On Sharks and Betas

As many of you know, Last friday (7-22-05) was the day that two patches were released. The first of these fixed the exploit involving using Droknar's Forge armor in Ascalon and Shiverpeaks (Low Level) arenas. However this patch created a problem for people who were making new PvP only characters. They were rolled "naked", without their armor. The devs released a second patch/update to fix this very quickly. However many people were confused and unsure of what had happened.

I decided to roam LA and let everybody know what had happened. Realizing that a majority of the players were confused, the devs (using the term loosely to denote anybody who works with GW and the players) posted messages in bright yellow text instructing people to reroll characters if they were armorless.

I was relieved to know that I didn't have to keep telling people what had happened. So I decided to shout out "Thank you magic devs" and was met with response by Gaile Gray, thanking me. So, we realized that it was Gaile who was behind the LA messages. She continued to sort things out for people. But this isn't just a thread about bragging that I got a thanks.



My guildies then told me that a shark in Random Arenas 1 was telling people to dance. And sure enough, it was. Using the same yellow text, it would give us commands. I don't have any screens of this (Divinity, post them please). But what happened was that everybody started dancing, and talking, and just goofing off in general. People lined the shores and danced, hoping the shark would say something again.

Realizing we had an audience, Divinity's Creature, Shisui, and I decided to try and talk everybody into supporting UAS. It was a great conversation and I think we had success in getting people to see our point of view.

Pics of the dance:




What this all boils down to is the very simple fact that Friday the 22, 2005 felt more like Guild Wars than most other things after release. There was that same sense of community, the fact that the devs were in the towns helping out us players. It really felt like it did in the betas, when Gaile or somebody else would show up in town and soon get mobbed by fans. It hasn't felt that way in release, at least not until Friday. If anybody else was there, they should know what I mean, it was a very different atmosphere.

And the talking shark was reminiscent of the wild end of Beta events that were put on for us. I remember trying to stay up and experience one for myself, (School makes it hard to be on the computer at 3:00AM est) I remember the pictures and the wild stories people told.

This was the closest thing to the end of Beta events we've had so far. It makes me wonder why this hasn't happened yet in the release. Stuff like that actually makes me want to be in town, to experience PvE.

That was the magic behind GuildWars, a sense that the community was there, that the developers were there. That the creators were interested in making sure the community was happy, and devoted to making this a great original game.

All that is gone now. So I post this horribly long thing to remind people of the Betas, and what was possible, what is still possible with GuildWars. I hope that people try to understand the message I'm sending, the fact that so much has changed, but it can still be like it was before. Friday was evidence enough for that. And it wasn't Rotscales spawning in town, or exploading gnomes, or pyromanic Gwen, it wasn't gold raining from the sky, nor was it Sand Wurms shooting from the ground. We need to get that feeling back. For us KARMA members to enjoy ourselves in just talking to other people, in dancing before a shark god, is something very very rare. I think I speak for not only my guild, but the majority of Beta and Alpha players when I say that we need more of Friday night.
Same Thread Over at TGH

Excellent Post! I sure wish I have had the pleasure of seeing and being involved in that. The sad thing is I try to avoid Lion's Arch for obvious reasons.

You seem like a person that Gets It in a online community. Please call on me anytime in the game to chat or play a mission.

No problem, although I'm not up for missions (unless Skill Pt grinding) chatting/PvP (Team Arenas since KARMA is kinda downsized right now) or other things are still great options.

(LA is horrible. It's like getting a rectal exam, it really makes you uncomfortable, but if you need it for some reason, it can really help you.)

I appreciate the kind words. IGN is usually Lira Palin.

If I could, I would totally sig that. That has got to be the funniest thing I've seen on these forums.

Aw, silly GW Guru! Thanks for reply in the TGH thread zero.

this sounds so very good.

loooool, you, sir, are an artisan.

I wasn't involved in the betas but... the first 2 weeks after release were very nice. I miss those days. I spose the betas were even nicer... I kick myself now for not getting involved with them.

Ya know... it could be like that all the time if the powers that be would just openly visit areas in-game more often. That is my main gripe with GW. All the aholes. The game itself is great, sure it has some probs, but the game probs annoy me far less than the aholes in the game.

Woot, I love it when people post in both threads on both forums.

Gedscho, I appreciate it. Nice to get people laughing since the majority of us are filled with doom and gloom about the impending end of GW.

I bet if I post in here...and don't leave anything that even remotely resembles a valid reply...i'll still get FengShuiBundi to reply to me saynig thanks

@fengShuiBundi: well, you got me laughing, but that doesnt mean i feel the same about the impending end of guildwars. especially in LA.

btw: LA is THE place for NPCs carrying "Repent Sinners! The End is nigh!" signs on their bodies. what you say?

Body Signs = Win. Kinda like guild capes.

I wish the NPCs would get into arguements and stuff.

Hm, algren. How much do you want to bet?

Really though I appreciate people posting for a few reasons:
1) Feels like people give a damn about what I say
2) Bumps thread (one of the reasons I give thanks)
3) Gets more posts which means more people pay attention to the thread.

roflmao :P

now I will say this..I wasn't here for beta either but the game has had an entirely different feel as of late than it did during initial release. I remember entering into pre-sear for the first time and after seeing the initial game starting cinematic I felt the need to say something along the lines of "wow...this game is beautiful"....I was immediately responded to in chat with "ya..isn't it amazing. you're gonna really love this game. I'm on my second character so if you need someone to answer any questions let me know...add me to your friends list by hitting N and putting my name in"...I thought "that was refreshing...I was sure I would heard numerous n00b comments". I was then whispered by a guy who was playing through again and asked if I would like someone to party up with to show me the basics. He invited me to his Ventrilo server and we went off to complete a couple dozen quests all the while he showed me how to target...how to call...how to pull...how to trap an enemy. All usefull things.

fast forward 2 months.....I see none of this kind of help anymore, with the exception of a couple of people here and there.

Yup I try to help people, have been adding more and more to my friends list. It feels nice to help people out, but most people are so caught up in their own motives that they don't care to help others.

I thought that this game was beautiful the first time (Betas) I set foot near the beaches of Divinity's Coast. The ones that had a giant castle on an island and pristine waters.

At that point I knew I'd love this game.

I wish I could have seen this, it sounds so fun. I miss the beta weekend event endings, especially Gwen's reign of terror. That is the one thing I miss most about how things feel like a community rather than tons of people doing their own thing. The endings of betas were always a huge party, fun, and amazing, I hope GW Devs start throwing parties for certain holidays like that, er without kiling us in districts of course. XD

An Idea:
I hope that if ANet does decide to give us End of Beta like event thingys (lack of better words!) that they are announced on their website.

Something like
Special Event
When: Starts Friday or Saturday (8-10/8-11) around 7:00 - 9:00 pm est time and will go on for 1-3 Hours. [Nothing specified so we play more]
Where: Amnoon Oasis 2-3 and Ascalon 5-10.
Will Repeat: Next Sunday at [Time goes here as does location]

The event could change monthly, and since it's not in all districts, it's not something we're forced to see if we want to buy cloth at that certain time.

This would be kinda like airing a TV show, but not really. And a change in location the next week means that people who couldn't fit into the districts or didn't have the time to watch can see a "re-run" the following week. Same code, just times modified for people who missed it.

That sounds so cool! I want to see soemthing for Halloween and the Gnomes of NIi for Christmas and and and GIANT TURKEYS for Thanksgiving and other holiday based things, but maybe a once a month block party, or once every few months throw a block party in certain places.

Block parties, and merchant discounts.

That would rock.. make me want to play a bit more.

How about roast Melandru's Moa Bird?

I'd love to see Droknar's Forge decked out in lights and presents for christmas.

Same with Jack-o-Lanterns all over Denravi.

Or in the huge amiptheature place in Denravi, a HUGE Chrismas tree! And everyone who goes can get one present, a random superior rune, max item, or a large number of things like expert salvage kits do you don't have to buy alot of them for awhile. Or a ton fo dwarven ale. That'd eb cool if we all got one random max level item/rune or something for Christmas. It'd be so awesome!

Yea, I enjoyed the end of the last beta a lot. The garden gnomes that ran around saying Ni and exploding were classic.



Then ofcourse it was followed up by fireworks and some type of huge worms.

They need to include events in the world like in the betas. They have all of this control over the game but we don't even get any fireworks or anything for the 4th of july or other holidays? They had no problems showing us this stuff in the betas, but now it appears they are either saving it or just not wanting to do it anymore which is a shame because it was one of the things that tied the community together during the betas and made it really fun. Great post. I am keeping my fingers crossed for something like this in the future, seeing as how they can do fireworks, giant fire worms (the variant of which I had not seen in the game, with 3 heads), gnomes, gwens, rotscales, making us large and small.

How about an event every month, every 3 months? Anything. Please It will be alot more fun then the same old same old. It was one of the things that made the game so magical in the betas, getting together with your guild to try and survive the end of the beta onslaught and have fun together while doing something unusual. Still have some of the best memories from those events I have ever had in this game. I hope the devs are listening because I would love to see this sort of thing and I have a feeling other beta players are also missing the feeling.

Whatever happend to those giant worm monsters with 3 worms coming up in each pack that were at the end of the beta? :P?

they need events so i can experience this stuff =)

Boy I hope someone at ANet is reading this, because it's an outstanding idea. GW is already a very social experience for me, working with my guildies, chatting with people I meet... but this would just be outstanding, taking the experience one step further, and for more people. Although if they sent out the gnomes... I'd probably join them. :P

To summarize this entire thread in a single sentence...

Can the devs come out and play?

Here are some of the screenshots, took a few with the names highlighted so you might see yourself in here.

It was great fun, just like an event in Betas. The partying lasted for a few hours afterwards as a few groups of people were dancing and generally being goofy. There was a really good atmosphere.

I didn't get any shots of when I was asking the Shark or "God" as people were calling it for UAS or further fixes to faction :P

I put the convo in separately at the bottom so it's easier to read, it's not a continuous series of shots only snippets of the convo.

This is the thread on TGH with viewable thumbnails

http://img188.imageshack.us/my.php?image=14fu.jpg
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=23yz.jpg
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http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=52kg.jpg
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=68nl.jpg
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=72yv.jpg
http://img271.imageshack.us/my.php?image=84mp.jpg
http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?image=98yd.jpg
http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?image=100cx.jpg
http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?image=113we.jpg
http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?image=129hl.jpg
http://img275.imageshack.us/my.php?i...rkconvo4ka.jpg

The only problem I can see is timing - there are 3 areas (US, Europe and Korea) which would need to have the event(s) timed when people can make it...

Well, I don't know about the possibility of formal scheduled events.. but I'm very happy that you guys are happy about the shark. (Rather convoluted sentence, no? ^^) I miss the excitement of the betas too.. but part of that might have been the effect of waiting a month in between (alpha or no alpha).

But, really, it was appreciation of ANet's involvement in the game that first got me to fall in love with Guild Wars, and there's still a strong vein of that in me that keeps me loyal. Ya know.. that ritual of scrambling to log in as the forums all clog and die with hundreds of users spamming "IS IT OPEN YET????" That inevitable crowd around Gaile in LA.. and that rush into LA district 1 at the end of each BWE. But, I think, what stood out most of all was the general sentiment at the end of each BWE -- people knew that the game was being closed, but there was very little anger -- only anticipation and excitement for the best, and then everyone running together to celebrate (or to die, as in one BWE when Gwen spun around cheerfully telling everyone "Thank you for playing Guild Wars!" while everyone burst into flames).

To be perfectly honest, I don't think those times will come back.. since it was a mixture of mad anticipation mingled with two or three days of over-indulgence (I know some of you didn't sleep those days!). But, hearing things like the shark bring back very fond memories and fond sentiments I sometimes forget.

I don't really have to see/hear the shark in person, but it makes me glad all the same to know that it was there.

Thank you very much for posting and sharing the experience, FengShuiBundi!

Yeah that event rocked. Definitely had a beta feel to it

One of my fondest memories of online RPGs was when I used to play Sierra's game, The Realm. On special occasions (this one was easter), they would have random drops of easter eggs from monsters. Inside the eggs were various things, from gold, to rare items. Sometimes, they even had some items that were normal, but just differently colored or patterned. I think it would be very fun to have something like that with Guild Wars. Even just things like the beta stuff that everyone is talking about would be great. How about easter bunnies running around on easter. You kill them, you get an egg? That would definitely make me excited to play on that day, and would break the monotany of normal game play.

For everything else, I love the game!!

Ya know, to those earlier posts about fewer people helping out, I often find myself helping out on random missions etc and quests. I even give out items to level 10s and under especially since selling anything is pretty much meaning you have to become a spammer But I'd rather give items away and hear a "thanx" than try to sell stuff....I like to help out and try to keep the in game community friendly, I've given away bunches of stuff and only sell when i need to. In truth the in game community is the only reason I even play the game, if i wanted to meet unfriendly people I'd step outside my house and go to walmart

Well, not the ENTIRE thread, just the portion about how we loved the interaction between the devs and the players, that the events were a great way to show this. In that regard, yes, good summary.

Also, the sense of community IS dwindling, but I'm glad to hear that there are still people who volunteer to help others on missions, give away free items, answer questions for new players.

Aria brings up some good points that were mentioned by Reaper2k3 in the TGH thread as well as evokes some strong memories. So if you skipped over it, I suggest you read it again. The reasons offered as to why the events no longer occur ARE valid, but why break tradition and the great communication and relationship between ANet devs and us players? We've gotten along quite well, and we would all be willing to accept some fun events.

Afurness, that does sound like lots of fun. Maybe one day the devs could make UW and Fissure open for the whole world, 24 hours of UW and Fissure for all. Still one plat, but it would be a REALLY nice gift to some people, especially the Europeans.

I hope I was not only able to bring you the events of Friday and remind you of the betas, but I hope I was able to start something in the GW community for a movement towards more dev-player interactions such as these.

[Oh yea, thanks to Divinity's Creature for putting up all those pics!]

Hah. I'm in a few of those screenshots. I'm the monk with blue tatooes and pants. Here's one of my own screenshots. It doesn't show the dancers in detail, but it highlights the yellow GM text quite well. Here it is: http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2417/gw0396sr.jpg

Heh np FengShui

Post if you see yourself! Like Chance did.