If You're Reading This It May Already Be Too Late...

This is going to count as one of the tardiest PSAs ever but better late, as they say. I wouldn't have thought to mention it at all had Mrs. Bhagpuss not appeared behind me as I was about to log in for my dailies in Guild Wars 2 this morning to tell me there was a free gift in the Black Lion store (Which she confusingly referred to as "The Red Lion", as if it was a pub.)

As it happened, I already knew there was a freebie because I'd picked it up yesterday on both the two accounts I'm playing regularly. It's one of those Black Lion Claim Tickets that entitle you to a free weapon skin or some such cosmetic doodaddle. I only took it because it was there. I never turn down a free gift, even one I don't want. That would just be rude.

All I ever do with the things is throw them in the bank. I rarely even click on them or visit the vendor that takes them to see what they buy. This time, though, I was fortunate enough to have Mrs. Bhagpuss to advise me. 

She was keen that I should know there was an option right at the bottom of the vendor's inventory where you can buy something called a "Vintage Black Lion Weapon Box". As far as I can tell, this is a new addition to the game. The wiki entry doesn't give a date but the History there only goes back as far as last month.

Mrs. Bhagpuss told me the boxes contained all the old skins that used to be in Black Lion Chests, the game's heavily overpriced lockboxes. Okay, to be strictly accurate, it's the Black Lion Keys that open the boxes that are overpriced but it's always the keys, isn't it? I don't know why we talk about lockboxes being the problem. Does any game actually sell the boxes?

Getting back to the free ticket, my usual problem with them is that I suffer from choice paralysis. I hate choosing one item to pick from a list. Faced with a whole lot of things I could spend my tickets on I prefer not to spend them at all. Not making a choice means that, notionally, I own everything. So much more satisfying.

I have no such compunctions when it comes to shoving my hand into a virtual bran barrel. I love lockboxes just so long as no-one's expecting me to pay for them. I particularly love them when they're extremely likely to contain something I don't have and have a high chance it might be something I want. 

Better yet if it's something I can sell. All the skins that come out of these boxes are tradeable as far as I know. What's more, so are the boxes. Mrs. Bhagpuss mentioned that, should I not want to open the box, I could just take the money, currently somewhere around 30 gold, by hawking them on the Trading Post.

I didn't do that. I opened mine. One free ticket on each of my three accounts, the third of which I logged in for the first time in months just for the purpose. 

I even logged my free account in to see if ArenaNet were going to be super-generous. Unsurprisngly, they were not, although my Charr there did get his fourth birthday present and a Wintersday gift from under the tree, which he was standing next to, suggesting it's been a year since I last saw him.

On the paid-for accounts I was very pleased with what I got, so much so that I used several of the other tickets I had squirrelled away. The pick of the bunch was the Greatsword, the name of which I forget, closely followed by the Sceptre (Ditto.) You can see them both at the top of the post.

All of the skins I got were good enough that I might use them, although I'd have to find a character who wields the relevant weapon, which might be a bit of an ask. Maybe when End of Dragons shuffles the pack again.

I checked the going rate for all of them on the Trading Post. The lowest was 25 gold. The highest, suprisingly the rather staid-looking axe, sells for around 55 gold. I think if I was looking to make money I'd probably open the boxes and sell the contents rather than sell the boxes themselves. The odds look pretty good there.

I held back some of my tickets just in case. In case of what, you may well ask. I have no idea. 

I'm not clear on whether these Vintage boxes are a permanent addition to the game, even assuming they really are new, but I thought I'd mention it anyway. As for the free tickets, I believe this is the final day. I did say I was late on this one. Sorry about that.

Tomorrow, though, there's another freebie: a Guaranteed Wardrobe Unlock. Another spin of the wheel! The official announcement doesn't mention how long that's going to be around, either, so I'd recommend grabbing it on the 17th just in case it's a one-day wonder.

This has been a Public Service Announcement. We now return you to your regular programming. Assuming you can even tell the difference.