Guild Wars 2

Why is this map so atrocious? I thought Tangled Depths was bad, but this has to be the worst map I’ve come across so far in the game.
Seriously, how did this map make it through testing without anyone harming themselves IRL? I feel like I shouldn’t have to read a guide just to know how to get from point A to point B. That’s just terrible map design.

What’s wrong with it?

Apart from the bit where you have to go through Scarlet’s house to get out of the first area I’ve never had any trouble navigating it, and that bit is shown to you in the story.

Yeah, do the story and it will lead you most of the key places.

The very first bit is slightly annoying with those specials skills and the map could use a few more waypoints but the only real impediment is the darned sandstorm obstructing exploration. If the sandstorm is going I suggest you either pop out of the map and do something else or else follow a comm tag on the inevitable champ train (although at some point the train will jump to a WP you probably don’t yet have.

Dry Top is bad indeed. It was a cool idea but it’s not fun playing on it, I hate this map.

I have absolutely no interest in doing the story is the problem.

I hated the original story but LW story is kinda cool, I’d suggest you give it a try. No more Treeharne!! Got some beatiful ladies instead.

The maps you mention are well designed if you spend a lot of time there. That’s the line ANet are struggling to walk at the moment. They want you to spend a lot of time in these places mastering them – but for those not willing to invest that much time they become daunting labyrinths. Special mention goes out to the map in TD which needs work.

NeoCodex.2438:

I hated the original story but LW story is kinda cool, I’d suggest you give it a try. No more Treeharne!! Got some beatiful ladies instead.

Beautiful ladies? I thought they were wooden planks.

I’ll take the original story over LW part 2 anyday, characters like Zojja, Caithe, Logan, Rytlock and Eir are far better to me then the new kids on the block.

People need to learn to separate subjective tastes from objective evaluation.

I don’t like it =/= It’s bad

Ardid.7203:

People need to learn to separate subjective tastes from objective evaluation.

I don’t like it =/= It’s bad

this! so much this!

drytop is one of my favourite maps, i love the design of it… even more so since we can now glide there!

The only bad part about that entire map is that you have to go through Scarlet’s house to get to the western half. If you didn’t do the story there’s no way you would even know that without looking it up and god is it frustrating going back and forth, up and down, trying to get to that side without knowing that.

They really should have thought that part through.

Draknar.5748:

The only bad part about that entire map is that you have to go through Scarlet’s house to get to the western half. If you didn’t do the story there’s no way you would even know that without looking it up and god is it frustrating going back and forth, up and down, trying to get to that side without knowing that.

They really should have thought that part through.

or ask in map chat?

zxstanyxz.8769:

Ardid.7203:

People need to learn to separate subjective tastes from objective evaluation.

I don’t like it =/= It’s bad

this! so much this!

drytop is one of my favourite maps, i love the design of it… even more so since we can now glide there!

Yeah gliding seems to have made this place a bit better but getting around the map is still incredibly annoying when you don’t have the entire place unlocked.
Once you have all the waypoints, it still feels like a bad map but it does feel a bit easier.

I still think the map design is bad. I understand they tried to do something new and different but I don’t think it was that great of an idea.

But yes you’re right, that’s my opinion. If you enjoy the map, then good for you. I finally got the 150 geodes I needed for the mistward set, now I’ll never have to step foot in that god awful place ever again. /cheer

Draknar.5748:

The only bad part about that entire map is that you have to go through Scarlet’s house to get to the western half. If you didn’t do the story there’s no way you would even know that without looking it up and god is it frustrating going back and forth, up and down, trying to get to that side without knowing that.

They really should have thought that part through.

Just stupid from a story point as well. I guess anyone traveling that way- merchants, soldiers, bandits, everyone at some point traipsed through scarlets house?

Moonyeti.3296:

Draknar.5748:

The only bad part about that entire map is that you have to go through Scarlet’s house to get to the western half. If you didn’t do the story there’s no way you would even know that without looking it up and god is it frustrating going back and forth, up and down, trying to get to that side without knowing that.

They really should have thought that part through.

Just stupid from a story point as well. I guess anyone traveling that way- merchants, soldiers, bandits, everyone at some point traipsed through scarlets house?

Heck, if everyone was running through my house uninvited, I’d probably have mass murder urges too.

A few things:
1) Crystals stack (e.g wind crystal extends duration of lightning crystal)
2) You can glide after jumping in the air with wind

Navigating this map is incredibly easy in HoT.

The only bad thing is that you still have to go through Scarlet’s house to get to the other side of the map. It would’ve been better if they did something similar to what they did with Silverwastes to Verdant Brink, a breach of sorts.

Maybe open the mine to the other side … ?

Please no more waypoints, maps have too many waypoints as it is. I like to put forth a bit more effort than popping in and out of every town like whack-a-mole.

The map was designed to be discovered while play the Living World Season 2 story. So if you own the story and haven’t played through it try it out because each chapter opens a new piece of the map and provides some narrative on its importance.

Dry Top isn’t really an “Open World” map. It was one created and driven by the Living Story, and segmented accordingly.

NeoCodex.2438:

Got some beatiful ladies instead.

No, only one beautiful lady.
Marjory and Kasmeer are human … so hideous.
Rox has freaky anatomy-defying eyes and a mutant muzzle.
Taimi is a little kid.
Only Braham qualifies as a beautiful lady, with that fabulous pink hair, perfectly tailored fur leggings, and.. .err…

Dry Top was originally released in parts as living world story continued. It was ANet’s big experiment with vertical level design and it definitely had promise. Since then Maguuma has more or less eclipsed it, and returning to Dry Top leads to a frustrating and awkward experience. It is a testament to how far the game has evolved in terms of level design though.