9th Birthday Disappointment [Merged]

[Styopa.2538]

A birthday dye should be either

1) truly random chance at any (really ANY) of the 612 dyes in the game.  I've played this character NINE YEARS guys, that means I would have gotten 9/612ths of the color inventory in birthday presents.  Is that game-breaking?  Would that harm some sort of contrived scarcity you're supporting?

or

2) a guaranteed dye unlock (something you don't already have).  Yes, if some crazy kitten sits on toons for YEARS they might leverage this into almost certainly getting really rare dyes* 

*you know, those ones you have infinity of?

[Lyssia.4637]

40 minutes ago, giromon.5960 said:

Honestly,  my only disappointment is the 5 unobtainable dyes after I picked one.   It's hurting my ocd a lot not having a complete dye collection. 

It's not even not having them that's bothering my ocd... it's seeing them locked with no way to get them but to wait years.

[Dark Red Killian.3946]

I mean it’s all free stuff that they don’t have to give and they could stop it at any time. I swear, the level of entitlement people have. Just be glad you get something free.

[Gorem.8104]

15 hours ago, EnemyCrusher.7324 said:

It's the same buff from the Birthday Blaster that we got from the second birthday gift. We already had an unlimited amount of this buff.

 

Yeah but it was a lot more annoying to pull off and didn't last as long. You are reaching and choose a certain phrase instead of quoting me entirely as well. 

 

I mean I guess the "In thing" for clout right now is to act disappointed and make up things but I really do like the cake feast and how it lasts 30 mins and is an instant thing. My hope was that they just made it last an hour or even longer. Again - actually read what I wrote 🙂

[Rogue.8235]

18 hours ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

Dude, I'm not about to go into a textwall of nonsense at this point just because you can't accept that people genuinely dislike the 9th anniversary gift. And you really need to learn to use the word "assertion" right, because it seems like you have no understanding of it at this point and just using it as an ad hominem... Ima leave it as it is and just ignoring you next time. 

 

I accept that an individuals personal opinion is true for them.  What I don't want is the fallacious act of referring to this thread as evidence that the majority of players are disappointed.  No one in here knows what the majority of players think (that includes me).  What I do know is that no one can claim to possess this knowledge and to relay that as if it were objective truth.  Every time I quoted you it is to address that you were asserting your opinion as the opinion of the majority of players.  You do not know this nor can you claim this to be factual.

Again, an assertion is the confident and authoritative statement of a fact.  I am identifying that everytime you refer to the majority of players, it is not factually correct.

Second ad hominem  is an attack on the person's character instead of their arguments.  At no point did I ever remark on you as a person.  I have only addressed your statements.  

[Rogue.8235]

14 hours ago, TwoGhosts.6790 said:

Jfc.

One of the educationalists has arrived. It never takes long.

Why do people show up in these threads to remind people that what they're presenting are opinions.

This is a gaming forum, on the Internet, the very fabric of its existence is opinion. And most of it is wrong, of course.

Except, in this case, I think the majority of people posting on this thread agree with OP. So, one might say that the assertion, that most people agree with the OP, has a certain ring of empirical truth to it.

I'll wait with baited breath for the next lecture concerning legitimate sample sizes, statistical significance and robust methodology.

Since you have no desire for cognitive discourse I'll just state this:

Individual opinions are great.  Individuals claiming that their opinion is the majority opinion is not.

This thread is only an example of the inherent bias of non-random sampling, which is a concept learned at the high school level (i.e. basic education).

[Rogue.8235]

11 hours ago, Valandil Dragonhart.2371 said:

and what the overwhelming majority of people here have come to echo

This right here is what I've been addressing this entire time.  This is not a fact at all.  

Even if we assume that every single post in this thread was made by a unique individual stating that they dislike the crappy gift, that is only 153 at the time of this post.

153 people are not even remotely close to an "overwhelming majority."  This is a fraction of a percentage of the population.  No one can claim what the majority of players think, because no one has that information..  Further, less than 153 people have actually participated in this thread.

I don't understand how you got the idea that 153 people is an overwhelming majority of the player population.

[Rogue.8235]

10 hours ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Ah, one of the oldest and most useless arguments on gaming forums.

 

Forum users are a minority, therefore their opinions don't reflect the majority. Of course, they don't not reflect the majority either.

If the forums are so useless and niche, why even contribute? Because this niche elite group of people who don't reflect the majority might sway the designers at ArenaNet unless you point out that we are a derranged, factless, opinion-only, tiny slice of non-representative playerbase?

 

It's a good thing you're watching out for those poor naive ANet employees and the vast silent majority of gamers who are secretly crying themselves to sleep with tears of happiness over the generosity of this year's birthday gifts.

Nice hyperbole.  Ignoring the florid adjectives:

This is how the claims of the game is dying get started.    People claim some fact about the majority of the player base that they can, in no way, have knowledge of.  

The forums are not useless.  This is a false dichotomy.  You present the situation as if it is only one of two extremes.  Either the relatively few posters in a thread is the majority of the player base, or it is completely useless.  Any level of cognitive thought will identify a myriad of uses for forums without the posters attempting to present fallacious information.

ArenaNet employee's have enough of an education to understand what is fact and what is not.  So no, I am not giving them any regard.

You then devolve into nonsensical  ranting with something about crying.  This is definitely useless to anyone.

All I did was inject critical thinking and objective discourse into the conversation.  That you eventually devolve into sensationalist statements leaves me to wonder if you find objective reasoning to be emotionally triggering.  I assume not, but if you are upset I am very sorry.  I am only making reasoned, objective statements.

My assumption is that no one here is upset about an individual that is challenging their claims of fact, which is why I didn't preemptively try to assuage any emotional response.  However, I am truly sorry if I did upset anyone.  I really don't mean to.  

 

P.S. I really didn't care for this year's birthday gift.  Thought I'd throw that out there.  I mean the cake is cool, but didn't care for the new colors and the wardrobe and weapon skins are always nice.

[T G.7496]

24 minutes ago, Rogue.8235 said:

Since you have no desire for cognitive discourse I'll just state this:

Individual opinions are great.  Individuals claiming that their opinion is the majority opinion is not.

This thread is only an example of the inherent bias of non-random sampling, which is a concept learned at the high school level (i.e. basic education).

Boom, and there it is 😂

[Astralporing.1957]

6 hours ago, Cuks.8241 said:

Truth be told game forums are usually the entitled and trolls.

Out of curiosity, which of those groups are you part of?

[Mrs Lana.2506]

The fact that the Aurene kit isn't available in the bday presents was another let down I forgot to mention earlier. Usually just by being patient we're able to unlock black lion dyes by bday presents alone. Not keen on dropping that much gold on the prismatic dye (though I do really want it).

[Ashen.2907]

Can't really say that it matters to me. I don't buy or play games for anniversary rewards. That said the 9th birthday rewards do seem like a downgrade from some prior year rewards. Like I said, this doesn't bother me personally. However it does seem like a PR mistake. Gamers tend to be a bit entitled and so scaling back anniversary rewards compared to previous years seems like an obvious PR mistake to me.

[Vexona.6452]

Oof the entitlement is real. Meanwhile other games make you pay for their bday gifts.

[Balan.9486]

Given there is account reward and character reward, Anet should give accounts that reach the yearly milestone the account reward, regardless of whether they have a toon this age or not. I regret deleting toons as my account is over 8 years old but my oldest toon is only 5, but what can you do. Anet has removed the ability to recover old toons so I guess I'm !@#$ out of luck.

[SpyderArachnid.5619]

Yeah sadly I'm going to have to agree. Compared to previous years, this was a rather large letdown.

• An upgraded Birthday Blaster in the form of a feast.
• A bag of spirit shards? I get these from just logging in.
• A title that already exists in the game (hope the raiders aren't upset about it).

The only thing remotely decent was a new dye kit, though the dyes are pretty much exactly like dyes we already have. Oh and that we can only get once per year, so other 9th year characters won't get it. We have to wait a year to get another. So 5 more years just to get the full set. Talk about major time-gating (on a birthday gift at that too).

In previous years we got a whole new unique armor set, unique weapon skins (though we got a continuation of those again), a unique infusion, a unique chair (rock), unique backpacks, unique titles, even a unique finisher.

As for the cake, it is literally just a redesigned Birthday Blaster. And it's only for level 80, which doesn't seem that great as most at level 80 are using Ascended food (which is better) or have food that is designed around their build already.

From the upgraded Birthday Blaster, to a bag of spirit shards (really?), to an already existing title (again, really?), it seems like the absolute minimum amount of work was put into this birthday gift this year. I get they are working on EoD right now, but this is something a lot of people look forward to each year and to have barely any effort put into it was rather disheartening.

 

[Dante.1763]

1 hour ago, SpyderArachnid.5619 said:

Yeah sadly I'm going to have to agree. Compared to previous years, this was a rather large letdown.

• An upgraded Birthday Blaster in the form of a feast.
• A bag of spirit shards? I get these from just logging in.
• A title that already exists in the game (hope the raiders aren't upset about it).

The only thing remotely decent was a new dye kit, though the dyes are pretty much exactly like dyes we already have. Oh and that we can only get once per year, so other 9th year characters won't get it. We have to wait a year to get another. So 5 more years just to get the full set. Talk about major time-gating (on a birthday gift at that too).

In previous years we got a whole new unique armor set, unique weapon skins (though we got a continuation of those again), a unique infusion, a unique chair (rock), unique backpacks, unique titles, even a unique finisher.

As for the cake, it is literally just a redesigned Birthday Blaster. And it's only for level 80, which doesn't seem that great as most at level 80 are using Ascended food (which is better) or have food that is designed around their build already.

From the upgraded Birthday Blaster, to a bag of spirit shards (really?), to an already existing title (again, really?), it seems like the absolute minimum amount of work was put into this birthday gift this year. I get they are working on EoD right now, but this is something a lot of people look forward to each year and to have barely any effort put into it was rather disheartening.

 

They are upset, already see people asking to change either the CM or the BDAY title.

[Styopa.2538]

8 hours ago, Sash.2754 said:

Oof the entitlement is real. Meanwhile other games make you pay for their bday gifts.

What game makes you pay for birthday gifts?  Genuinely want to know.

[Mik.3401]

8 hours ago, Sash.2754 said:

Oof the entitlement is real. Meanwhile other games make you pay for their bday gifts.

I think it is not about that. It’s more like the presents are very uneventful. I don’t think people expect to receive 10,000 gold and guaranteed unique items. It’s more like even a birthday box with gamble with a chance of rare items would be more exciting

[Lithril Ashwalker.6230]

18 hours ago, Rogue.8235 said:

This right here is what I've been addressing this entire time.  This is not a fact at all.  

Even if we assume that every single post in this thread was made by a unique individual stating that they dislike the crappy gift, that is only 153 at the time of this post.

153 people are not even remotely close to an "overwhelming majority."  This is a fraction of a percentage of the population.  No one can claim what the majority of players think, because no one has that information..  Further, less than 153 people have actually participated in this thread.

I don't understand how you got the idea that 153 people is an overwhelming majority of the player population.

take into consideration a high population of the game doesnt even use the forums and would rather b**ch on reddit xD

 

[Erik.8593]

I was really looking forward to the 9th anniversary sale this year and finally maxing my storage and bank tabs but it's been nothing but a disappointment. Started way later in the month then usual and other then the Supply Drop Requisition the sale prices have been awful. I just saw the Storage Expander was on "sale" today  no actual discount listed on the Discount tab, but its actually only 20% off, the lowest it's been since 2017. Hopefully the rest wont be that bad, but I have a feeling they will be. I think the anniversary should have the best deals of the year not the worst. 

[Anajna.9856]

On 8/23/2021 at 10:21 PM, Zephire.8049 said:

(snip)

 

To describe how it feels, it would be like going to see a relative once per year and they'd give you a hug, a $5 voucher, and maybe a trinket they saw that made them think of you. Yes the visit is the main goal and you don't need the rest, but it's been that way for years. Then you show up this year and you only get a gruff handshake and a partially used loyalty stamp card for a place you may not even like. It's disconcerting and while you'd have been fine if you hadn't gotten anything, it's the sudden shift in tone which is alarming, not the lack of something you may never have used or just stuck in a drawer to be forgotten.

 

(snip)

The above. I love Anet, I have always felt valued as a customer here, reason I return, reason I spend money when I do return - to basically repay this feeling of being cherished and welcome. It's a warm and fuzzy feeling ^_^ and no, this one rather lacking birthday gift will not wipe out everything else.. but it does leave a bit of a strange and worrisome taste. It is not about free stuff as such. Oher than the dyes and the Sylvari backpack and obviously the lion statues, I personally never use any of the other gifts, or don't need them (got plenty of karma, spirits shards and drowning in teles to friend >.>).. but this is a like a little alarm bell suddenly ringing in the back of my mind, telling me to question this warm fuzzy feeling, and I do not like it. It makes me feel less supportive, less wanting to spend money, worried there are changes happening behind the scenes, changes which will challenge my loyalty to a company I always advertise to other gamers as very special.

 

Maybe it's just a hick-up, maybe they are planning something for the 10th anniversary and want it to truly stand out, but still, messing with a beloved tradition is dangerous. It creates unease and confusion in customers. GW2 is a truly amazing product, but there are plenty of good products out there. What to me has GW2 stand out from the crowd is the warm fuzzy feeling, and I am sure I am not alone with this, especially among long standing players willing to still financially support, even though we got mount skins coming out of our ears. When I spend money here, it is generally less about anything I want to buy, and instead more of saying thank you. The birthday gifts make me want to say thank you. They are simply part of the package.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Anajna.9856
fussy and fuzzy, so much the same and yet so different lol

[costepj.5120]

August 26
20% Off—Bank Tab Expansion

August 27
20% Off—Gear Template Expansion and Bag Slot Expansion

August 28
20% Off—Black Lion Chest Key

 

[DeanBB.4268]

The sale was 75% last year, which certainly is better that 80%, but only 40 gems. If you've been waiting for a sale, this is it.

[Cuks.8241]

17 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Out of curiosity, which of those groups are you part of?

I would say going to the trolls direction. Wouldn't say I'm good at it but love reading good ones.

Don't care about shiny pixels.

[Stalkingwolf.6035]

21 hours ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

I mean it’s all free stuff that they don’t have to give and they could stop it at any time. I swear, the level of entitlement people have. Just be glad you get something free.

sure and we cant stop playing the game and play one of the millions other games.