Thanks to all of the GW2 community who joined us in Seattle last weekend!

[Rubi Bayer.8493]

I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who joined us last weekend at the tenth anniversary celebration events in Seattle last weekend.

We did a Guild Wars 2 themed stamp rally Friday and Saturday, giving postcard books full of Guild Wars 2 art to players and sending them on a hunt to nearby locations to collect stamps. Once they had all four stamps, they showed their completed books for prizes: A set of GW2 stickers, an art print, a t-shirt, a wristband, and a bonus prize courtesy of the RNG Wheel/Wheel of Destiny/Wheel of Fate/Wheel of Suspense... honestly the name of the thing changed throughout the event depending on who was working there at the time. 

Friday night was a tenth anniversary party at the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park. We rounded up party favors, raffle prizes, lawn games, appetizers and drinks, music, and a bunch of Guild Wars 2 staff who were eager to spend some face-to-face time with the community. 

It's been a long time since we were able to have an in-person event, and I can confidently say I speak for everyone on the GW2 team when saying it was an absolute joy to spend time with all of you who attended the events Friday and Saturday. If you haven't seen it yet, there is a photo album here. 

Thank you for letting us know you had fun with the stamp rally. We're glad you enjoyed the art/stamp books, the prizes, and the hunt for stamp locations!  The same goes to all of you who told us how much you enjoyed the tenth anniversary party Friday night. We were also very happy with the spacious, indoor-outdoor combination venue and will be keeping in mind how much you all liked it too for future events. Those of you who took time to let us know that you liked the 10th anniversary enamel pins that everyone received, the photo station, the catering menu, the raffle prizes, and the time spent with members of the GW2 team--thank you for taking a moment to deliver that feedback.

It feels good to hear of course, but it helps us when we're planning future events as well! Thanks as well to those of you who gave suggestions on making those future events even better!

Hearing your stories about Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 and how they've impacted your lives kept huge smiles on all of our faces all weekend, and the happiness of hearing them is still there--so thanks to ALL of you for that! We've been sharing your stories with the rest of the studio too. A few of the standouts (I am not using names here since I don't know who is and is not comfortable with that, but tag yourself and all that if you like!) :

• The brothers who play together and spoke with many of us. One of the brothers is a quadriplegic due to a spinal cord injury, and playing Guild Wars 2 is how the two of them spend time together--adventuring and exploring the world. We talked with each other throughout the weekend about our conversations with you. Thank you for sharing your story with us!
• The Auric Oasis guild--we loved hearing about your PoF meta group!
• Every single one of you who posed for pictures with the real world versions of the Juggernaut and the Flamesaw. Everyone had a different take on how to wield the weapons and it was fantastic. 
• Both couples who were engaged last time we spoke with you and showed up to let us know you've since gotten married! Congratulations again! 
• The father and his two young sons who play GW2 together. So glad I had exactly two charr plushies left--they were obviously meant for these two little guys. 
• Seattle Cosplay showing up with her newest cosplay project: Jade Tech Armor
• The players who brought the four handmade griffon hatchling dolls--and the delightful surprise announcement that they all needed loving homes. We promise we are all taking very good care of them.
• The [LWRP] guild member with the guild sign collecting signatures all weekend. 
• The community member who brought boba tea--twice!!--to those of us working the library stop of the stamp rally.
• The player who used her time at a custom lipstick lab to design a color called Toxic Elitist. Perfection.
  • You also made a RL version of The Binding of Ipos. Ma'am please, you are making the rest of us look bad. 
• Every single one of you who asked us to stamp something that was not the actual stamp book: Your forehead, a quaggan toy, whatever. Thank you for the bonus fun. 
• The player who loved the tiny food at the fan event so much that you made fanart of it. We're so happy your charr liked it too, and thank you for letting us sign the art!
• The player who made Shooshadoo with many friends and collected signatures all weekend from us and from other players. 
• Safety Cone Hat Guy.
• The many, many families who showed up to say hello, share their gameplay stories, and participate in the stamp rally as a family event. Seeing multiple generations playing Guild Wars 2 together is so cool!
• Everyone who contributed to the creation and delivery of the "Thank you for 10 years" art print that we received at the party Friday night. We will be hanging that up at the studio!

Huge thanks also to everyone on the GW2 team who made this happen--you saw a lot of them at the stamp rally and at the party Friday night, but there were as many if not more behind the scenes who worked throughout the summer to make these events a reality. They really are the best team and they each pitched in because you all--the Guild Wars 2 community--are worth celebrating! Thank you everyone!! 

 

[Ashantara.8731]

Aww, by the looks of everyone in the pictures it seems that people had a lot of fun. 🙂 What a nice idea to celebrate on location.

I'd like to take a moment and say thank you, too. I enjoyed doing the Decade achievements in-game.

Happy 10th anniversary!

P.S. This is so cool! Kudos!
 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Ashantara.8731

[Weiss.7850]

19 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Both couples who were engaged last time we spoke with you and showed up to let us know you've since gotten married! Congratulations again! 

Queen and I had an amazing pair of days! It was a wonderful experience to get to meet the folks that make GW2 a reality. Thank you for spending so much time chatting with us!

[TallisMarchen.1206]

I'm the guy who made the shooshadoo and wore a safety cone as a hat...

[Virus.2719]

Auric Oasis guild, Represent! Woo!

[TheQuickFox.3826]

Hm, the event was 7854 KM away from where I live. I guess I'll wait for something in my area.

[Svarty.8019]

On 9/13/2022 at 12:21 PM, TheQuickFox.3826 said:

Hm, the event was 7854 KM away from where I live. I guess I'll wait for something in my area.

Somewhere near Rotterdam, perhaps?

[TheQuickFox.3826]

1 hour ago, Svarty.8019 said:

Somewhere near Rotterdam, perhaps?

 

Yeah, would be good. Closest big city to where I live.

I can't really expect ArenaNet to come to the small sleepy province town Middelburg, NL during the next millennium.

[Svarty.8019]

10 hours ago, TheQuickFox.3826 said:

 

Yeah, would be good. Closest big city to where I live.

I can't really expect ArenaNet to come to the small sleepy province town Middelburg, NL during the next millennium.

Woohoo! I can use the distance tool! I'll go and put that on my CV...

[Gibson.4036]

Probably time to unsticky this.

To quote the mods, “This thread has run its course.”

Edited October 3, 2022 by Gibson.4036