[GW2] A Karka in my back, or, "Seriously Arenanet?"

I've been the staunch defender of Arenanet...I've defended their choice of making the Halloween event video a one-time only affair on the grounds that it was a minor thing that everyone could then witness on Youtube...a non-interactive event. I defended their choice to have hard content on Halloween so long as it was not tied to a meta-achievement.

So while some people were expressing valid criticism, I didn't let it hinder my enjoyment. I still stand by my assertion that GW2 is a quality game.

Then they go and fuck me push even my limit.

Lando's pointing at me

I am not too big to admit it, and so here it is. I give this one to Azuriel, because it this time I think we'd be on the same side. This time ArenaNet stepped over my line; I am unhappy with their decision regarding the Lost Coast events.

A quick history:

Day 1: Starting on Friday there was an event in which players were investigating strange crates and reports of odd creatures showing up...this was fine (aside from one of the events being bugged and preventing most people from completion). I said "whatever" and went on my merry way.

Day 2: The island opens, players can go to it for a repeating event in which they assist NPCs in getting a foothold on the new continent. Aside from the massive mobs of people and lag, this event was quite fun and I enjoyed it when I arrived.

Day 3: The "finale"...at 12 PM PST on Sunday they held the major event, in which NPCs and players made the final push. This event lasted 2-3 hours and culminated with the players bringing down the "Ancient Karka". The thing was devastating and for all its flaws (reinforcements!) and lag, the event went well. However here is where things got bad: the event created a chest at the end which had HIGH quality loot.

Kiss me!

This loot for most players involved 2 exotics, 2 rares and a 20 slot bag...some players, a significant number, got a "precursor" exotic. Precursors are used to make Legendary items and can cost upwards of 200 gold a piece (200 gold is more than most players have on hand by 10 times).

While I am fine with ANet increasing access to precursors...a one-time event is just not the way to do it. They did a POOR job of advertising this event, I was unaware of its existence aside from people being online and informing me, despite keeping up with the event that was going on. Players in Oceanic zones had access from 6 am to 8 their time on a Monday. Worse yet, many players got disconnected near the finale, denying them the loot they had worked ~2+ hours for. The end result is that a significant number of players missed out on what should have been a fantastic event.

And there is an easy fix that they already have implemented elsewhere. For the duration of the day, have the event repeat every 4 hours just like the dragons. This is supposed to go until 10 PST on Monday (11/19)...they could easily have enabled some kind of repetition and made it so that you could only get the "super" loot on your first time through.

So really, Arenanet...please, not again, don't do this again. Now many players are going into this new content feeling as though they missed out and are already demoralized. To many "Lost Coast" will now be the memory of that time they missed out on a precursor. Doesn't help that for the remainder of the event, everyone has a text-box in the corner of their screen reading "The Lionguard are engaging the Ancient Karka. Head to Southsun Cove to Participate" and when players arrive...the event is over. This whole "Hey if you want cool stuff, plan your life around being online for our event!" thing is a poor choice in my opinion; I am playing this as a game, not as another obligation.

This is what "no loot for you" looks like

As of 5:11 PST, the event still reads as completed, we'll see if a few more hours proves that I am wrong and that Anet did add a repeat

Edit: Some people found a work-around....they would join overflows where the event was incomplete. Sadly at 10:45 PST Arenanet put a stop to that one with a new build. Though this is somewhat justified, some people were doing that just to farm multiple chests.

I also realized, as I sat here, that it feels like a bait-and-switch from Arenanet. Their last "one-time" event was a video which my friend expressed made him feel like he wasn't missing much. Turn around to this, and him choosing to see it at his leisure on youtube also means missing out on 15+ gold worth of loot with a solid shot a precursor. So now players are left in a quantum limbo every time ArenaNet announces a "one-time" event. Will this mean missing out on items? Or is it just a video we can see later? Then we're back to that feeling of having to schedule my life around the game to be competitive.