Invisible Pete.7290

There have been many posts regarding the changes introduced by the removal of the previous system and its replacement by the Wizard’s Vault (including one by myself). As I read the various posts, I realized that people kept lumping two distinctive things together and comparing from there. Objectively speaking, Log-in Rewards should compare the previous system to the current system. Then the Dailies should be compared to the Wizard’s Vault’s Daily Objectives. Log-in Rewards – previous vs. current The previous Log-in Rewards system had a 28 Day-cycle over which you earned the following simply by logging in and accepting the chest in the lower right-hand corner of the screen: 20 Mystic Coins, 35 Laurels, 20 Exotic Essences of Luck (i.e. 2000 Luck), 10 Tomes of Knowledge, 4 random Gem Store items, 3 Transmutation charges, 2 Bags of Fine Crafting Materials, 1 Celebration Booster, 1 Chest of Exotic Equipment, a 2% permanent increase to account gold find, and 1 Chest of Loyalty (which allowed players to choose one of the following: 1 Vision Crystal and 1-2 refined ascended crafting materials OR 8 Obsidian Shards and 7 Mystic Clovers OR 20 Laurels OR 6 Tomes of Knowledge. The Wizard’s Vault System provides 5 Astral Acclaim accessed by clicking on the Wizard’s Vault icon at the top left-hand side of the screen, and then requiring an additional click on the Daily Log-in chest. For a period of 28 days, that will yield 140 Astral Acclaim. Both systems do not require anything more than a couple of clicks to acquire the reward. Comparatively speaking, over 28 days the former Log-in Reward system far surpasses the Wizard’s Vault: Dailies vs. Wizard’s Vault’s Daily Objective Rewards Dailies Twelve Daily achievements in three categories: four in PvE, four in PvP, and four in WvW. Completing ANY three of the twelve provided 2 Gold, 3 Spirit Shards, and 10 Achievement Points (with a cap of 15,000 for Daily achievement points, including any monthly achievement points earned from a former system). Each Daily rewarded a chest specific to each type of achievement which could include some combination of three to four of the following: plants, lumber, ore, identified/unidentified gear (fine, masterwork, or rare), Writs of Experience (of which 20 could be traded in for a Tome of Knowledge), Resonating Slivers, a Mystic Coin, Dragonite Ore, Empyreal Fragments, Thimble of Liquid Karma, Scrap of Maguuma Mastery, Airship Parts, Lumps of Aurillium, Ley-Line Crystals, Machete, Scrap of Desert Mastery, Trade Contracts, Potion of PvP Reward, Shard of Glory, Badges of Honor, Potion of WvW Reward, Mist-Hardened Lockbox. NOTE: I may have missed a few items, but suffice to say that Anet did a good job of trying to fit the reward to the achievement. If a player completed more than the three, that player would earn the reward for each completed achievement. This encouraged players to try out different styles. Also, all players got mostly the same set of twelve achievements to pick from (“mostly” due to Expansion Pack related ones that overrode core and previous ex-packs). This inspired players to team up to get something done. Or, if a player was having problems on a map, when the achievement(s) were map related, that provided a greater number of players to help get things accomplished. Wizard’s Vault First, a player has to choose which style(s) they want Anet's RNG to choose from: PvE, and/or PvP, and/or WvW. Then each day the RNG will randomly choose three Daily Objectives for each player dependent on what portions of the game the player owns, regardless of whether or not that player has, is ready for, or even wants to play in that area. Players have NO choice here – they are stuck with what is given to them. Also, Anet’s choice varies from player to player. So, teaming up to accomplish these dailies is based upon having the favor of the RNG deities. For each Daily Objective completed and chest claimed the player will be rewarded with 10 Astral Acclaim. Completing AND claiming all three chests will reward a daily completion chest with 1 Essence of Luck, 1 Gold, and 30 Astral Acclaim, and earn 10 Achievement points for the Wizard’s Vault Daily Completionist daily achievement (with a cap of 15,000). So, the total reward for completing the three Daily Objectives: 1 essence of luck, 1 gold, and 60 Astral Acclaim (10 from each achievement plus 30 from completion). Once again, the previous system was more advantageous for the players – simply because they had the option to choose how they wanted to succeed. On top of that, players could complete more than just the three, and still be rewarded. [NOTE: In my experience, I have completed all three Daily Objectives for the Wizard’s Vault only twice in its first six days. The first day I mistakenly chose all three styles, thinking I would have options. I was very wrong, so I switched to simply PvE. All four days that I missed completion happened because I was given objectives depending on SOTO. I pre-purchased SOTO and am now being punished because I am not yet ready to play that story chapter. Under the old system, I never missed completing at least three dailies – mainly because I could choose how to succeed.] Astral Acclaim, Weeklies, and Specials Players can spend Astral Acclaim to purchase items. People have observed that players use Astral Acclaim to purchase what they want. While this is true, in order to acquire the aforementioned currency, they are at the mercy of a RNG determining what objectives they are given. There are caps on both the amount of Astral Acclaim a player may have and the quantity of some of the items they may purchase. For the Astral Acclaim, if a player surpasses the cap, the excess will be lost. So, players need to be actively conscious of how much Astral Acclaim they have and are about to earn so they do not go over the cap, and be punished for simply playing. People have been posting that the Wizard’s Vault will be more rewarding because of how many points one may POTENTIALLY acquire. This is where their math fails – they are assuming that players will acquire the MAXIMUM Astral Acclaim with a system that does not favor the players. Additionally, that maximum includes Astral Acclaim earned for completing Weeklies and Specials (which only pertain to SOTO, so players without it may not complete them) – both of which demand a greater time commitment than some players can afford. Since the Weekly are likely to be different from player to player, it will be more difficult to team up to accomplish them. If we are being objective about comparing Log-in Rewards and Daily Objective, we cannot include the Weeklies and the Specials as they do not have a comparable portion in the previous system. We can simply state that the Weeklies and Specials provide a plus for the Wizard’s Vault. Does the Wizard’s Vault have potential? It certainly does, but not as currently implemented. I believe that the choice to actually choose Daily Objectives from a list will better lend itself to player success, and a greater acceptance to the Wizard’s Vault. Hopefully this will help clarify the crux of the issue. Thanks for your patience and time. See you in game.

Just to clarify a bit. 1. My intent was to post what I found to be differences that indicate to me that the change was not an improvement. I may be focusing on what seems to be limiting aspects of the new system. I have been playing GW2 since launch, so I am aware that change is a constant. Perhaps over time somethings will become more evident. 2. Anet, as owner of the game I play, certainly has the right to make whatever changes they so desire. However, such a drastic change could have been better sold on their part. I write that because of the copious amount of threads touching on this topic just on this forum alone. These contributors (both original and commenters) are the vocal part of the community - most likely the tip of the iceberg. Considering the quantity, perhaps Anet should comment for clarification purposes. 3. I believe that removing our ability to choose the specific Daily Objectives is a bit heavy handed on their part. Offer players the chance to choose how they want to succeed. Don't force them into solely environmental options. This actually discourages players from trying something new, as they will be locked into how they chose their Daily Objectives the previous day. Thanks for reading, commenting, and sharing information! See you in game!

Excellent math! However, the new system math is only effective if a player can actually accomplish ALL FOUR of the given objectives. We no longer have the ability to play as we want by being allowed to choose objectives. The old system allowed for more success by allowing players to choose.

Please take a moment of silence for the former Daily Login Rewards system and Daily Objectives. Both brought to their knees by Anet’s desire to force SOTO on ALL players, whether you purchased the expansion or not. I’m looking at you, Wizard’s Vault. From the Official site: “The Wizard’s Vault is a new streamlined rewards system that combines the best elements of the daily login and daily achievement systems, allowing you to play Guild Wars 2 the way you want to–whether it’s PvE, Player vs Player, or World vs World, or a mix–and earn a wide variety of exciting rewards for doing so.” As long as you understand that “a new streamlined rewards system that combines the best elements of the daily login and daily achievement systems” means that Anet selects your Dailies – which includes forcing SOTO objectives if you choose PvE. So, they assume that everyone who has purchased SOTO must be playing it. God forbid that a player should want to play as one wants and take one’s time getting to SOTO. It seems providing players with 12 choices, choose three was too much for the players to handle, so Anet took it upon themselves to force 4 Dailies on players. And one HAS to do ALL FOUR to earn the Daily reward. By the way, contrary to the above quotation, this does NOT allow “you to play Guild Wars 2 the way you want to”. It forces you to play the way Anet wants you to. Also, it seems that players may have chosen the same type(s) of Daily Objectives, but be given different objectives. Which dissuades players from interacting with others, as opposed to encouraging teaming up to help each other achieve a common goal. Way to be divisive! Don’t look for the chest to appear letting you know you have completed a Daily. Now you have to click on the Wizards Vault icon, and click on the appropriate chest in order to actually get the reward. If you forget, then, well done on completing the objective, too bad you did not claim it. And the reward is another currency with an upper limit. And it appears that Anet is limiting the quantity of the items that one can purchase with this new currency. From the GW2 Wiki: “Over the course of the 77 days players can accumulate up to 14,760 Astral Acclaim, 76 gold, and 110 Laurels,” Remember though, one can only have a max of 1300 Astral Acclaim, so if you don’t spend in a timely fashion, you will simply fail to gain Astral Acclaim until you spend, That’s less than 1 gold per day, and only 10 laurels per week. So, that’s what we have “gained”. Now let’s look at what we lost. A chest that automatically appeared on the lower, right-hand side of the screen to reward you for logging into the game. This chest contained a variety of rewards that increased incrementally in a consistent fashion. The reward was not another currency, but items that players could use in a way that they chose (i.e. play as they want). Then there are the Daily Objectives. As previously mentioned, one had 12 options, choose 3. There were 4 options for each playstyle. Please note the use of the terms “options” and “choose”, which allowed players to play as they want. And the rewards completing each daily objective fit the objective, PvP rewards included Potions of PvP Reward, WvW rewards included Potions of WvW Reward. These potions could be used right away to advance a PvP/WvW reward track a little, or saved to be used for crafting, upgrading Guild Halls. Also, 80 potions could be used to completely unlock a reward track – which was useful for people wanting a Gift of Battle for crafting Legendaries, Don’t forget that for completing at least three of the twelve, one received 2 gold and 3 Spirit Shards. Also, one could complete as many of these twelve as one wanted, and be rewarded for each completion. This encouraged (rather than forced) players to try/play various styles. For the same 77 days the GW2 Wiki referred to for the Wizard's Vault (see above), under the old system one would earn 154 gold, 231 Spirit Shards, 52 Mystic Coins, 101 Laurels, 5200 Luck, 11 Gem Store Items, 6 Transmutation Charges, 6 Bags of Fine Crafting Materials, 3 Celebration Boosters, 26 Tomes of Knowledge, 3 Chests of Exotic Equipment, 2 Chests of Loyalty (each can provide Vision Crystal and Ascended crafting materials OR 8 Obsidian Shards and 7 Mystic Clovers OR 20 Laurels OR 6 Tomes of Knowledge), and 4% permanent increase to gold find. Without the limitation of needing to spend Astral Acclaim in order to keep acquiring it, nor a limit on the quantity of an item that one could purchase with Astral Acclaim. There's the math, We've lost more than we gained. RIP old systems. To Anet: please either do not "fix" something that is not broken or choose to actually fix it. Thanks!

Having same issue. Only option was to restart computer. Have done this twice. Going to try uninstalling and re-installing. After uninstalling and re-installing problem persists. Error report sent to Anet.

Having same issue. Only option was to restart computer. Have done this twice. Going to try uninstalling and re-installing.

Clarifications, part 2 Thanks for reading and commenting on this thread! 1. Home Instance vs. Guild Halls: Home Instance (HI) - one chooses what upgrades one wants for one's HI and acquires them as necessary. If one wants to share one's HI with other players they may via the party system. Remains limited to a single gathering per day. Guild Hall (GH) - A Guild develops its GH as it wishes by pooling resources (mats and gold), gathering to complete missions for Favor, and waiting for a sufficient quantity of Aetherium to become available. Upgrading a GH improves its reputation as it levels. Currently, if a player's Guilds have the same Synthesis Output level, then that player may only gather from one of the GHs. Since a player may belong to a max of five Guilds, a player should be able to gather at up to five GHs regardless of Synthesis Output level. Five is not limitless. This would not break the economy, especially as the gathering results are random. Players looking for specific resources would be better off finding them in the game world. 2. "Play as you want" - pretty self-explanatory. Some will focus on PvE, some on WvW, and some on PvP or any combination thereof. Other things some players enjoy doing include crafting, trading, teaching/sharing, leading/directing, etc. Literally, play as one wants to play. No purposeful twisting involved, simply providing an example.

Back in 2018 I created a Pass Tome Thread with the following thoughts: "Portal Tome for Season 3 holding all the Season 3 Portal Scrolls.Check. Portal Tome for Season 4 holding all the Season 4 Portal Scrolls.Check. Pass Tome for holding all the Gemstore Passes .Haven't seen this yet. Don't know why. Obviously, people enjoy the economy of space that Portal Tomes provide (and they are bought with specific in-game currencies). A Pass Tome could be a Gemstore item so there is the distinct possibility of additional real world income for Anet just with this item, as well as it being convenient for players (QoL improvement). Additionally, it would encourage players to have more than one pass (additional possibility of real world income for Anet, also convenient for players). It could be tabbed with a tab for permanent passes, a tab for 2-week/temporary passes, and a tab for portal stones (convenient for players). The temporary pass tab could have the ability to add a temporary pass directly - like buying extra bank tabs or bag slots (additional possibility of real world income for Anet AND convenient for players). The tab for portal stones (e.g. Hall of Monuments Portal Stone and Exalted Portal Stone) would allow players to save space, provide another selling point for a Pass Tome, and encourage the use of Portal Stones for future instances. I realize that this tab is really reaching - especially since one is account bound and the other soul bound. However, there is no harm in asking - the worst that can happen is nothing. Players save space and have more options. Anet gets paid. Win-win situation." Additionally, tabs might be added to allow Portal Tomes to be incorporated. This would be a huge space savings for players as we now also have the Ice Brood Saga Tome - further incentive for players to spend GEMS in Gem Store. Just think of it, ALL passes/portals/portal stones in one convenient slot.

Notice: "through our Amazon Store", which would seem to indicate that Anet/NCSoft are selling via Amazon.

Back in 2018 I created a Pass Tome Thread with the following thoughts: "Portal Tome for Season 3 holding all the Season 3 Portal Scrolls.Check. Portal Tome for Season 4 holding all the Season 4 Portal Scrolls.Check. Pass Tome for holding all the Gemstore Passes .Haven't seen this yet. Don't know why. Obviously, people enjoy the economy of space that Portal Tomes provide (and they are bought with specific in-game currencies). A Pass Tome could be a Gemstore item so there is the distinct possibility of additional real world income for Anet just with this item, as well as it being convenient for players (QoL improvement). Additionally, it would encourage players to have more than one pass (additional possibility of real world income for Anet, also convenient for players). It could be tabbed with a tab for permanent passes, a tab for 2-week/temporary passes, and a tab for portal stones (convenient for players). The temporary pass tab could have the ability to add a temporary pass directly - like buying extra bank tabs or bag slots (additional possibility of real world income for Anet AND convenient for players). The tab for portal stones (e.g. Hall of Monuments Portal Stone and Exalted Portal Stone) would allow players to save space, provide another selling point for a Pass Tome, and encourage the use of Portal Stones for future instances. I realize that this tab is really reaching - especially since one is account bound and the other soul bound. However, there is no harm in asking - the worst that can happen is nothing. Players save space and have more options. Anet gets paid. Win-win situation." Additionally, tabs might be added to allow Portal Tomes to be incorporated. This would be a huge space savings for players as we now also have the Ice Brood Saga Tome - further incentive for players to spend GEMS in Gem Store. Just think of it, ALL passes/portals/portal stones in one convenient slot.

If you choose to enter the PvP queue, remain at your computer ready to accept a match. If you need to AFK for ANY reason, please leave the queue, and re-enter when you can be sure to be there. Be aware that you are wasting other peoples' time by being AFK and letting a match timeout - this is a discourtesy on your part. When the match starts, if you are ready, please indicate so by clicking on "yes". If you are ready and simply letting the clock countdown you are wasting other peoples' time (which has been established as a discourtesy). If you have chosen to PvP, then commit yourself to doing it. Do your best and remain ACTIVELY involved in the match until it is finished. AFKing or dropping out of a match because you perceive your team to be losing only guarantees the loss. If you have teammates that AFK or drop out of a match, please report them as Idle Players and/or for Match Manipulation. Regarding Chat - only do so in a positive manner. If you do not have something constructive to say, DON'T say it. I have been in a 4v5 match where my team of 4 was victorious, which I attribute to our teammate who kept giving advice on where to go and positing that we could win - AWESOME use of Chat.

So, just to be clear regarding this topic. The level of the material synthesizer does not affect the ability to gather from multiple Guild Halls (e.g. Lumber 1 vs, Lumber 2).What affects your ability to gather from multiple Guild Halls is the Synthesis Output level. A Workshop has up to 4 levels of Synthesis Output, which determines the quantity of materials that can be harvested. If two Guild Halls have upgraded the Workshop to the same Synthesis Output Level, then only one of them can be harvested (e.g. If both have the Synthesis Output 4). However, if one is Synthesis Output 4, and the other only has Synthesis Output 3, then both Guild Halls can be harvested.Yes, I am suggesting that we should be able to harvest from every Guild Hall regardless of Synthesis Output level. As Guild Leader of three Guilds, and Guild Officer of a fourth, we have to remember not to fully upgrade three of the four guild's simply to maintain the distinct Output Synthesis levels. If I were to join a fifth guild, I would have to advocate not to have any Output Synthesis upgrades just to be able to do any harvesting there, and maintain my ability to harvest at other Guild Halls.

One can solo a Guild Hall, but as noted it will require quite a bit of time to fully level it (if that is your goal). The most common reason for soloing a Guild hall is to expand storage capability for non-Account Bound items One will probably need to use LFG to get some help acquiring a Guild Hall, but once acquired, it can be upgraded as a single member entity. I would add to the above by recommending that you go into the Guild menu and set your weekly Missions to PVE only. You should easily be able to do the Easy Trek and Bounty missions . WvW and PvP missions usually require multiple Guild members. Mission are the only way to gain Favor - one of the Guild Upgrade currencies. Also, be aware that most upgrades only advance your Guild Level by about a third (so it take three to complete a level). The exceptions to this are building upgrades, which will boost a whole level. So, if leveling your Guild Hall is a goal, don't forget to complete building upgrades. If a fully leveled Guild Hall is not your goal, I would recommend getting to Level 40, as it will unlock an upgrade that will allow for further exploration, as well as another waypoint. Good Luck! Have Fun!

Gw2.dat has all the updated info. Update your game, copy to your flashdrive, and replace the Gw2.dat on your friend's machine.

To quote a previous GW2 Discussion regarding a Pass Tome suggestion that I made: Portal Tome for Season 3 holding all the Season 3 Portal Scrolls.Check. Portal Tome for Season 4 holding all the Season 4 Portal Scrolls.Check. Pass Tome for holding all the Gemstore Passes .Haven't seen this yet. Don't know why. Obviously, people enjoy the economy of space that Portal Tomes provide (and they are bought with specific in-game currencies). A Pass Tome could be a Gemstore item so there is the distinct possibility of additional real world income for Anet just with this item, as well as it being convenient for players (QoL improvement). Additionally, it would encourage players to have more than one pass (additional possibility of real world income for Anet, also convenient for players). It could be tabbed with a tab for permanent passes, a tab for 2-week/temporary passes, and a tab for portal stones (convenient for players). The temporary pass tab could have the ability to add a temporary pass directly - like buying extra bank tabs or bag slots (additional possibility of real world income for Anet AND convenient for players). The tab for portal stones (e.g. Hall of Monuments Portal Stone and Exalted Portal Stone) would allow players to save space, provide another selling point for a Pass Tome, and encourage the use of Portal Stones for future instances. I realize that this tab is really reaching - especially since one is account bound and the other soul bound. However, there is no harm in asking - the worst that can happen is nothing. Players save space and have more options. Anet gets paid. Win-win situation.

To re-iterate a response in a similar thread: There are always options.... Perhaps Anet could treat guild slots like character slots, so players that desire more slots can purchase them with gems or in-game gold?Currently there are three in-game non-guild organizations The Durmand Priory, The Order of Whispers, and The Vigil. Notice that while each of these has its own primary location, they also have "branch" offices in major cities (various POI). Why not extend this ability to Guilds? Allow guilds to capture more than one Guild Hall, have them identify one as the main guild hall, leaving the rest as the guild's branch office(s). Sure, a guild only needs one guild hall, but the ability to branch out would help give them reasons to continue with Guild Missions once the primary guild hall is finished. A method could be worked out to transfer resources at some rate of exchange from one guild location to the next. For example, once a Guild Hall is fully upgraded there really is no need to have Aetherium, but if you could transfer a quantity from one location to another at a less than one-to-one ratio (to pay for the transport cost), that would be a way to further utilize that resource. Of course, if more is needed, one could just develop the mine at the desired location and make direct use of all that is mined there.As an aside to this, I think that a guild hall location should be created for Central Tyria (possibly several, it's kind of a big area). After all, the game is called "Guild Wars 2"....

Old-school Veteran (started with GW), casually dedicated, mostly satisfied, in a long-term relationship (possibly a Common Law marriage), outlook: while I live I hope;)

Awesome thread! Another player whispered "Hello, handsome" to my main during the Chak Gerent event in Tangled Depths. Added to Friends list, and we still whisper to this day.During a Ranked PvP match, a team-mate encouraged the team to victory in team chat throughout the entire match. We were 4v5 from the beginning of the match until the end, and we WON! I credit that player's positivity and direction as major factors in our victory. Later, we were teamed together again and the player's positive attitude was equal strong. We seemed to have a lesser experienced team-mate, and I have to credit both of them - Positive Player offered excellent game play advice, and Lesser-experienced Player was receptive and did his/her best to implement it. Sadly, we lost despite everyone's good efforts; however Positive Player's attitude and support made it feel like a win. Via in-game mail, I sent the player a well-deserved compliment (along with 5 gold) for displaying a positive attitude regardless of the circumstances.The above-mentioned are the two stand-out instances that spring to mind. There have been many other instances ranging from rezzing assistance to Mesmer Portals for JPs to rendering Guild Bounty Mission assistance. It's moments like the above that keep me looking forward to playing GW2. Thanks to OP for starting this thread!

Thanks, all, for your comments! Just some clarification: I am grateful for the skin. Thanks, ArenaNet!I am also frustrated about continuing to be "rewarded" with items that basically have right-click and destroy as a means of removing from inventory - something which has been going on since I started playing GW2 when it first came out.If we focus solely on this particular item, we all benefit from gaining a new skin. People who can use the back item also gain that benefit. People who do not need another back item can not gain any further benefit, and are now actually hampered with deciding what to do with it (refer back to original post and it's 7 options).If we compare it to a similar "reward" (as I originally did), the question now becomes, why did the back item offer a skin and only the option to use it as a back item; whereas, the helm provided THREE skins as well as the options to use as a helm, sell to a vendor, or salvage? There is an apparent inconsistency here, and I would like to know why.

True. However, the point is that a reward should be rewarding regardless of player's level of experience

Just finished The Dragon Bash Experience and was "rewarded" with the Commander's Victorious Holographic Wings back item. For me the only "reward" aspect of this was unlocking the new skin. Since I had unlocked the skin, I looked at my various options for this item: Save it for use in crafting a better version of this item - does not apply to this item.Sell it on the trading post - not possible as it is" account bound" (which also applies to anything "soul bound")Sell it to a vendor - not possible as it has no listed value for a vendor (unlike the "junk" trophies we can sell to a vendor)Salvage it for materials - not possible as it turns red when attempting to salvageSave it for an alt - not worth it as it as I can easily outfit my alts with Ascended back items in preference to Exotic itemsSave it for the Mystic Forge - not worth it as I would still need to use a storage slot until I had 3 more "useless" exotics, and then hope to trade 4 useless items on the highly improbable chance of getting something useful.Right-click and "destroy"True, I received a skin, but then why not simply reward the skin instead of an item. Checking the Wiki shows that acquiring this item is how you unlock the skin. In this particular instance the "reward" does not fit the effort invested. For example, the Holographic Dragon Helm allowed one to chose the weight (Light/Medium/Heavy), then unlocked the skins for all three weights regardless of the weight chosen, and could be sold to a vendor for 3 silver and 30 copper or salvaged for materials. This is not the first time that I and others have run into the issue of rewards being anchors. Anyone who has leveled up has gotten equipment for their character that also runs through the aforementioned options, frequently ending with number 7. So much for said item actually being a reward, it has simply become something else to weigh one down and waste one's time. For example, opening a bag and getting a gathering tool (axe/pick/sickle) for a character with infinite gathering tools - only option is to destroy it (especially since infinite gathering tools are now account bound). What I don't understand is why any "reward" can eventually become an anchor. At the very least, everything should have at least a vendor value so one can remove it from their inventory, but still feel like it is a "reward" in some fashion. A reward should offer options - not be a dead weight.

Thanks for allowing players to be able to join multiple guilds! As a member of five guilds (and leader of three), I have enjoyed the ability to gather at some of the various Guild Halls; however, I have to question why the nodes are limited. They are synthesizers, meaning that the resource tier harvested is randomly determined (once past tier 1) - someone cannot expect to get a specific resource when harvesting (like with a "Rich" node). This defeats targeted farming. A guild has to spend resources (materials and time [getting Favor by doing Guild Missions and waiting for enough aetherium to be mined]) in order to increment the tier level. Each added increment decreases the probability of getting a specific resource: Tier 1 = 100%, Tier 2= 50%, Tier 3= 33%, Tier 4 = 25%, Tier 5 = 20%, Tier 6 = 16.67%. Synthesizers in WvW have an hour cool down before they can be harvested again. In a Guild Hall, a node may be harvested once per day (refreshing at the daily reset);, However, a guild may once again expend resources (materials and time [getting favor by doing Guild Missions and waiting for enough aetherium to be mined]) to upgrade the quantity of materials that can be harvested once per day utilizing Synthesis upgrades, although the type of material garnered remains random. If you could only belong to one guild, then there would be no issue. But a player may be a member of up to five different guilds, with a guild hall in one of three possible locations. If any of those guilds have invested materials and time in to acquiring the same the same level of Synthesis upgrade (the Wiki refers to "upgrades" which would include both Tier improvement and quantity improvement, however I discovered that it only applies to the same level of Synthesis), then harvesting in one Guild Hall NULLIFIES the ability to harvest in the other(s). Some people have compared the Guild Hall to a player's Home Instance. For example: a Home Instance for each of the playable races compares to Three possible Guild Hall locations. In this case, a node harvested in one Home Instance cannot be harvested in another (with the exception of the two different Candy Corn nodes); this is very similar to the restriction in Guild Halls. However, one knows what one will get when harvesting in a home instance, whereas the Guild Hall synthesizers provide random materials. Improving one's Home Instance minimally requires an investment in time to acquire either materials or gold to trade for the improvement from the TP or gold to trade for Gems or the outright purchase of Gems (which help to support the game). One does not level one's Home Instance. Only the owning player is contributing to improving a Home Instance. Improving a Guild Hall synthesizer requires guild members to pool their resources (materials) and coordinate their time for Guild Missions (Favor) along with waiting long enough for a sufficient quantity of aetherium to be produced by the Guild Mine. Also, the Guild needs to be a minimal level in order to unlock various levels of upgrades. Guild gain levels by upgrading the guild hall. Optimally, Guilds will try to achieve the highest level. Unfortunately, if Guilds fully upgrade their synthesizers, then they lose reduce the gathering benefit for it members to only a single guild. Or its members have to try to convince other Guilds not to improve their synthesizers beyond a certain benefit so that they can benefit from contributing to the growth of multiple Guild Halls. Guild Wars 2 was advertised as a "play as you want" style of MMORPG. If a player wants to spend time harvesting from multiple Guild Halls that they are contributing time to, I do not see the harm in allowing that. At the worst, they could spend time gathering in five different Guild Halls - without preventing each of those guilds from being able to fully level.

Thanks to OP for stating what I have long felt and never got to stating myself - until now. Thank you ANet for all of your GW2 efforts!

GW1 was my first MMORPG. It was very much a game that I played with my friends. There are aspects of it that I miss, but also some that I don't. When GW2 came out we migrated to it and have been enjoying it ever since. I still log-in to GW1 every now and then to check out how things were, but keep coming back to GW2. The crux of the situation is time. There's a saying that we only have two commodities: time and money, and we are trading one and/or the other for things we enjoy. I believe that we only have one commodity: time, which we use for everything we do. Fundamentally, we trade time for money, so our time is the only commodity that we actually have. The most useful thing I gleaned from Economics is the principle of scarcity, which basically states having one finite item means not having other item(s). Time is truly finite - once spent we never get it back. As I have aged, I have learned to appreciate the time I have and be careful with how I spend it. Back to the topic, time spent playing GW1 means time spent not doing something else (e.g. playing GW2 or another game, eating, sleeping, relaxing, working, etc). In terms of nostalgia, I do miss playing GW1, but have found that I prefer playing GW2 (as do others who have moved on from there, hence the smaller player base). Also, ANet has limited resources - so they need to focus on what they think will the best of their time for the future of ANet. As has been previously mentioned, GW2 has grown from GW1. I love how ANet has brought things from GW1 and incorporated them on to GW2. I hope that they do the same when they move onto GW3. Unfortunately, that will mean that the GW2 player base will decrease as players migrate to GW3. So enjoy the nostalgia! Enjoy whatever version you happen to playing! Spend your time as you feel best!

Portal Tome for Season 3 holding all the Season 3 Portal Scrolls. Check. Portal Tome for Season 4 holding all the Season 4 Portal Scrolls. Check. Pass Tome for holding all the Gemstore Passes . Haven't seen this yet. Don't know why. Obviously, people enjoy the economy of space that Portal Tomes provide (and they are bought with specific in-game currencies). A Pass Tome could be a Gemstore item so there is the distinct possibility of additional real world income for Anet just with this item, as well as it being convenient for players. Additionally, it would encourage players to have more than one pass (additional possibility of real world income for Anet, also convenient forplayers). It could be tabbed with a tab for permanent passes and a tab for 2-week/temporary passes (convenient for players). The temporary pass tab could have the ability to add a temporary pass directly - like buying extra bank tabs or bag slots (additional possibility of real world income for Anet AND convenient for players). Players save space and have more options. Anet gets paid. Win-win situation.