Guild Wars 2

Why was the Golem Chess in Soren Draa disabled?
For role-players that was great.

Chess is MUCH too complicated for Anet’s intended player base. This will almost certainly not be returning.

It was brainlessly easy to win, so no real challenge. It was an easy heart in Metrica Province – easy to find and easy to do. Not sure why they removed it since it seems more in line with the dumbing down of the starter areas that occurred with this patch.

Their thought process went like this:

Bundles are too complicated/confusing for new players.
Golem Chess is technically a bundle.
Does it appear right at the start of the game? Yes it does → remove it.

It was broken and never really worked from day one! At least when I tried to do it. Good riddance! Anet needs to make a mini game work properly before its released.

Maybe this is why we do not have bar brawls and Mina’s Target Shooting.

While I don’t like seeing old content removed like this, I was also never that crazy about Golem Chess. It worked, but it seemed a little clumsy and not very deep.

I would say that I did or did not find it tedious/frustrating, but I mostly remember thinking “Oh. Okay. That’s a…thing. Yes. Done.”

Yumiko Ishida.3769:

It was broken and never really worked from day one! At least when I tried to do it. Good riddance! Anet needs to make a mini game work properly before its released.

Maybe this is why we do not have bar brawls and Mina’s Target Shooting.

Aha, I see the problem.

Golem chess disabled. Feeding cows disabled. Putting out fire with water (!) removed. Bunnies in the bunny heart stuffed with codeine, essentially removing the quest which Angry Joe praised the most. Picking up ghost weapons on Plains of Ashford? Forget it.

The ‘why’ extends beyond the chess, seriously.

They replaced it with the organizing toolbox thing.

Why not keep some of these things as non-Heart content that awards XP?
Old players will still do them and new players will think they found secret content.

I am really regretting not leveling my last 3 characters. Things feel pretty disjointed ATM.

Even if they didn’t reward XP, I think these would be neat just to have around. See: Quaggan pipe organ Easter egg.

Edit: Apparently the pipe organs do have a secret chest reward. Learn something new every day~

they should’ve left the content, it is a shame to be removing what’s already there. ):

You would think this is exactly the sort of stuff they’d want new players to see when trying to set GW2 apart from the competition and get new players to invest into a new character. It’s something that showcased the richness of the universe and the flexibility of the game.

Asmodeus.5782:

Putting out fire with water (!) removed.

I found it a bit amusing when I was semi-AFK near the first heart in Queensdale, and the NPC shouts that I need to grab a bucket of water and help put out the fires. There were no fires, there were no buckets. There was a player or two killing the Bandits, so I can’t say if any of the hay balls gets actually put on fire anymore, but still.. the dialogue was so out of place now that the bundles are gone.

That being far from an isolated instance, I do wonder just how much deliberation was spent on this particular “feature”.

Absconditus.6804:

Asmodeus.5782:

Putting out fire with water (!) removed.

I found it a bit amusing when I was semi-AFK near the first heart in Queensdale, and the NPC shouts that I need to grab a bucket of water and help put out the fires. There were no fires, there were no buckets. There was a player or two killing the Bandits, so I can’t say if any of the hay balls gets actually put on fire anymore, but still.. the dialogue was so out of place now that the bundles are gone.

If you walk up close to the burning hay bale, you get the press f prompt. That extinguishes the flame.

Firefighters rock.