GUIDES

Merry Adventures with Gma Fog

Many gamers find map clears tedious and slow in Guild Wars 2. Gma plans to make it fun and exciting by trying to teach us some good skills; finding fun creatures to take on; and instigating funny comments and puns. It is all family friendly conversation. Gma Fog basically began events a few years ago, leading lower level map clears. She keeps her followers amused while doing the event and has the claim of not leaving anyone behind. Sometimes there is a frustration of wanting to get this done quickly, but she points you at more things to do and explore while helping beginners with learning skills and the zones on the map. These weekly adventures are in one of the following beginner areas:  Divinity’s Reach, Queensdale, Hoelbrak, Wayfarer Foothills, Rata Sum, Metrica Province, Black Citadel, Plains of Ashford, The Grove, or Caledon Forest. Our leader has added higher level areas now, putting them in an organized rotation.  They are Diessa Plateau, Fields of Ruin, Blazeridge Steppes, Kessex Hills, Gendarran Fields, Harathi, Hinterlands, Snowden Drifts, Lornar’s Pass, Dredgehaunt Cliffs and Brisban Wildlands.4

You might be asking, what is a map clear and why is it important? A map clear is an adventure around one of the zones above. There are Waypoints (Transport Area), Points of Interest (POI), Hearts (Quests in the zone), Vistas (Views from above and below) and Hero Points (a challenge to get points to train your skills). These areas are needed to complete the map.

A map clear gives you experience points (XP) to level up your character and you also receive items upon zone completion. [A full world completion took Gma a year to do on one of her characters, “Mistocracy.”]  For a map completion you will receive coins, experience, 2 random pieces of equipment, 1 transmutation charge or 1 black lion chest key, 40 random crafting materials, 20 map currency or random ingredients available in the zone. This is dependent on which zone you clear. It can be a grindy chore or you can travel with Gma Fog in her event.

In this article, I will go through Gma’s method of map clear; things she tries to teach us, other fun things we take on and funny conversations and puns that come out of our mouths.

Gma knows some easy ways to move around in a map clear so you don’t miss any POIs, Vista’s, Hearts or Hero Points. She has a certain way to go and with the help of her followers, we clear the map smoothly. We don’t always finish a map in one week. There is too much fun before profit. When you travel with Gma Fog in her events, you know the zone that is being cleared, but how you are getting there is part of the adventure. We run, fight, morph into mossheart, table dance, have jumping contests,  roll on the ground laughing, test out our new wings and, of course, farm for crafting supplies.

Getting ready for the event

Gma Fog has her scheduled events on the Gaiscioch Calendar [http://www.gaiscioch.com/events/] and posts the event in map chat before the start. She has 2 scheduled events on Monday afternoons and Saturday mornings and all are welcome to follow and enjoy the antics. As she is getting ready, Gma meets us at a specified waypoint. She posts the waypoint in map and guild chat. It is a process that is planned as she prepares the route she will take in that week. When she types the name of the waypoint in chat -  click on the name of the waypoint and it pops the map up to show where the waypoint is. When you click on it you will be transported to where Gma will meet you.

Once we meet at the waypoint Gma Fog puts down a hero banner, for Experience Points (XP), and food. Yes, she feeds us! Food gives us health and XP for fighting. Sometimes we have an overabundance of food to eat as more than one of us will share at the same time.

Our leader will make sure everyone is ready to go by using a squad “Ready Check” and announce it verbally in our voice channel. We will be called to come to the green arrow when you are ready or come to her tag (which always seems to be purple).

Now the fun starts! As we head out, she will go clockwise or counterclockwise around the perimeter of the zone we are in. We find the first things to come our way. Usually, there is a waypoint next to the heart. We will get close enough to the waypoint to open it on our maps and off we go for whatever quest is upon us. Gma Fog reads the instructions and gives hints on how to get them done at a swift pace. Sometimes our heart will have us morph into the creatures in the area. This one particular time we had to morph into a mossheart. Gma called us all over toward the end of our heart per suggestion from one of her followers. She took a screenshot of all of us dressed in green.

We proceed to work on our hearts and take side trips for close POIs, Vistas, and Hero Points. Vistas are sometimes tricky and if a follower gets frustrated, Gma will encourage trying again, but sometimes for other reasons with lag or jumping issues, she will put down a port with her mesmer to get you to the vista, if necessary. A “ready check” will go out to make sure everyone received their heart before she moves on. Gma’s motto is “Never leave anyone behind.”

Gma Fog teaches us some basic etiquette when in a group, which is good to know for any group, not just Gma’s. Let’s look at a few of these tips to see why they can help. This is where the comedy comes into play.

Lesson 1: Stick like glue to the commander:

So why is this important? In larger events, if you are together, you can stack your powers and heal each other in a battle. Commanders will call for you to come to their tags and will shout for powers like static fields, might, water, etc. On a funny note, the picture below will show how seriously the great crew adheres to Gma’s command.

Lesson 2: Learning to Stay together:

The Phrase “Herding Cats” comes to mind. Everyone gets so excited about finishing a heart or farming, that they wander off. That is when Gma calls everyone to come to her tag.  It is usually purple and now she is able to put an arrow next to her for keen views.

A recurrent example of learning to stay together is in the conversation below:

Follower - There is an event “HERE” Gma

Gma - Where is Here?  

Follower - Where I am

Gma -  UH where is that? I see all the blue dots but it is kinda hard seeing where YOU are.

She will remind others to find where you are on the map and find Gma Fog. Which direction are you from her? At times, we hear “That’s not our direction come back and we will catch it next time.” If we are working on a heart - and it isn’t in the area of the heart, we stay and finish what we are doing. If it is close and is something “Grand” like a Champion, Gma might tell her troops to follow and do the event and we will come back to finish the heart.

Lesson 3: Ask Questions and Communicate:

If you don’t ask questions, you don’t learn. Sometimes the inquiry helps others too. Maybe you can find out a trick or a faster way of completing something. No question is stupid. A few examples Gma thinks are important are:

-When someone is not ready to go or if you are falling behind.

-If Gma Fog misses a POI, remind her before we pass it.

-Offer help with the hearts and vistas when you are done. The faster we help each other, the faster we can move on. Make suggestions if you find a trick to get the heart at an easier pace.

-Let her know if you found a shortcut to a vista or know where a goodie chest is in a cave.

Gma usually calls for a break after one hour to get up, walk around and get a drink or snack. It is for our health she does this. We don’t want blood clots due to sitting too long.. At this point, we rest our character in a spot. Sometimes we table dance just because we can.

When everyone is back from their breaks we continue down our merry path to progress further into the Map. Sometimes we have big events pop up and we join with other groups to take on a Champion. Gma Fog tries to give suggestions on how to stay alive and we go for it.

If we have lots of time left, because we only had a bit left to do on a map, our resourceful leader will think of something and take us on a side adventure. Where to go, where to go? What do we do with the time left? Usually, there is an important lesson to learn in some way. We find things to do in our Guild hall and in Tyria.  Since we received our wings, we find a fun place to fly around and learn how to glide.  One of the most fun glides to experience is in Lion’s Arch off the Lighthouse. It’s a long run up but a smooth glide in the clouds.

Speaking of flying. Just recently we practiced flying through the doorway in Hoelbrak.

Guild Hall is a great place to adventure, too. In the Gaiscioch Na Rall guild hall, there are Lots of stairs and buildings. Places to see like our Memorial for fallen guild members, Foghladha’s Office, Kitty’s kitty statue, a jumping puzzle and much more. One time when we were in guild hall we found a bubble to jump into. It looked like we were in mid-air. Laughter and joking burst forth.

Gma also started having “Themed Events”. Sometimes they are during her map clears, but can be separate fun times. It is a spur of the moment thought and she will say, “Well let’s find our favorite mini.” Others have been Pet or minion Day; Learn to Fly Day and holiday fun. She doesn’t usually announce them, it just seems to happen in conversations before we start or in guild chat. One time, the evening after one of her events, Gma Fog put up a special event for a firework show on the 4th of July. Everyone brought their fireworks out and set them off in the guild hall. Here are a few pictures of the fun.

I think the most fun we have is the conversations during her events. We just chat and things pop out of our mouths that can beg funny or we have a facepalm moment. Gma has tried to keep a collection of some of these. A few of these funny quips and quotes are below.'

Two charrs talking: "I have the foot in mouth disease - No you have Paw in Maw disease!"

In Queensdale, fighting the bears after the bee hives - "The bear event, it's unbearable."

Wayfarer Foothills heart where you have snowball fights with the children - "It started with the snowball event and the snowballs went downhill from there."

Gma: My chicken beeped - Bri:  I thought chickens clucked - we thought we might have to grill or roast you to tell us what you were cooking.

Somewhere on our adventures JR: "There is an event here where I am dying!" - GMA:  'Okay, We have a dead person."  

At the beginning of an event - Gill: “I ate my spinach burgers before my dessert of Omnomberry bars.”

We were farming lettuce in the Beetleton field - “Let us have lettuce.”

Fighting the veteran bore in Queensdale - “The bore is not boring.”

In response to fighting grubs - An unknown follower says - “Gma is grubbing it.”

Someone brought up the Hamster dance song and then another put the song on over the voice comm. That was over and above laughter.

In response to one of the followers dying during a Tamini Fight - “Tamini's are meanies”

Gma was up on a vista and asked “If anyone need a port come to me” - Answer: “Wine please.”

Gma, an asuran, was standing in front of a huge norn named Tiny - “Tiny isn't so tiny.”

When time is almost done, Gma will thank us and tells us where we will meet the next week. In a day or so after the event, she will post it on the website with the new information for the next week. If there is time left, she will stick around a few minutes to answer questions. If someone needs help with the Gaiscioch website to claim the event for guild fellowship points or want to join our guild she will gladly help them through the process.

As you see, it is an adventure running with Gma Fog. You will know that the antics of Gma Fog’s Merry Adventures are enlightening and fun. We do get map clears finished and the followers do end up with a zone completion chest. It might take a few weeks, but it is a blast.

Published: January 27th, 2017   |  7,194 Reads

About the Author

GmaFog
Senior Editor

As GmaFog loves to adventure in life, she gets excited about everything surrounding her. In addition to working as a Web Production Assistant for Franchise Update Media, she voluntarily writes and edits for Gaiscioch Magazine. She attends Westside Christian Church and loves going on missions trips to Rwanda with Africa New Life Ministries. In her spare time, Gma plays games with The Gaiscioch [GSCH] Family and grandsons; dabbles in photography; and explores crafting ideas. You can always ask her questions, as she enjoys helping others, in-game and out.

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