My take on Controversial Issues (Greens, HoD Items,etc.)

Many players in Guild Wars feel very strongly about something in the game.

When the greens were incorporated, many people were frustrated that "perfect" items were being dropped and that their gold items would go down in value. All of a sudden people had access to superior equipment and it cost less than one of the mods on the green item probably cost (except in the beginning when everything was REALLY high). But, people learned to live with it and got over it. Then the Tombs green items came. It went for outrageous amounts because many people (me included) thought it would revert back to the place to enter the Hall of Heroes. And the fact that it was new . So, these items dropped in value like tenfold in less than a week. For the most part, green items HAVE corrupted the gold item market. I can't tell you how many times when I was selling a perfect Great Axe, Req.8, 15^50, HP+30, AP 10/10 (I don't really like Sundering personally) that a person put Victo's Battle Axe in the trade screen. It was inevitable. People thought that there weapons were better because they were green. In my opinion, greens items have crippled the gold item market, BUT have given people who don't (or can't) spend as much time playing GW a better chance in PvE or PvP.

Next, the infamous HoD items. The sword, which has the most fame by far, offers +5 Energy. Many people hate on this sword, like many of my friends have. Then, the one day they could afford one and bought one, they were like "OMGZ THIS THING ROKS HARD". They really changed their tune. I think A LOT of the people who hate this sword either don't own one or have one and just like to hate things . Many people compare the fact that with a perfect staff setup its only 2 less energy than an HoD sword and an offhand. My point is that people REALLY want and desire that extra 2 energy. It's for the same reason people will pay 10x as much for a 5^50 rod than a 4^50 rod. I mean, it's only 1 energy, but it's "the price of perfection". Think about it, a 14^50 Crystalline vs. a 15^50 Crystalline. Depending on Req. of course, the 15^50 will still be worth A LOT more than the 14^50. But then again, its 1% more dmg over 50% health. Perfection is so desired though, it's only human nature to want the best.

Personally, I own 2 HoD swords and 2 HoD axes. I got one for my W/Mo who was coming through Denravi. I crafted 2 of each and saved one for my other W/Me (little did I know that after ascension I could change my secondary whenever I wanted and keep all my primary skills, lol). So I was going to build another warrior and give those items to him. By the time I got my W/Mo to the Southern Shiverpeaks, the HoD items crafter had forked over all his awesome items to ANet. I eventually gave the axes away to two close friends of mine who really wanted it. Who knew how desirable they would be?

The thing is, I never really realized what was so great about HoD axe. Again, it's people wanting perfection. How much HP is max? How much can you make it? Why do people pay like 400k for +2 energy? Why do people pay 1 Mil (axes are rarer, probably less crafted possibly) for 25 more health? They'll still die a second later under heavy degeneration. If people want perfection, let them have it.

Final issue is about people being conservative with their money. They always use collectors items and Droknar's Armor. Whatever it's still good, mostly asthetics. But they say they only spend 10k max on an item. Why? Because they think it will just be overwritten with new Factions items and upgrades (*looks at -5 (20%) shield). People are scared and pissed (people w/ -3 (10% chance shields) that their item's value will drop tenfold green items style. The thing is, if you are always so afraid, when will you not be? For all we know people buying +60 Hex shields will be pissed when ANet releases +75 Hex Shields to balance the game.

Personally, I paid A LOT for my Magmas Shield and A LOT for my Crystalline. Partially, I want to see what is in store for factions. But am I worried that my Magmas and Crystalline will fall in value? No, not really. It's part of life, something better is always being made. And, inevitably, when I enter Factions, someone will say "OMGZ NOOBZ ALERT, LOOK AT THAT GUY WITH CRYSTALLINE AND MAGMAS!!!!" "Look, I got a DeathBlade and Storm Shield!" Obviously, new items will come out to replace my items, but then I will just buy those items. For people who only spend 10k max on ANY item, don't be afraid to buy just because it will go down in value. It would be like if you never bought a new graphics card because you always thought a newer one would come out. Everything will go down in value eventually with various updates and new content (except for HoD items, but maybe ANet will add a +5 energy knife or +25 health kai for assasins, who knows )

EDIT: Oh, by the way, please voice your opinions too, but NO flames please. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I will listen if it is reasonable and the post doesn't start with "OMGZ U NOOB U SUK LIL NOOBLET"

EDIT #2: Re-read and realized I did sound like a braggart or something so I edited it. But if you think I'm bad you should meet *coughcoughUcoughBcoughEcoughRcoughMcoughAcoughNco ughCcoughEcoughR* That guy just CAN'T STOP bragging about what he buys and how much he spends a day...

Hm, I actually read the whole thing o.o

I must say, that is a very nice take on what the economy is like in Guild Wars. I quickly realise that perfection is for, stupidly rich people that want to show off and feel good about themselves. I always start to wonder, when will others know that the person has a 15^50 crystalline? Unless they show the item to everyone in the current game, others will only view it as a crystalline sword with some mods, thinking oh, cool, havn't seen that thing around too often

I have personally never gotten a hand on any of those HoD items, and highly doubt that will be able to anytime soon. However, they can be useful for the character's wielding the item. Although the chances are low, there are times when that extra 2 energy or 25 health can save your life. Whether you choose to spend your money on that 3% chance to survive in a final blow, is up to you.

Conserving your money due to fear. Well, that is an odd speculation that very few players have. Most of the average players who can finally afford an item do not look forward to purchase for profit in the nearby future. Those +45 health while Hexed shields were changed to maintain balance. Being hexed is nowhere near as common as a Stance or Enchanted shield, and is now buffed for a greater use. Sure, many members of the public are frustrated how much money that they payed for the item, but then again, they do have to remember that changes will happen. Arena.net did not intend yo put out items so you can make a massive profit (or so I believe). The players who purchased the item for their own character's benifit will be happy for the most part, seeing as the health helps aid in survival. Now that there is a better shield, players who want it for their characters will spring for a decent health, while the perfectionists will attempt to spring for the big money. If the shield changes once again, well that's the buyer's own problem to try and abuse the market. Learning through experience is a good thing.

^that last paragraph may be confusing o.o I can't realy think as well when I'm under ther spell of food poisoning.

As for Anet adding a +5 energy knife or a +25 health Kai for assassins? *laugh* I'm sure ArenaNet will not make that mistake again, as it floods the market to death. ^_^

Near perfect mods and self efficientcy FTW!

If I had an ecto for every "near perfect" weapon I had, my characters could retire to a nice little villa on a plot of land called the Shiverpeaks. Seriously though, I did the math on the difference between the 1% on 14% over 50% and 15% over 50% and the difference is a measly 1 dmg. Woo hoo, I mean Id rather pay 1-10k for a near perfect weapon than 100k - 1000k for a perfect one.

I failed to see your point. Showing off your wealth and shiny items? *shrugs*

Perfection is in the eye of the wielder

A person was selling "The best staff in the game" it was the shiverpeaks collector (20/20) fire staff w/ +30 Fortitude & +5 energy mods added for 79K, now I could have made one of these myself for about 68K (just checked auction site), a saving of 11K.

I thought I'd have some of this so I went out and got the same staff for myself (free) got a +28 fortitude from the auction site for 7K and a +4 energy for 1.5K total cost = 8.5k + time (not perfect but saved nearly 60K)

Ok I know its not perfect, but as an elementalist with +4 energy regen the -1 energy is not going to be missed & chances are if my health gets that low +2 health won't mean much unless I actually kill the mob first, & that's hoping he didn't get off a shot as I landed the death blow.

The staff is blue but when people ask what I'm wielding it will come up as "I am wielding an insightful fire staff of fortitude" no mention of Gold at all, or stats so unless I show them it could be a Gold req 8 with +5 energy & +30 health.

So in closing, I am the only one who knows it is not perfect (apart from readers of this thread), I have no desire to get a perfect staff as this one has seen me through many tight battles, and so what if it's blue it does exactly the same amount of damage as a gold or green.

For me, I would prefer Guildwars to have no items at all. Just the plain skills.

I would like to learn all the skills and come back one year later without at a equipment disadvantage.

Pretty pointless for a warrior though, as all their skills are weapon or adrenaline based (which needs an item anyway)

Then again they could create some warrior skills that don't need a weapon.
Ie. Mental charge (player rushes in an tackles mob dealing x...xdmg)
Side swipe (player leg sweeps mob dealing x....x dmg)
IWAY (player kicks mob up the ass dealing x...x dmg evry 3 sec for every dead ally)

I agree with JediKnight, that's the staff I use. Can mod it how you want and in the end it's better than Rago's which is 60k. Can't understand it myslef. Of course I've not played enough to be rich yet (late starter) and can't even afford Rago's..

As for not spending over 10k, just remember there are some of us who just don't have the money to take that risk yet...

I buy items only for their functionality for my character and don’t mind paying the going rate, as I know I’ll benefit from them.

The only reason I would like a HoD sword or a really poor stat purple Cystalline sword is to sell it on to those people who pay vast sums for them.

To be honest it is very rare that I notice what other players are wielding in the game. I’m much more concerned if a Tank can actually tank and a fellow monk can actually heal or protect.

You just answered what you failed to see :P

Aww don't be sad go farm green enough for everyone.

People want the HoD items because they offer an edge, however much, in PvP. Any edge in competitive GvG at the top of the ladder gives a huge advantage, and can in cases turn games.

While the green items showing up in game certainly had an impact on the economy, there are still people out there that would prefer the "special" rare moddable items than a green.

And true, a lot of the green items are basically crap. The better items are worth (in gw economy value) more, yet sometimes the market is quite frankly baffling. Why does a:

Ogre-Slaying Knife
•Slashing Dmg 1-4
•Dmg +9 (vs. Ogres)

...Sell for as much money as it does? Does anyone REALLY think it's worth that much? Well apparently so, if they spend that amount of money on an item that is about as useful as mage henchmen. But it just puzzles me sometimes why people spend their money for items that I wouldn't even bother picking up if it was white. I think ANet put that item in the game simply to see just how silly their customers can be.

But green items, much like collectors items, won't replace people buying fellblades, crystalline swords, and other mods considered "perfect". The game has easily gained perfect items already that anyone can get, they simply are usually ugly as sin - but they get the job done just as well. But as long as vanity items exist, then the market will be there to buy them.

LOL.

This one has significance for us old time players... This is the one item I would actually pay for.

Mimi doesn't know what he is talking about ..,...
I use my ogre slaying knife in GVG and don't see one ogre

Yes, the Ogre Slaying Knife keeps the Ogres away...
*cough*search*cough*

And my best guess is evrytime they add a new weapon, people will be on it like vultures.
SoA axe anyone? Bug got known => 1000s of axes/hour were being farmed
New UW=> OMG new greens
Queen=> Same as New UW

I actually liked this thread though I came on expecting to hate it.

The truth is that Anet holds all the cards and makes the rules. This can frustrate players, but like life when the people in charge make the rules, the rules win. When greens came out I ditched the golds I had been farming because I knew that the times were-a-changin. Sure I lost alot of money on that day, but I have made lots farming greens now so how can I complain?

As a defense of the people who spend lots on rare skins etc, it just takes time to want that. When I played this game through I used a collector staff with a couple of imperfect but good mods. The cost jump from the +28 fortitude grip to +30 was insane to me. Why EVER pay that? Well the day eventually came where I had been farming alot and enjoying the end game PvE. Now I had all this money, what do I do with it? Ok, I gave my fiance fissure armor as a present, now I have lots of weapons for every situation, mulitple 15k armor sets, now I still have money to spend.......so I search out that perfect godly brute sword I always wanted. And why not? Guildwars doesn't reward you for time in PvE any other way. At least get a nice look and add some new level of enjoyment to the game. In any game you need a new goal or objective, whats wrong with a perfect magmas sheild as such a goal? I look forward to factions giving me new cool looking items to seek out, more goals right?

Can someone tell me why Magmas Sheilds are worth that much? Are they really that rare?

same here

for information on why, see this entry:
http://www.guildwiki.org/wiki/Ogre-Slaying_Knife

eudas

edit: it appears that this subject was lightly covered by a few other posters, but for those who actually have never heard of the dead alewives skit (count yourself lucky), perhaps the link above (and a few of the links contained therein) will shed some light on the fanatical (and extremely geeky) nature of roleplayers, and, in turn, explain the item in GW.

eudas

You're right, the obscrure reference was completely over my head.

Still doesn't explain why people pay so much gold for a worthless item? I understand the novelty, but that's all it is. I could think of many better ways of wasting 100K.

that's, uh, well, really, that's it. the novelty. and the joke. and, well, if you're rich, why not? you're just taking a very *practical* standpoint, when the purpose of the knife is anything *but* practical.

eudas

ditto, nice read though, actually sounded good have to say

I PERSONALLY THINK GREEN ITEMS R THE BEST U CAN GET O RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO YES O RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO YES! VICTO'S BATTLE AXE = SICKLE SKIN, VICTO'S BLADE = SHADOW BLADE, I MEAN OMFG, YOU CAN'T EVEN FIND THESE SKINS WITH THESE PERFECT MODS, RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO THAT, YOU CANT EVEN FIND A SHADOW BLADE THATS NOT VICTOS BLADE. GREEN ITEMS ARE WHAT MAKES GUILD WARS SO GOOD, WITH IT, IM UBER!

I am one of the poeple that doesn't pay for items that are perfect. Why? I like to get my own items through nonfarming play. The last purchase I made was in October. 5K for 13>50 sword because I think that 2%>50 is not worth 10X the price, not to mention I have 15>50 through playing NORMALLY.
I only bother to spend more than 10K for armor becaause the prices don't fluctuate that much and they are more noticeable (in towns for example). It is like investing, you don't invest in junk bonds if you want piece of mind.

I don't give a hoot about HoD items because if a player doesn't have skill, 5 energy isn't going to help with energy management and neither is 25HP going to help with not dying.

Some of us don't have 10 hours a day to play and greens help ease pressure to get better items.

In my case it was the novelty and little giggles I'd get when using my Mesmer and running an Illusionary Weaponry build.

It was really quite satisfying to run into battle, hit IW followed by Berserker Stance, and start swinging away wildly with my Ogre Slaying Knife, and watching as my foes dropped dead at my feet in a matter of seconds. Not as effective as a sword with a 20% enchant mod (had the fake Crystalline modded out for IW), but far more amusing, to be sure.

When you have little else to do in the PvE game, it's the little things that keep you coming back.