For this year, I decided to make a couple of videos to promote the event. The first is simply done with music; the second I tried to do a little bit of voice-over. Be kind, I've never done this sorta thing before! (obviously watch with sound on! :P )
So, I really wasn't sure what to expect and how many should show, but I wanted to accommodate people who did show up and give them a little treat. I began by scouting the guild hall and quickly realized that there were some places people hadn't even seen. I found an area that would be perfect: a little lost lagoon in the upper corner of the map. Getting there, however, was an adventure all to itself: Apparently, the developers had closed off the area and only allowed access to it by doing some crazy maneuvering, in what seems like a pretty ill-conceived jumping puzzle. After finally accessing the area, I went about finding a quicker way to get there.
Enter Oakheart's Essence. The new map, Draconis Mons, allows for quick exploration by obtaining a mastery and activating an "Oakheart's Essence" node. This gives the user a grapple gun (so to speak), allowing them to launch their characters into the air and get very high. When I learned this ability could be used in the guild hall, I was super excited! However, the node must exist in the guild hall, and our guild leader (who usually does the decorating) has been away from GW2.
Left to my own devices, I began research. Apparently, I needed to create an Oakheart's Essence node, of which I had no clue how to do. While I may not have superior research skills for crafting stuff / how to obtain stuff in this game (crafting things generally gives me migraines), I was able to find that 25 flowers from this new map allows a player to buy a node. I farmed the map, bought the object, then feverishly went to the guild hall... Then I stood there. How was one supposed to even place the node down? It was in my inventory, but I couldn't do anything with it!
Frustratingly not finding much information online (perhaps I just don't know where to look since I've never really done any decoration), I began talking to each and every vendor in the guild hall. I discovered there's one vendor which allows a player to donate the currency - in this case simply called "Oakheart's Essence" - to buy an "Oakheart's Essence." Seriously? These things are named exactly the same, and have the same icon and are virtually indistinguishable. Maybe I should have added the word, "node" to my search or "guild decoration"? I don't know. Either way, I found the guy! I bought the node! And then... nothing. I stood there. What the hell was I supposed to do now? I got the flowers, bought the thing, used the thing for the decoration thing. Now what?
Well, duh! I have to place it! But how? I've never decorated anything in this game in my life. I began my research. Unfortunately, all information I found was about how to decorate, where to place things, how to build certain things, etc... Nothing actually showed HOW to get into the placement interface. I was sooooo close, but I simply couldn't find anything that actually explained how to get the interface up I was seeing in videos of people building things online. I checked my rank, thinking I simply didn't have rights. Nope! As an officer, I have the ability to add / remove decorations in the guild hall, but how to get the damn interface up?!? Frustrated, I asked around in map chat in Lion's Arch. For a game that prides itself on a friendly community, this was simply not a good example. Finally, someone from the guild got online and I was able to ask a fellow guildmate! However, there was a miscommunication and I got an explanation of how to purchase the currency from the map vendor. /facepalm Again, after some time, it was explained to me how to actually go into "Decoration" mode and I was all set!
I began by placing a node right when you show up in the guild hall. This would allow members to quickly jump to the bank or to the tavern, etc... quickly. Then after placing it here, I decided to go back and farm some more flowers for an additional node near my little corner of the map. This allowed anyone to access what I began to think of as "Doot's Lagoon," where the party was to be held. Finally, I began to decorate the area, adding diving platforms, balloons and an additional two nodes (one of which was donated by a fellow guildmate). All of this took place over the course of a week and when I was finally finished, I lit up the way with a line of floating lanterns which guild members could follow to access the hidden area.
I've since built a mini jumping puzzle for those without the mastery to obtain access to Doot's Lagoon and have decided to leave the area decorated through the summer. I've been thinking about hosting a RP event there, which I may do in the coming months. All-in-all, even though there wasn't alot of people that showed up, I really enjoyed playing in the area with the people that did and look forward to further playing around with object placement in the guild hall. [note: since this post, I've removed all customizations and decorations at the request of the guild leader]
Also, before the party started, I took the time to place 11 wagons throughout the guild hall, limited to the left side of the map. I held a contest for attendees of the party to take screenshots with every wagon. This turned out to be a tremendous success and all those involved simply love it! I awarded the winner with a pair of shades from the gemstore. I may well be doing this sort of scavenger hunt type of event in the future. [Click here to reveal all wagon locations]
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