Originally Posted by Captain Krompdown

Minis and greens and inscribable weapons all serve the same purpose. They were put in as things for people to have when they couldn't have the really good stuff. Because they were so widely accessible, they became the basis for a popular economy, but that didn't change the reality of what they were: a placebo for the masses.

Originally Posted by obastable

Hmm .. well, I received an Oni some years ago from Anet via one of their contests.

I won that ugly little thing fair and square.

I didn't do a damned thing to earn it in game. Not one single hour of my game time had anything to do with acquiring that Oni.

By the main logic at work in this thread I did not deserve to be the original owner of that mini because I did not grind for an eternity to afford it, and unlike at least the 7th year presents it was not a reward for being a loyal, dedicated, and active player over the past 83 months (give or take a few days).

I could have won that mini even if I didn't own the game because the means of acquisition sort of neglected GW ownership altogether. I received the code via email .... I coulda just sat on it & never used it. I bet some "winners" of the draws & giveaways did precisely that.

To those who's "investments" are being devalued: I'm sorry you wasted so much time & money farming for something that I got for a purely ridiculous art contest entry that totally ripped off Mastercard commercials, stank up my house, and was stolen & partially consumed by my cat mid photograph. I spent 10 minutes shopping & 20 minutes in the kitchen & 30 minutes in Photoshop; if you calculate that Oni's worth based on an hourly wage there are sweat shop workers in 3rd world countries who make more than that Oni is worth.

I think it's ridiculous that minipets were ever used as a means of hoarding mass amounts of money, especially considering Anet has shown they can, will, and do consistently give them out at their discretion.

They decided to give them out in 7th year presents. Why do you spend all this time and effort complaining about something that you cannot change?

Why persist in this notion that one must waste copious amounts of time to deserve these minis?

Or that it's unfair for Anet to be giving them out AGAIN because the player base chose to hyper inflate their value?

Really, who ever thought it was a good idea to use something with a damned near UNLIMITED supply as a commodity? Would you like to buy some bottled farts?! Do you REALIZE how downright SILLY that is? Don't compare ecto or arms or any other farmable material, because the same logic applies to those, too. It's just SILLY and BAD economics. It is not Anets fault that you are SILLY and BAD at investing your imaginary money.

I'm not really asking questions in hopes of getting an answer, because I'm not sure that I care what the answer might be. I'm pretty content in the knowledge that I am a far more deserving owner than anyone who's ever farmed their asses off or spent hundreds of hours in trade spam to buy their mini. I'm also quite happy to continue playing this game that I love, and am not the least bit surprised that some people are upset while the majority really don't mind.

Originally Posted by jayson

Would you have been happier if an oni popped out? I'm not too happy that I'm getting reused minis either (Water Djinn and Charr Shaman) but I move on. I feel that the 7th year minis were a cop out and that something new would be nice. But that's not what's happening here. This has become about people protecting their "investment" (time wasted)

And yeah you're pissed off that the minis you wasted thousands of hours farming for is something that the next guy might just get from a single click. I hope for these asian minis now because the rest of the normal minis I already have. They have no value to me other then I don't have one. I could care less how many there are, I'm just into collecting them. You on the other hand use them as some form of currency or "prestige" as it were. When I say you, I mean the people in this thread who are unhappy with asian minis dropping.

Quit Crying QQ Guild. Seems to suit you extremely well.

Originally Posted by Nerel

Because it's clearly not about the money, it's about the prestige of...

"Each Member of the Top 3 Teams in the Japanese Guild Wars Championship. (8 Members per team x 3 Teams = 24 Miniatures Given)"

Wait, that wasn't you?

"Taiwan Signup to Help New Players during the first two weeks of Nightfall Contest. 50th-99th People to sign up received Island Guardians (50th-99th People = 50 Miniatures Given)"

Not you again? But earned in a prestigious way I note.

"Taiwan Nightfall Title Contest (61 Miniatures Given)"

Did you earn it this way, nope?

"Halloween Art Contest 2007 prizes (10 awarded)"

Originally Posted by Nerel

Nope. It's about the ePeen which comes solely from the price tag. But it's not about the money.

Whats so 'proud' about the majority of them being earned in silly out of game competitions? Nothing really.

Still, feel free to make more of an ass of yourself in this wild QQ scramble to protect your ePeen that most of us don't actually care about.

Originally Posted by Captain Krompdown

Minis and greens and inscribable weapons all serve the same purpose. They were put in as things for people to have when they couldn't have the really good stuff. Because they were so widely accessible, they became the basis for a popular economy, but that didn't change the reality of what they were: a placebo for the masses.