Guild Wars 2

Isn’t that just the ‘batsignal’ image put out by the LA Lighthouse at night? Advertising the trading post nature of Lion’s Arch for ships coming into port.

Exact same happened on my Elementalist, tracked what I think is the problem to a single female Minister standing at the foot of the ramp up the Hall (to the right of the aquarium passage when facing that).

When clicked on she don’t interact but has the words ‘break illusion’ under her health bar. Attacking her has no effect, but I figure she is the 1 missing defector in disguise.

Had to quit the game to get out of the instance as no way to complete the mission or exit. Will try again in a few days to see if the bug is fixed.

Frogs…of course it has to be frogs, small ones driving mecha-rabbits.

Never trust anything that uses ‘reddit’ so much…

Hi guys…

Apologies for the absence, been crazy busy with work and no time free to game.

Back online for the November 21 patch/episode and will send out the remaining two spot prizes then.

The answer to the tie breaker was – ‘Rooster’. The one who ‘hails’ the Sun each morning. The purple chaos crystal area on the map edge, where random creatures are spawned in numbers.

Breeze

Also worth noting that actual Anet GM’s who are on duty have a very noticeable ‘GM’ tag floating over their heads when ingame.

Anet inhouse Guild members have the equally noticeable Anet logo in red next to their name – and all ingame emails sent by anyone who isn’t an official Anet staffer say so at the bottom, right next to a yellow triangle warning tag.

Keep these points in mind and report anything that doesn’t match with them.

[EDIT] Another thing to watch out for is anyone recruiting for a Guild who uses the words ‘Anet ALLOWS players to join (insert name of their Guild)’.

That is (in my view) borderline misleading behavior and can easily fool newer players. I’ve seen this done personally by one Guild Leader in particular, every time they try to recruit to their Guild through chat (originally from Sorrows Furnace and currently on Henge of Denravi – not naming and shaming for obvious reasons).

Breeze

RESULTS…

1st place and outright winner with all 7 correct answers – Macadate.1850. Congratulations and well done.

2nd place – tied between Trinibaje.7683 and Ash Silverwind (aka Dejavu.1409), both submitted 6 correct answers. A tie-break clue follows below.

3rd place goes outright to Rankomonaut.4705 with 5 correct answers. Congratulations for a worthy effort.

Remaining entries submitted either 3 or 4 correct answers – good try folks and thanks for taking part.

THE ANSWERS:

Clue 1 – Bulsa/Bulsa’s Son – A Norn Elder NPC mourning the loss of her son in the arena and treasuring a crude charcoal sketch of him.

Clue 2 – One empty sack, lying behind the ruins of Owls Abatour Lodge.

Clue 3 – Anton/Anton’s Boot Blade, Anton’s gravemarker (and his ghost) lie to the left of the Battlepit Arena – at the foot of the ‘shortcut’ back trail leading to Vigil’s Keep (the trail leads up to the hill with the crane/derrick, from where you can jump over the wall into the Keep). A ‘revelation from the mountain top’.

Clue 4 – the Well/Thirst. Draw an imaginary line on the map, using the Bulwark/Soliders/Glory hints, an isolated and forgotten Well lies roughly mid way between (with a whole lot of rabbits, including two who are being very naughty and probably responsible for there being a whole lot of rabbits there).

Clue 5 – Seven Grawl symbols/icons, tucked away in a cave near the shoreline, the North Winds/woods/shore hints tie to the map to give the general location.

Clue 6 – Three krew researchers, caged by Krait slavers in a small cave underwater. The cave is marked by a shipwreck and the cavemouth forms an Arch. This clue lead to a map event, and it was pointed out that this may have mislead players, however there are three cages visible in the cave and the appearance of the krait is certainly unexpected – given how relatively small the pond is and how rare krait are on this map. Sorry.

Clue 7 – One Drake Broodmother, One veteran Cave Troll, one Rich Iron Ore Node (which acts a marker to the location all by itself, if you ‘pick’ up on the hint). The ‘silent fief’ is a hint to the western trail leading out of Wizards Fief, which is as silent as they come in terms of game lore). The ‘misnamed wizard’ and his companion are on a ledge above right from the waterfall masking the hidden path into the caves – and with more than a few ‘lizards’ in plain view below.

Thanks to all those who took part, I hope you found one or two interesting new places as promised.

2nd PLACE TIE-BREAKER CLUE:

[Brisban Wildlands Map]

‘Past Memories Guard, where Chaos reigns, witness toll of random change. From the mix, beyond all count, name the one who hails the Sun’.

[Identify/collect a single name]

Tie-breakers have until midnight EDT October 11 to submit their answers by Forum PM, or ingame email to me.

Winners of 1st and 3d place prizes will receive them through ingame email later today, spot prize winners will get separate ingame emails listing available prizes to choose from, also later today.

Breeze

Hi Dejavu…

No problem, your answers have been accepted – and welcome to the forums firstime poster

Check the thread October 10th for results, so far your the fifth of seven to submit their answers.

Breeze

Hi Dreamy…

Answer to your question is no, right now you can’t shift the order of skills 1-5 – only the others.

In case you didn’t know how to change the order of those other skills, just click on the small yellow/gold ‘up arrow’ in the top right of each skill slot and choose the skill you want in that slot from the list displayed.

Remember that if your character has the ability to ‘swap’ weapons/attunements the skill change automatically – so you may need to set your choices for each weapon/attunement..

Breeze

ADDITIONAL:

By request of one of the players taking part in the Hynt – an example of how my Hynting skills are not always quite so twisted…hope you enjoy

’Once there were armies of Charr and of Men, clashing together again and again, the Wall it was riven the Kingdom it fell – on fought the Ghosts again and again.

A child of the Mother, with malice and taunt, razed the proud Lion and slaughtered its kin – until thwarted by heroes again and again.

Thence came the Dragons, the dead they arose, legions of Risen, implacable foes. The Jungle awoke, scouring the Pact, until its mind riven by proud selfless act. The land itself trembled, through fire and smoke, its power unleashed – the first Bloodstone was broke.

Through fire and torment the last Mursaat returned, while deep in the earth the Dragon it turned. The high peaks shivered, the glaciers marched, where next my children, the deserts so parched.?’

Breeze

Clue 7 [Kessex Hills Map]

’From silent fief, a western trail, where the fallen never climb. Seek the misnamed Wizard there and hearken to his tale.

Having found now you toil, through Mother’s wrath and Father’s spoil, a hidden path where waters boil.

Clear the way, past raining earth, defeat the beasts to prove your worth. Name the foes, both Dam and Sire, pick reward and then retire’.

[Identify/collect the names of the Dam, Sire AND reward ‘picked’ – three names in all].

THIS IS THE FINAL CLUE…

Submit your answers to the seven clues (or however many you got) by midnight EDT October 9th 2016.

As described earlier, all submitted answers received within the cut off time will be reviewed and marked by the judges after the close. Watch this thread for details of any tie-breaker clues if they are needed – only two ‘rounds’ of tie-breaker will be run where necessary, after that any remaining ties will be resolved by a straight ‘names in the hat’ draw among those still tied after the second tie-breaker.

All winners will be notified and all prizes sent ingame no later than October 12th 2016.

Prizes for 1st (300 gold) and 3rd place (100 gold) will be sent by me (along with all spot prizes), Feeelancer will be sending the 2nd place (200 gold) prize. Yes..the prize fund increased to a total of 600 gold

Good Hynting all…remember to include any feedback/thoughts on making this a monthly or annual event, as described further back in the thread.

Breeze

Trinibaje – I’m on EDT (Detroit MI) and in answer to your PM, please only send all your answers in a single email after the last clue has been posted and before midnight October 9th.

Rankomonaut – Yes, spot prize awarded for dedication (and to replace boot leather worn out in Gendarren Fields LOL). See above for confirmation of when ‘midnight’ reaches Detroit.

Becky

Clue 6 [Metricca Province]

‘Sunken wreck and Stoney arch, but Lion’s seek no prey. Instead an unexpected foe awaits, set to bind and stay.

Having found and loosened bonds, fishers need not bend, count how many you have freed, though thankless of your deed’.

[Identify/collect the number.]

REMINDER: Final clue tomorrow – submit all answers by midnight October 9th, when we will be collating and determining winners.

Winners will be notified through PM, so be sure your account name is included in the answers PM (ie: Jaydoe.1234). If a tie-breaker or tie-breakers are needed, players will be informed in this thread and through individual PM’s. Tie-breakers for 1st, 2nd, 3rd places will all be different and players in each group will have one extra day to solve and submit answers (by midnight October 10th).

The answers, along with a summary of how each links to the clue location(s), will be posted in this thread once the winners have all been determined.

Apologies, but to be fair all decisions will be final and late entries arriving after midnight October 9th 2016 cannot be considered.

Players who enjoyed the game are invited to include with their answers comments/feedback on the game – and if they would like it to continue in a monthly format (with correspondingly scaled down prizes, or just for fun/kudos) in the future.

Players who won ‘spot prizes’ during the game will receive PM’s listing which Exotics are in the prize pool – and asked to confirm which one they would like from those available. Spot Prize Winners so far are – Abelisk.4527 and Rankomonaut.4708.

Good Hynting…and thanks again to all those who liked the idea enough to take part. Without you folks there would be no Hynt

Breeze

Rankomonaut – Sorry if this is turning into more effort than fun, maybe just move on to the next clues and see how your final score comes in against the others playing.

Not sure what you mean by message deleted? All your posts on the thread seem to be here – unless you mean a PM I may have deleted to make sure I had room for all the ‘final answers’ PM’s expected in a few days time.

Anyhows…good hunting and hopefully you will get one of those ‘revelation from the mountain top’ moments in Gendarran Fields – stay frosty.

Macadate – Cool idea, run with it and who knows may be a spot prize for originality

Breeze

Clue 5 [Wayfarer Foothills Map]

‘Through North Winds woods, across the shore, a place of knowledge far from pure. Having found now you seek, the count of symbols praised by weak’.

[Identify/collect the number of symbols.]

Gaile – Thanks for the post and support

Rankomonaut – Wow, 2.5hrs is showing some serious dedication, thanks so much for taking part and such an effort.

I’m trying to avoid giving out too many ‘hints’ (since the whole idea is the ‘challenge’ of solving the clues) – but as just posted above, making use of the World Map should give everyone a level playing field.

At the end of the game, when the answers are posted, I’ll include a short explanation of each clue – so everyone can see how they tied to the locations/items.

I’ve run this game before, as an annual event within my own Guild (with different clues each year of course) – always been popular and fun, so glad all those taking part here are enjoying themselves as well.

Breeze

Clue 4 [Iron Marches Map]

‘Where Bulwark stands and Soldiers march to Glory’s steps, a welcome stop awaits. What lone thing stands there? What is it that abates’?

[Identify/collect the name of the thing – and for an additional ‘spot prize’ name what it abates/relieves. One or two answers accepted.]

As is the case with all of the clues, it helps to make use of ingame resources, such as the World Map.

Breeze

Not exactly a limerick…but see what you think anyway:

’Once there were armies of Charr and of Men, clashing together again and again, the Wall it was riven the Kingdom it fell – on fought the Ghosts again and again.

A child of the Mother, with malice and taunt, razed the proud Lion and slaughtered its kin – until thwarted by heroes again and again.

Then came the Dragons, the dead they arose, legions of Risen, implacable foes. The Jungle awoke, scouring the Pact, until its mind riven by proud selfless act. The land itself trembled, through fire and smoke, its power unleashed – the first Bloodstone was broke.

Through fire and torment the last Mursaat returned, while deep in the earth the Dragon it turned. The high peaks shivered, the glaciers marched, where next my children, the deserts so parched?’.

Thinking this would look great in New Krytan – as a framed scroll on velum/parchment. Maybe with some Illuminated characters and a few well placed scorch marks

Breeze

APOLOGIES – The clue thread was moved to the ‘Community Creations’ section of the Forums by a Moderator, not by me or Freeelancer. Only just found out a few min ago.

Game is still running and I’m trying to get it moved back to the original ‘Discussions’ section, even if only until the game ends on October 9th.

Clue 3 [Gendarren Fields Map]

‘Blind Vigil keepers, bitter snows, Spartan path where weakness shows. Whose marker lies near battle’s mouth, what blade they bore with vanguard’s shout’?

[Identify/collect the name of the weapon and its bearer]

Breeze

Hi Guys…

The clues are designed to give everyone a fair chance of solving – I tried to balance fairly easy with, hmmm now what does than mean?

Half the fun is figuring them out after all.

Thanks for taking part and good luck.

Clue 2 [Snowden Drifts Map]

‘Five lost crates, two full sacks, one bright torch, now what’s the lack? Search behind the home of the wise, elder spirit of snowy guise’.

[Identify/name the ninth item present in the spot]

REMINDER: Please send all 7 answers (or however many you get) in a SINGLE PM at the end of the game, makes it easier for us to check/total each players answers that way- rather than if they are sent one by one as you solve them.

Thanks to all those taking part, good to know at least a few of you are finding new places to explore and some nice/interesting ‘out of the way’ game scenery to enjoy.

Breeze

Hi Guys…

Thanks for the feedback, will go towards making this an annual open world event.

Belial…understand where your coming from, but rest assured this is legit – I have too much respect for my reputation ingame to pull anything twitchy or uncool and Freeelancer is the exactly the same.

Just to clarify – none of the clues involve finding other players, which I totally agree would be an invitation to disaster if they signed out or were DC’d unexpectedly.

Breeze

Hi Abelisk…

Each clue guides players to a specific location, at which they must identify/collect the name or number of specific items.

Numbers needed will vary from location to location, but will always be easily found at the location – if players are actually in the right location. There should be no need to do anything more than a quick search/sweep of a very small area, as the clues should guide you to where you need to be once solved.

Following each clue will be a description of how many things/people/creatures need to be identified there. Basically the same as appears in the first clue above.

Oh…and congratulations on being the first player to confirm they will be taking part – whatever the final outcome of the game you just won yourself a prize, in the form of a named exotic weapon or BLT weapon skin. )

I’ll agree with you which one you want from those in the prize pool, after the game ends on October 9.

Breeze

UPDATE:

Started an new, dedicated forum thread for the Hynt -

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/The-Wyld-Hynt-500-gold-Scavenger-Hunt/first#post6346287.

Makes it easier for participants to access clues.

Breeze

Hi Guys…

Setting this up in a new thread to give everyone a chance to take part.

Starting today (September 30th 2016) Breeze and Freeelancer are running an open to all scavenger hunt game with a 500 gold prize pot for the top three participants turning in the most correct answers to the clues posted in this thread each day for the next 7 days.

The origin of the Hynt and the ‘rules’ can be viewed in this thread – https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Help-with-apathetic-populace/first#post6346280.

The first clue is reposted below:

[Snowden Drifts Map]

‘Where Jotun Gaze, an Elder stands, mourning Sun on bloodsoaked sands. An image now, all that remains, bear it back to honor names’.

[Identify/collect the name/names – will accept one or both as answer]

For those not taking the time to fully read through the original thread, answers should be sent to Breeze or Freeelancer as Forum PM’s (Messages) – please not posted in this thread or the original one.

Game ends October 9th to allow a couple of extra days for entries to be sent, one clue posted in this thread each day for seven (7) days.

In the event of tie, tie-breaker clues will be send directly to those sharing top positions.

Answers to all clues will be posted in this thread after October 9th – so you can kick yourselves for missing something, or just comment on the way clues were presented.

All clues lead to locations ingame that are a little ‘off the beaten track’ – or of some other general interest outside the actual Hynt. Absolutely NO Jumping required to find/reach any of the answer locations.

Good Hynting to All deciding to take part – check in tomorrow (October 1st) for next clue.

Breeze

THE HYNT BEGINS:

Clue 1 [Snowden Drifts Map]

‘Where Jotun Gaze, an Elder stands, mourning Sun on bloodsoaked sands. An image now, all that remains, bear it back to honor names’.

[Identify, collect the name/names – will accept one or both as answer]

Prize fund stands at 500 gold, to be divided between top three players with most correct answers at the end of the game – game ends October 9th to allow entries to be submitted. Next clue October 1st.

Good Luck All

Breeze

Hi Gaile…

I think you guys got the balance and design just right on this one, love the new map and the fact that there are so many tucked away areas you can reach with some careful jumping/gliding/swimming.

Have to say the ‘mystery holes’ around the coast are intriguing, if they are just there for show then well done again for not just making the seabed an empty plain.

The ‘plot twist’ was unexpected and amazing, can’t wait to see how it plays out. Just what was needed to build engagement with the story.

Hi Pinkey…

Just completed the game with a guildie who was struggling on her own, had no problem joining her party and she was able to fight from the get go – so was I.

Your problem may be something else like lag on connection – they were advertising the second build of the day when I signed out – so maybe there was some problem and they identified to fix.

Good luck anyways, I soloed my own instance so can only report on my friends.

Breeze

@Freeelancer…

Glad my scavenger hunt caught your interest, I’ve run this as an annual Guild activity for the past three years and its always been popular.

Takes a while finding suitable interesting spots on the maps and working out clues, but well worth the effort.

Thank you for throwing another 100 gold into the pot…have updated my original post to reflect the increase in prize and recognize your generosity

As a taster (not part of the ‘live’ hunt) here is a clue from 2014’s run – see how you do solving, will give everyone an idea of what to expect:

[Map: Plains of Ashford]

’Seek ancient stone, in image hewn, Lord of Battle overgrown. Badazar falsely named, to the north see the barrier shamed.

Having found, now you seek, treasure hidden from the weak. Count the bowers along the way and name the Mistress who hold sway.’

[Answers required – a number and a name. Incidental reward – Ingame loot you may not have known about/found].

Once more into the b®each dear friends?

I like the idea of encouraging activity…and random fun, plus the idea of helping out others even more

In the spirit of the OP I’ll put up 200 gold [READ EDIT BELOW: Now 300 gold] as the prize in an open to all (except members of my own guild who know me and the way I think far too well) scavenger hunt. One clue per day for seven days.

I’ll post one clue each day on this thread, starting on September 30, numbered and each stating the map zone for the day.

The clues will lead to a specific spot on that days map…and state the item/items you need to find/identify. You won’t need to collect anything other than the name, or a number, to solve each clue.

The winner will be the player who gets the highest number of correct answers, in the event of a tie there will be a tie-break clue and in the event of more than one final winner the 300 gold pot will be divided equally between them – with an additional exotic named weapon each (non-precursor) thrown in, my choice based on the players preference for class which should be stated when submitting their answers.

Players taking part can personal message me, through the forum, with their answers at the end of the event. That means all their answers in one go, NOT one answer a day please.

The maps for the hunt will be (in this order):

Diessa Plateau; Brisban Wildlands; Kessex Hills; Snowden Drifts; Queensdale; Wayfarer Foothils; Metricca Province and finally back to Kessex Hills (for the tie-breaker if needed).

This is a genuine offer, anyone who knows me after three years in game knows I don’t troll or scam – ask around if in doubt, or check my forum profile.

Good luck to all those who decide to give it a shot – and I guarantee the clues will lead you to a few places/things you may not have noticed before. Definitely no jumping required!

Breeze

Happy 4th Anniversary Guild Wars 2…

And welcome back meeflak, ‘flowers’ are waiting for you in Heart of Thorns

Personally I’ve always considered the Charr to be based on the Kzin from Larry Niven’s Tales of Known Space series – the naming conventions used seem an almost perfect match.

‘Speaker to Animals’ being a good example, where the name assigned to an individual reflects the profession or task until the right to use a family/clan name is earned. For those not familiar with the series, Speaker is the Kzin Ambassador to the Humans (who the Kzin considered animals/food until several unsuccessful wars taught them otherwise).

‘One reason the hairless monkeys from Earth stopped practicing War was because they were so very good at it’ [The Man/Kzin Wars].

The parallel carried over with Flame Legion in GW1 lore, where captured/enslaved Ascalonians were used as food by the Charr after the fall of the Wall.

The physical features of Charr also closely match those of the Kzin as described in the books – suggesting at least a few Larry Niven fans among the original Charr development team.

In the context of Charr culture, this ‘evolution’ of names would tie to the progression of individual Charr through the ranks/professions – younger Charr having profession or physical characteristic based names, older more experienced Charr having earned more individual family/clan based names through their deeds/achievements.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/archive/bltc/Trading-Profit-and-Loss/first#post4098355.

The trading post can be confusing to those new to its workings, or who have yet to use it in a ‘serious’ way…

The most common ‘mistake’, which I admit to having made myself when I started playing the trader game, is not to balance sales across a trading session.

EDIT: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/archive/bltc/Trading-Profit-and-Loss/first#post4098355.

Each sale carries both a listing fee, the cost of posting an item for sale, plus a commission fee, the amount charged by the trading post on each item sold.

Added together these equal a15% deduction from the sale price received.

Taking this into account it is possible to make a ‘loss’ when selling large numbers of separate items, if the total deductions are higher than the total profit received – which may not always be obvious unless you pre-calculate total income against total deductions.

Sell one item for 100 gold, deduct 15% for fees – sell a lot of other items for various amounts of silver/copper , deduct 15% from their total and you can easily end up with an overall ‘loss’ on the 100 gold item. By loss I mean receive a final total below what you expected (effectively wiping out the 100 gold items profit).

On small volume transactions not so noticeable, on high volume transactions mixing high/mid/low value items can creep up on you – if your not aware of how to balance sales to also balance deductions.

Only sell in batches and always total returns v deductions before committing to sales.

This only caught me once to be fair, I posted on the subject just like Michella and received the same ‘education’ in the finer points of trading from other TP users.

Like Andraus says however, if gold is missing from an account BETWEEN play sessions other than as a result of the above, its a support issue – either a player has had gold removed as part of a RMT (Real Money Trading) ‘chain’, they forgot about spending/gifting it, or someone else had access to their account between sessions.

RMT ‘chains’ are where someone has been involved (even unknowingly) in a chain of purchases which ‘started’ with something bought using goldseller gold and then sold on. When that ‘illegal’ gold/item is finally removed by Anet its removal can cascade down to all subsequent purchasers. in the chain – and that can be some time after they became caught up in the chain. generally only happens where trading outside the TP environment as player to player transactions.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs/Flame-Eye-won-t-go-away/first#post6206050.

This is a rare but known bug with the elemental focus type headgear, so it’s not just you. Sometimes ‘auto-corrects’ over time.

Removing headgear from inventory and exiting a map/city then re-entering sometimes fixes the glitch. Another thing to try is to remove/salvage the bugged headgear if this is an affordable option for you.

Try re-skinning with each of the same skins as one of the two showing, to identify which of the two is the glitch. then put in a support ticket and wait for the support team to fix for you.

The problem seems to be caused when transmuting/re-skinning a headpiece, the original and ‘overlay’ skins both show instead of only the newer replacement.

Good luck and hope this advice helps a little.

Hi Undercover…

The online sales process is run by a Company called ‘Digital River’ on behalf of Anet.

Once you confirm a purchase the amount is deducted from the card used and billed on your next statement accordingly. It’s a separate process with its own secure connection to DRI (Digital River), so no risk to your Anet/GW account – except if a payment fails for insufficient funds, a payback request, or a bogus card.

Those last two will cost you your account – as Anet has a policy to ban accounts where payments are cancelled or made using bogus cards. Can honestly say what their policy is on payments refused for insufficient funds or exceeding an overdraft limit, but I’d guess it would be the same – no pay, no play.

As soon as you make a purchase DRI emails you with a receipt and purchase ID Reference Number – which receipt I recommend keeping against any queries down the road.

That’s about all anyone on the forums can give you in the way of an answer, hope it helps. I’ve used the service for years and never had any problems/concerns.

Breeze

[EDIT: If your still uncertain about the above, remember you can buy Gems using ingame Gold through the Currency Exchange. Exchange rates change day to day, so check the rates and pick a time that suits the gold you have available]

Hi Sub…

Sorry to hear the workaround didn’t.

The presence of the trade golem is the reason why you can’t get in, it marks the fact that ‘lorewise’ the base has caved in/collapsed after the Order raid and the game treats it as if there is nothing to enter.

Backdoor workaround only works when the trade golem isn’t there.

Added you to my friends list, I’ll check the location each time I’m there for the Ore node and message you ingame if your online and the way is open.

Us .×830′s have to stick together

Breeze

[EDIT: Problem resolved, mission completed]

Within topic, but shifting focus slightly, have you considered asking higher level players to ‘back off’ when they join your low-mid range parties?

I’ve regularly adopted a ‘support’ role at HP bosses in Queensdale (Bandit/Drake and even vet Centaurs at Hoofmoot), just so the newer player going for them can do so with a feeling of personal achievement. I’ll drop heals and do some reving/rezing where needed – and I don’t feel like I’m unbalancing things by playing winglady.

Could be that you had some bad experiences that tilted your perceptions. Like the above posters all said, it works the way Anet intended and the way players play.

Plus..and you have to be honest, the starter maps are the main source of copper/green wood for crafting – and even L80’s need those mats or the gold they sell for.

Not disputing your assessment of the system, certainly results in exactly what you describe, but I think still better than the free for all alternative that pits players against each other from the get go.

Maybe give it some more thought from that perspective?

Breeze

Recognition/respect, both to Laura for being so dedicated to helping others and to Asumir for recognizing and appreciating in such a nice way.

Your exactly the kind of players that make the GW2 community so much better than ‘the other guys’.

Breeze

Backdoor…

If you swim around the island to the bottom southwest corner you will see a climbable slope that leads up to a point within a short jump of a large ledge with a double door topped with an electric field and next to it a Mithril Ore node.

To the right of that door are some small rocks, which you can jump onto and then jump onto the top of the door and drop down inside the rear ‘exit’ tunnel.

Just follow the tunnel and it leads inside the base right to the final boss room. The boss can be solo’d and once defeated (an underwater fight) still activates the boss chest. Boss Golem regularly respawns without having to have the Agent team present as long as the event is active.

Tip: You can use the columns/stairs to shield yourself against the Boss’s non-AoE attacks, or as a ‘safe’ spot to heal if downed.

Use the Ore node as a marker to help you find the rear entrance ledge, the slope up to the entrance is to its left. If the event/boss has been recently completed you will also see a marker for a trader golem next to the ore node, so you can use that as an indicator of roughly how long to wait before entering, if trade golem not there and event active your good to go.

Good Hunting.

Hi Stavross…and Inculpatus…

I’ve posted on the subject of Guild Leader rank before – and been corrected quite rightly by Inculaptus, who I hope to match in knowledge one day because…amazing. LOL.

My current understanding is that if a Leader promotes an officer to all the privileges of leadership then leaves. – the ‘White’ Leader sidebar in the Ranks section indicating Leader/Owner Rank is filled by the Officer with all privilege unlocked, until they grant the same to someone else and leave themselves. Which would be you again in the scenario discussed.

Where more than one member has all privileges unlocked not sure what happens if the ‘original’ White Bar Leader leaves. I don’t think it becomes vacant or disappear’s since it’s kind of a built in feature identifying permission levels.

Maybe Inculpatus can provide a better answer?

Breeze

All good reasons, both viewpoints are valid in their own ways – I think there are enough comments here for newcomers to form their own opinion of whether passes are a good QoL investment.

Happy to drop out from the debate at this point with no hard feelings

Breeze

@Gail…

Feel real deeply how this must have hit you, so sorry you were unlucky enough to experience the ‘dark’ side of the game community in this way.

If you need ANYTHING in the way of gold/gear/materials that the Company can’t restore for you, drop me a PM ingame or through the Forum – if I have it its yours, just to remind you the community cares and because years ago when I was first starting out we met once in pre-AC GW1 and you were kind enough to help me (Femaura Silverfox) with a ‘social’ problem involving another player.

On a related topic, if you or Anet haven’t already spotted it, maybe take a close look at the reddit posted screenshots of chat by the kitten responsible – those showing two GM command lines. Suggest you ask/push reddit to take those down, just in case.

Breeze

Any guild, or party, that charges members for anything is not one to be part of and viewed with suspicion.

A ‘good’ Guild cares for its members and exists to help/support them. Ideally, if members feel involved and identify with their Guild, they will choose to contribute to its growth/development – through active participation or simply by dropping the odd spare change/materials/items into the Bank or Treasury. No Guild should expect this though, the choice on contributions is always voluntary.

Same applies to a Party, I never liked the idea of ‘selling’ Dungeons or even event/mission/adventure runs to make gold. If you can do it easily then do it to help those who can’t – just because, at some time when you started playing, pretty sure someone helped you without expecting/demanding payment.

Tipping, as a gesture of appreciation/thanks, is fine – the person helping has the option of accepting or returning the gift and more importantly if you choose to make the offer you obviously feel comfortable doing it (which makes you a nice person).

Breeze

Because…Costs are variable by character level/location.

The WP cost from LA to Lights WP in Orr is different to the cost from say The Grove, because of the difference in distance. It is also different for characters at different level ranges – cheaper for lower level characters than for say L80’s.

On a return trip from Orr, assuming you want to next go to Gendarren Fileds Map or Verdant Brink Map, compare the WP costs of insta porting to Havoc’s Heir Airship (0)and exiting to the site of the old refugee camp against porting to LA through WvW (also 0) and then porting from there to Vigil Keep/Almuten WP (or exiting LA by the north gate and reaching Vigil Keep/Almuten on foot).

Apply the same logic to a run taking in sequence Queensdale (Garrison), Gendarren (Vigil Keep/Almuten), The Grove, Southsun (Pearl Inlet), Orr (Lights) and finally Splintered Coast (Teq). Consider that as a daily ore/wood/plant farming run, every day over the course of a year – then compare the WP costs of making those hops with/without using the various passes, against making them with the passes to cut the cost by shortening the distance of each ‘jump’.

Similarly, consider a run that goes from Gendaren to Harathi, back to Divinity’s Reach then on to VB and all of the HoT maps before ending back at DR. Being able to free hop from DR to Nobles and then on to any WP in HoT/Bloodston Fen before back to DR (Dwayner Plaza) via Airship, all without having to move to the LA Gate Hub just to reach DR (my ‘home’ base) that way.

Factor in the ability to sell/collect gold/bank items on the way at both Nobles and Airship, to keep free inventory space managed. I think you’ll find over the course of a year the savings add up positively – and even a copper saved is one copper less needed for buying Eternity (which thinking about it sounds like an advert for Forest Lawns LOL).

I call it as a convenience and a long-term saving through investment – increasing the return on clearing all nodes on each map, both financially and in terms of time taken.

Hence my reference to ‘a personal WP network’. Guess it depends on how important/convenient folks think LA actually is as a Hub, for anything other than purely social purposes or Sondar the Seller/Halloween access to the Mad Realm.

I realize its subjective from person to person, but I like it and ultimately that’s all the reason needed for getting all the passes/short cuts that contribute to the way I move around – to make my gold/collect my crafting materials as ‘efficient’ as possible, speaking as a casual with limited gametime available weekdays.

Breeze

Because…Waypoint Costs.

Consider having the Airship Pass for free travel to Cities and to the Gendarren Fields map, which enables players to map jump to other nearby maps at reduced cost.

The Noble pass does the same thing for Hot Maps, jumps you to a kind of central location reducing follow on WP costs.

Small saving individually, but over time they will mount up and pay for the pass. Worth the extra load screens in my opinion, only a few seconds.

Add in the Home Instance stone and HoM Portal stone to the mix and you have your own ‘free’ gate network to all key points, from which to move on to other maps at reduced cost.

Sure you can do the Cities through LA gates and La via PvP, but not with the same subsequent WP fee savings.

Gets my vote in favor overall.

Hi Nick…

The answer to your opening question is a simple no.

No audit/reconciliation of gold/gem transactions because as the other posters explained its a fixed and self regulating automated system. For every x gems put into the pool by players y gold is redistributed by the system and vice versa. New gem purchases create new gems but still draw on the existing gold pool to buy those gems when converting.

The exception is where gold is removed from the system by Anet as a result/penalty of off book RMT purchases from outside. That removed gold ceases to exist rather than being fed back into the pool – with a consequential shift in conversion rate for gems.

This has been covered in other forum threads over the years and is kind of intuitive once you think it through.

I appreciate what you were trying to convey, so does Evan Gnashblade the CEO and Chief Operating Officer for Black Lion Trading Company – but from his perspective no-one sees the Books, except him and those mysterious BLT clerks who never seem to have family or relatives and who seem to be on very short contracts.

Breeze

[EDIT: Since Anet carries out regular ‘block’ deletions of RMT/Goldseller accounts, watch the exchange rates over time and see if you too can spot the moment these happen -it does register since goldseller proxies generally hold large amounts of gold and removing that much once a month (or whenever) is measurable for impact].