Guild Wars 2

The fountain and the lion should have stay at the grand piazza. now grand piazza just look so empty and boring. or they could atleast make some hanging animation like the one in the divinity’s reach planetarium. Lion’s arch looks like a dry version of underwater quaggan city now with all that glowing things around. i like the JP and the fisherman. and i saw bloomanoo and peneloopee already spawn some quaggan babies which is kinda cute and scary at the same time.

I really liked the look of Old Lion’s Arch but like the new one even better (besides, a change is always nice). Kudos to the art team.

The new LA is lovely, but I personally think old LA had more of a unique personality to it. My favorite part of both GWs games is the fantastic scenery and terrain.

That said the whole “Sylvari-twisted vine-jungle terrain” theme is starting to wear a little thin for me possibly because of the living world’s heavy use of it. Now the expansion will be jungle based as well. I’m not complaining… just suggesting that mixing things up like the old expansions use to might be worth considering.

I would buy lunch for the design team to come up with a new area like Pre-Searing Ascalon from GW1 in all its autumn splendour.

I absolutely love the new LA looks and much of the features (extra applause for being able to jump in the Mystic Forge). My only issue is that there is no regular merchant (for buying salvage kits) close to the bank and forge. There is also no convenient repair anvil.

I would also have liked a guild bank merchant near the bank as well, but frankly understand and can forgive not having one there as there is a brand new guild facility where they are currently.

So the title says it all, I think the new LA is absolutely amazing, one of the best designed cities in a fantasy game I’ve seen in a long time.

My only complaint is that I wish the TP, bank, and item merchant were in a more convenient area of one another and in a similar area range of a way point.

Other than that – Great job on re-building the iconic city!

yep, LA is amazing

I love the new LA, but I would suggest adding a few more wandering NPC’s (maybe with some caravans and stuff) And splash a bit more color, or engravings on some of the more sparse and bland buildings around town. I like the pristine, open, and organized city and I want it to stay that way, but it definitely could use a little more color and be a little bit less “featureless” in some areas.

Am I the only one that thinks of water 7 in one piece ? XD

I miss old LA a bit I must admit…last version had a perfect area in the fort where I could do all my banking, crafting, repairs, and shopping without much running…now every thing is spread out super far. Meh, back to DR/RS for me…new LA is just not convenient no more. It does look nice though!

I’m pretty unhappy with the location of several merchants.

There are no wp anywhere nearby the TP and it is completely on the other side of the bank. There are only 1 merchant that sells salvage kits, and the repair merchant is incredibly out of the way.

The worst case is the dungeon vendor that was reduced to a single npc incredibly hidden on a random part of the map. I had to use the Guide guy to point me where he is, because the dungeon merchant doesn’t have any icon on the map.

Overall I’m not overjoyed with the new LA.

Imo the best part of the new LA is the jumping puzzle with 4 keys. Really shows of gorgeous architecture (love the windmills).
Fort mariner + fractal portal spot are also a sight to behold.
I also like how the new mystic toilet is a sinkhole barfing players out when they reach the center, very representative of its function.

I dislike the grand plaza and trader’s forum, the open space with a lack of npc/players just feels empty. Also the sea creature buildings is a bit of a let down for me, as if I’m visiting seaworld or something.
I pointed out that the new jumping puzzle showed how gorgeous the new LA is but the downside is that you never really visit these parts for it’s functionality since there is very very little to do at those houses.
At the postern ward you have like 5-6 guild npc’s but they feel extremely out of place, as if they are private server NPC’s vendors . Could atleast give them a desk/workshop or something, feels very wrong/out of place/non-immersive considering the closed building behind them.
The dungeon armor/weapon vendor also feels very private server like with the selection menu.

Dahkeus.8243:

I gotta admit…I was worried about the LA rebuild since I really liked the pirate/ship theme from the beginning so much…but the new LA is absolutely amazing.

The town feels more open than ever and I imagine it’s even better for roleplayers with things like the wedding arch and stage.

If anyone from ANet is reading this, please give the designers of this area a hug for me (or at least a high five, lol).

I’m lovin it, but, it’s soooooooooooo confusing now. -LOL

I love it but two things

The traders forum is extremely bare and boring. It feels like you rushed it. Considering all the people that will be in that area its a shame.

Also, You should rebuild the lion fountain back where it belongs.

Hello there,
I noticed that we don’t have the Specific Dungeon Npcs anymore and instead we have just one that sells everything. It is just one Npc for 8 different currencies, while there are 5 or more different Npcs for the Black Lion Weapons, that all use the same currency.

There is so much space in Lion’s Arch, why the Dungeon Npcs don’t get to have their own place?! They should have their own building with their desks and they can even have fashion model dolls demonstrating the different armor skins you can get from them.
They can be turned into a cool little thing and placed more conveniently.

The new LA is certainly pretty and there are amazing aspects of it such as the lighthouse. But I liked the grittiness of the old LA better. The new LA just seems too clean or something. And the lobster and octopus buildings are a bit too cartoony for my liking. DR is now my favorite.

I’m lovin everything. Also found a cool tid-bit; after Marcello DiGiacomo talks to Hero-Tron it sounds like (might not be) he sings a 3s bit from Pirates of the Caribbean Davy Jone’s Theme.

I am seeing a lot of praise for the new Lion’s Arch, so I realize I may be representing a minority opinion when I say that I am strongly disappointed in what appears to me to be a very questionable (or outright misguided) design philosophy in making this new city.

A lot of what makes Guild Wars 2 so easy to get into is the world feels lived-in. Now, this is a Theme Park MMO, so of course it is not lived in, nor can it be really. But it’s important to provide that illusion so the player can, even for a moment, suspend their disbelief and imagine that Tyria is a world where lives happen, where people settle down and have jobs and shop for food. It makes the world feel like its worth fighting for, defending, exploring, and falling in love with.

The old Lion’s Arch had this. It looked old, creaky, patched together and well-settled. It felt a little dirty, a little sleazy. It put on airs as old cities with rich histories tend to do, even as they slowly decay with time. You could almost smell the rotting wood, the salt water, the miasma of human occupation. It felt like a real place, a city that grew slowly over time as necessity dictated. It wasn’t the easiest on the eyes but that was part of the charm.

The new LA is a big step away from all of that and all to its detriment. I cannot decide if it looks more like a college campus or a theme park for kiddies, and neither are positive comparisons. I’ve settled mostly on theme park. It’s clean, it’s colorful, its huge with lots of wide-open, poorly-used space. There is almost no ecumenical sense of use of real estate. It doesn’t feel like a place where people have to actually live. It looks, and feels, very fake.

The buildings shaped like sea creatures is a baffling design choice that absolutely stumps me. What are we, grade schoolers? The bank is a cutesy-wootsy octopus? The Traders is a seashell, the crafting station a starfish? The harbor is a lobster? What? Are you kidding me?

This isn’t a place where serious people go to do serious work, this is a place where 6 year olds get cotton candy from a carny dressed like a pirate. This is a place where you go to get a selfie with Captain Hook. This is a place where tinny sea shanties are played over speakers hidden in fake plastic trees. There’s almost no space for people to live in, there’s no flow to how the city is designed. I say city, but of course, it’s a video game hub zone. I can no longer suspend my disbelief, I’m no longer in this world but instead I am sitting at my computer staring at a pastel-colored hub zone designed, apparently, by Disney World architects.

LA as it currently stands is what happens when the people in charge of designing the world and environments of the game lose focus on what made their locations so iconic in the first place. The new lion’s arch is a travesty. I’ve been there once, had a look around, and I feel absolutely no desire at all to ever go back. I thought Disney World was fake, kitschy and annoying when I was eight. I have even less patience for that candy-coated disingenuous tourist-trap theme-parky manufactured-fun nonsense now than I did then.

The new Lion’s Arch is instantly forgettable. I could say I miss the old one, but what I really miss, in my heart of hearts, was the dedication the art team had for crafting living, breathing worlds. That is what I miss the most, because none of it is to be found here.

It’s beautiful.

Kind of looks like Malta.

I know it’s all rebuild and we’re supposed to love it but…..alas, I really miss the old LA. I loved the whole ship theme it had going on, it was really unique. Now it feels like it has lost its character. It’s not awful, but it’s definitely not my favorite city by a long shot anymore.

edit: I have to agree with the person above me, it doesn’t feel like a city anymore. It feels like a themepark.

The city is ok but…
I still prefer the old version of it. With the pirate theme. It felt more… alive.

The new city feels a bit washed out.
Also it’s huge. Huge, but with almost no npc to fill in the empty space.
And since it’s huge, the player population feels scarce. It’s almost as if no one is logged in anymore.

Right now it looks kind of like a deserted town.

Old Lion Arch had a warmer atmosphere with buildings close to each other and put in a peculiar way. People gathered in a smaller area and the whole town felt more populated.

I think if you want to make huge building hinting to a big population, you should put the according amount of npcs to make it right.

I liked the interaction between the lady merchant near the north entrance yelling at children skritts after they stole something from her.
We should see more stuff like that across the city. A bit like Divinity’s reach (which is now my favorite town hands down since old LA is gone).

(Btw, Anet should try to implement small quests for towns which involves interacting with citizens to earn like favor points but for those cities… to get goodies. Sometimes I look at all the potential divinity’s reach has with all its suburbs… it would make some nice solo addition, to have an alternative between epic giant battles)

Maybe someone can come and destroy it again and bring back our pirate city. haha…

The more I think on it, the more I realize that the new LA is my least favorite city. It just has no character and feels too themepark. Doesn’t feel lived in.

BrendaEM.2096:

A producer once tried to get me to understand the commercial aspects of commercial art. It’s art for money—right? Anyway, to prove a point, he took a stack of concept drawings, crumpled them up, and threw them on the floor, as I stared with disgust.

That was really arrogant and disrespectful and as someone who also values good artwork (even if it does fall into the “commercial” category), I can see why you found that upsetting.

The old LA (before Scarlet) felt like home.
The new one has an impressive imperial style - jut the atmosphere is gone...

Setz.9675:

At the postern ward you have like 5-6 guild npc’s but they feel extremely out of place, as if they are private server NPC’s vendors . Could atleast give them a desk/workshop or something, feels very wrong/out of place/non-immersive considering the closed building behind them.

I think that must be temporary because the building behind them will be the instanced guild area and likely they will have places inside. For now rejoice that you don’t have to go through another loading screen to get to guild services, I guess?

The old LA was probably my least favorite city. I liked its whole pirate nautical theme, but it felt so haphazardly thrown together. It makes sense given that the city sort of expanded organically as people, primarily pirates, moved in. I just didn’t care for something that seemed so slapdash.

The new LA looks very much like it was planned from the ground up, which again makes sense. It clearly respects its roots with the nautical theme and the ship hull cross-section housing in the north-west side of Commodore’s Quarter while building a more modern city with better defenses.

I think the only thing I’d like to see change is more NPCs coming and going at the asura gates.

Guru.1582:

I’ve been there once, had a look around, and I feel absolutely no desire at all to ever go back.

Exactly! I do like many things in GW2, but certanly I’m planning not put my feet back in LA as long as I don’t need it to achieve something.

Almost everything is awesome!

As for further improvements, just a few MINOR things come to mind:

• I’d like the dungeon vendor(s) to be in the Free Market, and have a dungeon icon.

• I’d like to know where Dougal Keane went off to? I hope that he’s just on an adventure, but I fear that they just forgot about him and we’ll never see him again.

• I’d like it if we still had access to the sewers.

• I’d like it if the repair NPC’s icons showed up on the map.

• I’d like a lion mosaic in Lion’s Court to replace the lost lion statue.

The ground seems to be paved with a mixture of wood planks and cobblestone in a way that makes no physical or logical sense. Here’s a screenshot. The whole city is like this. I can’t unsee it now.
http://puu.sh/iD4uT/91cd727782.jpg

Khristophoros.7194:

The ground seems to be paved with a mixture of wood planks and cobblestone in a way that makes no physical or logical sense. Here’s a screenshot. The whole city is like this. I can’t unsee it now.
http://puu.sh/iD4uT/91cd727782.jpg

I already found Patrick lying down taking a nap. On my way to find SpongeBob!!

Absolutely amazing, all the little details in the artwork and dialogs, the whole scenario and THE JP.

Stuff like this is the strong point of the game, this is what will make me buy the xpac if it is done in that spirit.

Again the JP is amazing I spent 6h straight on it and was having a blast.

So, my simple opinion is that they went too far with the redesign and while their blogpost explained the why, It just saddens me from a historical point.

It is as sad as how far they went with destroying the original from 250 years ago and barely even going to try and rework parts of them in. I mean, they litteraly dumped it into the water and had the old lighthouse destroyed.

Now we are doing that with the old new LA.

So here is my list of things I don`t like and wish they would adress some of the critisizm in their comming up Ready Up, instead of just gushing over their work.

- That they basically made a complete new city and barely incorporated old structures even if they were still intact.

- The Disney land design with giant creatures.

- That it screams: “look how much money we pirates now have.”

- The lighthouse.

- That fort mariner has no visible gates or doors (not even hints of hidden one or force fields, I thought it was there to protect and possible shelter the people of LA)

- That you get greeted with a big empty space when you enter the city.

- the lack of a order of whispers hideout.

- the lack of a priory base that researches the ley line actively. Like a laboratory.

- the lack of multicultural design mix in a multicultural city.

- the abandoned lions fountain and it’s lackluster replacement tucked away out of sight.

- the lack of lions

Hated it yesterday. Hate it even more today.

No atmosphere. No character. Very sterile and bland.

A great light has gone out in the world.

I hope there is a new cit n the expac, because this one is dead to me.

I’m going to repeat that the new dungeon token merchant is just ridiculous.
You removed 8 named NPC’s and replaced them with a generically named minimum size Asura that is not marked on the map, hidden somewhere in a corner way off the beaten path, and even dyed his armour to match the background. It’s like you don’t WANT players to find him.

I’m still getting used to new LA.

I actually have more negatives than positives to voice but here’s my 2 cents:

- it’s incredibly open.. I wouldn’t mind more structures or even markets/stalls/carts/crates placed everywhere
- the waypoints for the bank and trading post is much too far apart; I liked old LA’s placement of vendors better because it was shorter running distance
- I will agree with others above that this new design feels rather theme-parky and out of place for that of pirate origin
- can’t see much racial culturalism going on (would love to see more heavy industrial metal/steel buildings from the Charr)
- the lack of lions in general is depressing
- the fact that they have tour guide NPCs walking about just adds to the childish playground theme

I mean they did an outstanding job with buildings and structures, I really love the dock area with the town house buildings which you can even jump on and explore but in general… Very marbled walls everywhere.. Too white and bland in a way.

Okay so maybe my negative opinion wasn’t quite as dissenting as I thought. Sounds like new LA has more detractors than supporters.

The central problem is definitely the theme-parkiness. Anet, we’re not six years old and niether are our characters. For those of us into roleplay, I cannot imagine why any serious-minded character would take this city seriously. For OOC players, there’s very little to draw us in and immerse us, even just with the aesthetic. I have expect there to be a slip-n-slide coming out of those nautical creature buildings.

Man. I hate to say it, but… there isn’t much I’d suggest to improve on it, other than going all the way back to the drawing board, and I’m pretty sure that’s not in the cards. So we’re up the creek and stuck with no Lion’s Arch anymore.

Anet destroyed it more thoroughly than Scarlet could have ever dreamed.

I’ll say that I didn’t care much for old GW2 Lion’s Arch.
It was stuffy, cobbled together, and overall just not pleasant.
Like one article said, it really was a tinderbox ready to go up.

I’m glad it did, but I’ll admit that the spaciousness of this one does have a problem as well. The nautical themed buildings, although nice, really do not mesh with the old pirate theme we had before. They do mesh well with a sea exhibit or something water-based, but as a pirate or merchant town, it looks out of place.

That said it is rather creative how Gnashblade’s new place has the key doorway.
I like how enclosed and almost fortified that place is, like a bank vault on steroids.
Yes there are touches of nautical-ness in there, but they aren’t overpowering.

The fortifications along nouveau Lion’s Arch are a good touch. It shows how much the populace remembers and wants to never again have it happen to them.

I do like the “wedding area” even though I thought it was a simple garden, but Cobiah Marriner’s place of rest feels like it was disturbed. Here in Deverol Gardens you have a wonderfully laid out open resting area….and off to the side dumped beside are two headstones and a plaque. It feels like Cobiah’s grave wasn’t even considered when the garden was made.

I guess it could be a reflection of how planned cities or spots within tend to just shuffle old graveyards and things around.

However the ambient discussions are awesome there. Especially the mother who doesn’t want a gardener for a son. Little surprises like that make it more fun to sit and watch these people.

So in summary the fortifications look great, the Black Lion’s architecture is more akin to what I anticipated for the rest of the place, and if we could find a way to incorporate the Founder of Lion’s Arch’s resting place better I think this city will be top notch.

There are many other things I do enjoy about this place. The Mystic To—-er Fountain’s look is awesome, the new Lighthouse looks great, and it does feel like things shifted around for the better mostly.

I only had a few complaints and hope they were addressed in a respectful manner.

I just wanted to pop in to say how much I absolutely love the new LA. I was a little afraid to go in, because I was sure that no one listened to anything the players had to say. There was a LOT of talk about making LA less pirate oriented and more inclusive as a racially integrated city, and the result is amazing. I love the art, love the design, and absolutely love that I can walk around and easily SEE where each race had influence on a feature.

It’s beautiful. I am very impressed with the new LA. The layout is great, it looks clean and modern, and it has touches from everyone. It’s definitely a great city now. Just don’t break it again

SyllyReth.2495:

There was a LOT of talk about making LA less pirate oriented and more inclusive as a racially integrated city,

I’d love to see how it seems more racially integrated.
I’m not knocking on you, nor mocking you, but the architecture doesn’t seem to be that inclusive. It seems to try and be as vastly different from all the other cities as possible.

Maybe, just maybe I can see some Human influence in the Commodore’s area, but everywhere else?

The more time I spend there…I appreciate the work, but continue to not like the end result.

“Sea-World”, “Theme Park”, and others…all seem more applicable.

I would have rather seen these sea-creature buildings at a new posh resort on Southsun manned by the Consrtium…that would have been perfect. a blend of old LA architecture from GW1 and the Ship-Buildings would have been great. I know they tried to bring back some of the old LA stuff in LA 3.0…but it just doesn’t work for me.

LA became a Pirate City…but really, other than the Skritt cave now…we’ve kinda lost that. I still go back and think…lore-based…Cobiah would be a bit disappointed.

I know I am…

I respect the work, but I think you guys missed the mark of the “Spirit” of LA.

I’ll put it short… Its absolutely AMAZING!!! Good job!!

Seems nicely done in a lot of ways, just lost all the character that I loved about the old LA. Feels too sanitized, (and a bit bland tbh), for my tastes. Went from arguably my favorite city to definitely my least favorite.

Good news is there are some other great cities to hang my hat in. Please don’t re-theme DR or BC …just like… make a new city instead maybe?

I’m hoping that the Sea World theme park theme has some story chapters that we will get to explore as the Consortium’s true nature is revealed.

Is this a a wholey benevolent thing and the Consortium just has a group of whimsical designers who were given total control of over the design?

Or, is this a bright and cheery front for a far more nefarious organization who’s true motives are concealed behind the glitz?

Personally, I hope it’s the latter and we get to delve deeper as the game progresses.

OT, I love the design though I do find it a bit out of place in the dark world that Anet has created. It seems far more in line with a rebuilding effort decades, not months after a major calamity.

Isn’t the large “Lion’s mane” Jellyfish the new “Lion” over the entire court? That’s what I assumed at least.

At first I loved the design that reminded me of a very modern city.
But now I realise that it completely doesn’t match the time frame of the game.
I was very disappointed to see the huge lion being replaced by an empty space covered with a glass roof.
I don’t like the sea-creatures-shaped buildings.
Instead of pure white, beige/sand-ish shades could be used for walls, like it is in Divinity’s Reach.

I see the new Lion’s Arch as a city completely out of touch with Tyria’s reality. Sort of a place you go to on your summer holidays.

I can see the potential in the new Lion’s Arch, but it’s hamstrung by the huge swaths of empty concrete. Especially the commerce area, where most players gather.

It really needs more clutter (as in objects to break up the monotony). I hope this isn’t the finished product…

I liked the old Lion’s Arch better. The layout didn’t make the most sense, but it had a rustic and colorful feel that I appreciated.

Exxcalibur.6203:

Hated it yesterday. Hate it even more today.

No atmosphere. No character. Very sterile and bland.

A great light has gone out in the world.

I hope there is a new cit n the expac, because this one is dead to me.

This. I really hope there will be another city with a mystic forge. I’m so disappointed with the new LA, I’d rather not go there to be honest.

Leaf.3156:

I’m going to repeat that the new dungeon token merchant is just ridiculous.
You removed 8 named NPC’s and replaced them with a generically named minimum size Asura that is not marked on the map, hidden somewhere in a corner way off the beaten path, and even dyed his armour to match the background. It’s like you don’t WANT players to find him.

+1

It’s a terrible change. LA is nothing if not spacious. Dungeon merchants ought to have a similar set-up as the BLTC vendors, with a ‘sample’ of their wares on the table in front of them. The single merchant menu is counter intuitive as well, it’s noticeably harder to navigate.

Apart from this my general thoughts on LA are as follows:-

Good
It’s clean and pretty. I don’t really have much of an opinion on the aesthetic of the place, but as I wandered around it most things just looked nice. It was a pleasant place to visit. Lots of little features that I’m sure the RP crowd would have a blast with as well.

Bad
More space, fewer services. If there’s a point to this, clearly I missed it. The smaller city hubs after Scarlet wrecked the place were FANTASTIC. You had all the basic necessities (Laurels, TP, Crafting/Banks) located in the general vicinity of the unique services (Guild management, Mystic Forge, Dungeon vendors). Now….I don’t know what to make of this. It’s a huge step backward, imo.

Ugly
Giant molluscs. Not a fan of these at all. Was expecting a more prominent ‘lion’ theme.

Any hope for exploring the new aerodome? It’d be awesome to find a way in there or if there was a jumping puzzle to a wp up there or something. On another note, there seems to be a lot of trade going through the docks of LA, any chance to know where that’s coming from? It’d be interesting to know what else is out there if it’s major enough to trade via what seems to be some of the very dangerous waters that seem to isolate LA a bit from the world. Other than that, really loved the giant lobster, Lobsters (Lions) Arch is way better than before.

i say amazing an love exploring the new lions arch! great work anet keep up the amazing features!

Yea, more and more I dun like the new LA; it looks like disney land instead of a gritty port city. It mostly certainly does not look like people would live there to me.

Plus all the vendors are spread out miles apart making it a marathon to do business.

Well here’s hoping it gets wrecked again, it’s just like tokyo in all those cheesy monster flicks after all.

Oh noes, there goes Tokyo! Go go Godzilla! Weee ooooo ahhhh!