I finally used my straight-to-level-80 item and have been playing my Personal Story in one continuous shot. (Something you can’t normally do. You have to run around leveling up between episodes before you can continue. It really breaks the story apart. But I digress.)
I got to the stage where I visit LA, and was treated to the OLD Lion’s Arch. So much more character! So less “sterile”! And it somehow doesn’t seem so spread out. (Maybe because it’s emptier of people these days).
Unfortunately, I only got to re-explore the area near the fountain. But that was enough to make me homesick.
New LA needs 3 things:
It needs the Lion Statue back in the Grand Piazza where it belongs. Preferably with open air above him. (Cut a big hole in that giant abominable umbrella!)
It needs “Storyteller” NPCs in all the districts/wards that can replay cinematics of the old town, just like the Zephyr Sanctum Model.
It needs to become a social hub again. Wintersday only a human holiday now? Preposterous! Is Tixx human? Lion’s Arch is supposed to be the great gathering port where all the races mingle together. Put all the Holidays back where they belong. (Well… okay. Meatoberfest is probably best held in the Black Citadel).
Attachments:
Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm all day.
Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm the rest of his life.
– Unknown Fire Elementalist
Asura characters: Zerina | Myndee | Rissa | Jaxxi | Feyyt | Bekka | Sixx | Akee | Tylee | Nuumy
| Claara
Your skin will wrinkle and your youth will fade, but your soul is endless.
Yes… Scarlet didn’t destroy much of that. The remains are still in the bay. Thank goodness the game designers didn’t destroy it either when they rebuilt.
Build a man a fire, and he’ll be warm all day.
Set a man on fire, and he’ll be warm the rest of his life.
– Unknown Fire Elementalist
I wish they would add some kind of fractal that was based around old Lion’s Arch. It would remove alot of level designing from the equation since most of it is already there.
I agree that old LA had more, hmm, soul. But what it lacked was anything like a nod to the fact that tens of thousands of people lived there. Now at least we have housing areas that can stand in as markers for residential sections. Before it really felt like a themed beach resort with maybe three or four houses.
I’m sad they have said they won’t nuke LA again because they are done developing assets for later removal. I had so been hoping there’d be just one more makeover, leaving the Commodore’s Quarter alone.
As far as GW1 LA, this may get me tarred and feathered but I’ve been there a few times and as far as I could tell (mind you I was getting rushed through things by guildies who’d played GW1 to death while I was very new), well, to me it was a large grassy area with a few merchant stands, a couple of piers, a fountain, and some sort of fort up on a hill. I was expecting a -city- there based on all the nostalgia I’d seen!
I also prefer the original GW2 Lion’s Arch. It not only had more character, but was much easier to navigate. Now it feels like, to quote others, a “theme park”. It does not feel like a place where people live at all. Everything is too large, spaced too far apart. The decor is odd-looking, to say the least. It doesn’t’ feel like an international (Tyrian) city. Sure, you can also argue that the original LA didn’t feel “international” either, but it just was more aesthetically-pleasing.
Server: Dragonbrand
Guild: Moonlit Renegades (Moon)
Highest-Level Toon: Markus Emmerich, 80 Human Scrapper
The old GW2 LA had more of a lived-in feel, and felt like it was designed by a real artist. It was perfect, from the platforms to the mini-mazes to the sewers, and everything in between. I loved exploring it.
This new one is EPCOT meets Sea World. Boooorrrrriiiinnnnng.
I don’t like going backwards, just because people have fond memories of what was. The old LA was destroyed and I think it’s a bad idea to minimize the impact that had on Tyria by trying to restore things from the old LA.
Vienna, Austria was mostly rebuilt after being mostly destroyed in WWII with people using the old architectural plans and mostly trying to make it look how it did before the war. It’s pretty, but it feels false.
tl;dr I hope the don’t change LA to make it look like the old LA, in any way shape or form. (I don’t object to them making functional or aesthetic changes to move forward in its new life.)
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
I actually prefer the new theme. Aestetically speaking. I know a lot of people don’t like the "theme park " look, and I get that. But I don’t particularly care for the pirate theme. The point is, not everyone is going to be into the style, no matter what it is.
Logically speaking, I prefer the new look because the structures are concrete and sturdy. Rotting boats might look cute in a "Pirates of the Caribbean " sense, but don’t make for defensible structures. And LA seems to be a prime target for disaster. The permanent cement looking structures will hold up a lot better in a crisis.
And neither the old or new LA look like they have any residential appeal. I never got the sense anyone ever LIVED in LA. Even with the old pirate theme.
Leader and sole member of the “Bring Penguins to Tyria” movement.
It needs to become a social hub again. Wintersday only a human holiday now? Preposterous! Is Tixx human? Lion’s Arch is supposed to be the great gathering port where all the races mingle together. Put all the Holidays back where they belong. (Well… okay. Meatoberfest is probably best held in the Black Citadel).
The NPCs in Divinity’s Reach stated their citizens paid for Wintersday to be there.
The new one is more like a proper city and cleaner,but yes,the old LA had more character and a cosier,warmer,and smellier atmosphere.And ships.
I really miss the Crow’s Nest bar,now there isn’t even a passage to the hidden area,you just get ported there from the middle of the city.
The two last screenshots are from the minutes right before the attack on LA patch went live.
My Mesmer just sat there and enjoyed the calm before the storm.
I blame it all on the crazy salad lady that went on and destroyed it.
I became a honorary vegetarian because of this.
Attachments:
-Win a pip,lose a pip,win a pip,lose a pip,lose a pip,
lose a pip,win 2 pips,lose a pip,lose a pip…………..-
-Go go Espartz.-
LA misses a vital thing for a harbour city: SHIPS!
And for the trade hub of the known world it really needs more clutter from merchants with stalls, strange sights from around the globe, performances from magicians and firebreathers, inventors showing off their newest gadgets, wild animals in cages, to bars with drunken sailors, it all feels so sterile and so many empty spaces.
It should feel like an eastern bazaar of curiousity’s instead of a waiting room at the dentist.
Artisans and stalls could rotate in a bi-monthly roster so that sellers have different knik-knaks to buy and collect for the players.
Special hat makers, toymakers, tonic brewers etc.
I could go on forever
LA misses a vital thing for a harbour city: SHIPS!
And for the trade hub of the known world it really needs more clutter from merchants with stalls, strange sights from around the globe, performances from magicians and firebreathers, inventors showing off their newest gadgets, wild animals in cages, to bars with drunken sailors, it all feels so sterile and so many empty spaces.
It should feel like an eastern bazaar of curiousity’s instead of a waiting room at the dentist.
Artisans and stalls could rotate in a bi-monthly roster so that sellers have different knik-knaks to buy and collect for the players.
Special hat makers, toymakers, tonic brewers etc.
I could go on forever
Oooohhh… Oh this, me like.
I do not mind new LS, it is cool but it could have something more. At the moment I have parked all my characters in DR becouse I think it is better with the merchant bank and TP.
Member of Alpha Swedish Gaming Community – http://www.alphas.se/
Guild Leader of Alpha Sgc [ASGC]
Well the fun thing is they destroyed LA, while the Pale Tree is still as uninspiring as ever. I love the sylvari, but compare their city and home instance to human.
I loved the old LA with it’s feeling of a pirat port, where every corner felt living. They destroyed the most beautiful city for a big plane parking spot.
I don’t like going backwards, just because people have fond memories of what was. The old LA was destroyed and I think it’s a bad idea to minimize the impact that had on Tyria by trying to restore things from the old LA.
Vienna, Austria was mostly rebuilt after being mostly destroyed in WWII with people using the old architectural plans and mostly trying to make it look how it did before the war. It’s pretty, but it feels false.
tl;dr I hope the don’t change LA to make it look like the old LA, in any way shape or form. (I don’t object to them making functional or aesthetic changes to move forward in its new life.)
Not to change the subject at hand, but I visited Vienna for four days and I never got a “fake” feeling from it. It felt like a city that wasn’t about to just forget about where it came from.
Sure, LA is still a port city, so that’s consistent. But it doesn’t feel vibrant enough, and my biggest complaint is just how BIG and open-spaced everything is, both in terms of ground space and how tall things are. It’s just too airy, feels like wasted space to me in certain areas of LA.
Server: Dragonbrand
Guild: Moonlit Renegades (Moon)
Highest-Level Toon: Markus Emmerich, 80 Human Scrapper
LA misses a vital thing for a harbour city: SHIPS!
And for the trade hub of the known world it really needs more clutter from merchants with stalls, strange sights from around the globe, performances from magicians and firebreathers, inventors showing off their newest gadgets, wild animals in cages, to bars with drunken sailors, it all feels so sterile and so many empty spaces.
It should feel like an eastern bazaar of curiousity’s instead of a waiting room at the dentist.
Artisans and stalls could rotate in a bi-monthly roster so that sellers have different knik-knaks to buy and collect for the players.
Special hat makers, toymakers, tonic brewers etc.
I could go on forever
THIS!!! If they can put a circus in the middle of Ember Bay that really has no point being there. They can have traveling merchants go through LA among other stuff.
