Talk:Wintersday 2011

Odd/Even convention

There should be a note that this convention isn't universal. In 2010, the Europe/French districts operated on a "Kamadan supports Dwayna, Lion's Arch supports Grenth" basis. All Kamadan districts supported Dwayna, while all Lion's Arch districts supported Grenth. Cynique 16:47, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't think the evidence supports that the convention is a reliable predictor of where to go. Near as I can tell, everyone in 2010 who relied solely on an odd/even convention complained that they saw unexpected results. Accordingly, I've moved the comments about to the finale article and relegated it to Trivia (i.e. it's a historical footnote).

I've left in (and rephrased the general advice): enter early, take a look at where people are standing, and make sure the red:green ratio is in favor of the hat you want (if not, switch until it is). That advice is good unless the vast majority of people in a district decide to grief the minority by switching at the last minute. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 18:36, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The odd/even convention worked for me last year. Ramei Arashi 21:43, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

please can we have the grenchies and presents back in main towns its part of the gw Christmas festival ps Camadan is to white in colour

if we mention the odd/even convention, it must be made clear that the circle color is the important factor! I see people grouping through all LA dists on the red side, believing they represent Dwayna. When asked, they refer to some Youtube video as proof the odd/even number is enough 76.164.65.219 06:45, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

People being stupid this year. Kamanda 41 started out with one person on wrong circle, now bunch going there and not listening when told to move. Ramei Arashi 16:50, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

There's no right/wrong; it's a convention that is no longer being widely followed. Kamadan is particularly difficult for this since people enter the district on top of one set of circles (but not the other or on a neutral spot). As with 2010, no one in my guild has trouble finding a suitable district for a Grenth- or Dwayna-win in either Kam or LA, although some did have to rezone more this year. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 17:05, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Guild member told me some new players trying to change it to Kamadan=Dwayna and Lion's Arch=Grenth, but I found an LA district that stuck with tradition. Ramei Arashi 17:21, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

The problem with an LA/Kam convention is that not every player has NF (or Proph), so if there is an informal agreement, odd/even (or even AED vs EED) is more useful to more people. However, there's absolutely nothing that compels people in other guilds from following any particular pattern.

If you really want to ensure that a particular district goes Dwayna or Grenth, then get everyone (online) in your guild to go to the same district and stand together. 15+ players should be enough to skew the polling numbers sway the outcome. (Especially since a lot of folks will be looking for a district with an obvious majority and end up joining you.) – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 17:27, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

In American districts, its been odd-grenth, even- dwayna, everywhere i head. --Icyyy Blue 19:34, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

I have yet to find a Grenth-supporting district in any (I checked around) district of Kamadan nor LA. --71.182.181.169 20:12, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Dis 41 in Kamadan and dis 9 in LA.-Grenth supporters --Icyyy Blue 20:18, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Nearly every dist in LA was supporting Grenth (red rings). Don't go by what people tell you. Most think red is Dwayna. 76.164.65.219 20:28, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, most people think blue/green is for cold and death, while red is more spring warm. Green/Blue-Dwayna, Red-Grenth.--Icyyy Blue 20:46, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Lol, exactly. I've been telling them, green is for Life and Spring (Dwayna) and red is for the Blood they'll shed when I catch 'em in real life (Grenth) ;) 76.164.65.219 03:00, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

It's probably because it's backwards from the color conventions of the snowball fights (blue team = Grenth, red team = Dwayna). Also, it does look like people decided to base alignment on towns rather than traditional odd or even numbered districts, which seems very strange to me. It's easier to switch districts than towns, imo. It definitely sucks for any casual player or newbie who hasn't unlocked both towns (or hasn't gotten both campaigns). 66.68.80.26 06:36, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Related Screenshots

What, exactly, does a player who used a rabbit tonic and has the halo equipped have to do with Wintersday? Individual screenshots of players just hanging about shouldn't be included as part of the screenshot repertoire. I move that the rabbit screeny be deleted from the main page, less we want the page to be cluttered with random player screenshots. HanokOdbrook

It's here simply because it's funny (for someone), and the player in question isn't recognizable --Kyx 18:18, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

The Schedule is off by one day. I'm not sure with is correct though (Thur the 15th or Fri the 16th etc.) So I'll leave it for someone else to fix.

While its nice that the rabbit picture is not trying to use the wiki as a public fashion show, can it please go? Its not this year's costumes or even remotely Wintersday related ... Unless the snow counts? Which is notedly not a trait specific to Wintersday (EotN/Shiverpeaks). Some pictures of this Wintersday's costumes would be nice later this week though. Lillium 04:19, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

It's a rabbit wearing a wintersday hat; it adds a bit of local color on top of the routine displays. I'm in favor of articles like this having 1-2 such images. I think it's entirely appropriate to show players enjoying the event, especially when (as in this case), the individual can't be identified. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 07:38, 13 December 2011 (UTC)

Then why stop at 1 or 2? Why not have every player who wants themselves on the wiki to post a screenshot on the page? I have no issue with screenshots showing players, as long as they are not the focus of the shot. The focus of screenshots on this page should be the scenery of Wintersday, not the players. HanokOdbrook 20:43, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Removed the rabbit picture because it's not relevant to Wintersday 2011 - if it's on the wiki mainspace, it should be on Wintersday 2010 or on the Divine Halo's page.

It shouldn't be on any mainpage, for the reasons cited above - for the base Wintersday pages, there should be no player characters that are the focus a screenshot, unidentified or otherwise. Naturally, for the sake of imparting information, a character would need to be shown on pages dealing with equipment and headgear, but random screenshots such as the rabbit have no place, unless we want to include a screenshot of each tonic form wearing the relevant headgear for the page for informational purposes, which I think is overkill anyway. HanokOdbrook 20:43, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

If anything it is showing that the hat can be shown while under the influence of the tonic, that means it is a suitable image for the year of that hat, maybe not a wintersday in general pic though. and are we not signing nowadays, he he.Spark-TBa 12:31, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Updated my comments - had to find my login info again (didn't feel like going through reset procedure). Anyway as agreed, these type of shots should not be on the main Wintersday pages, but on the headgear page itself. That being said, a simple note that the headgear does (or does not) show up while in tonic form can suit that purpose just as well. That is unless we want to create a "tonic" gallery for each type of headgear in fashion with the "dyed galleries" that are on equipment pages. HanokOdbrook 20:43, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Skele Farm Equivalent

As the title suggests, is there a quest ppl use, similar the the skele farm that is repeatable and gives plenty of gifts/gold? Kraal Fardale

Operation: Crush Spirits was a big farm last year, though whether it still will be or if they fixed it for this year so it isn't as farm-able. Last year you could skip most of the quest and finish the quest easily in around 5~7 minutes and some people even said they finish it in under 2 minutes. Also if you have a Ranger, Snowball Dominance is a good farm and gives a nice chunk of Vanguard reputation as well. Mattsta 21:46, 14 December 2011 (UTC)

Dunno anything about Operation: Crush Spirits, but Snowball Dominance is simple, repeatable, and relatively rewarding. You can be whatever primary profession you want to be, although Ranger might be easiest/fastest. Join up with another person who is ranger or take a hero, and bring a pet for both of you, that can tank and group the opposite team, and allow your team to AoE spike them. Furthermore, the quest rewards 500 Vanguard Points, so it's a help to improve the title on characters who needs it improved, due to Monument Armor or what not. 77.213.235.141 18:19, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

costumes

ive seen the lyssa/kormir ones advertised in the character selection 109.155.218.238 20:07, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Just my opinion, but I think they look bad on male toons. Ramei Arashi 21:14, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Jingle Pet.

So, no new Jingle pet this year, again. Titan Crow 11:12, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

and which pet would you like to see a jingle version of, just curious.Spark-TBa 14:35, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Jingle eagle/raven ofcourse... (with a nice little hat) --The Holy Dragons 14:37, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

I would love to have a white raven, not necessarily jingle. Snowstone 16:45, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

for me, i know they would never do it, but a jingle phoenix, with the rainbow phoenix skin.Spark-TBa 10:03, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Well, a lot of the white pets could work (White Tiger, White Wolf , Albino Rat, Crane) but for me personaly, I would like to see a Jingle Lion (White Lion) or a Jingle Wolf or Stalker. Titan Crow 11:01, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Also, I'd love to see a white raven, like Snowstone said. Titan Crow 11:48, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Unfortunately, that would just look like a seagull to me :(---shmEk (talk) 17:59, 29 December 2011 (UTC)

Lyssa and Kormir sides

Is there any statement during this WD about which side they are on? We know Balthazar supported Grenth and Melandru Dwayna during last year but I can only find more priests of Melandru and Balthazar with the WD2010 costumes instead of representatives wearing the new Lyssa and Kormir costumes. Lokheit 21:55, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Maybe they're staying neutral to keep things from getting crazy. --72.194.109.166 23:47, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

It makes sense that new ones don't join, but I'm still surprised it was Melandru and not Lyssa, since Lyssa shares spring with Dwayna (in Elona, at least) and also has ties to celebrations. So if they were to pick sides, Kormir who's tied to the Sunspears (a military) would likely join Balthazar, while Lyssa would join Dwayna. Konig/talk 10:15, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

Except that death is the ultimate truth and Kormir wears white the color of snow. Ramei Arashi 04:00, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Kormir is gold, you know. And I wouldn't really say "death is the ultimate truth" - that's a relatively pessimistic view of life, and certainly not an absolute view of life. Konig/talk 04:42, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

death being the ultimate truth is a factual statement, its the one thing that every living thing has in common at every stage of life, it will at some point die  :)Spark-TBa 12:27, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

That's merely a universal fact, not "ultimate truth" (just true) - and one bound solely to reality. In fantasy like GW, that isn't necessarily the case (as given by Dhuum, who somehow survived being usurped - something Abaddon didn't). Konig/talk 16:49, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

u win  :)Spark-TBa 23:52, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

For some reason (in case it's revealed at some point) I expect Lyssa to join Grenth side (maybe I was biased as Lyssa is my fav. goddes followed by Grenth and Balthazar who are teammates on wintersday...). Something about her chaotic nature tells me she would join the "winter guys" (plus, she's taken control over water element on gw2), and Kormir seems to me like the kind of goddes that would join Melandru and Dwayna. Maybe that's just me. Lokheit 19:54, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Everything dies in Tyria including gods, so yes death is the ultimate truth. Ramei Arashi 00:00, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

Most NPC's don't die, the monsters that you kill don't really die (seeing as all you have to do is reload the area you're in and poof! They're back), players don't really die due to any res skill, or just map traveling/resigning back to town, etc. In fact, the argument can be made that NOTHING dies in Tyria.67.181.180.101 01:17, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

While we're splitting virtual hairs, I must point out that when the servers finally go down at some point in the future, everything in GW will die a final death. ;) 78.92.0.1 20:31, 27 December 2011 (UTC)

Then you first gotta proof they don't continue living in some form in some alternate dimension or something. No absolute, undefeatable truths can be given. It may seem unlikely, but who's to say that everything we humans make up doesn't spring to live in some alternate, distant world? 77.251.214.192 08:37, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Music

Is the music in Kamadan and LA new this year? I don't remember having heard it the last time. -- Hong 16:35, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

Nope, this music has been here every Wintersday since the beginning. --Musha 09:01, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

They seem to have beefed up that one exclusive piece of music that plays during Wintersday. It sounds a lot more dramatic now. 85.19.140.9 20:43, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

And it's that one piece of unique music (along w' the Battle of Abaddon) that makes me *sad face* 'cos niether were included on the albums of Guild Wars. :'( Donutdude 18:42, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

pve gamer

Does anyone know of any info pertaining to us getting any wintersday pve gamer stuff like we got at Halloween, I really enjoyed that. From Spark-TBa.31.98.195.0 09:02, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

There's always the quests... --Musha 10:54, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

they dont give gamer points though, was hoping for a pve way to get them since it is a pve title :) and i prefer pve.  :)Spark-TBa 11:38, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Actually, Gamer is a PvP title, since there was no way to gain points in PvE until the past Halloween Kyx 12:30, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

anet class it as a pve, so therefore so do I  :)Spark-TBa 12:38, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

Actually Kyx, there was one highly inefficient way. Konig/talk 16:50, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

i didnt think you could get gamer points unless there were other players involved, therfore that was pvp as well.Spark-TBa 19:08, 18 December 2011 (UTC)

btw, why does gamer/skillz title still count as a pve title? isn't that a mistake that should be fixed? the main ways of increasing this title is through games that are fairly similar to RA, so I really don't understand why it's not a pvp title 77.213.235.141 10:50, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

probably goes back to the days you had to pve to get to PvP arenas, before the introduction of PvP only characters and the battle isles, that would be a logical tjeory. From Spark-TBa.31.98.195.0 12:10, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Except that the gamer title wasn't introduced until after all that. --Musha 21:07, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Event_countdown / event_timer template

I need someone with more experience in templates to help me with Template:Event countdown so that it can display two Template:Event timer on the same page. I added an rightalign</tt.> parameter to Event Timer template, but some reason it won't propagate to Event Countdown template. Thanks. Darthlight 01:16, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Grenchies / LA/CAM/ASCALON

please can we have the grenchies and presents back in main towns its part of the gw Christmas festival why remove the presents and grenchies after all these years?

Did Anet give any reason as to why? It's not like it's a very profitable "farm", but I remember my first Wintersday when I was still not familiar with the usual builds and farming runs, I used to stack up on some of these gifts and sell off the contents. 85.19.140.9 21:31, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

one possible reason is at festivals these locations are quite prone to lag spikes for alto of people. Maybe they took away 20-30 npc's to help prevent this. From Spark-TBa.31.98.195.0 18:13, 20 December 2011 (UTC)

Or it could be that they've always added them in later than the actual map change. derp. 24.97.171.213 13:19, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

the update notes from the 15th of December (I think) said that they were removed from the festivities. So they probably aren't gonna be introduced later. From Spark-TBa.31.98.195.0 13:41, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

Hmm.. seems like this was an unneeded removal. My computer is on the verge of becoming legacy. I understand the issues of lag. In my opinion, it would have been much more effective to add other zoning spawn points to LA/Kama (etc). If you've noticed for the past few events, everyone spawns in one spot during the whole event. Loading up an area packed with people (many who are away) while on a slow connection or slow computer (or both) has a much greater effect than the grenchies. -- Magic Talk 22:19, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

i still have my 3 spawn points atm, wether it will change i dont know, still have near rings, on hill near the rings, and near boat.Spark-TBa 13:12, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

That's really too bad .. seems that SOME of the Grentches are on the the other side. Granted, it's not a huge farm by any means, but I always figured it was a good way to pass the time without having to worry about DP, etc. Hope that someone will re-think this and bring it back (even if not until next year) Algonda 19:53, 26 December 2011 (UTC)

Wintersday 2011 Hat Preview

German wiki reveals new hats. --Falconeye 23:51, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

Hat Preview

If you want more than just icons (lol^). Not sure what they plan on doing with the bottom one or why there is different versions. They are not dye-able. It seems that both of them will probably have weird clipping issues. [ Preview ] MadMaxx 04:54, 21 December 2011 (UTC)

hmm, interesting, i can say i somewhat like all versions on that preview, cant wait to see what will anet actually give.. tho the male hood looks a bit funny Equiliym 13:10, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

I'd say Hood + unstriped scarf is LA, striped scarves are Kama (or vice versa). Blue is Grenth wins, red is Dwayna. That would make the most sense to me, anyway.67.181.180.101 01:22, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

Where did you get those pics MadMax? -- Sagi 07:49, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

On Facebook, it said that there will be only two hats. I'm the guy who made the icons linked above, and I'm wondering if the red and the gray hood are different versions of which I did not find the gray one. --numma_cway 17:25, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

2 hats would work, the hood and the scarf, the stripes/complete color could be dye variations. but i dont know how they get the images before release like that so i might be completely wrong :PSpark-TBa 20:47, 23 December 2011 (UTC)

To be clear, there is only one version of the hood. In the standalone views I have it dyed white and in the views with the costumes it is the default red. As for the scarves, there are three versions of them as pictured and dye has no effect on any of them. MadMaxx 01:24, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

So you have them already? Are you from dev/test crew? -- Sagi 09:24, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

If so then he's breaking some NDA I'm sure. But more likely the textures are just in the .dat file, as several people know how to read that. --ஸ Kyoshi 16:12, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

I think that that is just some kind of hack like GW-DressUp. To get the icons, you just need to know how a bit about the FFNA-type files in the gw.dat (and that there are different types of them), which is rather simple, but very few people know that. --numma_cway 21:19, 24 December 2011 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Yep, there are different types of ffna archives―models (armor, costumes, weapons, items, npcs, static objects, effects), maps, icons, etc. Every item has a corresponding ffna that defines/contains what icon it uses, its model (if it has one, otherwise uses the default red bag) that can be wielded or dropped on the ground, etc. And of course when the client is instructed to load an item for the first time it will extract the icon. In the event that an item doesn't have an icon defined, it will use the default. Each armor and costume set occupies many ffnas because there are separate models for every profession. In general, there are various methods that can be used to manipulate the client into showing these things. MadMaxx 05:38, 25 December 2011 (UTC)

Number of gifts

I got 24 gifts from Dwayna this year in the first finale, LA American District 30! How did other people fair? 76.164.65.219 08:37, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Finales glitch

Has there really accured glitch in high LA dists? I was in eed2 and got my scarves regulary, but then I was waiting in aed86, because ppl there told me the gods haven't been there yet. Also a few allies confirmed that there's no finale in aed85. Anyone else experienced with this? -- Sagi 08:46, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

No, its well known that if districts are created after the deities have arrived, then there will be no event in that district until the next time. No glitch, just people trying to jump in for doubles and getting disappointed. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.251.125.248 (talk).

Ohh, I thought that those ppl won't receive hats, but the gods would still arrive. Well, nothing then. -- Sagi 09:25, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Scarves

so, where do i get now what scarf? someone said there are 4, not 3. --Mystic Gohan 09:22, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Just three. See Wintersday 2011. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 09:24, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

and where do i get which? it doesn't make any sense for me to have 3. there are 2 cities participating, the dwaynas hat will be given in LA and Kamadan, so there are 2 left for me ... --Mystic Gohan 09:29, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Wintersday 2011#Festival hats. --Silver Edge 09:30, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) You get the hood by being in a district where Dwayna wins the mini game; you get the scarves if Grenth wins. If you somehow end up with only one scarf, turn it into the hat maker and you'll be able to create all three. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 09:32, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

so you get in both cities the same? ... why doens't that say someone from the beginning :/ it is new so someone should have mentioned it --Mystic Gohan 09:41, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

The Wintersday articles have always stated this because it's always been true during Wintersday. (Except for one year, where there were four possibilities instead of two.) The difference this year is that there are three hats (the scarves) for Grenth-winning districts (probably a concession to the fact that they cannot be dyed).

And to clarify: the city doesn't matter, but the God that wins the mini game does. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 09:59, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Scarfs should be costume... I want to wear the red scarf with the winterhood, which matches perfectly with my armor. However, both are hats. So stupid... --Jorre22225 14:25, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

And scarf glitches on neck from behind :( Especially when you have high brim from top part of armor..--☯Yen☯ 15:05, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

There is no satisfying you people. :| [ Tyloric ] [ Talk ] 16:30, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

The hood is even worse with the clipping issues. Da Mystic Reaper 19:45, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

you ppl can never be satisfied! i am, both are great for me :) --Icyyy Blue 19:54, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

The hood goes splendidly with my Norn Monk armor. [ Tyloric ] [ Talk ] 01:29, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Winterday Finale Bug Confirmed

I have discovered a cool bug. During the Finale of Wintersday, if you have someone in your party and you are the party leader, you seem to get more presents. So far it seems to be 13 extra per event. This does not work if you party with a hench. It has to be a real person. I have confirmed this and so have some of my guild mates.--Mistesrian 22:54, 1 January 2012 (UTC)--24.7.170.200

The amount is random if you're playing for the gods. I've got guildies paired up from SD and they've received equal amounts over the course of 3 events.(They weren’t playing for the gods.) Sardaukar 22:56, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

I was partied with my wife's account, she was the leader, I got significantly more presents, I'd say it's random. 81.229.165.241 23:29, 1 January 2012 (UTC)

Hmm, I have not had a large enough sample to play with so I guess it is random. So far with all my accounts it seems to be the leader for some reason. Thanks all for the info.--Mistesrian 00:59, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

One thing that would definitely affect the amount would be whether you're playing for the gods or not. A person playing for the gods (on a ring with shards in their inventory), would get more gifts than a person not playing for the gods. Sardaukar 01:52, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

It's definitely a random thing. I've been playing with the same group of 4 (4 of my own accounts) all standing in the center ring for each finale. And the lead account does not have the most presents. 173.180.115.159 05:03, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

Now that it's all over I can say that, over all 9 events, members of our guild received either 13 or 26 if not playing for a god and a random amount more if playing. Sardaukar 11:40, 2 January 2012 (UTC)

I also noticed this issue during that day, however, no one here indicated if the accounts involved were in the same district and on the same circle with one another. The only time I noticed this is when I afked the first two and final two events with two accounts set as indicated. Both had an equal number of shards, and in the case of the final two events - no gifts in inventory, to confirm what I noticed from the first two events of the day. Lucky points gained remained the same, but the number of shards left in inventory were different as were the number of gifts received. This did not happen at any of the other events where I did afk, but was otherwise active in the game outside of each finale. I mentioned this in a support thread on the official Support forums, and even Gaile couldn't figure it out.HanokOdbrook 18:43, 11 January 2012 (UTC)