Here’s a thought on a new variation on jumping mechanics: bungee cords. I have two ways in mind this could work (please feel free to point out how it could be abused so precautions can be devised).
One: general PVE. Using a bungee cord would mean having a safety line for a jump. This would let you practice tricky jumps but would haul you back to your point of origin after a moment, so you have to ditch the cord to actually proceed in the jump. Or you could jump off a height and get yanked back up, for the simple fun of the act.
Two: specific points in dungeons or puzzles. You would interact with the point to get a cord on you, and use it to descend. In this version, you’d have to cut yourself free at the right moment to get to the destination. So it would be a sort of reverse jump puzzle, with descent rather than ascent as the goal. Like a jump pad, only dropping you instead of flinging you.
Source of the cords for general PvE: Crafting them would be fun, or a karma vendor perhaps. Gem Store would be less good, depending on pricing.
Duration: The cord could be an infinite use item, or have charges, or just be a one-shot consumable. The last option would reduce spam use of it and ensure people only do “practice” shots on truly hard jumps. (Naturally any variation of this would not help with timed jump puzzles).
Perhaps it shouldn’t be available in WvW due to odd scouting uses (or should be, to enhance things). Perhaps all skills and utilities should be disabled while corded so you can’t plummet, shoot something, and retract to your safe ledge, and the cord could not be used in combat with or without abilities enabled.
Just a wild idea I had when I woke up this morning