text:
Friday, March 21, 2008
Ask me a Question
So instead, I'm putting out a plea to the awesomist (yes, it's a word!) readers in the world: YOU! I'm creating a FAQ page for my book and am in need of some frequently asked questions to answer. Here's your chance to have your question featured in my book. Just leave me a comment with a question. Ask me general questions as opposed to ones pertaining to specific, past posts of mine.
Hoo boy, I'm thinking that I'm going to have to go through a trabillion (yes, that's a word too!) questions this Sunday.
Ok, now I'm off to watch Enchanted with the kiddos.
Posted by Dawn at 6:44 PM
111 comments:
- Traci said...
No questions...just comments.
Netflix delivered enchantment today and I can't wait to watch this with the kids!
I would love for you to join my free online resource for Moms with lots of kids :) You can follow my name to the blog with info.
- March 21, 2008 at 7:15 PM
How do I not gag when a child that is not my own snots, sneezes, pees,poops or any any other way slimes me? ;^) If your anything like me you can catch your own but another kid..... Or a different version of that question, How can I explain to my sister (who has no children!), that you shouldn't gag when you see your sister catch her own children's snot, sneezes, pee, poop, (in no particular order) lollipops or any other slime that they might issue!
Love your blog and I check in everyday. Puts a GREAT spin on the "hum drum" lives of mommies! Thanks
- March 21, 2008 at 7:28 PM
Why did you decide to start a blog about your family? Were you ever nervous about posting information about your family on the web for anyone to read and comment about?
- March 21, 2008 at 7:34 PM
- Das Kwiek said...
When do you usually go to bed? (if you sleep at all... ;) )
- March 21, 2008 at 7:35 PM
- DeniseAmalia said...
Did you always know you wanted to have a big family?
What do you feel is the biggest challenge to having 6 children?
What do you feel is the greatest part about having a big family?
Denise Waltz
- March 21, 2008 at 7:48 PM
My FAQs:
Have you always wanted a big family?
How did you decide on your family size?
How many loads of laundry do you everyday?
When one gets sick in your family- do the rest of you end up sick?
- March 21, 2008 at 7:50 PM
- Dotkat said...
Was each pregnancy planned? Or did you just decide God would give you the kids when and if He pleased?
Do you let your kids see you cry when you get frustrated or when things don't go as planned? And if you do, do tears help them give you a little pity??
- March 21, 2008 at 7:51 PM
- My boys are Army Brats said...
How much does it cost to feed a family of 8 for a month?
- March 21, 2008 at 7:54 PM
- Rick said...
Here's a question: Exactly how much is a "trabillion?"
Okay, seriously...
At what point did you realize that your post on e-bay had "taken off" generating so much attention?
- March 21, 2008 at 7:57 PM
Besides the obvious (like clipping coupons), do you have any good tips about money? A mom of 6 kids must know some good ways to stretch a buck. Thanks!
- March 21, 2008 at 8:07 PM
- Sherry said...
As a parent, what is the most scariest thing that has happened to you regarding your children (i.e. illness, accident, etc)?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:11 PM
- Brenda said...
I love Enchanted. Ok. As a mom, what is the one area you wish you could improve on? What is the one area you feel you are strongest in? That was 2 questions. poop, butt - that is so my question will come up when googled.
- March 21, 2008 at 8:20 PM
- I Play Outside The Box Blog said...
Describe your dream vacation, and how long would it last?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:23 PM
How many times in a row do you have to watch a movie in your home before you can move on to the next one?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:32 PM
- Kristi said...
How do you make sure each child gets equal mommy time?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:34 PM
Are you scared how your book will be recieved when it comes out? I told my husband to buy it for me; when it comes out. Also do you think you will be nervous to meet your fans? I would like to get your autograph.:) Susan
- March 21, 2008 at 8:37 PM
- Donna said...
I hope you take this in the spirit intended: Why did you have so many children?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:44 PM
When one kid starts a tantrum do the others ushually follow?
- March 21, 2008 at 8:50 PM
- HisWifeTheirMom said...
How do you clip 60 toe nails? Do you sit them all on the floor in a line and go from left to right?
About how much a year do you spend on haircuts...or are you cheap like me and do them yourself?
What's your trick to getting a 2 year old to brush their teeth?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:01 PM
- Raising Country Kids said...
How do you balance your time between six kids, a husband, a house, meals, laundry, and writing?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:04 PM
Hi Dawn! I love your blog, and can't wait for your book! It's already on my Birthday list! My question for your book is....
Are you planning on having any more children?
I love big families, and would love to have one someday, if my husband allows (ha ha), so I was just curious how big your family will be. Thanks!!
- March 21, 2008 at 9:05 PM
This may not be for your book, but I do have to ask (I have 3 boys ages 11, 9 and almost 6). Do YOU have any holes in your walls? Also, do you have 500 pairs of socks with holes in them? BTW, I totally don't mind doing laundry, but I HATE sorting socks! :)
- March 21, 2008 at 9:06 PM
How do you keep your older ones still interested in church? My 5 year old girl loves bible time at home but fights me when its time to go to church.
- March 21, 2008 at 9:08 PM
- Sue said...
Dawn, When you were young, did you dream of having 6 kids, a husband who cooks green, jello fish and the most excellent blog in the history of blogdome?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:22 PM
I was wondering if coming up with a topic for a blog entry is becoming a "chore" or if you still are having "fun?"
Sandy, HE, Illinois
- March 21, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Ah Ha! Lightbulb moment! I finally found where to add a comment after reading your blog fo almost a year (pokemon ebay auction ~ of course!)
Dawn, first I wanted to say thank you. You have really helped me look at the funny side of things, instead of the poor me side of things. Thank you very much. I look forward to buying your book and wonder when you will find time to fly out to California to sign it for me. :)
I read the google thing tonight. I was wondering if you make those up or if they are real? I guess I just can't imagine anyone googling blue colar runny butt, or whatever it was! LOL!
Okay, you probably get a lot of weirdos like me that type to you as if you were my best friend. Sorry. I just had to let you know how much I appreciate your blog. Really and truely.
Keep it up! You really are making a difference in people's lives, and not just the ones you live with...
Okay here is my mom question...
How the hell do you deal with homework for that many kids? Mine are a pita! I have made the rule: come home, do homework, no tv, friends, telephone, games, nothing until homework is done. That has helped, but still the whining, complaining, time taking, and the kids are as bad as me. ... LOL!
Luv ya , Dawn and thank you! ~Just Me
- March 21, 2008 at 9:26 PM
Why leave the same comment twice? Because it says try again. :-)
- March 21, 2008 at 9:27 PM
- Nancy said...
When you got married, how many kids did you and hubby discuss having?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:28 PM
- Colleen said...
I'm sure you already have these questions, but:
1. What are your kids' names and what order are they in?
2. What do you love best about each kid?
3. What do you and Joe like to do together on those rare occasions that you can get away from the kids?
4. What's your favorite book and/or author?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:29 PM
Did you and your hubby plan from the beginning to have 6 kids, or was it more of a, "Yeah, we should have another" kind of thing, and then one day there you were with 6 kids...
- March 21, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Did you have any idea when you listed the pokeman cards on ebay with the accompanying hilarious story, that you would increase the readership of your blog ten-fold and have such fantastic opportunities come your way?
Thanks for letting us have a peek into your life. I think your children are pretty lucky.
- March 21, 2008 at 9:31 PM
- Wendy said...
Can I really be first, no way! Here's my question. With the stresses of caring for a family of six children, do you ever struggle with depression?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:40 PM
How do you decide to stop "making babies"? When you see each of your children and how you are blessed with each miracle, how can you stop having more???
- March 21, 2008 at 9:42 PM
Hope it's not too personal, but a couple questions I've always wondered about. How much are your grocery bills a week/month? We're a family of 5. My boys are 6, 4 & 2yrs. I'm truly frightened we may need to take out a 2nd mortgage when they hit puberty! Do you shop at Costo/Sam's Club type stores? Are you a coupon clipper? What types of meals do you prepare? ie. I'm thinking a single box of KD (Kraft Dinner) ain't gonna cut it.
- March 21, 2008 at 9:46 PM
How do you manage to find quiet time for yourself?
- March 21, 2008 at 9:56 PM
- Vikki Gearhart said...
Here's a good question for your FAQ - How do you handle the annoying people asking you if you'll have more children? Or better yet, this is one I get often... "really, another one? Don't you want to take a break for a while?"
Drives me crazy when strangers at Wal-Mart comment on my plans to reproduce.
On a side note, I saw this article the other day and thought of your birthday present! http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080314/od_nm/engagement_dc
- March 21, 2008 at 10:04 PM
Did you do any writing before your blog?
Why did you decide to create a blog?
Are you Erma Bombeck reincarnated?
If you could choose only one kid who would it be? (OK, that's still my favorite stupid question.)
- March 21, 2008 at 10:08 PM
Ok I know this sounds weird but the reason I am one of the first people to comment is because I check this blog every night! anyway, on with the question...
what is your fave Animal? (no, cookie monster does not count!:)
:D :) :p
- March 21, 2008 at 10:11 PM
Did you always know that you wanted to have kids? If so, did you know how many? What about being a mom made you decide to keep going after each child was born? For me it was when they each turned two and I suddenly had that yearning to try for one more.
- March 21, 2008 at 10:16 PM
- plainprecious said...
OK heres a question for you. Are you going to have a say on what goes on the cover of your book? Will there be funny pictures in it? If you were a tree what kind would you be? LOL Oh one more. Is there a teacher that you had in school that made you want to write or encouraged you in your talent> OK I am done.
- March 21, 2008 at 10:18 PM
- Donna said...
If your looking for general mom type questions the one I never got a straight answer for (As if you give straight answers) was how much and when do I feed my infant.
If you are looking for you specific questions, how often do you take time for yourself and how often do you and your husband get to take time together without the kids?
- March 21, 2008 at 10:30 PM
- Serial Mommy said...
i know you've answered these questions before, however i can't find the blogs, so if you could at least redirect me, i'd really really appreciate it, 1st, which site monitor do you use that gets you the google search responses? and 2nd, how do you do the strike through thing? thanks so much...and as far as most common questions, it seems as though you often get "did you plan on your kids going boy girl boy girl boy girl?"...mine go girl boy girl boy by the way, and i get the same stupid question or the idiotic "lucky you"...how am i lucky to have that pattern? would it be worse for me to have "girl girl boy boy" or some other combo? anyway...thanks so much...
- March 21, 2008 at 10:42 PM
How many children were there in your family growing up? Where are you in the birth order?
- March 21, 2008 at 10:44 PM
- roseys madhouse said...
Heres one that I get almost every time that people find out I have six children. "Oh my goodness how do you cope?" or " How much do you spend on groceries?"or "Do they all get along?" lol I could come up with so many more but I will leave them to the other readers lol.
- March 21, 2008 at 10:47 PM
What are vacations like with 6 kids?
What's the best part about being a mom?
What does a typical dinner look like at your house?
Just a few ideas!
- March 21, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Hi Dawn!
First off I wanted to say how much I love reading your blog. Thanks for the laughs!
Okay here is a FAQ question for you (hope its not too personal):
Have you ever had Post-Partum Depression after having any of your kids?
- March 21, 2008 at 11:13 PM
- Nancy Binky said...
THANK GOD you said something on your blog about the problems you were experiencing! Since I'm a NEWBIE here, I thought I'd gotten some kinda BUG in (what my 3 y.o. granddaughter refers to as) my "pewder."
Okay...So I'm guessing that there will be at LEAST 50 people submitting this Q:
Are they ALL yours??????
Hmmm...Perhaps a good Title or SUBtitle!
Nancy Binky
- March 21, 2008 at 11:24 PM
Where do you draw your strength and patience from on a daily basis?
(No, you can't answer with "A pina colada in each hand"! haha)
I'm so excited about your book! I can't wait to go out and buy it!
Donna :)
- March 21, 2008 at 11:59 PM
- Eileen said...
Dawn, if I remember correctly, your house isn't much over 1000 sq. ft. How do you manage to keep everyone's clothes, toys, etc., organized and stored with that limited amount of space?
Looking forward to your book!
- March 22, 2008 at 12:08 AM
- Heather said...
What do you do when your not yet potty trained child takes off their messy diaper and paints on the walls with their poop?
- March 22, 2008 at 1:29 AM
For your FAQ list:
How did you meet Joe?
How long have you two known each other?
Did you "know" he was the one at first sight?
And lastly, how can you stand those long, long winters?
- March 22, 2008 at 1:54 AM
- the Wilkins family said...
How in the WORLD do you get your son to stop peeing on the seat (or maybe I should start with my husband...). :) I have been fighting my 5-year-old for over a year on this. I can't believe how much of a mess he can make. When I asked him, he responded: "Mom, penises are very naughty. They can't help it." What?!? So, any help? How did you keep your sanity (and your bathroom clean) with boys?
- March 22, 2008 at 2:34 AM
- Jen said...
How on earth do you manage to get everyone dressed and ready for school etc in the mornings?? Are you always late?? I know I would be. I have trouble getting three kids up, dressed in their own clothes not someone elses, bags packed and out the door. Sometimes I drive them in my jarmies!!
- March 22, 2008 at 3:33 AM
I have been an avid reader of your blog since last July....I truly am so happy for your success.
My question is:
Are you planning on doing something special with any of your profits from your book(besides saving for college, etc)? For example, taking an extravagant vacation, buying a new vehicle, buying a larger home? In my opinion, you sure do deserve something extra special for yourself and your family.
Congrats Dawn! Donna in NY :)
- March 22, 2008 at 7:21 AM
If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you do with it?
Now that your favorite coffee creamer is not available, what is your "good, old standby" coffee creamer?
What do you do with all the stuff the kids bring home from school?
What do you like to do when you have some "me" time?
What did you and your husband do before you had kids?
- March 22, 2008 at 7:24 AM
- BKW said...
Has another child ever wandered up to you at Target and you accidently started to walk away with 7 kids instead of 6?
Do your kids have Piggy Banks? How do you teach your kids about saving money?
- March 22, 2008 at 7:31 AM
Even if you don't publish these in your book, can you please answer them here? I really want to know!!! :)
What does a typical day in your household look like (i.e. your general schedule)?
How many gallons of milk, loaves of bread, cartons of eggs, and rolls of toilet paper do you go through a week?
How do you take time for yourself each day (not including blogging...that's for us!)?
What advice can you give to those of us whose families' are larger than the "average", or those who aspire to have large families?
How did you tell your husband and family about each pregnancy? What were their reactions? (I'm about to break the news about #4 and need some ideas and encouragement b/c #3 is only 7 months old!!!)
Can't wait to read your answers and am anxiously awaiting your book!! Thanks!
- March 22, 2008 at 7:53 AM
- Heather Everingham said...
I get the stares and glares all the time just having 4 kids, and I know you do too so how do you deal with the constant..."You've got your hands full", "Wow, you must be busy", "Are they all yours?", and the ever so popular, "You know what cause that don't you" questions from people when you go out in public.
- March 22, 2008 at 7:57 AM
- Cindy said...
Hi Dawn,
What do you miss the most since you became a mother (hard to remember, maybe)?
What is the thing about being a mother that you never want to miss in your life?
Best regards from the Netherlands!
- March 22, 2008 at 8:11 AM
- Heather said...
Do you get along with your neighbors? I know my 3 kids drive our neighbors crazy so I can't imagine how they would handle twice that many!
Add me to the list of those looking forward to your book! I'll just have to be careful where/when I read it so I don't wake the kids up by laughing hysterically.
- March 22, 2008 at 8:23 AM
Questions I would imagine you hear with annoying frequency...
Wow! Six kids! You have your hands full, don't you?
HOW do you do it?
Oh look, they alternate boy/girl. Did you plan it that way?
How much money a month do you spend on groceries?
Are you DONE having kids now?
Are they ALL yours?
And this is not a question, but a rude and annoying comment that my irl friend with 2 set of twins 18 months apart gets ALL THE TIME - Better you than me!
I've probably repeated some previous posters, but I'm too tired to read through them all today.
- March 22, 2008 at 8:31 AM
I'd like to know how you manage to get six kids to go to bed at reasonable times so you don't have cranky zombie children in the morning.
- March 22, 2008 at 8:53 AM
Oh, and how do you manage to keep up with everything, both the big things and little things? Trimming fingernails and hair, sorting socks into pairs, making sure homework is done, getting all the dishes cleaned before they're needed again, periodically spending a little one-on-one time with the kids, arranging it so everyone eats dinner at the same time and you're not stuck eating hours after everyone else, etc. and so forth? I have three boys (2, 7, and 12), and there's never enough time to keep up with everything. Do you have a schedule or daily routine that you follow, or do you just "wing it"?
- March 22, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Are any of your children special needs? My son looks totally normal, but he is special needs.... I get asked all the time "why is your child in developmenal pre-school when he looks so normal".
I can't wait to read your book!
Pam (Seattle)
- March 22, 2008 at 8:58 AM
- JujuBoo said...
Before becoming a mom, did you know you wanted 6 kids?
- March 22, 2008 at 9:01 AM
- Trish said...
Did Eileen just write that your house is 1000 square feet? For eight humans? Oh. My. God. Saint Dawn. You should start ebaying scraps of your old clothing as religious relics.
Okay, questions:
1. If you are going out (say, to 10 am mass), how early does the alarm have to go off in order for all eight of you to get there on time?
2. I'm interested in a "worst situation" story. Of all the many, many gooey, icky, snarky, nasty, poopy, snotty, dirty, gaggy situations that crop up during motherhood, what is the WORST memory that comes to mind? You know, what is the most disgusting story you will tell your 36 grandchildren about? (And are lice involved?)
3. Readers will probably want to identify with you and find some comfort along with the humor in your book. Most moms have a "lose it" moment where the pressure gets to them. Perhaps you could share a moment when you just lost it. That way your readers can laugh (you'll probably add a big dose of humor to your scenario) while feeling better about their OWN "lose it" moment. Make sense?
I'll keep thinking of more. Good luck over spring break. Thanks again.
(aka: pacifiersandprada.blogspot.com)
- March 22, 2008 at 9:24 AM
Hi Dawn!
Okay, in light of the movie you just watched last night... :-)
As a mother to three (two of them girls ages 4 and 7), I find myself singing along to many kids' songs. Some of the songs I like, some of them I LOVE, and some of them I can't believe the words are actually coming out of my mouth! So, my question is, what kid's song do you sing along to and actually love? In case you want a second question, which one do you wish you could forget?
BTW, I live in the Chicago area, too (western suburbs)...what's up with this snow?? I thought we were done!! :-)
- March 22, 2008 at 9:32 AM
Hey Dawn,
Okay, some questions for your SO:
How do your kids get along with each, really? Do they play together? What things do you do or say to encourage developing good relationships? What is your favorite family memory?
I could go on, but that's all I have for now!
I love Enchanted as well! Enjoy your spring break.
~Lisa, San Antonio, Texas
- March 22, 2008 at 9:48 AM
- Jen said...
How do you convince your husband that another child is a good idea? We have 1 right now and I really want more but I think DH is good with only 1.
- March 22, 2008 at 9:55 AM
- TONYA said...
OMG I just figured out who you are and I'm LMAO.
First I read Rick's comment and then Gloria's and then the bells started chiming in my beady bird brain ... I know Rick doesn't like it when I say that, sorry LOL.
I remember the Ebay auction and I'm pretty sure I may have even posted a comment. The link to it was spread like wildfire through the world of email.
- March 22, 2008 at 10:22 AM
- Mamallama said...
How do you children feel about about growing up in the spotlight? Do they ever get embarrased or teased from classmates?
- March 22, 2008 at 10:37 AM
- Jennifer Foster said...
Do you like the word "hubby"?
Do you read many other Mommy Blogs?
Do you have a wii?
Random, I know.
- March 22, 2008 at 10:55 AM
- justmylife said...
How do you respond to people who ask if you know what makes those babies? And if you know how to stop it. I know people ask that, some people are kinda rude! I would guess you would have a very funny answer for them. And how do you manage to get any time alone with your husband? Just wondering, I only have 3 kids and 1 is out of the house and I still have trouble spending quality time with my husband.
- March 22, 2008 at 11:34 AM
- Angie said...
Here's a couple of questions for the book FAQs:
1. What is the ONE thing you wish you had known before having kids?
2. What is the one biggest myth about parenting?
- March 22, 2008 at 11:46 AM
- Mom of Army Brats. said...
do you still ebay?
- March 22, 2008 at 12:33 PM
So many turn to you for a little perspective, a daily laugh, and some good old common sense, who do you turn too? Thanks Susie
- March 22, 2008 at 12:34 PM
- Franzi said...
Hey Dawn,
my general questions (which could also be answered in the SSO)
At what age should kids help with what in the house (eg doing dishes, take trash out, clean their room etc)?
How do you keep from other people trying to give parenting advice?
- March 22, 2008 at 1:05 PM
I know this is weird. But i'm bored and after reading about your google post, i decided to look some of those questions up, but in a different way.
"four4now blogspot"
- Led me to exactly what they searched for. If they already knew the name of the blog, why didn't they just type it in?
"peach syrup vomit"
-I guess this helps people if they are throwing up. You wait one hour from the last time they thrw up, and begin with one teaspoon of Heavy Peach Syrup. Yuck
"anal seepage blue collar"
- Haha. Obviously, Jeff Foxworthy (member of the Blue Collar comedy tour) talks about this? How...interesting
"Extra gum butt ad"
- Yeah... couldn't find anything that might work for an answer. Hmmm.
"just one year giraffe pajamas"
- Just One Year makes baby clothes and what not. Kinda cute stuff.
"i said what what in the butt"
- A viral video. Sung by Samwell.
- March 22, 2008 at 1:47 PM
Just off the top of my head:
1. How did your own parents influence your parenting style?
2. How do you find time for yourself?
3. If you could do anything differently, what would it be?
- March 22, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Hi Dawn,
We know so much about you through your blog; it's hard to think of questions.
I'm curious how involved your parents and in-laws are with your kids. We work really hard to not overindulge our kids at holidays, but being that our 2 kids are the only grandkids, my in-laws really go nuts.
Also, do you have any hobbies? If you do, how do you find time? I have a zillion things I love to do, but with 2 kids I rarely get time.
Looking forward to your book!
- March 22, 2008 at 3:37 PM
- My Kids' Mom said...
Can you tell us about your own childhood and family? How do you parent differently from your parents? Are all the grandparents still around and how involved are they with your children?
- March 22, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Now that you're "making it big", do you guys plan on finding a bigger house??
- March 22, 2008 at 4:19 PM
I know your kids are angels but have you been called to the principal's office for any of them? How many times and what were they accused of (and of course they didn't do it!)
- March 22, 2008 at 4:33 PM
- Life with Spirit said...
What do people who have known you forever think about all this? You know, childhood friends, old boyfriends, etc... Any Toby Keith "Look at me now!" feelings or examples?
- March 22, 2008 at 4:45 PM
- Life with Spirit said...
Do you ever fear for the safety of your family due to people knowing where you are or your name and all? I promise I'm only asking out of curiosity!
- March 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM
- Life with Spirit said...
ok, one more... Are you ever going to move to a bigger house? Or just wait till the kids leave home and then get something bigger?
- March 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM
FAQ: Why do people post songs they can't get out of their head to their blog?
I listented to the song the first day. Could not get it out of my head. Then, the next day, I couldn't remember it. So, I came back and listened to it again. That worked, for one day.
I had to come back again for a third dose.
Now I really cannot get it out of my head.
I would really like to get rid of this song can you please post a different one?
A loyal man.
- March 22, 2008 at 5:57 PM
- Bekah said...
I have four kids and my all time favorite question I get is this one:
You know what causes those babies right?! ha-ha wink, wink!
Love your blog! :-)
- March 22, 2008 at 6:03 PM
- Matthew and Vicki said...
How do you have "quiet time" with kids around all the time?
Is it good for kids to sleep in bed with parents?
- March 22, 2008 at 6:05 PM
- Allison said...
Hi Dawn!
1. How do you feel about the critics that say "no television" for children?
2. What is your own favorite TV show and favorite with your children?
- March 22, 2008 at 6:36 PM
- Crazy Mama said...
How do you do outings with the kids? I have 5, one with ADHD, and I feel like I'm ready to lock them in a dungeon once I get home!
- March 22, 2008 at 6:41 PM
- SAHM: Surviving Assorted Home Mayhem said...
How much time do you spend writing both your blog posts and your book? How do you find the time with the little ones/aka how do you prevent Brooklyn from getting into stuff while you write or do you attempt it only when the kiddos are asleep? Thought I'd ask since I have this challenge myself with my book & blog writing as well.
- March 22, 2008 at 7:06 PM
quote: "Do YOU have any holes in your walls?" As another fellow Mom of 3 boys (6,4, & 2) I'd also like to know the answer to this. Mine have Hotwheel competitions to see who can throw theirs the hardest and make the biggest hole!
- March 22, 2008 at 8:03 PM
My FAQ
How did you tell your husband that you were pregnant with each of your children?
- March 22, 2008 at 8:52 PM
Once you do all the practical things like pay bills, etc, what do you want to do with your first big paycheck?
- March 22, 2008 at 10:17 PM
- Nancy said...
What is the WORST mess that you've come home to? Come on...you can tell us!
- March 22, 2008 at 10:56 PM
Hi Dawn, love the blog!
Here are some questions...
How do you deal with having to divide your time between kids at school and pre-school? Meaning: Open House, Valentine's Day parties, Mother's Day parties, etc. It seems they always schedule my pre-school and school events at the same time.
How do you handle the loss of identity? From going from hard-working, fully-dressed, seemingly intellegent, useful part of society to hard-working, unmatched socks (only ones clean), snotwiping "(pick child's name)'s Mom"?
And last off, how do you handle it when sometimes you may not like your child through a certain stage? You love them, sure, but you've heard the same thing 120,004
times and you just can't hear it any more. Or they are going through a "bratty" period where rules don't apply to them and you've had to tell them 66,605 times not to jump on the sofa like a trampoline. Or they are clingy and attached to your leg and you have too much to do that week. How do you deal with the guilt?
- March 22, 2008 at 11:29 PM
SSO Question: I want to know if you are brave enough to admit to loving NKOTB. And I quote,"Step by step, oooh baby, I want to get with you girrrrrl."
- March 22, 2008 at 11:34 PM
Serious question here:
How would you address an unplanned pregnancy with one of your children, assuming they intended to raise the child as a single parent?
- March 22, 2008 at 11:36 PM
- Korkie said...
My son has only been home for a week of spring break. Every time I passed his open door I whiff of deadly would attack my olfactory senses.
I tried to let my yound adult son know there were aliens or a dead raccoon the very least in him room.
He of course, mocked me for exaggerating.
I took my wine, some crackers amd cheese into my room; closed the door and refused to exit until the decaying smell was gone.
Hubby comes home, wanting dinner, and was a little 'perturbed' when I told him I was not coming out of my room until someone found the 'dead thing.'
With my wine and snacks, 'I was good to go' for the evening.
So, dh and ds go into his room to try and find the source of the horrible odor. (by the way .... they are now admitting something is just a 'hint' off.
They emerged from the room about 15 minutes later. The two of them were standing outside my closed door asking if I wanted to see what they found. I. needless to say screamed 'no, just tell me...'
THEY HAD NO IDEA!! I mean really,
they did not know if it was food, animal or human.
I'm yelling, behind closed doors, that it did not make sense they could not tell what it was.
I finally said, 'what ever it is, wrap it a kazillion bags and put it out in the trash.
My dh and ds were discussing what they thought it could have been but were not sure.
Okay Miz Dawn, so here's my question. Have you EVER found something ....... something funky, rank .... just awful smelling that you could not determine what it was?
- March 23, 2008 at 12:56 AM
Ok, so I am all about the husbands :) I love mine soooo much, and he does sooo much around here!
How did you and your husband split the workload after your first baby, compared to with six kids, compared to now with six kids AND you're super busy with a book deal and blog?
Are you and your husband on the same page with discipline or are you "good cop/ bad cop"?
Would you consider your marriage to still be in the "honeymoon" period? You know, all completely head over heels for each other still? Or is it more of a Working happy realtionship?
Just how great is Joe? (I think he's amazing!!)
- March 23, 2008 at 3:33 AM
Hi Dawn, here is my FAQ.
Do you let your little children cry, for a few minutes, when you put them down for a nap or for bed or do you get up with them every time they wake up during the night? my mom let us sleep and it worked well.
Here is a question maybe for the SSO. Seriously, have you ever really thought about homeschooling your kids? My mom homeschooled all 12 of us.
You are the best and your blog is absolutely hilarious. Keep it up.
- March 23, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Hi Dawn, This is question # 1. Are you having fun writing this book? #2. How much toilet paper do you go through in a week? See where my mind is.. in my chance to ask a brilliant question! Ok #3. Just how many licks Does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll tootsie pop? You must know?! Kristine in Michigan.
- March 23, 2008 at 8:57 PM
Ok Dawn.
What is your family's favorite meal that you make - meaning the one that... is it possible there's one that EVERYONE likes? (has to be a dish you MAKE, not favorite place you order pizza ;p) (Could be from freezer or box like a Hamburger Helper.)
And next, a comment. Not that I'm admitting to snacking on night crawlers, but I'm waiting with BAITED BREATH for your book to come out!!!
(is that a book-worthy comment?)
- March 23, 2008 at 9:58 PM
How do you decide where to go for outings with the entire family? I have 5 kids (ages 4-12) and it's hard to make everyone happy. Do your little ones just kind of tag along and are happy to be included no matter where you are going?
- Monica
- March 24, 2008 at 4:58 AM
- Ketaki said...
Love your blog!
Have you ever travelled abroad? What are your favorite places to visit?
(I am sorry if you have answered this before, I am still catching up on your blog :) )
- March 24, 2008 at 6:31 AM
Here's my favorite FAQ:
Do llamas really spit?
And my question for you: which smells worst: llama spit (the deep green stuff), baby-formula spit up, or bad baby diapers?
- March 24, 2008 at 12:09 PM
- Holly Wilcox said...
I have followed your blog and read every one of your posts. You seem like you've heard it all. Do strangers without children ever compare motherhood to raising dogs or cats? People on the airplane or in the grocery store occasionally tell me how they know what it's like taking care of children since their 3 dogs are quite a handful, etc. Do you ever hear this and how to you respond?
- March 24, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Hi Dawn!!
So what I find myself wondering is...
What is that one thing that you do as a Mom that reminds you of your own Mom??
How active is your "extended" family in your family life?
As for me, I do tons of stuff like my mom always did, but the biggest is laying out clothes/socks/backpacks... the night before school to solve the morning confusion. You know..."Mom, I don't want to wear that shirt...where are my socks....".
- March 24, 2008 at 1:41 PM
A question for you/your book...
Does it ever bother you that people all over the world have an inside peek into your life (pictures of your kids, your couch, your carpet????)
- March 24, 2008 at 1:58 PM
- Michelle said...
Q#1 How did you get your children to come out in order BGBGBG? (Still my favorite -- you have to put it in)
Q#2 What skill do you now, as a mother, have that you never thought you'd need?
Q#3 (Because things go in threes) How do you keep your sanity, errr I mean sense of humor?
- March 25, 2008 at 3:43 PM


text:
Today we're going to take a closer look at the items offered in the Guild Wars 2 Gem Store, and I will share my thoughts on the items and services that they offer and the prices they've put on them both in terms of Gems (the cash shop currency) and their literal cost in terms of US Dollars. I also made a Google Docs spreadsheet that has the costs broken down for euros and pounds for those of you across the pond and in…whatever other places use those currencies. And of course, I will be sharing a link to said document with you as well.
What is the Gem Store?
The Gem Store is GW2's version of a cash shop, which is a common feature in free-to-play (F2P) games through which the game developers are provide items or services for real money in order to make a profit on their otherwise free game. Guild Wars 2 has gone with the most successful version of a cash shop, which is one that focuses primarily on vanity rewards that have no direct impact on the game or whose impact does not affect your character's power in relation to another. This method keeps the game "fair" between players by not allowing one person to use real money to make themselves more powerful than another.
In GW2 you can spend real world money to purchase Gems, which are the currency of the Gem Store (the GW2 cash shop). These gems are sold in batches of 800 with a price tag of $10 (or £8.5). You can then use those Gems as currency for items or services, or you can sell them to other players at the Trading Post for Gold (the primary in-game currency). This means that you can get Gems either by paying $10 for 800 of them, or by purchasing them from other players with gold that you have earned while playing. So even if you don't have any extra cash that you can personally spend, you can earn enough gold on your character to buy the Gems that you need to purchase whatever you're looking for from the Gem Store.
Just keep in mind that the going rate of exchange between Gems and Gold is constantly fluctuating so even if you see that you can buy 100 Gems for 5 Gold today, that might not be the case tomorrow so if you're saving up for something big then you'll want to keep a close eye on the exchange rate and buy your Gems when they're cheap.
What Can I Buy?
There are currently 34 "things" that you can buy in the Gem Store. Most of those are items, but some are also account-wide perks such as extra bag slots, or services such as transferring all of your characters from one server to another.
The items that are sold come in two varieties; consumables and vanity gear. Most of the consumable items are single-use and impact only a single character, while the vanity gear is available for all of your characters. All items that you purchase from the Gem Store, as far as I'm aware, will be received by your character through the in-game mail system.
It is important to note that not all of the items you purchase through the Gem Store are bound to your character, or even to your account. Many of the items, such as dyes and mini-pets, can be sold to other players via the Black Lion Trading Post. This allows you to earn gold by spending your gems, but it also gives you an easy way to give gifts to your friends.
Break It Down! *dance*
To start this off, I'll give you this link to Psynister's GW2 Gem Store Conversions where you'll find my conversion costs to show you the true price of each of the items and perks offered in the Gem Store so that you know just how much each of those things actually costs you. The Google Doc also has a link to the Wiki page where I got all of my information, so big props to Wiki.GuildWars2.com for providing me with the information in the first place.
We'll take a look at all of them in this post today, but I will also be sharing my thoughts on whether or not I consider them worth their cost. Keep in mind that my opinions are just that — my opinions.
The following sections are broken down into the different categories of items/perks that you can purchase, and I'll discuss each section in turn. I'm not going to talk about every item that's for sale, because many of them are vanity and by their nature appeal to only certain people. So the items that I'll actually address in any detail are ones that appeal to me personally, turn me off either from a cost perspective or from what they do, or ones that have some other information I want to pass on to you such as how some of these items can be found in-game so there's no need to purchase them unless you want to speed up the process of collecting. The final heading in this post will be my summarized thoughts of the shop as a whole.
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Aviator Sunglasses
|Serious sun protection. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Cook's Outfit
|Get cooking with this 5 piece outfit (hat, shirt, pants, boots, gloves.) Town clothes cannot be worn in combat.
|Inventor's Sunglasses
|Keep your focus and fashion at the brightest times. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Pirate Captain's Outfit
|Is a pirate's life for you? If so, this outfit (hat, shirt, pants, boots, gloves, toy sword) has what you need. Wear all the pieces and gain access to 5 pirate themed skills! Town clothes cannot be worn in combat.
|Reading Glasses
|A more sophisticated look for the educated. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Ringmaster's Hat
|The hat of a carnival ring master.
|Sailor's Beanie
|Keep your head warm on cold breezy days. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Sport Sunglasses
|Can be worn at night. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Top Hat
|Good day, sir. I said good day! This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
|Transmutation Stone
|125 / 5
225 / 10
500 / 25
|One Use. Combine the appearance of one item with the attributes of another. Items must be of the same type. Usable on items up to level 79.
|Wide Rim Glasses
|Style that pops. This item occupies the head slot of your town clothes. Town clothes cannot be worn while in combat.
I'm not going to break every one of these items down to analyze them all individually because these are the vanity items which everyone will have their own opinions on. Personally, I'm not that big on having a certain look so I won't bother purchasing the majority of these. The ones that I do purchase will most likely come from converting gold into gems so that I'm not actually spending any money on them.
If I were to pick out those that I found to be the most fun/interesting I would say Aviator's Sunglasses, Ringmaster's Hat, and Pirate Captain's Costume were my top three.
Transmutation Stone: This is the odd item in the group because it's not actually a piece of vanity gear, but rather an item that allows you to transform one piece of gear into the image of another. It's basically a consumable version of WoW's transmogrification system. One thing I'd like to point out about these is that you can also get them as rewards from certain quests in-game. I want to say the ones that I got from the BWE3 event all came from chests that I received for accomplishing different goals in PvP. It was either those or the Mystic Chests that I found. The point is, you don't have to pay money for these if you don't mind being patient while you collect enough from rewards.
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Asuran Bank Portal
|125 / 5
|Each portal allows access to your bank from anywhere once.
|Dye Pack
|Each dye box contains 7 random dyes (5 common and 2 uncommon/rare). Once a dye has been unlocked on a character it can be used as many times as you like to color armor and town clothes. Collect them all!
|Evon Gnashblade's Box o' Fun
|1000 / 5
|Spawn a box full of random fun for everyone in the area. Any allies can interact with the box every 15 secs to get a fun effect. Color changing, shape shifting, and other fun tricks can be yours! Each box will remain in the world for 5 minutes.
|Mystic Forge Stone
|250 / 5
450 / 10
|This stone can be used in many mystic forge recipes to add a random element to Zommoro's gifts. Head to Lion's Arch to discover the mystic forge and its secrets.
|Mystic Key
|This key will unlock one Mystic Chest. Mystic Chests can be found randomly on enemies or in hidden places in the world.
Asuran Bank Portal: Remote access to a bank is something you often wish you would have access to in other MMO's. In GW2 that's not quite as big of an issue because you have instant access to a mailbox everywhere in the world and times where you need access to a bank such as while you're crafting or when you're trying to sell things on the Trading Post, you're generally within a few seconds worth of travel between the locations. The one big draw of these is that the mail system, as it currently stands, cannot be used to mail items to your own characters, you have to do that through the bank or by mailing things to a friend and then having them mail it to your alt. At 44 cents a pop, or 31 if you buy in bulk, these are fairly cheap.
Whether or not they're worth the cost is going to depend on how much of an altoholic you are, how often you play solo versus playing with other people you could trust, how much of a hoarder you are, and how often you find yourself in need of accessing a bank. They don't really appeal to me because I will almost always be playing with my wife and/or guildmates who I know I can trust, and when I'm not I have my wife's account information and computer sitting 2 feet away from me so I can load game at any time to transfer things on my own.
Dye Pack: Welcome to the Guild Wars 2 lottery! People are going to be buying these suckers left and right both to collect them for their own use as well as selling them on the trading post. There are somewhere around 475 different dyes in the game right now, and I guarantee you these are going to be a hit with a large portion of the playerbase. I don't really care what my gear looks like, so I won't be buying them for myself, but I'm sure we'll end up buying some for my wife and all those duplicates will either end up on her alts or on the trading post.
For those of you who haven't had a chance to play GW2 yet, you can find dyes by just playing the game. Some of them are sold by vendors, and others are drops from killing mobs or opening chests. So don't feel like you need to buy these to get the colors that you want. Everyone also has several dyes that they have access to by default, somewhere around 16 or so, so even without having any special dyes you can still change your colors up enough to be just another cookie cutter Necromancer. At $2.50 these have a pretty hefty price tag on them, even considering you get seven dyes in each pack.
Evon Gnashblade's Box o' Fun: A purely vanity item that's just fun to play with. I haven't seen one of these myself, so I don't know how much fun they actually are, but I expect we'll see quite a few of them since having fun is the whole point of playing the game. [Update: I got to see one of these in tonight's stress test and it was actually quite fun so I could definitely see these being used a lot.]
Mystic Forge Stone: I didn't have time to experiment with anything like this while I was playing during the BWE or stress test events, so I really have no idea how good this is. At 56-63 cents each, they aren't all that expensive, but I have no idea of their value so the price is equally meaningless to me. Surely one of my readers can help fill you in, though. (Right, readers?)
Mystic Key: This is another item that you can find in game, but they're supposedly quite rare. I've only managed to find one so far, and that one was a quest reward during (I think) my class story quest. The Mystic Chests that you open with them are uncommon, but certainly more common than the keys. The rewards inside the chests are usually quite good, so you'll need a way to open them if you want the goods inside.
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Bag Slot Expansion
|Add an extra bag slot to your inventory. Each character can have up to 7 bag slots.
|Bank Access Express
|125 / 5
|Each portal allows access to your bank from anywhere once.
|Black Lion Merchant Express
|125 / 5
|Allows you to summon a merchant anywhere. This merchant has some basic items for sale and will buy any items you have. The merchant is usable by anyone and remains in the world for 5 minutes.
|Black Lion Salvage Kit
|125 / 5
|This kit is guaranteed to remove upgrades from any sort of armor, weapon, or trinket and give the best chance of quality material returns.
|Black Lion Trader Express
|200 / 5
|Allows you to summon a Black Lion Trader giving you access to Trading Post pick up anywhere. The Black Lion Trader is usable by anyone and remains in the world for 5 minutes.
|Instant Repair Canister
|300 / 5
|Each canister fully repairs your items without the need of a repair merchant. This item cannot be used while in a Dungeon.
|Revive Orb
|Revives your character from death slowly. This item cannot be used in World vs World or PvP.
Bag Slot Expansion: This will probably be one of the more frequently purchased "items" in the shop, as MMO players are always crazy about having extra bag space. This is also SUPPOSEDLY one of the account-wide perks, so buying it once means all of your characters get access to an extra slot. I say supposedly because there's an argument on the forums about whether this one is account-wide or per character. You can have up to seven slots total, and you start with either four or five. Up to BWE2 you started with four and needed to unlock the other three, but BWE3 through the stress test on 8/10 we started with five and needed to unlock only two.
At $5 per slot these are one of the more expensive purchases you can make, but you only ever need to buy 2-3 and then you're done (assuming they are account-wide). I would like to say that early on you won't really need the extra bag space, but I guarantee you we're going to see level 80 characters before the first week of September is finished and even those who don't rush through the leveling process are going to find themselves in want/need of extra storage after the first couple of weeks.
Are they worth it? Rather than do all the math over again, how about I just point you to a fantastic resource I found on the GW2Guru forums: Inventory and You: Maximizing Space on the Cheap. I've gotten some mixed replies as to whether or not these are actually account-wide or if you have to buy them for individual characters. If they are account-wide, which most people seem to think they are, then I would consider them potentially worth the price only after I've leveled my crafting enough that I can make at least 12 slot bags for all of my alts.
Bank Access Express: See "Asuran Bank Access" in the first section as these are exactly the same thing. I think one of these was a typo caused by name change somewhere along the line, but I could be mistaken.
Black Lion Merchant Express: Summoning a merchant that anybody can use for 5 minutes isn't too bad considering he can both buy and sell. How useful it is depends on how much farming you're going to do and where you're going to do it. They're pretty cheap at 31-44 cents each, so if I end up getting into a farming frenzy at some point in the future then they might get a consideration. From my limited experience with the game so far, I don't think it's really worth it. But again, if I find myself in trouble from an inventory standpoint I can always just mail things to my wife and have her keep them in her mailbox until she gets to a vendor and then keep the money from selling them while I do the same for her.
Black Lion Salvage Kit: Top of the line salvage kits are probably going to become a big deal for high level items and probably the mid-level items as well. Salvage kits are used to break down items and gear that you find into material components used for crafting. The better the salvage kit, the better the quality and quantity of goods that you receive from destroying it. Are they worth 31-44 cents a piece? That's hard to say right now since I haven't tested them on anything and I no one can accurately predict the value of crafting materials beyond the level 20'ish range. Will I buy them? Not likely. That's largely due to the fact that I enjoy crafting and I enjoy farming and I always end up with way more mats than I could ever possibly use because of my crafting and alting obsessions.
Black Lion Trader Express: Access to the trading post (auction house) from anywhere could be a good thing for those of you who are farming, and it makes it easier for you buy/sell mass quantities of materials since you can use it when you're already standing at a bank. I don't think I'll be playing the auction house enough to ever bother with this
Instant Repair Canister: This one doesn't interest me in the least. It might be good if at level 80 you find that repair costs are ridiculous, but I don't think that's going to be the case and even if it were I'd rather buy gems, sell them for gold, and then decide for myself whether to spend gold on repairs or other things. Of all the items under $1, this is one of the more expensive ones and one that I feel is one of the more useless. I haven't seen high level repair costs though, so maybe I'm judging it a bit too harsh.
Revive Orb: Is the time it would take me to run from a spawn point back to my current location ever going to be worth $3 to me? I don't think so. If it could be used in WvW PvP, then people would probably spend gems on these, but since they aren't there's no reason to bother. Not in my opinion, anyway.
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Bank Tab Expansion
|Add additional storage to your bank (30 slots.) Any character on your account can access the storage in your bank. You can have up to 8 bank tabs on your account.
|Character Slot Expansion
|Gives an additional character slot.
|World Transfer
|500 Low Pop
1000 Med Pop
1800 High Pop
|Allow the player to change his or her home world (limitation : only one transfer every 7 days). Cost is based on population of the server you are transferring to (low, medium, high).
Bank Tab Expansion: An extra 30 slots in the bank is pretty good. Is it $7.50 good? That's up to you, really. Is it worth it to me? Possibly somewhere down the road. If I get to where I'm earning a lot of gold in game then I'm sure I'll convert to gems and grab these.
Character Slot Expansion: This is the first purchase I'm going to make, and the only one that I'm 100% sure of. There are eight professions (classes) in this game, but you only start out with five character slots, so I am definitely going to open up three additional slots for both myself and my wife right away. We haven't received any indication of what the actual limit is to the number of character slots, but I think eight is all that I'll need. If we really get sucked into this game and they allow more than eight slots, then I could see us buying more slots at some point in the future maybe.
That being said, extra character slots are the third most expensive item in the Gem Store at $10 each. The only thing more expensive is a world transfer to either a medium or high population server which we'll talk about next.
World Transfer: In GW2 you can play with anybody from any server at any time, with the sole exception of World vs. World PvP. That's important to know because you're only allowed to have characters on one server. Period. Transferring is only important if you end up on a server that absolutely sucks at WvW PvP, and even then only if you care so much about receiving the Power of the Mists buff you get from succeeding in WvW that it bothers you. You can be in multiple guilds at once and you have almost unlimited access to your friends regardless of which server they call home, so I see very little point in ever purchasing this.
The World Transfer has the two highest costs of them all. I thought it was quite interesting that they decided to have three tiers of payments for transferring servers, based on the size of the server you're going to. It makes it more expensive for those who want to move to high population servers for the WvW benefits, and makes it cheaper for people to flee the overflowing servers for a bit more peace and quiet. This was actually the item that stuck out to me the most because of how they're handling it and I think it's actually a rather brilliant move given how servers are handled in the game. If you don't want to spend over $20 to transfer all of your characters to the top servers then you better choose wisely when you roll or accept the one you end up on and deal with it. The real answer to not having the WvW buffs after all isn't to leave your server for a better one, but rather to inspire your fellow players, offer them leadership and coordination, and teach them how to earn it for themselves. You want cohesive server communities? Well here's your chance, ladies and gents. Here's your chance.
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Crafting Booster
|Improves your chance to score extra experience from crafting items by 50% for one hour.
|Experience Booster
|Gain an additional 50% experience from kills for one hour.
|Killstreak Experience Booster
|Gain an additional 100% experience from kills for 30 seconds. Time remaining is reset with each kill. How long can you keep it going?
|Magic Find Booster
|Improves your chance to get rare loot by 50% for one hour.
|Multi Booster Pack
|Contains boosts to increase karma gain by 50%, experience gained by killing enemies by 50%, and chance to find magic items by 50%. All boosts last 1 hour. Use them all at once or each one individually!
Crafting Booster: If you want to power level your character and your crafting at the same time, then this might be a fantastic purchase. It costs just under $2 so it's not exactly cheap for a one-time use item that only lasts for an hour, but if you know you've got the mats and/or gold to power level your crafting then this could potentially earn you a huge amount of extra experience in just one hour. I haven't found anybody who's done the research to see how much of an impact this will have, so I can't say for sure whether it's worth it or not from a cost vs. reward perspective, but I think it has potential.
Experience Booster: This one sounds like it might be really cool, but actually the experience you get from killing mobs is one of the slowest forms of farming experience that you can find, so even with a 50% boost it's not really all that impressive. When you compare it to crafting, they cost the same amount of money/gems, but you can craft items significantly faster than you can farm mobs so I don't think this one is worth the cost.
Killstreak Experience: Now this one shows some potential. If you're big on farming mobs for experience and drops, then this could be a great item for you. The question is whether or not you can find enough locations in a enough locations across varied level ranges to make it worth the cost. I don't know the answer to that right now, but since this one renews itself as long as you kill something within 30 seconds I see a lot of potential here. If this works in a group setting where as long as you're in combat with something that gets killed will trigger the reset then this thing has huge potential. If you have to actually land the killing blow, then I'm not so sure. It's a gamble either way though, because you could always walk right into some server lag or a disconnect that kept your timer going and end up wasting your money.
Magic Find Booster: An extra 50% magic find is nothing to sneeze at. That being said, I have no idea how effective it actually is, or where you would find a rewarding enough area to farm kills to fully utilize it. I could see this being a hit in dungeons, or in certain locations if we find a large population of mobs concentrated in a fairly small area, or if they end up making certain magical gear drop from specific mobs (like WoW does).
|Gem Cost
|Bulk Discount
|Cost in USD ($/€)
|Discount in USD ($/€)
|Minis Pack
|This pack comes with 3 randomly selected Minis (2 common and 1 uncommon) to add to your collection. Minis are tiny models of your favorite monsters and characters from the world of Tyria.
Minis Pack: Getting three random mini-pets is a pretty great idea if you ask me. I don't know how hard it is to find pets in the game itself because I've never seen one. Knowing that at least one of them is guaranteed to be uncommon raises is value though. I do know that these can be sold on the trading post, so it's very likely that you'll see these flooding the auction house off and on as people try to buy them with gems and then sell them for higher amounts of gold. Would I buy them? Eh…maybe, maybe not. It depends on how cute they are and whether only my wife falls in love with them or if I end up falling for them too. I haven't even seen a pet in GW2 yet, so I have no idea what any of them look like or if they have cute little animations or sounds, I really don't know.
They are pretty expensive, but I know I've spent way more than $3.75 on loot cards for my wife to get pets in WoW, so I'm sure we'll end up tossing some green at these in the future.
Overall Impressions
Overall, I think ArenaNet did a good job with the GW2 Gem Store. I think they went with a very solid model for it by keeping out any form of gear that gives stats and by not making players pay to open content or make content easier. There are some options to speed up your experience gains, but I don't think that any of them is going to have a significant impact on how quickly people actually level up, with the possible exception of the crafting one depending on what the actual math is behind that whole process.
I'm glad to see that we're able to get the extra character slots, though admittedly bummed that we have to in the first place just to even the number of slots versus the number of professions (classes) in the game. It's understandable, but that's one of my personal pet peeves in MMO's is not having enough character slots to sample all of the classes without deleting and rerolling to do it. Again, I understand it and think it's a good idea from the business perspective, I just personally don't like it.
While there are a lot of things that I won't bother buying in the Gem Store, I think that they did a really good job of keeping the things that they offer varied enough to have things that appeal to everybody. Some people love vanity gear, some love being able to dye their gear to be whatever colors they want, others are more interested in buffing their character with things like the experience boosts, some collect mini-pets, others like to increase their storage for things like crafting and working the trading post, and people like me are addicted to rolling all the alts. I love that they didn't try to stick things in there that everyone would feel like they need to buy. They put plenty of things that will appeal to a large number of people, but they did a good job of staying away from needs and have-to's.

subset: commoncrawl


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