Winter's Presence collection too expensive to complete

[Ardid.7203]

Shiny stuff costing gold/work/time is totally ok.Basic things being treated as shiny stuff is not.Winter Presence being expensive makes sense. Invisible shoes being rarer than a precursor doesn't.

[Cyninja.2954]

@"Vanity Flare.8539" said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Straight off of GW2efficiency: https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/calculator/a~0!b~1!c~0!d~1-77645

Total cost to complete: 865 gold

Essence of Mischief - 458 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Sigil of Mischief = 406 gold

Essence of Snowfall - 216 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Rune of Snowfall = 167 gold

Magnanimous Obsidian Crystal - 53 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold

Masterful Toast - 137 gold

[i omitted the cheap ingredients for a cleaner overview]

What changed was that the Masterful Toaster got a lot cheaper compared to past years while the Sigil of Mischief and Rune of Snowfall became more expensive. I should know since the Masterful Toaster was the only part which I decided to not complete the past years because I was unwilling to spend 600-800 gold on it.

The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

The only way around that is IF you completed the other parts of the collection in past years when they were cheap and decided now to complete the Masterful Toaster. Even under those ideal circumstances you will definitely not have completed the collection sub 300 gold invested.

[Khisanth.2948]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Vanity Flare.8539 said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Heh I was looking over at gw2bltc the other day and found out I spent around 2,000g over the last 90 days. Couldn't figure out what all the gold was used for until I sorted by total price.

[Dreddo.9865]

@Cyninja.2954 said:The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

You try to present the achievement having a fixed or 'around a fixed' cost. While this happens only because the achievement design isn't well planned. One time you have an abundance of runes and sigils, then you have plenty of drinks and so on. And furthermore there shouldn't be such a high cost just for an achievement. The game features should be available to all the players for a reasonable cost.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

You try to present the achievement having a fixed or 'around a fixed' cost. While this happens only because the achievement design isn't well planned. One time you have an abundance of runes and sigils, then you have plenty of drinks and so on. And furthermore there shouldn't be such a high cost just for an achievement. The game features should be available to all the players for a reasonable cost.

I never presented the achievement as having a fixed cost. I said the total cost has always been around sum x and even mentioned how the only way to circumvent this total cost (which can't be done retroactively) was achievable.

What you call not well planned design, I call market adjustment to supply and demand. With total cost up for Sigils and Runes, prices for Masterful Toaster adjusted down.

Who says achievements have to have a low cost?

• What about twice told legend?
• What about Envoy's Herald (have 3 different sets of pve legendary armor)?
• What about Legendary Tarrktun Supporter?
• What about Koda's Warmth Enrichment?
• What about every single black lion weapon set?

There is tons of expensive achievements and titles. The wintersday one fits perfectly into that mold. These are cosmetic features (and sometimes not even that if it's only a title). Cosmetics can get expensive in GW2. You not agreeing with this does not change the math or the market reaction to these items.

[Despond.2174]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@"Vanity Flare.8539" said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Straight off of GW2efficiency:

https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/calculator/a~0!b~1!c~0!d~1-77645

Total cost to complete: 865 gold

Essence of Mischief

- 458 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Sigil of Mischief = 406 gold

Essence of Snowfall

- 216 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Rune of Snowfall = 167 gold

Magnanimous Obsidian Crystal

- 53 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold

Masterful Toast

- 137 gold

[i omitted the cheap ingredients for a cleaner overview]

What changed was that the Masterful Toaster got a lot cheaper compared to past years while the Sigil of Mischief and Rune of Snowfall became more expensive. I should know since the Masterful Toaster was the only part which I decided to not complete the past years because I was unwilling to spend 600-800 gold on it.

The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

The only way around that is IF you completed the other parts of the collection in past years when they were cheap and decided now to complete the Masterful Toaster. Even under those ideal circumstances you will definitely not have completed the collection sub 300 gold invested.

I saw this post. Can you confirm if snowfalls were 1.25g/e and Mischief ~3.8g/e December 13th and before? That's what I am reading from these graphs. December 13th 2017 and before for awhile runes were over half the price, so with the cheap 125-150g drink achieve if you prepared you'd only be around 350-400g out of pocket? I just ask because I am still delaying buying 50 mischief sigils and I want to know the validity of these graphs.

https://www.gw2spidy.com/item/68436 Is the link to Mischief history.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Despond.2174 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@"Vanity Flare.8539" said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Straight off of GW2efficiency:

https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/calculator/a~0!b~1!c~0!d~1-77645

Total cost to complete: 865 gold

Essence of Mischief

- 458 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Sigil of Mischief = 406 gold

Essence of Snowfall

- 216 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Rune of Snowfall = 167 gold

Magnanimous Obsidian Crystal

- 53 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold

Masterful Toast

- 137 gold

[i omitted the cheap ingredients for a cleaner overview]

What changed was that the Masterful Toaster got a lot cheaper compared to past years while the Sigil of Mischief and Rune of Snowfall became more expensive. I should know since the Masterful Toaster was the only part which I decided to not complete the past years because I was unwilling to spend 600-800 gold on it.

The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

The only way around that is IF you completed the other parts of the collection in past years when they were cheap and decided now to complete the Masterful Toaster. Even under those ideal circumstances you will definitely not have completed the collection sub 300 gold invested.

I saw this post. Can you confirm if snowfalls were 1.25g/e and Mischief ~3.8g/e December 13th and before? That's what I am reading from these graphs. December 13th 2017 and before for awhile runes were over half the price, so with the cheap 125-150g drink achieve if you prepared you'd only be around 350-400g out of pocket? I just ask because I am still delaying buying 50 mischief sigils and I want to know the validity of these graphs.

https://www.gw2spidy.com/item/68436

Is the link to Mischief history.

The graph looks accurate, it coincides with what is shown on gw2tp: https://www.gw2tp.com/item/68436-superior-sigil-of-mischief?full=1

No guarantee that prices will drop to pre Wintersday levels but there is always a chance for it going by how 2016/2017 developed. Depends on how high expectations were for a fresh supply of them before Wintersday and how strong supply and demand changes after Wintersday.

[LadyRhonwyn.2501]

@Healix.5819 said:

@Vanity Flare.8539 said:The winter's presence was NOT 1000g in 2015.

The 10k drinks achievement was around 800g, up to around 1400g. For the initial rush however, drinks were less than 1s each.

I most definitely didn't spend that much. I just got as many presents as I could. I didn't have to buy 10K worth of booze, as I got a lot of them from the gifts I worked for (my personal bank is still overflowing with the rest of the junk you get from those gifts... Anet really should do (more)* something about that!

• we can now use the food items at least for the orphans, but there are also the tonics, bells and potions...

[Cyninja.2954]

@LadyRhonwyn.2501 said:

@Healix.5819 said:

@Vanity Flare.8539 said:The winter's presence was NOT 1000g in 2015.

The 10k drinks achievement was around 800g, up to around 1400g. For the initial rush however, drinks were less than 1s each.

I most definitely didn't spend that much. I just got as many presents as I could. I didn't have to buy 10K worth of booze, as I got a lot of them from the gifts I worked for (my personal bank is still overflowing with the rest of the junk you get from those gifts... Anet really should do (more)* something about that!

• we can now use the food items at least for the orphans, but there are also the tonics, bells and potions...

That does not change the amount of gold spent.

Using an item instead of selling it (in case of self farmed gifts or consumables) has almost the same net result to your wallet (minus the 15% TP fee).

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@Despond.2174 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:This was always expensive. Checking back at the history. When first introduced the drinks plus mystic coins would have costed around 780g+. Last year it would have been around 830g, +/- some 10s of gold depending on when you did it and how you got your drinks. Right now it is around 877g. Is it too much for a skin? Depends on how much you want/like it. It costed me around the same back when I made Infinite Light

Am I reading the SPDY graphs wrong? Mischiefs were listed as sell order for around 3.6g December 11th and lower, they shot up to 8.4g sell listing now. Snowfalls 1.2g to ~4g December 12th to now. I am only delaying my presence hoping they will be back lower around Feb+ but if they won't I"ll probably bite the bullet and just buy now.

Sigils probably shot up after people figured out the recipe for the eggnog helmet

Both sigils and runes have consistently spiked for Wintersday since the introduction of Winter's Presence and the throttling of faucets for the superior variants. One interesting fact is that the number of Superior Runes of Snowfall available on the TP actually increased this year, even as the price went up. The price for both rune & sigil has consistently dropped after Wintersday, hitting its lowest point late summer. It might not drop down to as low as last year, but it will almost certainly drop far below the current prices. And, importantly, you can complete the sigil/rune requirements year-round. The only things that have to be done during Wintersday are the ones that require the Wintersday special instances, e.g. the JP.

As a reminder, when the shoulder was first introduced, it cost well over 1k, because drinks alone cost 8-10s each. (That was even worse for a time last year, when the price was briefly closer to 11-13s/drink.)

[Dreddo.9865]

@Cyninja.2954 said:There is tons of expensive achievements and titles. The wintersday one fits perfectly into that mold. These are cosmetic features (and sometimes not even that if it's only a title). Cosmetics can get expensive in GW2. You not agreeing with this does not change the math or the market reaction to these items.You are comparing achievements that can be done at the player's convenience to a yearly one?

[Wolfheart.7483]

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:There is tons of expensive achievements and titles. The wintersday one fits perfectly into that mold. These are cosmetic features (and sometimes not even that if it's only a title). Cosmetics can get expensive in GW2. You not agreeing with this does not change the math or the market reaction to these items.You are comparing achievements that can be done at the player's convenience to a yearly one?

You only need to complete certain parts of the collection during Wintersday. The remainder can be completed the rest of the year, at the player's convenience.

[Razor.6392]

Dude, it's fine for some items to be outside the common person's reach. It's the point of an mmo, especially one such as this where there's no gear progression.

You want EVERYONE to have EVERYTHING? Sigh.

[Despond.2174]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Despond.2174 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@"Vanity Flare.8539" said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Straight off of GW2efficiency:

https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/calculator/a~0!b~1!c~0!d~1-77645

Total cost to complete: 865 gold

Essence of Mischief

- 458 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Sigil of Mischief = 406 gold

Essence of Snowfall

- 216 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Rune of Snowfall = 167 gold

Magnanimous Obsidian Crystal

- 53 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold

Masterful Toast

- 137 gold

[i omitted the cheap ingredients for a cleaner overview]

What changed was that the Masterful Toaster got a lot cheaper compared to past years while the Sigil of Mischief and Rune of Snowfall became more expensive. I should know since the Masterful Toaster was the only part which I decided to not complete the past years because I was unwilling to spend 600-800 gold on it.

The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

The only way around that is IF you completed the other parts of the collection in past years when they were cheap and decided now to complete the Masterful Toaster. Even under those ideal circumstances you will definitely not have completed the collection sub 300 gold invested.

I saw this post. Can you confirm if snowfalls were 1.25g/e and Mischief ~3.8g/e December 13th and before? That's what I am reading from these graphs. December 13th 2017 and before for awhile runes were over half the price, so with the cheap 125-150g drink achieve if you prepared you'd only be around 350-400g out of pocket? I just ask because I am still delaying buying 50 mischief sigils and I want to know the validity of these graphs.

https://www.gw2spidy.com/item/68436

Is the link to Mischief history.

The graph looks accurate, it coincides with what is shown on gw2tp:

https://www.gw2tp.com/item/68436-superior-sigil-of-mischief?full=1

No guarantee that prices will drop to pre Wintersday levels but there is always a chance for it going by how 2016/2017 developed. Depends on how high expectations were for a fresh supply of them before Wintersday and how strong supply and demand changes after Wintersday.

Thanks for the verification. Sigh, I was hoping I was wrong. Pity I didn't check the graphs before the event because I'd have my presence now for nearly half the price. Oh well, I'll just have to wait until they are at least 1/3 cheaper or something.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:There is tons of expensive achievements and titles. The wintersday one fits perfectly into that mold. These are cosmetic features (and sometimes not even that if it's only a title). Cosmetics can get expensive in GW2. You not agreeing with this does not change the math or the market reaction to these items.You are comparing achievements that can be done at the player's convenience to a yearly one?

Yes, because a majority of the event locked out parts of this achievement are unrelated to the high gold cost. Last time I checked, this thread was about the high cost, not the exclusivity.

So as far as gold cost, this achievement is also at the player's convenience all year long. For some parts it even makes sense to wait until way after Wintersday as the graphs have shown if cost is an issue.

[Ayakaru.6583]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@"Vanity Flare.8539" said:As I said I spent no more than 50g.

Then you never completed the collection or are unaware of how much you actually spent (not going to assume you are lying but rather not adept at managing your in-game assets).

Straight off of GW2efficiency:

https://gw2efficiency.com/crafting/calculator/a~0!b~1!c~0!d~1-77645

Total cost to complete: 865 gold

Essence of Mischief

- 458 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Sigil of Mischief = 406 gold

Essence of Snowfall

- 216 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold
• 50 Superior Rune of Snowfall = 167 gold

Magnanimous Obsidian Crystal

- 53 gold

• 50 Mystic Coins = 49 gold

Masterful Toast

- 137 gold

[i omitted the cheap ingredients for a cleaner overview]

What changed was that the Masterful Toaster got a lot cheaper compared to past years while the Sigil of Mischief and Rune of Snowfall became more expensive. I should know since the Masterful Toaster was the only part which I decided to not complete the past years because I was unwilling to spend 600-800 gold on it.

The total cost of the infusion has always been around 700-900 gold.

The only way around that is IF you completed the other parts of the collection in past years when they were cheap and decided now to complete the Masterful Toaster. Even under those ideal circumstances you will definitely not have completed the collection sub 300 gold invested.

Im fairly certain I paid a lot, but Im also fairly certain its not possible for memto generate that kind of gold in 2-3 months. The mystic coins were the most expensive part for me. But I crafted it the first year, maybe it was cheaper than?But also agreed, 50g is impossible, that wont even cover the mystic coins.If I have to make an estimate I feel like I paid anything between 300-500g

[OneYenShort.3189]

@Eltiana.9420 said:So who's wish should matter more and why?The one that is in the middle that makes players work for it, but not break them over a nail studded bat. AkA make the players feel it is reasonably obtainable, that a seasonal item IS within obtainable reach of a casual player that sticks with game. (obtainable meaning to me that 1-2 hours of work a day for 2 months and they can get it.)

Keep players happy and engaged so they are willing to stick around. The latest directions as shown by HoT and PoF is that ANET has said they are done with casuals and are going to instead make the game power player friendly (this is not the same level of hardcore.) My opinion: this has caused a faster bleeding of players than what is expected. Granted with expansion sales, profits will keep them around, but how much longer... hard to say.

To me, that is the goal of what should be done. How to do it... there are many paths.

@Khisanth.2948 said:Legendaries have become cheaper :P

looks at how much he spent to make Kudzu... looks at how much he has to spend to make Shining Blade Yeah... I'll just say I disagree with you. A LOT.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@OneYenShort.3189 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:Legendaries

have

become cheaper :P

looks at how much he spent to make Kudzu... looks at how much he has to spend to make Shining Blade

Yeah... I'll just say I disagree with you. A LOT.

• TP prices today: 2056 (buy offer) - 2600 (sell offer)
• June 2017 prices: 2600-3000
• December 2016: 2500-3200

Other legendaries have dropped even more, primarily because precursor prices have been falling (not to mention T5-T6 basic mats and T5-6 fine mats).

Are they cheap? Well, they are no longer close to the most expensive shinies in the game, but sure 2k is more than a lot of people manage to save up (and less than folks tend to earn).

tl;dr Legendaries have become cheaper

PS the prices of The Shining Blade and Kudzu aren't comparable for several reasons, especially the cost of the precursor. Underwater legendaries have always been cheaper than the rest. The price of TSB is also somewhat cheaper now, because the price of most of its constituent materials are also cheaper; it just takes a lot more math to compare.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@OneYenShort.3189 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:Legendaries

have

become cheaper :P

looks at how much he spent to make Kudzu... looks at how much he has to spend to make Shining Blade

Yeah... I'll just say I disagree with you. A LOT.

• TP prices today: 2056 (buy offer) - 2600 (sell offer)
• June 2017 prices: 2600-3000
• December 2016: 2500-3200

Other legendaries have dropped even more, primarily because precursor prices have been falling (not to mention T5-T6 basic mats and T5-6 fine mats).

Are they cheap? Well, they are no longer close to the most expensive shinies in the game, but sure 2k is more than a lot of people manage to save up (and less than folks tend to earn).

tl;dr Legendaries have become cheaper

PS the prices of The Shining Blade and Kudzu aren't comparable for several reasons, especially the cost of the precursor. Underwater legendaries have always been cheaper than the rest. The price of TSB is also somewhat cheaper now, because the price of most of its constituent materials are also cheaper; it just takes a lot more math to compare.

TSB went from 3.5-3.6k at release (due to inflated wood prices when it released mostly attributed to people buying tons of wood to craft TSB) to around 2.8-2.9k before PoF launched when wood prices had droped to pre hype levels and is now sitting at around 2.3k with all prices having bottomed out.

Why do I know? Because I was following it's total cost since I wanted to craft it. Did so when it was around 2.5k cost.

Got to back IWN on this one. All prices have bottomed out across the board due to very cheap material prices currently.

The difference between gen1 legendarys and gen2 legendarys is a factor onto its self. All legendarys have become cheaper compared to their own price pre PoF by around 500 gold per legendary (with TSB being extreme since it caused a massive spike in wood prices).

[Dreddo.9865]

@Cyninja.2954 said:Yes, because a majority of the event locked out parts of this achievement are unrelated to the high gold cost. Last time I checked, this thread was about the high cost, not the exclusivity.

So as far as gold cost, this achievement is also at the player's convenience all year long. For some parts it even makes sense to wait until way after Wintersday as the graphs have shown if cost is an issue.

As it is a yearly event someone would expect that he could get what he needs (or a DECENT portion of it) from the event's activities throughout the duration of it - at least that is what happening in all other yearly events. What you imply is that it doesn't matter because you can still buy all you need from the TP. Well it is that bad event design that consequently makes the achievement being expensive.

I know people that have hundreds of stacked mischief runes because Wintersday PvP track used to give them in dozens. But now no, if you are lucky you may get one rune from ...5k boxes or else pay a handful of gold.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@"Dreddo.9865" said:As it is a yearly event someone would expect that he could get what he needs (or a DECENT portion of it) from the event's activities throughout the duration of it - at least that is what happening in all other yearly events. What you imply is that it doesn't matter because you can still buy all you need from the TP. Well it is that bad event design that consequently makes the achievement being expensive.

I know people that have hundreds of stacked mischief runes because Wintersday PvP track used to give them in dozens. But now no, if you are lucky you may get one rune from ...5k boxes or else pay a handful of gold.

I've argued above that I think it's entirely okay that the Winter's Presence skin be expensive (it is, after all, a shiny with legendary-esque effects). So I can't agree that there's a "bad" design here, just design.

However, I would say that it isn't all that much fun to use the TP or the Mystic Forge to acquire 50 of this or 50 of that to complete a festival-themed collection. Mind you, I don't think the old way was any better: opening lots of gifts or running pvp tracks wasn't more fun; it was just slightly more festival-oriented than the TP or the forge.

[Klowdy.3126]

@Taygus.4571 said:

@Ayakaru.6583 said:

@Taygus.4571 said:

@Ayakaru.6583 said:We all bent over to pick up the gold, don’t be lazy now.Yes its expensive, but all the same the value when you finally finish crafting it. It’l feel like a jewel in your hands.Hard work makes roots taste sweet

I don't care about the cost ...But this "Hard work makes roots taste sweet".Isn't always true. Hardwork is very bitter if you don't get what you feel it's worth out of it.

So.. you don’t want the winters presence? Then there’s no issue, no?

I think the work involved is fine for the WP. Other people don't. They still want it, they just may not agree it's worth the work involved.

Wanting something and wanting to grind for it, are two very different wants.

Then it would seem you don't want it enough. It is personal choice to work for something or not. You don't get to choose the path, only if you want to take it.

[Cyninja.2954]

@Dreddo.9865 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:Yes, because a majority of the event locked out parts of this achievement are unrelated to the high gold cost. Last time I checked, this thread was about the high cost, not the exclusivity.

So as far as gold cost, this achievement is also at the player's convenience all year long. For some parts it even makes sense to wait until way after Wintersday as the graphs have shown if cost is an issue.

As it is a yearly event someone would expect that he could get what he needs (or a DECENT portion of it) from the event's activities throughout the duration of it - at least that is what happening in all other yearly events. What you imply is that it doesn't matter because you can still buy all you need from the TP. Well it is that bad event design that consequently makes the achievement being expensive.

I know people that have hundreds of stacked mischief runes because Wintersday PvP track used to give them in dozens. But now no, if you are lucky you may get one rune from ...5k boxes or else pay a handful of gold.

You are essentially complaining that you were not one of the few who lucked out when the price shift on the collection happened. That has nothing to do with good event design. Were you lucky when cloth increased from 7 copper a piece to 1 silver 50 after ascended armor was added? Or when elder wood went from 1s30 to 5s30 when TSB was introduced? The shift in expenses for this achievement is insignificant since the total cost remained close to identical. This thread was about the total cost being to high, which it is not (subjective for everyone, but from a fairness standpoint of similar price across multiple wintersday it is fair).

You can get a decent portion of the materials and even complete the entire collection in one wintersday quite easy. Get to doing wintersday events, spend karma on gifts daily (you get over 90k karma from orphan gifts daily with karma buffs which you can spend on gifts if so desired) or ideally do the winter wonderland jumping puzzle and collect over 450 gifts and 50 personalized gifts per hour. Do that daily and you'll have the collection done in 1 wintersday.

Being forced to actually play the wintersday events to complete the achievement (unlike being forced to spvp) seems a lot more in line festive wise. Being able to buy or craft the required runes and sigils, while not festive, is in line with keeping the event and its items relevant to the entire player base.

[Cyninja.2954]

2 hours ago, Mallios.9154 said:

So here we are in 2021, and it's still hundreds of gold to gain. Sure, I could sink about 40 or more bucks for it, but that makes this one shoulder skin cost more than the mount skins. How does that register as fair? How much money are you making to throw that much away on pixel shoulder items? What if you're someone who enjoys an icy motif, but doesn't make bank enough to have the pocket change required for this? What if you can't commit the time to gradually acquiring that sort of in-game money to get it? Especially when mystic coins from login rewards are a key way many people make their in-game money, because farming gold in this game is more tedious than most other MMOs. Some people have lives outside of this game, they can't be expected to perform all that's required for one armor skin.

The price for Winter's Presence is currently around 600g according to gw2efficiency. Definitely lower than the past few years.

As far as fairness: it is absolutely fair given the price has remained similar to past years (in fact dropped slightly currently, but Winter's Day is not here yet). How is it fair for rewards to become cheaper?

This is not a "get gud" issue. This is a "cough up the gold if you want the shinny, just as everyone else" issue. You either do, or you don't get the shinny. It's that simple. It's not unfair, it's expensive, just as some other items are expensive or cheap depending on where they fall loot and price wise.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Vayne.8563]

3 hours ago, Mallios.9154 said:

It's a video game. Nothing in this game should be terribly difficult or expensive to acquire. All-in-all, all the arguments against this item being easier to acquire amount to the typical internet idiocy of "GIT GUD," which doesn't speak well to the credit of the people saying it.

I feel like this is patently false. Every video game, or at least every MMO I've played, has stuff that's difficult or expensive to acquire. This is because different people play differently and what's difficult to acquire FOR YOU, might not be difficult to acquire FOR ME.  I have winter's presence. There are, to my knowledge, only know shoulder skins in the entire game with this function. They're different from any other shoulder skin, more like an infusion, and so they're worth it to me.

Having a snow effect or a bat effect follow me around is worth the price, because it is different.

All games need something to work toward. If everything was too easy/cheap/fast to get, a lot of people would simply have nothing to do. Obviously you play less efficiently than some of us, because for that it is, it's not that expensive.  It may be the price of a mount skin, but I wear it on my main and see it quite frequently (one of my mains anyway).

 

That's the issue with saying nothing should be hard to get because no one can define hard to get. Should everything be five gold? Ten? What's the cutoff. How would making nothing special in the game, where everyone has everything affect people who want to look different or work harder for something they feel is worth it.

 

This is a game. That doesn't mean it shouldn't have long term goals. That's what keeps me in the game. And I don't spend real life money to buy gems to get gold, in case you thought that was the case.