dredgehaunt and Harathi.

It’s both the sound of someone crossing the finish line and the sound of one of the guild rush traps (the one that stuns and then kills the player) being activated. And yeah, the distance it plays is ridiculous.

It’s also the sound of in-game fireworks and it’s VERY annoying. Get’s glitched continuously unless you wp out :/

RoseofGilead.8907:

It’s both the sound of someone crossing the finish line and the sound of one of the guild rush traps (the one that stuns and then kills the player) being activated. And yeah, the distance it plays is ridiculous.

Is there any reason you can think of why this sound should be audible at all to people not participating?

Dredgehaunt Cliffs are haunting me.

Harathi Hinterlands are horrible.

Now the Fields of Ruin are ruined.

I don’t want to stay in any of these zones anymore thanks to the booming.

PLEASE get rid of it!

Since you’re the one with the problem (as I have not noticed this and my volume mixing is probably different than yours) you should conduct a bit of research on your end as ti which sound options in the F11 third tab “Sound Options” may be able to reduce these effect sounds (possibly Effects Volume for starters). If it’s the sounds I think you’re hearing (guild event completions) that should fix it.

Some volume tips:

Start with all volume levels in the middle with your personal computer (not in game) volume levels maxed and then if the sounds are too loud back down the individual sliders unless it’s REALLY loud in which case back down the master volume (and if that’s still too loud THEN back down the computer volume).

This allows you to ensure that the game will remain unique to any sound level once the sliders are in the right spots as you can adjust the computer levels for other activities and then adjust the Master Volume in game.

Yea, I know exactly what you’re talking about. And I know what it comes from.

When a player finishes completing a guild rush, the sound of fireworks goes off. And sometimes, you can hear it across the entire map. It can be rather aggravating, although at least for me, it’s never been that loud.

This definitely needs to be fixed. I’m not entirely sure if only guild rush is causing it, but from what I’ve heard on this thread, it seems to be a constant “booming”. If that’s true, then this definitely needs to be fixed.

The only benefit to hearing this noise is that when you’re doing a guild rush, you know when one of your guildmates has finished. But besides that, the noise doesn’t really serve a purpose, except to say “YAY! You just finished that super hard rush!!!”

Please.

I’m BEGGING you guys.

PLEASE remove this sound effect (or drastically lower the volume and/or distance at which it can be heard).

I can not play long in Harathi Hinterlands, Dredgehaunt Cliffs, or the Fields of Ruin without being forced out of the zone due to the overpoweringly loud booming noises.

Please do something so I can enter these zones again! (And any others that contain Guild Rush events).

Megaserver overcrowding, and now being forced to flee certain zones. The world is getting smaller all the time.

I’ve never been able to pinpoint what was causing those outrageously loud fireworks booms to go off constantly in my ears. I thought there were players camped out around the maps with fireworks who blow them off and then run and hide to scare and confuse adventurers. It drives me nuts. I’ve had to mute my game many times due to the annoyance of fireworks constantly going off in my ears.

Thank you, Hamfast, for this. At least now I know what is causing it and I fully support your request for it to be adjusted appropriately.

Is it a constant barrage of loud booms or just a single loud pop that seems to happen completely randomly? There has been an audio bug in the game since launch where the game would randomly pop VERY loud. Loud enough to completely startle you. It can not be corrected by any volume control either. Anet has acknowledged it though but, we have yet to get a fix for it. It happens everywhere from cities to dungeons to PvP. As for a constant rumbling sort of booming, I’ve never experienced this so I can’t say much on that. As someone who specializes in car and home audio, the loud popping noise seems to be an audio lag problem which causes the speakers to overload and pop. This is why volume controls don’t help it and it also has a faint echoing sound to it.

Tman.6349:

Is it a constant barrage of loud booms or just a single loud pop that seems to happen completely randomly? There has been an audio bug in the game since launch where the game would randomly pop VERY loud. Loud enough to completely startle you. It can not be corrected by any volume control either. Sent has acknowledged it though but, we have yet to get a fix for it. It happens everywhere from cities to dungeons to PvP. As for a constant rumbling sort of booming, I’ve never experienced this so I can’t say much on that. As someone who specializes in car and home audio, the loud popping noise seems to be an audio lag problem which causes the speakers to overload and pop. This is why volume controls don’t help it and it also has a faint echoing sound to it.

I still get the random loud boom/bang (heavy book dropping on a stone floor in a large library or church) sound you describe that people have experienced since beta, but I have not seen any word from the audio team if it is being worked on.

This issue is apart from that one to where it is actually numerous fireworks sounds blasting in your ear. Best I could tell in the past was the general direction the fireworks was coming from, but could not see any cause for them, let alone reason for their happening repeatedly.

OK. I can’t comment on that then.

For those who haven’t heard fireworks and don’t know what the OP is describing

It sounds like a multi-volley (3-4 shots?) from a rifle, only MUCH louder.

It doesn’t bother me so much over speakers, but when I have my headphones on, OUCH!

Yes, this is in fact incredibly annoying. I wondered what it was myself.