If you're wondering why you didn't get an event ribbon...

[lifeexpectancy]

If you were on the fence about starting Gears 3's achievements because of War Supporter, do it NOW. Now is the best and possibly last time to do it if they change this.

Does anyone else find it a massive coincidence that they did this at Halo 4's launch instead of weeks or months ago? I think the supposed "hand-written letter" he says he received is a lie.

NEW INFO: SUPPOSEDLY (see above) some genuinely frustrated gamer sent PetNub (the guy who changes the events) a 2-page handwritten letter. Because of this letter (or maybe this was already in the works and the "letter" is a ruse), PetNub has bumped ALL players to 29/30 events, so that the next event that counts for you will onyx War Supporter for you.

It does NOT reset which unique event I.D.'s you've played in, so you still need to play in an event you haven't previously done to get your 30th. This makes this "fix" much better for new players than pre-existing ones.

For rest of original post, see below:


Up-to-date info: This is a long read, but if you want to UNDERSTAND the event system (as best as it's currently able to be understood) please read this entire post BEFORE replying to the thread.

Groundrules:

1. Understand that the Event name and the Ribbon name do not matter. Think of it this way: their server recognizes the event from Week 1 as '##Event##01/35' for instance. Week 35 would be '##Event##35/35' in this manner. Since they cannot repeat event 1, the cycle is 34 events. Event numbers 36-69 will be repeats of events 2-35 as far as the server is concerned. Then event 70 will start the cycle for a 3rd time if we get that far.

2. You CANNOT get credit toward War Supporter more than once for each unique event I.D. For instance if you played during Event 2, then Event 36 would not count for you since it is a repeat of Event 2's unique I.D.

3. If you're just starting Gears 3: DO NOT MISS MORE THAN FOUR EVENTS, or you will be forced to repeat the cycle, since if you miss more than 4 events you won't be able to hit 30 events played within any one 34 event cycle. Cycle 1 was 35 events. We can't repeat event 1 so we're down to a 34-event cycle now. Therefore, I would suggest not missing more than 3 events just in case, if you're just starting this game.

4. They aren't consistently starting events on Friday mornings anymore. As of Sep/Oct 2012 the past couple events have taken 3-5 weeks to change. Check this forum or the event twitter religiously, or play 2-3 games a week: one on Wed, one on Sat, and possibly a third on Mon, just to make SURE you don't miss an event.

5. At this point you have to ignore the event and ribbon names and focus on which event #'s in the 34-week cycle you've played.


I'm posting the events in the same format as the event calendar thread here and will update it continuously and as promptly as I can when new events are up.


Cycle 1, events 1-35 (ended)

Cycle 2, events 2-35 repeated (in progress)

Event #36 (repeat of event 2): RavenDown 24/7 -------- May 18 - 20
Event #37 (repeat of event 3): Stay Frosty -------------- May 25 - 28
Event #38 (repeat of event 4): One Shot One Kill -------- June 1 - 11
Event #39 (repeat of event 5): Shotguns And Snipers --- June 11 - 14
Event #40 (repeat of event 6): Assassination ------------ June- 14 - 18
Event #41 (repeat of event 7): Gnashty Guardian -------- June 19 - 27
Event #42 (repeat of event 8): Gnashty Guardian -------- June 27 - July 2
Event #43 (repeat of event 9): Wingman 2x XP ----------- July 2 - July 12th
Event #44 (repeat of event 10): Force Multiplayer ----------July 12th - 20th
Event #45 (repeat of event 11): Triple Threat --------------July 20th - 27th
Event #46 (repeat of event 12): Boom Snipes ------------- July 27th - Aug 3rd
Event #47 (repeat of event 13): Stay Frosty --------------- Aug 3rd - 10th
Event #48 (repeat of event 14): Stay Frosty (again) ------- Aug 10th - 17th
Event #49 (repeat of event 15): Raven Down 24/7 -------- Aug 17th - 24th
Event #50 (repeat of event 16): Raven Down 24/7--------- Aug 24th - 31st
Event #51 (repeat of event 17): 1 Shot 1 Kill --------------- Aug 31st - Sep 7th
Event #52 (repeat of event 18): KOTGnasher --------------Sep 7th - 16th
Event #53 (repeat of event 19): Bros to the End ----------- Sep 16th - Oct 11th
Event #54 (repeat of event 20): Torque Bow Tag --------- Oct 11th - 30th
Event #55 (repeat of event 21): Boom Snipes -------------- Oct 30th - Nov 5th
Event #56 (repeat of event 22): Boom Snipes -------------- Nov 5th - Nov 14th
Event #57 (repeat of event 23): Boom Snipes -------------- Nov 14th - 21st
Event #58 (repeat of event 24): Thanksgibbing ------------ Nov 21st - 30th
Event #59 (repeat of event 25): One Shot One Kill --------- Nov 30th - Dec ?
Event #60 (repeat of event 26): Bros to the End ------------ Dec? - Dec 14th
Event #61 (repeat of event 27): Hardcore Weekend -------- Dec 14th - Dec 17th
Event #62 (repeat of event 28): Can You Dig It? ------------ Dec 17th - Dec 21st
Event #63 (repeat of event 29): This is My Rifle ------------- Dec 21st - Dec 26th
Event #64 (repeat of event 30): One shot One Kill ----------- Dec26th - ??
Event #65 (repeat of event 31):
Event #66 (repeat of event 32):
Event #67 (repeat of event 33):
Event #68 (repeat of event 34):
Event #69 (repeat of event 35):

[Kunduz]

well that explains it

[lifeexpectancy]

My money says that after the legit seekers started unlocking Socialite around week 30-33 Epic saw the population in matchmaking plummet faster than the stock market in 2008 and said "Fuck it, let's just set this thing to loop the 35 events we've made and call it a day".

[SR x FUZiON]

This really sucks, I missed the Christmas ones (is that really surprising? its fucking Christmas, im not going to be playing gears.). I will vote in the poll but I doubt nothing will be done about it just like the rank resetting, that has been around since Gears of war 2.

EDIT: how can they have a maximum amount of unique events?

[Robbo1991]

So glad I was done with that event BS when the socialite glitch happened to me, allowed me to play when I want not religiously having to play every weekend to get them stupid ribbons! Anyway I thought they were going to add in something to the ribbon section to show people which event ribbons they have? I'm sure I read something about that on these forums

[lifeexpectancy]

Originally Posted by Robbo1991

So glad I was done with that event BS when the socialite glitch happened to me, allowed me to play when I want not religiously having to play every weekend to get them stupid ribbons! Anyway I thought they were going to add in something to the ribbon section to show people which event ribbons they have? I'm sure I read something about that on these forums

People want them to, but I haven't read anything about it here. Maybe on Epic's forums? I avoid those like the plague.

Even knowing which ones you missed won't take the sting out of waiting an extra 6 months if you played early on and missed recent events. As long as they don't randomize them, adding in the ability to see which ones we have would at LEAST allow people to plan ahead which weekends to play. But that's a baby step. Socialite has been a clusterfuck since day 1 and they need to just give up and let people unlock it in private matches. Enough people did at launch that it defeated the purpose of having it as a badge of honor for Gears fanatics anyway, so enough with the dog and pony show already.

[SR x FUZiON]

I have a couple of questions, If you cant re-earn a ribbon you already earned how did the socialite glitch work? or could you and then it got patched? And a second question, why does it have to be Gears weekend why cant they have around 3 events per week, that would cut down the time we have to wait

[lifeexpectancy]

In answer to your first question: I don't believe people were earning ribbons in private matches at launch. What happened was they would play an event and earn A ribbon. Then when they played private matches their socialite counter went up a tick every game they played. It was a glitch and Epic patched it. Yet somehow they can't patch the whole 'maximum unique ribbons' issue... Whatever.

As for your second question, that's one you ought to pose directly to Epic. Of course they could have more than one event per week. There have been several instances of that already. But in their infinite (lack of) wisdom they simply choose not to for the most part. They could have an event every day if they wanted to.

I won't purchase another Epic game again. I assure you of that.

[Robbo1991]

Originally Posted by SR x FUZiON

I have a couple of questions, If you cant re-earn a ribbon you already earned how did the socialite glitch work? or could you and then it got patched? And a second question, why does it have to be Gears weekend why cant they have around 3 events per week, that would cut down the time we have to wait

The glitch wasn't about earning the same ribbon over and over, I think what it did was every game played counted because it was played during an event but now it limits you to 1 game per event. That's how I gathered it to work anyway, im sure someone else will give the actual explanation as to how it works. As for 3 events a week people who don't have socialite yet are lucky epic are still doing events because it just seems like they've got their money from the three games so they're not really arsed anymore like stat resets, rank resets and all the rest and they don't seem to be doin much about it unfortunately :/

[SR x FUZiON]

Ok thanks for the info about the socialite glitch. I guess I will have to wait a few days to see if they do anything about it or just suck it up and wait an extra couple of months.

[punkrockfox]

That's crappy.... I just now got back into the weekend groove after a good 3-4 month hiatus. I have 16 events counted and was wondering why I wasn't getting the Raven Down 24/7 one this weekend.

[lifeexpectancy]

Originally Posted by punkrockfox

That's crappy.... I just now got back into the weekend groove after a good 3-4 month hiatus. I have 16 events counted and was wondering why I wasn't getting the Raven Down 24/7 one this weekend.

Yep, you're one of the people I was referring to. Sounds like you played the first few months then quit. That means you'll probably have to wait a few months before you can even START earning event ribbons again.

[XoNiNjAlEoNoX]

Originally Posted by lifeexpectancy

Poor programming? Or just developer lazyness...

None of them... just Epic motherfucking Games

[KingBroly]

I wish I could choose both.

[Fat Strat Mann]

Originally Posted by lifeexpectancy

Yep, you're one of the people I was referring to. Sounds like you played the first few months then quit. That means you'll probably have to wait a few months before you can even START earning event ribbons again.

I must be in that boat too. I hopped on this weekend to get the Raven Down 24/7 event, and got no ribbon for it.

[KARAN]

epic as always sucks a couple of meatballs through a straw

[Darth Craigus]

Am I missing something here? Raven Down is a new map, how can this have already had an event tied to it? Edit: Nevermind, I know how it works now. It's the ribbon that counts, not so much the event.

I'm on 29/30 for the War Supporter medal and have so far played a half a dozen games today and no ribbon for my Onyx Medal.

Also, I'm convinced I played the first Torque Bow Tag and earned the ribbon for it, then I played last week or whenever it was back on recently and I still earned a ribbon for it.

This is pretty rubbish on Epic's behalf.

[RazerindemiX]

i agree with all of the above about the epic dickheads

[SoloistProdigy]

Originally Posted by punkrockfox

That's crappy.... I just now got back into the weekend groove after a good 3-4 month hiatus. I have 16 events counted and was wondering why I wasn't getting the Raven Down 24/7 one this weekend.

Same here mate, played every event up till Christmas think maybe missed just one up till then. Missed out on all Jan, Feb, March, April events cause I was taking break from Gears.

Now it looks like we'll have to wait 3 months or so for the events we need.

[TrishTheDish]

Originally Posted by lifeexpectancy

My money says that after the legit seekers started unlocking Socialite around week 30-33 Epic saw the population in matchmaking plummet faster than the stock market in 2008 and said "Fuck it, let's just set this thing to loop the 35 events we've made and call it a day".

QFMFT.

This is so bloody ridiculous! I was raging last night when I figured out what was going on.... definitely lazy programming at its worst. After all, these are the same people who "can't make Guardian Private".

[BosmaniaK]

i missed about 7 events in march/april
now I feel seriously F'd in the A.

[lifeexpectancy]

Welcome to the cash grab that video game development has become, for the most part, these past few years or so. It's so mainstream now that devs care less about originality, quality development, thorough bug testing, or their fan base's opinions (for the most part on this last one, some still do). Game development is rapidly becoming just like Hollywood. Shovel shit out year after year with no regard for quality or sustainability, let alone the people you're trying to sell it to, in order to reap as much profit in as short a time span as possible.

If the gaming industry keeps its current pace of deteoriorating standards, it will soon implode.

[Spud32g]

REALLY???? Two events two go for me and they pull something like this? Epic is getting as bad as EA Gears is one of my favorites, I am glad it is the last one I wouldn't buy the next one. EPIC GO TAKE A LEAP

[Darth Craigus]

I would estimate from looking at the event calendar that I missed 1, maybe 2 of the first 20 weekends. Here I am stuck on 29/30 with no idea which one it was I missed. I am beyond angry, I am just deflated by this. I was looking forward to unlocking this achievement this weekend but it's not going to happen. I'll still play the game as I enjoy it, and I've got other achievement & medal progression to work towards, so one day I'll pop Socialite, but it wont be for a long time now, and I'm almost "scared" to miss a weekend now in case it's one that I need. I think this is truly shoddy on behalf of Epic. I refuse to believe their BS story about no more unique events being possible, it's a ploy to keep people like myself playing for another few months. It's something they didn't need to do because I would be playing anyway, but it's yet another black mark against Epic and after some of the stunts they've pulled with GOW3 I'll think twice about picking up whatever their next title may be.

[XoNiNjAlEoNoX]

Originally Posted by lifeexpectancy

Game development is rapidly becoming just like Hollywood. Shovel shit out year after year with no regard for quality or sustainability

That's why I'm glad we still have some developers that care for high quality products like Rockstar Games, Valve, Bungie or Nintendo

[Devious418]

Is EPIC actually TRYING to get people to stop playing their games??? Its like they sit around in meetings and say, "well, we have made pretty much all that we are going to from these idiots, so fuck the rest".

I don't like the online matches in gears, never have. I only play when there is an event. According to the event calendar in the game menu, there has only been about 8 events. Oh, thats right, we don't update the event calendar becuase we are too busy thinking up ways to fuck you out of more of your money

This is probably the shittiest thing that I have ever heard of a game manufacturer doing. WHY can't you earn a ribbon for the same event more than once. That is like saying there will be no Christmas because we had one last year.

They really are living up to their "EPIC Fail" reputation.

[Lothra]

Their excuse for not being able to re-earn the same ribbon does not make sense to me. Out of the first 30 events there were multiples of the same event, 2 torque bow tags, 2 shotguns and snipers, 2 can you dig it etc

So if there were multiples of the same event then i'm guessing they just re-named the ribbon for each of the same events, so why can't they just have the same events now like raven down 24/7 but make the ribbon a different name?

I call BS on there excuse, they are clearly too lazy to keep putting efforts into this game, they probably want to concentrate on their new games.

[CKK Salvation]

Originally Posted by Darth Craigus

Am I missing something here? Raven Down is a new map, how can this have already had an event tied to it? Edit: Nevermind, I know how it works now. It's the ribbon that counts, not so much the event.

I'm on 29/30 for the War Supporter medal and have so far played a half a dozen games today and no ribbon for my Onyx Medal.

Also, I'm convinced I played the first Torque Bow Tag and earned the ribbon for it, then I played last week or whenever it was back on recently and I still earned a ribbon for it.

This is pretty rubbish on Epic's behalf.

Same. I KNOW I played it when the game launched...was like the second or third event, iirc. Played it last week and got another ribbon. Something fishy about this, imo.

[dakisbac]

I don't believe they preplanned how many events they were going to do, simply because that if they had you wouldn't be able to re-Onyx the medal. Basically it boils down to they're tired of making new events. I knew this was going to happen at some point, so one thing I can say in their favor at least is that they aren't requiring you to hit every event. The inability to check which ones you have done though is a big fuck up. No foresight.

I also want to point out, despite the fact that I voted the second option on the poll, that it's not up to the developers. At some point someone running shit was going to say "move on to something else" and it looks like this has happened.

[ernestolefty]

tats confusing... u see i did not play the first event aftr the game was launched.. so according to the post i sld be getn it this week as its been reset this week.. rite.. im sure i havnt played raven down 24/7 before.. so i tried it thirce today and didnt get the medal!!! why?! this is real bullshit from epic.. the gamers must do something about this.. they cant do this to us.. what garantee do i have that i might get the ribbons in the second cycle.. as i did not today... this is not right!