Talk:Miniature Polar Bear/Archive 2

This encourages players to buy from RMTs

This is encouraging a lot of people to go against their principles and buy in-game wealth through sites like EBay and gwgold.

If you think that's not true, you haven't gone to Kamadan and put in trade chat "WTS Mini Polar Bear!". The amount of PM's you get is not something one line of text should ever achieve.

You talk about people being satisfied Gaile, but hear me out. For every person that was HAPPY about this surprise I can name you at least 5 others WHO WERE NOT, because they CANNOT ACQUIRE THIS PET REGARDLESS OF HOW MUCH WEALTH THEY HAVE OR EVER WILL HAVE. For every 1 of those HAPPY people, I can also name you 2 more that would BUY GOLD WITH REAL MONEY just to have this pet! I am not blaming you Gaile, I am blaming the idiots at anet who thought this would be a great idea.

This bear's rarity, in its current state, will continue to encourage more and more people to turn to RL money and violation of the EULA. Some people are happy, but A LOT MORE ARE NOT. As it is, there is no chance in HELL even somebody farming HM Domain of Anguish 24/7 could ever hope to acquire this in less than one year.

To ANet - you are wealthy, you probably don't give a shit about the playerbase for this game anymore. But if you do, listen to us and MAKE THIS ATTAINABLE OUTSIDE WINTERSDAY.--Slic 18:57, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

It really does seem like Anet has long forgotten their motto of "A game based on skill, not time played." Instead of trying to extend the game's lifespan through new quests, items, and innovations through pvp and pve, all we seem to be getting as of late is reasons to grind. Grind for this rare skin. Grind for this title. Grind for this rare pet.

I personally would much rather have some new form of pvp, or some new quests, or something along those lines, rather than what has been happening. Grind is fine for those who love it, but it seems anet has forgotten those of us that dont. How does everyone else feel?--Ryudo 19:07, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

What you said is a given. Most of us veteran players have been watching this game degenerate into a watered-down grindfest for quite some time. once Smash Bros Brawl comes out, I probably will leave GW permanently, and, depending on my last impressions, will or WILL NOT buy gw2.

This game has been getting watered down so that the retard lemmings who want to have everything in exchange for just TIME or REAL MONEY can have their way. This IS a very popular mentality (I have dubbed it The Lemming Syndrome), and one that usually yields the most profit in terms of business/total players to an online game company. Unfortunately, this is the same mentality that WoW has and it has always discouraged creativity, innovation and the desire to PAY ATTENTION and LEARN FASTER, instead of failing again and again until you get it right.

This bear is no exception, it is one of the many symptoms of The Lemming Syndrome.

Don't insult lemmings... --Lemming 21:37, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Lol, but yeah I kinda miss the non-grind days :(. Been here since May 05, and kinda agree, GW has had quite a bit of grind added to it. When I bought NF, and brought my War over and saw the Advance to X sunspear rank to continue quest (Way back when, you had to do this even with foreign characters), and smelled trouble brewing =P. EoTN was fun, but seriously...soooo much grind haha. Of course the books helped quite a bit, but even still, takes quite a bit of grinding to get to even R7 in any title track. While I'm excited for brawl of course haha, I'm certainly not gonna quit GW, and am most likely gonna buy GW2. But Anet hear our plea! Don't make GW2 grindtastic! -Warior kronos 00:26, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

I dunno about the bear or whatnot, but i do know that the entire reason i started to play GW was because there was NO grind. then I see an announcement that says that GW2 will have possibly no lvl cap? Really that ruins the game for me because i hate having to spend time doing nothing but killing monsters and repeating quests to advance in the game. for this reason i think that nightfall is a horrible game to start a character in simply because it REQUIRES grind. I love factions despite what the masses may say because i can max a char in 1 day if i feel like it and then have the freedom to go anywhere i want as apposed to sitting on istan killing monsters for points, killing monsters for points, killing monsters for points, killing monsters for points. really i dont care if GW2 has no lvl cap, as long as you dont get anything other than skill points for any lvl above 20. if it does anet can count me out, because grind SUCKS!!!!!! Kraken 04:19, 6 March 2008 (UTC)

Err, move to gw2 speculations/rage/hopes/wishlist/fags_doing_the_last_four_things?--Ʀєʟʟɑ 04:36, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

The thing is, I dont mind grind all that much as long as Im not forced to do it. Lets see...Ive been playing Guild Wars myself since November 2005. Ive clocked in over 3,000 hours play time since then, so I guess im a fairly hardcore player. I have all the games, have beaten all of said games, and I have participated in every aspect of guild wars, from soloing, to high end farming, to pvp, etc,etc. Surprisingly, what I like the most is the low end stuff. I perfer AB and FA to RA and HA (god I hate HA), and prefer helping new players in Ascalon to making a high end FoW run any day. But what Anet has begun to do with Nightfall and EotN is cater more to those players that DO like the grind. The ones that DO get the FoW, all the sets of 15k, and those KoaBD titles. And although I have all this play time in, and that I have over 600k on my account, and havent fallen below 400k in over a year, I hate grind. Hate it. Hell, I only have one full set of 15k armor over my entire account, and only 2 of my characters have any 15k armor period.

I guess what im trying to say is, Anet is thinking that all of the veteran players like grind, because most of the long term players like me are either high end GvG or HA people, or have all these fancy titles and armors. Im just afraid that people like me that enjoy being experts (yeah, Im comfortable with calling myself that) at this game without buying into the grind and the sway and everything else, will have no place in GW2....--Ryudo 04:55, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Some people like grind, some people don't. Anet caters to both camps quite well if you ask me. --Lemming 15:02, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

i am HIGHLY against these opinions. 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 06:31, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Powerselling is a good thing, but it takes a while to get enough to get started. You say yourself its easy! Just buy something for 350e and sell for 650e. But the fact is that most players don't have 350e to start, let alone 100e. It comes back to the idea of grind. You're going to need to grind to get started off, even if you are the most economist in the game. This game used to have all its elements fairly casually friendly. Except for FoW, if you played through the game, selling drops and getting lucky once or twice, you had enough for 15k armor. Everyone was happy. If you really wanted to go high end and grind and be hardcore, you could buy FoW, or a rare item with perf stats. Now? Grind, grind grind away for high end stuff. I still can't get over the fact that Anet actually made us grind freaking rep for armor. -70.23.216.130 21:32, 31 October 2008 (UTC)

By just completing the storyline you're halfway there for all four factions. If you fancy an armour, turn in the book and you'll be way past the requirement for bying the armour. That's not grind.

- Kherec 16:46, 20 December 2008 (UTC)

20,000e? GTFO with that bs...that would take your entire xunlai box up with stacks. That would mean you made a little less than 2 ecto an hour every hour since you started playing GW...don't be ridiculous. 98.219.48.111 19:47, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

...powerselling.... - JoPeTalk 01:38, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah the parasites of GW. Ripping off the ignorant (or haggling them into submission) isn't exactly a reputable way to get rich. 98.219.48.111 16:16, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Umm, ou don't have to try to get the bear if you don't want it, dude. GW isn't about having little creatures follow you around, It's about having fun. Go do PvP or PvE or whatever is most fun for you. Grind in GW is almost non-existent when you don't force yourself to do it. And by the way, about GW2, even if the level cap is unlimited, there will be a point when you stop getting benifits for gaining levels, and it just earns you skill points, or is a way of displaying your experience at the game. Say, for example, that the level cap is 100. When I hit level 30, I begin to receive smaller and smaller rewards for advancing, untill at level 40, I get only skill points, and nothing else other than a higher number floating above my head than before. I think you guys just need to calm down, and go out there and play Guild Wars. Not buy items in Guild Wars.--70.71.240.170 17:20, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

GW requires no grinding. you don't need grinding to have the best armor nor to have max damage weapons, griding is optional, only if you want to have that fancy elite armor or a rare skin for a weapon, you don't need these to be good at the game.

To the guy who forgot to sign the comment above, GW also does not require you to play it at all, SCNR. I have problems with extremely rare grinding rewards and repetitive actions to gain some achievements or fancy gear in Guild Wars. This is just bad design, and I wonder what happened to the skill over time and no grind required mantras. All they have to offer for players who "finished" the content is serious grind that you do not see in World of Warcraft for instance. I wonder if this really adds to the longevity of the game to make people grind for rare items over the holidays. Those who do not try because they do not want to grind over xmas feel they miss out. Put the bear in the same basket as some of their more ridiculous title/achievement ideas and the ways to acquire/farm them! Just thinking of AFKing a whole festival in certain nine rings. This is not the pinnacle of game design, rather the opposite. --91.9.104.219 13:42, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

You said it yourself. Some players have finished the content...So there's no point for those players to continue to play. This isn't WoW; if you stop playing, you won't be paying a monthly fee, and Arena Net won't be losing money. That's why players who don't want to grind don't have to grind - they can play the content, stop, come back whenever they want and continue to play. At the same time, there are some players who want to grind, and so Arena Net has added content for those players, too. We keep seeing players complaining that there are no truly rare items in the game, or that the only real items were given through out-of-game ways (the limited minipets). Now Arena Net has listened to those players and created a new rare item that is available only by grinding in game, instead of being a reward from a magazine or something else limited to a few specific countries.

So do you want the Mini Polar Bear to be more common? There are players who want the MPB to continue to be as rare as it is, and their voice is as important as yours. In the end, Arena Net is simply trying to please everyone by having both items easy to get and very cheap, and items hard to get requiring a lot of grind. As long as those rare items don't give any in-game advantage such as higher damage and are not used for player discrimination, there isn't any problem with them.

(I don't have one, and I don't want one - have never been a fan of minipets myself. I also would never waste my time grinding so much, especially in the middle of a big ingame event and a big holiday outside of the game. Those who like to farm must be very happy with the MPB, since it's a great excuse for farming. And those who don't like to farm but are doing it anyway...That's pretty much your choice. If people who don't like to grind weren't so willing to waste their time doing so, games today would likely focus more on content and less on grind.) Erasculio 15:28, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

"If people who don't like to grind weren't so willing to waste their time doing so, games today would likely focus more on content and less on grind." Your comment is so invalid, Erasculio, it hurts my head. If developers weren't so focused on adding grind to their games, would be a better statement...

As I understand it, GW wasn't so grindy in the beginning... then they brought out titles.... then they brought out more ridicilously rare minis, rare skins... then they added skills that get stronger the more you grind titles... you know... that kind of grind they LOVE to add ...

Just an fyi: Grind is a game lengthening device used by developers... ~~000.00.00.00~~ 20:17, 24 January 2010 (UTC)

When push comes to shove - if the drop rate is going to be this low, then they should just add it as a drop to the Chest of Wintersday Past in the Secret Lair dungeon. At least that would provide a reasonable way for players to acquire the thing instead of the 1-2 weeks a year during the festival. Otherwise it's beyond rediculous.HanokOdbrook 19:10, 9 November 2011 (UTC)

Where Have All the Miniature Polar Bear's Gone?

So I'm eagerly awaiting this years wintersday event to hopefully *crosses fingers throws salt rubs rabbit foot kisses horseshoe and picks up penny* farm my own polar bear..

But that got me thinking... where did all the current polar bears go? I use to see one in town every now and again but that was months and months ago... I don't think I've seen one in game since last winter..

Anyways heres hoping the market gets drenched with em(ok maybe not I still want it to be really rare) or I amazingly get 1(yeah right with my luck) haha --O Frost O 06:05, 8 December 2008 (UTC)

Honestly, this is kind of ridiculous. To have a pet so widely wanted and so adorable only available to the super-elite of the Guild Wars community is quite cruel and certainly not in the holiday spirit. I don't love super-rare pets anyway, but if you have to have them, don't make them the ones so widely requested as these. Obviously they shouldn't go the mini-pig route, but making them available to most at Wintersday, as a reward for completing all the holiday quests perhaps would be a nice change. That is really in the spirit of Wintersday, not grinding the same thing over and over again. I heard a story last year about some guild whose guild leader collected mini pets and was sick. This guild, in a total act of selflessness, grinded this quest over and over again for some 5 hours + and still didn't get a single drop. 20 people + for 3 hours (assuming some exaggeration), with not one drop of this adorable little pet? That does not sound like a game I want to play. -Warior Kronos 00:10, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

I guess the rarity makes it more exciting when we do actually get one(ok so maybe the "when" is more of an "if") but I guess that adds to the excitemen of the hunt. Funny thing now after I made this post.. I saw a polar bear pop out of hibernation in town today =p --O Frost O 06:35, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

0_0 Where do you live haha? And perhaps it's a sign of things to come :)-Warior Kronos 22:36, 10 December 2008 (UTC)

Protip: Don't grind for the bear, then. Nobody is forcing you, it is not mandatory to ANY part of the game. If the low drop rate makes you sick, take your medicine and stop trying to get it. Briareus 00:40, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

2008 talk

throw in any info u find during the 2008 event. if u see one. drops and what quests. thanks.

I've been doing Strength of snow for about 6 hours, does this ^$#%$@ thing exist?

It exists. The drop rate is just extremely low. --79.171.74.8 08:09, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Farm it for 16 hours each day for the rest of the event and you might have a 1% chance of getting one. 66.190.15.232 09:04, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I have seen one in Kamadan. I believe the quest Straight to the Heart has more chances to give the pet, simply because has much more enemies to kill, even with allies, if enemies priority is you, you'll die much faster. Besides this quest is harder than the other and will take longer to complete. Anyway this is just a feeling based on what i said in the last phrase. --Inflame 14:20, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

1% would be fantastic odds, sadly I think its much much lower. 98.219.48.111 15:35, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Not 1% per run, 1% over the course of 200+ hours trying... --66.190.15.232 16:12, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Phiieeuuwww..been at it since the Rift Wardens appeared. No such luck yet :S. --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 17:53, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Haha! Join the club! --King Of Kamelott 18:26, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I fail at making userboxes, but now we're an official club!

This user spent all Wintersday farming for a Miniature Polar Bear.

--King Of Kamelott 18:46, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

That makes it look like you got one in the end. =x --66.190.15.232 22:18, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm hoping I will :). --King Of Kamelott 23:07, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe make two variantions: "and got really lucky" and "didn't get one, like everyone else" --81.165.106.233 23:23, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

I'm just happy i get 5 items fom the chest :P the polar bear seems more like a little extra ;) By the way thats a nice user box, how would one add such to ones user page? (Ixillius)

One would need to type {{User Farmed Mini Polar Bear}}, on ones user page. --King Of Kamelott 00:45, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

One is very gratefull for this information granted here today (Ixillius)

I have farmed for the mini bear since the rift wardens appeared, pulled an all nighter and been farming for 20 hours now. NOTHING. I had hoped I will have more luck since it's my birthday today, but nope... Kind of disappointed. I'd love to have the little bear, it's so very cute, but I don't know how much longer I can keep up hoping. :( Akane Kiryu 01:38, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Greatest thing of all is that I should be studying for my exams >.< Damn thi smini for its unbearable (pun intended) Awesomeness!

Wouldn't it be funny if, at the end of the event, A-net said that there was a coding bug that caused the bear to have 0% chance of dropping from the chest? xD -/Desi 17:05, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

No lol. Some people already got them yesterday, i saw a dedicated one go for 1650 ectos on guru. --King Of Kamelott 17:13, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah I've seen a few people selling them, but still out of all the people who are grinding these quests for hours on end theres not enough of them out there. As someone posted up previously these minis are only available at the moment to people who have bought ectos with real life money...not to the people who've actually put the time and effort into trying to get one. And fair enough they are "rare", but over 1000+ ecto is a bit much, they could have at least made it drop a bit more so they were 100k+XX that's rare.. but not OTT...but of course this is A-net we're talking about they seem to love people who buy ectos with real life money. I saw someone today who posted on guru that they had bought one and dedicated it, now they are looking to buy another, this person also has a mini panda, if thats not someone whos bought ectos with real money then I don't know what is.78.86.141.13 02:28, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, about 45 hours of farming so far, 6 or so stacks of cc shards from the quest alone, and still nothing. Anet, please give a break to people who're trying to get this adorable pet and farm their little hearts out for it with honest work. Minami Kaori Akane Kiryu 02:52, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Don't waste your time, they don't care about what players have to say, and yes, 90% of people who get it only wants it to sell. ANet don't give a damn about who wants for X or Y, it's their game, they do whatever they want. The comment above where it says the chest has a chance of 0% drop, i believe, i've read somewhere here on wiki where a guy said that there was 4 drops in 2 days, or weeks, lol, uber awesome. --Inflame 03:04, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

For people who love the bear and think it's soooo adorable, rejoice, you can get yourself a real (and actually useful) bear as a pet with ease. For everyone just farming it to sell for crazy amounts of ectos (and, I'd wager that's most of the people farming for this endlessly), stop hiding behind the facade of simply wanting a cute Wintersday gift. Skyy High 04:20, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, Skyy High, I do want the miniature bear for myself and I would not sell it for any price. I already captured the Jingle Bear in EotN (naturally), but have you thought about these points?: 1.) It's not a miniature, hence I cannot have him displayed and have him run after me in towns and outposts (and, as the name "miniature" implies for the polar bear, the Jingle Bear in EotN is NOT tiny). 2.) I never play as a ranger, never use ranger skills, and I do not use the ranger heroes. I have nothing against them, but I just simply don't use them. Anyways, I do wish Anet would think about us honest players, and realize that it's probably bots and people who have bought game money with real life money who has one of them cute miniature bears. Minami Kaori. Akane Kiryu 04:33, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

LOL Sky!! the problem is that none of my main chars (Ritualist and Assassin) will have a secondary ranger profession, simply because i need other professions that offer what can fix (or at least help)the "holes" of those professions. Besides this applies to most of people, if not the PvP RA/HA etc would be full of those bears xD. Also, i can't get those pets into towns <.< --Inflame 04:37, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

One way or another, minis are for bragging rights, whether that you got it by farming for it for 2 weeks, or that you paid 1000+e for it. Those that get it are simply the lucky ones, has nothing to do with how dedicated you may be, but honestly, it would lose it's specialness if everyone who was currently farming them, or simply wanted one, got one. -- Wyn 05:21, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Yeah... U have to be VERY lucky if you play it honestly. If one ever gets a drop, it should also max out your Lucky Title. >_< Minami Kaori. Akane Kiryu 05:30, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

(RI) I have tried many times to get this and I have yet to get one. I was fortunate to even get an Everlasting Ooze tonic the previous month. But the drop-rate on this mini is just not right. At least with other minis say a mini Ghostly Hero, at least that is always available 24/7 365 days a year. This? This is a once-a-year opportunity and what do we get? An obscenely low percentage of actually getting it and the demand is beyond comprehension. Everyone wants one, be it for keeps or to make money with, the demand is there. If there is no other way to get it, why try for it with the rate this is going? Yet if we were to compare other event-based miniatures of its class (mini pig, celestial pig, and celestial rat) with this, they don't even match. This mini not only outclass them in terms of rarity but it's also in a different league. It pains me to think that this is one particular mini that I will never be able to acquire through effort and hours upon hours of repeated attempts to get one. There are no alternatives to getting this. And if at the end of this entire event that the population of this mini don't blow up to a level where even I could potentially afford it (the 100k mark), all I can say is that this mini is a complete failure. It's too bad this miniature is not likely to be inside one of these Wintersday Gift. At least that would have been so much more sensible than the thousands of people going through those quests in an attempt to get one. — Sixshot 06:50, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

(RI) This really sucks I've been trying for a while to get this now and its boring me alot I understand the excitement of having a pet this rare but still YAWN!!but to be honest im more annoyed at arenanet for doing Rare event Mini's that are only available in Asia ya know its really unfair that European players are left out of that we dont even get to see these mini's in our servers its not fair I've been playing for years now and noticed that europe is left out of a few compertations and event give aways so i really want to get this bear and I dont know if anyone in Europe has one but I've never seen this mini before and I play guildwars everyday nearly Teratus Vantian 11.56, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

(RI) Okay, 17 hours of farming today, still nothing. :(( Minami Kaori. Farming as Miyako Amakura. Akane Kiryu 15:29, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Do remember that Wintersday lasts for over 2 weeks. If you could reliably get one with a day or 2's worth of farming, everyone would have one, and people who decided to farm the whole time would have 8 to 16, and then we have a Miniature Pig situation. If they want the bear to continue to be special and valuable, the drop rate has to account for the people who are going to farm it as much as possible no matter what. I'm expecting to see the "FINALLY GOT ONE!!!" posts start trickling onto this page by the weekend or early next week. - Tanetris 15:42, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Well i have tried to get one did 220 runs got allot of other goodies, but if this is Anet way to say we protect the economy they are doing a very bad job if you want to protect why add stuff like this this only adds more greed and to get it by all means. Also when i see offers made on the MPB it's madness i know that when you work hard you will receive wealth but offers going in 2 a 3 digits in braces that just rings a bell of WTF. But none the less about the MPB the droprate should rise. don't know this is just the way i think about it.Cult Mephisto 15:44, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Keep the drop rate as-is and discourage multi-account farming, it seems against the spirit of the event. Rumor has it some people have already finished 400+ runs on this chest just by parking 2-3 accounts and hammering on it nonstop. Something tells me thats not what anet had in mind when they added this. 98.219.48.111 16:18, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Why wouldn't people multi-account farm? The drop rate is so low that the price has skyrocketed. If they were more common, they wouldn't be so expensive, and there wouldn't be so many people farming for it. The instant people find out something is rare, they charge out the nose for it. I've seen people charging 5k to get the Jingle Bear, a free reward to some pretty easy (IMO) quests that I used entirely Hero/Hench to beat first time each. I've also seen others pay 10k for fake information on where more CC shards drop. The bear is insanely rare for something posted on the actual Wintersday page, making it out of the price range for most that want it. --66.137.149.204 20:29, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Because to me it seems against the spirit of the event. It is your money, your power bill, and most importantly your time so use it how you see fit. Just don't forget there is more going on than a 1:10,000(?) polar bear drop. 98.219.48.111 21:50, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Well, I only have one account and I do the farming myself. Adn yes, I sure hope I will write "I GOT ONE!!" very soon. :D Minami Kaori. 76.187.21.141 16:41, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Here's something I can offer you thats better then some mini bear: A pat on the back. --King Of Kamelott 16:52, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Doing some internal reflection and looking at my life in the future, I see myself in one year either starting or getting ready to start GW2 or maybe just stopping playing GW (not because of the mini polar bear). Coming to this realization, I dont want to look back at my 2008 Christmas wishing I had spent more time with my family and girlfriend and less time chugging away at my computer to either get or not get a few bits of computer data. Not getting the bear wont ruin my life, but not taking the time to celebrate the holidays with my family would make me feel like a total smuck. So if you want to spend every waking hour playing computer games to get something that, lets be honest, isnt going to make that much difference in real life, thats up to you. But me, I'll be spending time with my family and friends making holiday memories. That, I believe is what the holiday spirit is truely about. If you want, feel free to drop me a "Happy Holidays" ingame. Ill gladly return the favor. --Elros Gil Estel 8:23 24 December, 2008 (UTC)

One word "Impossible".

I love how some people spend hours upon hours just trying to get a virtual image of no value whatshowever, and then refer it as work. This is a game people. SniperFox 11:53, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

although.... "guild wars was has no impact on real life"... yet people fail to realize that you CAN go against the EULA and make an insane amount of money in REAL LIFE off these so-called "worthless, fake virtual items". a bud of mine sold his miniature kanaxai (no i will NOT give his name out) for $8,000. care to tell HIM that guild wars is a waste of time? the fact is... these "worthless, fake virtual items" truely DO have a real-world value-- just take a look at all the gold selling companies. ;) --Uchiha Lena 13:13, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

With no value I mean legal value, since everything stored on Anet's servers is their property, as the EULA. While you could indeed say that you could break the EULA and still sell virtual property, it would mean commiting a fraud. Fraudulent activities is not what I would call work. Apart from this, I still don't get why people take such a simple thing as a virtual item so seriously, and that people are willing to sacrifice so many to get one such. SniperFox 15:43, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

You make a good point, Uchiha Lena. But my point is that the time I spend with friends and family during the holidays is more valuable to me than getting this mini. On a side note, if your "bud" can sell a miniature in real life for $8,000 then I guess that just goes to show you how much of a real life some people really have. Now I suppose you will respond to this with "My bud has a great car/great job/wife and kids/does all sorts of other things outside of GW/etc..." but I dont think anyone will believe that. And I never said this game was a waste of time (why else would I play it), just the mindless pursuit of a mini so that you can sell it for money. -Jvinniec 18:23 24 December, 2008 (UTC)

330 runs over the past few days and counting... 19 stacks of cc's so far but no bear =/ damn this is intense --Lord Protoss 11:24 24 December, 2008 (UTC)

Y'know, people. You don't have to farm for this mini if you don't want to. It's entirely optional. There are many other things you could do. Backsword 17:22, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

I've already done the other things. This is the only Wintersday item I don't have, and I will always protest against promoted items that don't seem to drop.--66.137.149.204 17:32, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

330 runs is nothing... I've been farming for this since the 19th, stopping only to sleep. Six days and no bear! Sure I have enough Wintersday garbage to last me a lifetime but, no bear. I stopped counting at 600 runs and that was days ago. 192.155.57.135 17:24, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Too bad that the Rift Warden wasn't in the game on the 19th...

66.190.15.232 17:34, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

lieeeeeeeeeee Ocravia Deathblade 23:21, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Mini polar = cake = lie.

Cake was not a lie, u just needed to no clip underground.

You can get this pet with ease! Just farm your ass off and you got enough wintersday junk to buy it... after 10 years - JoPeTalk 00:18, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

914 runs...no bear...--TheSlimeBeast 00:53, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

I realize that the players build the economy in the game, but with that in mind, why did ANET set the gold amount limit that a single character could hold and trade at any one time to 100k if not to limit how expensive items are in the game? I only ask because how does one actually obtain 1500 or more armbraces without some kind of cheat or bot? Maybe it's just me, but it seems like ANET initially made the game to be fun, and to have items be reasonably affordable and obtainable to anyone that just put in a little 'effort', but now are making it more of a grind-fest, or bot-fest game. Is it possible to change the Rarity description on the mini polar bear page from being "Rare" to "Not in your lifetime Rare" or "Uber Rare"? LOL, ok I vented about a virtual item that I don't really need. Here's to hoping that no ANET employee who farmed the MPB received one. --209.194.208.116 18:07, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

This morning i read about the polar bear for the first and after only 5 runs i got a lot of luck and now i have a polar bear. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.240.200.172 (talk).

Droprate

...is confirmed to be affected by having more Lucky than Unlucky points. 145.94.74.23 13:29, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

...Where? Erasculio 13:48, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

There's no way that could be proved, so few people have gotten these that it would be impossible to see any correlation between your lucky points and the chance of it dropping.(marsc 15:08, 24 December 2008 (UTC))

Yeah, he just made that up - JoPeTalk 16:31, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Maybe he did that hoping that Anet would tell players more about the droprate of the pet. In fact, I am pretty sure that was the reason. ;-) 92.108.32.28 09:49, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

It would take a christmas miracle if the new community manager would reply on anything other than her talkpage. SniperFox 11:34, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

That would be nice for a change. --King Of Kamelott 16:38, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

I would say it's just stupid whta ya say there.Anet will not encouraging thngs like born unlucky stay unlucky because of more unlucky points then lucky ponts by unluckiness:DxD

Thats kind of passive aggressive. --King Of Kamelott 01:54, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

presents

Someone said they got a polar from a present. there is also a polar following the person. might be a hoax, but maybe its true.

Definitely a hoax. 10 ppl in kamadan. all selling presents each say they got one. anyone who sells presents will definitely say it drops from them. if it drops from them, why arent they opening presents? but then again.... maybe... lol

WEll I've been farming this thing since day one and its really starting to annoy the hell out of me I've never farmed anything like this in my life i am desperate to start farming Monster claws and fangs to buy the asure armour i've been after since i got eotn but this damn bear has so much pull just the thaught of actually owning it and bing able to brag is too much its so rare i simply must find one :( curse my desire for rare things I want one so much its frustrating its half 4 in the morning now and im not tired much can anyone tell me if they have stopped dropping because a few people are saying that now but i dont know what to belive because anet have not spoken a word on this Teratus Vantian

they are still dropping.

How long have you been trying to get him?

I am not grinding the run as much as others I am sure. I didn't count the first day how many runs I did, it didn't occur to me, but I tried for 24 hours straight. The next day I did the quest 26 times, and yesterday because I finally learned I could rezone and get the easy quest again I doubled that and managed to do the quest 68 times in about 17 hours. It on average takes me about 15 minutes to get the quest, run to the end, get the chest, pick up all the shards, get back, rezone, rinse and repeat. Over a week of Wintersday left! I will do this 1000x or pass out at the computer trying! (Ameythst Jasmine 16:53, 26 December 2008 (UTC))

Well I havent been counting Runs per say but I have managed to get stacks of Candy cane shards some i sold some i kept

before wintersday i had 70k I baught a mini Fungal wallow a Heket warrior a Roaring Ether and a Mandragor Imp I think maybe one or two more but im now on 22 mini's and i had less than 18 when i started wintersday my monny also dropped from 70k to 40k and now its upto over 120k

so thats enough to show i've put quite alot of work into this wintersday I also have alot of chrismas items left mostly Rainbow candy canes

I would really like to know if this bear has stopped dropping or what quests you can get it to drop from

I am repeating Strength of snow from the rift warden in Lions Arch but im starting to dobt it drops there Teratus Vantian

Teratus it has been verified (with screen shots) by several users that the Polar Bear does indeed drop from the Wintersday chest at the end of Strength of Snow. It can also drop from the Wintersday chest at the end of Straight to the heart. It is a very rare drop and so far I have only seen screen shots of about 5-6 people that actually got the bear. I have done the run about 130 times so far with no luck so far. I have done it with the same Character over and over and I am starting to wonder if I should switch characters and try for it on a different Character since all of my Characters have beaten all the campaigns. (Ameythst Jasmine 19:48, 26 December 2008 (UTC))

Im farming for a week now did 30-40 runs a day and still no bear. but i got one more week to go. Koiboysg1 20:15, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Done Strength of Snow approximately 80 times per day for the past 4 days. That would be about 320 runs, give or take. Amassed over 400k in gold, but no polar bear drop yet. I'm beginning to wonder if the randomizer is seeded by something we're not aware of, like perhaps killing a certain Grentch, not killing a certain Grentch, etc. If it isn't, the drop rate on this is utterly insane.

The Polar bear excist

Finnaly, after only 40 runs ( yes people only 40 runs ) I got the Miniature polar bear of the wintersday chest

luckye! I have 166 wintergreen candy canes, 47 peppermint candy canes, 44 rainbow candy canes, and yet I dont' get that polar bear. (that's count more than 40 runs)--208.104.132.121 19:41, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

Btw, one just got sold for 1500 ambraces of truth on guru

You have to be kidding me who even has 1500 armbraces of truth?? (Ameythst Jasmine 19:49, 26 December 2008 (UTC))

Dupers or people who got really rich from reselling back when GW was pretty new. Also, isn't this a fairly pointless section? Of course mini Polar Bears exist; there's this Wiki page for them and you can usually see multiple of them in Kamadan AD1 during Wintersday... Datrulegend 19:54, 26 December 2008 (UTC)

just for people who believe it isn't there

I thought they took all those duped armbraces out of the game back when they first caught wind of that? As for this section being pointless I think it was more "I got one, so hey keep trying." than "Yeah it really does exist its not a hoax." (Ameythst Jasmine 19:56, 26 December 2008 (UTC))

Thanks Ameythst I was not really wondering on its exsistance but more on wheather or not it was actually dropped by wintersday chests in the Quests the Rift warden gives you

But if theres Screen shots to prove it then im all for beliving that thanks

Oh yeah I saw one about half a hour ago in Lion arch so im more keen to find one Teratus Vantian

Yeah there is a post on the Guild Wars Guru forum called "Confirmed Mini Polar Bears" with 5-6 people that have taken screen shots in the dungeon with the bear in the inventory showing the "You picked up Miniature Polar Bear" on their screen, so totally legit. There is also a guy that claims him and his cousins used 5 accounts and did 7000+ runs and that he has 14 MPBs -- however that one I am not buying! I'd love to see a screen shot of 14 MPBs in his inventory! ((Ameythst Jasmine 21:30, 26 December 2008 (UTC))

If by cousins do you mean cousin bot #1, #2, #3, and #4? --24.92.116.83 03:57, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

AHahha I don't disagree with that conclusion at all! *Ameythst Jasmine (Talk) 01:54, 26 December 2008 (UTC) 04:12, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

its technically possible to run 5 accounts and succeed. it just gets a bit more difficult at 3 and higher.

How is that possible? arrg Im never gonna get this bear lol its really annoying Its a pain now exspecially when Aol keeps Dissconecting me every 5 mins for no reason its taking me nearly 30 mins a run now because of that Terrible Netservice does anyone have any advice on the best internet service for GW to run on cause i've had enough of aol and I really want to get this bear and my chances are becoming very low with this dissconnection rate Teratus Vantian

Percentage

Assuming the 7000 run thing is correct, the drop rate is 1/500

That guy was spouting bs. Plain and simple. --66.190.15.232 23:00, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Agreed that is a load of crap why cant people just be honest here isnt that the whole point of this page?Teratus

Just a Thought

Just had an idea about the final on the 1st. I was thinking about the mini pig and how it was only available from Lunar fortunes at first then at the final everyone got one. What if the same happened for the polar bear at the final. It is just an idea but we can hope can't we lol. --60.231.26.47 10:54, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

HAHAHA that's what I call wishful thinking... I don't think it's gonna happen though :P -- Wyn 12:12, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Yea u can wish but it didn't happen last year and the mini polar bear was around last year too... ~The One To Fear

Quests

Does it matter which quest we take? And do we have to kill everything or can we skip few Grentches? Thanks – Barinthus 19:26, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

No and No -- Karasu (talk) 19:49, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

The ".1% is the drop rate" rumor

I've been thinking... The rumor that the drop rate for the MPB is .1% doesn't seem correct. Back when we were opening Lunar Fortunes like made, the possibility of getting a Miniature Celestial Rat was (supposedly) .4%. By the end of the event, there were well over 5,000 of these minis in the economy. The rumor that the MPB drops at a rate of .1% has to be false, or there would ~500 of these things roaming around. Pas2010

Oh, hey, you can do math. Good job. KStarfire 06:11, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

How do you know there aren't ~500 out there somewhere? Vili 07:15, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

And getting and using Lunar Fortunes is much faster than farming The Strength of Snow or Straight to the Heart. You can open over 200 fortunes is 5 minutes or less, but you can't farm the quests 200 times or more in that time. - JoPeTalk 07:36, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

According to the current data on this wiki, the drop rate is less than 0.06%. This number could of course be off, but the likelihood of it being as high as 0.1% is ridiculously low. Blood Red Giant 08:14, 30 December 2008 (UTC)

I have been counting with snowman summoners, which I'll burn at the finale - over 300 runs now and 0 mini polar bears. I also got 0 in 150 or so runs last year - the drop rate for this is incredibly low. --Falseprophet 17:44, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

You can't say anything about the drop rate with this research so far - it could be even 5% just that we all are totally unlucky.. poke | talk 17:49, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

That's true. But highly unlikely. We're talking in percentages, which are out of 100, and there's now around 2000 chests in the data: that's 20 sets of 100, easily enough to determine with a fair degree of certainty whether the drop rate is below 1% or not. --Mme. Donelle 00:11, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Well, the drop rate seems to be way below 1% judging from the data gathered. It should of course be below 1% because otherwise Anet could just have handed out the bear as a Wintersday present to everyone. However, the drop rate seems to be insanely low. As a 'normal' player (i.e. somebody without 10 'cousins' with 15 accounts each botting their life away) it seems to be almost impossible to even actually see a 'live' MPB. I've been at like 5 or 6 finales (happily changing between LA and Kamadan) without sighting even one of those rarities (and since it is the festival item you'd expect people to show it at the finale just like the celestial rat). Why create an item so rare that it will remain not only unowned but also unseen to like 99% of the players? And most of those who actually own one will most likely have their accounts banned sooner or later (for botting, buying GW accounts with in-game gold, buying gold, trading insane amounts of gold that would seem near impossible to gather by 'legal' means...) I am not saying that this applies to all MPB owners - some were probably just lucky, may they treat the little one well... --Iant 18:15, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

Stop wasting your time speculating girl and get out there and farm the little bugger, we still need 2 more of them for the party!!!! Manassas 10:44, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

I read about people getting the miniature after less than 10 runs. And I also have seen a lot of those miniatures already (even last Wintersday). The reason that you don't see the miniatures during the finales is because of those idling people that have their miniature activated that makes it impossible to get out any other miniature.. poke | talk 18:22, 1 January 2009 (UTC)

I just saw a mini polar bear roaming around in Kamadan - International District 6. I asked the owner how many runs it took them, they said 800 or so. *yikes* Pas2010

yeah, at last... I saw the bear :P Took me long enough to get into Am 1. Now I can rest in peace...--Iant 19:59, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

Just wondering if drop rate is affected my multiple logins from 1 ip adress, since there are 3 players in this household farming and no miniature polar bear for any of us. (we are way over 1000 runs together) 82.168.177.79 10:02, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Absolutely no one can tell you what affects the drop rate one way or the other since no one really knows what the drop rate is other than ArenaNet, and they aren't talking. -- Wyn/talk 10:31, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

Ya, the drop rate is more like 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% 69.131.130.201 17:44, 9 February 2009 (UTC)