New Scribe Out - Boardwalk Returns and Clues on 2nd Birthday

Oh c'mon, maybe we'll get some sneak peeks at new creatures in GW2 (I wish!) or some other creativity for mini-pets (personally I want the minipet to dance, DANCE I SAY). I certainly don't think we should write it all off until we see the celebration.

Christmas 2006
Oh my god! A GameBoy !

Chirstmas 2007
Oh my god! A red GameBoy! What the...?

Feel absolutely free to leave your gift unopened then.

I'll say it again. It's a gift. A present. A nice gesture. You bought the game, you kept a character for 2 years, Anet is showing their appreciation for your patronage. You already got what you paid for in the game. You didn't work hard for it. You are not entitled to it. It is a gift.

/signed on both ideas!

Sneak-peaks of creatures in GW:EN and GW2 are not out of the question: Look at Asura!

Cool Ideas I Hope will Happen:

• A Mini-Norn that transforms into a Bear

• A Sylvari being born from Light (don't ask me how they'll do it, I'm just brainstorming here!)

• A new Charr model casting Firestorm

You get the idea. Pets with more animation would be awesome. And frankly, a lot of the forum birthday ideas (free item of your choice, for example) are just not reasonable. Still holding out for a sex-change tonic, though!

I'm not writing it off. I'm just not getting excited about it.

I wish the minis were available based upon account creation time... I deleted and remade some of my original characters when Factions came out. (Didn't like how they looked)

I guess I miss out on the new BDay items... bummer!

However, the weekend sounds like it will be fun. Thanks as always ANet.

I cut some out for brevity. You did not buy the game to get birthday presents, no analogy to companies selling products is valid. Maybe companies giving away free stuff (whether you are a customer or not). Every day for the past month or so there are two companies giving away newspapers by all the LRT stops downtown. I see maybe 1/4 of the people take one, which makes me think most people don't want it, but they're still giving them away (granted to try and get more attention to them). More similar is a company that provides services for the company I work for. They gave a number of lobster shell breaker thingies as an appreciation gift. I certainly don't make lobster at home, WTH am I going to do with it? Still it's a gift, and regardless of whether I wanted one, it's how they're showing their appreciation.

I don't want a minipet, I have 1 for each of my 8 characters and that's plenty, but with two turning 2 in the next month I guess I'll have some more. Unless they're really cool I'll just sell em and buy something I want.

well it was kinda obvious - there were few polls on diff forums, nobody voted for minis... which means that according to players wishes we'll be getting even more minis as b-day presents! oh joy

They did such nice things with cities of heroes Wings after 15 months 0.o. And we get mini's. But then from a new batch. Why can't we get something that makes a 2 year old char look out?
An aura? Improved facial features? Oh well want a mini gaile :\

I've been dying for a mini Glint as of late.

If you didn't read the story on the website, characters having their first birthday will receive a minipet from the old series, and the second series is only for 2-yearers.

IMO though, there should definitely be something other than a minipet, unless it's a super flashy, awesome, and untradeable one. Us two yearers need a way to show we've been loyal to ANet since the days of Prophecies, back when Griffons could be farmed and America IWAY'd its way to victory.

I'm still all for the whole special two-years-old aura/graphical effect idea!

it'd be cool to get a birthday hat or something..hehe

If anyone is that upset about getting a 2nd year mini -- I'll take it off your hands for free. I'll offer that service for no charge at all.

That can be arranged. Just give away your present to the first person you meet after you find it in your inventory.

wow, I for one am pretty happy about that item. I'm just glad that they've excluded event items from the group scaling of loot drops so that i can still run around and farm those things like crazy. could definately be helpful going around hard mode.

I also am excited about the new mini-pets. sure so far all i've gotten is a whiptail devourer which really is not my favourite. That being said i think that mini-pets are neat little gifts and i think it's pretty awesome that they even give us anything at all. With the way the game has continued to improve overall...i'm looking forward to seeing what they come up with this time.
sure disguises or special weapons or other things would be awesome as well for birthday gifts, i'd really never complain about getting some neat little something for free as a symbol of my character's acheivements. I just wish my characters were older so i wouldn't have to wait so long for the new minis

This is the same argument I always hear. This is not a GIFT. It is a game feature that is no different than a feature enhancement, an weekend event, or even a bug fix. It is DESIGNED to maintain your interest in the game and to keep you as a customer so that you'll CONTINUE TO BUY new products.

These people (Anet) enjoy their jobs, and I'm sure they WANT to make people happy. But make no mistake, a VERY SMALL percentage of them would write even a single line of code if they WEREN'T BEING PAID.

Let me reiterate this: that minipet "gift" you're getting? Someone was paid to write the code behind it. Is it a gift is someone is paid to provide it?

Or put it another way: according to the EULA, all in game objects remain the sole property of Anet.

It's not a gift. It's part of the service. A part that only 8-9% of people asked for when polled.

-Forjo

More minipets? WTF... Oh well, i hope they will be called "ANet Dev Team Member" and we will also get a new emote: /slap. Now that would be something really enjoyable. You failed a mission/quest because of glitch? Double click on a mini and /slap... You're tired of heroes/henchies acting like total retards? Hehe, target that lil fella and /slap! You want to shoot yourself because ANet is increasing mobs' numbers/IAS/movement etc., instead of giving them decent skill bars and teaching how to actually use them? /slap Damn, i really like that idea, maybe minipets could be a good thing afterall...

Hmm, this announcement is missing .. well ... information ... when does this start, exactly? Where, exactly? Listing a city name means nothing to someone who just started Guild Wars :P

"Finally, you can enjoy your cupcakes and unwrap your gifts under a sky filled with pyrotechnics. Fireworks displays will commence in Kamadan, Shing Jea Monastery, and Lion's Arch every three hours starting at 12:01 AM PST on April 28th. Don't miss this event. Guild Wars only turns two once, and we plan to make the most of the occasion. You should, too!"

- taken from gw.com

Do you think they are giving out something every 3 hours like the other major events?

I'll start by saying I don't care much either way about mini pets.
Although it would be awesome if Anet, for this series of mini pets, made them customized to the character to forbid trading, thus recognizing that player as being 2 years old.
Trading mini pets completely destroys the recognition behind birthdays period.

Oh well guess we'll find out Saturday.

You thought your contribution was THAT good that you posted it twice in 20 mins huh?

As to Forjo's comment, minipets are not a design feature, they're an added extra, something aesthetic and fun. I seriously hope ANET are not relying on things like the minipets to ensure continued interest in the game. At the end of the day, we could've received nothing on our char's birthdays, which would seem to please some (read MirageMaster). Perhaps no birthday presents at all in GW 2, then this ridiculous argument wouldn't come up again.

I'm incredibly disappointed that the second birthday present will be minis, as I appear to be one of the few that distinctly remembers Gaile saying that the second birthday present would be even cooler. She said this shortly after we received our first birthday presents.

I don't want some piece of junk that's going to take up inventory space and that anybody with money can buy.
I want something that can't be sold, that says out loud and proud that "Yes, this character is 2 years old".

Meh.