Guild Wars 2

Wauw, this is really turning into an eBay bidding fest. I count 8 Mr. Sparkles at the moment, nothing below 40$ as lowest accepted bid.

Kruhljak.2705:

Fair enough. And what happens when, in a couple years, you’re still unable to acquire that mini because your peak skills aren’t sufficient regardless of what you may think you’re capable of? You’ve tried 300 times, and it just ain’t happening. A few others have somehow managed it but no amount of YouTube or Dulfy can seem to help you do it.

Do you eventually just accept defeat quietly, or do the complaints begin again?

What if, in another instance, you manage to get it after many, many failed attempts. What do you tell all those others with lesser skills but equal desire, who’ve tried even more than you, but probably will never master the skills needed? Just keep trying?

Do those that want a complete collection have to be at least an imagined level of skill to deserve it? What about total lamers who can barely kill a lone ettin, but want all those cool minis, too? Do you just tell them to shove off, this is only for good players?

To the first, personally I would of course not like that I’m not skilled enough. No doubt about that. But if I knew for a fact that it was possible, that someone else, same class as me (if relevant for the content) had actually done the insane content, I would have not problem with the content. My problem would be with my skill. The bonus achievement for Liadri per example was incredibly hard for me and took me probably around 100 attempts. I keep trying. If I hadn’t managed it this time around I would try and improve for next time the Arena is back. And I would probably keep trying for as long as it exists.

As for other players – Well. With the Liadri achievement I went to the ranger forum, told people I had done it and posted any tips that I found helpful myself. If I had the power to do so, I would probably have recorded it. I will feel for other players, but I would not wish that the difficulty was set down. The high difficulty allows for high skill to be recognized.

It’s like the special titles handed out to the old top PvP players. I’m sad that I didn’t win enough tournaments to get a title myself. But whenever I see a “Veteran of the Arena” or the like, I know that the player has really earned that title. I don’t get the same feeling when I see Mr. Sparkles on eBay.

And all I can think is this is what the forums are missing. Wauw. The massive official responses. When I usually complain that devs are not active enough on forum, I wouldn’t even ask that much. All I really want to say is GREAT job letting us know that you are here, even if the answers wasn’t what a few hoped for. But save a little for other threads!

Kruhljak.2705:

…What happens if ANet goes further along the lines of the Liadri mini? Far enough with a new, entirely optional, “ultra hardcore focused” side event that only 5% of the player base will be able to complete

Then I would ask them that they make the related content permanent or at least occur on regular basis as with Gauntlet. And I would be fine with it because I can always keep playing to try and get the minipet.

JonathanSharp.7094:

Sometimes it may seem like we aren’t listening, or we don’t respond to your posts. But a TON of things could be at work. Don’t assume that just because we don’t change things exactly when you want them changed that we’re ignoring you or don’t care about your opinions and thoughts.

Yet this is my entire source of negativity. Yes, a ton of things could be at work. It’s possible you are already looking into whatever problem we posted, but we never know. We can post and hope it will be fixed in the next patch. And so we keep posting and posting until we see the fix. The problem is that between the issue and the fix is a whole lot of uncertainty from our point of perspective. We have no clue whether our problem has been recognized. You are often very invisible on the forum, even if you read them generously. I have said it before, and I will say it again. A simple mention that “We are going to look into this”, “We are hearing what you say and will take it up for discussion” or even “While we recognize this is a problem for you, we are not going to look into it at this time.” – Whether you have good or bad news, any response is better than no response. Of course you can’t do it with every thread, but it does not take a long time after having gone through a thread to just type that you have seen the thread. Please have in mind that we are patient! We don’t want to wear you out, but we do want to be recognized. – And I feel you (sorry) suck at doing this! So often we report bugs and don’t get any kind of update until reading the patch notes.

As a few examples, take the Mini Mr. Sparkles – There is currently a thread on the frontpage in 3 different subforums, one of them with over 10.000 views and several pages. How hard would it be to write “We have no current plans of making this minipet purchasable from Gemstore” or “We will look into this”?

Or how about this thread: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/pvp/pvp/Tournament-chests-and-transferring-between-server-regions/page/2
Here you actually managed to give an update that the issue had been recognized and that there was no ETA. That’s fine. We can accept that. At least we know it is recognized. But then you left us in the dark for 9 months and counting. The update was in January. Surely you could have dropped by sometime during the last 9 months to at least say “We still don’t have any ETA on this.” – Even worse, if you contact support telling them that you transferred server and don’t receive chests any more, they don’t know anything. They can’t even refer you to the thread, because they don’t know it exists. Furthermore they seem to have a no replacement policy, meaning that the 100+ chests we are missing we won’t ever see. That’s really bad.

I’ll stop with examples there before I rant too much, but what I’m getting at is that communication is so important. When we run into problems with your product we want to know that you care. Not about your product, we know you care about that. But that you care about us. When we don’t get something as simple as recognition we will desperately start spamming the forums, trying to be seen. That’s when the forums flood with negativity because there is no one to help these desperations. Most of us don’t even mind you slowing down on content if it meant that you would take better care of your customers.

Cletus Van Damme.2795:

Another one in Europe sold for $600 (buy out price) in 3 hours.

Well.. That’s 100 down from the last one I suppose.
Now get in this thread Anet.. Pls.

Kronos.3695:

Frayta.4816:

While I sympathize with your desire to have every mini-pet, demanding they give you access to something that was intended to be a special item for those people at gamescom, is a bit outrageous.

Blizzcon, has been giving out special thing like this for people who attend every year, and it isn’t just so people attend to get the latest miniature. Its to commemorate the event itself.

Blizzard also gave the first Reigns of Alar, and an entirely unique bow, to a terminally ill Child named Ezrah Chatterhorn, now, what would you say to people who were outraged that they didn’t have access to this bow? Would you agree with them- or would you be willing to bend, that in fact that bow was given as a gesture of good will to someone- and shouldn’t be tempered with.

I’d agree with you if the mini wasn’t on the minis tab.
It’s part of a collection, and now the collection could lose all its sense.

Ditto! If they didn’t put it in our faces I would not have a huge problem with it either. But as it happens it is made quite clear that this is not just a “unique gift for a special few people”, it is a hole in our collection in the truest sense.

I wouldn’t because it would feel like cheating. It would not be something I have worked towards obtaining as other minipets in the game – Defeating Liadri, doing dailies to get the laurel pets, running Molten dungeon over and over to loot the Molten mini etc. I don’t want to buy my minipets off eBay. I’m tempted, but just no. +I don’t have that kind of money, but that’s of course not your problem.

To be honest I think it’s great they reward people with ingame rewards for attending their events. But why something exclusive? Give them a 20-slot bag, an exotic weapon, a gem giftcard.

Well, they are not forcing us to do anything. But that does not make me any happier. Content should never be released like this. We might as well have gotten patch notes saying

Mini Mr. Sparkles is now obtainable through a brand new minigame called eBay.

…But oh wait we got no patch notes about Mr. Sparkles. Because the kitten thing doesn’t exist in the game!

Mesket.5728:

What makes you think they are not (ANet employees) selling them for $700USD?

They probably wouldn’t risk that rumor going out..

True story. I decided to buy it, not expecting Anet to be THAT dumb. Oh well.
Edit: Expectations lifted a bit again. Thanks Anet. (Now about Mr. Sparkles……..)

Hawk.3574:

I have been doing this after each race for awhile now, mainly to grab the blue crystals. It is quite fun and challenging and a perfect opportunity for an achievement.

That’s exactly why I started doing it While you can’t use skills after having finished, the crystals counts just fine.

SafeFatNoob.3156:

How to you get across backwards on the electric things?
gonna try this the next time Sanctum is up

You can’t use them backwards, that’s part of the challenge You will have to either just aim for it manually, or find an alternative route.

Njordfinn.4921:

As I was at that Community Party I still have a good guess who it was…

Just for fun… How many would you estimate got the minipet?

It took me the spare time of near 100 games, but finally managed to get all the way back from the finishline. The game crashed at the last screenshot, this one is from right after the first lightning jump (You need to save a lightning booster to make the jump backwards) – You can’t make it back to the gates where you start, but you can get to the point where the stage is watery, right before the first waterfall. (On the far bridge in the screenshot)

Try it! It’s actually fun to figure out how to do it, and it can entertain you while waiting for a new game See it as a bonus achievement – It’s kind of hard to do, and you need around 3 additional minutes to do it.

KOPPER.1458:

And there in lies the problem. 700 USD (I think the person nuts). However if a person is willing to pay that amount, then it’s not a stretch to think that normal collectors and players (much akin to myself) would easily pay 800 gems for it. I think 800 gems is even steep but I threw a number out there which is the average anymore for many items. (not overly happy with that average number)

Actually there were a few bids over 600 USD. You can see the bidding history. Several people are nuts

What is wrong with people..
And even worse, what is wrong with Anet.

While I had lengthy conversations with support (Read: They copy pasted a lot of standard answers) I never asked for a refund on the server transfer. You should definitely try that.

Cletus Van Damme.2795:

Sold for $700 USD.

On eBay?

Found a little update on the wiki. Looks to me like its going to stay outside the game.

There were both German and English code cards given out at gamescom, hinting at other sources the code will be attainable from.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mini_Mr._Sparkles

Archon.6481:

No we cannot all eventually afford a lambourghini. I’m pretty sure there are people in 3rd world countries who are struggling to afford food, let alone a car. Those people will never make enough money in their whole life to afford a lambourghini.

Being inexclusive ruins nothing? Lets just do everything like spvp and give away as many copies of whatever armor, minis, or legendary you want because being inexclusive ruins nothing.

I would feel cheated if liadri was sellable on the tp. If you can’t beat liadri then you don’t deserve the mini. And no, not everyone is skilled enough to beat liadri. Some people’s skill cap is flat out lower than hat required to beat liadri.

That.. Was not entirely the point I made.

Okay about the lambourghini. No, you may not actually muster up the money for that lambourghini. But it is possible. It’s a matter of the time and investment that you put into it. You say that’s more than some people earn in a lifetime. Well, for one I’m going to completely ignore Africa. In GuildWars there is no Africa, as we are all equal in terms of what we have available so that argument leads nowhere. But the “lifetime” thing again. I think it’s fair that some have a Lambourghini and some don’t. But don’t for once tell me that those who have one didn’t invest their time and money in getting one. Seeing we all bought the same game I see no reason why we shouldn’t all be able to obtain one with the time and money it requires. It would be our choice. Even if it took us a year of gaming it would be our choice.

I wanted to state that inexclusive does not mean easily obtainable, and per example Liadri, in many peoples opinion the hardest mini they have ever obtained. No reason to hand things out like it was pvp. We just want the kitten option to obtain the mini. I don’t care if Anet is kitten enough to release it for 2000 gems, or as a meta reward for slaying 1.000.000 rats. At least it would be possible to obtain and it would be our choice whether we want to invest the time and money into it. And most importantly it would be within the limits of the game.

Honestly, if they keep releasing in game stuff at events, we might as well all go geocaching.

Kronos.3695:

So, could we know something about it, please?

Signed. This has been on the front of GW2 discussion, BLTC and Clockwork Chaos for days. I think we deserve some kind of response (Entitlement, yea!)

Just because they had them, doesnt mean they liked it though. If I had had Mr. Sparkles as one of the exlusives I would still have a bad taste in my mouth. My collection would be complete but I would feel sorry for every other collector.

I can understand that this does not matter to most people (Nor me to be honest), but from a roleplaying (Or just immersive) perspective, it does break it a bit. The 8-bit theme does not fit in. I will however eat the history that they throw those “beacons” out with kittenty illusions. Question is, how is an illusion killing me?

Just out of curiosity, how much would you pay for the minipet at the most if this was not a recurring event (As in they promise not to do this again for a veeeeeeery long time)?

locoman.1974:

Actually reminds me of WoW… the collectible card game had a VERY small chance to contain an in-game mount, which were very rare.

One of the rarest one, the spectral tiger mount (which TBH looked exactly like any other tiger mount but with a ghostly transparent blue skin) would go for over $1000 on ebay.

Did anyone like that?

But don’t do it man. Anet needs to realize they have to release this ingame as well. 67 euro is just plain wrong.

Archon.6481:

1) I never said skill had anything to do with sparkles.
2) Do you think it’s unfair some people have lambourghinis and you don’t?
3) I would like to point out that coin collectors can’t collect evey coin either. Neither can car collectors. Or stamp collectors. Or almost any other real life collection.
4) Making minis inexclusive would completely ruin the prestige of having it. Do you know how annoyed I would be if you could just buy liadri off the TP instead of working for it like I did?

And don’t say that lambourghinis are fine because you can buy them if you save enough money. For the average person that would take decades.

Your logic is flawed however. We can all buy lamboughinis, it might be a long term goal but it IS possible. Some of us have spent a year completing our collections. It was crazy hard, but it WAS possible! Making them inexclusive ruins nothing – There are still things you need to do to get them. If you couldn’t beat Liadri it’s not complete. Unless you have completed a lot of achievements it is incomplete. If you have not been able to grind the Molten dungeon or come up with 60G it is not complete. It has been possible to collect every mini and some of them are very rare by now. Look at the mini karka for example. It is not about having the resources to complete the collection, it’s about whether it is possible or not. And Anet has now released a mini you CAN’T get within the game.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Malediktus.9250:

The difference is in GW1 there was no “checklist” for minis. In GW2 you always have to look at an empty slot.

….and I recall GW1 players complaining about this fact. Now that you have a list, you look at it a negative light and complain about it….WTF?

I hate arguments like that, they are worth nothing unless you actually know for a FACT that the same players who are now complaining are the same one that played GW1. Did you ever think those could be different people?

Katreyn.4218:

Hope they make that raccoon as a new mini. :x Need moar raccoons.

I know right, they could release the mini at another convention and make us pay 100 euro on eBay! That’d be so cool!

ThiBash.5634:

Let’s just hope this was a sort of preview, and the mini will become available ingame (or through the store) at some later date. Though it’d be harsh on the eBay dude that wins it, it’d be a blessing for my wife who’s an avid Guild Wars supporter and spent tons trying to get all minis…

I’m just a bit scared that their silence (as always) indicate that they have nothing planned.

FateOmega.9601:

I just want an official answer from Anet if it is indeed exclusive and that is direction they are going so i know whether to continue buying from them or to sell off my mini collection.

Same. But support was a dead end.

Did anyone happen to take another look at eBay? 67 euro so far…….

Algreg.3629:

yes, it is frightening. Burglars will come to your home this very night, put a gun to your temple and make you buy those minis.

That argument is as empty as it gets.
A burglar will also come and tell me to stop playing GW2. But like the game itself we happen to care about a lot of things within the game. Surprise.

BoogerSammich.7189:

OMG, I cant even believe this conversation is taking place. Give me a break, seriously. It’s a freaking mini pet. And it’s a reward for people who attend and event. If anything, they should do MORE of this type of thing simply because it’s fun and gives people who attended something to flash around in game for a month or so until the novelty wears off. For some reason i feel confident when i say that the same people who are complaining about this would be defending it were they able to attend gamescon. But anyway, WOW, just WOW… reading these forums would make even Veruca Salt face palm with embarrassment.

I’m glad that you don’t care. What are you doing here then? They can do all the giveaways they want but I see no reason for them to break what we have been completing for the last year. Really. We have spent a year gathering all the minipets in the game. Why take that away from us?

rizzo.1079:

Brother Grimm.5176:

So you don’t get the mini….accept it and move on.

Ouch, don’t tell that to these guys, they take small groups of pixels in video games as SERIOUS BUSINESS.

Yep.

Quickfoot Katana.8642:

guess what? still not fixed

/AnetPriorities

Big surprise there right.

Ghettoblade.7962:

Treeline.3865:

I want to praise them for all the free content but at the same time if you want anything except content they sure know how much to take for it. I don’t mind the gemstore. I mind that the amount of gems/cash you have to come up with is ridiculous.

Free content?..that content was payed for with all those useless RNG boxes and keys,not to mention the skins,gathering tools ectra..Nothing is free.

The RNG boxes are a choice you make. But that does not mean Anet should take advantage of their playerbase in that way.

Zaxares.5419:

^ That likely means that ANet has not yet come to a final decision as to whether or not the Mr. Sparkles mini will have additional means for acquisition down the line. There’s still hope. Keep this thread alive and hope that Colin or Anthony spots it and gives you an answer.

Well. I really hope you’re right, but I fear it just means that they have not been informed that Mr. Sparkles will be released ingame.

Direksone.3867:

Yep. Agreed. I would also like to see it in the gemstore. 800 gems? Hell yea! Mr. Sparkles is effing cool and I wanna be able to get as many mini’s as possible, if not all (but I started a bit late and I’m not sure if I still can). I understand they want to reward people from coming there, but I still don’t agree.

This. Gemstore prices are already ridiculous, but just to keep the collection complete I would pay 800 gems for a minipet. At least this one time.

I want to praise them for all the free content but at the same time if you want anything except content they sure know how much to take for it. I don’t mind the gemstore. I mind that the amount of gems/cash you have to come up with is ridiculous.

FateOmega.9601:

Lol! They don’t have information about their own product?

I think it’s more a matter of support having no information that Mr. Sparkles will be available..

Daala.4258:

Simple solution: make it avaiable in gem store. Those who were at Gamescom have it for free, the rest can buy it with gems.

I hope that’s the idea. In any event support was less than helpful

Support was a dead end as usual:

Thank you for contacting the Guild Wars 2 Support Team.

Unfortunately, we do not have any information available about the Mini Mr. Sparkles. However, we frequently update our official website ( http://www.guildwars2.com ), and we encourage you to keep an eye on the site for announcements and updates about the game. Another resource that you may find of value is the Guild Wars 2 Wiki ( http://wiki.guildwars2.com/ ) which is a player-created resource with a large amount of helpful information for players.

Regards,

GM Vagrant
Guild Wars 2 Support Team

Megis.9264:

I was thinking I’d buy some gems for the Rox and Braham weapons, but I figure I might as well sell some minis and exchange some gold for gems instead. If I’m never gonna be able to complete the collection, anyway.

I’m sorry to hear you feel the same way. I will hold on to my minis for now though. I see Mr. Sparkles topics on the front of both this sub, general discussion and BLTC sub. It should lead to some feedback at the least.

Uhh, I don’t see where you want to take the thread but I will bite.
I love them. Not only because I think they are awesome, being loyal companions in mini-mode but also because I like to collect stuff.

Mini Mr Sparkles however made me stop collecting for now.

Andrew.4506:

I thought anet learned their lesson last time with the shirt. People dislike it a great deal when you make in game items completely and utterly inaccessible for the lifetime of the game. Even worse when you label that item a “collectible” and then make it impossible to collect it.

You know it’s bad when it’s already 75 euro on ebay.

Icealen.3802:

I hope you obtain your minipet.

Thanks. Sorry for coming off, but.. I didn’t understand some of what you wrote

Calmwinds.4753:

Sorry have to agree with Icelan that there seems to be some sort of OCD going on here.
Let me guess, you probably have every single living story achievement done as well and if you were to miss one due to difficulty/some other reason, you’d skip the rest of the next living story contents as well.

Haha, to be honest, yes, I have every single temporary achievement. But no, I would not stop doing achievements I wouldn’t be happy about missing out on one, but I would also know that it was because I lacked the skill to complete it and that is entirely my own fault. The bonus achievement for Liadri was definitely a kittene. In any case I don’t have OCD. Except from never tuning my radio into half steps I think I’m quite normal on that point

Icealen.3802:

Yes, skip the mini. The sun will still rise tomorrow.

If you don’t use an item and it just fills empty space in your inventory, why keep it?

Clearly you have never collected minipets.. They do not fill anything except the collectible slot designed for the mini. It does not take up any bank space.

And yes, the sun will rise the day i stop collecting minis, the day i stop doing achievements, the day I stop playing GW2. Does that mean I can’t care about the minipet??