Guild Wars 2

I have been on the game playing through the Dragon Bash content since the first day, and have been trying to look at all the good and bad sides of the event to finally come up with a conclusion whether I love this event or not. Therefore, I decided to come visit the forums and after a long session of browsing, it seems like the forum name should be changed to bash the Dragon Bash instead. However, I feel that most threads and discussion are heavily weighted and centered around loots and rewards, with barely any reference or comments to how the events are created, structured, decorated and develops along its way. Therefore, I would like to point out the good and bad points of the event as an overall concept rather than just focusing on one topic (!@#$ RNGGG). Oops, sorry for that, lets take a step back from this issue and Ill get back to it in a moment.

I don’t have much time and think it would be very long if this is separated into good and bad, so

1) World environment

I logged in and my first comment was holy !@#$, look at that giant dragon holo projecting up the sky! To top it was the fact that the mystic forge was completely transformed, and LA became much more lively like an actual holiday. This definitely went to +1 for me as an enriched gaming experience. The fountain stage area seems well set up and cant wait for the fireworks this weekend.

2) Pinatas

I have seen a lot of comments on the piñatas being dull. However, they remind me of a minor achievement from flame and frost – the refugees sign. Some might consider them being dull but I consider them as bonus. They are just there! you don’t waste any mining picks or resources to smash them. and they are all around LA and main cities which also serves well as a decoration to the theme even when they aren’t smashed. Not only that, I bet the majority of us today spend most time in less than 30% of the total area of LA. Heck many of us never even found a reason to explore all of LA or other main cities unless we are planning to grind for the world completion achievement (one day I will… one day I will! but hell, not today, lets go back and farm some more at cursed shore). I wondered around LA hunting piñatas and found myself reaching, exploring, and completing most of LA without me even realizing it, and it reminded me that the same thing happened to me during flame and frost! After running around fixing up the signs, There was so little for me left to complete the zone and I did it in just a few minutes. This gave me a purpose to actually go around other main cities to do the same. I paused at many great spots and vistas simply just for the great views. Definitely a +1

3.) Dragon holograms

The world dragon holograms were as expected and anticipated like the events before. I myself found that the pre adjustment monsters were too weak, and post adjustment monsters were a bit too strong to solo for mid and low levels. As a low toughness 80 ranger I myself was downed a few times. However my damages insured that I get back up right away. I think they need to be balanced in the middle, the adjustment was overdone. The nodes and the map where they are in are great. A casual charr like me and many others probably never decided to go to Kessex if were not looking to grind map completion as there aren’t any bosses there too. Ofcourse we would be rushing to complete zones like frostgorge as soon as we can because of its loot table and rewards. But why go back to beginner areas where you get only few silvers and T1 mats for completion. Now we have a reason to!

4) Loots, Rewards, TP, chests

Lets start off with dragon coffers – they are great! We have all been complaining about the SS crate drop, and now they have pretty much stuffed a bunch of coffers in our faces without having to pay. We don’t even have to grind the holograms! They drop everywhere and we are always a part of the event no matter where we are. This is definitely a +1 for me. I do feel that the coffers should have a low chance, lower than SS even, to drop an enriched coffer, increasing skin chances for everyone if you are not planning to sell them on TP. Wouldn’t hurt! (well maybe slightttt of Anets turnover)

The TP gives us a free goodie and offers the new minis at a reasonable price. I got the mini pack for free somehow as I have recently bought gems. Thanks Anet! Those 3 are going into the forge with my 1245328th knight from the coffers today. I feel that the knights drop too easily and have become worthless. Serves right for changing it to green item. However, now we lack the mid exotic pet and the knights themselves are worthless on the market. Not so good at all. -1!

The rewards….. are quite disappointing. Not in terms of quality, but quantity. The skins and back pieces are beyond awesome. But I feel that the endless amount of candies being thrown at us are too focused ultimately for one reward. This creates a grind-fest and annoys new gamers who want everything handed to them the first day. There are indeed many ways to obtain the endless amount of candies circulating around, but the rewards are not at all diverse. There are so many exotic toys, tonics, bags, bag of goodies and trinkets that can be created and developed which wont affect the local economy. I was looking forward to maybe a permanent rocket launcher or rocket clusters or dragon kite (WOW much?). But these exotic toys do make a lot of different for casual gamers and role players. For now the rewards are -1 to me. I hope they implement more as we move on the phases.

5) Achievements and living story

I feel that the achievements are great. You can choose to complete the achievements you prefer for the big reward and are not stuck doing the things you don’t want. I only think the part that weakens the storyline and achievement is how all the stories and achievement are revealed before they even are due to begin. I think that Anet could try to develop the story and achievement with more element of surprised. It keeps us logging in everyday or so to check what just happened.

I have not yet tried the Dragon ball and the Moa racing. So far I would say I love the event, but not the rewards. However, rewards are not all that are important. I find that the living stories really brings in enriched gameplay in most aspects. I find myself doing combos of daily, exploring, role playing, and of course, grinding at the many times, and getting the same amount of money reward as I do spending time clearing the shelters camp in cursed shore. I hope that this will bring forward more discussion and that Anet could use some of the suggestions to improve the upcoming living stories. Its not always about the big fat loots and rewards, but the gameplay experience that many gamers are missing, and I for one am definitely enjoying every moment of this living story so far.

RNG is always going to be a -1 for me, I have indeed spent a handful of gems on SS and even this event. After every event I find myself buying less and less out of frustration. But they have done better this event, even though its not a significant improvement.