Update - Thursday, June 21, 2012

Thanks. I think you're right. Missed this part:

My second account is missing the first five hats, the first Pumpkin Crown from Halloween 2005, the first Dragon Mask, the Day of the Tengu mask and Wintersday 2005 hats. It's also missing the Wicked Hat, which was distributed in Kamadan but my secondary account was locked out by then.

If tokens are tradeable, by the end of the year I could complete my collection on my secondary account as well, as 6 tokens - two for each event - would suffice.

I liked the hats being exclusive. They gave you a reason to show up for the festival and gave a great sense of nostalgia. I never minded the fact that I was missing a few, because that's what made them special. Allowing everyone to get any of the hats does kind of ruin what made them fun in the first place, but at this point, I don't think it matters. The game is more or less dead and the "prestige" from the hats is irrelevant. Letting everyone have them is a nice idea and should make the last few festivals (at least the last few that I'll attend) a bit more fun for everyone). I'll be happy to finally get those 2005 hats that I skipped too.

well I believe this will make going to the finales obsolete....no new hat no reason to be there=less stress on the servers! so win win for anet...
and having a quest to get that token can be done anytime during the event.....so unless you are afk on the rings still, all the non-shing jea events will be pretty empty now.

You mean we can get the hats from past years ? Can't wait for Halloween then

There's still the free loot drops in finales, so there's some incentive to be present, if only logged and afk, for collection of those. Also, this:

Here is one person happy about the new hat policy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euHcrWilo_M

I'm guessing the participation bonus refers to actually grabbing and delivering charges, as opposed to afk'ing the entire event. In other words... ArenaNet is encouraging people to actually be present for the event!

yeah but the loot is always sweets or party points, most folks by now --who have been around awhile--have gotten plenty of those...and you can get them as drops while playing as well. (minus the annoying summoning stones...got stacks of those taking up storage and I do use them, really I do).

just interested in what the 'new for those who have all 39 hats' will be...(they could have made it a nice round 40 ya'know).

at least my other accounts will be able to pick up old hats from before they were even purchased.

I've been playing for.. Since December of 05. I've been there for almost everything *except Halloween 05*. We didn't have space to keep all these fancy hats. It's a very nice gesture to let us get them back. It trumps just about anything else they have done. I miss my old hats. And the fact that I'm away during so many events...

It's a good day to be anet. Don't drown in all our adoration flooding in!

Mh wasn't Day of the Tengu an event for preorders only? And they're giving it to everyone. What's the difference with Divine Aura now really?


Anyway, for me a hat is just a souvenir, so I'm no way gonna take the ones I miss. I'm just sad they're doing no new ones, now I have no reason to log for events really. And I bet they'll be doing the same with CNY minis...no new ones and give old ones away..that's not so unique as they were tradables anyway, but I really wanted to see the other zodiac signs meh.
As for the skills. Meh. Yes, leech signet is on my mesmer bar and an important part of it, and it's on my heroes as well. I know I said I would have played til last day, but all those stupid changes coupled with no relevant updates to play on are killing the game for me. Wtb offline version with lan, so I can play the game I used to like instead of what's becoming now...and stop hoping they make real updates. Yeah I know, qq much.

Leech Signet just had the buff reverted. It was at 30 second recharge for years, and now it's back.

http://gw.gamependium.com/tools/skills/history/345

Noticed it too. Well, it still benefits from the buffed Fast Casting...

not really, FC is only recharge buff for mesmer spells

i dont care how leech signet used to be, its nerfed now

i use that skill on all my char's mesmer hero(es) (depending on where i go, i take either 1 or 2 mes heroes)

it prolly was a nerf for pvp again, and anet knows well that pve splits make people happy, and non-splits (same with avatar of dwayna's change) gets them angry

i hope this wont be the new GW1 team after GW2, nerfs without splits..... they made 1 which wasnt that bad imo if they kept it pve + pvp

plz anet, keep the splits going, just to keep pve and pvp with their own needed nerfs

Unlike pre-order weapons or the CE animations, the Tengu mask is an item that was available during that time, instead an item made available directly by purchasing and then using a chat command.

There is people that pre-ordered, yet still missed the Day of Tengu, or lost the mask before the Hat makers were added.

Then, why not making it available just to those that pre-ordered?
Probably because it's simpler that way.
The same UI for all, instead having to add checks for keys and content and having to make a different system altogether for them.

In this case, those that didn't preorder having access to them along those that didn't pre-order is preferable to those that did preorder not having a chance to get them again like many others will have with other masks.

At least my "Day of the Tengu" mask is the original MASK and not an Hat...it'll be always "different" ^^ And Yayyy!! I miss the first Wintersday and Halloween hats. I'm curious about the Item for those who have all the DF masks.

This seems like the oddest "holiday" to be doing this. If they had continued to give us the masks that the demons are wearing there are like 2-3 more that we don't have. So at least for the Dragon Festival they could have gotten a few more years out of it without any work.

Back in 2005 and 2006 (Nightfall) people didn't afk the whole event because it was new and fresh content. After the first or second time then things get old. By the time EOTN came out in 2007 it was basically a death sentence for GW1, and my interest sort of waned out because of that. GW2 aims to be a popular game rather than what GW1 aimed to be:a thinking man's game, skill>time played, no monthly fee or powerup microtransactions. It's only fault was that the original PvP unlock packs were expensive compared to PvE ($30x4=$120 on top of the games themselves) if all you wanted to do was PvP. This was compounded by Mercenary packs for PVE.

I actually was at the first World Preview event, first betas, first Halloween, first Wintersday, Dragon Festival, Day of the Tengu, when the unofficia /official wikis opened, etc. Every one after the first is not the same.

I wear my 2005 wintersday hat and use 2006 wintergreen weapons as high energy swaps (and the shield for pve AP ele builds). It's not about the prestige, it's about "I've been there". The new players won't get that same experience and I regret it because the atmosphere just isn't one of exploration /teamwork (old GvG) / wonder (before wiki maps) anymore, just a rush to HoM or imaginary wealth.

I missed a few hats myself because I was so ridiculously busy during some of the events that I couldn't be bothered to afk or login for the hats. Given the rate of disconnection, I didn't bother to afk.

Nostalgia is for old people. Walking in the snow 10 miles to get to school and stuff...

It's a nonissue since it's only one hat per year though people are just confusing token things like hats with the actual experiences. That's like buying ghastly stones.

I walk and take public transport. I also recycle and compost...

That's exactly it. New players may wear the same 2005 pumpkin crown like mine but they were not there and didn't have the same experience as we did. Before this, if I were to see someone in town with the same hat we may start a conversation about the past. But now, I won't, since any player can get that hat.

I am a very old guy.

Good for you! I am trying to cut down on car trips myself. As long as it is not rainy, as it is far too often here this summer.

*sigh* now that you mention it... You're right...

Well, I stubbornly stayed with Leech Signet even before the buff, often even at rather low Inspiration Magic.

I hated the slow recharge but still used it as it both served a purpose as a cheap and quick interrupt and also was quite useful for e-management.

Well, back to 2009, I guess...

wtb:

(5) Walked in the snow
(6) Walked in the snow up the hill
(7) Walked in the snow up the hill both ways

Title sequence.

With the sole exception of making it impossible to make an utterly atrocious build (which is not, you'll note, the same as making it impossible for a skilled player to make a build that is more effective than an average player's), I don't think you have anything to support this distinction. Skill > time is obviously still in GW2, as are the lack of a sub fee and the lack of overpowering microtransactions.

I don't mind people not liking the game. I do mind people talking out of their ass like this. It's a hipster attitude, a "oh you wouldn't understand, GW1 was a thinking man's game," kind of snobbery. It's just awful, really; it's a reactionary rejection of something new in order to increase standing with the "old guard", and it happens every single time anything changes ever. Nerd culture is full of examples of this tripe.

My guild is full of it (including Life Infusion). Fun watching them lobby against GW2 and praise GW so much then QQ about there being no balance or difficult content.

Nope. I have the hats and applaud Anet for implementing this, and several of the other changes as well. I am hoping they add things like the Divine Aura and Pre-order items too (I have it all). It would bring just that much more enjoyment to many other players in the game, and that's what counts.

I can think of one way they could have handled the past year hats issue while reducing complaints somewhat. Rather than allowing you to choose a hat from the past, it assigns the most recent one you missed.

Say you are missing the Tengu Mask and 2010 mask only. The mask crafter would only give you the 2010 mask this year, and next year the Tengu mask. This would slow the rate at which the oldest hats became common and encourage future returns to the game.

I am really looking forward to this as I lost my 2005 Pumpkin Crown (Bring on this years Halloween!) and Australian Pre-Orders for Collectors editions of factions were delayed for 2 weeks and thus I missed the Tengu Mask.

This will complete the collection

It wasn't just the Australian Pre-Orders - that was a big snafu at the time - I actually was playing on my secondary account (which I didn't get CEs for) until a local store finally got some CEs in about two weeks after Factions went live. I got lucky with that, quite a few friends weren't able to play until late May.

Hanok