I’ve been playing since GW2 was released. I’ve taken some periodic breaks, but I’ve always enjoyed coming back to participate in the different living world and seasonal events. The last big event that I had participated in on was the Toxic Offshoot (and Scarlet Invasion before that). I was really looking forward to another invasion event on par with either of those events. I readied my bag space and with item boosters ready for use I headed for what I hoped would be a ton of fun, but…
Mobs dropped no loot. This was not the end of the world, but I loved the sheer amount of loot that could be attained from previous large events like this. Having participated in the Silverwastes I figured that there would at least be a bonus chest reward from each sub-event but that did not happen either. After a half hour of running through Kessex Hills from WP to WP, I found that it seemed more rewarding to go after some of the random Toxic events that appeared as opposed to running to the next Mordrem event. Without any drops, I felt that my time and efforts would be better served elsewhere.
Is there a reason that the Devs chose to not have drops?
For some players (like myself), filling my bags with salvageable loot can be immensely rewarding. After running a half hour of continuous events, I would have felt very rewarded returning to town with a bag heaped full of stuff to break down or sell through the TP. I understand the desire to keep gold from inflating more than it already has, but with the new influx of players from going F2P this would have helped them get started.
The final rewards for the event, while somewhat random, were not terrible, but after spending a half hour and getting no additional drops I was left disappointed and no longer had a desire to join the future events.
No XP from Mobs: Switching from my main to an Alt brought me into the Brisban Wildlands, where lo and behold the Mordrem were attacking once again. This seemed like a good opportunity to give the event one more chance to impress me. I had very few of the WPs here, so travelling from event to event was not a valid option. Additionally, lack of experience from mobs within the event ensured that is was not worth my while to continue participating. I could get more experience grinding bandits (and did) than for the event itself. I was left with a bad taste in my mouth and actively ignored the event thereafter.
What would improve future events? I think that many of the posts before me have done a good job of suggesting possible options. GW2 has amazing potential when it comes to group play and participation. Bonus rewards / chests based on sub-events would have helped with initial satisfaction. Tiered progress on the events (similar to Scarlet) would have the benefit of making players work together to complete the overall goal. Loot, XP, and even Karma have already been touched on by far too many people.
This event certainly could have had a better approach to it, and hopefully player feedback can improve the quality of continued events. The bloom rewards gave people something to work toward, but shorted those who did not have large amounts of time to spend on the game this weekend. Thank you for trying to push out some content that we could all enjoy, and please continue to listen to the community and grow from the rougher events such as this so GW2 can be everything we know it can be.
(edited by Vexenedrie.4186)