Guild Wars 2

Tonight I was out in Brisban killing mob after mob after mob. And I mean mob after mob after mob. I had a moment of clarity, paused, and said to myself, "Wait, wasn’t I doing this in Southsun just last week? Why was I doing it? (the answer to that is not “to get those skins”, but the reason behind these crazy grinds) Was it fun? Is it fun now?" But more importantly, I’ve accepted that this is how it is here and going forward, I expect more of these casino-like systems. But I am not a gambler, will not become one, and am out-of-place in a world whose most appealing and exclusive items is designed to reward gambling. Neither is it wise (for me) to continue rewarding the company with Gem purchases for less desirable items, like wooden swords and staves (my Wintersday greatsword skin still sits in one of my character’s inventory, unused. I also bought the Staff and Longbow.)

It’s decision time.

Don’t get me wrong, there are other things to do in the game besides these insane gamble-grinds. I’ve done the ones I’m interested in and enjoyed the kitten out of myself. Get my money’s worth? Darned skippy! Thanks Anet! But the sun is setting and I’m very tired. I’ll say the words that some Risen do as you destroy them, and just as mournfully (female voice):

“The light… fades…”

Love you guys. Remember to stand up for one another when it comes to these important issues and not allow the unimportant squabbles we have here on the boards and in the game divide us. In the face of the things that do matter, they are insignificant – so support eachother! You know this already, but it helps when someone just comes out in says it. Stand united, or the Dragon will win.

Good luck.

Gaile Gray, if you’re watching: By Golly, you’re boss. I mean, real groovy, like. You’re my secret hero

-Vawn

I’ve noticed when we ask pointed questions about the RNG lockbox system or call for its reform or disposal, typically the response is silence. It oddly reminds me of this scene .

I’ll use the generic word, “Company” below to avoid calling out the entity that does things that are Not Cool.

(Happy, smiling player is standing somewhere in the beautifully prepared world of Tyria talking to a representative of The Company)

Player: And my chances at winning? After I give you my money, what are my odds of winning?
Them: …
Players: Uh….Company?
Them: …
Player: Company? You’re scaring me…

(Player pays anyway. There is a moment of darkness. Player opens its eyes to find it is now someplace strange…)

Them: Welcome home, Player.

(Watch the video, you’ll understand. Don’t watch if you’re easily disturbed or have a weak stomach)

JustTrogdor.7892:

I know I’ve only been playing for a few months but I have never seen this. Since Dragon Bash went live every place I have been has been players zerg rolling everything in site lol.

I was thinking about this earlier today and it’s hysterically funny when you think about it. Are we any better or different than Zhaitan’s army of mindless Risen? The Risen exist to extinguish life. One of their warcries is even “Kill everything!” But they don’t really mean it.

Out of aggro range? No.
Above me? (Bandit voice)You’re kidding, right?.
In the another zone? Screw that.

But think about us when we saw this in the patch notes:

• Dragon Coffers have been added to the list of potential loot drops for all creatures in the world.

Our reaction?

“OHHHH SNAP!! KILL EVERYTHING KILLABLE!”

And we mean it. Doesn’t matter if it alive, dead, in the next zone, underwater, in the air, sitting on the toilet – it’s dying right the kitten now. I mean, really! Celebrating the Dragon Festival by going on a crazed slaughter of everything in the world is a hilarious perversion of our major motive.

If someone doesn’t stop Zhaitan and other the Elder Dragons, they’ll kill everything in Tyria? Dude, if someone doesn’t stop us, we’ll kill everything in Tyria.

Back at launch when I created my first character I sure never would have guessed “This is my story” was going to be all about murderin’!

So imagine at the end of all this, us standing amidst our zerg looking at a completely dead and smited world:

Zergling.0666: “Oops! Our bad! Um….so…. did anyone get a ticket?”

MisterEction.9382:

I’d like a pair of the pistols. But based on the last couple events in which I got one after about 50 chests and the other nothing after 20 or so crates, I don’t see it happening.

Thanks for having a name that made me stop and read it letter-by-letter to see that it wasn’t what I thought it was. :P

“Wait a minute, his name isn’t…?! Oh, it isn’t.”

Enjoy the festival, and I hope you get your pistols!

-Vawn

Grim.6415:

Vawn.3041:

Grim.6415:

“Rich” means guaranteed ticket. Normal one like Southsun drop in the world and by participating in events.

Where did you find stated “Rich Dragon Coffer” = “Guaranteed Ticket”? Please provide a source for the sake of everyone being properly informed. Also, in answering, be careful that the source you provide directly answers this very important point without ambiguity. Thanks!

-Vawn

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/june-11-2013/

I just assume anyone that is interested took the minimal amount of effort to be informed by reading the official page.

My original link leaves no ambiguity to anyone that has read this official page.

You’re welcome.

Hi Grim,

I’ve read this page when it first became available. Unfortunately, and as others have already pointed out, it leaves room for question – i.e., it’s ambiguous.

You can find weapon tickets inside Rich Dragon Coffers and (rarely) in Dragon Coffers

The careful reader will ask: You “can” find tickets in the Rich Dragon Coffers, but does “can” mean “always”?

This would not be in question had they instead written: “Each Rich Dragon Coffer contains a weapon ticket.” I am not playing with semantics – the distinction is not a trivial or frivolous one as discovering the truth requires an expenditure of real-life cash. Yes, I could convert gold to gems but I believe in rewarding ArenaNet with cash for providing a superior product and player experience – as I would like to their service continue – provided they do not attempt to lead me into gambling with my money.

We’ll find out soon enough from player reports, which I will wait to hear before making any purchases.

Thanks!

-Vawn

Grim.6415:

“Rich” means guaranteed ticket. Normal one like Southsun drop in the world and by participating in events.

Where did you find stated “Rich Dragon Coffer” = “Guaranteed Ticket”? Please provide a source for the sake of everyone being properly informed. Also, in answering, be careful that the source you provide directly answers this very important point without ambiguity. Thanks!

-Vawn

ColinJohanson.2394:

When you use the roast beef skill, and follow it up with Au Jus utility you get the FRENCH DIP combo.

It’s way overpowered btw and total BS and Anet needs to balance it.

It’s way overpowered btw and total BS BK and Anet needs to balance it

FTFY. You should know better than that! Unless you meant Bologna Sandwich!

Jrunyon.3012:

That’s almost impossible from a code perspective. A programmer would have to intentionally make it so that different people had different loot tables from others.

RNG is RNG, take off the tinfoil hat please.

Have you read the link originally posted in the Account luck thread?

Fuz.5621:

I’ll just leave this here:

http://asheron.wikia.com/wiki/Wi_Flag

It speaks of an actual incident in another MMO (Asheron’s call). Please read it. I think you’ll find it interesting.

If you’re still around, Fuz. Thank you for that.

-Vawn

I tried to edit my comment (on page #4) but could not, probably because the additional content makes the comment too long – so I’m forced to add it here:

** Edit

To substantiate my above use of the severe term, “anti-consumer”:

Disclaimer: I possess no expert knowledge in economics. It is not the intent of my writing to persuade the reader I do or otherwise am an authority on the subject. I am merely a layman wishing to exchange ideas. I will forego prefixing sentences with “In my opinion”, as it is my hope that is understood.

In the marketplace – both physical and virtual – consumers and producers engage in exchanges of value. For consumers, “value” typically means money, as it does in this discussion. A given exchange is “fair” when the items (money and products/services)
are of comparable value. Products and services may carry premiums above their base values, but trades are still fair given the limitation that all premiums are both reasonable and justifiable.

An exchange that is anti-consumer is one in which the received good is of substantially lower value than the consumer expects (The relation between consumer expectation and how producers use it is not a trivial one, so I encourage anyone responding who might chastise consumers to bear that in mind).

I’ll need to briefly speak on how to quantify the value of a virtual item against real life currency because the critical point in my argument is a comparision of value. How much is a virtual weapon skin worth? Well, it’s whatever this game’s producer says it is. And here’s what they’ve said:

The value of a Sclerite weapon skin is based on an undisclosed statistical model. A random number generator produces a number that conforms to this model, once every time a supply crate is opened. Hence, the “exchange of value between a consumer and producer” paradigm no longer applies. You are not exchanging money for goods (value for value), but betting money against a mathematical function of undisclosed properties.

We do not have technical specifications on how model works, but do have empirical data around us to aid us in determining its obvious properties. This data is present in the player reports on these forums but also and importantly, in the game itself: How many people do you see running around with the Sclerite skins? Does that give you any clues as to how the model is skewed – Toward fairness or unfairness to the consumer?

An additional problem, and of gravest concern: There is no constraint on the number of crates required to be opened before getting a weapon skin ticket. Sure, you might buy ten crates and get three tickets, but is that the average outcome? Looking around in the world of Tyria will support or contest the hypothesis. What do you see out there?

So, in addressing the average case, as opposed to Joe Lucky, I believe that the statistical model that we’re being offered to bet our money against is neither pro-consumer or fair. And as I mentioned above, what is occurring cannot be described as an exchange of value: On one side of the table is a consumer holding value and on the other side you have chance, which might incidentally yield value. That is called gambling and as far as I can tell, is heavily favoring the house. That is why I’d used the word “anti-consumer”, though a misuse of the word as I’ve admitted. I should have said “The house is stacked against you.” To be sure, they do not hide this fact from you, “a rare chance”, as present in the crate’s description is significant beyond how we typically use and mean the word in a gaming context.

Of course, you can circumvent these problems by simply not participating in the business model. The question is: Can you? Will you?

But having said all of that, I’ve gotta admit: GW2 sure is a fun game! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to be in Southsun.

-Vawn

TobyTucker.5317:

All they’re really doing is setting people up for the next good MMO. And it sure looks like one is going to show up later this year. I’m certainly going to give it a shot. While I really enjoy GW2, there have been SO MANY annoyances, both big and small, that I’m probably not alone in being ready to jump ship should a worthwhile alternative appear. ANet is acting like having a good number of unhappy players is no big deal, but I’m just thinking there might be a drastic drop in the player population come “mid to late 2013”.

Last November in this post , Nicolle Rodgers made a comment that has stuck with me since. This is not a personal attack on her; I understand it is not a response from her, but a representation of the company’s initiative. I encourage you to read it so that you don’t read my comment here without proper context, but the portion that made it’s mark on me was:

Nicolle Rodgers.4926:

<snip> …You may not get that elusive rare item you hope for, but you will get something you can use. As always, we do not encourage anyone to spend more money in the Gem Store than they are comfortable with.

The first claim is (trivially) true, but that second sentence. What is that?! I’d stopped recommending the game to others since that day but have continued enjoying the game myself – as anyone familiar with my post history understands.
I love the game, but on top of this game is something that strikes me as distinctly “anti-consumer”. (I’ll edit this post later to describe what I mean by that, don’t have time right now)

Anyway, in response to your comment, Toby: I have been actively looking for an exit for a while now and have a game on pre-order. I don’t want to leave, I love this game and the people behind it. However, cash-bound/no upper-limit RNG lockboxes for unreasonable chances (on the average) for desirable items is deeply troubling. I’ve proposed alternatives – see my post history – but the company has its own plans and initiatives. I respect that and bear no ill-will towards them, but I need to be a responsible consumer and make choices that are right for me. “The responsibility falls on me”.

Sorry, have to stop here as I’ve really got to run.

-Vawn

Q: Why is it that Logan Thackeray would do brilliantly in our world’s computer industry?
A: Because every 18 months, he runs twice as fast!

MLieBennett.9031:

Temple Chestpiece, Country Shoulders, and I think Temple Gloves.

Thank you

A bitz.3825:

Practical? I’m not sure but they win some internet.

What chestpiece, shoulders, and gloves are those?

MLieBennett.9031:

Here are a couple of my more practical cosmetic looks for my Mesmer.

Does anyone else look at this picture and immediately imagine them singing, “Stop, in the name of love!” That’s pretty epic!

Here’s two of my Necromancer.

Doggie.3184:

Vawn.3041:

Doggie.3184:

bah, I don’t enjoy ponies.
I want a sack of nuts and a legendary zelda-based slingshot to fire them from.

You want a what?!

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Deku_Seeds_Bullet_Bag

Ah, now I’m enlightened (and relieved). Thanks

Doggie.3184:

bah, I don’t enjoy ponies.
I want a sack of nuts and a legendary zelda-based slingshot to fire them from.

You want a what?!

Danikat.8537:

I agree, the rainbow unicorn bow is such an immersion breaker when the rest of the game takes itself so completely seriously…

Hey! Some of us want that bow! So please, *whispering*: Keep your voice down.
I’ll cut you a deal: If I ever get that bow, I’ll shoot a pony out of it just for you. It’ll be like a shout-out…but with a pony. The butt-tattoo is yours to keep – on the house. :P

But seriously, think about it. Killing another player with The Dreamer opens an entirely new level of disrespectful trashtalk, doesn’t it? Finish em’ off with a pony blast and say something like, “Ahhhhhhahahaha! Powned!”. (get it?)

Anyway, I think there’s opportunities for some top-notch psychological warfare there.

Max-sized male Charr in spicy hot pink armor wearing a pink Quaggan Backpack taking people down with The Dreamer like a boss. Yeah.

-Vawn

PS – I don’t PvP. Just throwing out ideas :P

—
“I’ll beat him with a pony. I’ll beat him with a pony! With a pony! I just whooped dat’ kitten with a pony! "

Aeonblade.8709:

…I imagine it would be fun to be nearly unkillable and can just run away from everything instead of fighting.

Oh, you mean like Logan Thackeray ?
—
“He’s got jump-about!!”

ColinJohanson.2394:

We still plan to do both new legendary weapons, as well as a clear path (on top of the current random chance) to gain precursors which players can see their progress and understand how much work they have left to do to gain it.

I am prepared to be excited about this, pending more information on what this progression entails. However, knowing there will be a path has allowed me to be comfortable listing the rare level 80 greatswords that occasionally drop as I farm in Southsun, rather than fretting about if I should instead throw them in that MFer (Mystic Forger) for a chance at a precursor.

Now if only those time-limited weapon skins were directly purchasable from the Gem Store, life would be good and you’d have a lot of Thank You money from my wallet in your pocket. You do like Thank You money, yes?

-Vawn

Rooks Zaer.5846:

Datamining GW2.dat shows there will be Festive Dragon Coffers with a rare chance at Dragon’s Jade Weapon Skin Tickets! Yay!

:/

To be honest, I would be relieved if these coffers were only available from them Gem Store – because then I could completely ignore them and focus on doing other content. I’m not saying they should do that, there are certainly people who would not mind farming the coffers if they were rare drops. And its always good to have an option besides gambling with your RL cash. I’m just burned out from killing hundreds of Karka, Reef Drakes, Mosquitoes, Skale, Sharks, Hermit Crabs, Crazed this, Crazed that, etc. like an automated killing machine for hours on end in hopes of a crate drop.

Anyway, if you see a Sylvari Ranger running around with hounds “Bren” and “Pip” engaged in the Great Safari Massacre, it’s just me (and not a bot).

Now, if you’ll excuse me… Enough posting. More farming

-Vawn

P.S. – Is it me or have the HP pools of Veteran and normal reef riders been toned way down? I used to avoid the Vets because they were baaaadddd to the tentacle, commanding grave respect. Since today, I just run up to them and DPS (Disrespect Per Second) them down.

Whelp,

I guess I’ll be giving this one to my Charr:

“GET THAT SICKLE OUTTA MY FACE!
This is how you “pick” a plant!" *Dink!* *Diiiiinnnng!* *Thunk!*
Yeeeeaahhhh. That’s how Iron Legion does it.
Oh, and that isn’t water, cub. Those are tears!"

-Vawn

Flubble.8093:

awww i love the mini white kitten!! and it meows!! Thankyou ANet!!

You’re kitten right!!

Let’s celebrate with a retro video!

oohprettycolors.1943:

I took one similar to that. Except it was with the Charr sitting on the beach.
Come on, he just looks like such a cool dude. I had to take a picture with him.

That’s one cool pic! Ha! He sure does get around. The only thing he needs now is a drink in his offhand with a pink kittentail umbrella sticking out of it.

This dude should be a mini! And I bet he’d be worth a whole lot more than..what’s his face? Laren? Laris? Lame? He’s just forgettable like that.

Edit: kitten tail? *sigh* You know what I mean.

Razeor.6271:

Kichwas.7152:

The interesting note here is that the person who was faceplanted, was calling out the one who did not…

It’s also interesting that they’re in open world pve, and not in the same group whatsoever.

As Tuluum pointed out in this insightful comment:

Tuluum.9638:

Is there the chance you misunderstood the thief?

Meaning, he had high toughness as well, and could not drop aggro due to this?

And Zenleto excellently added:

zenleto.6179:

It’s a shame that not only do we have n expectation of the way mmos are suppose to be played but we also expect other players to bad mouth us.

It’s possible he was talking about himself and I’d misunderstood. Either way, I am thankful (Aren’t you thankful?!!) it happened. It is so very satisfying to run up on a young karka like a mean tossed salad out of nowhere (my Ranger is Sylvari) and wreck him hard like a red-shelled step-lobster.

I only regret I didn’t take note of the thief’s name. I would have mailed him a Karka Shell.

-Vawn

I’ve never been one to save video or screenshots of games, but I’ve run across something in Southsun that screams “Photo Op!!!” so hard that I just could not resist. Meet my new Charr buddy!

Rytlock, eat your heart out!

Btw – if you have cool Southsun pics, reply and share them

I’d like to share a story:

Until very recently, I’ve always used Toughness/Vitality builds on my characters. Occasionally, I would sacrifice some Vitality for Condition Damage, but T/V was King. I play solo and reasoned that survivability, above all other things, is critical for my success. Believing so, I’ve leveled seven characters to 80 through PVE battle and questing (This is only a very modest achievement. I mention it only to give you an idea of my time invested in and commitment to TVC builds.) Anyway, my world has been rocked.

A little over a week ago, I was in Southsun Cove on my Charr Warrior slaughtering mobs – Mosquitoes goin’ down, baby! – in hopes of a crate drop. I approached Kiel’s outpost and saw a horde of Karka running around and opening a whole case of whoopkitten on it. As I got closer, I saw a thief fighting a Vet Karka by the gate. He went down before I could close the gap and the Karka went for the kill.

Nuu-uhh, not on my watch.

I ran in and started going to work. The Karka, however, did not switch aggro and
did finish off the thief who, now dead, says:

“Too much toughness ftl”

Normally, I shrug those kind of comments off because – you know – I’m gonna play how I wanna play, but it struck me that he knew so quickly what kind of build I was running and also knew I could have saved him had I been using a Power build. Anyway, I rezzed him and we finished the event and parted. I went back to killing stuff for a while but his comment had struck a chord and I kept thinking, “Maybe he’s right”.

Maybe. But I needed to know.

Off I went to Lion’s Arch and retraited to full Power/Crit. Sold all my gear and purchased full-on glass cannon with supporting rune. Picked up a greatsword and felt the chill wind of Change play its tune along my spine. Threw a Bloodlust sigil on it, went back to Southsun and…

Great Caesar’s Ghost!

I was playing an entirely different game. Huge damage numbers inside of red flares were flying around over my head. I was hitting things so hard, I was afraid the mobs would report me and get me banned!

And it was fun!

It was awesome how my Charr grunted and snarled as he did his #2 (that’s 100 Blades, people). Add stacks of might and Fury to that and it was a dream come true! Toughness and Condition Damage? What the kitten was I thinking?! If I want to win, I’ve gotta go PP! Power and Precision paves the path to victory!

I’ve since done the same for my Ranger and now *terrorize* Karka and Sharks. They are dropping so fast that I can’t tell if I’m killing them or they are committing suicide!

Rest in peace T/V/C builds. You’ve done me great service, but your time has come.

tl;dr; – I have to go PP and do a #2.

-Vawn

mesme.5028:

A-net we get it we really do, we can jump in gw2 now /yey

You must forgive them. When game developers get new toys to play with, they tend to get carried away.

Josh: Hey Colin, we’re adding a Z-axis to the next game!
Colin: Cool story, bro’
Josh: I’m serious!
Colin: No way, Get out! Really?
Josh: It’s going down, bro!
Colin: How many meters are we putting on that Z-axis?
Josh: Over nine thousaaaannnnndddddd!
Colin and Josh together: *ROFL* *Bro-fist!* *Chest Bump!*
Josh: Dude.
Colin: Dude, what?
Josh: Jumping puzzles…
Colin’s eyes widen and glisten all Anime “Pretty Boy”-like!
Josh slaps a bottle of 9-hour energy into Colin’s hands and grins like a maniac!

And then…OH SNAP! *BAM* Morrigan’s Spiral! *BAM* Mad King’s Clocktower!
Dead players everywhere! Hell breaks loose! Chaos!

Colin: This is awesome! Dude, we’re gonna have to start selling space-bars!

Anyway, jumping is cool, but I’ve also had my fair share of jump hate too. Do you know how many times I died at that part in the Dark Reverie jumping puzzle? Over ni…oh, forget it.

Vawn: Ok…if I take a running jump right off the very edge of this mushroom cap at exactly this angle, then do a 30-degree mid-air turn as I reach the edge of the higher one, I should be able to make…*screamdie #4087*

-Vawn

P.S.: I finally did complete the puzzle, after about a month or so of dying over and over.

—
“I died. I died again. Hey! I died again.” That’s great. We just don’t want players to die in Guild Wars 2 – Jumping Puzzles: The new MMO paradigm

Sunday is winding down here in EST and I have grouped with two persons who have read this thread since Saturday. A humble success, but still a success (and there’s still plenty of time before the 12th!). Thanks guys, it was awesome – and you are awesome.

And while I received none of the more valuable rewards, at least one day I will be able to tell my grandchildren at the dinner table:

“You should be thankful! Phhhtttpht! Going to a store and buying a recipe book?! When we were your age, we had to take on Charrnold Schwarzenegger and a flying mole to learn how to make that mushroom bread you’re eating!”

-Vawn – Battle Chef

Edit: Make that three people
—
“Three.
That’s the magic number
Yes it is.
It’s the magic number
Somewhere in this Guildwars 2 community
Was born three <redacted>, <redacted>, and me
And that’s the magic number”

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Vawn.3041:

And you’re warmly welcomed to do so

Thank you for filling in yesterday

The real credit goes to you and the remaining members of your team for toughing it out after losing the fifth. The group’s “can do” attitude is what enabled the success to happen. That is, everyone was still fighting as hard as they could despite prior wipes, accumulating repair costs and time . If not for that, it wouldn’t have mattered if I were there or not because no single person can carry a fight.

However, thank you for inviting me! I love my new mushroom loaf recipe. It’s so cute. I’m going to pet it, and love it, and call it “George”.

-Vawn

LameFox.6349:

Vawn.3041:

Btw – I did try to solo it and got to the end of the tunnel in the first part. Champion Translucent Ooze and Associates were waiting there <snip>

lol, that was the one I got in a duo-run first time into the dungeon. <snip>
.

Dude, it was pretty bad. I walked up to the Champion Ooze and got snuck. I mean, I got housed. They put a serious bum rush all up in my house.

Vawn: "HEY! One of those so-called “oozes” just snuck me in the face!"

LameFox.6349:

Have you tried guesting? Maybe the one you’re on, people just aren’t that interested.

Guesting on a populated server and LFG-ing outside the dungeon is a good
suggestion. A happier solution, IMO, would be to find a group of kindred
spirits – people who have read this posting and have found it resonates
with their own feelings.

I think that type of “quiet understanding” amongst a group of people
who are otherwise strangers, has an increased likelihood of spawning the kind
of synergy that results in a positive experience for everyone involved.
When you generally PUG, you get what you get. Unarguably, both approaches
are dice-rolls. But I think the former stacks the odds a bit better.

That is not to say I’ve rejected your suggestion – it is obviously a
good one. I’m just presenting another aspect that might answer
“Why doesn’t Vawn just go to Tarnished Coast or somewhere and LFG?”

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

I might whisper you in game later

And you’re warmly welcomed to do so

Rezzet.3614:

if you make another “Solo” players party hit me up

I’ll be standing outside the dungeon on Kaineng very shortly after posting
this so I’ll try to send you a whisper. Bear in mind that this effort is
still not “ready to go” as we’d still want a full group. The kind player who
mailed me last night has not yet responded to my response – so me and you
would make two. The most unfavorable outcome would be to have you standing around wasting time during this limited event.

Btw: I’d be going as Guardian, having suffered some nasty PTSD after getting chmod 007‘ed. (that’s geek for “owned”) by that Champion Ooze Booze. I never want to get hit that hard again.

- Vawn, The Ch-mod zero, zero, seven’ed. (Devs: Can I have this as an in-game title? ;-))

Hi Fox

LameFox.6349:

Is it NA? Don’t remember Kaineng.

Yes, it is.

Update:
I’ve had one response – today (and that’s sure better than zero!)
Saturday is just around the corner, folks, so come on down!

Btw – I did try to solo it and got to the end of the tunnel in the first part. Champion Translucent Ooze and Associates were waiting there, pinky-tipping back their breakfast teacups. When they saw me they put down their drinks and stood from their chairs and did this (see image). And then…you know: It got ugly.

This seems like the most appropriate location for this post. Players Helping Players seems inappropriate, because the category is too broad. If I am wrong, please forgive me. This post will have to be fast, as I do not have a lot of time at the moment, and may seem curt – though is not my intention.

I’m looking for solo players – players who, like me, typically avoid grouping because of the “stuff” that comes along with it – to do this dungeon and get the rewards. I will make myself available as much as possible.

What I guarantee to you from myself:

• Cool, laid back, mature, and funny at times.

• Patient. Will not yell at you for dying or become impatient if you want to explore or look at cutscenes

• Will never initiate or vote to kick you (unless your behavior actually warrants it)

• All professions are welcome. Bring your profession and represent!

• I care that you get the rewards that you want, it’s not just all about me. I will put myself out there for you, because I want you to have fun. (i.e., I’m cool with multiple runs)

• Happy trails to you: I will not burden you with the discomfort of a guild invite or friend request once it’s all over. A bow, a smile, and a wave.

If you are not a “solo” player, but a cool, mature person. You are welcome too.

My info:

• Server: Kaineng

• Time Zone: EST

• Availability: Weekdays ~6pm-10pm, Weekends: ~all day

Please send me a private message if you are interested.
Let’s do this dungeon and get these rewards, guys.

I am unsure if cross-server parties can do this dungeon, but it would be great as it would increase the pool of potential respondents.

P.S.: I have not used the popular gw2lfg site, and am unsure if this kind of post would be appropriate there.

Moderators: Please don’t taze my post, bro’!

Thanks!

-Vawn

Hi,

I’ve noticed recently that battle music cuts abruptly and completely into silence once fights end instead of fading out as it has in the past. I can find no other posts identifying this as an issue or an intentional change. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is there a way to re-enable fade-out? Is it my system (which I’ve not modified).

Thanks!

-Vawn

Destroyer trolls have a defensive stance in which they stand still and do not attack. For the stance’s duration, anyone who attacks them receives the burn condition.

To independently verify my claim:

• Find a Destroyer troll.

• Get into aggro range. Do not initiate combat, but get it to chase you. Try not to aggro more than one as that will complicate the experiment.

• Run around until it stops and goes into a crouching stance. They normally do this very early in the fight so it should not take long. Once it does so, strike it once. [ 1 ] You will burn. Immediately stow your weapon [ 2 ].

• It will eventually leave the stance and run towards you. When it does so, strike it. You will not burn.

• Repeat until you are convinced.

• Profit

I used to get destroyed by these things until I figured this out. Now I troll them just because I can.

[ 1 ] And strike it hard… for science!

[ 2 ] If you have not set up a keybinding for stowing weapons, do so because there is no binding at all by default. Hit F11, go to the Control Options tab, scroll down to the Miscellaneous section (at the bottom) and set “Stow / Draw weapons”.

-Vawn

—

“Set a fire for a man and he is warm for a night. Set a man on fire and he is warm for the rest of his life!”

— Unknown Destroyer Troll

Snow White.9680:

It is FAR too easy to stalk someone in this game.

-People can add you to friends without your knowledge or permission and see everything about you.

Thank you for bringing attention to this issue, Snow White. Several weeks after the game’s release, I discovered entries on my followers tab of people I did not know and had never spoken with. I then familiarized myself with the contact list’s features (I had never used it until then) and thought it very unsettling the account name, current character name, location, and achievement points are exposed without the player being asked to grant permission to that information – or be even notified that someone has it! I submitted a ticket through Anet’s support website inquiring how to disallow followers. The answer was you couldn’t, but to post a Suggestion.

Some time later in this post , a player who reported being stalked asked for means of removing entries from the contact list. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, some (not all) who replied treated this individual with little civility. My guess as to that behavior is that some are unsympathetic to concerns of others because they do not immediately apply to their own situations. This is regrettable because those types of responses can function to derail or mask a meritorious concern that is deserving of attention – but there you have it.

I hope for positive developments regarding privacy enhancements in future updates. Get Josh Forearm on it, that man knows how to get things done. (Oh, I’m just kidding with the misspelling, Mr. Foreman) Anyway, let’s keep our fingers crossed.

-Vawn

I’ll second (hundred thousand) that sentiment.
Thanks Josh (et. al), you’ve done a really bang-up job!
You make a pretty mean barbeque grill too.

Oh, wait. That’s a different Josh. That one is a box…oh, then I guess it is you. Awesome grill, dude – Mad props. I’ll gladly treat you and your team to a round of chocolate malteds if you’re ever in my area.

-Vawn

MikeRocks.9243:

sorrow.4628:

So now that I have eight level eighty characters (one of each class), what is there to do?

The answer is, obviously, to get more characters to 80!

My goal at the moment is to have a max level character of every race, armor class, and gender, so roughly 30 level 80 characters.

Don’t do it, dude! If Anet ever announces a raise of the level cap, here’s what will happen (Skip to 0:27). The guy in the garden is going to be you, and I imagine it will be embarrassing explaining later to your friends and family what triggered it. And if any of them post about it, you will become an “Internet celebrity”. You don’t want that.

Anet: Level cap…a’ hunnit! Who the dog is?!
MikeRocks: (does the guy at 0:27)
Anet earns 97exp and 47 bonus exp. (FF fanfare plays, just because)

You don’t want to rock like that, Mike. You don’t want to rock like that.

-Vawn, saving you from becoming an Internet Celebrity

—
P.S.: For kitten’s sake, someone give that man in the video an Emmy!

This was an instant buy for me as well. If they were a random drop from the chests, I would have ignored them – as I have ignored the Fused weapon skins, even though I think they look good.

My wallet is a little lighter today, but I have a digital bee-dog!
(In skritt voice) Oh, look at his little rectangular tongue dart up and down… and up and down!
Now who’s a good boy?

When you first zone in from Rata sum, stand still and look at the sky. You will see Tetris pieces flying through the air. Nice touch!

There are a considerable variety of Achievements to pursue in GW2, but there’s always room for more. Are there some you’d like to see? I’ll start with one of my own:

Flipper

You buy an item from the TP for the sole purpose of selling it at a profit over the price you’ve paid. The successful sale of the item is called a “flip” (as many of you already know).

After a thousand flips or so, you’d hit the first tier of the Achievement. But instead of the usual sound that plays, you’d hear the sound of a dolphin barking. Also, instead of a bird flying across the screen, a little dolphin would flip and dive from the top to bottom of the screen.

When you hit the top tier, a million flips (or whatever). You earn the title, Bottle-nosed flipper. This a title track I would work hard towards completing and would display it proudly once I had it! Much respect to GW1 players who have earned GWAMM, but I’d be going for the BNF.

Note that some cheap, high volume items, like copper ore, would be ineligible towards this Achievement.

What other Achievements would you like to see?

-Vawn

—
All I wanna do is a’Rata sum sum and a’boom boom!

Hi Tyria!

How would you guys like a Black Lion Chest Booster item available in the Gem Store? It would temporarily boost your chance at a rare item. The description would read, for example:

“Gain an increased chance at receiving a rare item when opening a Black Lion chest. 15 minutes. Account bound”

You would not know what the modified chance was, just that it was “better”.

I’d suspect:

• A portion of players who are hestitant, but not hostile to gambling would convert.

• An even more significant portion who are already buying keys would buy more, or buy more frequently – contributing additional profit from the booster sales.

This item may be leveraged outside the Gem Store for further profit margins. For example, have the item be a rare drop from high level content. Higher level players are an ideal target as they tend to have a greater degree of investment (emotional, financial) in the game.

The booster exploits this relationship by creating immediate, continuous psychological pressure on the player to buy keys. Unless they right-click and choose to destroyit, of course. But we know many will value it too highly to do that.

You see, there is a BLTC drop that Joe always wanted and he just got a booster!
Sounds like a problem to me. A problem only a wallet can solve.

It gets better.

The booster is temporary. Once the fifteen minutes (or whatever) is up, that’s it.
Now, Joe Player isn’t going to waste it on some measly five keys. He’s going to buy as
many keys as he can afford. Can you feel the power radiating out of statement? As many as he can darned well afford!

Joe: “Get out of my way, credit card purchase confirmation screen! Big Daddy Joe needs him some keys!”

There we’d be. A segment of the players voiced their displeasure with the BLTC chests. The management responded, “We’ll meet you half-way. Here are your boosters. Now what are you going to do with them?”

So… if they were available now, would you buy a booster? Would it have affected your decision to not buy keys to obtain a Fused weapon ticket? (for those that have rejected the idea of buying keys, like me)

-Vawn

Despite the above. I am not evil, but sometimes I have evil thoughts. Elementalists that set (multiple) bunnies afire and watch them flail and burn – now that’s evil.

—
“What the kitten, and I’ll bust your kitten and kitten and fowl, and I’ll slap you in your kitten.”

This is going to be an unpopular post, but the current system is not likely to go away, so let’s refine it.

Players are awarded black lion chest keys upon map completion of low-level areas. This is “good” because it introduces new players to the function of the chests – “your first hit is free”. However, veteran players can create and delete alts to continue to obtain keys in this manner – at the cost of their time, of course.

A possible administrative reaction is to remove keys from the map completion awards entirely. Let’s avoid that. How about limiting the total number of keys obtainable from low level map completion on an account-wide basis?

Sorry guys. If you beat me, do it hard and fast so that my suffering ends quickly.

-Vawn

Disclaimer: This post is not in reference to the Charrzooka Racial Skill but rather the level 80 exotic Rifle Skin.

This is a forward-looking suggestion that might provide feedback on a future decision:
The Charrzooka is so big it clips through the ground. An observer may reasonably suspect this might be the target “being addressed” in the future, hence this post.

In my (humble) opinion, this rifle is absolutely spectacular. The artistic elements of its design are good: the blade on top, the wide, sharply tipped mouth, the jagged edges, etc. However, what pushes it over the top (again, in my opinion) is the sheer size of the thing. If it were “reasonably” sized (parenthesized to emphasize the evaluation is a subjective one), I would not have spent ~20G on it, or even bought one at all. The Charrzooka is so big It-Clip-Through-Da’-Ground, and that’s kitten awesome. Heck, I’ll have to throw another ‘t’ in kitten so it can clip through da’ ground too!

The suggestion: If it does become the target of a change, perhaps move it higher up on the characater’s back so that it does not clip? But let The Long be Long (for long…forever).

If anyone feels differently or agrees, please respond! That’s what we’re here for, right?
(But please keep this in mind.)

Moderators: If you feel this falls more into a “feedback” category rather than a suggestion. Please just take note of the feedback and lock the topic.

Thanks!
—
“All I wanna do is a Rata sum-sum, and a’boom boom!”

-Vawn

Lord Aargadon.4135:

You silly penguin, flamethrower is a utility kit made to attack utilities like minions, not players!

Seriously, cone is massive and needs reduced, then we could maybe see 5 targets or a dmg/range buff

Putting the discussion on damage and max targets aside for a moment, I love the massive cone on the flamethrower. For me, that’s the hook that makes it so cool (see what I did there) to use! I’d like very much it stay for the life of the game.

However, I’d not be opposed to the introduction of a “slider” to adjust its exhaust. When fully throttled, the cone could be short and hit five targets for higher damage a fewer number of times. On the other end of the bar, it could be as it is now.
Just throwing that out there.
—
What’s going on on right now? What’s happening right here?!
He’s a’burning! He’s a’burning right now!
There’s a bear! The bear’s gonna burn too! BURN! Burn you fblblblblblblbll!!!"

-Vawn

I’d like to see an “Achievements” line of shirts. Here’s two for the Ambient Killer line I’d buy in a heartbeat:

• A Charr Engineer is using the mortar turret elite skill to rain explosive shells on the local wildlife. Critters are fleeing and some are on fire or flying through the air from blasts. The laughing Charr is saying, “I could do this every day and not get tired.” (Know which event that line comes from?)

• A bunny is making a mad dash “out” of the T-shirt, with three or more characters hot on its bunny tail (One of them must be wielding the fiery dragon sword.) Off to one side, a Dragon sits on its haunches hanging its head low, looking rejected and lonely. In a chat bubble above its head, it says "…guys?’ This would be an excellent shirt to have available for order in time for Easter.
  —
  “All I wanna do is a’Rata sum sum and a boom boom!”
  -Vawn

Vorch.2985:

Blue…and yellow. Though he was afk, this player’s armor sparked a conversation about how each person has their own tastes.

Hey, look! It’s the Captain! (Fix the URL below and take a look if you’d like)

youtube . com/watch?v=PWmz5eggTmo

He’s doing his Ambient Killer daily…like a boss, in case you’re wondering.

Anyway, about a month or so ago I saw a blue and yellow heavy armor set that looked really cool – so my opinion is the combination is not universally bad.

-Edited YouTube URL to remove the automatic embed in post. Reason: There is one swear word at the end of the credits.

—
“All I wanna do is a’Rata sum sum, and a boom boom!”

-Vawn

Vawn.3041:

A: A level 80 Elementalist, Guardian, Ranger, and Warrior visiting Caledon forest walk in on a swarm of mosquitoes attacking the Warden Light Tree.

The Guardian uses Binding Blade and Pull to cluster the mosquitoes into a closely packed group.

The Elementalist drops Ring of Fire on top of the Guardian to create a fire combo field.

The Warrior uses Whirling Axe inside the field for a Burning Bolts finisher and massive AoE damage to the mosquitoes.

B: And what does the Ranger do?

A: The Ranger waits for a rez.

Dear Rangers: I’m joking! I’m joking! The Ranger does not wait for a rez. He uses one of the Revive Orbs (a.k.a, “Ranger Snacks”) he’s purchased in advance from the Gem Shop after the event is over and it’s safe to be alive.

That’s how Rangers stayed ranged – staying dead (thus unhittable) during the fight. Now that’s what I call ranged! :-)

(yes, I’m just kidding)

A: A level 80 Elementalist, Guardian, Ranger, and Warrior visiting Caledon forest walk in on a swarm of mosquitoes attacking the Warden Light Tree.

The Guardian uses Binding Blade and Pull to cluster the mosquitoes into a closely packed group.

The Elementalist drops Ring of Fire on top of the Guardian to create a fire combo field.

The Warrior uses Whirling Axe inside the field for a Burning Bolts finisher and massive AoE damage to the mosquitoes.

B: And what does the Ranger do?

A: The Ranger waits for a rez.

Please consider a Jack-a-lope backpack cover for the Gemstore.

Here are some phrases you might use to advertise:

• “Get your Jack on!”
• “Tyria’s citizens are all Jacked up!”
• “Get ready to get Jacked!”
• “Get Jacked!”

A pajama set with Jack-a-lope slippers would be very nice as well.

Thanks!