Guild Wars 2

I’ve kept quiet about this subject for way longer than I usually do when it comes to disappointments. I told myself I wouldn’t, but I can’t remain quiet any longer.

After two additional weeks following the end of the Halloween event consisting of only opening countless ToT bags whenever I’m logged in (my actual bag count is well past 250k bags opened now), I think it’s finally time for me to speak up. I haven’t even set foot in the Silverwastes yet because I’m still refusing to give up on something I’ve already invested so much of my gold so heavily in.

I’ve probably spent well over the cost of an average legendary just in attempting to get this mini out of this ridiculously low RNG prison. And still going.

Yep. I’m one of the fools who stubbornly keeps buying these up off the TP and farming them as often as I can from whatever clustered ambients I find, just so I can mindlessly click open dozens of stacks of these cursed ToT bags at a time.

I’ve sold five stacks of candy corn cobs on the TP now. FIVE. That’s 250 cobs a piece. Not the singular corn items, but the COBS. There’s more than that in my bank which I’m keeping simply in hope that changes come to a holiday vendor soon. But for me to go through enough candy corn to give diabetes to Zhaitan himself and still not get the rare drop… Something’s wrong there.

I’d love to see the actual numbers this statistician decided was appropriate for this HOLIDAY mini’s drop rate. A holiday reward should not be gated behind this much ridiculous RNG and be soulbound. At some point, I think the reward should simply be guaranteed or the darn things should have the soulbound status removed.

Put it on the vendor for 1000 cobs or something if you still want it to be rare, but don’t keep letting the more stubborn, foolish obsessive few like myself continue to agonize, refusing to give up, and throw out thousands and thousands of gold with no apparent end in sight. There should be a definitive goal at some point.

I could have The Dreamer or Kudzu by now, but instead I’ve chosen to throw my gold down another toilet not even claimed by Zommoros. I don’t think that’s right at all.

TL;DR: Please, ArenaNet… Just remove the soulbound status on this mini or add it to the holiday vendor for 250 cobs or something. Give us a goal instead of letting us blindly invest in something without even knowing if we’ll ever get it.

You made the black lion weapons unbound finally. Do it for this mini, too.

A Massive Headache.1879:

what kind of wine can you see your reflection in?

Wine that is stored in a glass cylindrical bottle. I’d say that’s a reflective surface.

Mister TaCo.8135:

Could have saved yourself the trouble of a long post by testing the combinations yourself. They are all greyed = Not a recipe.

Then how about Foxfire Cluster? They aren’t necessarily exclusive to Southsun Cove, but they are a rare material received from chopping trees that appear in the area. That might explain the “dulled blade” mention.

John Smith.4610:

edit 3 (in story form): Lemark wasn’t much of a haggler. the merchant had taken almost every copper he owned, but it was worth it. He was positive this time, no more fakes, no more copies, forgeries or lies, this was it. He could feel it, sinister…ghostly, it felt weird to hold, but he didn’t care, his journey was one quarter complete.

The item hinted to here is obviously an Eldritch Scroll. The keywords that should have been noted were the words “sinister” and “ghostly.”

John Smith.4610:

3.5-4 Story continues:
(2 days later)
Lemark sprinted down the alleyway, an endeavor likely to leave one examining refuse closer than generally preferable, but this wasn’t his first time. He slowed for a moment to glance behind him, merchants still chasing with guards closely behind them. He was surprised they hadn’t given up, they must be very sensitive about their heritage here, the item itself was a bit too everyday to inspire this kind of rage. “Two more blocks”, he thought to himself, double-checking the sealed, cylindrical case he carried. His attempted thievery had failed, for today, but he wasn’t going to lose what he had to the muddy waters of the bay.

edit 5:
Lemark was in high spirits, it had been a productive week. After a series of failures his luck had turned. He stared at his own reflection in the item, such a trivial thing by itself, but with many, there was power. Zomorros knew it as well, Lemark had seen the desire in his eyes before, this was one of his favorites.

The item referenced here is most likely Bottles of Elonian Wine. The keywords that were most important were of Krytan “heritage,” as Kryta was originally a settlement of Elona, and the clue about “Zommoros’s favorite” since the djinn loves the stuff. Another clue was the term “cylindrical case” that wine is often stored in.

John Smith.4610:

edit 6:
Lemark sat back against the rocky wall, brackish water rained down from one geyser or another. “What am I even doing here?” he thought for the thousandth time. He was exhausted, bloody and sore. “One of these alien curs is going to kill me before I’m done with this”, he grumbled to himself as he stood up and stretched. He needed a drink, but the day hadn’t grown cold yet, he still had time. His resolve hardened, one more attempt, he stared at yet another dulled blade, one more chance for results…this wasn’t going to be fun.

The third ingredient is clearly a Passion Flower since Lemark is in Southsun Cove using his harvesting sickles until they dull trying to get a rare material. The mention of “brackish waters” and “geysers” should clue one into the location. The line about “alien curs” is referring to the Karka who are not native to Southsun, but driven from their abyssal home to shallow waters by the deep sea Elder Dragon.

Now we’re just waiting on that final clue, John Smith!

I can’t wait to puzzle out the next line! :P

I got mine today, too! Thanks so much, ArenaNet! Was very thoughtful of you! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy Wintersday to you all, too!

Here’s to looking forward to what’s to come in the new year! Great job everyone!

Just my luck. Something that hasn’t been implemented yet…

Oh well. Thanks for finding it! I never would’ve managed that.

Now I have to find a good substitution… The Masquerade Boots skin doesn’t look too bad now that I think about it…

Anyone have any idea what these boots are from? I’ve been through nearly every light armor set on the wiki and I still can’t find them…

So I have to say, I’m very impressed with the new Grenth Hood Skin.

I noticed in promotion of the hood, they’ve posted an image of an entire set that they put together. It looks quite nice. I’ve figured out what some of the other armor skins are, but I can’t place what the shoes are.

Does anyone have any idea what set this piece is from? I’d like to recreate the look.

Here’s what we’ve figured out so far:

Head: Grenth Hood Skin
Shoulders: Deathly Mantle Skin
Chest: Trickster’s Vest Skin
Hands: Masquerade Gloves
Legs: Trickster’s Leggings Skin
Feet: ???

Not just that, the whole ArenaNet Soundcloud account seems to have been removed/deleted… What does this mean???

Here look for yourselves:

https://soundcloud.com/arenanet

So… is this next update Halloween related or are we just moving on without anything really coming of this Bloody Prince plot?

They did mention “madness” being part of the Krait’s motivation in the trailer. Wonder if they’re referring to something Mad Realm related….

If we really are moving on, I’m going to be very disappointed.

Figured everyone should see these, too, since they were posted on fan sites, but not the official A-Net one yet… The first one gives us a better, close-up view of the Bloody Prince’s awesome armor from the back. I think I’m starting to favor that shoulder piece… Also, does it seem like we’re going to get an epic face-off scene between father and son? I sure hope so… Haha!

And does this mean that there’s going to be a Bloody Prince boss fight/dungeon as well? Wonder what the loot will be…

I don’t see the harm in bringing back ANY of the old content items from ANY event. I suppose I can understand the “prestige” aspect of items like this, but considering you can still buy them on the TP anyway, who really cares?

I never understood the SAB skin argument either, however. The Super Backpack skin and all the other weapon skins should have been brought back, imo.

That being said, I already have them all so I’m not one of the players pushing for it. Just an opinion of someone impartial to the issue.

It is a bit expensive, but I think the animation of this item is the most complex and interesting they’ve come up with so far. It might be a bit of a stretch to be related to any of the passing lore as the past ones have been, but it really is a fun item.

My only suggestion is for them to change the skin of the actual held scythe the player holds when he uses the item. Right now it looks like the Consortium Harvesting Sickle. They should change it so it matches the Jack in the Box/Halloween theme. Maybe something as simple as changing it to look like the Scythe Staff skin.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

It’s hard to tell what the functionality of the item is from just a screen shot, so I’m here to clarify. This screen shot actually shows the Bloody Prince Thorn costume and not an armor skin, so it is not usable in combat.

Wow. How completely disappointing. That looks too much like an armor set. Costumes need to be more over the top and unusual. We get Braham, Kasmeer, and Scarlet’s armor sets but we can’t get the Bloody Prince’s? Utterly disappointed. Sorry, necromancers.

Henge.3907:

Well…
With the blood Prince armor being town clothes and the mask presumably being the achievement reward I do not have a dire need to participate this year (so far) hopefully it will just be fun and have good weapon skins to hoard

I agree. They need to understand that people want new equipment we can wear pretty much all the time and not all of these less practical items like town clothes and minis. The Blood Prince costume was another disappointment for me too.

I don’t understand why Necromancer players in particular aren’t more upset about being constantly neglected when it comes to new skins. Last year’s Halloween event was the last time they implemented something that looked really good for them. Yet Mesmers are ALWAYS getting cool masks and things like the Jubilee masks and the Phoenix armor set. (Elementalists have it even worse, but I don’t see how the Halloween event could help.)

They should give out a Halloween themed face paint skin or something. Maybe a Pumpkin Crown like GW1’s first Halloween did. Not this boring Mask of the Night.

Looks to me like some of the scripted effects of the old holographic projector from Dragon Bash are still accidentally activating at times. You should open a ticket and let A-Net know about the glitch.

I totally agree that this was a horrible choice for a Halloween headgear piece. It’s much too plain and looks like a generic Mesmer mask. The Mad King should never give something this boring out to players.

Yet again, they’re short-changing the Necromancers. Normally I’m resigned to it, but this is our holiday. We should be receiving more necromancer-y things!

panzer.6034:

Would vampire, frankenstein, mummy and wolfman halloween masks be legal or would that infringe on someone’s copyright? Glow-in-the-dark skeleton halloween mask?

Check out the headgears they would hand out in GW1 for Halloween. A few of them are very similar to the Hollywood monster flick creatures, like the Mummy and Wolfman:

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Festival_hat

I keep hoping they bring it back. Guess it’s just a matter of how many complaints they get about it and they’ll bring it back. Seems like that’s how things work.

I agree completely. The time constraints were kind of limiting and had I known that they wouldn’t be bringing back the backpack skin, that would’ve taken priority over weapon skins. I just wish that had been made more clear when they had initially said SAB was going to be coming back the first time around, before they took it down. Very disappointed.

I agree with OP. We’re pretty much allowed to go back and do everything else. Get the achievements, the original title, etc, but why can’t we get the backpack skin? It’s the one reason I actually wanted to go back and replay SAB and now I find out we can’t get it anymore… Guess I don’t really have a reason to play now.

I keep praying they bring back the Fused Weapon Tickets so I can complete my arsenal. I only managed to grab the Fused Longbow and would love to have a matching Short Bow….

Well there’s also that small fact that they’re now all “soulbound on use” so they can be obtained on the Trading Post. It will most likely be for a hefty price, but at least we will now have that option, as well, from now on. This really sounds promising.

Keep your fingers crossed!

With the latest patch, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by one change involving the special weapon skins we often see with new events and their means of acquiring them.

“For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.”

Is this going to be the new means of obtaining all future exclusive weapon skins? Just using one form of currency that we can still use, just for a steeper price, well after the events they’re attributed to have ended? I like the idea and I think it’s a much better system than the one A-Net was previously using.

If this is true, does this mean we will soon be able to obtain the Fused and Sclerite weapon sets in the same manner with Black Lion Claim Tickets in a future update? I sure hope so.

New hair and eye colors for the Total Makeover Kit and Self-Style Hair Kit!

Preferably bright, neon, and wild ones, like the new winter-themed Amethyst and Turquoise shades were. Maybe a bright green or fiery orange?

Ever since the Total Makeover and Self-Style Hair Kits were updated back in February with the new exclusive winter-themed hair and eye colors, I have been left wondering if there even more themed color additions on the way in future patches.

So far, we haven’t seen any more on this front.

Remember in GW1 when you could make your Necromancer have green hair? Or other ridiculous unnatural shades like neon pink or bright flaming orange? It would be wonderful if we were able to see more colors like those again.

My necromancer (my GW1 character’s namesake) seems incomplete without his familiar green hair…

I personally was hoping for a summer-themed color set soon, with shades like fiery scarlet, neon green, or glowing orange. We have the wild purples and blues. We should get the other out-there colors in the spectrum, too!

I dunno, maybe I’m being too hopeful. It shouldn’t be too difficult to implement, should it? And was that promotion even successful for A-Net?

I love Hawk’s idea about rare drops from MF fractals in the FoTM instance. It’s very likely that they might take this into account. I heard a guildie talking about this just the other day that they had read somewhere that it was being considered. Please let it be true! >.<

Thanks for the info! Now I wish I’d known before I’d scrapped the one I had in frustration, thinking they’d removed the vendor completely…

Seriously though, they should bring back more opportunities to get these great skins. Who agrees with me?

I’ve just recently discovered that they removed the Vigil Weapons Specialist from where the old refugee camp used to be in Lion’s Arch. Some indecisive people (myself included) got no warning on when this NPC was going to be removed and still have their Weapon Ticket with nothing to show for it.

We knew the Fused Weapon Tickets would stop dropping from Black Lion Chests at a certain date, but that NPC should’ve stayed. Or we should’ve at least received warning on when it would be disappearing… There’s no patch notes about it.

However, I’m not here to gripe and complain. I’m just curious. Is there, by any chance, going to be another opportunity for players to go back and try again for more Fused, Sclerite, Dragon’s Jade, or any future weapon skins from other RNG chests?

I think it would be a good idea to bring them back for a sort of “redux” promotion. I’m sure there would be a lot of takers. As I also chose the wrong weapon skin with another ticket, I would love another chance to go back and try for more Fused skins! Please?!

For all of you still looking for an uncontested Temple of Grenth, one just opened up on Jade Quarry server as of 1:52 EST AM. Come get your loot.

This is it! This is what’s currently causing all the failed Grenth attempts since the patch! They recently increased the scaling for the Orrian events and now protecting Jonez is almost impossible. The enemies seem to be hitting for double that now, at least.

Nobody seems to be commenting on the pure insanity that is the Temple of Grenth event chain yet, so here I go.

Sure Lyssa and Balthazar are harder with the new adds, but I’ve seen them unlocked a couple of times. Grenth simply can’t be done. The Gates of Arah event chain sounds like it’s ridiculous now, too.

Has anyone else noticed that Grenth hasn’t been open and uncontested even once since the patch?

I had a massive group attempting it last night and it was still impossible to keep Jonez alive during P2 while he performs his cleansing ritual. I don’t remember it ever being that hard. After about 15 tries, I gave up. Too many hours wasted.

Everyone I’ve met while trying the guesting method on other servers was having the same problems, too. The enemies seem to be OP now. Upon spawn, they all seem to be using the same skill at the same time on Jonez, one-shotting him.

Sometimes it was the Spiders, sometimes the Wraiths.

Has anyone else noticed that there hasn’t been an opened, uncontested Temple of Grenth since the patch? I had a decently massive group going last night and it was still impossible to keep Jonez alive during P2 while he performs his cleansing ritual.

I don’t remember it ever being that hard. Yeah it’s a difficult fight, but once you down the Risen Priest, it should be less difficult from there. Is this the result of the scaling mentioned in the patch notes?

We must’ve tried at least 15 times on 3 different servers (Crystal Desert, Blackgate, & Jade Quarry). Everyone I met was having the same problems… The enemies seem to be OP now. Upon spawn, they all seem to be using the same skill at the same time on Jonez, one-shotting him. Sometimes it was the Spiders, sometimes the Wraiths… He also moved from his ritual location a couple times into mobs of oncoming Risen.

I also have reports from other players that they were having similar issues with Temple of Balthazar and Lyssa and the Gates of Arah. (Anything involving protecting NPCs and/or their morale during these wide-scale Orrian escort scenarios.)

Has anyone else noticed that there hasn’t been an opened, uncontested Temple of Grenth since the patch? I had a decently massive group going last night and it was still impossible to keep Jonez alive during P2 while he performs his cleansing ritual. I don’t remember it ever being that hard. Yeah it’s a difficult fight, but once you down the Risen Priest, it should be less difficult from there.

We must’ve tried at least 15 times on 3 different servers. Everyone I met was having the same problems… The enemies seem to be OP now. Upon spawn, they all seem to be using the same skill at the same time on Jonez, one-shotting him. Sometimes it was the Spiders, sometimes the Wraiths… I’m thinking of opening a ticket with ANet…

I think a good portion of us have been waiting months for this feature to be implemented. The item already exists, in-game but it is yet to be obtainable and probably the finer details of its programming have yet to be fleshed out.

Search the Trading Post for “Name Change Contract” and you’ll see it.

This isn’t the first thread making this suggestion. In fact, the number of threads with this topic is very, very large. I see three or four each day. I hope ANet is aware of how many people want this feature implemented and gets on it. I’m tired of appealing to other players to get votes.

You can see my thread here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/suggestions/Name-Change-Contract

Not to mention they still haven’t implemented Guesting. I wonder which takes higher priority. Probably Guesting. It would eliminate the need for people’s constant switching of servers/worlds…

I fully support the idea of rarer, more interesting challenge-tame pets. Everyone has the same old stuff and animal companions have the potential of being another way players can show off their achievements.

It would be nice if we could tame things more unique and/or flashy. Even GW1 had exotic creatures that were accessible after a certain level of achievement; i.e. Jingle Bears, Jingle Moas, Black Widow Spiders, Moss Spiders, Pandas, Imperial Phoenixes, Rainbow Phoenixes, & Hounds of Balthazar…

They should take WoW’s rare spawn system into consideration for really special pets. Or maybe for new additions, only make certain higher end, unique pets tameable after certain achievements in your personal story or dungeon completions.

A month later, and still no Name Change Contract available in the gem store for purchase… I got excited when I saw the announcement for the Makeover Kits, but alas, this rogue item is yet to be released…

I, too, have been less-than-patiently awaiting the release of the name changing system. They are, indeed, working on one. I spoke to a GM about it already.

Check the Trading Post for an item called “Name Change Contract.” It’s already a dummy-item within the game files. I suspect the finer details have yet to be worked out to make this item functional, but it IS in the works. It’s all a matter of when.

And the GM I spoke with couldn’t tell me when they planned on releasing it either… :/

The hurricane that struck New York left entire neighborhoods flooded and people were without power for weeks. It’s the reason they left the fake “Mad King Thorn” NPC that handed out free Witch Hats up in Lion’s Arch for almost a month after Halloween ended.

They felt it was fair to provide that event reward for the exact same reason I’m proposing they compensate us the bag, as well.

(Also, all the Halloween rewards should be made account-bound, imo, rather than soulbound… but that’s another topic that I think is already being discussed elsewhere.)

So after the latest Wintersday update tonight, we all received a new mail message from Toymaker Tixx giving us a free gift package. It contained all the items a lot of people were missing out on due to a glitch involving the NPC/chest in Lion’s Arch’s Grand Piazza.

Last month after the Lost Shores event, a similar reimbursement was made for players who disconnected during the fight with the Ancient Karka, granting us all a free Ancient Karka Shell Box and accessory.

I was wondering, for those people who missed out on the free 10 Slot Trick-or-Treat Bag item from Ascent into Madness dungeon… Are you guys planning on granting us all free versions of those, too? I never received that one… You granted everyone free Witch Hats for that exact reason. Any chance that’s in the works, as well?

Oh wow! There really is an item that already exists, in-game that makes this possible. Apparently added in the October update, before Halloween began. Sadly, they’re still unavailable… I wonder when they will be unlocked and how you can get them. I’m guessing it’s all gem store stuff.

Check it out:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/70104-new-items-coming-soon/
http://www.gw2db.com/items/70576-name-change-contract

Glad to see the A-Net staff is paying attention to our needs! I hope we can buy these really soon!

If you’re a veteran online gamer like me and you’ve played several other MMOs, like GW and WoW, then chances are that you’ve heard of this service before.

Now I’m sure I’m not the only player out there who has created a character of a certain name and later regretted the name choice. Furthermore, by the time you’ve decided that you don’t like the name, you’ve already reached level 60 or 70, or even maxed out the character’s level. There’s no way any sane person would go and delete a character and start over with a new name after investing that much time in it.

Many other user-friendly MMOs have offered a name-changing service with a nominal fee for this exact reason, whether it be via the website or an in-game store option. And as a result, it’s generated a lot of extra revenue for their businesses with such a simple task. Sadly, Guild Wars 2 has yet to implement a feature that allows players to do so.

I recently had a conversation with a GM concerning this issue. He politely declined a request to just directly perform a name change, but he did suggest that I appeal to you all for support on this proposal. If we can gather up enough people who desire this feature to be implemented and make a commotion about it via the forums, the game programmers are sure to notice eventually and take our suggestions into account for a later update. It’s bound to be implemented eventually!

So who else here would like to have a name change performed, for one reason or another? Please share your stories and emphasize your opinion that this feature should be added to the Black Lion Trading Company in-game store!