Mini Madness...

[Kashrlyyk]

....
Anet might give Minis for free to the European magazines, but they will make money with them by selling them off. Fans will hate that and backlash at Anet. For example, Germany got a 132 page Guild Wars only magazine for $10 that was really of abysmal quality and only 1 in 45 did not have an Asura packed in; good salvage operation offering the Destroyer trade in. But judging from the promotion the magazine made, people were mislead to believe that all go a rare pet (which is bonkers if you think about it, problem is, people don't and so they hate the whole promotion afterwards). The mag itself consisted of pictures from the wiki, a preview (!) article for EotN and much stuff you can find in the manual. That's all stuff you won't know since the magazine is sold in a paper bag, so nobody can steal the minipet and the envelope of the magazine is making outrageous claims as to what the magazine features. Only one example, they promised "Pro-Builds, perfectly prepared for every situation". The only build to be found in the whole mag, was a Euro-Balance PvP build by [vD].

Want to make it even worse and more embarassing for everyone who worked on it??? Go to the official Website: http://de.guildwars.com/events/in_ga...ts/mini_promo/

Deutschland GameStar Official Guild Wars Magazine

Compare that to the official(???) GW magazine in America.

[BrotherGrimm]

Giving a player such excess of wealth can never be described as "unrelated to functional gameplay".

Prove to me what functional advantage excess wealth grants you in-game. The only one I can think of is consumable items, but "excess wealth" is not required to gain them. The game can be played to a final conclusion (and beyond) without excessive wealth. There is NOTHING in the game that requires you to be rich to be successful at playing it.

[Whysper WyndRyder]

Email info = your regular email address, presumably if ANet needs to contact you about your prize

In-game name = self explanatory

User name = the email address you enter at the log-in screen, may be the same or different as the above

(At least, that's how I interpreted them- is that correct, Gaile?)

Thank you Scutilla, this thread looks like it will become another legendary extraordinary colossal thread, with lil ole me's question getting lost in the fray!
/cheers
Whysper

[Notorious BOB]

Prove to me what functional advantage excess wealth grants you in-game. The only one I can think of is consumable items, but "excess wealth" is not required to gain them. The game can be played to a final conclusion (and beyond) without excessive wealth. There is NOTHING in the game that requires you to be rich to be successful at playing it.

Bunk.

For a start you can purchase all skills for a particular toon with enough cash. How about unlocking all of them for use in PvP... nice short way of doing it rather than having to grind.

Allows you to buy anything you want, armour, weapons, mods, runes without having to 'wait' or grind for them.

Of course it gives a huge advantage.

But I guess there are those who can always argue the toss.

[FourthVariety]

GameStar Official Guild Wars Magazine

Compare that to the official(???) GW magazine in America.

No such thing as an official German GW mag, even if I would be delighted to see that happening. That was the result of some mislabeling or aborted idea. Over half of the pages were just descriptions of the 10 classes taken more or less straight from the manual mixed with skill listings of randomly selected NF and GWEN skills.

The mags just do not have the people to produce content for them that goes deeper than total newbie level. Just look at the skillbars of the people writing the reviews: abysmal.

Because the mag offers nothing beyond the minipet for the buyers surfing these forums, the whole situation is spinning out of control fast. On top of that the weird advertising attracted the complete "fortune hunter" crowd and they can get ugly too.

Anet is fair when it comes to their business model, they are fair when it comes to balance and because of that this small unfairness of minipet skin distribution gets the overreaction. *shrug* it off, arguing on the internet....

[Skyy High]

Bunk.

For a start you can purchase all skills for a particular toon with enough cash. How about unlocking all of them for use in PvP... nice short way of doing it rather than having to grind.

Allows you to buy anything you want, armour, weapons, mods, runes without having to 'wait' or grind for them.

Of course it gives a huge advantage.

But I guess there are those who can always argue the toss.

*Cough*Skillpoints*Cough* Give a new player 100k, he still won't be able to get all the skills. And it's not like a wide variety of skill really makes a difference at all, when most players in PvE probably use 2-3 builds per character. Could you use all those skills to make funky new builds, and experiment? Sure...but they're no more powerful than anything else (and probably less effective than any standardized build). More skills != more power. Especially once you've hit the 50 skill or so level, more skills is largely just for fun.

As for the PvP thing, how many skills are used in PvP? Seriously, there's not even the random build experimenting thing going on there; if you want to seriously PvP, you have about 2 or 3 builds per profession that you need, and that's it. You can get those just by standard unlocks with a PvE character, or by Balth faction gain if you start with one character and later branch out. Not to mention that the only way to get rune, insignia, and mod unlocks are to EARN them - find them yourself or unlock with faction.

[BrotherGrimm]

Bunk.

For a start you can purchase all skills for a particular toon with enough cash. How about unlocking all of them for use in PvP... nice short way of doing it rather than having to grind.

Allows you to buy anything you want, armour, weapons, mods, runes without having to 'wait' or grind for them.

Of course it gives a huge advantage.

But I guess there are those who can always argue the toss.

1) Why would you EVER NEED all the skills for one toon? PvP unlocks don't need ANY money. And a PvE character can finish the game with a moderate number of skills.

2) The only expensive thing that might be "required" is a major vigor rune (and they are like 12k now?). Max armor and weapons can be gotten rather cheaply (even collector is satisfactory to play the game at the highest levels).

All you points are directed at how much more quickly or easily you would be able to obtain items if you were rich. My point is, you don't NEED most of those items and if you do, you can obtain most of them thru modest finances and without a HUGE time investment. All the extra vanity items, titles, collectibles, have NOTHING to do with the playability of the game itself.

Is it easier and quicker for an exorbitantly rich player to complete the game, most likely. Does his sword or spell cause a drastic amount of extra damage? No.

[Little Hex]

Some people think they're fun, some think they're only good to sell to the previous group, some think they're a waste of space and server power. Take your pick. They don't serve any real purpose ingame.

They are cute, but it happens I forget to display mine, so its just another slot in my inventory.

[Kashrlyyk]

*Cough*Skillpoints*Cough* Give a new player 100k, he still won't be able to get all the skills.

Consumables. Star of blabla

...Not to mention that the only way to get rune, insignia, and mod unlocks are to EARN them ....

Like buying golden unidentified items?

[Notorious BOB]

*Cough*Skillpoints*Cough* Give a new player 100k, he still won't be able to get all the skills.

<Cough> Star of Transference <Cough>

Having limitless funds is a clear advantage in the post LS era.