Guild Wars 2

-Out-of-character Notes-

Please don’t get the wrong impression, or think I want everyone to start posting exactly the way I do. I’ve enjoyed a lot of what I’m reading, and I’m just happy to see other people getting excited about the game in a new way for many of them.

My bigger issue is when something like ten, twenty-plus pages of meaty, narrative prose pop up overnight and I’m still not caught up on it. I know I’m not the only one who can hardly post because they’re struggling to keep up on the reading. I just want people to be a little more aware of their word count, and what that means for everyone else.

Sophiera.1209:

Just double checking, does that mean we’re done with the scarlet fiasco and moving on to post-scarlet?

I believe so, although I haven’t gotten a chance to read everything. Unless someone is still fighting Scarlet’s minions, though, I think that’s finished.

Fortunately, the meat of Scarlet’s plan was in the set-up, and thanks to everyone being on high-alert already because of the mermaid panic, the battle with Scarlet’s minions went quicker than expected, and the damage to the city was significantly less than might be expected.

Unfortunately, the whole incident had some more lasting effects, ones that may change Lion’s Arch…FOREVER!

((Quick Note: Remember, just because you can write a lot doesn’t mean you need to. Even if your writing is quite good, like many of the long posts in this thread, remember that other people have to read it, too, and it’s exhausting to read pages and pages of story about other people’s PCs, especially if they’re dramatic and don’t interact with other PCs. An ounce of restraint is worth a pound of work sometimes.

You’d be surprised by how much you can do with a little. See the first couple pages of this thread, and I think you’ll be surprised by how much the style of writing has shifted.))

Generally, no, since it will disable most things that will grant you swiftness, including skills and most traits that will grant you swiftness. (Since most of them require you to do something combat-related.) If you have a thief, you could try Expeditious Dodger to see if traits even apply while transformed, but as that requires you to be in combat, it’s not a good general solution even if it does work.

You could also try Runes of Speed / of the Traveler, either of which grants a 25% speed increase with a full set of runes. I’m not sure if rune bonuses apply while tonic’d or not.

I’m doubtful it would work, however, and they’re too pricey for me to give it a try on a whim.

Flissy.4093:

Please be sure you convert one of each of the infinite gathering items that you possess through a Black Lion Weapons Specialist. Then take the following steps to request a gem refund for the extra items
[…]

What’s very confusing is it tells me to convert each of the tools, but only soulbounds ones count when deleting? So do I convert or not?

What they mean is to convert the soulbound tools that you want to keep to the new, accountbound version. They say “one of each” because it’s written on the assumption that you’ll only want one pick, one axe, and one sickle once you can shuffle them around. Do not convert the extra soulbound items you have, the ones you want to get rid of, to the new version.

Then, when you delete items, only delete your extras. (The soulbound ones.) You don’t need to delete the accountbound ones, because those are the ones you’re going to keep.

It’s a little confusing, and not exactly an attractive system to have you delete them first, but deleting them seems to leave a record that the support agent can check, so they can give you your gems while being sure that you’re not still holding onto them.

Again:
Convert only the ones you want to keep to accountbound versions.
Delete only the extra, soulbound ones you want a refund for.

Hope that helps make it more clear!

Darkfusion.1728:

Thank you very much! I appreciate the help. I was considering switching classes but did not know there would be that much of a difference in them like you suggest. If you dont mind me asking, would the ranged character that mainly uses a bow ( i think its the ranger?) be any easier to begin with? Or do you reccomend using a high damage absorbing tank class to start off with as a beginner? Thanks again for the help!

Honestly, I would say to just pick the one that appeals to you, even if it’s just on flavor terms, rather than mechanical ones. Either option should be a fine choice to start out with, so it’s more important to find one you enjoy, to encourage you to keep playing it.

Even if a class is difficult, weak, or complicated, if you enjoy it and have the patience, you can eventually play well with it.

I’ve played a Mesmer through to the end and had a great time with it. Just be aware that, like Elementalists, you’re going to need to keep on your toes with them, since they can’t take a ton of direct hits.

I can’t speak for how competitive they are, but there’s little use in planning that far ahead, as there’s no telling what the state of the meta-game and class balance will be by the time you reach that point. Some classes may be harder than others, but I think you can find a way to make most anything viable if you, personally, are good enough at it.

This is coming from someone who loves Elementalist above all other classes: Try another class.

Elementalist is a ton of fun, but the frequent attunement-swapping, low health, and low armor make for a class that’s relatively complicated to play, and more-than-usually easy to die with. If you find yourself dying a lot, you might try something a little beefier, like a Guardian, Warrior, or Ranger. If start with a class that can take a few good hits without dying, you’ll find the game a bit more forgiving of mistakes.

Other than trying out different classes to see what works best for you, here are a couple other tips:

1) Try to limit how many enemies you fight at once. It might be slow-going, but even many large groups of enemies can be whittled down by pulling away one or two at a time, luring them away from the others.

2) Learn to use dodge-roll. You can dodge-roll by double-tapping a movement key, or by pressing [v]. This is extremely important with a delicate class like Elementalist, where you need to do everything you can to limit the number of hits you take.

3) Be sure to upgrade your armor/weapons. If you’re doing renown hearts (the yellow hearts/quests on the map,) many of them will sell level-appropriate weapons/armor, and the Personal Story will feed you upgrades at a decent pace as well. You don’t have to worry about which stats you use much until later in the game, once you’ve figured out what you want to specialize in, but it’s good just to keep the numbers improving.

Good luck, and welcome to the game!

“My dear! Your role was pivotal. I could never have arranged it without your marvelous distraction. You unwittingly managed to get most of the soldiers and investigators and peacekeepers out of town and into the harbor, leaving the city wide open for my minions to do their dirty work.”

“But Cerise…”

“Cerise? Right color. But think darker!”

Wide open?

I think you’ll find Lion’s Arch has more than a little fight left in it.

Try not to crash on the rock on your way out.

Sounds like a win for everyone if that should happen, hah. \o/

I’ve seen this suggested elsewhere, mostly for/by people farming for The Juggernaut, so I don’t think it’s likely to change much.

Ironic that silver coins should be worth so much gold.

In practical terms, this sounds, as Felbryn observes, an awful lot like a more complicated version of buying gathered materials off the TP. The extra flavor/work might be fun for some, but, since buying off the TP helps grease the wheels of the economy (creating demand for materials, removing via TP tax, etc.) I don’t think the potential fun is worth the trouble.

It’s certainly an interesting idea, and might even be fun, but all the micromanagement is also work, and it’s very difficult to judge what the value of such a thing would be, over just spending the gold on materials from other players.

Adine.2184:

because Eles having 40 weapon skills instead of just 20 makes things more balanced

…Enabling weapon set swapping outside of combat is going to mess with the balance? Even though we can already do that, and this just makes it more convenient?

I’m starting to wonder if maybe this thread is an elaborate social experiment on reading comprehension.

Hah! I didn’t realize the Dragon Bash song still played there. That’s brilliant.

No idea about the other song, though.

Personally, I struggle to play my Guardian because I find it boring. I’m 42 levels in with him, and I still don’t feel like I’ve settled into what part of the class I like, and I’m starting to wonder if I ever will.

I’m sure you can find plenty of strong opinions about the balance of ranger, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot more than I have my Guardian so far. A lot of it comes down to personal preference, so I’d recommend picking whichever one appeals to you most, then seeing how you enjoy it in action.

Player Character.9467:

Ok sure, just give me 8 more weapon sets for my warrior even if they’re only OOC.

These QoL threads that only help the OP are always amusing.

Yes. That is exactly equivalent and not at all a silly exaggeration of what’s being suggested.

…Did the two response posts read the original post, or just the title?

I’m all for this change. Limiting it to out of combat keeps it from changing game balance, and it would encourage me to switch up my build a lot more, instead of “Staff, all the time, because I don’t want to fool with swapping weapons manually.”

(That might not sound like such a big deal, but if I’m switching from a pair of single-handed weapons to a two-handed staff, it swaps one of my weapons in my “bag for all my spare gear,” which is an invisible bag at the bottom of the list, and drops the other in my general backpack, where it gets lost with all the junk I pick up. It’s not a huge problem, but it’s still a pain to have to dig for it and fix it every time.)

Plus, two extra inventory slots for weapons. That seems all right.

Even the phrase “we would be able to toggle to what skill set we want to use” is detail that wasn’t clear in the original post. I wasn’t sure if you meant upgraded skills, alternative skills, skills to be appended to the weapon set and usable at the same time, etc.

If you want your idea to be taken seriously, it’s never a bad idea to go into detail. It makes sure people don’t misunderstand your idea or have to guess what you mean.

Hah, flattering as that is, I’m sure people do great roleplaying in other forums all the time. It’s nice just to have the experience. \o/

I wouldn’t say the title says it all. Care to explain in more detail?

When I recovered from my transformation, I opened the door before me and found myself once more, as luck should have it, having come up by the back entrance to Two-T—

Er.

A fine…eating…establishment. Imagine my surprise when the bartender passed me not only my drinks (I’d just been through a harrowing experience as a skale, shush,) but a stack of letters. Ignoring for a moment the personal implications of people sending letters to a tavern instead of my house, I began to read…

Several days of watchfulness finally paid off, as my supporters’ letters laid out the heightened presence of krait around Lion’s Arch, and even a few skulking around the waters of the city itself! I also received, much to my surprise, a letter from the mermaid, Bubbles, attesting to the same observations my crews had made. Well then!

In light of these new developments, I’ve called off the search for the mermaid; all crews are to be on the lookout for krait instead, and all cargo will be double-checked in case of tampering. Now that we know what we’re up against, the krait are going to find their plans not going nearly so smoothly, by thunder! Could this whole crisis be coming to an end soon?

The mermaid’s letter smelled like an ocean breeze and water flowers. I burned it after reading, then left through the sewer exit, running my hands along the tunnel walls as I went. It would be a shame for the missus to kill me right after I call off the search for the pretty young lass.

Hrm. The lighthouse out by the Lion’s Gate appears to have gone out. With most of my people on watch for krait, I should probably take a look at it myself…

In general, I can’t say I care. For most of my adventures, we’re all in it together, so I support where I can, and take help when I need it.

Really, the only time I size people up is with commanders and mini-games that I’m good at. I know a good commander generally by the quality of, well, commands they’re giving. The tag gets my attention, but only demonstrating leadership will hold it.

As for mini-games, I’m more-than-usually good at Sanctum Sprint and the Clocktower, so I can size people up pretty well on those, based on their flow, speed, decision-making, etc. Since they’re essentially jumping-puzzle-based races, it’s pretty obvious sometimes who’s good and who isn’t.

Dragged away from Two-Ters, I was unable to ask anyone there about the mermaid. That’s okay; it’s not like I was expecting a letter from someone about her to be waiting for me there, anyway.

Midnight (Arikyali) – Pfft, mercenaries like you are usually more talk than stalk. You wanna get paid for keeping the city safe? Take it up with the Captain’s Council. My crew and I are too busy trying to protect the harbor at the moment.

Runeblade - See the trouble your musical antics have gotten me into? Blast you. Blast and bilgewater.

Noir - While the missus was shrieking at the waterfront, I happened upon the letter you left for me at the pier. Your help was less than useful. Only music can express how terrible an experience I had with your “gift.” At least I managed to escape my dear princess bri— I mean, the old hag. Twine-haired harpy. Yarr. Nine-foot troll with a lump of coal instead of a heart.

You’re not buying it, are you? Blastblightandbilgewater, I’m getting soft in my old age.

After my adventures as a skale (see above,) I’m going to have to rest for a while. And throw up a few more times. What in the name of the great, glistening snot of Zhaitan was in that potion? Ugh.

Much more of this and I might even end up sober. Thrice-blasted bilgewater!!

((Edit: Three pages! Thank you everyone who’s reading, extra thanks to everyone who’s been egging us on, and a big cheer for everyone who’s been brave enough to join in the fun.))

Chairman Wang.5930:

The key point is that Anet is trying more and more to push a copy of gw2 against all other choices. A confident company does not chase down profit to the last drop and that is where I think Anet is heading. I’m not too concerned in the short term by the heroic edition, what I am concerned about is what that means for the future of GW2.

…Seriously? You’re worried that it looks like Anet is trying too hard to sell their game to people?

If they were giving away ridiculous prizes, like hundreds of gold, legendaries, permanent stat boosts, or something like that, then I might be concerned, but this is a pretty typical special edition put out to kick-start sales a year after launch. If anything, it’s a little underwhelming, since it doesn’t have any exclusive elements. (Like the GotY of GW Prophecies did, for example.)

Veteran players don’t deserve the Heroic Edition bonuses because they weren’t included in the edition of the game veteran players bought. We deserve the game we pay for, and everything else is icing on the cake. Just because they’ve been made a standard bonus now, a year later, doesn’t mean everyone’s purchases should be retroactively upgraded, anymore than we deserve a refund for the extra money we paid before it got a price cut.

I’m just amazed when people buy one product, and are then baffled when a newer, nicer, cheaper one comes out later. That’s just how product sales work, and it’s perfectly normal.

I’m even more amazed that you see a few non-exclusive bonuses and read that as the company chasing a quick profit and disregarding everything else. That’s a gross exaggeration.

…“A concerning message about the state of GW2?”

Every company does this, or a huge number do. It’s usually framed as “Game of the Year Edition,” but it’s nothing even remotely unusual for a company to re-release a game a year later, at a lower price, with more content.

Is it nice to reward players who bought it at the start? Yes; that’s one function of pre-order bonuses. I pre-ordered and got the three-day headstart, beta weekend events, and, when possible, access to the stress test events, along with the Hero’s Band item. Once the game launched, since I was there in the early days, I got a GW2 hat. Are those amazing prizes? The items are okay, but the beta access was a blast. Don’t forget that we were rewarded for pre-ordering.

I would argue that GW2 has more of a mechanism for rewarding long-term players than most, in the form of the Living Story. Whether you like it or not, there’s a lot of content that Heroic Edition players have missed out on. It’s less appealing to get into an MMO after it’s been on the market for a year, but bonus material helps with that issue.

Add in the fact that everything in the Heroic Edition has been available in the gem store (that is, it doesn’t have any exclusive, new content that we’re missing out on,) and the whole thing is a total non-issue for me. It’s just business, and, in this case, even more tolerable than most, since it’s an MMO. (Unlike a regular game, where it doesn’t matter much if you play at launch or a year later.)

Also, an 18-slot box costs 2.5G. It’s not nothing, but I’d hardly call that a “decent amount of gold” if you’ve been playing since launch.

Brother Grimm.5176:

What is that saying about opinions?

“Opinions are like tonsils: Everyone has a couple, they’re usually harmless, but sometimes have to be removed surgically?”

Pretty sure that was it.

“Sorry, we can’t take any more warriors because I’m already our warrior.”

It’s not as bad a situation as a group not being able to set out for a dungeon because they don’t have a healer, or because they won’t take a ranger to fill out their group, but…It’s not an ideal solution.

I’m only looking at dungeons, because otherwise, in PvE, anyway, no one cares about party composition, because you don’t need an optimal party anywhere else. You don’t strictly need an optimal dungeon group, either, and there’s really no way to “legislate” friendliness among players who want to play optimally. Only real way to improve that is to balance the classes better, which is a work-in-progress.

Laura Joy.4321:

-snip-

Oh scuttle me…

Go back to your lair, you razor-toothed crone! Don’t you have human souls to be disemboweling, or whatever it is you do for fun? I thought I smelled an evil storm blowing; did your Mother come back with your from trip to the Ascalonian Home for the Elderly Undead Evil Incarnate, or is it just toxic air wafting in from Kessex Hills?

I tell you, I’m chasing this girl— possible MONSTER— down for the public good! Leave me to it!

Also, that ghostly whale was absolutely real! Ask any of the men who were with me!
—————
HEY, BUBBLES

SWIM FOR YOU LIFE.

DO NOT LET HER FIND YOU.

THAT WITCH IS THE VERY SPECTRE OF GRENTH.
—————
((You can tell he cares by the effort he puts into his screaming protests.))

Looking to pick up more leads, I decided to check back in at the local watering hole. While I didn’t expect to find the mermaid working there again, there was always the chance I’d get lucky, or at least stumble upon one of her associates in the process. Maybe chat up one of her coworkers for more information?

What’s the worst that could happen, right?

I’m insulted by all this talk of unfairness. I might be a grog-swilling, fire-spewing, rabble-rousing old cuss, but I’m nothing if not fair. One way or another, I’m going to have my chat with this “Bubbles” girl. Catching her alive, preferably unharmed, has always been my first choice.

I mean, I haven’t taken violence off the table, but this is Lion’s Arch. Violence isn’t just on the table; it’s half the table legs.

So, in case I wasn’t clear, I want her caught and brought in for questioning. (Then we’ll see just how unpleasant this whole business is going to get.)

I stopped in at the Black Lion Trading Company to fish around for any leads. I might not like Cap’n Gnashblade, but the old devil is certainly well-connected, so it pays to keep the door open. He seemed to ponder my questions, but eventually told me he hadn’t seen the mermaid. Said he’d keep his ears open, though.

On the way out, I found a Skritt mopping up seawater next to one of the display cases. “Keep his ears open,” indeed, the snake.

1) I think “That would be useful…”

Until I think about anytime there is already other people around, especially world bosses, and consider what it would be like if that number doubled from everyone’s companion NPCs running around. That’s a scary world.

2) When you say 10% faster than running, is that 10% faster than with swiftness or without?

3) I don’t know if it’s at all feasible, but I’m sure there are a lot of creative options if they ever do implement these. I’m not sure how nice they’d look, but…

4) Personally, I think we’re in a good place with balancing revealing and more conservative armor. I don’t mind them adding more, since the armor they do add usually seems on the conservative side, but I hope it’s not quite as revealing as that, or for all armor classes. It would be so popular.

Another one of our ships went down during the night, just outside the bay. We were able to find the wreckage, but there were no survivors to tell us what happened. Needless to say, I am not pleased.

I was having second thoughts about the sea-lass after talking to Chief Glimpt, but the time for deliberation is over.

Find her! For the good of Lion’s Arch, find her!

Eh…

While I’d certainly like an expansion, I wouldn’t pay $80-$100 for it, or anywhere near that much. Depending on the size of the expansion, I might pay $50 if I’m really, really impressed, but too high and I start looking at my backlog of other games to play, games that are going unplayed largely because of GW2’s stream of free content.

There are certainly good arguments in favor of an expansion, but I find some pretty compelling arguments for the Living Story. I wouldn’t say one is completely better than the other, but for now, I’m all right with continuing the LS and seeing where it goes and what Anet can do with it.

Imaginos.3756:

Syeria.4812:

Brutal Arts.6307:

Cries of shills aside, yes the trash in the gemshop is overpriced. Since people are buying it anet has no reason to lower the prices.

If people are buying it, it must not be overpriced.

Someone, somewhere will always buy something for any price. The question is, if the prices were lower would they sell far more and make more money?

The other question is, can we say anything informed on the subject with the amount of information we have?

For what it’s worth, I’ve never had trouble with my Ranger in PvE, and I use a hodgepodge build with whatever pet I think looks cool that day. Serious dungeon runners may or may not take issue with it, but if you’re just trying to enjoy PvE, not speedrun it, I think any class is generally viable.

I think Mad Queen Malafide had an excellent response to a similar question recently, so I’m going to repost what she wrote there.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I disagree with this idea as well. I don’t think Anet should get involved with charities. The Gem Store is meant to help develop the game further, or at least, that is what I assume. There’s also the hassle of trying to get the money to actually arrive at the people who need it, and that involves finding a charity that you think you can trust, and even then it can be quite a hassle.

Honestly, if you want to do something for these victims, organize a fund raising event in GW2 yourself, and get sponsors.

UPDATE:

It seems the government in the Philippines is now keeping all of the money that’s being donated, and not using it to help the victims at all. And there’s your reason right there folks.

No one wants to be the person who says “no” to charity, but it’s a lot of work, even if it’s for a good cause. (And no one wants to say “No, that’s too much work!” in the face of charity, but there’s a reason why we’re not all constantly fundraising for good causes. We’re only human.)

If they wanted to do this as a company, that’s great! But I think we should keep in mind what all that’s asking from them. On the upside, there’s nothing stopping individual players from raising money with livestreams, contests, or whatever else.

They seem steep…based on what?

I can check them with abstract logic and intuation…but that won’t get me any closer to making an informed decision on something that is a pretty run-of-the-mill business question.

I won’t say whether they’re too high or not, but it’s important to remember that “too high” is a relative term, and that kind of evaluation requires context.

For example, some items might be too high for me, personally, or they might be too high to hit that sweet spot between per-item-profit and volume of sales. The first isn’t useful for a business, and the second requires sales data that we just don’t have.

Cassandra Nea.2507:

((Priceless. If this doesn’t end in a mad lovestory for Cap’n Storyteller and the Mermaid, I will never believe in love again))

-chokes into grog-

Certainly not! Harrumph! Shut up!

For I am a salty ol’ sea dog of the highest caliber. Yarr!

And don’t you forget it!

I’m not very interested in which class is strongest, since I’m not very competitive and that can shift with balance tweaks, but I absolutely love playing Elementalist. It has lots of flashy moves and constant action, although it can be a little overwhelming if you’re not into it.

Really, though, I recommend trying a couple different classes that catch your eye and seeing which one you most enjoy the feel of after a couple of hours. Different people are going to have different preferences for what’s fun.

I wouldn’t recommend worrying about what’s “strongest” right now, because, like I said, that is likely to vary with future updates, new content, what part of the game you play, etc. Find something you enjoy, and you’ll have a far better time than something you pick because it has a moderate edge at the moment.

Welcome to GW2!

lordkrall.7241:

I wonder how many of these threads we will see.
We have already had loads of threads about them not adding everything they “promised”.

Can’t people at least wait until the time is up?
They still have 1,5 months which include at least 3 updates left.

This. I mean, sure, there is a lot to say about what we’ve seen so far, and there are some fairly safe bets about what will/will not be seen in the remainder of the year, but if this conversation is going to be framed as a “report card,” with grades given out with a month-and-a-half left in the year…Treating it like a retrospective just feels premature.

So I guess the weirdness is less to do with the discussion itself, than with the way it’s framed in this particular thread. -shrug-

It wasn’t pretty, but my completely real, not at all made up after a series of remarkable conicidences plan to engage local law enforcement in my search by getting my Omnomberry Juice on and dancing my way through Rata Sum ended in success.

“Bubbles.” So that’s your name. Chief Gliptr doesn’t seem to think you’re trouble, and he did let me go (with an armed “escort” back to the Lion’s Arch portal,) so the asura is clearly a masterful judge of character. I’m still not convinced, however! Ships aren’t sinking themselves, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what it takes.

The hunt continues in Lion’s Arch!

FRIENDS

-hic-

RA RA RA RA

RATA ZOOOOOM!

Did y-you know that…that Asura have LABS that ALSO BARS?? And they do experiments on drunking drinkabless, too?? -hic-

This is is seeeriously the most seriously best omnomnomnomnomblurry juice EVER

Capt…Captain Partyteller!! Wooo!!

Edit:

Gilled menembers! I get it now! Cause they’re GUILD smembers. Yeah!

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the mermaid could attract some supporters of her own, but whoever wrote the message floating around Lion’s Arch to rally support against me made a fatal mistake: Asking his comrades to rally at the docks.

You want to see Lion’s Arch, the real Lion’s Arch, you don’t visit the shops or the politicians. You visit the docks. They say there’s an easy way to tell the captains from the rich kids playacting— see who makes it back the following month. And my crews have been in and out these docks long enough to turn this old head grey. Not everyone here wants to get their hands dirty, but they know someone is going to have to sooner or later. Otherwise, we’re just going to lose more ships.

I’m not doing this for myself, or for city hall. I’m doing this for all the sailors we’ve lost and all those we’re not going to lose. Folks on the docks might not always like it, but they’ll not about to condemn me for it. Otherwise, it’s their problem.

I’d heard gossip about some crazy woman causing a ruckus at the Asura Gates, so it wasn’t hard to track her to Rata Sum. I’ll report my findings shortly.

Ah, I better understand your complaint now. I don’t agree with it all, but I definitely understand it better now. Thanks for the clarification.

Best I can do is reiterate my observation that one event isn’t enough for a pattern, so we just have to wait and see what Wintersday brings.

DarkSpirit.7046:

Redenaz.8631:

DarkSpirit.7046:

Unless they convert their free gems into gold and cause all prices to rise by inserting inflation into the economy. Good job!

Because of the way the exchange rates work, if lots of the recipients of free gems did this, there would still be less gold in the economy (because their gold is coming from other players buying gems with gold, minus a transaction fee,) and the players who buy gems with gold will get more gems as the exchange rate improves (however slightly.)

Ineligible players who feel slighted aside, I see no serious downside to this promotion.

So you are saying that those leavers deserve to be rewarded more than others who have been supporting ArenaNet all these time?

If you are then you are being a jerk.

I’d be careful about using the word “deserve” here. It’s a promotional gimmick. It’s not doled out based on who “deserves” it, has earned it, is worthy of it, etc. When you frame the subject that way, it sounds like they’re a government, not a business. These gems are, at best, “rewards” in a psychological sense, and they’re not distributed based on who “earns” them. They don’t have to be.

As for rewarding long-term players, I think updates and LS rewards have provided me with quite a bit more enjoyment than 400 gems. If it brings players back, great, the world is more populated. If they change it into gold, great, they’ve facilitated a (very minor) improvement in the exchange rate. If they leave it in their spam inbox, nothing changes.

The only reason to be unhappy about this that I can see is a sense of “They got something, I didn’t get that exact thing!” Like it or not, we got other stuff instead.

At 400 gems and the current exchange rate, the level-80 scroll would cost 31.92g. Five XP boosters cost 550 gems.

At the price range you’re suggesting, I think it’s clearly out of whack with current offerings. It’s not a perfect comparison (XP boosters can be used on first characters, not just alts,) but I think it’s safe to say a level-80 scroll would cost quite a bit, if we compare it what Anet has shown a willingness to sell.

I don’t mind people buying their way through a lot of time-consuming content, but it’s going to cost them, and it’s going to cost more than $5 to jump to level 80. For a jump that significant, even on an alt, I’m wary of it at all, but I hope people should have to pay through the nose for it, at the least.

Another interesting comparison: Level-20 experience scrolls are a thing, but are not available in the gem store.

DarkSpirit.7046:

Unless they convert their free gems into gold and cause all prices to rise by inserting inflation into the economy. Good job!

Because of the way the exchange rates work, if lots of the recipients of free gems did this, there would still be less gold in the economy (because their gold is coming from other players buying gems with gold, minus a transaction fee,) and the players who buy gems with gold will get more gems as the exchange rate improves (however slightly.)

Ineligible players who feel slighted aside, I see no serious downside to this promotion.

Probably doesn’t help that it’s anywhere from 11AM to 2 PM in the continental US, and, what, 7-8PM in Western Europe?

I have no idea how these trends play out generally; I just wanted to put in a reminder for the time difference right at this moment.

That would be adorable.

Yeah, you could do a lot of the same basic function using mail, but I always find the act of “unwrapping” the gift is pretty satisfying, even when you know what’s in it already. (See: GW2 Birthday Gift)

Agreed, Vol. I won’t say the economy is perfect (certainly not,) but I’ll happily take its particular imperfections over canning the whole system entirely. It’s too useful to do away with, even for people like myself who don’t play the market.

Zerole.7306:

I think the TP is pretty vital to the game, and it would require a major re-work of the economy if it was severely altered (or removed).

That said, I think the biggest thing to hurt Diablo 3 is that it wasn’t very good.

Zing!

I wouldn’t be too hasty to look at D3’s situation and take away from it, “Auction houses/trading posts are inherently terrible.” Diablo is a substantially different kind of game from GW2, and while there might be some useful object lessons in the case of Diablo 3, what works best for one is not necessarily the best for the other.

I’m not an expert on the TP economy, but I do know that I would, personally, enjoy the game less without it. I don’t buy very many high-end goods, but the TP is useful for ensuring I get what I want, and can convert things I don’t want into things that I do over time. If it becomes a struggle to acquire things as basic as crafting supplies and runes, I’m probably just going to skip those parts of the game, rather than invest more time in farming gathering nodes, etc.

People who play the Trading Post might make the high-end items rise in price, with a disparity between the super-rich and the average players, but if I have to go out there and get even basic items myself, I’m not sure I’m going to have the interest in farming areas for rarer drops. So, is the problem the trading post, or wealth disparity, whether caused by the trading post, farming, or whatever else?

(Of course, wealth disparity is going to happen either way.)

Hm, hard to say if it’s a pattern, when the only way to break the incomplete pattern would be to repeat a class. (Something that’s unlikely, if only for the sake of diversity.)

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see, although I’ll be surprised if they introduce too many more important heroic NPCs, rather than continuing to develop the existing ones.