9th Birthday Disappointment [Merged]

[Cyprien.4208]

It's almost like real life where each year you grow older the gifts are more and more a disappointment. Congrats for spending x amount of years with us here's a ball in a cup. (A ball in a cup would been more fun)

Edited August 23, 2021 by Cyprien.4208

[Sylvyn.4750]

Regarding expectations:

"I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine." -- Bruce Lee

"My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21.  Everything since then has been a bonus." -- Stephen W. Hawking

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!" -- Monty Python

😉

[Booey Bubblehead.4890]

7 minutes ago, Cyprien.4208 said:

It's almost like real life where each year you grow older the gifts are more more a disappointment. Congrats for spending x amount of years with us here's a ball in a cup. (A ball in a cup would been more fun)

There was a ball cap, maybe 2nd year or 1st year for something

[Shadowmoon.7986]

I pretty much expected nothing after looking at the 45k achievement milestone being blank. Anet focus is fleesing new player not the old guard.

[Dark Red Killian.3946]

I was excited about the unlimited use food tray. It needs to be fixed so it comes up as a food buff and not some “Nourishment” buff. Because it should act like food. Make that change please. It will make this more effective and less confusing.

[Sico.6941]

Agreed,... big ole bag of disappointment. 

[Zera.9435]

19 minutes ago, Shadowmoon.7986 said:

I pretty much expected nothing after looking at the 45k achievement milestone being blank. Anet focus is fleesing new player not the old guard.

Man I'm glad I don't care much for AP.

[Rogue.8235]

 

First point, this thread is not necessarily reflective of the player community in aggregate.  In addition, most opinions here are repeats without substantive addition to the originally presented subjective ideas on the first half of the first page.  Next, forums are a vocal minority as evidenced by the less than 1% of people that actually had more legendaries than the armory can handle.  Further, the opinions on this thread are not factual, they are the opinions of the countable number of posters in this thread who can only speak for themselves.

 

I'm voicing a counter-opinion because I personally disagree and I don't want anyone thinking this is  unanymous, or even majority, opinion.  It is a majority in this thread only.

 

/disclaimer

 

11 hours ago, Duke Blackrose.4981 said:

Anyone with a lot of alts, like myself. I very much appreciate the amulet.

They really should have had an ascended accessory, back, or weapon in the anniversary box.

 

The problem is that a sizable portion of the player base would have found this useless.  You're arguing for what is good for you, not everyone.  I have a lot of alts and have no use for ascended gear, therefore not all players would find it useful. I personally vote for the absence of ascended gear in future birthdays.

 

11 hours ago, DarkNighT.7319 said:

Like i understand if you are not fussed about it, everyone can feel differently about it, and frankly that is entirely fine, but when it comes down to it, this birthday is just a remix of older content done slightly different, and that is a bit of a kick in the face, i wouldnt have minded if it was original new stuff that didnt excite me or others, but this isnt that...

 

The dyes are unique and unobtainable anywhere else, the birthday cake is an infinitely reusable feast which I cannot find an equivalent of anywhere.

The guaranteed unlocks aren't new to birthday gifts, thus point is conceded.

Disagree on being kicked in the face.  Further, I feel positive about the birthday cake feast (video games have never excited me, nor movies, tv shows, or any other form of leisurely entertainment).  

 

10 hours ago, Rhapsody Dragonfly.5136 said:

I was so disappointed I went straight to forms to say something about this.... but it all already listed why don't we have a choice of dyes???? are they trying to keep the prices high so we cant afford them anymore and why don't we get our pick of last years dyes? I don't want this crappy choice of dye's,  I don't like any of them and we can only get 1 for the whole account for the whole year .... I just want to say W....T....F.... and a feast of delectable birthday cake again wtf.... 1 weapon skin unlock that looked like trash something I would never buy or get which turned out to be another disappointment.... You guys dropped the ball on this one this year and it's all bad.......

 

I'm glad we're not getting dyes that I can already get in the game.  I like the luminious weapon skins and the guaranteed unlocks are just bonuses for me.  It helped me with weapon collections I planned on starting, so that was useful.  I don't think they dropped the ball.

 

9 hours ago, Lyssia.4637 said:

As such, suddenly going from novelty chairs, full dye packs per characters, and armor skins to... a single dye per account that looks likely to be automated for the next six years really doesn't support their "the best is yet to come, this is not the last expansion, we are going to listen more to our players" message.  As it stands, the gift does rather scream the impression that the developers are bored and moving on.

 

Contrarily, this is the first birthday gift that actually had something functional and useful.  The others just take up inventory space or fill out the wardrobe just to fill it up.  It's refreshing to get something that can actually be used regularly.

 

9 hours ago, Kalocin.5982 said:

Just like others have echoed, I think in combination with other things it's another on the list that's having older players lose confidence in the company. Gifts have always been a tradition in GW and GW1 gifts were automated after the game's dev cycle was ended. It's obviously not the case for GW2 with an expansion coming along but us older players don't really feel like investing money into a company/game that might not be around in a couple years. All signs seem to point at EoD being a Hail Mary with how IBS got axed. I dunno man, I probably would have been less salty if the cake had 9 candles. Sounds ridiculous but that lack of care/attention to detail alongside the title duplication shows a real lack of polish Anet used to be known for

 

Correction, only you feel this way as that is all you know for certain.  Don't speak for us veteran players, because we all don't share the exact same opinions, nor do we all share your specific opinions.

Don't try to pass off your opinion as a majority for the sake of hyperbolic presentation.

 

10 hours ago, Donari.5237 said:

Well, it's not *completely* free, one has to have kept a character around for nine years.

 

I'm not exactly disappointed.  But I'm far from excited.  I had hoped the Aurene dyes would be in this gift as I still have two of those to collect.  And if I hadn't read this thread, I too would have been expecting to unlock all the new dyes in short order as I happen to have 5 launch characters plus another made just a few months later.

 

I think the negative reactions and let down feelings aren't from being mad about the "free gift" being less than wanted, but from expectations based on a years-long pattern now broken.  This is the first time since dyes started showing up in birthdays that we haven't gotten unlocks of our choice of valuable rng drop dyes.  Sure there's a little bit of "last year I had 37" in that, but also some of Lucy yanking away the football.

 

Counterpoint:

Keeping a character for a game you already bought has no additional cost.

The dyes given this year are unobtainable anywhere else, which leads to...

Giving the same dye kit gifts over and over again will ultimately be useless.  Players will, at some point, already have the dyes unlocked and will receive an account-bound dye they cannot use.  What you're suggesting is not sustainable.  See Queen Jenna Mini; see also experience scrolls not being used by veteran players without an available character slot.

 

10 hours ago, Valandil Dragonhart.2371 said:

Yes, we get that free stuff is free, but 9th birthday... your OLDEST veterans... it should have Quality stuff in there. And yes, this does indeed seem like a rather shortsighted afterthought than something which had care and attention given to it.

I just hope they can learn from this, and that whoever in Anet approved this birthday gift gets a right bollocking.

 

The 9th birthday gift has quality stuff in it.  Most importantly, it has something functional that I can actually use regularly.  There isn't a lesson ArenaNet needs to learn.

I left the first half of the post  alone as that was a purely emotional statement.  

 

 

8 hours ago, Mikuchan.7261 said:

I'm not going to demand anything, but yes, I am in fact complaining about free stuff.

 

Before, the gifts have actually been quite fun and a bit exciting.

This year it's just.. meh.
It's free stuff, sure... But compared to before, it's just meh.

 

It's not only about celebrating that your character is 1 year older, even if that's a big part of it. It's also about celebrating that Guild Wars 2 is one year older... And we aren't really celebrating it to the same extent as we've done with the older gifts... Not nearly I feel.

 

The gift feels like one of those sort of gifts you would get repeatedly after the game has ended its lifetime and has gone into its maintenance phase.

It disappoints people who were excited.
And that's a bit sad.

That's all.

 

Not all players who were looking forward to the birthday gift is disappointed.  Don't pass off a personal opinion as a generalized opinion shared by the community as that would be unnecessarily hyperbolic.  You don't know everyone's opinions so you can't speak to that.

Gifts before were kinda meh, especially last year.  This year has something actually useful rather than an ascended amulet I don't need and some sort of obnoxious infusion I'll never use.

I feel we are celebrating it as well as prior years.  Every birthday gift is something some people like and some people don't.  Seems par for the course.

 

7 hours ago, Shrimpkin.4851 said:

Since they removed karma boosters I can't use those.  A karma infusion helps a bit but a 5% boost is meh, so my character is currently in Sandswept Isles with Karmic Retribution (level two since I don't have the gold for the third one) and just the thought of how long it's going to take me to get what I need makes me sigh most times and decide it's maybe not worth logging in.

 

Think I'll go murder stuff in BL3 to take my mind off it.

 

Just in case you didn't know, karmic enrichments can be obtained for 10 laurels.  However, the only other method is Koda's Warmth, which seems very grindy.  If you already knew that... well all I have to say is that I approve of the wholesale slaughter of WvW players!

unless it's me.  don't kill me.  pretend i'm not there.  even when i'm stabbing you in the face.

 

 

4 hours ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

I get people saying free is free, but you also gotta understand the fact that this is ANet who set the expectations for the Birthday gifts based on how they did it over the years.

 

It's one thing if players hyped themselves up for no reason and got disappointed in return. It's another for a company to set an expectation and underdeliver, which in this case they did since previous gifts were more well received by most people.

 

What expectation?  All prior birthday gifts had unsustainable content.  Example is the dye packs, eventually you'll have them all and then what?

4 hours ago, hugo.4705 said:

Frankly huge disapointment, level of birthday gift downgraded to level one gift with its mini queen jennah. Btw why queen jennah and no knut, smodur, pake tree or high councilor flax?

Not gonna lie, after other gift giving amulet and infusion, both ascended, wated for a precursor choice, no joke. Or dunno, to continue the set if unique skins, a cape/glider/mount skin, all with gw2 logo on it.

If the player is sensed to feel rewarded, something missed the target here. 

 

I don't think they missed the target.  I got birthday stuff on my character's birthday, including something actually useful to me.

 

6 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

In response to the "Hey, it's free, quit complaining," there's such a thing as something free being worse than nothing at all.
It's kinda like getting all of those prepackaged "happy birthdays" on Facebook that you know are only because FB shoved your birthdate into everyone's faces and let them click a single button to send to you. It cheapens the whole thing, and a few thoughtful happy birthdays from people who actually remember completely outweigh dozens solicited by Mark's algorithms.
Or, for another analogy, it's like a big group leaving you a ten cent tip after you waited their table for an hour and a half. Better to not put anything on the table. A dime is just pure disdain.

 

These are.... oddly specific.

Anyways, it doesn't seem that way to me.  I got birthday stuff on my character's birthday.  It didn't feel like it lacked thought to me.

6 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Just recently I realized that I had a few birthday gifts unopened sitting in various character's mailboxes. This is because I always want to take extra care picking which sweet dye I'll add to my collection, so I tend to leave them there and think "I'll get back to that".

 

 

They couldn't keep doing this.  It's not a sustainable model that can last in perpetuity.

 

 

5 hours ago, DarkSnowman.8527 said:

This time I don’t feel it as entitlement, like I must have something. I just feel like this one is a let-down. Every year I have giddily waited for my next gw2 birthday, even have a excel to keep track. Really fully invested in this world and kept most of my characters from the first few years just with the goal that it is rewarded.

I would have never thought that getting free stuff would left me feel disappointed. But really thinking it, 9 years, I have spent 9 years with this game. Meanwhile irl finished school, getting married, buying house etc. But all this time I have played this game, and getting a dye for this long commitment, it just feel so wrong.

 

You're getting married and buying a house, and you think playing the game is a commitment? If you think the 9th year birthday gift is a let down, wait until you deal with tax liens, mortgages and fluctuating valuations,  property insurance games, marriage in general, etc. etc. etc.

Good luck to you.

Now if you don't actually prioritize life in this manner, then I'm calling you out on the hyperbolic statement.

 

 

3 hours ago, Zephire.8049 said:

It's not the (lack of) free stuff that's an issue, it's that Anet reneged on an unspoken agreement with veteran players after spending years telling players if they play for X years, they'll get goodies.

 

This year's goodies include: a title that was already in-game, a feast that's only useful for low level characters but requires you to be level 80 to use it, and a selection of one colour from a Lisa Frank poster (and not one of the darker ones).

 

It just seems like a last minute gas station birthday gift that you're expected to be grateful for even though they had months (technically years in this case) to plan for. It's not the items that are insulting, it's the complete lack of thought behind them.

 

 

What unspoken agreement?  The birthday cake is useful, And the dye selection isn't a universal disappointment.  You can only say it's a disappointment to you.  

It was birthday themed stuff for my character's birthday, with not useless stuff.  Prior birthday gifts did have useless things, as in I had no use for them at all.  This does have proper forethought.

Prior birthday gifts were unsustainable, as in they could not continue on that trend in perpetuity.  

What you seem to be alluding to is just more of the same instead of something new.

 

 

 

Okay That's it for now.  Too much to cover in this thread and not enough time.

Overall, lots of people trying to give the impression that their personal opinion is somehowthe majority opinion, which they can't know.  Lots of hyperbole in an attempt to lend emphasis, and in some cases credence, to the opinions. 

 

 

 

To the Confused reactions:

I'm attempting to expose instances of hyperbole and fallacious assertions.  If you lack the literary skill to understand what I typed, PM me and I can help you understand critical thought.  

Otherwise, let me know what words you don't seem to be understanding.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Rogue.8235

[Zera.9435]

I was excited when the 9thy birthday was coming up. Then when I got it, I was like "Oh ok. Thanks. Guess I'll go finish dailies." The moment passed as quickly as a fart.

[Touchme.1097]

I have to disagree, the best gift the developers can give to me is their hard work on making GW2 a better game. 

I am happy with the current gem store offers. They gave away 2 exp boosters for free and the basic home instance nodes at 30% off.

[Zera.9435]

5 minutes ago, Touchme.1097 said:

I have to disagree, the best gift the developers can give to me is their hard work on making GW2 a better game. 

I am happy with the current gem store offers. They gave away 2 exp boosters for free and the basic home instance nodes at 30% off.

Yes, those are all great, but they're all separate from the hype of a character's birthday. It's like "Why bother making it a milestone?"

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

10 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

What expectation?  All prior birthday gifts had unsustainable content.  Example is the dye packs, eventually you'll have them all and then what

The expectation that better content would be provided when a character/account reaches a certain age. If you look into the list of items you get, you see how ANet designed it to be marginally better than the previous year, that's a design choice which they provided an expectation for. 

Edited August 23, 2021 by ChronoPinoyX.7923

[Rogue.8235]

8 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

The expectation that better content would be provided when a character/account reaches a certain age. If you look into the list of items you get, you see how ANet designed it to be marginally better than the previous year, that's a design choice which they provided an expectation for. 

 

And they delivered on something new.  You're still not articulating your argument.  You're trying to use obscurity to make your point.

Your lack of definition for what constitutes "better content" and "marginally better" is creating a one sided expectation that ArenaNet has no control over.   How can they know what you expect if you can't even define it?

 

To the Confused reaction:

Are the words to difficult for you to understand or are you unable to comprehend the sentences in aggregate? 

Edited August 23, 2021 by Rogue.8235

[Josiah.2967]

This is worse than I thought. I can't even use the cake to level alts...  Food isn't expensive but at least I thought I would get some use out of this at that time.  😞

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

24 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

And they delivered on something new.  You're still not articulating your argument.  You're trying to use obscurity to make your point.

Your lack of definition for what constitutes "better content" and "marginally better" is creating a one sided expectation that ArenaNet has no control over.   How can they know what you expect if you can't even define it?

I'm not lacking in definition, I simply need to compare the two listings of Birthday Gifts to show how much better the 8th Anni is compared to the 9th Anni gift. 

8th Anni Content:

Title: Dedicated

  Dedicated Anniversary Achievement Box

1   Anniversary Backpack Pack

2   Anniversary Weapon Pack

1   Anniversary Armor Pack

1   Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock

1   Celebratory Birthday Enrichment

1   Amulet of Celebration

 

9th Anni Content:

Title: Committed

  Committed Anniversary Achievement Box

1   Feast of Delectable Birthday Cake

1   Delectable Birthday Dyes

1   Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock

2   Anniversary Weapon Pack

 

Which one has more content by default?

Edited August 24, 2021 by ChronoPinoyX.7923

[zityz.6089]

Yea it's quite disappointing.

 

Even the dyes aren't unique, save for Cherry Cola? Most of the other ones are basically Electro Colours with MAYBE a slight tweak.

 

Maybe they think that people who've been around this long don't have a lot of dyes and wouldn't notice?

 

I broke out the birthday blaster to test, once again, it's been a long time since I had the thing out, but wasn't there 3 skills? it only shows 2 now. Once again I could be wrong about this one but is taking a skill off one thing and turning it an item count?

 

I know that they are working on EoD and all that, this feels like 1 person was tasked to do this and they forgot all about it up until the weekend before.

 

Oh well, Happy Birthday Everybody!

 

 

[Zephire.8049]

36 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

 

And they delivered on something new.  You're still not articulating your argument.  You're trying to use obscurity to make your point.

Your lack of definition for what constitutes "better content" and "marginally better" is creating a one sided expectation that ArenaNet has no control over.   How can they know what you expect if you can't even define it?

They didn't deliver on anything new, though.

 

Year 8 items:

• 2 Birthday Boosters
• 5 Teleport to Friends
• 1 Dedicated Dye Kit
• 1 Birthday Card
• 2 Black Lion Statuettes
• 1 Anniversary Backpack
• 2 Anniversary Weapon Packs
• 1 Anniversary Armor Pack
• 1 Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock
• 1 Celebratroy Birthday Enrichment
• 1 Amulet of Celebration
• 1 Title
• 1 AP

 

Year 9 items:

• 2 Birthday Boosters
• 5 Teleport to Friends
• 1 Bag of Spirit Shards
• 1 Birthday Card
• 2 Black Lion Statuettes
• 2 Anniversary Weapon Packs
• 1 Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock
• 1 Feast of Delectable Birthday Cake
• 1 Delectable Birthday Dye Kit
• 1 Title
• 1 AP

 

Remove the overlap and previously established sets and it becomes

 

Year 8:

• 1 Dedicated Dye Kit
• 1 Celebratroy Birthday Enrichment
• 1 Amulet of Celebration
• 1 Title

 

Year 9:

• 1 Bag of Spirit Shards
• 1 Delectable Birthday Dye Kit
•  

Not even the title is unique.

 

And it should be noted that the previous dye kit had 18 options. The new one has 6 and you can only get one a year instead of per character. And the colour of the new dye is completely dependent on material and is actually identical to existing dyes on certain materials, so they're only partially unique.

 

Even the feast provides the same buff as the Year 2 Birthday Blaster, only for 30 minutes instead of 10, and is the Year 2 cake model on the Dessert Tray feast model.

 

So the Big New Thing for the 9th birthday is one (1) dye and, depending on which colour you pick and what material you use it on, isn't even new.

 

That is a huge downgrade in rewards and also assumes you have any interest in one of the 6 dyes to begin with. If you have no interest in any of those colours, you get nothing from the 9th birthday present. At all. Well, aside from the 1 AP I guess.

 

Also Anet set these expectations in GW1 when they decided to give every character a new and unique reward on their birthday. It was only when GW1 entered maintenance mode and the company was busy with GW2 that they switched to vouchers. And in GW2, they've since added a new skin each year on top of a dye pack that let you choose from over a dozen options. You can't build up a reputation for doing something for over a decade and then be surprised when doing practically nothing is met with shock and bewilderment.

 

And it once again comes down to communicating their position ahead of time. If they didn't want to continue on with what they had established, they should have said that at some point beforehand. A simple "We know you're looking forward to the 9th anniversary presents but we're busy with End of Dragons so the items won't be on par with previous years. We're sorry about that and hope you understand." would have gone a long way in keeping expectations low—expectations they've intentionally built up over the years, mind you—while admitting they know they dropped the ball. It would have still sucked but it would have been better than silence.

Edited August 24, 2021 by Zephire.8049

[Rogue.8235]

40 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

'I'm not lacking in definition, you're trying to push an opinion by saying it lacks something. Here's a simple comparison of listed content between 8th Anniversary and 9th Anniversary. 

(emphasis added).

 

I'm not pushing an opinion.  I'm asking you to clarify your assertion.  You are asserting that there is an:

1 hour ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

...expectation that better content would be provided when a character/account reaches a certain age.

and that ArenaNet

3 hours ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

...set an expectation and underdeliver, which in this case they did since previous gifts were more well received by most people.

 

Your assertions have no basis in fact.  You are attempting to validate your opinion with a general and unfounded statement.

 

 

40 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

8th Anni Content:

Title: Dedicated

  Dedicated Anniversary Achievement Box

1   Anniversary Backpack Pack

2   Anniversary Weapon Pack

1   Anniversary Armor Pack

1   Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock

1   Celebratory Birthday Enrichment

1   Amulet of Celebration

 

9th Anni Content:

Title: Committed

  Committed Anniversary Achievement Box

1   Feast of Delectable Birthday Cake

1   Delectable Birthday Dyes

1   Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock

2   Anniversary Weapon Pack

 

I see two compositions with qualitatively different components.  

In addition, the anniversary armor only has 3 sets.  To add it again would leave players with an armor skin they can't use.

Further, the anniversary pack skins have also reached their limit.  Again, adding this would lead to an item with no use.

Furthermore, the wardrobe unlock and weapon packs are the same, qualitatively and quantitatively.

Moreover, the amulet with infusion and the birthday cake feast with dye selection are very different things and cannot be compared.

 

40 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

Which one has more content by default?

The packages are two qualitatively different things.  To compare them quantitatively without acknowledging qualitative differences is fallacious.

 

Again, you're making the assertions.  You still have yet to define what, precisely, is the factual basis for the assertions.

 

To the confused reaction:

I'm not sure how to more clearly explain critical thought.  If you can identify what you don't understand, that would be helpful.  Are there words you don't know or are you having trouble understanding logical flow?

Edited August 24, 2021 by Rogue.8235

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

I think it would be okay if the dye wasn't once-per-account, that's what ruins it for me.

[Rogue.8235]

10 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

And it should be noted that the previous dye kit had 18 options. The new one has 6 and you can only get one a year instead of per character. And the colour of the new dye is completely dependent on material and is actually identical to existing dyes on certain materials, so they're only partially unique.

It should also be noted that the previous dye kits all contained dyes already obtainable through other means and the new dye selection is unobtainable by any other means.  The dyes are not identical to any others.  HSV values are different as well as the shading networks.  Source: Maya 2019.

 

12 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

Even the feast provides the same buff as the Year 2 Birthday Blaster, only for 30 minutes instead of 10, and is the Year 2 cake model on the Dessert Tray feast model.

So it's different then.  One is a feast and the other is a weapon kit.  One provides a third of the duration than the other.  

 

14 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

Also Anet set these expectations in GW1 when they decided to give every character a new and unique reward on their birthday. It was only when GW1 entered maintenance mode and the company was busy with GW2 that they switched to vouchers. And in GW2, they've since added a new skin each year on top of a dye pack that let you choose from over a dozen options. You can't build up a reputation for doing something for over a decade and then be surprised when doing practically nothing is met with shock and bewilderment.

 

The assertion that they did practically nothing.  As for lack of 3 completely new armor sets and a full set of completely new weapons seems to conflict with the expansion development.  Would you rather they focus the 3d art team on birthday gifts instead of expansion content?  How would the player base feel if that were the case?  The 9th birthday package did provide some new things unobtainable elsewhere in the game.  

GW1 gifts cannot be compared to GW2 gifts in the same way that combat in GW1 cannot be compared to GW2.  

 

17 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

And it once again comes down to communicating their position ahead of time. If they didn't want to continue on with what they had established, they should have said that at some point beforehand. A simple "We know you're looking forward to the 9th anniversary presents but we're busy with End of Dragons so the items won't be on par with previous years. We're sorry about that and hope you understand." would have gone a long way in keeping expectations low—expectations they've intentionally built up over the years, mind you—while admitting they know they dropped the ball. It would have still sucked but it would have been better than silence.

 

Again, you are the one making the assertion that the gifts are subpar.  You then imply that the player base at large shares your very specific and personal opinion with suggesting that ArenaNet informs the players of the "disappointment."  It's an assertion with no factual basis.  It would be more correct for you to say that it's a disappointment to you and that ArenaNet should have forewarned you.

 

[Lyssia.4637]

1 hour ago, Rogue.8235 said:

8 hours ago, Lyssia.4637 said:

As such, suddenly going from novelty chairs, full dye packs per characters, and armor skins to... a single dye per account that looks likely to be automated for the next six years really doesn't support their "the best is yet to come, this is not the last expansion, we are going to listen more to our players" message.  As it stands, the gift does rather scream the impression that the developers are bored and moving on.

 

Contrarily, this is the first birthday gift that actually had something functional and useful.  The others just take up inventory space or fill out the wardrobe just to fill it up.  It's refreshing to get something that can actually be used regularly.

I'll have to agree to disagree on this one.  I don't know what you're thinking about specifically, but I can't see wasting a shared slot on the cake, so it'll end up just tossed on one character.  Another food item, that I don't find particularly useful at high level but can only be used at high level, doesn't seem terribly useful to me.  Whereas, I do use and like the novelties and armor skins.

 

I will say, as said better by others, it's the somewhat baffling choices that give me the impression I referred to above.  Reusing a title especially, and especially if it's a mistake.  I mean, it's not like an anniversary gift could have taken them by surprise.

12 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

In addition, the anniversary armor only has 3 sets.  To add it again would leave players with an armor skin they can't use.

For what it's worth, I would have expected them to add a new one, particularly in light of EoD's release this year, and with the ten year anniversary coming up next year.  A NEW set of armor seems like, again as someone else mentioned previously, a good way to celebrate and raise excitement for the release and the ten years in general.  Just my opinion, though, and not one I expect you to share, or am claiming anyone else does.

 

I'm glad you do like the pack.  It's good to know it satisfied someone.

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

25 minutes ago, Zephire.8049 said:

So the Big New Thing for the 9th birthday is one (1) dye and, depending on which colour you pick and what material you use it on, isn't even new.

That is a huge downgrade in rewards and also assumes you have any interest in one of the 6 dyes to begin with. If you have no interest in any of those colours, you get nothing from the 9th birthday present. At all. Well, aside from the 1 AP I guess.

The fact that it's 6 dyes over 18 just makes it even worse when you look at it from that angle. There's even less option provided compared to the previous birthday sets. And considering it's not even for every character, it makes it even worse. 

16 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

Your assertions have no basis in fact.  You are attempting to validate your opinion with a general and unfounded statement.

Except they do. As I said, by design before 9th anniversary, ANet has literally been increasing and improving the overall content available within the birthday gifts as age progresses. You're ignoring the genuine fact that there is more content in the previous birthday gift than there is the current one. The one dye kit you get from this current birthday has less dye options than the previous year, going from 18 down to 6, which doesn't even cover the entire account. 

16 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

The packages are two qualitatively different things.  To compare them quantitatively without acknowledging qualitative differences is fallacious.

Except they aren't. They fall under the same category of being birthday gifts, therefore they are expected to have equal quality, if not greater, not lesser, for the 9th Anniversary Gift. There is little to gain on the what the 9th anniversary gift has to offer and as @Zephire.8049pointed out, the only "Quality" item there is even to consider in the 9th Anniversary is the dye kit which is much lesser quality over the previous year. 

I'm not making any assertions on anything. Unless there's a massive boom in wanting 1 out of 6 dyes, then the only person making assertion here is you since you're assuming majority of people see quality in the one major thing over 9th anniversary. I'm simply stating what is factually in front of myself and everyone else and that is the fact that there is less quality content in the 9th anniversary gift compared to the previous year because at most, you get 1 out of 6 new dyes and that's it. The cake isn't really that much of a quality item either since it's a 30 min item on a 5 minute gizmo that you'd need to buy for 5 gold + Karma just so you can bring multiple of it. Great gold sink maybe but there are better foods out there that provide better buffs. 

If you personally see it as a quality item, then there's no issue on that, but from what I've observed over on the EU portion of the game, along with this forum, there's a good chunk of the community who are genuinely disappointed over the lack of content behind the 9th Anni gift. 

Edited August 24, 2021 by ChronoPinoyX.7923

[Lillis.9473]

When I saw the ice cream dye collection I laughed.  I thought it was cute in a loud, obnoxious way and looked forward to my other toons filling out the collection over the next few weeks.  Now I learn it is one dye a year?  That's so cheap and cheesy.  I can understand why they finally figured out that giving away BLTP dyes was a bad business decision, but even those were one dye per toon.  Now one dye per account?  They expect the ice cream dyes to last for another 6 years? Bleh

[Rogue.8235]

29 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

Except they do. As I said, by design before 9th anniversary, ANet has literally been increasing and improving the overall content available within the birthday gifts as age progresses. You're ignoring the genuine fact that there is more content in the previous birthday gift than there is the current one. The one dye kit you get from this current birthday has less dye options than the previous year, going from 18 down to 6, which doesn't even cover the entire account. 

 

You use the vague term "improving" without factually identifying how the new one failed to do so.

As for the dyes, you leave out that the new dyes are unobtainable anywhere else in the game.  The biggest result is that everyone has 6 new dyes to choose from, whereas previously, the assortments of dyes to choose from vary from 18 to 0.

This is demonstrable that you're sole basis for your assertions is from your point of view without regard to anyone else.  The problem is when you attempt to assert that this sole, personal view is reflective of the player base at large.

 

29 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

Except they aren't. They fall under the same category of being birthday gifts, therefore they are expected to have equal quality, if not greater, not lesser, for the 9th Anniversary Gift

 

They are packages with qualitatively different components.  So no, they are not side-by-side comparable because they are different things.

29 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

There is little to gain on the what the 9th anniversary gift has to offer 

Except that is not universally true.  Segments of players will find it more useful and others less so, just like every other birthday gift in the past.  You're encroaching on hyperbole.

 

29 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

as @Zephire.8049pointed out, the only "Quality" item there is even to consider in the 9th Anniversary is the dye kit which is much lesser quality over the previous year. 

The asertion that it is lesser quality has yet to be factually validated.  Again there is no factual basis for your assertions.  You are masquerading your personal opinion as empirical fact.

 

29 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

I'm not making any assertions on anything. Unless there's a massive boom in wanting 1 out of 6 dyes, then the only person making assertion here is you since you're assuming majority of people see quality in the one major thing over 9th anniversary. I'm simply stating what is factually in front of myself and everyone else and that is the fact that there is less quality content in the 9th anniversary gift compared to the previous year because at most, you get 1 out of 6 new dyes and that's it. The cake isn't really that much of a quality item either since it's a 30 min item on a 5 minute gizmo that you'd need to buy for 5 gold + Karma just so you can bring multiple of it. Great gold sink maybe but there are better foods out there that provide better buffs. 

 

You are consistently making assertions.  What you claim to be factually true is an assertion yet to be proven.  Again, these are personal opinions disguised as empirical truth. 

I never asserted that anything has more quality than anything else.  I'm stating that these things are not comparable and identifying your assertions.

 

To the Confused reaction:

Hopefully these help you understand.

Critical thinking:   the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.

Objectivity: lacking personal bias, personal opinion, and emotions

Empirical: of sensory experience, actualism, what tangibly exists

Assertion: Confident and authoritative statement of fact

Edited August 24, 2021 by Rogue.8235

[tron.1438]

I logged in looking forward to see what the 9th gift was.  Was going to drop about $50 on gems to get some things.  Just have fun.  I get the birthday gift. 

• 2 Birthday Boosters
• 5 Teleport to Friends
• 1 Bag of Spirit Shards
• 1 Birthday Card
• 2 Black Lion Statuettes

Wait, no dye?  Who want's a bag of Spirit shards that are not that rare.  It's bad enough to had more Birthday Boosters to my never ending pile, but still.  Ok maybe the special gift you get for the account is special.

• 2 Anniversary Weapon Packs
• 1 Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock
• 1 Feast of Delectable Birthday Cake
• 1 Delectable Birthday Dye Kit
• 1 Title
• WAIT!  That's it?  A "could be anything like a lv 5 map weapons skin you just did not get" wardrobe unlock, 2 more anniversary weapon packs and a portable tray of cake that EVERYONE will have and spam.  It's the Birthday Cake Gun all over again.  Oh and a dye for 6 colors but you only get 1.  Then what, wait another year to get another.  Just like the backpacks.  Oh and it has TWO PINKS!  I like pink and all but no red.

 

I was so disappointing with the birthday gifts that I logged into Guild Wars 1 and got my Birthday Vouchers and had more fun with those.

 

Look I understand that the comment I get in game about this.  "Well they don't have to give us anything.  Free is Free."  But come  on.  9 years with the company.  Did you not see the title you gave us.  COMMITTED!  9 years of commitment to this game.  Oh and I read that year 10 was going to be Unwavering.  Well I am so disappointed.  I am starting to Waver.