Birthday present system needs change

Ive got a better idea still, Make Hats Tradeable?
Give Hats instead of minipets for birthdays?
seriously, i really like the hats, its a shame they didnt do much with them.

ur new to the game but you have over 2mil?

make hats have the max level armor for your class at a fee of 15k. moddable plx

This is a cool idea too, so birthday hats, but if they are exclusive by year and tradeable/sellable then you end up with the same problem. Gifts are supposed to be something you want to keep, now they are something people can't wait to capitalize on. I would say, hats, sure, ....then move minis to a drop?

Off topic: Since I have become a circus freak here, new player in a relative sense. I've been playing for 8 months.

all players can get a mini black moa chick quite easily
(if they own all 4 games)

mini pigs were literally thrown away by players after everyone got like 50 of em at teh canthan new year

mini rats r more rare, but still very easily obtained if u played during teh canthan event

polar bears had a .000001 droprate, similar to wut ur aksin wit that kraken suggestion

but thats teh thing...
if they were made a common drop...they'd become...well....common
minipets r -supposed- to be special

im pretty sure eotn headgear/gloves was anets answer to "fun" attire

I got 2 3rd year minis on the first day, but I never sold a single one of my minis. They are supposed to be a present, that's why I keep all of them.

Minipets should have been account based from the beginning with no dublicates being possible.....or they should have made the minis only work on accounts that are as old as the Mini's year....

There are enough ways to make money in this game.
You suggestion sounds like: "I want 100k for my char's birthday".

I think it's nice to reward the old players for still being in the game and it should stay like that.

djeez while we're at it lets make armors drops too
there were mini's dropping from chests!
Miniature drop from Chest

minis dont change the game at all. there are not technically worth anything. most of the greens are lame anyways, and everyone knows the prince rurik mini wins. they are meant as a reward for early players. /notsigned

sardelac?

This sounds like a good idea, too.

No, I don't, but that's what the current system is, in most cases. And as I've said, I also agree that players should be rewarded for their loyalty....I don't intend on leaving until GW2

Let me get this straight. You're not opposed to someone getting something for their birthday present; you're just opposed to someone getting something that they can sell for their birthday. You have already stated that you don't even like minis so why does this even matter to you. Ohhhh it's because you don't want somebody to get something of value for free if you can't have it also. This is coming from someone that has over 2 mil in gold and the average player has around 25k in the bank. This just sounds selfish to me.

If you really don't care about the minis then don't worry what players do with them.

If you want something special to be implemented for the birthday present (that has no value) then make suggestions to anet and quit complaining about it here. (If you say that you aren't complaining then I suggest you re-read your first post).

This is nothing more than a "I need to be richer than the next person" type post.

/not signed

You can read in to things as much as you wish, take parts of my posts as you wish. But, you seem to disagree, yet haven't stated why.

if you feel they should get something then why not minis? your just going to complain about whatever else they would get to.

dont tell people not to make this about you QQing, your OP was a complaint.

The entire point of minis is to reward the longterm players who form the core of the player base for their loyalty. Mini's offer no substantial gain to anyone, they're vanity items in the same way as elite armor. Here's an example of another reward type.

Skill Name : Aura of Loyalty
Description: For 5 minutes you are immune to all damage and lifestealing and deal 50 000 damage each time you attack. Your attacks cannot be blocked or evaded, and damage reduction does not apply to any attacks. This skill can be used in pvp. This skill is immune to interruption.

E: 0
A: 0
CT:0.1 seconds
SRT: 4 seconds

Now that I'd complain about...

If you want a y3 mini, play 3 years, or go buy one. Don't come crying because you're too damn lazy to farm the gold required. Like many people in this game nowdays, you seem to want everything for nothing. Go do the work, we all had to.

QFT.

You say that I disagree with you but don't explain why? Why should I explain. You would be just as unhappy about anything that someone else gets (that could be sold for gold) that you don't get. This is simply a complaining thread about how other people get something you don't.

Why worry about what someone else may or may not get? Just play the game.

you basically proved my point. if every creature had the same polar bear like drop rate to drop their own mini, do you realize how much something like that would be? so many people have foes and bosses they love, and would either have to be so lucky Jesus couldn't touch them, or be willing to sell their soul for the one of 2 in the world that dropped.

rats and pigs dont count. they're worthless and ugly. these are something people would actually like and want.

mini Hunger anyone?

So, a lot of you don't seem to agree that the birthday present system should be changed. I'm not sure exactly why, other than the loyalty being rewarded, which I agree with. I'm still not clear why this is about me, unless it's to show all the newer people in this game, and here in guru, that if you voice an opinion, which is different then that of the vocal majority, an example will be made of these people to tell them to keep there opinions to themselves. Interesting that this same vocal majority believes that it is OK for they themselves to bash Anet on a regular basis for things they have done, and in those cases it's legit...in my case, I'm QQing. Wow, just wow.

Please bring this back on topic, if you have something to add to the OP. If you want to continue bashing me, save it, I don't care what you think about me or my motives. My motives really are irrelevant to the question at hand anyway.

/agree

im typing this cuz I have type more then "/agree"

3 days after the first 3rd year minis started to apear I got mine, its worth about 20-35K......

I really don't see the OP's problem.

The rare/most sought after mini's will be worth money forever, those not wanted never will.

You made this whole thread about the money! Time and time again your complaint was about how they are getting "free gp in their accounts".

What is your question then exactly? According to you, you agree that the "vet" people should be rewarded with something for their loyality BUT then you turn around and complain that they are getting something that you can't get until you get to be their status! How can you make an argument like this?

If you replace the birthday presents with something that anybody can get at anytime then what is the point of giving birthday presents in the first place?

i seriously doubt that if you were an new palyer you'd have over 2 million.
and the mini system is fine, quit QQing

If you have 2 million gold, then why are you even bringing this up? Seriously. My account is 3 years old and I have 150k in storage. (I'm a casual player - taken about 10 months off in total)
Cut me some slack. Or better yet, donate some cash to me.

OP, you are saying that people who have supported Anet and Guild Wars from the beginning, before it became popular, before it had all the expansions and additions in it, should not be shown any favoritism when the developers give out appreciation gifts for playing the game when it first came out?

Yes, to new players, it sucks, but to those of us who have been playing for three years, it's a show of appreciation that is, in my opinion, deserved.

It's not the veteran's fault that minipets are such a trade commodity, go QQ to the devs.

i had a good laugh at the title first
you want minis? buy them

feels like casuals asking 'What about fows for us too pls ?' oh and btw, minis got no in game effect

If something isn't broke, don't fix it, its that simple

So youre basically complaining that veteran players are getting instant cash, while you get the item later and its worth lots less?

Unfair right?

You want my pre-order items too?

Whine some more.

=========

The game's birthday present system rewards OLDER players.

Of course NEWER players will be disadvantaged because they are NEWER players.


You want more minis? thats fine.
Minis from chests are cool.
Mini drops are fine.

Changing a BIRTHDAY system to any other present will ALWAYS be unfair to new players, even if that present wasnt sellable, it would still be UNFAIR.

DEAL WITH IT.

I admit, while I do kind of think "meh, by the time I even have a chance of getting these, they won't be worth anything", at least I've got the guts to be honest and admit the truth - I'm jealous! And as far as I'm concerned, that's all my problem, not the fault of the people who have supported this game nor the fault of ANet who have given these special present to the supporters.

People who have stuck with this game from the start, who are still playing, who are collecting minis, or using the profits to buy shiny things, and are having a great time? Power to them! I think that's great. Some of these players are the same players that help mentor newbies, or give away free stuff, or help sponsor cool guild events, or whatever. And sure, some of them are that elitist jerk from some mission last week. And such is life. No use stressing it.

On the other hand, you have the people getting the minis, selling them for loads of money, making all kinds of money over it, then coming over here to complain that GW sucks and they don't play anymore ect ect and how awesome WoW is or whatever. :P Because this game is free to play after you purchase it, I can't say that loyalty really means much (sorry). If someone only logs on to get their minis and sell them, well, I think that's lame. That's not supporting the game.

Maybe we should consider the fact that the bigger problem is that it's hard to make money in this game without significant time investment. People probably wouldn't be so begrudging if they had a chance. But that has nothing to do with minis or people who have been playing a while!

I say meh. I'm a lot more concerned with my family, my house, my job, my college, and my life, than I am with minis and my net worth in a video game.

I'd hoped Anet would try something new for 3rd year players like an NPC crafter that opens only on that birthday (armour, headgear, weapons.. anything), but alas yet more pets.

There are plenty of ways to make money without having to worry about the initial potential platinum reward that older players receive on a birthday release. The rest has been said, the mini pet system is fine.

Agree with this except that there is no favouritism being shown. If my char is 2 years older than yours then I have 2 extra minis compared to you. You will get yours in due course and will have the same chance of getting a rare mini as I did at the same point in time. Favouritism would be giving all the original 1,000 characters who hit 1 year a green mini-pet then then the next 10,000 a gold mini, etc.

The present system works perfectly in my opinion, but to please the OP I can only think that merging all pets into 1 pot so that no matter what age your char is you get a random mini from all available minis but that would lead to further duplication. So leave it be.

I think its pretty obvious Game N Die just wants attention, so mods please close this thread

Thank you for your decency. This idea I also think is worth considering.

As for most others, all I'm hearing is "Na-nanny-boo-boo, I joined before you did :P" But, I'm gathering that most like the current system, and think that it is a good system to reward loyal players with a chance to add a few more ectos to your bank. Fine, again, that's all you have to say. And yet again, all I am trying to do here is start a conversation among the community about what they think about the current "Loyalty Reward" system. I voiced my opinion....because of which, I have been told numerous times "you should have kept it to yourself", and although this may degenerate even further into a flame-fest, I still think there is some room here for intelligent discourse on the subject.

Actually, no, I seemed to have assumed wrongly that this topic could be broached with some level of civility. I am not the only one that feels this way, as has been shown on a few occassions. Somehow, though, it seems that I hit a sore spot for a lot of people.

Um, You are not being penalized. You just have not played as long as they have, Why should you get the same awards without investing the same amount of time? Thats not fair at all. Either wait 6 months for price drops and buy them, or wait til your 3rd year and get them free and stop hating on others who make money on mini's. Its not older gamers faults you started playing so late.

Get 1st year and 2nd year mini's, concentrate on collecting other things.

PS: /Notsigned.

Nah, people just see it for its stupidity.

Stupidity pisses people off.

To the OP:

Rather thoughtless of you to bring up a discussion about this in a forum where most of the members are at least 2+ year veterans. You expected better?

I'm personally about to receive my 3rd's in a month or so. Yes, i shall most definitely sell them. From your perspective, Mini's are like antiques waiting to be found by collectors. I wish to inform you that is not their purpose. Once you understand that, then perhaps you will appreciate the negative criticism (as hard as that may be).

I do not agree with you. I think the current system works, particularly because it is dead easy to gain wealth nowadays.

I am beginning to see trolling going on, particularly by furnace stokers and certain elite guru members. Ergo, please close this down before this escalates.

/requestlock

Your entire argument revolves around the unstated assumption that game rewards should be allocated equitably - that doing so is proper game design. But this simply isn't the case.

If everyone can get them, few want them. Scarcity matters. It creates intrinsic value. Game designers need at least some of their in-game items to have high values in order to keep people playing. The existence of items to chase keeps people running on that grind treadmill in order to accomplish a goal.

Ideally, there would constantly be new content, and GW would never devolve into grind. But this simply isn't in the designers' best financial interests; creating scarce, desirable items is a more cost-effective solution. The concept of titles has a similar underlying motivation.

The initial rarity of the miniatures makes their release an event; people post threads about what will be in the series weeks in advance by reading the .dat file, discuss it on Vent, in third-party-chat programs and in game, and generally care about the fact that they will become available. A trader or what have you would greatly decrease interest. Anyone with a small amount of funds would be perfectly capable of crafting the item, unless you require that the best ones require tons of ecto or some such. Doing so, however, merely creates a price floor on the item - not what ANet wants. Eventually, items like the bone dragon and Gwen become reasonably priced.

Once you accept the fact that inequity is built into the system for good reason (to create scarcity), your argument collapses. Rewarding players that have been around longer than anyone else is as efficient a solution as any other, and it has desirable properties (rewarding customer loyalty). Personally, I'd rather see all in-game items made available only by sufficient demonstration of skill. However, that will never happen. Most people are just bad at computer games; the game design I propose would not sell to a mass audience.

I'm in much the same boat as you are; I get one pet in June, one in August and one in November. By then, they've depreciated most of their value. So I have little financial stake in defending the existing system.

Your argument is flawed for the above reasons. You should have kept silent because your argument is bad, not because others disagree with you. You're going to get flamed for publishing an unpopular opinion. Welcome to the Internet.

The fact that your argument is so deeply flawed just means that you need an even better flame-retardant suit to deal with the inevitable hate.

Ya, may as well close this at this point. People don't seem to want to discuss issues as seen from a new players perspective.

Edit: Actually, as usual, mods can close if they decide. I'm going to bow out and observe from this point, as my simple presence seems to be negating from the potential forward movement of this discussion. Thanks all who have attempted to contribute in a positive way, and as for the rest, ya I know about the disrespect that anonymity allows, and it's no biggie.

well thats teh gw community for u...

but tbh, there really is nuthin here worth discussing
its not as important of an issue as game bugs or balance isues

anet does birthday presents out of their own generosity
out if their own time and consideration
they dun -have- to do this

so it really comes down to...
u didnt buy gw for birthday presents...
its jus an added bonus

in otherwords...dun 'xxxxx' for something that is free
(xxxxx being wutever it is that u think that ur doing...im not gonna mention possibilities of wut i think it is cuz i dun wanna 'offend' u)

Ok




Wait what? Why do you care then? The system is fine as it is. Veterans were here first as such they should be rewarded based on loyalty. So you don't get a mini worth 100k+ectos. Not like the world will end.


As for the minis dropping from chests, great idea and all but Anet is working on GW2. Most likely wont happen.

General good principles of game design trump the new player perspective.

ANet's made a lot of design mistakes over the years; the birthday present system isn't one of them. There are lots of things about it that make people unhappy, but it has desirable normative properties and specifying a Pareto-superior one is likely impossible.

That's a good system right there.

Problem is that this substitutes randomness for rewarding loyalty. Then we'll just have posts containing the argument, 'O HAI PRESENT SYSTEM BAD I SOZ UNLUCK'. Heck, we had a QQ thread about how some players consistently open bad presents on the front page of the forums last week. All this accomplishes is to change the set of complainers from one group to another.

I don't really see how you can say people who've been here for 3 years are loyal. I mean some of them sure, but I dont think that can be used as an argument really. Seeing as you don't have to be loyal at all, Guild Wars isn't a p2p game and you could have made a character in May of 05 and never played the game again till now and just collected. Don't see how that's very loyal.