Guild Wars 2

Well, hopes that these things would improve with experience is proven once again to be wishful thinking. IMO, this is by far the worst event in the Living Story chain to date and, yet again, another waste of developer resources.

You’ve taken a very free form MMO with a massive game world and reduced it to a stage on which to host the worst example of Theme park trash one could imagine.

The Queen’s Pavilion? Each piece of the pie is just a variation of a theme park exhibit of everything that is wrong with MMORPGs. Apparently, difficulty is supposed to make up for the complete lack of any redeeming design qualities, but it just makes the content as frustrating on a play level as it is on a design level.

The Balloon rides. Could have guessed we wouldn’t actually get a vista like traveling experience, instead it’s just another portal. Just gates to some stairs with a chest and an escort request required to unlock the door. Stale, boring, horrible; huge disappointment.

Yet another currency, because we all know we need more of those. Why not allow all holiday and LS events to share a currency, so players who are casual can maybe save up and buy something nice every other event, rather than just making it pointless to try to earn a temporary currency you may have no hope of making anything useful of.

Speaking of special currency, now we don’t just need special currency to get nice skins, we need that currency AND gold!

One of my guild mates that hadn’t completely abandoned the game, (the rest of the guild left after Guild Missions ended up being for large guilds only due to unlock costs), returned after a month away to check this out. It took us an hour to agree it was horrible, log out and go play something else.

Arenanet, you are killing the game. You are thumbing your noses at the Manifesto and apparently doing everything possible to make the game the worst kind of theme park.

I love the core game. It was very close to the game I’ve been waiting for since I started playing MMOs over 14 years ago. There was a natural progression for closing the gap between the game at launch and the lofty ideals of the Manifesto. It would have been hard work, it may have taken a couple years of steady progress, but the path ahead was clear.

Why have you abandoned the game world, allowing the illusion of life that Dynamic Events provided to flutter away as the world has remained stuck in an infinite loop, in exchange for the absolute worst kind of MMO content?

At this point, the issue isn’t more permanence, Living Story has culminated to the inevitable conclusion that Living Story itself is a colossal waste of everyone’s time and energy that needs to shelved for some miraculous Plan B asap.

It’s not fun. It doesn’t make the game feel alive. It’s frustrating for casuals. It’s the worst form of theme park content one could imagine. It diverts resources from where it’s really needed. It diverts players away from the assets of the game, the massive, richly detailed game world. It even sours the concept of Holiday Content, because Holiday Content is too much like LS content and many of us have had as much of that as we ever hope to experience.

If there is anyone left at ANet that believes in the Manifesto and actually understands what MADE this game so incredible, it’s time for you to show those who have become so lost the way back.

I can’t even couch this with anything positive, other than maybe that some of the skins are nice, even if they are wasted behind a currency that few are going to want to bother earning.

The biggest problem is that the content isn’t just a waste, but it’s actually soured the game for a number of people in a way I could never have imagined possible a year ago. You would have been better off doing nothing but the occasional holiday event than this.

What should you have done? Well, you should have stuck to the original plan you talked about last fall and created boatloads of new Dynamic Event content. Content that would have advanced the story with in each game zone told by the Dynamic Events that were there at launch. Adapting some, replacing some, rotating some in and out of circulation. That would have created a Living World. that would have preserved the sense of a dynamic game environment. That would have shed the negative stereotypes about Theme Park MMOs.

Instead, we got this mess.

Queen’s Pavilion is satire of everything that is wrong with really, really bad theme park MMO design, but it seems you guys are oblivious to the joke. It may be the worst part of the Jubilee, but the rest of it isn’t much better.

OP – Your post made much more sense after I looked at every other post you have made. :P

Believe me, there are no tears, but there are some other emotions. I think you probably know I’m right as well. Nice attempt at deflection though!

I thought it was all pretty bad, as well. However, the Queen’s Gauntlet is actually really well done. They thought up actual mechanics that were interesting and had some play to them, and the Gambits add extra difficulty upon player choice. It’s a great medium for both casual and hardcore players to both experience and enjoy the new content.

I’ll say this, though. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous that Jennah commissioned such a ridiculous and ugly area to be made in her city. Who the heck BUILDS an area with terrible spikes in dirt and lava flowing through it?

This is my favorite update yet.

Stone.6751:

OP – Your post made much more sense after I looked at every other post you have made. :P

Well, I hope you went all the way back to launch, because I’ve been a massive fan for a very long time. On one other site, I must have made close to 3,000 largely positive posts supporting the game from late 2010 until early 2013.

You are right though, if you actually are familiar with all my posts historically, this post will probably make a lot more sense to you.

I feel your pain. But log in next month for the Fall Festival, and then in October for Halloween, and November will be the one yr anniversary of the Karka invasion; so that means a Karka Bash; and then Wintersday; gosh I can’t wait. So many more games, like Angry Karka’s and Karka-farmville. Mmmmm, good

Scar Rufo.7935:

I feel your pain. But log in next month for the Fall Festival, and then in October for Halloween, and November will be the one yr anniversary of the Karka invasion; so that means a Karka Bash; and then Wintersday; gosh I can’t wait. So many more games, like Angry Karka’s and Karka-farmville. Mmmmm, good

I’m pretty sure January is the month we really want to look forward to. I believe that will be the one where the Elder Dragons will destroy everything but Lion’s Arch and forbid the survivors to do anything but mini-games and theme park content that can fit with in the confines of the city or pocket instances.

“Living Lion’s Arch” is rumored to be the push for 2014, with the goal for the year being half the NPCs in the city offering a gateway to instanced content and the other half each being a vendor for their own specific currency.

There will be a new festival every two weeks to keep morale high and once they have a years worth, they will let them cycle while they work on GW2 Facebook integration.

I think his point his that almost every living story feels like a holiday event rather then an actual event. The Molten Alliance for example felt like an actual battle though I still think it could of been done better with some of the world stuff going on. Everything else feels like a holiday with some bad guys. The Aetherblade Pirates just feel like party crashers and not a real threat. They are like clowns gone wrong.

Fiontar.4695:

Believe me, there are no tears, but there are some other emotions. I think you probably know I’m right as well. Nice attempt at deflection though!

Because different tastes don’t exist.

but…divinity’s reach is the game world…

I love the update, the casual side of the achievements is quite fun so I do those, the gauntlet however isn’t my cup of tea, so I skip it. Not all updates have to cater to everyone; if you don’t like this one wait a few weeks.

Stone.6751:

OP – Your post made much more sense after I looked at every other post you have made. :P

So toooootally agree with you….

Meriem.3504:

I think his point his that almost every living story feels like a holiday event rather then an actual event. The Molten Alliance for example felt like an actual battle though I still think it could of been done better with some of the world stuff going on. Everything else feels like a holiday with some bad guys. The Aetherblade Pirates just feel like party crashers and not a real threat. They are like clowns gone wrong.

I agree… if every event is like a holiday event, then the actual holiday events become nothing special.

To OP: you do know that the time put into this by the developers isn’t wasted, right? It will be a recurring event.

And I must say, I rather like that pavilion, though, I’d love to be able to wander around in there in peace for a change. Just to enjoy the designs…

The only thing I really don’t like about this one is those Aetherblades. I feel they’re a bit overpowered (large groups, hard to pull apart, and they’re simply annoying). Especially noticable in lower level areas where people are playing with lower level characters…

You write very level-headedly. I think the painfully cynical tone is due to some disappointment that’s been festering for a long time, according to your post history. I’m sorry that you feel this way and I do agree with you on some points, particularly in the unfriendliness towards casual players. But I think they are offering some even mix of content that even casual players can enjoy such as with the queen’s gauntlet matches.

I think you have unfair expectations and some of your criticisms are undue though. I too would love it if the balloon ride was more vista-like like the elevators at the grove, but I honestly wasn’t expecting much. I was rather impressed with the size and design of the balloon stations. The currency thing is just sensible…it’s a way to offer rewards based on the content for that event that you can exchange for other things. They’ve also got black lion weapon tickets to let you get weapons from past events that you missed (although the RNG and ridiculous cost of the skins needs to be addressed. It would cost you something like $50+ in gems to get enough ticket scraps.)

I also don’t give much credence to your friend’s assessment after one hour. He obviously left out of dissatisfaction and I would not expect him to be overwhelmed after a short peek. I took a break for a few months, I missed SAB, but when I came back I found the game really fun to jump back into. Maybe you should consider that.

Best.

@ Op – You are just mad that you could not kill any of the boss in the Queens Pavilion and thus you hate the update. Trust me not many people can kill those bosses. But that is the nature of the game. You cant be great at everything.. You have to learn to get up and try try again. But I could be wrong but I love this update.. This is a great update as its fun to do. I do not see why you could hate the update. Yeah its temp and that is a bad thing. But it comes back like the rest and that is a good thing.

I personally love this update. its Fun.. My guild loves this update… And many other guilds love it also. This is by far one of the best updates/ Patches we got

Lord Azazel.8703:

@ Op – You are just mad that you could not kill any of the boss in the Queens Pavilion and thus you hate the update. Trust me not many people can kill those bosses. But that is the nature of the game. You cant be great at everything.. You have to learn to get up and try try again. But I could be wrong but I love this update.. This is a great update as its fun to do. I do not see why you could hate the update. Yeah its temp and that is a bad thing. But it comes back like the rest and that is a good thing.

I personally love this update. its Fun.. My guild loves this update… And many other guilds love it also. This is by far one of the best updates/ Patches we got

Actually, we killed four before we decided they weren’t fun, exciting or worth the waste of time.

When taking a round area the size of an auditorium, dividing it into six theme park displays, adding six legendary bosses that require no strategy and tons of boring mobs, becomes one’s idea of worthwhile content, then something is terribly wrong.

If this kind of stuff is successful for them, fine, but people inside and outside of Arenanet who understood the Manifesto and the potential this game possessed surely can not help but be saddened that the game has sold out those ideals for content aimed at a pretty low common denominator.

ANet hit a fork in the road last fall, From comments they made at the time they knew which path would further the potential of the game and build on the solid foundation they had established, but instead they chose a path that cheapened their ideals and diminished the product they spent five years developing.

When I say that a year ago I could never, ever imagine they could blow it as badly as they have, it’s not hyperbole, I truly mean it. It’s completely unfathomable to me that they have chosen this path.

I sincerely hope that the “long term project” they are working will rescue the game’s original potential and further the ideals of the manifesto, but, imo, the Live Team is just digging a deeper and deeper hole to climb out of.

I have no agenda beyond the good of the game and the realization of the ideals put forth in the original manifesto. My words may not make a difference, but I love the game too much to not try.

I really wanned to disagree but I can’t.
I was fan of this game for sooooo long. I still love it, and it hurts, hurts so bad when I see what is happening.
Thing that I think would be impossible to imagine for me half year ago… I fear updates, I fear new content. Instead of feeling excitement while waiting for new content (that will steal my time), I feel afraid of upcoming chore list that is called “Living Story”. Good joke, but joke is on me.

The only upside of this content I found so far is well… there is no much of Kiel involvement. I don’t know why, but I find even random NPC seraph personality richer, than Ellens, so yeah. Having her stuck in “land of selfishness” (the humble, modest, unpretentious oh-my hologram of herself in LA) is the only positive of her wining election and not participating in new LS… But I’m really schocked that Anet didn’t put some glowing effect on her and some awesome music in background. I would prefer “ode to joy” sung by tortured quaggans, hylek and charr chorus. That will give small tone of suffering to whole sweet-sweet-sweet Kiel winning deal.

SkylightMoon.1980:

This post just demonstrates the mentality of a community who is perpetually unsatisfied. Its pretty much another post that points out the current faults in the game that havent yet been filled out yet, while the others have.

I’m just glad I take what most of the people on the forums say with a grain of salt, because generally they’re pretty ignorant.

I’m not going to say that this game has it’s problems, because it does. However I can only imagine how massive of an undertaking this game still is considering the size of the world, hundreds events at any one time, and so much content intermingled and flexible to different variables. I certainly feel there is more balance that needs to be accomplished between professions, but even that is better than it was. I’ve heart 99% praise for this update and 1% whiners. I’m sorry, but this post seems like someone who just threw their proverbial Nintendo controller and yelled “The game cheats!!!”.

QUOTE:

Instead, we got this mess.

Queen’s Pavilion is satire of everything that is wrong with really, really bad theme park MMO design, but it seems you guys are oblivious to the joke. It may be the worst part of the Jubilee, but the rest of it isn’t much better
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE most COGENT and APPLICABLE posting I have EVER seen for an MMO. in 20+ years.

This game is going to die a horrible death because of the MANY "*currencies* and the fact that the DEVS keep CHANGING THE RULES.

Almost everyone in the game wants a Legendary – but many are now realizing that they will NEVER have a Legendary – either their guilds are too small or they have no help (!) or they just give up because the GRIND has beaten them down into a puddle of mush – only to find a first person shooter to take a vacation from this moronic grind.

I am horrible at math.

I am horrible at keeping TRACK of the myriad of currencies and what you need them for and what you have to keep and what you can safely sell.

Making the game more about rides on balloons that are just fake waypoints that go ONE WAY and all the other items already mentioned is pushing SO many people away from the game.

There are thousands of people in the last few DAYS who have said, just on my server alone, that they are hoping this doesn’t spin out of control as it has before with the “new” currencies and “new” rules, but they were right – it is, it has, and we’re all looking for next MMO that won’t DO this to us.

I love the “game” BUT the events that aren’t even in “the world” that we can’t get to “without tickets” and actually forgetting HOW to get to them, no, this is not sarcasm.

My gosh some of you really don’t get how complicated this is for some who just don’t get the dozens (2-4?) of currencies, their “worth”, how to use them, and what to “farm” and where.

This game is amazing in pvE, WvW is doing a bit better except for (again) the currencies that we can NOT use, and PvP, which to date still hasn’t gotten any real love except to add the most annoying and hated map to date – not a single person I know likes it AND is confused why we can’t stay in PvP for “experience” throughout the game and have it connected to the rest of the world – PvP has been shunted off, like WvW to not be part of the world but to be two separate worlds of their own that can’t do much for the PvE chains.

Sarcasm? No, again, I love the game, but disconnecting events from the “real” world has never worked for long and the “market” (real people and the Trading Post) are starting to show it.

atheria.2837:

QUOTE:

Instead, we got this mess.

Queen’s Pavilion is satire of everything that is wrong with really, really bad theme park MMO design, but it seems you guys are oblivious to the joke. It may be the worst part of the Jubilee, but the rest of it isn’t much better
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE most COGENT and APPLICABLE posting I have EVER seen for an MMO. in 20+ years.

This game is going to die a horrible death because of the MANY "*currencies* and the fact that the DEVS keep CHANGING THE RULES.

Almost everyone in the game wants a Legendary – but many are now realizing that they will NEVER have a Legendary – either their guilds are too small or they have no help (!) or they just give up because the GRIND has beaten them down into a puddle of mush – only to find a first person shooter to take a vacation from this moronic grind.

I am horrible at math.

I am horrible at keeping TRACK of the myriad of currencies and what you need them for and what you have to keep and what you can safely sell.

Making the game more about rides on balloons that are just fake waypoints that go ONE WAY and all the other items already mentioned is pushing SO many people away from the game.

There are thousands of people in the last few DAYS who have said, just on my server alone, that they are hoping this doesn’t spin out of control as it has before with the “new” currencies and the “new” rules, but they were right – it is, it has, and we’re all looking for next MMO that won’t DO this to us.

Please tell me this is all overt sarcasm.

LordEnki.9283:

I’m not going to say that this game has it’s problems, because it does. However I can only imagine how massive of an undertaking this game still is considering the size of the world, hundreds events at any one time, and so much content intermingled and flexible to different variables. I certainly feel there is more balance that needs to be accomplished between professions, but even that is better than it was. I’ve heart 99% praise for this update and 1% whiners. I’m sorry, but this post seems like someone who just threw their proverbial Nintendo controller and yelled “The game cheats!!!”.

No it shows the frustrations of the thousands who will up thumb this comment.

You have no idea how much stress this game can cause because it is more confusing than fun at times.

I believe this living story event is one of the best. 40+ players gather together to defeat legendary bosses,earing achievements and tons of loot is awesome. I don’t see the problem here. If you don’t like the Living Story just don’t play it!!

Okhu.7948:

SkylightMoon.1980:

This post just demonstrates the nag-headed mentality of a community who is perpetually unsatisfied. Its pretty much another post that points out the current faults in the game that havent yet been filled out yet, while the others have.
-1 to you Fiontard.

I’m just glad I take what most of the people on the forums say with a grain of salt, because generally they’re pretty ignorant.

While I respect your right to say that the posting was ignorant, it isn’t.

You may not agree with it but there are tens of thousands, if not more, who disagree with you and agree that the game should be closer to its roots, closer to the promised product than it is…

There are still to this day, actions and mechanics that do not work, and you can not tell me that they haven’t been informed ad nauseum but the programming still hasn’t been fixed.

Yep, sometimes it’s all QQ’ing.

This time it’s a serious plea for sanity in a game with (please put your number here because I don’t think anyone really knows except the Devs) currencies as well as a pure lack of clarity on the direction being taken in a game with a long history with millions of LOYAL fans who are tired of being told/promised one thing and then given another.

For me it was the best update since they introduced fractals. Wallets! Decent champion loot! Promoting doing different dungeons! And on top of that challenging 1v1-content in the Queen’s Gauntlet and for those moments where I need something relaxing, a worthwile grinding opportunity in the pavilion. Even the open world thingies are thought out better than before – no competition who could be first at the spawn point (now: of the balloons).

The only point which I share is that they missed the opportunity to give us a cinematic during the balloon ride.

Claudius.5381:

For me it was the best update since they introduced fractals. Wallets! Decent champion loot! Promoting doing different dungeons! And on top of that challenging 1v1-content in the Queen’s Gauntlet and for those moments where I need something relaxing, a worthwile grinding opportunity in the pavilion. Even the open world thingies are thought out better than before – no competition who could be first at the spawn point (now: of the balloons).

The only point which I share is that they missed the opportunity to give us a cinematic during the balloon ride.

1V1? Against an NPC…?

Right.

The wallet is the only thing they got right. The ONLY thing.

atheria.2837:

Claudius.5381:

For me it was the best update since they introduced fractals. Wallets! Decent champion loot! Promoting doing different dungeons! And on top of that challenging 1v1-content in the Queen’s Gauntlet and for those moments where I need something relaxing, a worthwile grinding opportunity in the pavilion. Even the open world thingies are thought out better than before – no competition who could be first at the spawn point (now: of the balloons).

The only point which I share is that they missed the opportunity to give us a cinematic during the balloon ride.

1V1? Against an NPC…?

Right.

The wallet is the only thing they got right. The ONLY thing.

You do realize you’re treating your personal opinion as if it’s universal fact, right? In what world is 1 vs. 1 against an NPC an inherently bad thing? But I suppose you can back your claims up by referring to the totally-not-exaggerated thousands of people who share your views (and completely disregard however many who don’t).

atheria.2837:

LordEnki.9283:

I’m not going to say that this game has it’s problems, because it does. However I can only imagine how massive of an undertaking this game still is considering the size of the world, hundreds events at any one time, and so much content intermingled and flexible to different variables. I certainly feel there is more balance that needs to be accomplished between professions, but even that is better than it was. I’ve heart 99% praise for this update and 1% whiners. I’m sorry, but this post seems like someone who just threw their proverbial Nintendo controller and yelled “The game cheats!!!”.

No it shows the frustrations of the thousands who will up thumb this comment.

You have no idea how much stress this game can cause because it is more confusing than fun at times.

Somehow I think I understand this game very well and it’s frustrations. I’ve been playing since opening day and have 2600+ hours under my belt. I still get confused at some things in this game and believe that clarity isn’t Anet’s strong suit. Every LW update I find it frustrating that I have to look up guides just to know how to start. I’ve even made my own rage posts. However making wild claims such as the game is dying because Anet’s festivals are boring, poorly designed events that have caused aliens to have twisted Logan Thackeray’s nips in response to their disgust at our human games doesn’t change anything. The solution is that if you aren’t willing to stick around and help make things better, then go to your next MMO. No one cares that you are posting your farewell. You won’t be missed and you won’t start a revolution. I’d say the same about any game. I’ve watched several die and hated others, but I’ve just moved on because after all it’s only a game.

Whilst I won’t dispute some minor points the OP makes, I will respectfully disagree that it’s the worst, simply because like most things, this opinion is entirely individual.

For me Queen’s Jubilee is the best, Southsun being a very close second.

I like Lion’s Arch, but always appreciate things not being focused around that particular place. It is wonderful to have Divinity’s Reach and the human queen as the central attraction for once.

I really, really like Crown Pavillion….I don’t understand why we have to run to the exit to leave, why couldn’t there have been an exit button like instances have? But the buffs are much appreciated and I am a farm-junkie. I don’t care much for dungeons in any MMO truth be told, so I do like a good farming spot to get stuck into….and challenging farming, not players face-rolling over everything. Hence why I like Southsun as well.

I got my permanent torch, but would really have liked the opportunity to get one for each of my characters…so it would be nice to have things like this repeatable for alts too.

I like the Gauntlet, though mostly had a test run of it to check it out, I like it, but like some the dying outside of the arena is more of an inconvenience than anything.

Overall….I love it. For me: It is the BEST living story event thus far.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think OP’s opinion isn’t valid, I just don’t share that opinion.

Also….I am surprised Queen Jennah didn’t get a makeover. Her hair is common….Marjory and Kasmeer have unique hairstyles….but the Queen gets a common one. Nice :-P

@OP,
I have been becoming quite bitter with the game over the past few months, so I do understand your despair. Though, once the achievement updates and the promises Collin Johanson has made about the temp content and future of the game, I have been feeling a lot better. I actually like the currency update, and don’t mind the currency “confusion”, and I really love the recent patch.
The mini game event, and the main event involving running around killing stuff, has one feature that I am grateful for: No new temp skill set! I really loath having these mini games where I have to learn a new skill set. I spend a lot of time working on my builds, and really hate having to change to something else to fight, run or compete with. REALLY annoying. So, this time around, I am very glad this is not the case. Oh yes… and no really very annnoying JP!

So, I am quite happy with the recent changes, and look forward to the promises and clarification that has been made for the future permanent content. OP, hang in there, I am hoping it is going to get better. Wait two weeks, and see what the birthday changes bring.

Hmm I thought this was the best event to date.

I’ll grant the balloons aren’t overly exciting, but the story was well executed, the pavillion and gauntlet are a TON of fun, and the new features are all wonderful, and they FINALLY nerfed CoF farming. This patch was a huge win for me.

I’m having a blast, great update! Lots of fun indeed. I only have one complaint…

ArenaNet… next time you promise a balloon ride, can we haz balloon ride plz? Yeah, with the zones and all that it would be difficult to pull off I’m sure, but if you could it would be nice. Even a “live cinematic” (seeing characters and events below) until the edge of the zone before the portal effect would be sweet.

Aside from that… well, the wallet isn’t the most attractive thing… the big icons are tacky looking. A simpler list would be more sufficient, or better yet, a toggle between different modes of view.

But that’s it for complaints… a couple aesthetic things. I’ve been having a blast so far, this is definitely a worthy addition to the cyclical content and I’ll enjoy it when it’s back next year.

Tyria is being treated like a carnival.
The center of Tyria…
http://www.garygoddard.com/gbim/1311.jpg
Changes every 2 weeks. New games/rides/prize booths.
The outskirts of Tyria…
http://24.media.tumblr.com/fa0789f1a8a126be653455b61e4f9421/tumblr_mpkqnnbjG31soewi5o3_500.jpg

Tyria has many areas that when I first experienced them I developed an emotional attachment to because of what I experienced there. But they were treated like rides and prize booths and haven’t changed. They aren’t drawing in the crowds anymore. And sometimes I go back to those areas and feel this strange feeling. Like I’m empathizing with the area and it feels neglected.

And EVERYTHING ‘living world’ content is introducing is making it more pronounced.

I’m gonna log on the forums and talk about how much I logged out of the game!

I agree the currencies are out of control. Even with the wallet, I still have baubles, bauble bubbles, and numerous other tokens and items sitting in storage waiting to see if I use them again. It would be less clutter if there was a unified festival/achievement token.

I would add to that, some of the crafting materials that are limited time availability. You will tend to store stacks of those because you might not be able to get more for a while and then they clutter up your space due to only stacking in 250 quantities.

Really? I thought this was Arenanet’s best update in a very long while. Though they really need to chill down on the stuns though. Oh well I’m having fun.

This content and all other temporary content is optional………….. There is still the rest of the game. If you don’t want to put in the time , you won’t get the rewards. This is by far the best update they have released. Seems like every update that is tied to LS keeps on improving.

Also if you don’t like the whole Living Story concept , then just don’t participate in them. There are many players out there that don’t give two craps about LS, at least they don’t come on the forums and cry about it.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

This content and all other temporary content is optional………….. There is still the rest of the game. If you don’t want to put in the time , you won’t get the rewards. This is by far the best update they have released. Seems like every update that is tied to LS keeps on improving.

Also if you don’t like the whole Living Story concept , then just don’t participate in them. There are many players out there that don’t give two craps about LS, at least they don’t come on the forums and cry about it.

Totally agree, besides this ‘themepark’ feeling won’t go on forever. Anet said in an interview (can’t remember where :x) that now that they have their core rotation of holidays scripted and done, they can start adding different things with each release. Some of ya’ll need to chill, it’s still fun if you just relax.

There will always be that one guy who writes a wall of hate.

Overall, I think this was a great update.

I love how they made the boss fights in this event more interesting. The bosses have hard-hitting dodgeable/blindable/interruptable attacks and relatively low health pools, which in my opinion makes for a more dynamic and fun fighting experience. I think the Queen’s Gauntlet was great (although it also highlights some of the camera problems this game has whenever you’re under a roof of some sort). I hope A.net continues to adopt this design philosophy in future PvE content.

What I don’t like is the massive farm-fest going on in the Queen’s Pavilion. I suspect it’s purpose is to give A.net a bunch of data so that they can calibrate Champion loot drops, because otherwise it makes little sense to me from a gameplay perspective. All of my friends right now just sit in the Pavilion farming champions because they think that the reward vs. time&risk ratio there is higher than in pretty much every other GW2 activity. Plus, a substantial number of achievements are tied to farming mobs in the Pavilion. I just don’t understand why A.net would want to incentivize people to mass-zerg-farm in a small, instanced area.

Finally, the addition of SoloQ is awesome, or at least it will be once all the kinks get worked out.

This is a game… and it’s enjoyable.

If you find it to be not enjoyable, why play? I just don’t get it. Perhaps this update just isn’t for you. The fun thing is, wait 2 weeks or even 4, and perhaps you’ll love that update.

I’m loving the Crown Pavilion thus far.

As a pretty casual player I have to say this is a lot of fun.

I don’t even approach caring about all the special currencies. You want all the currencies to be shared so that “casuals” can come in every other event and buy something, but take no consideration for that would mean for the non-casuals that horde thousands of the things. It’s not designed around casual play because that’s an asinine thing to do.

The balloons are silly, but really very nice looking. They add new events to areas that are in placed that expose players to yet more events. Also because the achievement actually requires going into no less that 15 zones to complete it, no one can just do it in a starter zone and move on. Everyone will have to spread out a lot in order to finish the achievement. This is a good thing for the game.

The pavilion is gorgeous, plain and simple. The arena under it is a little strange, but so what, it’s still cool. The only problem I have with it is how far down it is. I get the collapse was big, but did they seriously have to go all the way to the bottom of it in order to do that?

You’re not having fun. You’ve been around for a while and been a supporter and now you’re not liking it. Well I’ve been around since beta, and I’ve stuck it out. My whole guild abandoned the game too, but I am still loving it. Sometimes I get bored and only do just enough to get the daily, and sometimes not even that much. Then they bring out a new event and I’m right back into it. This one is no different.

I don’t understand why you seem to think this is Themepark. It encourages you to go to certain places, but it also encourages you to spread out. It also has no consideration with how you do it. It is still very sandbox. Perhaps you would be happier just moving on. They’re obviously not updating things with you in mind. Everything is still just fine by me.

+1 to Kal. Good post man. Summed up my thoughts as well.

Yata.8932:

Totally agree, besides this ‘themepark’ feeling won’t go on forever. Anet said in an interview (can’t remember where :x) that now that they have their core rotation of holidays scripted and done, they can start adding different things with each release. Some of ya’ll need to chill, it’s still fun if you just relax.

Bah if there are folks who can’t stand that a small rotation of activities are being developed they can come back later or not at all.

Seriously ANet has said that once they get these rotations settled, which looks like we’re close to that, then bigger things will be established.
When this Living Story started they had one team trying to crank things out, they found some mistakes, then they expanded to 4 (I think) which are rotating out and developing the next chapter/episode/update to this story.

I see this as Season One of a show. It isn’t too good, but still has some decent moments, chances are it will ‘grow the beard’ in Season Two. For the Living Story I see Season Two being established around 2014. By that time, like Yata said, they won’t create too much holiday-ish new content, but rather work on bigger things while updating older core holiday things here and there.

disagree with the OP, this update is pure fun for me… not because of the rewards but because of the neat design of the gauntlet. I haven’t tried the other features (baloons, torch-race etc.) yet but I really love the solo-player challenge.

And I hate to see it gone soon

Let me see:
- This achievement: kill 100
- That achievement: kill 100
- Next achievement: defeat 100
- Kill that 3x
- Get this 30x

Can you make grind more obvious…. I wont make any of that on purpose.

peter.2738:

Let me see:
- This achievement: kill 100
- That achievement: kill 100
- Next achievement: defeat 100
- Kill that 3x
- Get this 30x

Can you make grind more obvious…. I wont make any of that on purpose.

And this is where people fail to see the forest for the trees.

I’m already halfway into two of those kill 100 achievements. Why? Because I was grinding and trying really hard to get them? No, not at all. It’s because I’m running the missions associated with the new content, and simply by doing the content I’m automatically completing the achievements.

This isn’t a grind, you are getting rewards just for doing what you would most likely do anyway just by doing the stuff they made for you.

Even get 30 balloons can’t be considered a grind when all you’re doing is walking to a balloon, maybe doing an event associated with it, then walking up the stairs. There is no serious effort involved, just go do the thing.

Yes, is the worst. I mean, i dunno who are behind these updates, but they UBER lack of imagination. GW lore is big, and what they are doing? Balloons an other crap like peter said : kill that, run like a crazy one on the map… This is the events to keep players playing? Molten Alliance was the best, after that every Living Story was more or less pathetic. Honestly, at the first look with these so call “events” you think GW2 is a free to play MMO. And above all things, they are forcing players to make all the achivs in 2 weeks. I guess GW2 will have a slowly death, like others MMO who started so awesome and ended so patethic.