Summary: Game mechanics of Mad King are unsuitable and excludes some players.
As you can tell from the summary, I am not too pleased on the Mad King arrival and hat giving ceremony. Why:
Premise 1:
Halloween is at the end of October/first November (this of course cannot be changed) and therefore a busy time for those in the Southern hemisphere particularly. Many have exams, long work commitments etc.
Premise 2:
To have only 9 visits and spaced three hours apart results in less opportunity for one to attend the Mad King's arrival especially when a few are during the 12:30pm to 8:30am time bracket in Adelaide. To obtain both hats would require visits to both towns and presumably at different times because server-jumping doesn't work.
Premise 3:
The Mad King goes on and on for such a long time. Repeating the same stuff over and over is aggravating and annoying for those with limited time.
Conclusion:
The Mad King's visits are poorly designed. Why do we have decorated towns for an entire week beforehand and then have the Mad King visit relatively few times? I am not arguing the decorations are up for too long, rather the Mad King visits too irregularly or for too short a duration (i.e rather than 24 hours with a visit every 3 hours how about 48 hours with visits every three hours, or 24 hours with visits hourly?)
I know for many of you time is no issue. You can easily visit both towns a few times, remain afk for hours etc but not everyone has this "privelege" (i.e have other commitments).
You will probably argue increasing visits would result in all sorts of horrendous evils, like people obtaining too many virtual bags etc.
Doesn't take any commitment to afk, can hit every event (providing no dc) if you had 2 mins during that 24hour time period you could even switch towns, get both hats and a bunch of free ToT bags. Not too bad for afk and maybe a 2 min commitment.
I turned my computer on...went to bed, when I got up in the morning I had tot bags and 2 masks.....I did nothing but sleep.....I see no 'time commitment' outside of those people still on dial-up.
Also he shows up for a whole day thats 9 times. You need not do anything to get the hat unlike some other events where you have to accumulate stuff for them, just BE there and you get it. Having to sit thru 28 minutes of lame jokes...oh well.
You are lucky that there is a festival hat guy, when the whole thing started 3 years ago we had to get each of our characters there if they wanted a hat at all....this is a vast improvement of what there was, sorry our holiday is not convenient.
edit..oh yeah its very close to mid terms here as well....so we have that here as well, no different up here.
__________________
where is the 'all you can eat' cookie bar?
Last edited by cosyfiep; Nov 01, 2008 at 08:30 AM // 08:30..
Reason: added edit
Doesn't take any commitment to afk, can hit every event (providing no dc) if you had 2 mins during that 24hour time period you could even switch towns, get both hats and a bunch of free ToT bags. Not too bad for afk and maybe a 2 min commitment.
AFK alone gets you the hat from one city but then you need to move to the other city. If you are using your laptop/desktop for work its not really viable to afk for long time periods.
Quote:
lion's arch first, then go to a higher number server in kamadan if they do not change the visiting timing/frequency in the future.
That didn't work for me. As soon as I got Lion's Arch hat, I switched to the highest Kamadan server (that wasn't full) but the NPC had already left.
Quote:
I turned my computer on...went to bed, when I got up in the morning I had tot bags and 2 masks.....I did nothing but sleep.....I see no 'time commitment' outside of those people still on dial-up.
Also he shows up for a whole day thats 9 times.
There is no time commitment if you afk but that only gets the hat from one city. You would need to change city to get both hats. And a "whole day" isn't really that long at all considering the towns etc are decorated for a week. A "whole day" is a long time for those who log in everyday, but for those who don't its easy to miss.
plenty of time to afk BOTH towns and get BOTH hats...
Solution: afk in one town for a few hours, go handle your biznezz, come back and jump to other town and afk for a few hours, then rezume your biznezz..
laptop, desktop, sidekick w/e.. if it loads GW and stays connected, you can always minimize GW and do your excel spreadsheets (GW only takes up 2 inches of space on your screen when minimized)
Last edited by daze; Nov 01, 2008 at 08:58 AM // 08:58..
The 2 hats in one visit trick worked for me , on his second visit to LA (3am pacific time,thats 10 am in the UK where i live)i immediately mapped from LA to Kamadan international server 14 as soon as the LA visit was over and i turned up just as the'mad king says' part of the visit started, in all from that 1 visit i ended up with 40 tot bags and both masks :P
I spent like 5 minutes setting up AFK and moving from one town to the next...lots of ToT bags and both masks with a minimum of effort...Sounds like someone has a case of "He got the BIG cookie, Mommy!" Dude, I'm sorry you had a lousy Holloween, but all you missed out on was a bunch of ones and zeroes...it isn't real, it doesn't matter, and when you die you won't care, 500 years from now no one will remember and getting extra goodies in an online game won't get you laid...it's OK, we still love you *hugs*
Premise 1:
Halloween is at the end of October/first November (this of course cannot be changed) and therefore a busy time for those in the Southern hemisphere particularly. Many have exams, long work commitments etc.
Seriously?
Knock Knock...
Whos there
Boo
Boo hoo
/laugh
"One way or another, my jokes always slay the audience."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Premise 2:
To have only 9 visits and spaced three hours apart results in less opportunity for one to attend the Mad King's arrival especially when a few are during the 12:30pm to 8:30am time bracket in Adelaide. To obtain both hats would require visits to both towns and presumably at different times because server-jumping doesn't work.
If its that important to you, make time... If its not, make an excuse.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Premise 3:
The Mad King goes on and on for such a long time. Repeating the same stuff over and over is aggravating and annoying for those with limited time
Call the waambulance.. I got 30 ToT bags from LA then jumped to scamadan highest int dist and got another 30 more Bags (hardly a waste of time)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Conclusion:
The Mad King's visits are poorly designed. Why do we have decorated towns for an entire week beforehand and then have the Mad King visit relatively few times? I am not arguing the decorations are up for too long, rather the Mad King visits too irregularly or for too short a duration (i.e rather than 24 hours with a visit every 3 hours how about 48 hours with visits every three hours, or 24 hours with visits hourly?)
Some of us like to farm Halloween items the whole week before the event.. All the decorations to is offer a friendly reminder that we may do so..
In case you didn't know , most people do put up their Halloween lights early in October and and Christmas lights right after thanksgiving. Whats the BFD?
Its called the Main event. It lasts a whole 24 hour period, anybody can make time to schedule 1/24 hours to get both masks. If its soo important to you, set your alarm clock to wake yo up 10 minutes before the arrival of the mad king.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
QQ
Get a tissue
I think ANed did a superb job of Haloween. I enjoyed the Mad King Says game and i beat him in rock paper scissors one time. People are too picky in a free to play game. There will ALWAYS be someone who will find a way to complain about ANYTHING. that's just the way it is.
Last edited by daze; Nov 01, 2008 at 09:27 AM // 09:27..
Well it's just a hat, that don't have any purpose..heck at the Halloween event after Nightfall was released I did not cry over that I did not have Nightfall, its was the same with Wintersday. Also as others have told you it's easy to go afk or quckly switch towns..however you should do some investigation before, since the mad king won't arrive in districts that was created AFTER the event began.
Your suggestion to extend the Mad king visit seems silly to me..it would be the same to whine about not being able to come online new years eve to see the ingame fireworks, so it should be extended for 1 week so everyone could get a chance....NOT...after all the event is just a game, you don't get any special benefits for having attended the mad kings visit, you don't pay to be allowed to play, I think thats two very good reasons not to extend the mad king visit.
After reading the thread all I can say is "So." Where is the problem with AFKing? Or jumping towns? I guess in the end what I am saying is; Would you like some cheese with your whine?
Mods please close so Evil does not get QQed too much more.
laptop, desktop, sidekick w/e.. if it loads GW and stays connected, you can always minimize GW and do your excel spreadsheets (GW only takes up 2 inches of space on your screen when minimized)
What if your work network doesn't have the ports open for GW and therefore you cannot connect? If the Mad King visited for a longer time period, then more people would have a chance to grab both hats without significantly altering their plans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
If its that important to you, make time... If its not, make an excuse.
Yes I agree: if it was very important to me, I would have made time. Fortunatley I have more important things to do in life than play games. My point is a matter of constructive criticism and discussion: if the devs are able to make a event more accessible to everyone at no harm to others, than why not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
Call the waambulance.. I got 30 ToT bags from LA then jumped to scamadan highest int dist and got another 30 more Bags (hardly a waste of time)
I don't see how this is relevent to what I posted at all. If the Mad King visited for:
a) every hour for 24 hours, but for half as long, you could still get your bags and more people could get both hats.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
Get a tissue
Grats mate on insulting someone on an online forum. You must feel special.
Quote:
it isn't real, it doesn't matter, and when you die you won't care, 500 years from now no one will remember and getting extra goodies in an online game won't get you laid..
Precisely. This is why I did not significantly alter my life around the game on the 31st of October and 1st November. I made this thread to:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
If the Mad King visited for a longer time period, then more people would have a chance to grab both hats without significantly altering their plans.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
My point is a matter of constructive criticism and discussion: if the devs are able to make a event more accessible to everyone at no harm to others, than why not?
Quote:
The 2 hats in one visit trick worked for me , on his second visit to LA (3am pacific time,thats 10 am in the UK where i live)i immediately mapped from LA to Kamadan international server 14 as soon as the LA visit was over and i turned up just as the'mad king says' part of the visit started, in all from that 1 visit i ended up with 40 tot bags and both masks :P
Good to know it worked for you. Didn't for me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
I second that notion. This is a pitiful crythread. It is wasting peoples braincells to waste time reading to the boo hooage
You read a thread, post a number of times and then complain it is a waste of your brain cells? Sorry mate, sounds a bit hypocritical.
I agree with the OP. I know a lot of people say that AFKing is a soution; but why run a festival at all if all the players are going to do is...something else?
While I don't play festivals much due to un-manageable ping (depends what computer i'm on at the time - my home computer is fine, but the uni residence ping is appalling) when I do log on I would like to be able to participate without having to schedule my already hectic exam timetable around it. And I do mean participate and not AFK.
I do find the entire event rather inaccessible, and fully agree with the irritating repetitiveness of it. Constructive criticism is welcomed by Anet, and I do think that festivals could easily be made a time that people could enjoy; instead of just afking for the sake of easy cash.
What if your work network doesn't have the ports open for GW and therefore you cannot connect? If the Mad King visited for a longer time period, then more people would have a chance to grab both hats without significantly altering their plans.
Then take an hour after work, either interrupt your busy life or your sleep if its that important to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Yes I agree: if it was very important to me, I would have made time. Fortunatley I have more important things to do in life than play games. My point is a matter of constructive criticism and discussion: if the devs are able to make a event more accessible to everyone at no harm to others, than why not?
Maybe they have a good reason for not making it every hour. and maybe we would know what the reason was unless they explained it to us.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
I don't see how this is relevent to what I posted at all. If the Mad King visited for:
a) every hour for 24 hours, but for half as long, you could still get your bags and more people could get both hats.
Basically all i was saying is that i was able to get both hats and 60 ToT bags, the event wasnt at all too long. And all it took was an hour then i went to bed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Grats mate on insulting someone on an online forum. You must feel special.
Dont get insulted, i was illustrating that all this thread is, is a sob story. Not worth the carpal tunnel. Ok so maybe a couple people were not able to catch the mad king. So what? Once again, if it was so important to have to whine about then you should have made the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
Good to know it worked for you. Didn't for me.
Then
Quote:
Originally Posted by Evil Genius
You read a thread, post a number of times and then complain it is a waste of your brain cells? Sorry mate, sounds a bit hypocritical.
I am at work and i work the night shift, its dead here and Halloween night. Honestly i have nothing better to do so i will mildly entertain myself by posting in a crythread (yes i may be pitiful)
Last edited by daze; Nov 01, 2008 at 10:24 AM // 10:24..
Some of these comments are a bit niaeve. You don't know his circumstances, he might not be able to get to his computer for the whole of the 24 hours? Its just unfortunate that whatever he was occupied with fell on the same day that King Thorn comes. This is the same for alot of people not just the OP.
So before you judge him and criticise him for not going afk just use your heads and think?
I agree with the OP i think the days when King Thorn arrives should be extended to at least 2 to cater for the people who have really limited time.
lion's arch first, then go to a higher number server in kamadan.
This still works.
1. 16:55 Park your character around the spawning point of the mad king.
2. Go afk
3. 17:25 come back, the Mad King will start his last game
4 17:30 You get his hat now
5. Travel to Kamadan Dis ~60+
6. Go afk
I agree with the OP i think the days when King Thorn arrives should be extended to at least 2 to cater for the people who have really limited time.
Id rather write congress to try to get them to make halloween 2 days long so the people who are too busy to celebrate it on the 31st dont feel left out. And
we should make new years 3 days long because im usually to drunk to remember anything the first time, and hung over the next day. so on the 3rd day of new years i can celebrate it at Shing Jea Monestary
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Arching Healer
This still works.
1. 16:55 Park your character around the spawning point of the mad king.
2. Go afk
3. 17:25 come back, the Mad King will start his last game
4 17:30 You get his hat now
5. Travel to Kamadan Dis ~60+
6. Go afk
So u have 2 masks while playing 5 mins?
that works, or you can park at LA before work then when you get home from work you will have like 3 zombie masks, you can schedule 5 minutes at xx55 to grab the second mask from scamadan...
Im sure 5 minutes is not asking too much from the busiest individual to make time.
Last edited by daze; Nov 01, 2008 at 10:42 AM // 10:42..
Then take an hour after work, either interrupt your busy life or your sleep if its that important to you.
Like I said before:
Quote:
Originally Posted by me
Yes I agree: if it was very important to me, I would have made time. Fortunatley I have more important things to do in life than play games. My point is a matter of constructive criticism and discussion: if the devs are able to make a event more accessible to everyone at no harm to others, than why not?
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
Maybe they have a good reason for not making it every hour. and maybe we would know what the reason was unless they explained it to us.
This "argument" is flawed, not worth explaining why.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
Basically all i was saying is that i was able to get both hats and 60 ToT bags, the event wasnt at all too long. And all it took was an hour then i went to bed.
I did not say it was too long and don't care how many virtual bags you got.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
Dont get insulted, i was illustrating that all this thread is, is a sob story. Not worth the carpal tunnel. Ok so maybe a couple people were not able to catch the mad king. So what? Once again, if it was so important to have to whine about then you should have made the time.
Don't you see an irony it telling someone that their thread, which is titled "Rant on Mad King", is a "Sob story". I am well aware many forumers would perceive it as such which is why I titled it so. Like I said before, this thread also is constructive criticism for the devs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daze
I am at work and i work the night shift, its dead here and Halloween night. Honestly i have nothing better to do so i will mildly entertain myself by posting in a crythread (yes i may be pitiful)
You complain about "waste of brain cells" and "carpal tunnel" and justify it by saying you have nothing better to do? Sorry that argument just does not hold up.
How about instead of everyone attacking the man, you recognise the system could be improved?
It is anologous to a shop being open for a week, but only selling goods on 1 day. Maybe it is the shop that is flawed and not the people that are working on that 1 day?
Considering that these e-hats are completely useless, it seems abit silly to complain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by pamelf
I agree with the OP. I know a lot of people say that AFKing is a soution; but why run a festival at all if all the players are going to do is...something else?
What would you do if you didn't afk? Stand around while reading the mass amounts of spam in local chat?