You flatbow people...

I have to know; why are people paying for 15>50 flatbows? I see these things going for 10s of plat, but from what I've seen they only come in the twin-bow skin. Now, since this is the exact same skin as the collector's bow, and that bow comes in 15>50 flat; why pay for one?

What's more is that that bow requires grawl necklaces; I can't even sell those bows at 300g a pop, so why are people paying 30 plat for one that looks exactly like it? I can understand paying more for the name in the case of the "white scythe", but flatbow? Someone explain this to me.

I'll second the confusion. Flats suck. They have less range than any other
bow type.

Actually, flats are pretty great. They have the same range as a longbow, and the fire rate of a short bow. The only downside to them is the very high arc, which makes it hell to hit moving targets with them (but dune burrower farming FTW!).

If you're pulling melee types that will close on you anyway, this is really the best bow to use.

Actually, in my experience and also listed here http://www.guildwarsguru.com/content...ies-id1092.php the Flatbow has excellent range, just a different arc in its shot, and not as much accuracy at long range as the Long or Storm bows.

They are a fine bow for certain situations and like anything, it may not look any different on the outside, but the gold writing is worth a lot to someone who is particular. Before the patch when the value of most everything dropped, I sold a 15>50 Gold Flat for 250k. Of course that was when the +30 Bow grips still brought 85 to 100k on their own.

EDIT: Daegul beat me too it.

read the wind or favorable winds + flatbows is kinda popular

I'm a very experienced Ranger IMO (first character, later deleted to start another Ranger; I decided I like my characters female if I'm going to stare at their butt all day . And a big yay for toggle capes!), and I must say - I will never, ever spend money on a Flatbow. Range of a Longbow and refire of a Shortbow you say? Well, that's why I have both. No need to waste a skill slot on favorable winds just to get the bow to be decent.

Actually, I have a Half Moon, Shortbow, Mursaat Hornbow, and Feathered Longbow (and of course a beautiful earth staff for trapping)...a true ranger always has a nice varied selection of bows for different situations. Never, ever, have I said to myself, "Damn! I wish I have a Flatbow right now!" Easily the worst bow in the game by itself. But again, why should I have to load up on skills to make up for the lackluster performance in my weapon?

But, all in all, this doesn't answer the OP's question. The only reason I can think of (besides having gold writing - which IMO is just a total waste of money), is purchasing a req. 8 Flatbow for those Rangers that really concentrate on other attributes besides Marksmenship. Why you would want to fill this role with a Flatbow, I cannot tell you.

But that's the only -good- reasoning I can think of.

Anyone wanna buy a flatbow

I use a Flatbow for pulling and nothing else, because it seems to have a longer range than a Longbow if you've got the height advantage.. yeeeeep.. that's about it.

Flatbows suck :P

well i agree Idburnu, the gold writing is preetty special

Well I guess that's it then; kindof odd to me as that's not something anyone else sees unless you stuff it in a trade window. Heck I'm happy as a clam that my favorite hammer skin is craftable in 15>50; it just says "war hammer" in blue but that works just fine for me.

Heh, actually a Flatbow would be the ideal choice when running either Read the Wind or Favorable Winds. They also have the longest range (except for the Longbow, which has the same range). There are different bows for different types of situations, saying that one bow type should never be used is ludicrous. *shrugs*

This is true, however I mainly use RTW for the increased damage output - the 2x faster arrow travel is just an added bonus for me. I prefer to use a Shortbow with RTW and TF, but I can easily see how a Flatbow would work identically. However I still would not buy/collect one for this purpose only, but that's just me. Plus Flatbows are ugly...I mean...undesirable.

Yep, thats your answer for sure Daegul. Flatbows are not that in demand to start with and if you aren't selling a gold with 15>50 or close to it, then you probably will be selling to the merchant.

People can say that the gold doesn't matter, but tell that to yourself when you can't get 500g for one you are selling and a guy next to you is collecting 50k for the same stat item just with different color font. Same as jewelry in real life; Sure a steel or iron ring is stronger and makes a circle just as good, but it doesn't bling like gold or platinum, so it ain't worth crap. I won't use a weapon that isn't gold AND max stats with the exception of the +5 energy Longsword. Hell, if I could get that in gold, I would pay insanely, but no such thing. Don't hate the player, hate the game, hehe!