Guild Wars 2

Add in the mounts! Purely cosmetic, or faster movement. I don’t really care. I just want something cool looking to work toward and collect. Make all kinds – racial, unique, faction based, etc. Would be a lot of fun to build a collection up and show them off. Disable combat when mounted, and disable for pvp. Done and done.

Hilarious how touchy people are about this. Obviously it needs to be in game.

Call it “sparring” if you want to apease the apparently oversensitive players.

No, it won’t lead to people fighting everywhere. It will encourage dueling “hangouts” and give people a reason to meet other people and learn pvp technique without having to que up.

Sparring and dueling is one of the best features in MMOs. People are assuming it’s some ego thing – Most instances of duels are between friends trying out different builds on eachother. It’s a great way to practice and learn your character while waiting around for dungeons, ques, etc.

The fact that this isn’t in game already is, for lack of a better word, stupid. It should be.

I agree. Love so much about this game, but it lacks purpose. It isn’t anyone’s fault, and there are things to DO – but there seems to be some intangible missing. Maybe it’s me, or something hidden in the design.

But who knows, it could change in time.

WOW.

I was fully expecting this path to open up some more viable builds and pry me away from always using stupid grenades. GUESS NOT!

I really wonder what the developers vision for the engineer is – I’m not seeing it. They’re obviously smart people, but what the hell. Do they REALLY think people are using Toolkit and hungering for that increased magnet range? What game are they looking at?

Developers, if you’re listening: The Engineer has only 1 or 2 viable builds and a majority of utterly wasted skills/kits. Please fix that.

I rolled an Engineer because I thought I’d be one of the higher ceiling classes with a lot of movement, skill and swapping involved. I even deluded myself into thinking an all kit build would be effective at 80. This class is just boring, straight up. BORING. It doesn’t have to be this way

This forum seems full of people very excited about some type of build, but in denial about the fact that grenade/elixer will utterly destroy it for DPS.

I’ve felt the difference first hand, and it definitely sucks.

Did everything I could including BLC lottery. Did around 30 MK runs. Nothing.

Leo G.4501:

I’ve put in multiple hours every day during these events, bought 10 keys with gems, had about 18 saved over 3 characters and saved at least 16 mystery tonics from past chests opened (don’t ask me why I saved them, but I did). So I opened around 30 chests, probably another 15 MK chests, I participated in all the events (although not very long on the PvP ones as I didn’t have much fun with hand-me-down abilities), got most of the achievements, got the Mad King Thorn Memoirs complete edition and ran the Ascend into Madness dungeon at least 20 times.

I think out of this whole event, I got 1 armor drop that had a rune that sold for 30something silver and a recipe for one of the new runes that was priced at 3 silver.

Frankly, I don’t feel bad about practically getting nil, but it’s not easy to still have fun while others have fun AND get cool stuff.

I think what’s worse is that, as the event goes on, more and more people only want level 80s to run the dungeons and most all just want to run it fast as possible.

Basically, the premise of the whole event is tarnished by this random ultra drop that you may or may not get. Not only do people become enslaved to the random, but on a personal level I have less and less fun the more of the same drops I get. Oh, more candy corn, custard and a trick-or-treat bag? Woop…now what can I do with them? Give the candy corn for bags? Okay…-dumps all CC on kids- Wow, more candy corn, custard and some fangs…is this suppose to be fun at some point?

Describes my experience exactly.

So glad somebody else posted a breakdown. I read that and thought the math was crazy.

And don’t forget, most of the time for this event will have been on work days. I play about 3 hours a day, and in the real world that is a LOT. 16 hours of gameplay in a day, in the same dungeon? That’s either a lie or totally insane.

Isnt ANET supposed to be redefining the MMO?

Follow up on this – tried a few other builds… Man ANET needs to do something about this. It really feels like raw damage across the board needs a boost. The DPS difference is massive – and all the side benefits of grenades (easy vulnerability stacks, constant vigor, burst DPS with swiftness, etc) are totally indispensable in dungeons. It appears to be THE PvE spec if you’re serious about helping your team.

PVP I’m sure is different – I could actually see using turrets and a rifle in that sense. Where in dungeons, I wouldn’t be caught dead.

I made a similar post. RNG is no good. The guy who broke down the fun vs anti fun and how we have to make our own endgame goals was spot on.

I think ANET will refine things and get it better as time goes on.

I participated actively in every single part of this event, grouped up, soloed, did the clock tower, mini games, explored every part of the maze, opened chests, made the recipes at the forge, have done around 30 Mad King runs and bought 40 dollars worth of keys then made the king chests. And I’ve gotten absolutely nothing except the one thing I could earn outside the RNG – Mad King Slippers (which are not even a unique skin).

I’m bummed of course, though there is still more time left. But honestly, I feel like my luck will just continue out and I’ll only see the prices of the cool items rise beyond reach or reason. Meanwhile some people say they got Arachnophobia or The Crossing a handful of runs in.

It just…. Sucks. QQ

Thats why I said “in dungeons”

Wasn’t my point. Like them or not, they are a content delivery system which relies on the RNG.

I don’t think the RNG is good for a game like guild wars.

After leveling up and loving the challenge and craziness of the Engineer, I’m now utterly stuck in a grenade rut. The damage and utility are through the roof, and I find myself spoiled by it.

What are some builds that enable me to be effective in dungeons that DON’T involve grenades?

After seeing what ANET did with this event, I really think it was a beautifully designed and executed piece of work. Pulling all the different systems of Guild Wars together for a really entertaining, layered experience. Coupled with the typically jaw dropping art design, of course.

The hiccup for me was with buying keys for the Black Lion Chests. It taught me one important lesson: Don’t. Ignore them. They don’t offer enough reward for the cost, pure and simple regardless of any event.

I don’t know how this RNG delivery system will figure into future work, but it really feels at odds with a lot of the feeling of Guild Wars 2 and the mission statement. The legendary precursors, mystic forge, etc.

I think people want adventure and the satisfaction of achieving a goal – not a dice roll.

ANET did the right thing here. I’ve litigated this to death in previous posts, but it has really been a breath of fresh air to see good customer service. It’s good for the players AND good for business. The right move all around. There were flaws with the original system, and it looks to be corrected.

The people criticizing or thinking that ANET just caved to “whiny QQrs” are missing the big picture. All this whining actually made a difference and led directly to a healthier system. Nobody is perfect, and the desire on the part of ANET to make things right really gives me faith in them and the desire to continue supporting their game with my money.

QQing about slavery worked out well too

Looks like ANET has sided with the buyers here – thank goodness.

I anticipate their solution being a Black Lion exchange using the mystic forge. Toss in boosters, etc to get skins.

In the future, I think the lesson is learned. ANET doesn’t have to trick anyone to make money – just continue making fun content and people will pay for it.

Thanks to the team behind seeing the error of their ways, and thanks to everyone who came here to post.

PotatoOverdose.6583:

Derek.9254:

i ahve to be extremely lucky then : / i guess thats the RNG for you. I opened 70 chests got 1 of each of the shoulders, the one handed sword skin, and 2 scythes which made me get like a 10g profit. My first 50 chests i got absolutely nothing then i got 2-3 in a row with items.

Reality is more people are like you than the whiners in the thread. One has only to look at the average basket value of the new items after release to confirm that.

spencerharrison.8136:

Again:

To the people making elaborate arguments to the effect of – “You should avoid the RNG and go to the trading post!”

The trading post market only exists because of the RNG being fed en-mass.

I’ll say it again for clarity. Warning, there will be caps.

THE TRADING POST MARKET FOR THESE ITEMS IS DEPENDENT ON THE KEYS BEING PURCHASED TO UNLOCK THE CHESTS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Sorry. But this doesn’t need to become a zombie lie. The RNG system rewards vultures on the TP, and punishes people participating and purchasing. This is bad business on Anets part.

If the items were so damnd rare, I wouldn’t be able to buy a onehanded chansaw for 8 gold. Reality is they’re dropping in sufficient quantity to maintain a low price.

lol

You’re not even listening. Cost isn’t the point.

Let’s switch this up: What is the motivation to unlock black lion chests in the future for people that weren’t satisfied with this experience? I can say for sure I WILL be taking YOUR advice and sitting on the trading post next time these items come out. I absolutely will NEVER tangle with the RNG again. Work smart not hard right?

But guess what?

That means less chests being opened, and less items. Less items means higher prices. So you’re argument on the basis of low cost is self defeating.

Oreoz.2573:

Sanarian.9614:

Oreoz.2573:

oh sure,

8 pages on the forum, which, if you think about it, is actually 4 pages if you don’t include repeat posters arguing with one another……

Ya, that’s the large part of the consumer base.

Puh-lease -____-

I was unlucky.
You were unlucky
We were all unlucky

“cry me a river…..”

Not everyone uses the forums, that should be obvious to anyone here, most people find it easier to avoid forums (for obvious reasons, if you hadn’t noticed). Not everyone will be willing to voice their outrage, especially considering there are people like you who can’t make a constructive argument and revert to throwing insults. Don’t assume that all players automatically dash to the forums when they’re upset.

Hard to make a constructive argument when they’re shouldn’t be an argument in the first place. Or rather when there really isn’t one either.

Arenanet needs to make money as their game is F2P.
The weapon skins are a small part of this DLC, the rest being new content to play through and various bug fixes and quality of life additions.

People are making the skins out to be their sole dependent on whether or not they enjoy this patch.

That is stupid.

obviously the skins will be rare. Regardless of whether or not Anet let us in on the odds, this was going to be and currently is a fact.

People are whining and blowing things out of proportion. Another reason why someone might shy away from the forums.

That is stupid.

It’s like asking the casino for a refund because you lost.

They will laugh in your face.

Just like I’m laughing at everyone who demands a refund from Anet.

So again I say…… puh-lease.

Hardly an argument to be had here.

The argument is:

Anet is using BLCs to dole out skins and presumably other items in the future.

This event has shown that this system creates backlash.

That backlash will likely mean less enthusiasm for unlocking BLCs.

Is that a good policy for Anet, and is it consistent with their mission statement and design philosophy?

Kimbald.2697:

People can accept low droprates on in-game items a lot better than on things they paid real money with.
It was foolish to believe people wouldn’t get upset over spending real money in return for droprates as low as dungeon drops or worse…

Any game of chance should mention the odds of winning, they messed up there as well.

I understand some of the arguments defending this whole issue. Not all, just some

But one thing should be very very clear, seeing the number of posts about this very thing, this fast:
this is bad publicity, very bad publicity.

The fact there already was an official response points that out too. They don’t want so much disappointed customers.
It might have gained them a lot of money over this event, they just ruined their future income of events to come. By a large margin.

Bad publicity, and bad business in the long run.

And this is even completely regardless of who is right and who is wrong.
When the larger part of your customers is angry, they are always right in an economical sense.

This ^

Debate it all you want, but people are upset and wallets WILL tighten. If Anet wanted to teach a lesson in personal responsibility and restraint, then well played. If they want to make money from GW2 events in the future, they may want to rethink things.

PotatoOverdose.6583:

Pikafan.3792:

PotatoOverdose.6583:

spencerharrison.8136:

To the posters insulting people who bought keys and expected an item:

We aren’t talking about the US economy or housing market. We’re talking about a stupid video game where people want to run around with a pumpkin rifle. Based on colorful advertising and good faith, a lot of people paid some money with the understanding that doing so would give them a “chance” at those items.

That “chance” is being proven to be aggressively small. Different people came into this with different expectations, but I do think its safe to say that the cost of keys, coupled with the tiny percent chance of a skin, equates to a more cynical policy than fans of Anet anticipated.

Fair enough. Lesson learned. Personal responsibility also means licking your wounds and moving on. Those that feel they got misled, will be less likely to give Anet cash like that on impulse.

In my opinion, that’s bad business for Anet, and less fun for the players who weren’t so lucky. It didn’t have to be that way, and I don’t think there is ANY harm in lambasting Anet for this mess. They can, and should do better by their players.

The chance isn’t aggressively small if most of the items can currently be bought for less than 10 gold, especially given how everyone seems to want these items and thus the demand is inflated.

Only 1 Item, the greatsword, costs significantly more than that (55 gold). People wanted a chainsaw greatsword. That want overcame their restraint, and many of them spent with their credit cards to buy keys. That’s a lack of responsibility.

Every single other weapon costs about as much as a decent skinned exotic in terms of gold. Every. Single. One.

Its a classic case of demand outpacing supply, in this case for one particular item. This led to many making bad decisions. We can pity them, but it is no one elses fault but their own.

In the meantime, the scythe staff skin is currently going for 40g, I am sure those “10g” and below items were skins people don’t want, or simply don’t exist. But thank you for skewing one small fact to try and suit your flawed portrayal of a larger picture.

Current Prices (1:39 am October 23):
The Chain sword (one handed) is 8 gold (and falling). No one wants a chainsaw sword. Nope. No one.
The Rifle is 5 gold.
The Shield is 20 gold.
The dagger is 8 gold. No dagger thiefs out there, mhmmm.
All 9 of the shoulder pads (3 of light, medium, and heavy) are all worth 5-10 gold. No one wants spikey skull shoulder pads. Nope, no one.

Yup, I REALLY skewed it. Those drops must be SO rare, to be worth less than typical “cool skinned” exotics.

Reality is this: The greatsword is used by Guardians, Mesmers, Warriors, and Rangers. 3 Of those classes have very popular greatsword builds.

Staves are also used by Necros,Guardians, Mesmers, and Elementalist. Again, higher demand.

Basic supply and demand. The drops are fine, judging by market prices of say…the one handed chainsaw. Demand is skewed toward the items used by most classes. Common sense.

Again, while you are no doubt honest in your figures, this analysis does not change one key fact:

The players who took initiative and dumped gold/cash into keys are the ones responsible for these items existing. Yet many in that group will go unrewarded.

The point is not the availability or after-market cost of the skins, but the system for distribution that led to a great many people feeling cheated and misled while those who did not participate in the unlocking process are rewarded with a cheap, guaranteed transaction.

All this means is: Less people will be interested in unlocking Black Lion Chests in the future. You can debate if that is a good thing or not, but my guess is Anet wants to keep selling keys and keeping excitement in their product high. To that end, the handling of the skin aspect of this event was a misstep.

PotatoOverdose.6583:

spencerharrison.8136:

To the posters insulting people who bought keys and expected an item:

We aren’t talking about the US economy or housing market. We’re talking about a stupid video game where people want to run around with a pumpkin rifle. Based on colorful advertising and good faith, a lot of people paid some money with the understanding that doing so would give them a “chance” at those items.

That “chance” is being proven to be aggressively small. Different people came into this with different expectations, but I do think its safe to say that the cost of keys, coupled with the tiny percent chance of a skin, equates to a more cynical policy than fans of Anet anticipated.

Fair enough. Lesson learned. Personal responsibility also means licking your wounds and moving on. Those that feel they got misled, will be less likely to give Anet cash like that on impulse.

In my opinion, that’s bad business for Anet, and less fun for the players who weren’t so lucky. It didn’t have to be that way, and I don’t think there is ANY harm in lambasting Anet for this mess. They can, and should do better by their players.

The chance isn’t aggressively small if most of the items can currently be bought for less than 10 gold, especially given how everyone seems to want these items and thus the demand is inflated.

Only 1 Item, the greatsword, costs significantly more than that (55 gold). People wanted a chainsaw greatsword. That want overcame their restraint, and many of them spent with their credit cards to buy keys. That’s a lack of responsibility.

Every single other weapon costs about as much as a decent skinned exotic in terms of gold. Every. Single. One.

Its a classic case of demand outpacing supply, in this case for one particular item. This led to many making bad decisions. We can pity them, but it is no one elses fault but their own.

There is a gaping hole in this argument, friend.

None of these items would be available for purchase were it not for many of the people complaining in this thread. The market for gold buyers is ONLY available on the backs of keybuyers. Period. There is not one without the other.

The trouble is, the two are clearly not equal in terms of investment and result.

Obviously, waiting and buying it with gold is a better choice. But if everyone did that, there would be no items. So all the clever patience and responsibility in the world wouldn’t make those skins pop up on the auction house. What did? A bunch of players dumping money into an RNG that is obviously more stingy than most anticipated.

We’re both clearly on different sides here, but I think with clear eyes it isn’t difficult to see the problem here. The challenge for Anet is how to improve this system in the future to reward players who take the initiative and invest in them rather than those who sat on their hands and then ridiculed.

To the posters insulting people who bought keys and expected an item:

We aren’t talking about the US economy or housing market. We’re talking about a stupid video game where people want to run around with a pumpkin rifle. Based on colorful advertising and good faith, a lot of people paid some money with the understanding that doing so would give them a “chance” at those items.

That “chance” is being proven to be aggressively small. Different people came into this with different expectations, but I do think its safe to say that the cost of keys, coupled with the tiny percent chance of a skin, equates to a more cynical policy than fans of Anet anticipated.

Fair enough. Lesson learned. Personal responsibility also means licking your wounds and moving on. Those that feel they got misled, will be less likely to give Anet cash like that on impulse.

In my opinion, that’s bad business for Anet, and less fun for the players who weren’t so lucky. It didn’t have to be that way, and I don’t think there is ANY harm in lambasting Anet for this mess. They can, and should do better by their players.

PotatoOverdose.6583:

If you have the gold or the money to open 40 chests, you have the gold or the money (at the current phenomenal exchange rate) to buy any skin you want on the market.

Common Sense FTW?

I think the point is that people trusted Anet to create a reasonable “official” pathway to get fun items for an event.

They were misled.

So what you’re saying is technically correct, but somebody is still having to unlock all those chests my friend. And those poor saps just enabled the “discerning common sense folks” to invest on the trading post instead and get items.

Essentially, Anet just directly punished people who used their shop and bought keys looking for holiday items. They inadvertently reward people like you that did not, and were more pragmatic.

Bad move as a company.

Bottom line: Sure we knew it was a chance. Based on their marketing, game design and previous history I figured it would be something like

“Well I opened up 10 chests and got 2 sword skins and the light shoulders – Any guildies want to trade so I can get my Engineer that shield and rifle?”

It ended up being:

Player 1: “I opened 300 chests with nothing.”

Player 2: “I opened 2 and got 2 skins which I’ll sell for a heap of money.”

Player 1: “Oh. Some players are just luckier I guess. logs off unhappy and dissatisfied with gaming experience”

Bummer

And to the people saying “Shoulda been smarter with your gold!”

Yeah. Because ANET plastering all kinds of fun looking graphics on the store didn’t imply KEYS=FUN

Nobody is trying to be stupid with their gold and money, they’re just trying to have fun. I wasn’t aware I needed to contact my broker to get a chainsaw sword. Uhg.

Ocellaris.8362:

Here is the real problem…

People who spent $50+ on keys and got nothing are not likely to spend that muckittens again. This is a trick that only works once. Even hardcore gamblers stop taking chances if they don’t feel they will ever win.

Also if you ever watch people buying scratch tickets, they usually keep buying scratch tickets on a regular basis. This is because scratch tickets usually have a ~1:5 chance of paying back $1. So if they drop $20 on tickets, they win back a few $$$ and go “Aww shucks, at least I got $4 back! I will keep trying”. If those same people kept spending $20 and winning nothing, they would stop wasting $20.

Yep. I went from being somebody totally happy to pay money, to somebody who will only grudgingly pay for an expansion. That isn’t good business.

Here’s hoping they do something to remedy this. I can personally say without question Anet will have a much harder time prying non expansion money away from me now.

I actually WANTED to pay Anet some money. I said to my friend who plays “You know, I’ve definitely gotten 60 bucs out of this game and I don’t have a problem throwing a few more out for some fun holiday stuff.”

LOLLLLLLLLL

Fair enough Anet. Fair enough.

Messed up. Really messed up. Totally not part of their design philosophy and has destroyed my enthusiasm way more than I would have thought possible.

Dear Anet,

I am an idiot. I accept it. I chose the Vigil for my engineer because the invention/knowledge RP angle. I gave absolutely no thought to the end game gear.

Now I find myself wanting 2 silenced pistols so bad I can’t stand it.

PLEASE GIVE ME A WAY TO GET THEM!

Anyone else have this happen?

Just my impression so far – Medium dungeon armor isn’t that cool looking. Totally subjective, but… I just want something kitten to look forward to and none of the sets really jump off the screen at me. I remember playing WoW (I’m reformed, and I love GW lol) and looking at players with Netherwind and thinking “Oh yeah. That’s sweet.”

I don’t get that feeling with anything offered up right now from the dungeons. ANet: Have fun! Get crazy! Make us want to farm! Give your art department some crack and unleash them

Wanted the engineer. Rolled the engineer. Played the engineer.

Bottom line:

Grenades are aggressively superior to other specs in terms of results. Which sucks. I wanted to play a steampunk pistoleer with turrets. Now I’m running a crazy efficient build spamming grenades, tossing res elixers and spamming vigor/swiftness.

Its cool because I’ve been having a good time finally in dungeons, but I wish I had more options.

I think ANet needs to make turrets more viable, give me a reason to use the tool kit and give us a better elite skill besides supply crate.

The DPS of grenades at 80 is just absurdly superior to every other option. It isn’t OP, it just makes us useful in dungeons. So grenades don’t need a nerf – other things need a buff.

I also tried the “naga mouse” spec where you run with all kits. It was a blast and I loved it – but it totally blows for getting things done in a real way with groups and pvp.

All in all, I adore the game and the class – but it definitely needs some work to fulfill it’s potential.