Guild Wars 2

just wondering what peoples opinions are on the current LWS3 content is and what changes could be made to future episodes?

i feel i am in the minority but when the new LWS3 episodes released i was very hyped that we got a new map each release along with alot of quality of life improvements.
but i have to say now that i feel the content has become a bit stale in terms of replay-ability and the maps lack the depth we got when compared to season 2 maps.

i love how Anet are pumping these new maps out but i cant help feel they are being wasted as the meta events are quite lacking in difficulty and originality with a few exceptions in bloodstone fen. all you have to do is compare the amount of players who still do HOT maps which had great metas with different approaches and viable gold rewards, to the LS3 maps which have boring metas and TBH are only ever populated due to ascended rewards. the latest bitterfrost frontier map was quite nice visually but just seemed to lack any depth IMO and the meta event was horrible and boring leading to most likely the map never being populated again.

these concerns only worry me because all past gw2 maps you can still find players roaming around doing world bosses and unique event content where as the new maps are going the other way and becoming barren a month or two after release. Thoughts?

Have to say, I’m always seeing them really well populated myself. I think the key difference is that they have responded for demands for more explorable maps which are less meta heavy. For in-between expac stuff, I think this is a wise approach long term. If every map ends up with a meta requiring coordination and lots of players, then as the game grows, it will struggle to sustain all those meta maps. HoT in 2 expacs time is likely to need to scaling down for example as I really can’t see there being enough people to manage either Gerent or Dragon Stand.

My main concerns over the new episodes;

- Story started off really strong, but has dropped off very quick. Ep3 had very little progression compared to Ep1 and an iconic lore moment (ie the cutscene at the end) was rushed through. That should have been a hugely epic moment in the overall story and it was shoved to one side. Also, all those loose threads from HoT have been, well ignored.

- Too many tokens, keys, extra curricular items. It’s too much and it is a slight concern this wasn’t thought about more in development.

- Masteries are too quick and easy to gain. This is largely a personal thing and I know the speed at which you gain masteries is likely a result of Anet listening and actioning on player feedback (which is ofc a good thing), but I myself would prefer the masteries not to be completed within an hour of casual play. A largely non-issue in the wider scheme ofc.

Otherwise, so far they’ve been really good.