Guild Wars 2

Mungrul.9358:

Mkalafut.1273:

In the sources, you can pick and choose which aspect to view if you so choose. But the link alone is enough information should you not want to view the PDFs in the source link.

Cheers. Still having problems with the wordings in those articles, and the charts in the PDF are as clear as mud.
Do they mean 64% of sales were Asian since release or just that last quarter? The latter seems more likely.

Glad you took the time to check the facts I posted and sorry about the quality of the PDFs, I’m not the one who makes them obviously and I’m sure that people who NEED to know what they explain know how to read them – and I am not one of those people.

Yeah the latter is correct. Just Q1 2013 is what is recorded. I’m not someone overly savvy with earnings reports or anything but from what I gather, 64% of the total earnings (GW2 being 21%) of Q1 2013 were thanks to Korea, while the United States and other markets saw declining sales.

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

Right. Which is why I called it a trend. I have no doubt that sooner or later we’ll see additional weapon and armor sets in game as general acquisition items that become part of the game’s regular loot rotation or something.

But in general, things are looking grim on that front until those updates do happen. It doesn’t help that we get almost 0 communication with ArenaNet on what they are planning or have in store – which certainly doesn’t help. Because right now people aren’t spending within their comfort zone, they’re being pressured into spending more (because they likely won’t get what they want within their comfort zone) and that’s the wrong way to do it.

As far as we know, with no indication or word from the devs, if we didn’t know any better some may assume that every month there’d be another update with another set of awesome weapons locked to chance boxes.

If you were a player who started around Flame and Frost and saw every set of cool weapons pass you by in RNG tickets, and then the next two months saw the same thing, would you be very optimistic for a change to take place without any word from the devs?

To go off topic a sec, I fully support a cash shop. I’d love to support Anet any way I can and buy things from the shop to support their development, but to LOCK items to that avenue of acquisition and force people to do it is not the right way to earn money.

I’d gladly support them if it felt optional like it did in GW1. (inb4 "everything in the gem store is optional) – it feels like if you want anything out of an event or any NEW item or new content, you gotta get it from the gem store.

A trend is an expectation of the continuation of the same occurrences.

I do think that there is a trend, as I said in the previous post, regarding event gambleboxes.

I do not think that a scarcity of mob drop skin additions qualifies as a trend because there have not been sufficient occurrences to measure. “Nothing,” is not a trend. Now, if we see a mob drop skin added once every couple of years (which would disappoint me greatly) over a period of several occurrences we could measure it as a trend (a bad one IMO). Essentially, in this specific regard, we are at that point where there are just not enough points on the line graph to call anything a trend or pattern IMO.

The trend I was speaking of is the amount of skins added to the game via “gambleboxes” relative to the addition of skins added without them per month. How about that? Better? Also I consider adding nothing per month is a trend of adding absolutely nothing per month. (I feel the need to post an edit here: nothing describes the amount of weapon skins added as discussed in previous posts. I obviously am aware SOME THINGS are being added in some way to the game every month)

Also if you’re concerned with plots on a line graph to be the determining factor in what defines a trend, let me go ahead and post several dots across the “items added” axis while the “time” axis increases on our imaginary line graph.. We now have a nice little line graph showing the trend of nothing being added to the game in the last 3 months (skin-wise) aside from RNG box loot.

Another edit, because 2 weren’t enough, I’m not here to nit pick line graphs with you. I’m here to point out how we have amazing weapon skins in game, and arguably the coolest weapon sets (not dungeon related) are the Fused and Jade set of weapons. They are locked to RNG boxes. Read the OP. This is not a thread about line graphs or what you may or may not consider a trend. This is about problems in the game.

Let’s not derail the thread too much. How do you feel about all future weapon skins hypothetically being locked to RNG boxes and released every month relative to having them available as drops or rewards? How do you feel about making 30s total from doing Arah and having a slightly less than 0% chance of acquiring even one rare drop out of the dungeon? How do those aspects of the game make you feel?

Michael Fejervary.8576:

Something else the development team could work toward is allowing Orr to shift and change for those who have defeated Zhaitan.

This can be done in a similar fashion to how they implemented game changing code into GW1 with “Winds Of Change” where the afflicted are no longer in the zone and the zone is replaced with more of the non-afflicted mobs of that area.

This would allow the introduction of post-Zhaitan event chains to reflect having removed his corruption and working toward new things coming back and a rebuilding of Orr, etc.

Not only that, but then they could add an NPC (or other way) to allow you to change between pre and post-Zhaitan Orr.

In a way I almost expected that at some point it would maybe work like this instead of having a perpetual pre-Zhaitan.

Probably one of the better ideas I’ve seen on these forums. That’s a great idea. GW1 did that amazingly and I have no doubt that’d make Orr more exciting at least for a while. But then what if people want to farm nodes in the “old” Orr and farm events in the “old” version, or the like.

Great idea, probably a nightmare to get to work.

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

But if all the desirable skins are going to be added to the RNG boxes every month, what skins would be available to the general game? Why put them in if they can just make money off of them with RNG boxes in the next month?

Product diversification can often, usually if handled properly, increase one’s customer base. Different skins, atainable in different ways, increases the pool of players willing to spend money on the game. Just as there are players who would never spend $10 on a digital weapon skin but who would spend $1 ten times for a chance to win that skin, there are those who will never gamble for a digital weapon skin.

The goal is to get money from both groups. Providing each with a means of spending money, within their financial comfort zone, is good business if handled well.

Also keep in mind that, in most FtP games (and GW2 is essentially FtP going on a year after buying the box), a significant portion of the financial model is dependent on players logging in and being exposed to various temptations to spend money in the cash shop. Adding something to be farmed, a form of grind really, in game fits that aspect of the financial model quite well.

We don’t know that all of the desirable skins are going to be added to the RNG boxes every month. We do know that they have been so far.

Right. Which is why I called it a trend. I have no doubt that sooner or later we’ll see additional weapon and armor sets in game as general acquisition items that become part of the game’s regular loot rotation or something.

But in general, things are looking grim on that front until those updates do happen. It doesn’t help that we get almost 0 communication with ArenaNet on what they are planning or have in store – which certainly doesn’t help. Because right now people aren’t spending within their comfort zone, they’re being pressured into spending more (because they likely won’t get what they want within their comfort zone) and that’s the wrong way to do it.

As far as we know, with no indication or word from the devs, if we didn’t know any better some may assume that every month there’d be another update with another set of awesome weapons locked to chance boxes.

If you were a player who started around Flame and Frost and saw every set of cool weapons pass you by in RNG tickets, and then the next two months saw the same thing, would you be very optimistic for a change to take place without any word from the devs?

To go off topic a sec, I fully support a cash shop. I’d love to support Anet any way I can and buy things from the shop to support their development, but to LOCK items to that avenue of acquisition and force people to do it is not the right way to earn money.

I’d gladly support them if it felt optional like it did in GW1. (inb4 "everything in the gem store is optional) – it feels like if you want anything out of an event or any NEW item or new content, you gotta get it from the gem store.

I agree completely. Guess it didn’t hurt to try. Just a little disheartening is all.

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

You bring up good points, but once again, if this trend continues, how would you feel if the only way to obtain any new weapon or armor skin was RNG boxes and weapon tickets from said boxes? Even gem purchases, which don’t even support GW2 but instead support Aion and Lineage, should not be the only way to acquire new weapon skins.

It’s been almost a year and the only significant permanent weapon additions were guild weapons (shiny, silver weapons without a guild logo) and Fractal weapons available to like Fractal 30+ as rare drops. Aside from those two, there are no permanent weapon skin avenues that have been added since launch almost a year ago.

Well, no I don’t think I would be completely happy with RNG/Ticket only weapon skin additions. As I said, I prefer to be able to trade gear and I do like the option to get that exciting drop off of a mob.

That said, I really do not think that what we have seen so far is sufficient to call a trend (yet). Thinking purely in terms of what was available in GW1 ten months after launch compared to what we have here at the same point, I think that we have some breathing room.

I completely support your decision to start this conversation as it is better to be early than late in something like this. Letting ANet know how some of us feel on the subject, early enough to address our concern(s) before they have alter our perception of the game in a negative way is a good thing.

Thanks, I’m glad to see more support in this. The reason I call it a trend is because we started seeing it every living story update – minor additions that keep players busy for a few hours before the next mini content patch, but tons of gem store additions and themed weapons that are locked to RNG boxes.

Fused Weapons in Flame and Frost, Sclerite Weapons in Secret of Southsun, and Jade Weapons now. All locked to RNG boxes. Granted, they are taking steps in the right direction with the RNG boxes (making farmable for ones who don’t want to buy but also keeping the paid ones in the gem store is WAY better than locking them to gem store only) – but that’s still making part of the problem only slightly better.

With the past 3 months (including this current month) being any indication of things to come, we will see another random addition to the living story that adds more weapon skins themed to whatever that event is.

Oh, that ! I don’t expect event themed gambleboxes to go away. I do expect that to be an ongoing trend for the life of the game.

What I don’t think qualifies as a trend, yet, is not getting much in the way of skins added as mob drops.

My hope is for those to be in addition to the gambleboxes (which are pretty much a fact of life in the current age of MMO monetization IMO).

But if all the desirable skins are going to be added to the RNG boxes every month, what skins would be available to the general game? Why put them in if they can just make money off of them with RNG boxes in the next month?

Nemui.6753:

Mkalafut.1273:

North America and European customers make up a combined total of only 13% of the GW2 playerbase. 64% of the players are Korean. This is factual information published by NCSoft. The numbers speak for themselves.

This statement is flat out wrong. I took a look at the source you listed later:
http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/13/4325904/guild-wars-2-expansion-pack-is-being-prepared-says-ncsoft

And if you pay just a little bit of attention while reading, you’ll understand that those 13% and 64% are precentages of NCSoft sales. Not GW2 sales and not GW2 playerbase…

You’re right. So if GW2 accounted for 21% of the total sales of NCSoft then those numbers are probably skewed. All the numbers are in the PDFs. Feel free to browse. They’re in the sources page.

The bottom line is that Korean grind MMOs and RNG fest MMOs that they enjoy there is what is making NCSoft money. 64% of all sales coming from Korea is no small number, and obviously they’re going to do what they can to capitalize on that. That is why gem store revenue is being used towards expansions for Lineage (buy to win grindfest) and Aion (refer to previous parenthetical block).

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

You bring up good points, but once again, if this trend continues, how would you feel if the only way to obtain any new weapon or armor skin was RNG boxes and weapon tickets from said boxes? Even gem purchases, which don’t even support GW2 but instead support Aion and Lineage, should not be the only way to acquire new weapon skins.

It’s been almost a year and the only significant permanent weapon additions were guild weapons (shiny, silver weapons without a guild logo) and Fractal weapons available to like Fractal 30+ as rare drops. Aside from those two, there are no permanent weapon skin avenues that have been added since launch almost a year ago.

Well, no I don’t think I would be completely happy with RNG/Ticket only weapon skin additions. As I said, I prefer to be able to trade gear and I do like the option to get that exciting drop off of a mob.

That said, I really do not think that what we have seen so far is sufficient to call a trend (yet). Thinking purely in terms of what was available in GW1 ten months after launch compared to what we have here at the same point, I think that we have some breathing room.

I completely support your decision to start this conversation as it is better to be early than late in something like this. Letting ANet know how some of us feel on the subject, early enough to address our concern(s) before they have alter our perception of the game in a negative way is a good thing.

Thanks, I’m glad to see more support in this. The reason I call it a trend is because we started seeing it every living story update – minor additions that keep players busy for a few hours before the next mini content patch, but tons of gem store additions and themed weapons that are locked to RNG boxes.

Fused Weapons in Flame and Frost, Sclerite Weapons in Secret of Southsun, and Jade Weapons now. All locked to RNG boxes. Granted, they are taking steps in the right direction with the RNG boxes (making farmable for ones who don’t want to buy but also keeping the paid ones in the gem store is WAY better than locking them to gem store only) – but that’s still making part of the problem only slightly better.

With the past 3 months (including this current month) being any indication of things to come, we will see another random addition to the living story that adds more weapon skins themed to whatever that event is.

UnrepentantProcrastinator.7420:

Mkalafut.1273:

It shouldn’t be anybody coming to terms and accepting this BS. Thus why I made this thread. It’s a problem that needs to be talked about and needs to be made aware to the Devs that people are hating what this game is turning into in its first year.

I think people will sooner leave the game than ANet be convinced that their practices are alienating large portions of their player base. The fact that it’s a F2P video game means will more likely walk away feeling dejected than care enough to incite change.

It’s already happening. People are not satisfied with 3 hours of new content per month with no significant permanent additions. This is not a “GW2 is dying” thread, because I still play every day and my guild is still very active, but people ARE leaving.

This post is not even scratching the surface as to all the reasons why people are leaving, but this is just a huge problem that guildies and I were talking about tonight so I figured I’d see what forum-goers thought.

Hopefully we’ll see some Dev replies in here with some insights into the future as plans to remedy some of these problems, but who knows.

Lightning.8397:

actually if they didn’t go ahead and say that the weapon skins are one time event only, it could be in the cards that they might eventually make a reappearance. In some games I’ve played, people who buy them off the event get the “luxury”/privilege of having the skins before everyone else, but they are made available to everyone down the road. Of course, it could be 6 months or even a year later, but the idea is that content made is not subsequently discarded but added into the game for the general population eventually.

Could be a solution.

Guild Wars 1 did SORT of the same thing but that was like 7 years later once the game was making way for GW2. These are problems that need to be fixed soon, not years from now.

UnrepentantProcrastinator.7420:

Mkalafut.1273:

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

Agreed. I said what I said in the quote you posted because that was in regards to tickets. If tickets exist, it should be from just events like what’s happening now. But the thread is more about the big picture. General lack of overall weapons / skins of weapons.

Having rare weapons from specific bosses (refer to what I said about profession bosses dropping weapons related to their profession) similar to GW1, from vendors, etc. is definitely needed. It was fun being able to farm UW for a chance at seeing a Soul Reaper – fun running Fissure of Woe for a chance to get an Obsidian Edge. RARE weapons that required WORK to obtain – not money bags.

A problem is that NCSoft doesn’t care about anything except their Korean customers (who make up something like 60%+ of the games players). Korean players reportedly love buying RNG boxes – and considering our gem money is going to fund expansions for games like Aion and Lineage (arguably the worst RNG / grindy MMOs currently still active), it’s obvious what the priorities are.

Keep in mind that with an official real money to in game currency conversion system anything farmable will be available to moneybags as well as to those who work for it. I guess that isnt such a bad thing. The guy who only has a couple of hours a week to play can buy his Golden Phoenix Blade (please add this) from you with Gold gotten through the gem store (I am sure that we both know that plenty of people got their rare skins in GW1 through illicitly purchased platinum).

In fact that is why I have hope for rare, farmable, weapon (or even armor) skin additions. Your rare drop of the newest shiney is an incentive for someone else to buy gems to trade for gold. I think that there are plenty of people willing to spend money on the game to get what they want who just are not that into gambling for it. I think that there is room for both RNG boxes and farmable skins.

You bring up good points, but once again, if this trend continues, how would you feel if the only way to obtain any new weapon or armor skin was RNG boxes and weapon tickets from said boxes?

I think most people who think about these things have already come to terms with the some of ANet’s more… annoying practices.

It shouldn’t be anybody coming to terms and accepting this BS. Thus why I made this thread. It’s a problem that needs to be talked about and needs to be made aware to the Devs that people are hating what this game is turning into in its first year.

Mungrul.9358:

Mkalafut.1273:

North America and European customers make up a combined total of only 13% of the GW2 playerbase. 64% of the players are Korean. This is factual information published by NCSoft. The numbers speak for themselves.

Do you have a link for those figures?
Please note, I’m not saying you’re lying; I’d like to see the document those figures were published in.

Let me find them again. Will edit soon.

Edit:
http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/13/4325904/guild-wars-2-expansion-pack-is-being-prepared-says-ncsoft

In the sources, you can pick and choose which aspect to view if you so choose. But the link alone is enough information should you not want to view the PDFs in the source link.

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

Agreed. I said what I said in the quote you posted because that was in regards to tickets. If tickets exist, it should be from just events like what’s happening now. But the thread is more about the big picture. General lack of overall weapons / skins of weapons.

Having rare weapons from specific bosses (refer to what I said about profession bosses dropping weapons related to their profession) similar to GW1, from vendors, etc. is definitely needed. It was fun being able to farm UW for a chance at seeing a Soul Reaper – fun running Fissure of Woe for a chance to get an Obsidian Edge. RARE weapons that required WORK to obtain – not money bags.

A problem is that NCSoft doesn’t care about anything except their Korean customers (who make up something like 60%+ of the games players). Korean players reportedly love buying RNG boxes – and considering our gem money is going to fund expansions for games like Aion and Lineage (arguably the worst RNG / grindy MMOs currently still active), it’s obvious what the priorities are.

Keep in mind that with an official real money to in game currency conversion system anything farmable will be available to moneybags as well as to those who work for it. I guess that isnt such a bad thing. The guy who only has a couple of hours a week to play can buy his Golden Phoenix Blade (please add this) from you with Gold gotten through the gem store (I am sure that we both know that plenty of people got their rare skins in GW1 through illicitly purchased platinum).

In fact that is why I have hope for rare, farmable, weapon (or even armor) skin additions. Your rare drop of the newest shiney is an incentive for someone else to buy gems to trade for gold. I think that there are plenty of people willing to spend money on the game to get what they want who just are not that into gambling for it. I think that there is room for both RNG boxes and farmable skins.

You bring up good points, but once again, if this trend continues, how would you feel if the only way to obtain any new weapon or armor skin was RNG boxes and weapon tickets from said boxes? Even gem purchases, which don’t even support GW2 but instead support Aion and Lineage, should not be the only way to acquire new weapon skins.

It’s been almost a year and the only significant permanent weapon additions were guild weapons (shiny, silver weapons without a guild logo) and Fractal weapons available to like Fractal 30+ as rare drops. Aside from those two, there are no permanent weapon skin avenues that have been added since launch almost a year ago.

The point is that they do have the ability to restore things lost. I’m just a bit upset that I’ve spent 100s of dollars in the gem store and apparently that isn’t enough to catch a break when I make a single mistake.

They do have the ability to restore gems or items lost in certain circumstances. I’m not even asking for all my transmute stones back. I’d gladly take 50 stones or even 1000 gems to get them (they can even monitor the account and ensure I buy nothing but transmute stones with those gems). I lost almost 100 stones, almost 2000 gems worth.. I’m not asking them to completely patch my mistake, just hoping I can catch a break from an honest human mistake.

kokiman.2364:

We can complain about it all day long but as long as people happily buy those boxes, nothing will change.

North America and European customers make up a combined total of only 13% of the GW2 playerbase. 64% of the players are Korean. This is factual information published by NCSoft. The numbers speak for themselves.

Even if every single person in the US and Europe suddenly NEVER bought another RNG box (and forsaken any chance at ever acquiring anything that only drops from them (kitten ed if they do, kitten ed if they don’t) ) we would still not even make a slight impact whatsoever.

For some reason the Korean playerbase loves RNG boxes and in-game gambling (look at Maplestory, Lineage, or Aion, or any Korean MMO) and that’s what will keep it in GW2.

Next time you look at a GW2 update, take a look at how much content is being added relative to what is being added into the gem store. You’ll be shocked at how much more focus there is on the gem store and RNG chance boxes rather than actual solid, lasting content that will keep players from day 1 interested in playing.

Ashen.2907:

Mkalafut.1273:

Ashen.2907:

I agree with much, perhaps even most, of what the OP has to say, but I do wonder why the account bound ticket aspect is an issue if the OP, as he says, is interested in, “something to WORK towards.” The ticket system fits that desire.

Are you really looking for the opportunity , “to work towards,” a cool new weapon skin that you want, or are you looking for a new means of income in game via selling low drop rate desirable weapon skins (as was popular in GW1) ?

Not at all. Glad you brought that up. That’s not even something I thought about. Now that you mention it, I’m glad they’re account bound. Only exception to this I can see is a guildy of mine bought 1000 RNG boxes this event to test out the chances (from the TP – no the gem store) and got 3 weapon skins. He used 1 for his Bow then the other two he would have loved to give to guildies who wanted them rather then using them for weapons for alts.

I have 4g on my account, I had a precursor that I got from the mystic toilet and I gave it to a guildy of mine who’s been with me for years who actually planned on making that legendary (the axe). I am not interested in playing this game to monetize on it, I just want to have fun.

To clarify,

I do not think there is anything wrong with the idea of players being able to trade their rare weapon skin drops to other players. I very much prefer the GW1 approach where the more desirable weapon skins could be traded (or gifted for that matter) to other players.

I tend to enjoy having sufficient in game funds to be able to buy anything I like (or perhaps more importantly anything my wife likes) and wouldn’t hold it against another player who got the drop for asking me if I wanted to buy it.

I dislike the fact that so much in GW2 cannot be traded. I would love to be able to give my various transformation potions to friends/guildies/family members that enjoy that sort of thing. I would love to be able to give my crafting buff potions to friends that actually enjoy crafting.

And so on.

I believe that adding weapon skin drops to the game, not as bound ticket purchases, would be a good thing. Tying them to events, or bosses, creature types, or something to get people out into the open world working on finding that new cool skin, for their own use, to trade, or as a gift would add to the things to do in game.

All of that said, I do think that there are a decent number of dropped weapon skins in game considering how long the game has been around. I hope that more will be added just as was done with GW1.

Agreed. I said what I said in the quote you posted because that was in regards to tickets. If tickets exist, it should be from just events like what’s happening now. But the thread is more about the big picture. General lack of overall weapons / skins of weapons.

Having rare weapons from specific bosses (refer to what I said about profession bosses dropping weapons related to their profession) similar to GW1, from vendors, etc. is definitely needed. It was fun being able to farm UW for a chance at seeing a Soul Reaper – fun running Fissure of Woe for a chance to get an Obsidian Edge. RARE weapons that required WORK to obtain – not money bags.

A problem is that NCSoft doesn’t care about anything except their Korean customers (who make up something like 60%+ of the games players). Korean players reportedly love buying RNG boxes – and considering our gem money is going to fund expansions for games like Aion and Lineage (arguably the worst RNG / grindy MMOs currently still active), it’s obvious what the priorities are.

I originally started this thread about weapon skin scarcity, but dare we even talk about the state of loot? The thread is about serious problems, not necessarily just weapon diversity.

Do you guys think it’s right to run Arah (any explorable path) and not get a single rare item the entire run? It’s not ok to run “end game dungeons” and get nothing but blues (worth up to 80c each) for every single mob / chest drop.

I’d love to see what other people outside of my guild think about these issues.

Ursan.7846:

Mkalafut.1273:

This post mentioned SAB and gem store skins. I am talking about the lack of general, readily available, farmable, skins in the game. We have the same 2 skins for each weapon / armor type from level 1 – 80.

Minus the addition of guild weapons (and SAB skins) there has not been any sort of addition to the weapon (or weapon skin) pool that is readily available or farmable besides the ones I mentioned. Guild weapons, fractal weapons, being the exception.

How do you define “readily available and farmable?”

I’d argue that with current exchange rates, the Wintersday/Rox/Braham weapon skins cost about 25G (800Gems). Does that not fall under the category of readily available and farmable? Or are you categorizing them solely on their existence in the Gem Shop?

I am more speaking of weapon or armor skins that are in the game sold from vendors (dungeon, gold, karma, doesn’t matter). Skins that drop from mobs. Skins that are awesome, but also available in the game by means of normal play.

Assume that this trend continues and all future weapon skins ever introduced in the game this point forward were only one-time use weapon skins for 800 gems a piece, or these awesome new weapons were only available from RNG boxes. Would that be ok with you? That’s what I’m trying to say.

marnick.4305:

I wouldn’t take GW1 as the perfect example though. Weapons for looks was a luxury most couldn’t afford. BDS and frog staff with decent stats were almost impossible to get. On the other hand, green items lost almost all their value after a few weeks. Furthermore, temp festive items were the most valuable cosmetics in the game.

That said, I really hope A.net can find a solution to this issue. It’s not a real problem to me but more like a serious thorn in the side. I can ignore it for a while, but not everyone can and no one can ignore it indefinitely.

The boxed weapons will become a bigger issue with every content release. The current implementation with dragon boxes vs elite dragon boxes is a step in the right direction, but not nearly there.

I agree. Don’t get me wrong it’s a step in the right direction, but just look at all the time and work that goes into making these weapons. Jade weapons? Freaking awesome. Fused weapons? EASILY the coolest skins in-game IMO.

No one will ever get them again. All that work and time wasted on a one time event where the weapons were locked to RNG cash shop only boxes. That is a problem. Those weapons could have been introduced as a token reward for the dungeon which could have been made into a full fledged dungeon.

Ashen.2907:

I agree with much, perhaps even most, of what the OP has to say, but I do wonder why the account bound ticket aspect is an issue if the OP, as he says, is interested in, “something to WORK towards.” The ticket system fits that desire.

Are you really looking for the opportunity , “to work towards,” a cool new weapon skin that you want, or are you looking for a new means of income in game via selling low drop rate desirable weapon skins (as was popular in GW1) ?

Not at all. Glad you brought that up. That’s not even something I thought about. Now that you mention it, I’m glad they’re account bound. Only exception to this I can see is a guildy of mine bought 1000 RNG boxes this event to test out the chances (from the TP – no the gem store) and got 3 weapon skins. He used 1 for his Bow then the other two he would have loved to give to guildies who wanted them rather then using them for weapons for alts.

I have 4g on my account, I had a precursor that I got from the mystic toilet and I gave it to a guildy of mine who’s been with me for years who actually planned on making that legendary (the axe). I am not interested in playing this game to monetize on it, I just want to have fun.

Ursan.7846:

SAB, Wintersday, Guild skins, and Braham/Rox weapons all can be obtained through non-RNG methods.

This post mentioned SAB and gem store skins. I am talking about the lack of general, readily available, farmable, skins in the game. We have the same 2 skins for each weapon / armor type from level 1 – 80.

Minus the addition of guild weapons (and SAB skins) there has not been any sort of addition to the weapon (or weapon skin) pool that is readily available or farmable besides the ones I mentioned. Guild weapons, fractal weapons, being the exception.

Astraea.6075:

While I agree that more weapon skins would be nice, you did forget the skins from the Super Adventure Box.

Thanks for the reply. I probably edited it in as you were reading the original post.

Mkalafut.1273:

Edit: I’ll give props to being able to farm Super Weapons, but aside from those, I apply my previous statements / questions.

Since launch day, aside from the Fractal weapons, what weapon skins have been introduced that HAVEN’T been locked to RNG boxes or gem store purchases?

The game is almost a year old and we still have the same basic weapon skins from level 1-80, the same dungeon skins we’ve had since the launch of the game, and the same crafted / cultural weapons.

Am I the only one that sees a problem with these great new weapon skins being locked to RNG boxes and not being readily available as new weapons to the game? Something to WORK towards?

I didn’t get a Fused weapon, I didn’t get a Karka weapon, I did get a Jade weapon – my point is not stemming from lack of or jealousy of people that have these weapons. It’s just something I noticed as becoming a recurring thing and figured I’d make a post about it.

Does Anet have plans to actually put new weapon skins in the game that aren’t:
A) locked to time restricted events
B) locked to RNG boxes or gem store purchases
C) redeemed through account-bound, untradable tickets

If so, I’d love to know.

I mean hell, do what you did in GW1 – lock certain items to certain bosses. Make new bosses that drop weapons that pertain to the profession of that boss. Swords / shields dropping from a warrior Son of Svanir Champion or something of the like.

Is it really such a bad thing to have awesome weapon skins available all year round, to people who can work towards them in game, and not lock them to RNG boxes?

And if you don’t think this is a problem I’d love to know why you think that way.

Edit: I’ll give props to being able to farm Super Weapons, but aside from those, I apply my previous statements / questions.

Edit: Mentioned guild weapons & Fractal weapons a few posts later. These slipped my mind when i was writing the original post.

So what is a person to do when you accidentally remove a character with around 90 Transmutation Stones? Well, I thought that opening a support ticket would probably be the best way. But apparently not.

Long story short, I was switching items around from characters to free up global bank space and decided the bank character I had was of no use to me anymore. As I was previously making some weapon skins account bound by using the stones, I had them all on that character for that reason.

I accidentally deleted one bank character too many(the one with the stones on it) and lost almost 2,000 gems worth of Transmutation Stones (assuming you buy them cheaper at 25 / 500). These are all stones I’ve acquired through Black Lion Chests, map completion, etc. over the course of day 1 of the game being released.

The one time something like this happens and I open a support ticket I’m told basically that I’m SOL. I’ve seen people have items restored this way or even had gems credited to their account when something similar happens, so why was I told nothing can be done about this?

If anyone has any sort of advice as to how to pursuit getting my transmutation stones back I’d really appreciate it, since apparently the people sending support emails only know how to copy paste that they can’t help.

Thanks,
-Matt

Check out my similar post on this topic here:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Question-about-the-hats/first#post2236190

I’m hoping ArenaNet does the same thing with the bonfires. I think this window was too small, there were too many bugged out factors, and not enough people got them even though they tried to be in the right spot, right time, etc.

Please allow those who missed out one more chance to get them just like you did with the bonfires. People will love you for it.

I’ve just been made aware that some people didn’t get their fireworks shows in because every time they tried they’d be stuck in an overflow while their main server was getting a fireworks show.

Not to mention that once again some people in my guild or friends of mine stood exactly where I did during the fireworks show and didn’t get the hats.

Would love to know what ArenaNet plans to do to compensate those who unfairly missed out in those ways.

Danikat.8537:

Mkalafut.1273:

Wallace MacBix.2089:

Mkalafut.1273:

rfdarko.4639:

Especially since it was event that was itself on a timer (5 mins every 2 hours), so if you spare time in the weekend didn’t coincide with those specific times, you were out of luck as well. Add that to how poorly communicated the event was (yet again). I don’t think many people who got the item would feel “less exclusive” if they offered the hat from a vendor till the end of the event.

Honestly, I believe that everyone should get a hat every event that has one. That’s how it was in GW1. The hats weren’t there to make people feel like special snowflakes, they were there to celebrate the event.

The finales in some GW1 events were like every 30 minutes for almost a week.

Which events are you talking about?
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Dragon_Festival_2012

Sunday, July 1
Final event Every two hours beginning at 2:00 AM / 9:00 (UTC);
Last final event begins at 11:59 PM / 6:59 (UTC)

I’m referring to Dwayna vs Grenth finales in Lions Arch with the 9 rings. Those were every 30 minutes if I recall correctly. Or maybe every hour. But it happened more then 1 day.

It happens every 3 hours, but only for 1 day – the 1st January.

Which is why I only ever got 1 Wintersday hat in the 5 years I played. I always go to my parents or inlaws house for Christmas and New Years and the one year I was at home it was because they came here and I could only get one for one finale so I only got 1 of the 2 hats.

Hmm, not sure why I’m remembering it differently.

Either way my previous post is how I feel about this current event and situation.

Regardless, it was Father’s Day weekend. I know people who go out of town to spend time with family and to make this only available for one weekend out of the entire event makes no sense when the fireworks could have been going on since the beginning.

Not to mention some people got them through a bug and some people didn’t even get them during the fireworks show because if you weren’t standing in the exact spot you didn’t get them.

I’m all for one-time event rewards so long as they’re communicated and executed effectively. People not getting them for standing in the right spot, people getting them randomly through bugs, those reasons alone should make an exception to the one time rule and allow people a 2nd chance at these.

Wallace MacBix.2089:

Mkalafut.1273:

rfdarko.4639:

Especially since it was event that was itself on a timer (5 mins every 2 hours), so if you spare time in the weekend didn’t coincide with those specific times, you were out of luck as well. Add that to how poorly communicated the event was (yet again). I don’t think many people who got the item would feel “less exclusive” if they offered the hat from a vendor till the end of the event.

Honestly, I believe that everyone should get a hat every event that has one. That’s how it was in GW1. The hats weren’t there to make people feel like special snowflakes, they were there to celebrate the event.

The finales in some GW1 events were like every 30 minutes for almost a week.

Which events are you talking about?
http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Dragon_Festival_2012

Sunday, July 1
Final event Every two hours beginning at 2:00 AM / 9:00 (UTC);
Last final event begins at 11:59 PM / 6:59 (UTC)

I’m referring to Dwayna vs Grenth finales in Lions Arch with the 9 rings. Those were every 30 minutes if I recall correctly. Or maybe every hour. But it happened more then 1 day.

rfdarko.4639:

Especially since it was event that was itself on a timer (5 mins every 2 hours), so if you spare time in the weekend didn’t coincide with those specific times, you were out of luck as well. Add that to how poorly communicated the event was (yet again). I don’t think many people who got the item would feel “less exclusive” if they offered the hat from a vendor till the end of the event.

Honestly, I believe that everyone should get a hat every event that has one. That’s how it was in GW1. The hats weren’t there to make people feel like special snowflakes, they were there to celebrate the event.

The finales in some GW1 events were like every 30 minutes for almost a week.

rfdarko.4639:

I think shiren was actually agreeing with you, just by being more sarcastic and bitter. If the other living story events are anything to go by, the hat will not be made available. That said, 3 days is the shortest window I think they’ve ever had, too short IMO, and so maybe they will offer some sort of alternative. I very much doubt it though.

Same. In GW1 it was like an entire finale week. Three days? Every 2 hours? Not to mention some people go out of town for Fathers day to actually spend time with family, or something of the like.

It doesn’t make sense to lock something like the hat to a timed window if the window is so small. Like I said, I got my hats I’m only posting this on behalf of friends. I feel bad though when people miss out on things because of a small time window or something.

I understand a lot of what’s going on with the living story is one-time events only, but it’s a fireworks show that could have been going on from the beginning of the event until the 17th rather than the 14th through the 17th.

Shiren.9532:

Play on ArenaNet’s timetable or don’t play at all. Can’t play this weekend? Miss out on your special hats. Can’t play every day for 30 mins but you can play Saturday for three hours? Miss out on six laurels. Can’t play this month because you’re on vacation? Miss out on the entire Dragon Festival.

Play on ArenaNet’s schedule or don’t play at all.

Checking through your post history has lead me to believe that this statement is sarcastic and you’re just emphasizing how stupid it is. If I hadn’t checked your post history I probably would have kept my wall of text flaming you. ^^

Ceallach, what do you mean they have surprises in store? I’ve never heard anything on that subject.

I’m posting this question on behalf of a friend of mine, He went out of town with his family for the weekend and missed the fireworks. Apparently 3 days is good enough to make sure everyone gets the hat?

Anyway, my question is will there be other opportunities to get these hats some time towards the end of the event for people that missed the chances over the weekend? I know in GW1 there was usually a hat merchant at the end of events that would take like 1000 of an event item (could be Zhataffy in this case) to give one of the hat skins for that event for people who missed the finale.

Does anyone know if that sort of thing will happen this time as well? I got my helmets and I know that this friend of mine isn’t the only one I know of who had real life obligations for the weekend that prevented them from getting the helmet skins.

I look forward to hearing back on this. Thanks to anyone who has any info!

(Judging by the forums it looks like my friends weren’t the only ones who had other obligations that prevented these skins to be obtained so hopefully we’ll see some vendor at the end selling them or something)

tigirius.9014:

I’m well known as one of the so called troublemakers on these forums but even I have to say thanks (and I have) about the dust fix as well as future fixes coming, and I too am impressed that they allowed for chests to drop from mobs all over. That was certainly a surprise.

Glad to see that even a forum “troublemaker” can appreciate the small steps towards big change. =)

Ping.5739:

http://www.darthhater.com/articles/editorial/22439-lottery-boxes-are-the-devil

I will just leave this here, and yes i did read your post.

I agree with you 100%. I hate RNG boxes just as much as the next guy. If they must exist, I’d rather them exist in this way. Free ones that drop in-game and the paid ones that the people who enjoy spending money on RNG can buy. They found a great middle ground. That’s all I’m saying.

You will never see an MMO these days (a non-subscription based one at least) that does NOT include RNG boxes. Neverwinter has em, GW2 has em, Rift has em, the list goes on. It’s a source of revenue and while people are willing to shell out hundreds of dollars on them, we will never see them go away. But if they must exist, I prefer not having to spend money on them to get the cool event items that I want.

Mad Rasputin.7809:

Salvagin ectos into dust was a good bandaid to a bigger problem. It solves the immediate situation, but does not address the real problem of the drop rate of the dust.

Having the new dragon coffers drop from EVERY mob all over the map is not a welcome surprise for me. There literally is NO getting away from them if you do not want them. They have infected the loot table and are hampering my abilities to get actual loot.

If I wanted to hide out from the event and run dungeons, I am stuck getting these ‘crap’ dragon coffers there too. It is just WAY too much. I do not want to see another one.

And as far as the wings.. farmable? That is almost laughable. Who in the world could farm 100,000 pieces of candy? Talk about a grind. I highly doubt that is reasonably possible.

Not that I really care about the wings, because as an Engineer who still has his class ignored, most skins are utterly useless. We were told as Engineers that fixes to the ‘hobo sacks’ and other kit skin issues would have to wait because developer resources were being used for ‘higher priority’ fixes and ‘wider reaching’ issues. Come to find out, what they meant was their developer talent was being used to develop more skins for everyone else.

Then, to add insult to injury, I am forced to see these darn dragon coffers no matter where I go. Not a safe place in the game. It literally is like salt in a wound to me every time I pick one up.

You brought up many other issues that have nothing to do with the event and what they changed or added during the event patch. I’m sure another thread would have been more appropriate to voice your concerns about engineer bags looking bad. lol

TOXINE.9523:

so anet has put its workers to make forum posts now

That’s a good joke. Click my name and check my forum posts. I’ve done my fair share of negative posts towards several aspects of the game. Funny that you think I’m somehow affiliated with ArenaNet because I posted something positive.

Balkanwarrior.5132:

Wow. If I were to read this post without ever having played GW2, id probably be as impressed as the majority of this thread. Serious question, how can you guys be so content with this? Anet FINALLY get’s a couple of things right and this thread is making it seem like they’ve revolutionized the cure for cancer.

This post was made to express how happy we are about their hopefully new approach to event related items and the gem store / RNG boxes. It has nothing to do with anything else. We’re impressed because they’re learning from their mistakes and taking steps towards the right direction.

Aye.8392:

If the weapons were available through either direct purchase from the gem store or via trade the way the wings are available via trade I would be even happier than I am with this update. I’d really love to be able to get one of the Jade weapons, but I won’t spend gems on a chance at one — my luck just isn’t that good and the tickets are rare enough in the regular coffers that I sure don’t expect to come up with one that way.

Allowing the players who get lucky to choose between keeping the weapon or trading the weapon would at least give the unlucky among us a way to get the goods.

I agree. There could be better systems in place to award the festive weapons, but it’s baby steps. Any step in the right direction should be noticed and I think that’s what we got this event. I hope there’s more improvements to come down the road but compared to past events, this is making a lot of people very happy. They have a ways to go before it’s perfect, but they’re learning.

Won’t happen, OP. Too many people like the “thrill” of gambling.

Woh this looks awesome.

knives.6345:

IMO, the greatest thing is the Wings can be sold/bought. :p

Exactly. People who don’t have gold can farm candy or coffers and hope to get lucky. Or they can just sell the candy / coffers and just buy the wings that way =) Definitely a good feature.

marnick.4305:

Because of the real world economic crisis which translates to bad feelings in this game. In WoW and GW1 there was a whole lot of randomness involved too, but no one seemed to care as much as today. Farming UW ten times and not getting a single ecto, it happened. Not getting a BDS in dozens of runs was just fuel for the next run, just like the economy was booming at the time.

Currently the world is in a negative cycle, and that reflects on the overall attitude of gamers, regardless of whether they’re actually affected by crisis and/or RNG. The game isn’t noticeably different in RNG aspects from games where RNG wasn’t a problem. As soon as the economy picks up, RNG will no longer be an issue.

Hey wait just a minute!!!… wait.. actually, that’s pretty sensible.

LHound.8964:

KrisHQ.4719:

Mkalafut.1273:

The fact that you made two types of RNG boxes. Coffers and Rich Coffers. In the past, we’ve all hated the fact that the “cool stuff” was locked to cash shop RNG boxes. We love that you can now get just about everything by playing the game and spending time and not being FORCED to spend real money. Tons of us are college students, we appreciate this.

So you were one of the few people that got a ticket on 100-250 coffers, great!
You should know though that people have opened 4000+ Coffers without getting a ticket. The RNG is insane, and imo the way we acquired SAB-Weapons were much better. There should at least be a way that does not involve RNG, because I gave up getting the weapons when i heard the Rich Coffers did not guarantee a ticket.

Edit:
I didn’t hesitate buying Brahams Shield for real money, but spending money on RNG? Nice try Anet, not going to happen!

OP has a very good point.
RNG systems pretty much have to exist in every game. If you look at the chests that appeared since the beginning and their availability, this is a great improvement! It’s true that some unlucky ppl opened 4000 coffers and no ticket dropped. There are cases where 1 coffer was enough to reward that same ticket. However you hear only the bad side of the story!

One of our resident commentators (can’t remember who) have said that the solution should be to reward failure as well. Allowing the wings to be redeemable out of candy is a good way to go, definitely an improvement. The tickets and minis should be allowed too (even 10x more expensive).

The fact is that we can’t blame RNG in everything, and that’s what we see in this forum everyday. Blame your luck instead!

PS: I also opened more than 4000 chests and still not a ticket seen. That does not invalidates that they are more available than previously! Good step IMO.

Exactly, thank you for seeing my point. With this case, with enough coffers opened and still no wings, you can still use that candy to redeem for a ticket if that’s what you chose to do. The amount of options are amazing now compared to the past.

Heck, I got 1 weapon ticket, but guildies of mine who have played the game with me since day 1 who have not gotten one still prefer the new system of how they do RNG boxes and event rewards compared to previous events.

The key here is we have options. Which is an improvement.

Zerbo.5381:

Mkalafut.1273:

The event just started.. it’s an entire month long… there will be more to do. The point of my post was not about the actual content of the event itself, but rather new gameplay additions or changes added. Maybe read my post next time before commenting?

Nobody finds spamming F fun. They also buffed the hologram mobs by the way, in case you didn’t read patch notes. And just because you can no longer flip T6 dust for absurd profit doesn’t mean the patch was a failure.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d rather be able to farm for an item I want rather than have it locked to cash shop RNG. So in that regard, it’s a vast improvement – regardless of your preferences on farming.

So a couple things:
Your post is commending Anet for the changes in the new patch, placing an emphasis on how RNG boxes are received. I mention these changes, as well as how you attain these boxes and the wings, namely, via farming, luck or buying. So I don’t know why you think I didn’t read your post.

Secondly, I don’t know what your personal success has been with these RNG boxes, but there are MANY posts on the forums of people paying a lot of money for rich coffers, and not getting a jade weapon ticket. Additionally, others have opened thousands of the normal dragon coffers, and also haven’t received a ticket and may never receive one. That’s a lot of time, gold or money for nothing. So I don’t think that these people would agree this is necessarily such a great “change”.

Yes, I know the hologram mobs have been buffed- now I wait 5 seconds and kill them in 2 hits. I don’t see how this is any more fun than 1-shotting them.

You can certainly farm Zhaitaffy for the holographic wings. Assuming that you get 250 taffies an hour, it’s going to take you 400 hours of strait farming to attain them. That’s almost 17 days of playing 24/7. It can be purchased for a decent price as you mentioned, but that’s the only new item except for minis that’s directly purchasable. The shattered wings require grinding and gambling achievements, which I have already mentioned in my previous response.

These are, IMO, not good changes in the right direction.

Lastly, I already recognized and expressed hope in my post that the upcoming additions will be more entertaining, not just simply “more to do”. I hope that those changes will be the ones “in the right direction” (although I’m not going to hold my breath).

Well you can’t please everyone I suppose. The way I see it, ArenaNet enabled ways to obtain previously unobtainable rewards locked to cash shop RNG boxes. This way I can use my gold to get wings, use candy to get wings, use gold to get basic coffers, gold to get candy. The list goes on. If I don’t want to farm I don’t have to.

There is no way to get around RNG. Some people get 3 tickets with 10 boxes some get 0 with 10,000 boxes. It’s just the way RNG works. At least now with the new system they added, I don’t need to waste my real life cash on it.

Zerbo.5381:

maddoctor.2738:

Zerbo.5381:

IMHO, running around in Lion’s Arch for hours pressing F

That’s only if you want that achievement NOW, you DO know that you have an entire month to do those. Hitting F a few times per day while you are waiting for a fotm group, while chatting with guildies or waiting to form a dungeon team can be fun

In the end, I’m still pressing F hundreds of times- so epic.

The event just started. Flame and Frost had an epic dungeon ending but it started off pressing F and collecting kitten and fixing signs. Just be patient. You have an entire month to do the event and I’m sure it’ll be something fun.

KrisHQ.4719:

Mkalafut.1273:

The fact that you made two types of RNG boxes. Coffers and Rich Coffers. In the past, we’ve all hated the fact that the “cool stuff” was locked to cash shop RNG boxes. We love that you can now get just about everything by playing the game and spending time and not being FORCED to spend real money. Tons of us are college students, we appreciate this.

So you were one of the few people that got a ticket on 100-250 coffers, great!
You should know though that people have opened 4000+ Coffers without getting a ticket. The RNG is insane, and imo the way we acquired SAB-Weapons were much better. There should at least be a way that does not involve RNG, because I gave up getting the weapons when i heard the Rich Coffers did not guarantee a ticket.

Edit:
I didn’t hesitate buying Brahams Shield for real money, but spending money on RNG? Nice try Anet, not going to happen!

I like how that’s all you took from my post lol. I got lucky, a friend of mine who hasn’t played in months logged in, bought 30 boxes and got 3 weapon skins. Compared to the past where you could only get these items by buying gems and hoping for RNG, this is an improvement. That’s the point of what I said.

Ping.5739:

Was gonna argue some minor points you forgot to mention, but whatever.
This new rng box method is better than old ones.

Still looking for more “fun” activities(other than spamming button) that encourage group of players to participate.

The dust fix doesn’t solve the end-game farming problem.

If you read my post and find the post on these forums that confirms it, the dust solution is something of a band-aid that is just the first part in a drastic loot overhaul that should be done by the end of summer.

Zerbo.5381:

IMHO, running around in Lion’s Arch for hours pressing F, betting 50s on a virtual race that I have zero control over, eating 250 pieces of candy, activating holograms with mobs killed in 1 hit, introducing a drastic change that caused one item’s price to crash in a matter of minutes and only being able to achieve the newest rewards via farming, luck, or buying with gold isn’t exactly my idea of a good patch so far. It has already gotten old.

I’m just curious, how do people find any of these activities fun, challenging and rewarding? Doesn’t all this grinding and farming bore you out of your mind?

With that said, I am having fun with the Dragon Bash if the groups aren’t filled with AFKers (seems to always be at least one). Let’s hope that the upcoming additions do indeed have more “real” fun content, or it’s going to be a long stretch to the next new update/event.

The event just started.. it’s an entire month long… there will be more to do. The point of my post was not about the actual content of the event itself, but rather new gameplay additions or changes added. Maybe read my post next time before commenting?

Nobody finds spamming F fun. They also buffed the hologram mobs by the way, in case you didn’t read patch notes. And just because you can no longer flip T6 dust for absurd profit doesn’t mean the patch was a failure.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d rather be able to farm for an item I want rather than have it locked to cash shop RNG. So in that regard, it’s a vast improvement – regardless of your preferences on farming.

Peetee.9406:

Very pleased

Moa racing is awesome, please continue to add more optional casino style mini games.

Tried that a few times and didn’t like it. Too much risk for not enough reward IMO. But I do like that it doesn’t count towards the achievement, so that’s nice.

Lafiel.9372:

Yeah, I think this is their most successful event patch yet. I’m proud that they have definitely learnt from the past. Maybe i’ll reward them with some gem purchases.

Exactly. They are doing things really great this time around and my guildmates and I really hope they continue down this path.

There’s another thread around here where the previous game designer (now still a dev but working elsewhere on the game) said that Cantha is not out of the game but we’ll just need to wait and see. Hopefully that’s true.

I love the look of that UI box for minis. +1

Facepunch.5710:

The previous skins will be there for viewing, not purchase.

Now what kind of sense does that make? I never even heard of these merchants. Can someone post a source?