Guild Wars 2

There is a saying in moosh kama kama land…

Fifteen and five is twelve.

Solve that riddle and you will know why she is all over the world.

It is complete and utter BS the way this event was implemented.

Considering there has been overflow in Crown Pavilion for two straight weeks, who thought it a great idea that this event may not be able to be done AT ALL for some people.

Sorry ANet, up until this event I thought they were fine. This implementation is extremely poor (especially blocking access to previous content until we get the RNG zone lucky).

Good luck with the volume of angry players after primetime hits. You deserve all that is coming from this.

It is complete and utter BS the way this event was implemented.

Considering there has been overflow in Crown Pavilion for two straight weeks, who thought it a great idea that this event may not be able to be done AT ALL for some people.

Sorry ANet, up until this event I thought they were fine. This implementation is extremely poor (especially blocking access to previous content until we get the RNG zone lucky).

Good luck with the volume of angry players after primetime hits. You deserve all that is coming from this.

So unless we get really, really lucky to get into main or maybe the right overflow we are blocked from the content and, the Crown Pavilion to boot?

Not happy about this at all.

I like the update. However, the predictability of some things is starting to get stale.

We run around the world popping holographic mobs to beat.
Next update, we run around the world to burn dragon effigies.
Next update, we run around the world getting kite baskets.
Now, we run around the world to find balloons.

Anyone other than me seeing a rather predictable and drab pattern here?

Where are you getting the art district from?

It is obvious from the screenshots that the arena is going to be located where the Great Collapse is. Look at the left side split roof overhangs. These only exist today at the border of the Great Collapse.

Earlier in this thread, I published a screenie of CD decimating the matchup by having the entire EB within 12 hours after reset. Last week it was TC doing the same thing.

And this week, with SoS, it is so much better 12 hours after matchup:

This is to the point of being pathetic.

These matchups are getting ridiculous. It’s getting to the point we are losing players in WvW because they are so insanely stupid.

EB has been tromped the last two weeks and this week is starting out the exact same.

ANet, you do realize this is a major problem that if it continues to wait to be fixed is going to continue costing us players. Come on…..

Last week EB came in third. This week is even worse. Here we go on Saturday morning, not even 12 hours after reset and this is what we have. Two servers being so rolled, the Eternal Battlegrounds in owned almost 100% by Crystal Desert. I mean owning 100% of Battlegrounds already?

EB usually has a fair sized zerg going by Saturday AM. There were a whole “3” when I went there. Why? Because people are getting frustrated with this.

Here is Eternal Battegrounds this AM. CD is green, BP is red (the one camp) and EB is blue (not a single point on the map).

Although, I would like to see what the devs have to say to this:

Green is Crystal Desert (owning all but one camp in Eternal Battlegrounds), Red is Borlis Pass and Blue (of which none are on the map) is Ehrmy Bay.

I can understand the view on fighting on the puzzle – when you can even get to it in the first place.

These type of maps show how some servers just can zerg out the WvW. Some servers are more focused on WvW guilds and this is the result you get. In addition, sending PvE players there just clogs the queue for real WvW players.

And before devs respond with “you don’t have to go there to get the 16 achievements” remember that you just added achievement rewards which makes all achievement points valuable now.

Orangensaft.7139:

DevonCarver.5370:

It is absolutely intended that you can fight people in the JP. The fact that so many people are piling into the map to get the achievement is good for any and all of you who are capable of laying the smack down on them, and, if they manage to fight back is hopefully going to encourage some of them to stick around and play WvW. If you don’t want to get killed by other players, don’t play WvW. Plain and simple. The achievement isn’t required for getting the meta-achievement on purpose.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/wuv/wuv/Griefing-WvW-JPs/page/2

read dev statement and stop complaining

get a group of 10-15 players if you really only want the achievement..
cant be too hard to find 15 players if soooooo many people complain then there have to be soooooo many people that would group up with you

Yeah. Read the dev statement. Great when you run internal servers without lag. I personally have a powerful PC with a great broadband connection, but I have heard many players complain of lag when I haven’t experienced it. I feel bad for those that have to deal with the technical issues in addition.

I would say there are probably far, far more players who respect the unspoken truce of OS than there are that do not. So that alone should say something about the dev being a bit off in what most players think. Running a jumping puzzle is bad enough, doing it while battling is another (and yes, I am aware of the traps intentionally placed in OS for PvP, but I rarely have seen people use them).

Last week, when we had the Aetherblade Chest, Ehrmy Bay was with Yak’s Bend and Kaineng. While I went after the chest alone, I ended up in a group of 5 Yak’s Bend doing along the thin ruined walls. Not a single YBer attacked me, nor did I attack them. Later, near the end, I ran into another group of 5 YBers. Again, not a single one attacked.

I guess it has to do with the makeup of players. EB has always respected YB as a server and players (some of our best battles are against YB). Apparently, YB is the same. My exposure in OS has been one of respect in players trying to get the puzzle done. Interesting to note that there are some servers who do not respect players.

Many have to remember that with the exception of World Completion and OS jumping puzzles, may players are just PvE. Perhaps we should show some respect so we could perhaps convince some PvE players to give PvP a try.

Thank you. Missed that post and it clears up my concerns.

I have a concern.

As of two days ago, you released the new axe and now, for those that acquired them, we finally have three non-disposable items for mining all types of resources. No sooner does the axe come out, and an announcement of a new Tier of materials hits (starting with Quartz). I imagine we will also see a string of new wood and plants coming in the near future as well.

That being said, my direct concern is will the Molten Mining Pick (and Ori Picks) be capable of mining this new tier of materials? This is obviously going to be a concern with a lot of people who spent gems and/or cash on this unlimited materials only to have them obsoleted IMMEDIATELY after having sold them.

Can I please get an answer on this. Thanks,

It’s not gambling, for those who argue. But i will say it is probably not good business as those that use these systems tend to get burned and it leaves a very sour taste (and in the future a closed wallet) with customers.

I am one example. Although I only did about $20 on the chests at Halloween and got diddly, I learned my lesson then. I put a few bucks into ANet and some other store things (character slots, storage, dye packs, keys, etc.). After the October and November events, I have learned my lesson. Haven’t dropped a dime on events since then, nor do I intend to again. In fact, I have cut back my spending altogether as I feel we have moved from providing value to a degree of illusion in coaxing us to spend cash in hopes of something.

For the store, I don’t want a chance at something, I just want to buy it. I don’t want grind so ridiculous and excessive (which ANet’s is king of the end-game MMOs at) that it is designed to get me to buy in game cash with real cash and makes very little sense at all in game terms (ex.: 2g for a rune for 18 slot bag, 10g for a 20 slot rune – ludicrous increase for only 2 slots extra storage).

Fact is, game is changing. You can smell it in the RNG. You can touch it in the Ascended gear. You can taste it in the decreased drop rates. You can see it in the insane end game prices and grind. A shadow is falling over the land that was once a myth, but is now reality.

Thanks much for the makeover kits. Much appreciated.

Couple of suggestions for some gem store items.

1.) Dye Recovery Kit – Allows recovery of a dye color from a character. This will remove it from the character and allow it to be transferred to another character.

2.) More costumes (similar to those on GW1). Along with this, would be nice if costumes could be combined with armor like in GW1.

Just bought one Consortium Chest to see what we get. Got three stacks of new crafting materials.

THERE IS NO PLACE IN THE BANK CRAFTING AREA TO STORE THE NEW MATERIALS!

Please add these mew materials to the crafting area bank. Maybe it is coming tomorrow, but I can get them from the chests now with no place to put them in the crafting area, which means using precious regular vault space.

All those defending ANet in this case need to remember one thing – this is a festival not an END GAME raid.

In any other MMO I have played, all festival gear was always put in easy reach of players. It is meant to celebrate the time of the year. The only other time I have seen this type of behavior from a company (though not as bad as ArenaNet here) was LOTRO’s four year “grindaversary”. That Grindaversary became a pr and financial nightmare for Turbine and, quite honsetly, they still haven’t recovered from the customers lost over it (as a long time shareholder in WB, I am well aware of what the effect was).

Please name any, just any ONE MMO, that has made their festival gear as RARE as end game raid loot before you come back with “it’s a gamble, you should know better.” Any experienced MMO players have never been subjected to festival stuff (especially skins with no stats) that has been treated as raid level rarity. So of course many were taken off guard by this (just for the record, I wasn’t one of them). I feel for them. Some human beings still have empathy in this world – apparently a lot of other don’t.

They are applying MapleStory success tactics to GW2. Unfortunately, they have entirely different market demographics and in the long run, like the other company I mentioned, they will feel the effects of this and suddenly be making content light expansions and selling them for $70 because their player base has become to small and they are desperate to get the needed financial targets.

Like it or not, regardless of your stance on this, ArenaNet just tarnished their reputation over this. Same as the other company did over their grindaversary. It would be wise to remember an old truism: “It takes years to build a good reputation and minutes to destroy it.”

Riel.2160:

Wayshuba.5912:

Sentinel VX.1392:

Wayshuba.5912:

Sentinel VX.1392:

Why do you think casinos exist in real life? Even the government doesn’t put gambling as illegal activity.

First, this is an MMO NOT a casino. When did it become acceptable for video games to be considered CASINOS?

Secondly, the federal government does not put limits on gambling because of the land usage which makes it a sovereign right of the state governments, of which in the vast majority of states in America gambling is illegal. The only exception is Native American reservation lands, which is how most states (like Michigan and Washington State where ArenaNet is HQd) have casinos.

Are you being forced to gamble with keys? no? then DON’T do it.

No one are being forced to gamble their own money to get some silly skins, it’s because they WANT to by their OWN will.

I never bought a single key of BLTC and I enjoy this game A LOT.

Good that you didn’t, neither did I. However, ArenaNet still needs to make cash to survive and deliver all of us content. When you upset the customer base enough that they refuse to spend money in the shop we ALL lose. I’ve been through this in two other MMOs that both trashed their titles for these quick gains. Long term, it does have a negative effect on all of us – that is the main part that concerns me.

there is !!!1!!! gamble chest in gem store and about 50 things that you know what they do and what they give you I don’t really see problem here

All it takes is ONE thing to upset customers enough to not buy anything of the other 50. Fact of business. Always has been and always will be.

Good example, I know quite a few people that have been repeatedly burned by EA and their DLC/DRM to the point they will not buy anything from EA again (myself included) no matter what it is. See the point? ArenaNet has taken ONE item, and significantly upset a lot of customers who now will not spend anything in the store.

Again, short term gain – long term pain.

illgot.1056:

Wayshuba.5912:

zaneber.6908:

ok, so let me get this right.
On the other hand, nowhere in any official response did they say that the skins were guaranteed or that there was a high chance of getting them. The argument relies on the semantic assumption of what “chance” means to you, and that is actually a vague enough term to make you cautious of any assumptions. Some people consider 1/100 a low chance, and some consider it a moderate or high chance depending on the context, but you cannot say that default assumption is that it is a high or low chance.

One can safely assume that you will spend $5 – $10 on a virtual item in an MMO. That is pretty standard. However, when a person spends $100 on keys, gets nothing and then effectively puts another $50 worth for a second chance (since the forge require two chests worth of stuff) and STILL gets nothing it has long past reasonable assumption. This is simply about how do you get people to pay ten to twenty times what they would consider reasonable for a virtual item (remember the outcry in EVE over the $70 cosmetic item?).

What has happened here is simple, it’s a fleecing to try and get more cash then people would reasonably spend. Mark my words, this second chance is only going to reinforce why people will not use the cash store in the future.

The person understood that the items were rare and chose to gamble. ANet did not force them.

I gambled once in another game, lost something like 50 dollars, did not get anything decent, never gambled again.

I will spend 50 dollars on a single in game item if I think it is worth it, but I won’t spend 1 dollar on a chance to win something.

Again, show me in the original patch notes or the store where this was listed as rare. It wasn’t. In fact, the store leads you to believe you will always get something Halloweeny. So, no, not everyone KNEW the chances were rare. Get the point here? Not only were the chances extremely rare, the materials presented to the average player were also very misleading.

Sentinel VX.1392:

Wayshuba.5912:

Sentinel VX.1392:

Why do you think casinos exist in real life? Even the government doesn’t put gambling as illegal activity.

First, this is an MMO NOT a casino. When did it become acceptable for video games to be considered CASINOS?

Secondly, the federal government does not put limits on gambling because of the land usage which makes it a sovereign right of the state governments, of which in the vast majority of states in America gambling is illegal. The only exception is Native American reservation lands, which is how most states (like Michigan and Washington State where ArenaNet is HQd) have casinos.

Are you being forced to gamble with keys? no? then DON’T do it.

No one are being forced to gamble their own money to get some silly skins, it’s because they WANT to by their OWN will.

I never bought a single key of BLTC and I enjoy this game A LOT.

Good that you didn’t, neither did I. However, ArenaNet still needs to make cash to survive and deliver all of us content. When you upset the customer base enough that they refuse to spend money in the shop we ALL lose. I’ve been through this in two other MMOs that both trashed their titles for these quick gains. Long term, it does have a negative effect on all of us – that is the main part that concerns me.

Sentinel VX.1392:

Why do you think casinos exist in real life? Even the government doesn’t put gambling as illegal activity.

First, this is an MMO NOT a casino. When did it become acceptable for video games to be considered CASINOS?

Secondly, the federal government does not put limits on gambling because of the land usage which makes it a sovereign right of the state governments, of which in the vast majority of states in America gambling is illegal. The only exception is Native American reservation lands, which is how most states (like Michigan and Washington State where ArenaNet is HQd) have casinos.

zaneber.6908:

ok, so let me get this right.
On the other hand, nowhere in any official response did they say that the skins were guaranteed or that there was a high chance of getting them. The argument relies on the semantic assumption of what “chance” means to you, and that is actually a vague enough term to make you cautious of any assumptions. Some people consider 1/100 a low chance, and some consider it a moderate or high chance depending on the context, but you cannot say that default assumption is that it is a high or low chance.

One can safely assume that you will spend $5 – $10 on a virtual item in an MMO. That is pretty standard. However, when a person spends $100 on keys, gets nothing and then effectively puts another $50 worth for a second chance (since the forge require two chests worth of stuff) and STILL gets nothing it has long past reasonable assumption. This is simply about how do you get people to pay ten to twenty times what they would consider reasonable for a virtual item (remember the outcry in EVE over the $70 cosmetic item?).

What has happened here is simple, it’s a fleecing to try and get more cash then people would reasonably spend. Mark my words, this second chance is only going to reinforce why people will not use the cash store in the future.

zaneber.6908:

ok, so let me get this right.
RARE
1. Infrequently occurring; uncommon

GAMBLE
1. A bet, wager, or other gambling venture.
2. An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise.

So people spent their money to gamble on a rare skin, knowing that the % would be very low (if everybody had one it wouldn’t be rare)
The because people complained on the forum they go back and pretty much make a new gamble using trash stuff. And again (you shouls know it is still a low %) people didn’t get what they wanted so AGAIN we complain on the forum.
Tomorrow ANet will just mail everyone a voucher for a skin or put them on the BLTC, so that EVERYONE will have this RARE skin…..
I myself spent $50 dollars on keys and didn’t get squat, I then used my tonics and boosts to make MKCs and got a few crafting mats…I moved on and am playing the game happily because I knew it was a GAMBLE to begin with.

Have we noticed the usage of RARE & GAMBLE

Please show everyone on these forums where the store or patch notes say the chance is rare. Please do. I can tell you many of my guildmates do not come to the forums at all and believe the chests are bugged – not that the chance is rare since nowhere in game does it tell anyone that, even to this day with the new Mad King Chests.

This whole fix is commonly known as “rubbing salt in the wound”.

For those arguing that it’s a lottery….

It is only a lottery because ArenaNet set it up that way. They could have easily set this up to either earn in game or just buy the skins outright.

As for myself, I am not mad, just disappointed. I enjoy the game and will continue to play. Don’t enjoy being taken for a ride in a cash shop though, so I will just avoid using any real cash in it for the remainder of my time here.

ArenaNet got what they wanted. Short term cash infusion, long term revenue problems coming from a serious amount of PO’d customers.

This has now turned from a complete and utter joke into a total insult to their customer base.

Nothing more to say here. Done spending money on the gem store for good.

While your at it, can we please get one of two things for the Mystery Forge.

Either allow the tonics to be any of those ever given in the BLCs (I still have a ton of the specific ones). Or allow us to put four of the old ones in to convert them to four Mystery Tonics.

Would be very much appreciated.

Thanks.

epicsmooth.7825:

@Many Pesky Monk.3140

Pretty sure out of a player base of (based on sales at least) 2 million….so yea thats a minority.

Though it may not mean much, this was the exact same stance that SWTOR took (and still do) as its membership plummeted hard and LOTRO took on its ‘grindaversary’ until it seeped into the public media and they ended up just about giving everything away.

Sometimes the vocal minority can indeed be the voice of the silent majority. You never know. But, you do know you are upsetting some of your customers, so it probably wasn’t a wise business decision.

Ekera.5281:

Wayshuba.5912:

Just a quick point, you are incorrect here. Korea just passed laws this year that made this exact thing illiegal and legislation is up in Japan and other countries over the same thing. Right now, the fact they are virtual goods is circumventing current laws, but they are good with real world cash values (i.e., real money is exchanged for them) and therefore many countries are looking into this now.

P.S. There is proposed legislation in the US as well, though it hasn’t made the floor yet.

So, to say it isn’t a big deal when this is going on all over the place, I don’t think so. My bet is, these RNG practices will be legislated out by most countries over the next couple of years.

A quick read of a couple articles on the subject suggests that Korea’s law is intended to stop the exchange of in-game items and currency for real world currency. The most obvious example of this would be Diablo 3 which is currently a big target over there, the reason being you can spend time finding items in-game and turn them into real cash.

Since you can’t do that in Guild Wars 2, not seeing a connection.

We’re also moving pretty far afield of the point here since the vast majority of the people posting in here are those who bought keys, didn’t get what they wanted, and are now throwing out all sorts of accusations and dire predictions about GW2 and in-game gambling and such. It defies logic to imagine people being this righteously indignant and apt to start quoting laws and current events if the drop rates were higher. Do you see the disconnect there?

I’m done discussing the point. I have seen first hand as a shareholder in another company which owns another MMO company what the long term effects of this are financially. ANet is going to do what they think works. It is up to customers whether to spend money on it or not. Burn enough customers they won’t spend anymore money.. it is simple as that.

I didn’t get burned on this at all. But I do feel for, and understand why, those that did are rightfully upset and deserve to do so.

The sub model for MMOs looks better all the time the more you see this type of behavior permeating MMOs. Perhaps it’s time MMO companies looked to companies like Zynga to see what the long term effects are once the customer base becomes disenchanted with the business model.

Cactus Brawler.7415:

"

So if I buy a lottery ticket and get nothing then tell the lottery officials that I should get my money back that is not entitlement? These people believe that through spending their money on a random thing, without knowing the odds, that they are “entitled” to a prize". Sounds like the definition of entitlement to me. They got what they paid for, the chance to get something.

See you at Xmas, maybe you’ll have better odds then. The chests are calling after all"
Blueroseknight.7954

You do know that lottery tickets have the odds printed on them right? As do scratch cards.

Do you think people would be quite as kitten’d off if Anet had given the odds of getting these skins up front?

No they either would of not bothered buying the keys, or accepted the odds and run with it. It’s the not telling people upfront the chance of getting a skin which makes it seem like such a shameless cash grab.

Exactly, even the lottery (or any sweepstakes for that matter) has to publish your odds of winning. But RNG items in MMO cash shops do not. Go figure.

Ekera.5281:

Cactus Brawler.7415:

If the money stops flowing in, then as a Western Developer, NCSoft won’t hesitate in shutting them down.

I wouldn’t be surprised if in the next three or four years, laws do get passed that make these types of grab bag/box transactions classed as gambling, after all if you take a look at say Zynga, governments are missing out on quite a big piece of the pie from these transactions.

First let me say I’m glad we have NCSoft’s COO here to let us know their plans regarding Arenanet going forward. Thanks for that!

Second, nothing you receive in game has any tangible real-world value. Selling gold, items or accounts for money is against the Terms of Service. So it’s not really possible to legislate against this as a form of actual gambling since all you are doing is paying money for virtual cosmetic items that have no resale value.

Just a quick point, you are incorrect here. Korea just passed laws this year that made this exact thing illiegal and legislation is up in Japan and other countries over the same thing. Right now, the fact they are virtual goods is circumventing current laws, but they are good with real world cash values (i.e., real money is exchanged for them) and therefore many countries are looking into this now.

P.S. There is proposed legislation in the US as well, though it hasn’t made the floor yet.

So, to say it isn’t a big deal when this is going on all over the place, I don’t think so. My bet is, these RNG practices will be legislated out by most countries over the next couple of years.

Lastly, to your earlier point about gambling, it doesn’t have to be strictly in money for a payout, just have a monetary value. For example, taking a chance in winning a car or appliance or whatever, still has regulations it must follow as long as it has a monetary value.

Most get around this with virtual goods by saying those items can be obtained without cost, so they have no monetary value – but they can also be obtained for real cash as well – and that does then give them value. As I said, this is how most are getting around it now, but many governments have caught on and are seeking to curb the practice.

Besides this fact – any business practice, legal or not, that POs a lot of your customers is NOT a good business practice at all. This behavior, however, is, unfortunately, why the MMO market has become so tarnished in the last few years.

Ekera.5281:

If it’s in ANet’s best interest to up drop rates to induce more key purchases then they will. If it’s not, they won’t.

Someone explain why spending any amount of money on keys entitles you to anything other than a series of random chances. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Because otherwise it is classified as true gambling and falls under various different laws. They are delivering other goods, so technically you are always getting something, but just not what people are spending money on.

Defend it all you will, in the end it hurts all of us. Those that spent a bit of money and got burned (which there are quite a few) will not purchase again. Less cash for ANet means less content for everyone. In addition, there is a serious chance of this having a public backlash which will hurt the game overall (look at LOTRO and the infamous grindaversary event).

I didn’t get burned, luckily, but I have seen first hand how this type of behavior can serious hurt a game and the company behind it very quickly.

From my past experiences in other MMOs that did this there is some good news.

Players have a 0.001% chance of getting a drop from the Black Lion Chests.

ArenaNet has a 0.00000001% chance of players ever buying keys after this event again.

So, odds work in the players favor.

Paleolf.1258:

It is now 1:35 PM 23rd of Oct for me (8:35 PST), and I am patiently waiting for the event to start.
For those impatient and whining players:
Do you remember having an essay/assignment due on a certain date? Did you deliver it at 12:01 AM? Did your teacher hassle you on forums, twitter etc to hand it in?
I didn’t think so.

Relax, and when it arrives, enjoy; be happy.
If it is late, forgive, relax, enjoy; be happy.

No, but if my boss said he expected given to him in the afternoon, I don’t think he would say giving to him at 8 pm at night was making the afternoon deadline.

Fact is, to say the 22nd at this point is deceiving. If it goes live in the next 20 minutes, for seven time zones it will be the 22nd, for 17 time zones it is the 23rd. Just saying.

Your correct about the Pacific Time (-7).

However, how many companies actually dump a patch at 8 pm or later in their own time zone.

Honestly, the majority of the day is gone. Many players have already said patch is not coming and logged off for night (at least in my guild). So the point is kind of useless.

Plus, they missed the original window of this afternoon anyway (unless 8 pm – 9 pm) Pacific is considered afternoon.

Just FYI, you site says specifically 7 pm PST at the bottom. Not just sometime on October 22.

Also, for most who hear 22nd, they think prime gaming time. 10 pm-11pm EST is NOT prime gaming time. Might as well say the 23rd.

Doxshund.9235:

Ya, this is terrible.
I never seen such open and blatant botting in such great numbers like this before.
This game is infested with them and they are not at least doing manual banning.

I broke down last night and bought pandaland, they got bots but no where near this magnitude.
Anet non action speaks louder than some PR words

Great word – the game is literally INFESTED with them. Very. very badly. Every day that goes by without action probably is seeing more legit players giving up.

It’s like ANet doesn’t realize this is not a problem, it is a crisis. I too, through 5 MMOs over more than ten years have never see such blatant and unchecked botting. And yet here we are in 2012 when MMO companies should be prepared from DAY ONE to deal with this issue.

Sad, the game is just about getting unplayable because of the sheer volume of botters now.

Just logged in after server reset a 5 am EST on Ehmry Bay. There are more than a dozen and a half botters at both ends of Pentient Path in Cursed Shore. Many of which I have reported before.

Logged out three minutes later.

ArenaNet, you no longer have a problem on your hands, you have a disease. Up until today, I have enjoyed this game immensely and planned on staying for a while. But this, this is killing the game and you aren’t treating it with enough urgency. Jeez, all the chat is about is how many botters are running around wrecking the game for everyone.

Good luck with this. Hopefully you’ll see that if it isn’t addressed very, very soon, it is going to cost you a lot of legit players. The game is almost unplayable now. In all honestly, I have never played an MMO where the botting was this bad and it is getting worse by the day.

Sorry, in game mail receipt of gold should be eliminated period.

First, there is NO reason at all to use mail between your own alts in the game since you have shared bank space.

Second, if you want to share money between guildies, then utilize the guild bank.

Third, I understand you guys are working on it, and thanks for that. But it isn’t being done fast enough and the economy is already being effected daily, as are legit players enjoyment in the game (Ehmry Bay Cursed Shore is ridiculous at trying to get anything done at all there are so many naked rangers with bear pets and creative names like [Name removed] , running around). When I look at how fast ArenaNet was able to ban players using the Karma vendor exploit (within 24 hours), there is no reason whatsoever the same bots should be running for days and weeks in an area.

Fourth, and I hate to say this, part of the problem for those tempted to use these sellers is the insane pricing on end game stuff right now. Worse, the Cultural Stuff you could once get with Karma has now been changed to gold, so this makes it even worse.

In short, this problem should be treated with even more urgency than the hacking issue you had going on. If it continues much longer, it will have permanent effects on the economy as well as ArenaNet’s own ability to make cash through the cash shop. In other words, your own business is being effected by this as well ArenaNet so I’d figure this would have swifter repercussions than the exploit bans.

[Edit by CC: Name removed]

Revenant.2691:

Banning the buyer as well as the seller is as important as getting rid of the bots, I agree.

This needs to be done, both quickly and soon. ArenaNet needs to crack down on this fast or the economy is going to be permanently wrecked and so will regular players leave the game.

I am on Emhry Bay in Cursed Shore, and as I write this the botting is literally like a plague now. They are not here and there, they are literally dominating the zone. It is really wrecking the game now for legit players.

There was a great suggestion earlier from someone who worked on Anarchy Online. Clamp down on them fast and hard. Make them lose money on the game itself and the businesses they work for will soon be looking at other MMOs. Permanently ban and player who is found buying gold through third party sources. Put the fear of god in players that they could spend $20-$100 on game gold and be banned permanently before they even spend it.

ArenaNet please. This is a plague now and can’t go on for another week or two even, the economy is crashing fast and the game has become almost unplayable in the high level zones due to the sheer volume of bots. I’ve never seen so many characters running around without armor in an MMO ever. Also, consider how much revenue this is costing you when players are buying from sweatshops undercutting your own store. Please, for the good of the legit players and your own business clamp down on this with an ironfist fast!!!

Evil.9061:

@ Wayshuba

With WvW Being extremely unbalanced while the match making shakes out (bolster mechanic anyone?) and the world being so beautifully made, people have taken more of an interest in PvE post 80 that expected.

Irrational measures have been taken to extend what little “endgame” GW2 has to offer. Buff dungeons, Nerf farming (mats and gold) in hopes that there is still some bit of a carrot until new content is released.

I would buy that if the increases happened AFTER the game launched. But none of the PvP issues existed pre-launch and therefore the decision was made for other reasons than the PvP situation happening now.

So my original questions still stand. Particularly in light of the changes to the dye system (account bound going character bound), I am really curious why so many sudden changes in the “anti-grind” philosophy in the last six months leading up to release.

Here’s my question I’d love to have the answer to.

It was stated about the one run/one piece before, along with the anti-grind philosophy, and people were fine with it before the game was purchased.

Why was this changed at the last minute, and why was it changed to be the worst grind of any MMO on the market today? What was anyone thinking when 70 runs of a dungeon are needed to get cosmetic gear? The same question applies to the absurd pricing on Cultural Gear, Command Books, and a few other top level items.

If this is around the plan to introduce boosters to lessen the grind in the future to increase cash shop sales you may want to do some study of LOTRO and how this blew up on them big time and why they ended up taking it out of the game. There is no more obvious exploit of customers than this (it is not value, it is exploiting). I hope this was not the case, and I feel ArenaNet is much better than this, but the volume of grind at end game from a company that is supposed to be against the grind is hard to explain why it was made this way to begin with.

Renegade.6325:

There are surely plenty of people enjoying these dungeons in silence. They go in with their friends, they play well, they get loot and they move on. At no point in that chain of events would they consider going to the forums to express their opinions; certainly not in the same vein that droves of complainers do. There is no compulsion to say thank you, or admire good work from developers, in the same regard as there is to cry and whine of difficulty and lack of rewards.

There is completely the opposite too. Many in my guild have said “forget it” to the dungeons and don’t come here to the forums. From the exotic gear costs, cultural armor costs, high level crafted costs and extremely low influx of cash on average, many in my guild just do not get, at all, what ANet it thinking with the end game. The all love the main PvE game but can’t stomach the dungeon/high-level gear game – you know, the stuff that keeps people playing for a long time.
Most of them aren’t even aware of these updates, nor do they care, as until they see the exotic armor vendors in Fort Marion with more reasonable costs, and the cultural armor vendors with them also, they continue to write off the end game.
So, just because people are unhappy they don’t necessarily come here also. This was a lesson BioWare learned with SWTOR. Usually, the forum DO represent a good portion of the sentiment in a game.
ANet would be wise to listen, and promptly, to the outcry on the end game/dungeon reward system here. SWTOR was given just three short months to show their players that they listened and cared. They didn’t and are still paying the price as they watched the game dwindle from almost 2.5 million players to almost 250k six months later. A business doesn’t survive on that kind of loss

Overunity.4273:

I just want to say that in previously released mmo failures the pattern seems to be .
1) Issues are revealed by the community .

2) Posts are made by intelligent experienced players as to solutions to alleviate concerns .

3) These players are ignored as the developers feel they know there own game better and know whats best for the players .

4) This situation continues while the players cross their fingers that at least some of the solutions are implemented ,but instead the issues are patched but not fixed and bugs remain unfixed .

5) On seeing lack of community solutions being mostly ignored the well informed and talented players stop posting as they realise they are wasting their time trying to help the game succeed .

6) The core talented gamers give it a rest hoping to see improvements .

7) None of this is noticed until data is reflected upon by the developers and a sudden drop in activity within the game is noticed ,at that point it is panic stations and fixes are rushed out untested and break ore than they fix .

8) Seeing the talented players stop doing video content on tactics and builds and the various fansites having less coverage of the game ,the heavy gamers leave and all that is left are the casual players at this point there is not enough income to support all the future content dreamed of and the road to build it back up is to slippery and the game
never reaches its potential .

Do not be fooled by the no subscription ,every business need money flow to realise the dreams of the company .
If lots of players are active then the cash shop will be active and providing the income necessary to implement and improve content .
Players who stop playing and come back to it later will not be active in the cash shop and the income needed to replace the subscription will fade along with any potential the game had .
One of the main examples to show how longer term players will be forced to purchase from the cash shop is simply bank space .
Boosters and bank space amongst other things will be your subscription if you chose to become competitive in the long term.

Right on. Reminds me of SWTOR. That’s exactly what it was like from launch to patch 1.2. After patch 1.2, when certain changes were made and the attitude was we know better and our players don’t, the big mass exodus began and hasn’t stopped since.

SWTOR is a good lesson from an MMO company to learn what happens when you ignore the player base. It’s one thing to have hard dungeons, many expect it. It’s another thing to have hard dungeons with little reward, and entirely a different thing to have a hard dungeon where the reward is so far out that people don’t even try the to begin with.

Which reminds me of a second lesson from LOTRO – introducing dungeon token boosters in a cash shop will have the opposite effect of what you are thinking. There is a reason they didn’t live long there as the backlash, and lost players, was pretty hefty.

Just some words of wisdom.

Unfortunately, this is the one area I feel ANet has really disappointed in. Most of my guildmates and myself love the game, but also most have already written of the dungeons and cultural sets because of the insane costs. No one can figure what ANet was thinking with this grind being so absurdly high. 70 runs of a dungeon is not fun, especially for stuff that is mainly cosmetic. Same goes for the cultural armor sets. A lot of us like some of the looks and the dungeons themselves keep it from being easy mode, but the grind has most of us already saying forget it, not worth the effort more than once to play the content.

Each chest at the end should give you a token for a certain piece. Since there are six pieces in the set, each leg could give you one of two tokens. Likewise cultural armor sets need to be seriously adjusted. Lastly, the Commander’s Manual at 100 gold is a complete and utter joke (especially since most of the reason for getting it can be accomplished through vent, teamspeak or mumble), especially when everyone in the squad requires it.

It does no good to create content where the grind is so high people just aren’t going to be bothered with it. Honestly, I have to agree it just doesn’t make any sense, both in the last minute change in game design philosophy nor the insane levels of pricing (in karma, gold and/or tokens) that this stuff is at.

I have to say, for a company that said they were against the grind, this is the worst dungeon grind I have ever seen in an MMO – no MMO has ever required 70 runs of a dungeon to collect the gear associated with it, not even close.

Up until two days ago this wasn’t happening for me at all. (US Ehmry Bay server) Now it happens once every fifteen to twenty minutes.

I am not doing diagnostics. It worked two days ago, whatever you changed in the patch broke it and it needs to be fixed soon as this renders the game almost unplayable.

Fay.2735:

Having to do 8/10 runs for 1 armour piece is a bit steep. Maybe 3 or 4 runs per piece (depending on what it is) should be more than adequate to show a persons skill.

This here. On top of the issues brought up by the OP, this is the biggest turn off for most in my guild. Basically 60-70 runs of a dungeon to get an armor set without any significant stat improvements. That many runs is not fun, regardless of what you think of the dungeons. I agree with you, 3-4 runs per piece, not 10-12. Also, this makes even less sense with the lower level sets. Take the Ascalon L35 set. If you got to Level 35 and did nothing else but run AC for the tokens from that point on, you would be level 60-70 before you completed assembly of a L35 set. It makes no sense whatsoever.

In a similar fashion, Tier 3 cultural armor is whacked also. Tier 1 is generally 1/2-3/4 silver a piece, Tier 2 goes slightly over a gold – Tier 3 is 3o times the price of Tier 2. For a game where cash is generally stingy, 130 gold for a set of armor is just plain silly.

Honestly, I am really enjoying the game, but the top level stuff and dungeon rewards (vs. effort), just don’t make any sense and therefore many (at least in my guild) are just writing it all off at the moment.