Posts by Lady Lyn

  • Chat Filter - Filter out gold spammers.

    Quote from Smoke Nightvogue

    The thing which you described isn't related to a player's offline status, it's due to the requirement of a reported account to still remain in the same outpost by the time someone issues a report. :)

    My apologies, but my experience with this situation is different.

    They are still in the same district, yet can not be reported when they are set to offline.

    I have stood next to some of them in Ascalon and taken a screenshot of their active trade post,

    my report directly after their post, and the ANet statement that the player must be in the same district.

    Even though I have screenshot all of this all together, standing right next to the gold seller,

    it behaves as if they are not there.

    So yes, I do believe it's the off line setting that affects this 100%.

  • Happy Midsummer's Eve

    With all of it's kings and castles, princes and princesses, & magic and honor,

    Guild Wars reminds me of many other ancient customs and traditions.

    One of my favorites, besides Yuletide of course, is Midsummer's Eve!

    Summer Solstice falls on June 21st , and is always in line with the Midsummer Celebrations.

    Midsummer’s Eve, falls on June 23rd with Midsummer’s Day falling on June 24th!

    Summer Solstice is well known as the longest day of the year, and is followed by the shortest night.

    It is the direct polar opposite of the Winter Solstice and the Yuletide Celebrations,

    which observe the shortest day of the year followed by the longest night.

    The significance of the solstices are in the extremes, marking the beginning of a return to balance.

    While the Winter Solstice marks the beginning of the return of the light and warmth as the days grow longer,

    so the Summer Solstice marks the beginning of the return to dark and cold, as the days begin to grow shorter.

    Midsummer’s Eve, two days after the solstice, is celebrated as a magical time of year.

    It is one of the Ancient Spirit Nights, when the misty veil between the worlds is thinnest,

    and therefore most easily crossed by spirits and demons alike.

    This is a rare and wonderful time to commune with fairies and elves, but beware their tricks.

    William Shakespeare celebrated this event with his play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

    It is also known as Herb Evening, since it was also believed to be the most potent night of the year

    for the gathering of fresh magical herbs as well as all medicinal herbs.

    The Midsummer Festival celebrates the peak of the life giving power of the sun.

    Everything is in full bloom with the promise of coming abundance. Even Mother Nature celebrates with carefree abandon.

    Her breath of air is warm and alive, filled with the fragrance of fields and flowers.

    The sounds of the music of nature, the humming of bees and singing of birds, are joyful tunes

    to accompany the leaves dancing on the breeze in the treetops.

    Many of the ancients celebrated the element of fire on the Summer Solstice, representing the Sun.

    Fire also represented purification and the power of the element to drive away the dark,

    and any evil spirits that lingered therein. Leaping over fires was considered to bring good luck.

    This was a likely inspiration for the “Jack Be Nimble” poem from olden days .

    The element of water was also celebrated as the natural and welcome counterpart to the fire of sun.

    Rain was necessary for the continuing growth of the crops that were nurtured by the sun.

    Because of its magical timing, divining rods were usually cut on Midsummers Day as well.

    In fact, all divining was thought to be at a magical peak during this festive time of year.

    A flaming wheel was rolled downhill into a river or lake, representing the union of fire and water,

    and signifying the power and magnificence of the circle of life.

    The Mid Summer celebrations consisted of many traditions still known to us today.

    Before the festivities, homes were thoroughly cleaned and decorated with fresh flowers

    and other greenery, much like the "spring cleaning” rites still practiced today.

    Giant bonfires were lit with many of the gatherers feeding it and celebrating until first light of dawn.

    This tradition is still practiced by graduating classes at many educational institutions around the globe.

    Entire communities gathered to celebrate the light and warmth and beauty that surrounds us.

    Sweet breads, ale and preserved meats were set out on tables for those that gathered to feast on.

    Much of this is still incorporated into community block parties and giant extended community & corporate picnics.

    Not so common but still practiced today among smaller factions is the tradition of both singing and dancing

    around The Summer Birch, which was adorned with long colorful ribbons intertwined in the dance.

    There are several festival dances involving the Birch, but the most well known is “The Grand Chain”.

    Pairs of males and females would gather around the pole side by side, alternating M/F , M/F…

    Each would then take the end of a ribbon, dancing around the pole while weaving the ribbons.

    The men would move in one direction while the women moved in the opposite direction,

    both ducking under then lifting over each approaching ribbon, repeating this over and under pattern,

    until the pole was covered in a delightful rainbow weave.

    This practice is also conducted on May Day, when the Summer Birch is referred to as a May Pole.

    Birch is representative of fertility in the old northern cultures, and therefore of the coming abundance,

    while the dancers and ribbons signified the intertwining of the opposites to effect creation.

    For those that celebrate still, and for those with a strong nostalgia for days gone by,

    This is a time to be grateful for life and for all of the abundance surrounding us.

    I hope that your Midsummer is both magical and full of joy! :heart:

  • the poster above me

    The poster above me is artfully dodging the fact that not all experiments are really life improvements for all!

    (Just ask Frankenstein's monster...then again...if Mox is using hammers for surgery.............)

  • This or That?

    I would have to say passion fruit...

    I'm allergic to tropical fruits but passion sounds mounds more appealing (and fun) than guava,

    which sounds a lot like eggs in spanish, which would make a horrible tasting fruit in my opinion.

    Sesame Seeds or Poppy Seeds

  • Snipe a gold seller bot with a headshot

    Along time ago there was this conspiracy theory that A Net actually had gold sellers planted

    in each major outpost to bust those players that would actually dare to buy...

    I remember some gamers warning others in Kamadan not to buy from particular gold sellers,

    as this was the case...

    If there was any truth behind it, it could explain the slap on the wrist for some "spammer/bots"

    More to the point, I think that it takes ANet a couple of days to respond to each report,

    so the sellers just cycle their bots to ensure it's not a lengthier ban.

    I'm sure the consequences are more severe for players that continually spam,

    as opposed to those that only spam intermittently.

    Either way Looney, I do agree with your June 2nd post.

    It is the storage accounts that should be shut down, that would definitely do more harm.

    Just don't get yourself shut down for trying, violating the EULA is just that.

    ANet will say that there is no reasonable excuse...

  • Happy Father's Day!

    This is for all of the Fathers out there, Grand Fathers, Step Fathers, Fathers To Be,

    Big Brothers, Single Moms & Father Figures of Every Kind!

    Hope you All have a truly enjoyable day, surrounded by those you love and filled with fun and laughter.

    (Hope you're reading this Mike! ;) )

  • Chat Filter - Filter out gold spammers.

    Ditto what Max said, it's about maintaining a healthy economy.

    Without the ridiculous bouts of inflation, more people could afford to trade for

    nicer items, not just the privileged few who break the rules to get there.

    There is another problem that needs to be addressed with these gold sellers too,

    and that is their ability to fly under the radar using devious methods.

    In Kamadan as well as in Ascalon, you will often see their WTS in the Chat Dialogue Box.

    Often, it does not appear in the Trade section of the party window,

    and if you do go to report it you cannot, because they are posting offline.

    The /report feature does not register players in an outpost who are set to offline.

    There has to be a way around this, besides standing next to them

    with the chat log displaying their posts, and then taking a screenshot.

    I do that, then create another ticket with A Net for the gold seller box,

    and when A Net replies I attach the screenshots.

    I always get a Thank you we'll look into it, but in future please report in game.

    A Net does not want in game reports sent in this manner,

    but with offline yet active gold sellers, this seems to be the only solution so far.

  • Chat Filter - Filter out gold spammers.

    I've contacted A Net several times about adding Gold Sellers to the report menu.

    They've told me on as many occasions to report them as spamming.

    But what if they're not spamming? (I've been asked this by other players.)

    Then you ARE actually making a false report.

    The problem with sending a false report is this:

    In glaring red print on the report menu is that warning about false reporting

    and the consequences there after of abusing the system. Not good!

    I think that it will be less of a worry for players to report gold sellers if A Net would just put

    the darned box to check on the menu already.

    It's not as if they haven't been asked for years, and by hundreds other than me, I'm sure.

    Any one know these developers enough to ask them for this upgrade?

    Because it appears that this will be the only way we see it.

    And I'm sure that once it's in place the reports will flow like the Orinoco.

    (Still love ya Enya!)