Curse

Iuris · Dec 26, 2008, 12:26 AM // 00:26

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I am sorry, but if you are looking for a game that gives you all 'content' without having to do anything for it, you should not play an MMO, or any game at all.

Not big on reading, are you?

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The effort needed is there to make for a sense of achievement, not to lock content off.

See? Some effort is needed, and it's a matter of delicate balance. Too little, and the game becomes boring. Too much, and the frustration outweights the fun. But this has nothing to do with exclusivity of content.

Martin Alvito · Dec 26, 2008, 12:34 AM // 00:34

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Originally Posted by Strife17

The polar bear is f***ing stupid

It's also hardly the first source of GW minipet e-drama. You'd think the designers would learn.

Burst Cancel · Dec 26, 2008, 05:27 AM // 05:27

The book/movie analogy is oversimplified. Consider a child reading Sun Tzu, Shakespeare, or Dostoevsky; the child cannot reasonably expect to be able to understand the bulk of the material she's seeing. A similar situation would be someone attempting a book written in a foreign language, or a book dealing with highly technical or esoteric philosophical subject matter.

The point is, people are necessarily limited by their own ability; this is true absent any perceived "elitism", whether real or imagined. Naturally, being notoriously self-interested, we would each prefer if the baseline difficulty were set at our own level of skill, but consider: what does that leave for everyone that's above that line?

Furthermore, as I've stated previously, even other games don't suffer from the phenomenon that GW does. Many DMC players recognize and accept that a DMD SB game is beyond their level of skill. A typical GW beginner in the same situation would demand that DMD mode be toned down so that anyone could complete it. The existence of higher difficulties - and of difficulty in general - is meaningless if all difficulties are restricted to the lowest common denominator.

The sad reality here is that GW players - or at least, the ones that post on Gurus - generally don't care about anything unless there's a shiny, exclusive reward attached to it. As such, how many people would mind if players were given the ability to simply spawn items at will?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iuris

Yet amazingly, people who buy a book expect to read all of it, not just most of the chapters. And people who go to a movie expect to see all of it.

A game is entertainment, not a contest. People expect to be able to enjoy all of it, not just a part.

The effort needed is there to make for a sense of achievement, not to lock content off.

Bug John · Dec 26, 2008, 10:55 AM // 10:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burst Cancel

The book/movie analogy is oversimplified. Consider a child reading Sun Tzu, Shakespeare, or Dostoevsky; the child cannot reasonably expect to be able to understand the bulk of the material she's seeing. A similar situation would be someone attempting a book written in a foreign language, or a book dealing with highly technical or esoteric philosophical subject matter.

The point is, people are necessarily limited by their own ability; this is true absent any perceived "elitism", whether real or imagined. Naturally, being notoriously self-interested, we would each prefer if the baseline difficulty were set at our own level of skill, but consider: what does that leave for everyone that's above that line?

Furthermore, as I've stated previously, even other games don't suffer from the phenomenon that GW does. Many DMC players recognize and accept that a DMD SB game is beyond their level of skill. A typical GW beginner in the same situation would demand that DMD mode be toned down so that anyone could complete it. The existence of higher difficulties - and of difficulty in general - is meaningless if all difficulties are restricted to the lowest common denominator.

The sad reality here is that GW players - or at least, the ones that post on Gurus - generally don't care about anything unless there's a shiny, exclusive reward attached to it. As such, how many people would mind if players were given the ability to simply spawn items at will?

your analogy with dmc fails even more...

we're talking about the strength of snow, how can you talk about skill ? the quest is so easy it can be botted and ran on multiple accounts

you don't need skill to get a mpb, you need luck (see how ppl who got one did less than 20 runs, while those who made 100+ runs didn't get one)

a real hard mode requiring skill to be beaten would be a good thing, but you can't find that in gw wintersday pve

Minami · Dec 26, 2008, 03:11 PM // 15:11

I have done over 280 runs by now. I have only one account, and would not dream of using bots and break the EULA & risk my account.

Every time I open that endchest I so hope I'll see the mini bear!

But alas, after about 10 stacks of cc shards, no luck.

Because that's exactly what this is about, just pure luck. I was saying it to my sis ingame, if I ever get a polar bear drop, it should also max my Lucky Title in one go.

I am sad to see that this bear is so unbelievably rare and the drops are so random that some ppl can get it after their 20th run, and those who truly grind their butts off for it might/will end up with nothing.

As for those saying that people only want this bear to get rich off of it, that's bs. I am very far from being rich, I had 200k only once since I've been playing GW and I spent it on my vabbian armor. I am usually in the 80k range. That said, I would never sell my mini polar bear, dedicated or undedicated, because I think they look adorable and if I ever get a drop, it's because I "worked" very very hard for it.

The randomness, the luckiness factor (luck... I don't seem to have that in GW), and the insanely low drop rate is what makes me almost lose hope and give up doing that quest.

For gods sake I have over 2500 cc shards from that quest only! Which is nice to have but that's not the reason why I'm farming my little heart out and doing that quest over and over again.

~Minami Kaori

dr love · Dec 26, 2008, 03:31 PM // 15:31

i figure this relates to everyone posting on this thread, enjoy:

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/polarbearfever/index.html

On another note, I can relate to others complaining of the polar bear being a luck based reward. the drop rate is incredibly low. it was made for a few players in thousand to get it after days of farming. however, it was NOT made for any individual player to have a decent chance of getting it after days of farming. This is what is so disturbing to me. the only other thing comparable to this is the mini mallyx, but that is available all year round, and i already got one

Burst Cancel · Dec 26, 2008, 08:44 PM // 20:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bug John

your analogy with dmc fails even more...

we're talking about the strength of snow, how can you talk about skill ? the quest is so easy it can be botted and ran on multiple accounts

you don't need skill to get a mpb, you need luck (see how ppl who got one did less than 20 runs, while those who made 100+ runs didn't get one)

a real hard mode requiring skill to be beaten would be a good thing, but you can't find that in gw wintersday pve

Except I'm not talking about Strength of Snow. Please read above.

Furthermore, I actually agreed with your point regarding random drop rates, so I'm not clear on where your disagreement is.

Bitoku Kishi · Dec 29, 2008, 03:03 PM // 15:03

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Originally Posted by dbulger

just a thought.
For all those complaining that they don't like the odds, and think there should be a guaranteed way to get the polar bear - there is!
go farm 1500 ectos and buy one!!!

But this requires luck as well, because you're probably not going to legitimately get that many ectos in any guaranteed way that doesn't involve at least some degree of luck to it, in some way or another. So you're pretty much stuck using the grind/luck method no matter which way you go on this.

Freeze_XJ · Jan 01, 2009, 04:17 PM // 16:17

I like what everybody is saying about luck getting a MPB, or just plain farming for the X ecto needed to buy one. Like any game, it runs on chance, or it'd be boring in a few hours. This minipet is just the pinnacle of chance. However, as with ectos (which drop by chance as well, i managed 10+ runs without one in the UW), you can force your chances up by just repeating things, i.e. farming.

For those who say farming can't ever get you one of these minis : try better farming

It's like brute force. If it aint working, you're not using enough.

Remember that we don't need a minipet, they're just nice. They just float, and i have yet to find a build that uses them

Why we do such crazy work for them? Vanity. Anyone wants a Tyrian sickle? Not even max, no mods to speak of, and i don't like the skin. Used to cost you a million, whereas you could get better stats from any weapons trader in the area.
Bottom line : if you want the polar, be prepared to bleed for it. (or just hope your angel is having a good day).

kostolomac · Jan 01, 2009, 04:24 PM // 16:24

Mini polar bear is an ugly minipet , if we were talking about a mini margonite paragon (don't know the exact name) I would farm my ass off.
If you did hundreds of runs and didn't get any , tough luck , nobody promised you would get it.

Boneyard Spleeneater · Jan 02, 2009, 02:54 AM // 02:54

I figure I have done between 100 and 130 so far, averaging 15 minutes per run (I usually get there, then surf the web or run off and do something while going, so I don't farm as efficiently as I can, but I do get a lot of stuff done), and I haven't seen the bear.

I also took a day off to do the GWEN quests with three toons, and have another toon I may do the quests with. I would like to see a bear, but I am mainly doing it for the CCS and the consumables. Either to use or sell.

Morgoth the dark · Jan 02, 2009, 10:04 AM // 10:04

lmao, you should farm CC shards in first place, not polar bear

Boneyard Spleeneater · Jan 03, 2009, 11:49 PM // 23:49

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Originally Posted by Morgoth the dark

lmao, you should farm CC shards in first place, not polar bear

That's the way I feel about it. I mean, you're not going to get the bear unless you open the chests, but you shouldn't be overly disappointed if you don't get one.

Just get your shards, get your gifts, sell or consume your loot, and be happy.

After my next few runs, I will have collected 12 stacks of CCS (most of them from Strength of Snow), and will pretty much be done with farming this year. I am getting sick of the damned snowmen. I sold 3-4 stacks at the start of the event to get soem quick cash, and may sell some of the loot, but most will be kept for titles.

As for the mini-bear, well, it doesn't have its own statue or contribute to a title, so meh!

Sir Skullcrasher · Jan 04, 2009, 12:09 AM // 00:09

Are we even sure that the mini polar bear still drop after the event had ended on Jan 1st?

FalconDance · Jan 04, 2009, 03:16 PM // 15:16

I'm seriously beginning to think the MPB is a GW myth. If not for the few screenshots here, I'd say it doesn't really exist.

Curiously, not even during the finale (several different times, both continents) did I see a single one out and about. Every other mini pet but not mini polars. Strange, huh.

Kamara · Jan 04, 2009, 03:40 PM // 15:40

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Originally Posted by FalconDance

Curiously, not even during the finale (several different times, both continents) did I see a single one out and about. Every other mini pet but not mini polars. Strange, huh.

I saw 3 or 4 throughout the finale over various districts of Lion's Arch International. Also saw one about 2 weeks prior to the event in GToB. Guess I just have a polar magnet or something. (har har)

Dante the Warlord · Jan 04, 2009, 07:48 PM // 19:48

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Originally Posted by Burst Cancel

Except I'm not talking about Strength of Snow. Please read above.

Furthermore, I actually agreed with your point regarding random drop rates, so I'm not clear on where your disagreement is.

I think he is just saying that DMC has a lot of skill in it(and DMD mode is hard as heck(i had trouble in normal lol)), whereas the SoS run takes no skill and all you have to do is run to the end and hug the door.

The mini polar bear is overrated. I would prefer a panda any day and you can get a real life jingle bear, which is a good compromise, I really don't see why everyone is just looking at the bad side of not getting the bear. You got thousands of shards and alcohol, which is pretty good and each time you farm you have a small chance of getting the bear. You don't have to work for it, infact you can read your email and watch some youtube vids while farming.

I usually complain about a lot of things, but still, this is just one of those things that was meant for fun and has been adulterated to such disgusting levels. (this is just to all those complainers)