what are stone?

NovaZephyr

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2009

so Ive been out of the game for a while, i thought id try uwsc, then some1 asked me to show stones?

RedDog91

RedDog91

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2007

Farming for Nick gifts

R/

They are talking about Ghastly Summoning Stones

You get a stone every time you finish the UnderWorld (2 in HM). Most groups think that they are a good way to judge someone's skill in the UnderWorld. The idea is that someone who has done UnderWorld a lot will have a lot of stones, however this logic is flawed as it is easy to buy the stones from other players.
It would be better to just join a UWSC guild. The PuGs will only accept you if you have stones, and they usually fail anyway...

Bad Company Sin

Bad Company Sin

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Dec 2010

Texas

Embrace Annihilation [?????????]

A/

Ghastly summoning stones, most if not all groups now require a certain amount of stones to show EXP(LOL!) you get 2 per run if you complete UW, funny thing is ppl can just buy them.

Hobbs

Hobbs

Desert Nomad

Join Date: May 2006

Organised Spam [OS]

W/

If you've managed to accrue enough money to buy the ridiculous amount of stones sone if these teams ask for then they might consider that proof of not being terrible at the game.

If you ask me they should just use HoM points you judge how worthy you are.

Zebideedee

Zebideedee

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Sep 2007

55?? 57' 0" N / 3?? 12' 0" W

N/Me

It's a testament to how lopsided and simpleminded their approach to GW's is. Take those guys away from gimmicky builds and you'll hear a lot of "This game cheats!" whining

Can't stones be traded anyway? One trick pony springs to mind

Yol

Yol

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2007

GameAmp Guides [AMP]

E/

The players selling the stones are also likely to be the ones asking you to show them if you want to join their speed clear group....

Lord Mip

Lord Mip

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2006

Somewhere in a distant land..

Reign of Judgement [RoJ]

E/

If the players are asking you for stones you shouldn't be bothering with them then anyway. Pleasant company during an UW venture is worth more than simple speed imho.

chrish16

chrish16

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2008

IGN: Deadly Immunity

E/

The more I read guru and the multiple threads, which are literally post after post of players complaining about "the stones system," and "elitists," the more I believe all the writers have no involvement in the uwsc community. The stones system is and isn't flawed. And it's not like there's any REAL other method to prove experience. This is the closest we have to a rank.

First of all, yes it is true that requiring stones for party members is "discriminatory" and can "harper new players' abilities to jump into uwsc," but you have to understand that it simply is not fair to all players of a group if they spend money on consets, personal cons, scrolls, and invest time for a run to last 40 minutes and then end without a UW chest because some new person didn't know what they were doing. If you want to get into uwsc, don't join high req groups and waste peoples' time. Everyone has to start somewhere, and I constantly see no stone req groups in ToA. Plus there are these wonderful things called "videos" that may be watched. Grab some heroes and enter UW, clear the way to your area, and PRACTICE. Waste your own money, not that of other people.

Second, while it is true that stones may be bought, this really only affects low req groups. Stones go for 3-5k ea, so the average player who doesn't so speedclears may not be able to spend 300-500k on stones to get into a 100+ group. Also, if a player has this amount of money to spend, then they're obviously not new to guild wars, and must have SOME idea of how to play efficiently. Also, I think, if a player spends so much money for the sole purpose of getting into a group, I trust that they have watched videos and are DEDICATED and really do want to learn, and will take advice, not waste other peoples' time.

Also, I as well as a lot of people make groups and fill them as much as we can with people on our friendslist. We cover the "hard" areas, and then pug the empty slots with a ridiculous stone req like 250+ [strict] (Yes, some individuals do possess this). It would be near impossible for a new, and usually poor player to spend an average of 4k on each of 250 stones.

Third, there are these oh-so-wonderful things called "blacklists." I myself have a very extensive black list- an excel spreadsheet which I have open as I form UW groups so I can search each player name that enters my group. It includes stone buyers, stone sellers, and general failures. You'd be surprised, but a lot of the UW community blacklists stone traders. Sorry, I'm not forgiving, but I value my time very much.

If you want to get involved with uw, you should quit whining about stones (until you make a better system), join baby groups and make your name known. Then maybe people will accept you when you qualify.

I, as well as many other players, would rather take an hour to form a group that succeeds, than waste an hour inside and ultimately fail because someone didn't know what they were doing.

~~~~Power

Sierraa

Sierraa

Supastar~ ???

Join Date: May 2006

USA [GMT -7]

Sierraas Asian Harem [love]

Me/

Question has been answered~ Closed.