Mini polar bear returns - same drop rate

Um....what? Where is it right now?

you mean communisty, you forgot the s.

True that it wasn't the best comparison, but in the same spirit you can change "getting the ferrary" to "winning at the national lottery". It's mainly luck, plus a little bit of perseverance, and it's "something special". People should stop complaining and either playing the game or playing another one.

Because GW is serious businez.

I'm sorry, but anybody who uses hyperboles like "raped", "evil", "satanic", "communist", "ruined", etc when refering to A.net should be instantly ignored.

Um. No. Maybe a PvP analogue would fly better. Let's say that when farming Zaishen Challenge, once in a million matches a random player is awarded the grand price which consists of immediately maxing all PvP-related titles and enough reward points to unlock/buy whatever there is.

Now a random scrub who thinks that Mending is the best thing since sliced bread happens to get the reward. PvP players who express their dismay on ANet for creating a dragon emoting wammo are just a childish bunch of whiners who think that everything should be easily gotten, amirite?

Sorry A11euro, that was a cut and paste from last year by Gaile Gray, the chest is not available yet. It will become available when the rift warden appears in Kamadan and Lions Arch upon the start of the wintersday festival.

Sorry for the mixup.

OCD is not a laughing matter. Although my original statement was a tongue-in-cheek figure of speech, the issue is extremely irresponsible conduct on behalf of ANet (and no, not every person is capable of taking full responsibility of their actions, that's the whole point of OCD. Rewarding such behavior should be considered very carefully).

When you design a landscape, you usually don't create it completely flat. Places of altitude and underground give a relief that people appreciate, although not that many will climb to the highest ground.

My point being that you also need relief in an MMO game, the drawback is that it can become difficult to manage the depression that people can feel from the height.

IMHO such rare minis should be customised and dedicated when the player find them. Because at the moment such rare stuff becomes sellable, greed transforms the problem of relief into one of "inaccessibility".

Closer to your point, I don't think Wintersday should be more about co-op than the rest of the year. I'd much rather prefer the game to be co-op to a certain level all year around, rather than not being so co-op except during holiday events. Wintersday is a theme, like Halloween. Although the spirit of Wintersday would like people to share and give .

Polar Bear Hat!!!!!

This.

Ferrari:
It costs money to produce the item.
That involves time, materials, workforce and let's not forget you are also paying for the brand. This applies to EVERY Ferrari created. It costs a certain amount of money to distribute each item.

A mini:
It costs money to produce the item.
That applies to the FIRST mini. Any additional minis are free. The distribution costs equal the cost of distributing the first mini.

A.Net decided that they will cater the wishes of a small group. This practice in question isn't anything special. We have special weekends, special drops, ... - and they serve a purpose. They are designed to encourage the players to purchase additional products from A.Net. And in that sense the bear could fit the same purpose.
IF the drop-rate wasn't so low that you have a better chance of just buying the bear rather then purchasing C1/C3 and GWEN. Which means, rationally looking, the mini will not have a significant impact on additional sales.

At the same time - they decided to not cater the wishes of a MUCH bigger group. The fact that they didn't cater the wishes of a bigger groups, on it's own, means nothing. Sometimes pissing off people is needed. One nerfs Ursan, one nerfs SF, ... It's for the better of the game. Which means - keeping the number of bears so low must be for the better of the game. And for this to be better for the game - this means that the positive effect must be able to negate the negative effect of such a decision.
The negative effect in this case is potentially enraging the community. If we look at this closer - we see that this negative effect is actually quite predictable. The same shit-storm happened last year and the same shit-storm happens EACH and EVERY time they make such a decision.

Which means that A.Net decided to cater the wishes of a certain group of players that want this item, not because they would appreciate their work (well at least not primarily, because one would still be able to appreciate this work even if everyone had had it), but because other people do not have the item in question and at the same time being fully aware that what they will do will evoke a massive shit-storm in doing so.
So, what is the positive effect, that is, not only able to negate but surpass, this shit-storm?

Yes, at the end it's just a mini. But with each decision where the positive effect isn't able to outweigh the negative one (or so it seems) - they are making me want to support the franchise and them less and less. And it's starting to show. The only reason why I have GWEN is because it was a gift. I otherwise wouldn't have purchased it.

or maybe anet was like hey guys, lets change the regluar bear to a white one add a fruity looking bell and call it an xmas polar bear for wintersday?

GREAT IDEA OMG GG!!!

WAIT!! OMG!! LETS HAVE IT DROP FROM A CHEST TOO!

OMG THEY WILL BE SO EXCITED WHEN THEY GET THIS!


that sounds more like anet to me

The best way to handle this is simple. Don't reinstall/play the game for the jillionth version of the same old Wintersday.

Come look at the boards after at the 10,000 people mad they wasted their holidays farming for nothing. Laugh at them. Farmers are stupid scum no better than people who live their lives in a casino. Don't fall for it, just laugh at them and Anet for this being the best they can make of themselves anymore.

It is hard to believe the amount of whining about the drop rate on the mini polar bear going on in this thread. I do not see any need nor do I see any basis for this whining.

You want to whine about drop rates on items go play any Blizzard game. That should shut you up. Blizzard is the King of extremely low drop rates on special items. Don't think so? Did anyone actually ever get a rare rune to drop in Diablo 2 above a Sol rune? Not many did. The only way any high end runes became available was due to dupers. How about unique armor and weapons? Same. SoJ's? Same. Dupers made them available to the masses.

The bad thing is is that those items actually affected gameplay!. If you got a super rare item it really did give you a huge advantage over other players. Which led to outcrys and eventually hacking and duping.

One great thing about Guild Wars is that any item that can affect gameplay and give the player any kind of advantage are readily available to all players!

This stupid mini has NO affect on gameplay, only a players pocket book. And guess what, you could have a MILLION ectos and it not going to give you ANY advantage in the game over me, who has no ectos.

Anet has no obligation to anyone to increase the drop rate on this minipet, or any other item in the game. Would I like to see more white dyes drop for me? Sure, cause I like the way it dyes my gear. But Anet does not have to increase the rate just because I want it to be so.

Here's the solution:

1. Anet gives every player present at the Wintersday finale one Mini Polar Bear. This makes amends with players who have undergone the apparent emotional stress that stems from not having a teddy bear. It also eliminates any sort of incentive to spend time solo-farming during the event for a unique reward, which should in turn let more people spend time doing community activities without freaking about whether they should be farming for elusive bears.

2. Anet puts one "Rare Mini Polar Bear", which has the exact same skin as the Mini Polar Bear, in a random Wintersday gift during each scheduled finale, globally. This introduces a very small number of rare minis into the economy, which is apparently very important to Anet. They should still command huge piles of ecto, as players are willing to buy anything that is rare, even if it is rare only in name. Players who don't engage in high-end power trading shouldn't give a rip, as they have a bear that is visually and functionally identical.

3. Players who said they wanted a bear for its companionship and lovability, but really wanted to become super-rich, will have to suck it. I'm guessing there are more than a few of these guys out there. Oh well.

Farmed the living crap out of mephisto for my Ethereal Arkaine's Valor, I did manage a ZOD but that took forever.... ahhhh memories, then everyone got banned for the map program....

Nice false dichotomy, that i all i see in this thread, people want a sane drop rate, and people interpret that as they want /polar bear command take spawn as many bears as you want.
I have no problem with there being rare mini pet out there, but they should be earned. Even mini mania which was a lottery, the highest mini was a vizu. This is a lottery for the rarest mini pet except for kanaxai depending on how many actually drop this year. Honestly i understand it should be a rare drop, like 1/1000 drop percent so it still has some value, which is much higher than it was last year.

Shadowmoon, I think you missed Trankle's sarcasm there...

rofl, don't try to make analogies with real life, PLEASE

when you buy a ferrari, the ferrari group gets richer

when you buy a mini polar bear in game, anet's employees don't get anything

so, yes, creating a mini that drops 3 times a year was a complete waste of dev's time


maraxusofk made me laugh too, whining about whiners, how funny... more seriously, don't caricature what is said here, most people don't want it easy to obtain, just a more reasonable droprate

rare minipets were introduced to reward special achievements (tourneys, rollerbeetle top100...), then they were turned into lottery prizes, and now the rarest minipet in game rewards pure luck after completing one of the easiest pve quests ever

All this come down to general human lack of freedom - specially freedom to think.

People don't think, don't know how to think and don't want to.

So their way of knowing if they like something is that thing being rare, hard to ger and expensive.

I always said elemental swords were absolute crap. Sold a few for a few hundred thousands of platinum. Then they are all common, suddenly no one likes them anymore...

Well gamers are greedy unless you haven't learned that from your 2 years of GW lol.

The thing with the minis is almost like you(Anet) giving a wolf(us gamers) your finger in hopes of him sparing your arm. Not gonna happen.

Anet did the right thing by keeping the drop rate the same, otherwise they might as well as to give everyone who done the quest a mini polar bear. You want a bear? You get a bear, Merry Christmas Gamers!!!
[IMG][/IMG]

The same reason they released an assload of minipets only in certain regions and/or via contests... they're jerks.

Same reason that mini-pig debacle happened.

*Opens up Text-Mod, paints fungal wallow white.Ace.*

Nice to know its back, shame not many people will get there hands on one.

~Frozenwind

Well at least they announced it earlier. I remember when the mini polar came out last year and that was near the end of wintersday. At least they told us this time. Though it would be nice if more would drop.

pvp'ers who are worth their salt wouldnt care because a bad player wit all the max titles will still be bad.

Truth #1

LMAO...Hell Yeah! But you got your polar bear or had one (not sure if you still do) and I dont got one so all this is easy for you to say! I had to move from my spot on the bridge where you hang out in Spamadan and head over to the poor section of town between the merchant and the bridge and sometimes into D2 now because I am ashamed. I hate people richer than me... GRRRrrrrrr (<---- angry polar bear sound coming from me in real life).


Truth #2:

OMG! I am already angry and pumped up about farming this darn bear. If I get one pm bugging me over xmas and cutting into my 14 days of 24 hour grinding and farming I am gonna be pissed. Wintersday is going to be a one time shot at massive profits. Screw the holiday spirit. Do not bring me presents, do not beg presents from me, do not ask me to help with missions, make pc's or just chat about real life or I swear you are going on my ignore list. That blistering cold wind that howls thru town is not going to put me in a better mood either (hey Anet! Ever hear of a nice sunny winter day with no wind, the sun shining, and the birds chirping?) Oh...I am not being sarcastic either. Try to be friendly this year and you get no second chances cuz I aint in the mood for it.

I am sure I speak for the 1 million other polar farmers. My god...they better pump up the server load for that mission cuz it is gonna be a crush!

RIP Snowman Cave

But depend on the title, you have to be skilled in order to get it. Like the r15 Hero, you can't just be some dumbass players and somehow get that title, it doesn't happen that way.

So there will be 2 Mini's this year. I quit GW like 6 months ago. Probaly come back for this event to get these mini's

What other mini will come from this event? I'm confuzzled.

I don't understand why all the fuss about minis. It's not like they're useful for anything except clogging your inventory.

If the Polar Bear drops, the Question is not "How often will he drop in the whole Event?".
20-50 Drops during the whole Event will bring the Price maybe to one quite similar to a Panda.

The really interesting Question is, how often will he drop in the first hours/ first two days.
20 Pandas in the first three, four, maybe five Days and you can say Good Night.

Don't spend Life in Ectos.

I wonder, why nobody sells his one in Panic right know.

Haha, i still have the quest active in my quest log since last year.
I'm definitely going back this year and trying to get myself one again, hopefully i'll get lucky and won't have to try for hours like last year.

Actually i'm the kind of person who doesn't mind grinding for hours if i know there's a chance to have a good reward at the end. Of course i know the chances are very slim, but it still gives me the drive to do it because every time, in this case, i exit the cave i tell myself "maybe next time is the one", and it keeps motivated haha.

I didn't regret farming it for hours after, i was a little disappointed i didn't get a bear; that's natural, but i could say that i tried my best and for that i was happy. Plus i had quite a few goodies such as shards and stuff like others have mentioned, so i did take in a few plats

Lol.

I don't see how ANet is a jerk when they release minis through contests and shit. They released them through PvP contests first, and later through giveaways/contests on their site.
EVERYONE had a chance to join in the contests on the site. EVERYONE had an equal chance of winning one. Don't go crying now because you didn't get one, you could have ahd one if you joined in the contests.

You really didn't read the quoted post, did you?

I am not sure, but isn´t Australia excluded from most competitions? And I think he is talking about the Europe exclusive magazine contests.

I love the guild sig but you may want to lay off the acid for 24 hours or so(send me any unused portions) . I have not seen anything regarding 2 different types of minis being available.

and you are confusing AU11Eur0 too boot.

Can I have your spot in the poor part of Spamadan while you farm the damn pet?

On a second note, I can see a thread coming up after the event, by whiners who didn't get a bear :P

Think I did hon.

I was just pointing out you can't have a bad player with all the titles maxed because there is only so much "no brain titles". Stupid comment sure but hey, still vaild =D

I don't farm like mad for anything but this is just so ridiculous...GTFO Anet

Most of you are wasting your time... seriously.

There will be about 3-4 drops the entire event and then those who farmed for it all the time and didn't get one will QQ and make 500 threads about it. Just have fun snowballing and stuff or continue with your missions. There's no reason to kill yourself trying to get a couple thousand ectos.

oh noes dere cud be lots of mina poler bears!!!

omg teh econimiez!!!111!!