Foostival 2014 – coming to a place close(r) to you

You may have already heard about the Foostival that took place last year and maybe you have also already seen the hints and messages about Foostival 2014.  But if you haven’t, I am here to bring you up-to-date on what has been released so far.

So, in case you haven’t heard of any of that before and are now wondering what a “Foostival” is, watch the video below. In short, Foostival 2013 took place in France. Several French fansites had organized this event for players to get together and have some fun! They even managed to drag the French community manager there. :)

For Foostival 2014, the French organizers reached out to other European fansites and invited them to host a Foostival of their own. Unfortunately, while several fansites were interested, finding enough people to organize it and then finding fitting revenues were the most common problems which means that some countries cannot participate. But hopefully next year, guys! However, we are proud to say that Foostival will be organized by fansites from these countries: France, Germany, Romania and Spain are participating! So far, we know that the French Foostival will be in Paris again, just like last year. The German one will take place in one of the most beautiful cities that Germany has, in Hamburg!

Fansites saying Hello Europe – or something like that:

And a look behind the scenes – make sure to turn on the English captions for subtitles.

A few videos have appeared on YouTube. The first three show you some in-game fun:

More details will appear on the official Foostival channels in the days leading up to the Foostival, so be sure to watch those closely: Facebook page, Twitter and Google+

You’re invited to our Christmas Party!

Christmas is actually not that far off anymore. We watched “Love Actually” yesterday which starts 5 weeks before Christmas and everybody already seems to be in a Christmas mood. Look at the calendar, count the weeks. Yup.

Our guild, Dragon Season, is having its Christmas Party on December 6, 9.30pm GMT +2 (or look here for your time zone). It’s organized by me, just like our last guild party. :)

As is usual for us, we do not restrict the party to guild members. If you want to tag along, feel free to do so. Everybody is invited! We will have games, prizes (we’re still taking donations, by the way :p) and lots of fun. The meeting point will be the Biergarten in Hoelbrak and I assume you’ll find us somewhere around that place throughout the evening.

We’re still on EU Aurora Glade, which sadly means that those who cannot guest to EU servers can’t party with us. :( I still really hate this restriction!

Costumes, dyes and community events

Myst had invited our guild to a Halloween event on our server and to celebrate properly, I bought the witch costume… my asura just looks too cute in it and it seems to be one of the few clothing pieces that actually looks different on female and male asura. When the Tequatl Rising dyes first appeared, I’d bought the algae dye for my warrior. She just looks good in toxic bright colours! You can see that dye in the screenshot together with emerald dye.

What I had not known until then was that dyes on costumes stay even if you give the costume piece to another of your characters. So I gave the costume to my charr and it’s all still algae and emerald. This is probably widely known already and I’m the only person who hadn’t figured it out yet. ;)

But I love that at least a tiny little part of clothes can be dyed by just one character and the others don’t need to unlock any dyes for that. My warrior is working her way through the rare dyes now. She unlocked all common and uncommon ones. I doubt I’ll get the really expensive ones like deep glacial dye (147 gold… seriously?).

And speaking of the Halloween event: It was a lot of fun. Thank you again, Myst, for inviting us! I’ve even won something for my costume. I was dressed as a bed of roses. Paerjja got third place, following bookahnerk with his sophisticated monocle on second place and a quaggan with a kite on first place. Come on. Quaggan! With a tiny kite! We had no chance. ;)

It was also the first event where I had no organizer role and could just relax and enjoy myself. But to be honest, I’m just looking forward to the next two events that we’re planning… one will be in December, our guild’s winter party. As is usual for our guild’s parties: Everybody can join! You’ll hear more about it here when we get closer to the event. :)

Pink Day in LA 2013

Note: This entry is available in English, German and Greek. Please scroll to the section that you prefer. :)
(Greek translation by Valliant from Dragon Season. Thank you!)
If you’re a longtime Guild Wars player, you may have already heard about Pink Day in LA in the past or maybe even participated.

In short, this is a community-driven charity event that has been taking place in Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 every year since 2007. The goal of this event is to raise awareness of (breast) cancer and collect donations for the Canadian Cancer Society. You can find all the important information in a nutshell in Rhonda’s post on the official GW2 forum. This year, Pink Day in LA will take place on October 19, 12-6pm Central. Find your local time here in case those time zones are confusing, as they usually are. ;)

Last year marked the premier of Pink Day in LA in Guild Wars 2. Of course, Dragon Season and Nerdy Bookahs participated (see picture)! Or, to be more precise, we helped organize it. This year, we will host it again on Aurora Glade (EU server). You’re welcome to guest over and join us! Desolation and Gandara will be two other European servers that are going to host the events if you rather prefer to go there. And if you’re from the US or playing on US servers at least, there are choices for you as well. I am not 100% sure about the participating servers right now, but I think it’s going to be Henge of Denravi, Stormbluff Isle, Tarnished Coast and Northern Shiverpeaks.

It’s important to note that even if you do not have money or don’t want to donate anything for whatever reason, you can still participate in the event in-game and win in-game prizes! Or, you know, just have fun and enjoy yourself while playing with others. ;) Just one important rule: Wear pink!

If you do donate at least 10 Canadian dollars, you’re eligible for the real life prize draws. If you ask me, the best prizes are the two GW2 pocket watches! One will go to a North American winner and one to a European winner.

We hope we will see you on October 19! And don’t forget: Dress in pink!

***

Anmerkung: Diesen Eintrag könnte ihr auf deutsch, englisch oder griechisch lesen. Scrollt einfach zu eurer favorisierten Sprache. ;)
(Die griechische Übersetzung kommt von Valliant von Dragon Season. Vielen Dank hierfür!)
Wenn ihr schon länger Guild Wars spielt, habt ihr vielleicht schon von Pink Day in LA gehört oder vielleicht sogar schon mal mitgemacht.

Kurz gesagt, Pink Day in LA ist ein von der Community organisierter Event, der seit 2007 jedes Jahr in Guild Wars und jetzt auch in Guild Wars 2 stattfindet. Ziel ist es, das Thema (Brust-)krebs stärker ins Bewusstsein zu rufen und Spenden für die Canadian Cancer Society zu sammeln. Ihr könnt alles Wichtige darüber im (leider nur englischen) Posting von Rhonda im offiziellen GW2 forum finden. Dieses Jahr wird Pink Day in LA am 19. Oktober zwischen 12 und 18 Uhr (Central time) stattfinden. Für die Umrechnung in unsere Zeitzone folgt diesem Link.

Letztes Jahr fand Pink Day in LA zum ersten Mal in Guild Wars 2 statt. Natürlich waren wir mit Dragon Season und Nerdy Bookahs dabei (s. Bild links). Nicht nur als Teilnehmer, sondern sogar als Helfer der Organisation. Dieses Jahr machen wir das gleiche wieder auf Lichtung der Morgenröte (Aurora Glade, EU-Server, englisch). Kommt und besucht uns auf dem Server, wenn ihr am Event teilnehmen möchtet! Außerdem wird Pink Day in LA noch auf Ödnis (Desolation) und Gandara (Gandara ^^) stattfinden. Falls ihr auf US-Servern spielen solltet, könnt ihr auf Henge of Denravi, Stormbluff Isle, Tarnished Coast und Northern Shiverpeaks mitmachen. Ganz sicher bin ich mir bei der Liste allerdings gerade nicht.

Falls ihr kein Geld spenden wollt oder könnt, aus welchen Gründen auch immer, könnt ihr natürlich trotzdem mitmischen and in-game Preise gewinnen! Oder auch einfach nur so, ganz aus Spaß, mitmachen. Es gibt nur eine sehr wichtige Regel: Tragt pink!

Wenn ihr aber mindestens 10 kanadische Dollar spendet, dann kommt ihr automatisch in die Lostrommel für die “echten” Preise. Meiner Meinung nach geht ja nichts über die 2 Taschenuhren! Eine für einen nordamerikanischen und eine für einen europäischen Gewinner.

Hoffentlich sehen wir uns am 19. Oktober! Und vergesst nicht: Kleidet euch ganz in pink!

***

Σημείωση: Το κείμενο αυτό είναι διαθέσιμο στα Αγγλικά, Γερμανικά και στα Ελληνικά. Παρακαλώ βρείτε παρακάτω την ενότητα που προτιμάτε :)
(Ελληνική μετάφραση από τον Valliant του Dragon Season. Ευχαριστώ! – Paeroka)
Αν είστε παίκτης του Guild Wars για μεγάλο διάστημα, τότε πιθανόν να έχετε ακούσει κάτι σχετικά με το Pink Day in LA στο παρελθόν ή ίσως και να συμμετείχατε ακόμη.

Εν συντομία πρόκειται για ένα φιλανθρωπικό γεγονός, κατευθυνόμενο από τη κοινότητα, το οποίο λαμβάνει χώρα τόσο στο Guild Wars όσο και στο Guild Wars 2 κάθε χρόνο από το 2007. Ο σκοπός του είναι να αυξήσει την επίγνωση του κόσμου σχετικά με το καρκίνο (του μαστού) και να συγκεντρώσει δωρεές υπέρ της Canadian Cancer Society. Μπορείτε να βρείτε όλες τις σημαντικές πληροφορίες συγκεντρωμένες στο πόστ της Rhonda στο επίσημο GW2 forum. Αυτή τη χρονιά, το Pink Day in LA θα λάβει χώρα στις 19 Οκτωβρίου, 12-6pm CEST. Βρείτε τη τοπική σας ώρα μέσω του ιστότοπου αυτού αν ακόμα σας μπερδεύουν οι χρονικές ζώνες, όπως συνήθως συμβαίνει ;)

Η περσινή χρονιά σηματοδότησε τη πρεμιέρα του Pink Day in LA στο Guild Wars 2. Φυσικά οι Dragon Season και οι Nerdy Bookahs συμμετείχαμε σε αυτή (δείτε την εικόνα)! Ή, για να είμαστε πιο ακριβείς, βοηθήσαμε στην οργάνωσή του. Αυτή τη χρονιά θα είμαστε ξανά οι οικοδεσπότες του στον Aurora Glade (EU server). Είστε ευπρόσδεκτοι να έλθετε ως guest και να μας συντροφέψετε! Οι Desolation και Gandara θα είναι ακόμη δύο Ευρωπαϊκοί server που θα φιλοξενήσουν το ίδιο event σε περίπτωση που προτιμάτε να πάτε κάπου αλλού. Αλλά κι αν είστε από τις ΗΠΑ ή παίζετε σε Αμερικάνικους server, υπάρχουν και για εσάς επιλογές. Δεν είμαι 100% βέβαιη αυτή τη στιγμή για το ποιοι server θα λάβουν μέρος, ωστόσο νομίζω ότι πρόκειται να είναι οι Henge of Denravi, Stormbluff Isle, Tarnished Coast και Northern Shiverpeaks.

Είναι σημαντικό να σημειώσετε ότι ακόμη κι αν δεν έχετε τα χρήματα ή τη πρόθεση να δωρίσετε κάτι, για οποιονδήποτε λόγο, μπορείτε ακόμη κι έτσι να λάβετε μέρος στο event μέσα στο παιχνίδι και να κερδίσετε δώρα του παιχνιδιού! Ή απλά, ξέρετε, να διασκεδάσετε και να ευχαριστηθείτε παίζοντας με τους υπόλοιπους ;) Μόνο ένας βαρυσήμαντος κανόνας υπάρχει: Φορέστε Ροζ!

Εάν δωρίσετε 10 Δολλάρια Καναδά τουλάχιστον, τότε θα είστε επιλέξιμος για τη κλήρωση που θα γίνει με έπαθλο πραγματικά δώρα. Αν θέλετε τη γνώμη μου, τα καλύτερα δώρα είναι τα δύο ρολόγια τσέπης του GW2! Ένα θα πάει σε νικητή της Βόρειας Αμερικής και ένα στον αντίστοιχο της Ευρώπης.

Ελπίζουμε να σας δούμε εκεί, στις 19 Οκτωβρίου! Και μη το ξεχάσετε: ντυθείτε στα ροζ!

Newbie Blogger Initiative 2013

The Newbie Blogger Initiative 2 is starting tomorrow. Some of you may remember that last year, Syp from Bio Break had initiated the first round. The result of the NBI was a forum filled with questions surrounding blogging, helpful answers and discussions. Additionally, several people started blogging as a result. Unfortunately, the forum where most of the conversations took place isn’t available anymore.

But as this initiative had been really successful and popular, the second round has now been started. Syp is not “in charge” anymore, but the NBI has instead gotten a permanent home at http://www.newbiebloggerinitiative.com from Roger Edwards. NBI officially starts on October 1. You can already sign up on the forums as either a sponsor (giving advice, answering questions and so on) or a newbie if you have recently started or are thinking about starting a blog. If it’s anything like last year – and I strongly assume it will be – then we will once again have a warm and welcoming atmosphere where no question is too dumb to be asked and a lot of bloggers will gladly help out with all sorts of problems you may be having. NBI also has a page with goals listed.

So, if you’ve ever thought about starting a new blog, now is the perfect time to do so!