Do other MMO's have anniversary posts? I feel like making a big post on the gaming side incites the same feelings that we're just one big PR thread.
Lots of games have Anniversary posts; this was one of the reasons we wanted to do one. Any little news item that bubbles up deserves it's own thread, that's sort of the GAF policy, because Mega-Threads were becoming insular (and kind of creepy) and news was being lost amongst the hundreds of discussion-oriented posts. That's why you see mods splitting threads all the time for new news.
In terms of GW2, this next update is set to be a big one; there's supposedly a blog post going up for it, and they're 'setting the stage' for the next year. It's also a good time to take stock of the game; where it's been and where it's going and why it's a game worth paying attention to a year out. Very few MMOs maintain the level of population that GW2 has (in fact, only three have managed to stride gracefully out of the launch rush: WoW and EVE being the other two) and none are updating as frequently.
Those are all news worthy and worth talking about.
We are not a big PR thread. Jira and Retro are unofficial PR reps for ANET.
Man, don't even joke about that, people have gotten their GAF accounts killed off for that sort of thing and I happen to
like my GAF account.
It might not be a horrible idea to post it Mondayish, closer to right before the madness begins?
I believe the reason for pushing it a little early (though still within the permitted window) is that we didn't want ArenaNet to push some news out and have some random person create a thread for that.
Let the hate flow, and simply be welcome and friendly to any who might be interested in joining the guild!