Put Festival Hats in Store

cantalus

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2005

don't mind if hats bought in the anet store are slightly different from the original ones, say a different colour/color

and yeah, left the first pumpkin hat in the troll cave outside droks, probably cause of something that was worth 90ish gp.....

TsunamiZ

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

signed...................

Chocolate_Prayers

Chocolate_Prayers

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2007

Australia

Mo/

Hats, Hats, Hats... GuildFortress 2 anyone?

Wonder if Valve wants in for a slice of the action.

That being said, I'm indifferent towards previous holiday headwear being added to the NCSoft In-Game store for a Reasonable price...

Thorfinnr

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2007

Indiana

Dark Brotherhood of Syn

W/Rt

I see both sides of this.

When GWs first came out, I had no connection to the Internet as I lived outside the city limits and had no service. SO I missed out on the first 2 years of Hats for Halloween and Christmas.

Would love to be able to get them, but I also understand its kind of a status thing where someone can say "I was there."

If they became available in the store, say for like $1 each, I would probably go for that. In a pack, might force me to pay for something I already have, which isn't cool.

Perhaps some mini mission could be developed for the respective holidays, available only during those holiday events, that allows you to get to a "Legendary Hat-Maker" who could make you a past one, for a substantial in-game fee(say like 10K per hat, nothing too outrageous cause then no one will want to waste that kind of in-game bank.)

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

signed and not signed....

the only people that should be able to get those hats are the ones whos accounts were created BEFORE the event of the said hat.

Lithril Ashwalker

Lithril Ashwalker

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2008

Alabama

A/

imo and i do believe good one, if ur accoutns old as the hat u MISSED u can get it. if not...too bad so sad.

/signed if can get hats as old as your account
/unsigned because itll never happen because Anet never looks at guru anymore

davehall

davehall

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

NA

W/Mo

/signed.

I want furry ears for all the characters on all my multiple accounts.

Lucy Saxon

Lucy Saxon

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jul 2011

Nodnol, Blighty

The Celestial Syndicate [ANGL]

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria The Princess View Post
signed and not signed....

the only people that should be able to get those hats are the ones whos accounts were created BEFORE the event of the said hat.
This would work for me.

Ayuhmii Shanbwa

Ayuhmii Shanbwa

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

Holland

[GaMe]

Rt/

oh my, sure alot of people have hate for others to get a hat now just cuz they werent there, kinda discriminating newer people

Anet should know that they should make people happier in these times
giving them away would do best to those who dont have em (yet), and does nothing bad to those who got em back then

imo its real sad that people dont like others to have something nice, thats called hate toward others... and selfishness

i hope anet does think about all people, like they did lately
i'd like to get that dragon mask i couldnt get back then cuz i didnt have the money to buy factions yet

or do you people think i dont deserve it only cuz i didnt have the money yet?
i'm not rich, i'm kinda poor money-wise

should they do it your way, people surely will have less faith in anet in the future
should they do it the right way, by giving all older hats away to anyone, people will get happier and will have faith in anet in the future

ps. dont forget there are many people who would be like: buying GW2 from a company who doesnt care about newer people like that? no thx, i rather try other MMO's

anet's decision will make their future, whether its in GW or GW2

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

the hats are the only way of showing how long have you been playing, and add no *real* advantage to the game, so you cant really say Anet doesn't "care".

if anything, they dont care for the older players who didnt have hat NPC ot the additional storage tabs you can buy (they added it with GWEN right?) and lost many many many old hats due to shortage of inv space or deleted characters because of lack of character slots (before you could buy them, when there was only 4 slots and thats it).

The newer players didnt have to deal with that. If they allowed you to acquire hats as old as your account it would be only fair to the old players who lost them or missed the event for some reason. It would be more of a concept of "recovering" what was yours rather then acquisition of something new

Black Metal

Black Metal

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2009

N/

this has been brought up before...........

anyways, the Devs have said they WILL NOT put them in the stores (and for good reason), so it's pointless to have this conversation

edit: lol this was the same thread, it just got necro'd

I see my first post was deleted, but was quoted, and seeing from the quote it was a pretty short and normal answer, not sure why it was deleted........

lemming

lemming

The Hotshot

Join Date: May 2006

Honolulu

International District [id???]

http://www.wowhead.com/achievement=4400

Blizzard's concession to people who can't make it is to make the period longer than one day.

Hanok Odbrook

Hanok Odbrook

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Tyria

Real Millennium Group

Mo/N

Also Anet has said:
Would not allow for unlocking of all skills without playing through PvE
Would not change the favor system (when based on region winning HoH)
Would sell BMP separately in the store
Would not allow full Hero parties
among a dozen or more other things they said they would not or could not do for one reason or another, yet ended up doing anyway.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maria The Princess View Post
the hats are the only way of showing how long have you been playing, and add no *real* advantage to the game, so you cant really say Anet doesn't "care".
/age plus screen shot

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gill Halendt View Post
Anyway, they could simply make the events last longer (or, at least, the finale for the hats), so people can get their hats and stop opening thread like this.
Which Anet has already done with one of the Factions festivals. There are also several other instances where they re-ran festivals after the official date, and also one I recall that allowed the ability to get the Wintersday hats after the fact one year - as proven by my Factions only account characters acquiring those particular hats. The precedents are there - it's just a matter of whether epeen is more important.

Hanok

Mpidemie

Mpidemie

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Sep 2006

Europe/Germany

/notsigned

No chance to get the hats after the events makes them special.

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

I don't mind allowing other players to get the hats they couldn't.

But I think they should make some kind of survey first in-game or in the official site, to check how many people would actually mind.


There are plenty of reasons people could ahve missed a hat, from not having Internet connection yet, to accidents of all sorts, or having to study abroad in without your computer.

Ramei Arashi

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2009

The Geezer Guild (GZR)

E/

You guys who've been around for 6 years, didn't show your hats to festival hat maker when it came out?

Maria The Princess

Maria The Princess

Forge Runner

Join Date: Mar 2006

Aequitas Deis

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanok Odbrook View Post
/age plus screen shot

Hanok
thats really out of context, if i want to show someone hours i played etc yes id send them that maybe. but its completely out of the context for this thread in particular

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramei Arashi View Post
You guys who've been around for 6 years, didn't show your hats to festival hat maker when it came out?
The hat maker was added on December 6, 2007.
For several reasons, not all of them their fault, people that actually got the hats and was there could have missed it.

There's also some cases of hats that you can get without actually being there, in the cases when there was a redux or when they add a collector after the party, so people that wasn't in the festival at all can get the hat by buying the tokens with in-game cash.

If you could get hats without being in the festival, and you could be in the and not have the hat, then the hats no longer really show which festivals you have been in.

Many things in the store are for vanity. As long as it is not free, I think most people should be fine with it.


Those that did get the hats will still keep that. They got them for free.
It's like with the Bonus Mission Pack. Some got it for free, other had to pay.

Swingline

Swingline

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2010

Somewhere far away from you

The Mirror of Reason[SNOW]

W/

signed to make hats available again.

not signed to sell them in the store.

I missed the mummy mask and a few others during mid 2008 to mid 2010 but I really couldn't care for those. I was however there for the early ones and dumped them because I needed space desperately. There should have been a festival hat maker since day 1 and I shouldn't have to pay for Anet's blunder.

GODh

GODh

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Nov 2005

The Netherlands

BFTW and DLRR

/signed...

i had all hat but lost some bec i was struggling with lots of chars and only the 1 pane storage we had in the early days (hatmaker didnt exist either). I really would like to have some of those hats back.

----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ramei Arashi View Post
You guys who've been around for 6 years, didn't show your hats to festival hat maker when it came out?
That npc came MUCH later in the game (and storage was only 1 pane), so that was not possible... the hats were not transferable either (to to your other chars on same account).

----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Swingline View Post
There should have been a festival hat maker since day 1 and I shouldn't have to pay for Anet's blunder.
I fully agree on this...

dorin

dorin

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2006

Quote:
Originally Posted by cosyfiep View Post
/not signed

sorry if you werent there (or even playing when these happened) you shouldnt get that perk.
This.

You weren`t there. Not my fault. I was there. That makes it so special. Deal with it.

paK0

paK0

Academy Page

Join Date: May 2009

byob

A/

I want cat ears, so signed =)

Its not like anyone looses something from it, basically all will benefit if Anet makes some more money^^

shadowfell

shadowfell

hamonite anur ruk

Join Date: Jan 2006

Echovald Forest

[PhD] Teh Academy

Me/A

I'd like to see hats made available. There are a couple that I missed that I regret and I certainly miss the ones I had but died on deleted toons prior to the festival hat maker..

WinterSnowblind

WinterSnowblind

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Feb 2007

/notsigned

I didn't get my 2005 hats, despite being a player back then for various reasons.. But part of what makes the hats awesome is their uniqueness and that you had to be there for the event to get them, even if the event is exactly the same every year.. at least you have the hat. Letting you buy them would severely discourage people from showing up for them.

Even if it meant I could finally get those damned 2005 hats, what would be the point? Everyone would have them, and then they're no longer quite as fun. I really hope this carries over to GW2 as well. Keep the festival hats special!

Jan Breydel

Jan Breydel

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2006

Musscles From Brussels

Mo/R

/notsigned

In a time where everyone is walking around in black/white dyed obbi sets with mo zing/blindfold and chaos gloves I like being the only one around with a furious pumpkin crown and a red dyed elite set to match.

Not having it does not give you disadvantages in any way.
And if you really really want to have it just use that dressup thingie.

Gill Halendt

Gill Halendt

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2008

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jan Breydel View Post
And if you really really want to have it just use that dressup thingie.
Maybe not

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gaile Gray
I would recommend you not use this program. I believe to do so would put your account at risk of termination.
Also, "being there" as a requirement making hats so special: I aknowledge this point. Yet, this thread has pointed out that afk'ing is a pretty common method to get these hats. What's so "special" in afk'ing during a game event?

I would agree if only actively partecipating to the festivities was mandatory to get a special reward in the form of a hat: you didn't contribute to the party, you don't get any prize.

As for now, hats only show your account was logged in that day. Nothing special, to be honest.

mikeh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Sep 2008

.............

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowfell View Post
I'd like to see hats made available. There are a couple that I missed that I regret and I certainly miss the ones I had but died on deleted toons prior to the festival hat maker..
/Signed, mainly for the above reason :\

Shadowhaze

Shadowhaze

Nothing, tra la la?

Join Date: Oct 2007

I would like the option to be able to get them in some way.

And kind of agree and see the point of both sides. They showed you were there then, but so many people afk during events.

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by dorin View Post
This.

You weren`t there. Not my fault. I was there. That makes it so special. Deal with it.
It has been already stated that not everyone that 'was there' have them.


Again, we have both cases of people that have some hats without having been part of the actual event (bought them afterwards form an NPC, or during a redux), and people that don't have hats from events in which they participated (accidental loss during character delection, or mouse slipped to the trash, or anything like that).

People being able to pay for them won't affect us that have them. We already got them for free. They'll have to pay for them.
Imagine if they didn't allow to purchase the BMP. Many people would miss the opportunity of enjoying it.
This is something similar.


If people want to pay for vanity items so we can keep having more GW:B chapters, let them. It will do more good than harm, and the only harm will be to the kind of 'anal-retentive' people that go "This is mine, mine, mine, you can't have it!".

Sharing is good. They teach you that in kindergarten.

Hanok Odbrook

Hanok Odbrook

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2005

Tyria

Real Millennium Group

Mo/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere View Post
It has been already stated that not everyone that 'was there' have them.


Again, we have both cases of people that have some hats without having been part of the actual event (bought them afterwards form an NPC, or during a redux), and people that don't have hats from events in which they participated (accidental loss during character delection, or mouse slipped to the trash, or anything like that).

People being able to pay for them won't affect us that have them. We already got them for free. They'll have to pay for them.
Imagine if they didn't allow to purchase the BMP. Many people would miss the opportunity of enjoying it.
This is something similar.


If people want to pay for vanity items so we can keep having more GW:B chapters, let them. It will do more good than harm, and the only harm will be to the kind of 'anal-retentive' people that go "This is mine, mine, mine, you can't have it!".

Sharing is good. They teach you that in kindergarten.
Agreed - pretty much sums it all up - but you can also add "lost due to account being hacked" as well.

Quote:
Originally Posted by WinterSnowblind View Post
/notsigned

I didn't get my 2005 hats, despite being a player back then for various reasons.. But part of what makes the hats awesome is their uniqueness and that you had to be there for the event to get them, even if the event is exactly the same every year.. at least you have the hat. Letting you buy them would severely discourage people from showing up for them.
Really? So you wouldn't show up for the festival if the hat were to be made available elsewhere (either via store or NPC in town after the event)? Well, for me, the events are more than just to get the hats - they're to enjoy the event and also to get any of the other freebies that go along with them. Being able to get the hats after the event, well, that's just a little bit of a piece of mind where I don't have to worry about outside events affecting my ability to attend the event (such as power outages, ISP muck-ups, or hackers nailing my account and deleting everything - including those oh-so-special hats).

Anet has already set the stage for allowing this to happen - the addition of the Halloween Hat Traders are just another instance where the Live Team doesn't seem to put much weight into "your account is logged in on that day and time" thing, which seems to be the only argument against it. On top of that, they have also shown a history on adding things to the store either to make them easier to get or to allow for acquisition when one normally couldn't:

Zaishen Menagerie - allows anyone to procure a pet of any type and level (i.e. Dire, Aggressive, etc.). Something that prior to being available in the store, one could only get by spending much time and effort into carefully leveling your pet.

Another example would be the bonus weapon items - I believe these were based off of some Coke contest or something in Asia, therefore, not able to be acquired by anyone outside of those areas prior to being placed in the store.

Even the changes to LS and LDoA could be included as part of the "easier acquistion" department. In short, Anet clearly wants to be able to allow players as many opportunities to be able to do and get things in game that they normally weren't able to do before.

At this point, we need to think about the future of the game. Anet has clearly shown (and stated outright) their desire to support the game as long as possible. However, Once GW2 is released, we can certainly expect the current player-base to shrink dramatically, making it even more difficult to acquire many items in the game than they already are now. I think the best solution for not only this, but for the issue of the hats is to add another Token system to the store.

Much in the vein of the Makeover credits, we would be able to go to the store and buy a set amount of tokens. These tokens then would appear in our in-game inventory and can be used to trade for in-game items at specially designated traders (which would have to be added to the game). These new traders could then be the opportunity to be able to acquire anything that Anet programs for them to have in their inventory - such as all the Festival Hats, Bonus and Pre-order items, mini-pets, and even things like Armbraces and such. Naturally, the number of tokens required for such items would have to reflect their current rarity and in-game value - thus a green mini-pet would require many more tokens than a common one.

Hanok

Fitz Rinley

Fitz Rinley

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Oct 2005

The Rusty Rose

W/Mo

Frankly speaking - the only things I have seen against having hats available stem from selfishness and the status hoarder who need someway to look down on others. There is no argument I have seen against making previous hats available in someway that is justifiable morally or for business reasons.

/Signed

` Marshmallow

` Marshmallow

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: May 2009

Canadaa!

Last Friday Night [TGIF]

E/

/signed :3

WANT

Not A Standard Name

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2011

Ascalons Keeper

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere View Post
If people want to pay for vanity items so we can keep having more GW:B chapters, let them. It will do more good than harm, and the only harm will be to the kind of 'anal-retentive' people that go "This is mine, mine, mine, you can't have it!".

Sharing is good. They teach you that in kindergarten.
Hats are a sign you were there, when they were given out. If everyone has them that's not true anymore and they lose their value.
Why not put Crystalline Swords or Titles in the Shop? Anet makes money, more people have sth they like and the only people hurt will be the kind of 'anal-retentive' people that go "This is mine, mine, mine, you can't have it!".
Actually the only people this would do good are the kind of 'anal-jealous' people that go "You have it, so I must have it too!".

Vapor_Fighter

Vapor_Fighter

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

DRKN

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jan Breydel View Post
/notsigned

In a time where everyone is walking around in black/white dyed obbi sets with mo zing/blindfold and chaos gloves I like being the only one around with a furious pumpkin crown and a red dyed elite set to match.

Not having it does not give you disadvantages in any way.
And if you really really want to have it just use that dressup thingie.
/agree x ____

probably one of the last ways to distinguish someone who has or has not been playing since the beginning or whenever someone started. Maybe you should have bought the game earlier, or don't delete the hats.

Gill Halendt

Gill Halendt

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2008

I got all the hats. I was there. Well, I wasn't there, my character was, afking in town. I was away, enjoying the festivities. That makes me special and a bunch of pixels are there to prove it! Twice as special, actually, since I've been playing since 2005 and I also have those early hats. I've rarely worn them, as I had to do without heeadgear before the introduction of costume slots, but when I did, I felt special because people could tell I've been playing since 2005. Can't you feel the specialness in this?

Oh, almost forgot. I bought like 20 characters slots just to have storage characters in order to hold my hats before the hatmaker and the storage expansions. That later turned me in an altoholic, so I'm even more special.

Can't beat this.

Nevermind. That was sarcastic.

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Not A Standard Name View Post
Hats are a sign you were there, when they were given out. If everyone has them that's not true anymore and they lose their value.
Why not put Crystalline Swords or Titles in the Shop? Anet makes money, more people have sth they like and the only people hurt will be the kind of 'anal-retentive' people that go "This is mine, mine, mine, you can't have it!".
Actually the only people this would do good are the kind of 'anal-jealous' people that go "You have it, so I must have it too!".
We have already stated that hats are not really a sign you were there, thanks to things like the Hat makers being added late, and the Hat collectors after festivals.
If you had your account hacked before the Hat trader was added, or suffered an accident that kept you away from your computer, or didn't have Internet connection until later, so you couldn't play GW at all, or many other reasons out of the control of the players, you'll NEVER, EVER be able to get them again.

That comes to "some people have them without being there, and some people do not have them even though they WERE there".
And makes any "They are a proof you were there" untrue.

Crystalline Swords have an use in battle, they are not vanity items like costumes. The skin may be a (gradually decreasing) prestige one, but unlike vanity items, you can't show them in outposts.
Also, unlike costumes, you can permanently get them in-game. It may take time, but you'll eventually get them.
Crystalline Swords can be traded too. Vanity items can't be traded.
Anyone CAN get a Crystalline Sword.
So comparing crystalline swords with hats it's like comparing apples and hypotenuses.

Ayuhmii Shanbwa

Ayuhmii Shanbwa

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

Holland

[GaMe]

Rt/

tell me, what bad would it really do to get them all returned?

i mean, no store as that's weird, maybe if those hats had something extra, but they dont, they're not even as big as costumes, so i'd rather see this on the events themselves to get from a collector with certain items like candy canes or such

i saw we had such npc's last time at halloween, they asked for items to get a mask
now do this for all old ones too, but JUST at that certain event, and its still a feeling about that event
so dont let us be able to get them all year, only a week or so around that event

people who dont care or have those hats and say "no, you should've been there" are IMO not really thinking about others who like them as a small extra

i missed the first factions dragon mask as i bought it and put into my 2nd account, wish i didnt do that
its not that i want it just cuz others have it
i mean, i didnt even bother getting those goggles, cuz i dont like them
but that dragon mask is more special to me, and my 1st account is my main

give me 1 good reason how it'd hurt the game to do something like that

i can give 1 good reason to do it: this game is old now, still good, but so many people left the game, and so we should be able to get every little bit of fun we can get
not JUST the feelings of "i was there and got this mask " but also "i got a mask i never could get from the old(er) times, glad Anet still gave me a chance to get this "

even though the game is dying, slowly but still, we could have fun our own way, like getting older masks we couldnt get before for any reason

i saw newbies who asked me: how did you get those cat ears? i told them and they were: will it come back? i like those
and i had to say: afraid not, and had to explain you cant wear other people's hats

its not like its their fault they werent there
i dont really give much about that dragon mask anymore, but still think newbies and those who have busy lives should still get the chance to get the hats they like

it sounds kinda heartless if you say "NO, you werent there, so you dont deserve them"

ps. i'm NOT calling anyone heartless, it just SOUNDS heartless imo

lorazcyk

lorazcyk

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2007

guildwiki.org/User:Lorazcyk

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Vapor_Fighter View Post
/agree x ____

probably one of the last ways to distinguish someone who has or has not been playing since the beginning ...
I've been playing since the beginning, but I only have hats starting at Ice/Wreath Crown.

Not A Standard Name

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2011

Ascalons Keeper

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MithranArkanere View Post
We have already stated that hats are not really a sign you were there, thanks to things like the Hat makers being added late, and the Hat collectors after festivals.
If you had your account hacked before the Hat trader was added, or suffered an accident that kept you away from your computer, or didn't have Internet connection until later, so you couldn't play GW at all, or many other reasons out of the control of the players, you'll NEVER, EVER be able to get them again.

That comes to "some people have them without being there, and some people do not have them even though they WERE there".
And makes any "They are a proof you were there" untrue.
Yeah, there's a small inaccuracy. Big deal. You probably don't look at clocks either, because they're off by a fraction of a second. When you see a huge muscular person and a small skinny one fighting you're not assuming the big one will win, because he small one may be a world class martial artist. If you want to cross the street and see an oldtimer 1 km away, you wait, because there may be alien technology in it that accelerates it and runs you over if you do try to cross it.


Quote:
Crystalline Swords have an use in battle, they are not vanity items like costumes. The skin may be a (gradually decreasing) prestige one, but unlike vanity items, you can't show them in outposts.
Also, unlike costumes, you can permanently get them in-game. It may take time, but you'll eventually get them.
Crystalline Swords can be traded too. Vanity items can't be traded.
Anyone CAN get a Crystalline Sword.
So comparing crystalline swords with hats it's like comparing apples and hypotenuses.
So? Fact is the vast majority of players will never get a Crystalline Sword, but ebay gold is proof that people would be willing to pay for it. So you make people happy and give Anet money. The only people hurt will be the "anal-retentive" people. That's your argument. I don't see what these details change.

MithranArkanere

MithranArkanere

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Nov 2006

wikipedia.org/wiki/Vigo

Heraldos de la Llama Oscura [HLO]

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Not A Standard Name View Post
[...]


So? Fact is the vast majority of players will never get a Crystalline Sword, but ebay gold is proof that people would be willing to pay for it. So you make people happy and give Anet money. The only people hurt will be the "anal-retentive" people. That's your argument. I don't see what these details change.
My argument is that people can't have hats they missed, but CAN have crystalline swords.
The people 'hurt' would be those that took the time to get the sword. Because anyone can get it with enough time. The prestige of getting the item is lost by letting them be purchasable with cash.
But what's more important than 'prestige' of getting things, is giving anyone a chance to equally enjoy the game.

With a crystalline sword, anyone can eventually enjoy one, it may take time, it may take luck with monster and chest drops, it may take a lucky friend that "leaves" the game and is giving away their stuff, it may take some time wasted farming to buy it from someone else, or again breaking the EULA with some creative scamming or purchasing gold or the item themselves, but yes, you can, ALWAYS.


With hats, no matter how many time, as of now, those that for any reason missed a hat, can ever enjoy them. There's no potential to get them, no chance, no possibility, no way. You can't trade them, you can't sell them, you can't give them away, you can't get them if you missed them. no chest will spawn that may have them after defeating a boss, no locked chest may have them when you open it with lockpicks, no creature will drop them, no festival had them (excepting the Lion Mask), no more collectors will have them after the post-festival collector is gone...
You got them because you where during the finale, or talked to the collector afterwards after making some festival quests, or spent the whole festival farming and then used drops to either get the trophies for the collector, or used the festival trophies dropped by monsters while farming, or left the character AFK, or broke the EULA and lent the account to someone else so they get it for you...
And if you didn't you won't be able to get them again, EVER.