Guild Wars 2

I too made the same mistake you did, and I love that mask. I JUST did this, so I know it works:

Make a new character, as said previously. Grab a cheap head piece and transmute it to look like the Harlequin mask. I forget which cheap headpiece I used exactly, but I doubt that matters.

After transmuting, I know it SAYS the transmuted mask is soulbound, but it’s not really. Leave the transmuted mask in your shared bank, log in your main mesmer, and you can pull it out of the shared bank into your inventory. Then it’s all yours.

I assure you this works. I just did this Friday.

I don’t know about the thief, but I suspect I know why your friend could see you. I ran into this with my buddy as well.

If you’re grouped with the person and then you join the sPvP map, you’re technically still grouped — even if you’re on opposing teams. And when you’re grouped with an ally, they can sometimes still your shimmering stealth form, again, even if you’re on opposing PvP teams. Make sure you disband if you’re PvPing with a friend in sPvP. You can do this by clicking the little group arrow and clicking disband. It won’t boot you from your “PvP” group.

Also, if you’re in the same guild, disbanding makes their name turn orange when you’re on the same team so they’re easier to spot, too. Handy sometimes in the chaos.

Edit: D’oh, I see the person above me beat me to the punch. At least now you have two people telling you the same thing. That’s gotta mean something, right? :P

I agree so much with the OP. Points need to be awarded to defenders staying at nodes at the very least.