Talk:Miniature Polar Bear/Archive
lol Fake?
I think I may have done something wrong with the categories x.x - if any of you wiki experts can help me out, much appreciated. And yes, this is real. -- Mini Me 18:10, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Got a screenie on Gwiki too. Looks real RT | Talk - A joyous wintersday to all 18:12, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- i think this is a load of shit, i did those 2 quests about 120 times each, i didnt get one?
It is not fake. Alot of people have seen it in game, including me, just check the guru thread. Removing the notice. -- Mini Me 18:22, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- The fake note made me laugh. I just uploaded that picture of the mini that I took INGAME.
Yeah,definitely fake when we're all in game looking at it.--Norrukki 18:27, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Trade conformation plz, otherwise what Galie says still stands RT | Talk - A joyous wintersday to all 18:28, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Real, just seen in game...--
Gummy Joe 18:34, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Real, just seen in game...--
- Guess we can remove it again now? Also that picture + others are in the guru thread, please read before making assumptions, yes? -- Mini Me 18:36, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
A real screenshot was posted and removed.
<image removed>
<image removed> :P RT | Talk - A joyous wintersday to all 19:05, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Oh, btw, look underneath the "submit" button. You'll see the bear. Thats a lot of shooping. Because you know, its fake and all.--Norrukki 19:07, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
RT: Sarcasm. Know the meaning of the word? -- Mini Me 19:09, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- He knew it was sarcasm--MP47 (Talk) (Contr.) 19:10, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Let's do like this. We decide a time and place and the person owning this will go there and show it there. So maybe we can finally decide if this is true or not and if Gaile Lied or not. --MageMontu 20:14, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- It will be no use, even if this whole wiki goes and acknoledges it's existance, 5 minutes later someone will claim it's an hoax. Same thing happened with the LDoA title, where 6 months after being introduced people still claimed it was fake...--Fighterdoken 20:17, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- (Edit conflict) Or... you can just ask Gaile. And I doubt she "lied", she isn't the 100% positive source for everything. Also, I believe she didn't say it doesn't exist, but that she doesn't know. -- Brains12 • Talk • 20:19, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Let's do like this. We decide a time and place and the person owning this will go there and show it there. So maybe we can finally decide if this is true or not and if Gaile Lied or not. --MageMontu 20:14, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Disputed
Please leave the {{disputed}} tag on the page, until there is 100% confirmation and no doubt by any users. That's what disputed means - that there is doubt about something. By the looks of it, there is much doubt about this minipet, therefore, leave the disputed tag on. -- Brains12 • Talk • 19:13, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Are you kidding me? ITS REAL. GET OVER IT.--Norrukki 19:20, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Regardless of whether or not it's real, some people still don't believe it, therefore it is disputed. Leave it.--MP47 (Talk) (Contr.) 19:21, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- (Edit conflict) I did not say I think it is not real. I said that some have their doubts. Therefore, it is disputed. That does not mean that it will be deleted, or ignored, it just means that users of the wiki will not take something that has a cloud of doubt around it as 100% true. -- Brains12 • Talk • 19:23, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Win ;) Gaile Post :D -- Mini Me 20:46, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- (Edit conflict) I did not say I think it is not real. I said that some have their doubts. Therefore, it is disputed. That does not mean that it will be deleted, or ignored, it just means that users of the wiki will not take something that has a cloud of doubt around it as 100% true. -- Brains12 • Talk • 19:23, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
Dispuited till we have a drop chart! As pics can be photoshoped/textmoded. As we can CONFIRM its there. But not its drop. So till then. Disputed! 68.151.27.108 13:18, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
hay guyz, i dont think axes can do damage. add disputed tag pls. --71.208.157.35 13:22, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Urm.. no RT | Talk 13:24, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- but if i doubt it, that means theres a dispute. just ask brains12, hell tell you --71.208.157.35 13:25, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- More reasonable, less word twisting please. -
HeWhoIsPale 13:28, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Mockery is a perfectly reasonable form of discussion. --71.208.157.35 13:29, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- It's surely reasonable, just not a very efficient one. ;-) Jonas N 18:22, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Mockery is a perfectly reasonable form of discussion. --71.208.157.35 13:29, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Now we know 100% from the horse's mouth that there is indeed a mini polar bear, we know it is fact. Before that message from Gaile, it was still doubted, whereas now the wiki has a reliable source of the existance of this minipet. No disputed tag is needed for something that is confirmed. -- Brains12 • Talk • 15:31, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- More reasonable, less word twisting please. -
- but if i doubt it, that means theres a dispute. just ask brains12, hell tell you --71.208.157.35 13:25, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Until I actually see one in game, Not a screen-shot. I'll believe it when I actually see one. 00:02, 8 January 2008 (UTC)
Question about Mini Polar Bear
- → moved from User talk:Gaile Gray
Is this the item that drops from the zaishen chest, or does it only drop from the chest after completing the wintersday quests. -- The Warrior Of Timi 21:22, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- The Miniature Polar Bear is a rare drop from the Wintersday Chest. It was added before the start of the Wintersday Festival, and was available during the 12 days of the event and will be available until late on January 2nd, Pacific Time. The Mini Polar Bear will not be available in the Chest of Wintersday Past, which is the normal chest in the Secret Lair of the Snowmen quest; it is only in the chest present during the Wintersday Festival.
- The Miniature Polar Bear will most likely be available in the same two quests during Wintersday 2008, although that has not been formally decided. -- Gaile
21:26, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- The quests in question are The Strength of Snow and Straight to the Heart. -- Gaile
21:28, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Ty for the fast response. But do you know if this is the rare drop from the Zaishen chest?? -- The Warrior Of Timi 21:30, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm guessing it isn't. -
HeWhoIsPale 21:40, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Ok, ~10 hours left for farming :P poke | talk 21:41, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- The Miniature Polar Bears is Wintersday only; he has not been added to the Zaishen Chest. -- Gaile
21:42, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- This will be one ultra rare mini. There is only one confirmed and only a few hours left to get one. Lyra Valo
21:46, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Last yours wintersday was ending 11/12jan so maybe we can get it if it is this year 11/12jan aswell.
- Wont the event be extended if Grenth won? — ク Eloc 貢 22:45, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- It was lengthened because of the Earthquakes (?) in Japan. poke | talk 22:46, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Don't know it but maybe because of the Lagg with the final, good exuse :).
- What do Earthquakes in Japan have to do with it? — ク Eloc 貢 23:07, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- There was a major earthquake off the coast of Taiwan of 26 December 2006, if I recall the date correctly. Out of consideration, since so much of their Internet access was shut down, we extended the Wintersday decorations and the drops for a few days beyond the anticipated close date. I do not believe we extended the Festival itself, but I'd want to look that up before I said for sure. -- Gaile
23:17, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Can you make this your the event longer for the minipet because they are Cute and everyone wants them but they are selling them for 1000ecto"s at the moment.:(
- No, sorry, we don't plan to extend the event, even if the polar bear is one of the most adorable of minis. :) -- Gaile
23:45, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- I surely understand exclusive items, and the fact that difficulty in obtaining something adds to its value. Also, items that are only available to players who were at a certain place at a certain time make for really cool ways to show off dedication to the game. What I find a little bit frustrating is an especially cool item that is both difficult to obtain because of poor odds of dropping, as well as only being available for a short time. An item like this seems to primarily reward players who happened to have a lot of time to farm for it during the window it was available, provided they even knew about it in time. In the past it seems that most items fell into one of the two categories (difficult to get due to cost or drop rarity, or only available for a limited time), but not both. Not a complaint, it just seems contrary to most of the mechanics in place in the game thus far, and sort of "out of character" for the way special items work in the game. -- GenXer 16:09, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- No, sorry, we don't plan to extend the event, even if the polar bear is one of the most adorable of minis. :) -- Gaile
- Can you make this your the event longer for the minipet because they are Cute and everyone wants them but they are selling them for 1000ecto"s at the moment.:(
- There was a major earthquake off the coast of Taiwan of 26 December 2006, if I recall the date correctly. Out of consideration, since so much of their Internet access was shut down, we extended the Wintersday decorations and the drops for a few days beyond the anticipated close date. I do not believe we extended the Festival itself, but I'd want to look that up before I said for sure. -- Gaile
- What do Earthquakes in Japan have to do with it? — ク Eloc 貢 23:07, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Don't know it but maybe because of the Lagg with the final, good exuse :).
- It was lengthened because of the Earthquakes (?) in Japan. poke | talk 22:46, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Wont the event be extended if Grenth won? — ク Eloc 貢 22:45, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Last yours wintersday was ending 11/12jan so maybe we can get it if it is this year 11/12jan aswell.
- This will be one ultra rare mini. There is only one confirmed and only a few hours left to get one. Lyra Valo
- The Miniature Polar Bears is Wintersday only; he has not been added to the Zaishen Chest. -- Gaile
- Ok, ~10 hours left for farming :P poke | talk 21:41, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm guessing it isn't. -
- Ty for the fast response. But do you know if this is the rare drop from the Zaishen chest?? -- The Warrior Of Timi 21:30, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- The quests in question are The Strength of Snow and Straight to the Heart. -- Gaile
- "but they are selling them" - So there are more than one now? poke | talk 23:31, 2 January 2008 (UTC)
- Sorry someone would buy one for 1000ecto"s.
- Can"t they put them in the normal Wintersday Past dungeon chest, or we need to hope that grenth wins and the event will go on for some days. And the english people know it at 10hour's in the evening and americans know it at 10hour in the morning that isn't fair right?:s
- It would have been nice to have some kind of notice, even if cryptic, like, "And an extra special Wintersday Gift for those who can find it!" Kokuou 00:30, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Well who won the event? If Grenth won, wouldn't the event be extended? — ク Eloc 貢 00:56, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- The event will be extended in all odd numbered districts. Lord Belar 04:26, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Ya, I kind of find that stupid how districts were set up like that. It should be peoples personal choice, not odds being Dwanya or even or w/e. — ク Eloc 貢 07:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- It is the peoples choice. But the people choose to group in even districts for Dwayna and in uneven districts for Grenth. Otherwise you could not be sure to get both headpieces.. And I think it is very great that all people seem to accept this arrangement (made by players!). poke | talk 11:44, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Ya, I kind of find that stupid how districts were set up like that. It should be peoples personal choice, not odds being Dwanya or even or w/e. — ク Eloc 貢 07:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- The event will be extended in all odd numbered districts. Lord Belar 04:26, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Well who won the event? If Grenth won, wouldn't the event be extended? — ク Eloc 貢 00:56, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- It would have been nice to have some kind of notice, even if cryptic, like, "And an extra special Wintersday Gift for those who can find it!" Kokuou 00:30, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Can"t they put them in the normal Wintersday Past dungeon chest, or we need to hope that grenth wins and the event will go on for some days. And the english people know it at 10hour's in the evening and americans know it at 10hour in the morning that isn't fair right?:s
- Sorry someone would buy one for 1000ecto"s.
so it drops from either the strength of snow chest or the straight to the heart chest?cause on the wiki page for the bear it says "wintersday chest after strength of snow quest"plz can u clarify gaile?><
- Both quests work. poke | talk 15:31, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Gaile, do you guys have a choice? I mean, doesn't it stand that if Grenth wins this year you guys will need to extend it? I mean, count the districts that won grenth, and won dwayna. :P It would be nice. :D
Drago 18:44, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Gaile, do you guys have a choice? I mean, doesn't it stand that if Grenth wins this year you guys will need to extend it? I mean, count the districts that won grenth, and won dwayna. :P It would be nice. :D
lol the drop rate?....
man ive done both quests like 40 times and still not one :/. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Snipey lizard .
- guildy did the quest for 8 hrs and didn't get one. --VVong|BA 20:37, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- there are only 5 in game total.....lol we find out 1 day before wintersday ends,the drop rate is so low,and they take out the npcs early.... --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:74.186.169.130 .
- They did not take out NPCs early. Removing NPCs 1-2 days after the last finale is not what I'd call "early". But it's really rare though, perhaps a bit too rare. -- ab.er.rant
01:46, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- I also did the quest for 8 hrs. I really wanted that minipet, but I'm bad luck. One of my guildies found 1 just the first time he did the quest :-( Why is live so unfair? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:77.250.4.159 .
- I spent over 3 hours running the The Strength of Snow quest, but didn't get any polar bears. I got the timing down to where it took between 3 and 4 minutes to reach Freezie and start the first wave of grentches incoming. Helping the snowmen, and depending on the battle, the quest was over in as little as 8 minutes, or as much as 10. After ~20 runs of the quest, still nothing. During that time 3 guildies ran a combined 35 instances of the quest as well, so for 4 people across 3.5 hours, we ran about 55 instances of the quest and got 0 polar bear drops. I have yet to have anyone respond to my requests to buy one. Just some observations for those interested. - GenXer 19:52, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- I also did the quest for 8 hrs. I really wanted that minipet, but I'm bad luck. One of my guildies found 1 just the first time he did the quest :-( Why is live so unfair? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:77.250.4.159 .
- They did not take out NPCs early. Removing NPCs 1-2 days after the last finale is not what I'd call "early". But it's really rare though, perhaps a bit too rare. -- ab.er.rant
- there are only 5 in game total.....lol we find out 1 day before wintersday ends,the drop rate is so low,and they take out the npcs early.... --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:74.186.169.130 .
Economics, et al
- → moved from User talk:Gaile Gray
Hi there, Gaile ;)
I'm sure that the post polar-bear-mini screaming has only just begun, so I don't wish to add to it... I only wanted to say this -- I've heard/read in the past that ANET is keen on protecting the in-game economy (this is why we ban bots, etc). The mini-polar-bear issue, this Wintersday, does not help the economy situation by creating an ultra-rare mini that only a tiny handful of people can obtain. I understand that it was meant to be rare but... the feeling is that it was made unobtainable. Any price on such a thing would be outrageous and, let's face it, if you have 1500 ectos to spend on a mini-pet, you probably didn't farm the Underworld for them. ;) I know that a lot of us spent a LOT of time farming for one of those cute little bears and to come up empty handed, after hearing about it late in the festival, and to have the NPCs pulled so suddenly... It was a frustrating and discouraging end to Wintersday for many that I know. Perhaps if ANET wished to have a rare mini that could be enjoyed, a rare (but more reasonable) drop rate with one per account might have been sufficient.
Just some thoughts. :) And again, I know that it isn't your doing, so thank you for your patience and kind communication always. :) Lady Traeseara 24.210.238.66 21:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- There is a problem in your statement - you wish "to have a rare mini that could be enjoyed, a rare (but more reasonable) drop rate with one per account might have been sufficient." Being allowed this mini for every player's account makes the mini lose its rarity. See Miniature Pig - the first time it was found, prices were over the 100k + ectos mark. Then at each finale of the New Year, everyone got one mini pig. The price of them now is unsellable to 2k.
- Letting everyone have a "rare" mini is contradictory. -- Brains12 • Talk • 21:09, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Just think, you have one ultra-rare free inventory slot those people with the Polar bear can never have. ;) Biscuits
21:13, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- Lady Traeseara makes a point that I strongly agree with but have not been able to put into words until now: Most of the ectos/armbraces used for trading currently are probably the result of duping/buying with real money and therefore unless you get an extra rare drop now, you are left out of the high-rarity item scene. While the people who currently have these excesses of ectos and armbraces may not be the people who originally farmed them (more likely they are the finder of an extraordinarily rare item) the items themselves were never meant to be condensed into those quantities, and therefore they skew the economy...
- Lady Traeseara, I do not know if this was intentional or not, but please do not delete other users' comments. -- Frozzen
21:28, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- The mini polar bear would have been fine, except there was no mention of it in any of the official information. Even a simple "If you get lucky, you may receive a surprise this wintersday." would have been a huge improvement. Lord Belar 22:01, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm having trouble understanding why there is a need for an announcement. It was supposed to be a surprise. It was a surprise. -- Brains12 • Talk • 22:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- If there had been a announcement, then maybe there would have been less confusion over it's legitimacy. Lord Belar 22:06, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- No announcement for things available anytime is fine, but for something that is only available for a very short time seems odd to me, especially with something that had as low a drop rate as this mini. Kokuou 22:08, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- The design team decided to add a special surprise to this year's Wintersday. It's interesting: We have a lot of happy people, overall, but some are complaining there was nothing new (not true!) and some are complaining there was something new that they didn't hear about. But whether we announce something or let it be a secret "find" on the part of players, that decision is really a design decision. I have taken on board that some players want to have everything spelled out, chapter and verse. I assure you I will share that opinion with the dev team. But some like the idea of a special discovery, like when we hid the first round of Design-a-Weapon items through the land, or when we added the Zaishen Chest and let players discover its contents, rather than posting up a full list. I think it's safe to say that sometimes we'll tell all and sometimes we won't (when not telling does no real harm). I assure you I see both sides of this discussion. I myself regret that I didn't know about the miniature, for I would have been farming my little heart out, too. I regret that a player took a bit of grief because no one was able to confirm the existence of the miniature. (That problem was short-lived, though, and I'm sure no one was overly upset by it.) But in the end, my first reaction about the miniature and the way it was secretly added to the game was "That's awesome!" And that remains my opinion even now. -- Gaile
01:48, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- The design team decided to add a special surprise to this year's Wintersday. It's interesting: We have a lot of happy people, overall, but some are complaining there was nothing new (not true!) and some are complaining there was something new that they didn't hear about. But whether we announce something or let it be a secret "find" on the part of players, that decision is really a design decision. I have taken on board that some players want to have everything spelled out, chapter and verse. I assure you I will share that opinion with the dev team. But some like the idea of a special discovery, like when we hid the first round of Design-a-Weapon items through the land, or when we added the Zaishen Chest and let players discover its contents, rather than posting up a full list. I think it's safe to say that sometimes we'll tell all and sometimes we won't (when not telling does no real harm). I assure you I see both sides of this discussion. I myself regret that I didn't know about the miniature, for I would have been farming my little heart out, too. I regret that a player took a bit of grief because no one was able to confirm the existence of the miniature. (That problem was short-lived, though, and I'm sure no one was overly upset by it.) But in the end, my first reaction about the miniature and the way it was secretly added to the game was "That's awesome!" And that remains my opinion even now. -- Gaile
- No announcement for things available anytime is fine, but for something that is only available for a very short time seems odd to me, especially with something that had as low a drop rate as this mini. Kokuou 22:08, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- If there had been a announcement, then maybe there would have been less confusion over it's legitimacy. Lord Belar 22:06, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
- I'm having trouble understanding why there is a need for an announcement. It was supposed to be a surprise. It was a surprise. -- Brains12 • Talk • 22:03, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
Gaile, I don't see the majority of the event as "short lived". You, personally, were asked about the item (meaning someone had made the discovery by that point) many days before the end of the event, yet you denied it's existence as you were personally unaware of its implementation. A day before the end of the event, you contradict the previous information, apologize, confirm its existence, and through many twists and turns of explanations have tried to justify the incident. Truthfully, I see no justification for bad business practices, and I am far from the only person who's "overly upset by it". If the matter had been "short-lived" that particular person wouldn't have been griefed on GWG and an untold number of people wouldn't be overly upset at all. If the matter had been "short-lived" your customers would have been more informed and the numerous "overly upset by it" would have spent time trying to find the new mini. If the matter had been "short-lived" then you wouldn't be having recurring discussions on the matter, would you? The only part of this fiasco that was "short-lived" was the window of opportunity for your player base to put honest effort into attaining something that you, yourself, told them didn't exist. I do not solely lay the blame at your feet, Gaile, but as a community liason you should never outright deny something unless you're 100% positive. Most players believe at least 80% of what you say, so if you pipe up and say "FAKE!" part of the responsibility falls on you for deceiving the players, accident or not. This doesn't inspire me to wait until Wintersday 2008. It inspires me to uninstall and toss the game in the trash. I can't justify giving my money to a company that has deceived me and sees no wrong in doing so nor offers a solution to remedy the situation.Obastable 04:03, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- I just found out it was real[see time stamp]. I'm pretty sure short-lived was an understatement. But all I know now is that someone else out there has the ability to gain infinite cash, but not me. No harm done. --Ʀєʟʟɑ 04:15, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
- Seems like a bit much to me... I just want myself a cute widdle polar bear! I mean... she has a bow! And BELLS! But, seriously... I'm all for prestige items. I confess to flaunting my FoW armours... but this is excessive. Damned excessive. What's the point of adding something to the game when there will only ever be a handful? Perhaps, if they continued to drop at a very low rate, I'd be okay with it. Then, people who really wanted one could get one, with effort. It's like farming FoW... it takes a while, but if you really want it, you can do it. But this is nigh impossible to acquire, now. The few that exist will be so expensive, it just won't be reasonable for even a devoted player to get one. If you don't already have thousands of Ecto... forget about it.Khunlin 06:27, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- Only people who buy ecto's for real cash can buy it is that what you guys want Ebayers ingame?
- I love how this became Gaile's fault that the Dev's didn't tell her it existed. Grow the eff up people. -
HeWhoIsPale 16:40, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- Hey pale, read between the lines you should probably also ignore the (wo)man behind the curtain...ignorance is as they say...bliss? I should also add, to be fair, whoever transcribed the original text didn't really keep it in context...I suppose for brevity. That, and my personal feelings as someone who farmed a solid block of 12-14 hours in the last 1.5 days for this mini...the Polar Bear is less of a gaff than the Rollerbeetle and those were quickly forgotten by all but the top 0.001% of the Guildwars financial elite. 67.191.245.177 17:20, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- I am unsure as to what you are supposed to be pointing out with that edit. That Gaile stated that she doesn't know anything about a Polar Bear pet? I thought we already covered that. -
HeWhoIsPale 18:14, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- Just stating the obvious there chief and playing devils advocate. What was originally logged in game was either misinterpreted or inferred as a flat denial and when it came time for transcription to the wiki the writer took a little creative leeway. Half the hysteria over the miniature was over the assumption there was a flat out denial of its existence back on the 26th rather than a tactful cannot confirm or deny which is pretty much SoP. Obviously others besides myself checked the history and the original to see a revision was made to correct it albeit far far too late. The damage is done but we're only talking about 8-10 million gold of in-game currency...I figure the lucky person who is willing to shell out about $600-$700 first through the plethora of shady gold buying services could have one of these in a couple days hanging out in Kamadan D1 with WTB Polar Bear 100k+1500ecto+braces in the trade search. The people who are upset are somewhat justified and could probably direct the hostility somewhere else, but even so I think Gaile is a big girl she'll probably be ok without you defending her. At any rate to repeat what I've already written, this too like many other crazy things that happen in game shall pass they always do. 67.191.245.177 19:09, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- In general, rare drops have value because they require time and effort to obtain. (I'm intentionally ignoring those who pay real-world cash for gold and other such TOS violating arrangements, as that negates the game's economy.) That effort comes in the form of time invested (many boss hunts or quest repetitions), or lots of gold (which took time to get) payed to another player (e.g. buying a bone dragon for 100K +20e). Other rare items such as hats are desirable because they represent being part of a certain time in the game's history (e.g. the tengu mask). No amount of time or money will yield the mask afterward. Birthday gifts are simply that - gifts, and no amount of effort makes one more or less likely get a Bone Dragon instead of a Devourer. Items like the Zaishen Chest, the Design-a-Weapons, the Ghostly Hero mini and others are great ways to add some excitement for players by introducing discovery into the game. The difference is that these items, I believe, can still be gotten today, if a player is willing to put enough time and effort into it. The Polar Bear miniature seems to be an anomaly - something that is in huge demand due to rarity (like torment weapons), that can be purchased (unlike hats), could probably be gotten if enough time was spent repeating a quest (unlike birthday gifts), and is no longer available no matter how much time or effort is invested. It seems to be a sort of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket - enormous potential wealth for those few who happened to get the drop while it was available, and unattainable for almost anyone else until next Wintersday. - GenXer 20:17, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- The Rollerbeetle Miniature Greased Lightning immediately came to mind for me and thats why I brought it up earlier. The similarities are overwhelming but the glaring differences are the removal of the insanely competitive nature of the flawed race system and the ladder which posted alts in the top100 hogging spots up and reducing the overall number in game. Its really keeping up with the joneses, some people wanted this to keep and others to sell...either way the effect on whoever gets one is profound and anyone who says to the contrary must not believe trade windows can be full of ectos, armbraces or a combination of the 2. 67.191.245.177 20:37, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- This guy's vocabulary pwns. /Bow.--Ʀєʟʟɑ 04:25, 7 April 2008 (UTC)
- You make a good point. However at least with the rollerbeetle racing, however flawed or not it was, there was a quantifiable activity that would result in getting the pet (winning a hojillion races). Whether or not the average person could get one, the Miniature Greased Lightning represents the time and effort spent doing a certain in-game activity to get it. - GenXer 20:46, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- The official announcement for the Canthan New Year mentioned a prize for the top 100 times. All it would have taken was some mention of a mystery item to douse a majority of the flames regarding the polar bear. --24.179.151.252 01:08, 5 January 2008 (UTC)
- The Rollerbeetle Miniature Greased Lightning immediately came to mind for me and thats why I brought it up earlier. The similarities are overwhelming but the glaring differences are the removal of the insanely competitive nature of the flawed race system and the ladder which posted alts in the top100 hogging spots up and reducing the overall number in game. Its really keeping up with the joneses, some people wanted this to keep and others to sell...either way the effect on whoever gets one is profound and anyone who says to the contrary must not believe trade windows can be full of ectos, armbraces or a combination of the 2. 67.191.245.177 20:37, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- In general, rare drops have value because they require time and effort to obtain. (I'm intentionally ignoring those who pay real-world cash for gold and other such TOS violating arrangements, as that negates the game's economy.) That effort comes in the form of time invested (many boss hunts or quest repetitions), or lots of gold (which took time to get) payed to another player (e.g. buying a bone dragon for 100K +20e). Other rare items such as hats are desirable because they represent being part of a certain time in the game's history (e.g. the tengu mask). No amount of time or money will yield the mask afterward. Birthday gifts are simply that - gifts, and no amount of effort makes one more or less likely get a Bone Dragon instead of a Devourer. Items like the Zaishen Chest, the Design-a-Weapons, the Ghostly Hero mini and others are great ways to add some excitement for players by introducing discovery into the game. The difference is that these items, I believe, can still be gotten today, if a player is willing to put enough time and effort into it. The Polar Bear miniature seems to be an anomaly - something that is in huge demand due to rarity (like torment weapons), that can be purchased (unlike hats), could probably be gotten if enough time was spent repeating a quest (unlike birthday gifts), and is no longer available no matter how much time or effort is invested. It seems to be a sort of Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket - enormous potential wealth for those few who happened to get the drop while it was available, and unattainable for almost anyone else until next Wintersday. - GenXer 20:17, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- Just stating the obvious there chief and playing devils advocate. What was originally logged in game was either misinterpreted or inferred as a flat denial and when it came time for transcription to the wiki the writer took a little creative leeway. Half the hysteria over the miniature was over the assumption there was a flat out denial of its existence back on the 26th rather than a tactful cannot confirm or deny which is pretty much SoP. Obviously others besides myself checked the history and the original to see a revision was made to correct it albeit far far too late. The damage is done but we're only talking about 8-10 million gold of in-game currency...I figure the lucky person who is willing to shell out about $600-$700 first through the plethora of shady gold buying services could have one of these in a couple days hanging out in Kamadan D1 with WTB Polar Bear 100k+1500ecto+braces in the trade search. The people who are upset are somewhat justified and could probably direct the hostility somewhere else, but even so I think Gaile is a big girl she'll probably be ok without you defending her. At any rate to repeat what I've already written, this too like many other crazy things that happen in game shall pass they always do. 67.191.245.177 19:09, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
- I am unsure as to what you are supposed to be pointing out with that edit. That Gaile stated that she doesn't know anything about a Polar Bear pet? I thought we already covered that. -
- Hey pale, read between the lines you should probably also ignore the (wo)man behind the curtain...ignorance is as they say...bliss? I should also add, to be fair, whoever transcribed the original text didn't really keep it in context...I suppose for brevity. That, and my personal feelings as someone who farmed a solid block of 12-14 hours in the last 1.5 days for this mini...the Polar Bear is less of a gaff than the Rollerbeetle and those were quickly forgotten by all but the top 0.001% of the Guildwars financial elite. 67.191.245.177 17:20, 4 January 2008 (UTC)
Hmm just wanted to say TY Anet for this nice Mini *sarcasm* they go for like a freaking 1300 ecto plus that the lad in question pays 100 ecto for the one who finds a seller. Nice protection of the Economie yet again it still eludes me why you people keep doing it TY realy TY.
- How does this miniature hurt the economy? 65.30.33.162 03:37, 6 January 2008 (UTC)
Well not directly but as we speak the amounts of cash and ecto what some people will give for it makes you think twice how they got it. But then yet again why the one of a kind mini's what is the need for them. Well i see none. Cult Mephisto
Chest Of WinterDay Past???
Does any1 know if they will allow these to drop from the Chest Of Winterday Past. It sucks that it was only allowed to drop for that 1 day with out no notice. At least it didnt turn out like the mini-pig. Is Anet tryin to help ppl with that buy gold online spend there ectos so they can catch them i mean wtf. It would be nice if it can drop from these chest even at a low rate. plz hear my cry ANET :*(
- No it will not drop from the Chest of Wintersday Past, see User talk:Gaile Gray#Question about Mini Polar Bear poke | talk 23:48, 3 January 2008 (UTC)
is this a mini Knut?
onlinewelten mentioned that Anet maybe got inspired for this miniature by this bear... is this true? if yes, it's worth a trivia. —ZerphaThe Improver 14:16, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
- Highly unlikely. Just because it's a polar bear, doesn't mean it's a reference to every pop culture polar bear out there. They added Polar Bears with EotN by the way. --Curse You 06:18, 10 January 2008 (UTC)
- Mind you Knut has been in the news rather recently, and he's sooo cute! ^^ --Alien
21:59, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
- Mind you Knut has been in the news rather recently, and he's sooo cute! ^^ --Alien
Yay!
Yet another awesome miniature going for 1500 armbraces! -Warior kronos 03:22, 19 January 2008 (UTC)
Well for the bastard i am i'll make a reality check 1500 barces you say last time i have heard rumors where on like 1000 braces. If my match suits me well thats 55 ecto for a brace so that makes 55000 ecto thats 220 stacks of ecto 275000 platinum 275Mil gold. So as i always say NO WAY thats fair GW stuff. Cult Mephisto
- Haha yeah, I mean Anet has to take a reality check here. They're against real world trading, and I'm also against that...makes the game unbalanced. But when they release stuff like this, where there are about 2 in the game with over 1,000,000 players, prices are gonna soar. And realistically the only way someone could get 1,000 armbraces (275 million gold, as you said), there's no way in hell that the person who bought it didn't at some point spend real world money to aquire that in-game wealth. -141.155.28.60 18:18, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
- i would say the armbrace rich people are all dupers 10 bucks to 100,000 gold =$27500 for 1k armbraces
- i HIGHLY go against this opinion. i, myself, have over 20,000e + 10 everlasting tonics + high-end mini's worth 1000e+. this amount of gold is NOT hard to get. it's as simple as one little thing: powerselling. for example: buy a greased lightning for 450e and resell for 650-700e. BAM! a 300e+ profit. don't go assuming that everyone goes out and "dupes" or buys gold with money. you'd be surprised how many people in-game who are loaded out the ass aquired all of their wealth without spending a single penny on gold from a website. --Uchiha Lena 06:28, 23 September 2008 (UTC)
ROAR!!
I do not grasp the creation of another amazingly funny, wonderfull, beautifull minipet only to make it unavailable & unobtainable for 99% of players????? -- Silverleaf
- Read above post =P but yeah, I don't understand why anet keeps making awesome minis just to have em available for ppl who buy money for rl cash only. I thought anet was against that =P-Warior kronos 14:32, 10 February 2008 (UTC)
- Make that 99,99%. 145.94.74.23 08:51, 2 April 2008 (UTC)
- Well, 3/5,000,000+...Be wary that I'm way to damn lazy at 11:30 pm to figure the percentage of that. Guildwars.com has had the 5,000,000 players banner up for quite a while, and the constant inpour of hicks in virginia/kansas/etc buying GuildWars on sale has to make it above 5,200,000.
- Make that 99,99%. 145.94.74.23 08:51, 2 April 2008 (UTC)