Guild Wars 2

Absolutely nothing is explained. So I finally give in to this southsun boondoggle and decide to go see who this Canach guy is, even though I hated the introduction to this story arch because I found I was just roaming the island aimlessly, much the same as any other open world area, with the exception of man eating veteran karka and their spawnlings zerging me from acres away. So I find this “hideout”, see there’s a way to go in solo, and think that sounds great. So, mines. Ok, I grab a detector and quickly figure out how to disable them and get to this evil, evil, cabbage. He charges… and is immune to all damage! I scramble, reading his buff in hopes of discovering some way to combat the iron cabbage. Is says he is… immune to damage. And controls mines. I meaninglessly scramble around trying to disable mines and avoid being smacked around, get sick of it, die, and won’t be back to southsun.

So why I am here QQing over it? This is the tale of EVERY. BIT. of “holiday” “living story” “happy fun times adventure” or whatever this game comes up with! It’s great that things are added, some not so serious, some great and thematic. It’s not great (in fact makes otherwise great things miserable) when how to DO THE EVENTS goes completely unexplained! Being arcane about some boss being “on painkillers” does not make things challenging, only frustrating. This goes for any and all funktastic mechanics that get thrown in to seasonal/one time content – and makes them ultimately worthless IM(notH)O.

Having to try a few times and figure out something on my own? Unacceptable!

niea.7504:

Having to try a few times and figure out something on my own? Unacceptable!

Expected response. If there were some inkling of what I was supposed to be doing, and I failed to do it (maybe I catch on too late or whatever), I’m fine with that. This, like much content I’ve seen added to the game, goes completely unexplained. Game without a rulebook is and always will be fail.

/facepalm

15 chars

Rhotsbin.8579:

niea.7504:

Having to try a few times and figure out something on my own? Unacceptable!

Expected response. If there were some inkling of what I was supposed to be doing, and I failed to do it (maybe I catch on too late or whatever), I’m fine with that. This, like much content I’ve seen added to the game, goes completely unexplained. Game without a rulebook is and always will be fail.

Taken from the wiki:
——
Dialogue

Talking to Inspector Kiel at entrance
Watch yourself; Canach’s an expert at guerilla warfare. He’s also been handling the stimulants he used on the animals, so he may shrug off most attacks. Fortunately we have an edge in this assault.

Talk more option (tango.png) What edge do you mean?

Levvi’s figured out how to detect and handle the traps he’s set for us. Take one of these mine detectors she’s improvised.

Talk more option (tango.png) How does the mine detector device work?
Same as “How do I use one of these mine detector devices?” below.

Talk more option (tango.png) How do I use one of these mine detector devices?

Use the scanning mode to locate mines, then disarm them with a choice of Canach’s three arming frequencies, one for each type of trap. Using the wrong frequency will detonate a mine, so be careful.

Talk more option (tango.png) Got it, I hope.

Talk end option (tango.png) I’ve got this. Let me at him.
——

I think that was inkling enough for me to figure it out on my own.

Doesn’t the quest directions in the top right of the screen give you a quick 1 line description that you need to disarm the mines?

Rhotsbin.8579:

niea.7504:

Having to try a few times and figure out something on my own? Unacceptable!

Expected response. If there were some inkling of what I was supposed to be doing, and I failed to do it (maybe I catch on too late or whatever), I’m fine with that. This, like much content I’ve seen added to the game, goes completely unexplained. Game without a rulebook is and always will be fail.

Honestly, it’s a little hard to feel any sympathy here. The clues were given at the start of the event, which didn’t even require a lvl 80 character to complete.

And instruction manuals do very little good when they aren’t read.

I ignore people that ignore the living story.
/ignore

As with most video games, you will need to consult a third party source if you don’t want to figure out everything yourself. Dulfy is awesome for this.

I do understand the frustration, but the instructions ARE there, you just have to spend a few minutes getting them. There’s the little event marker telling you to get to Southsun, then a bunch of NPCs with markers on their heads. Talk to these people and listen to what they have to say. If you take a moment to read, you’ll know where to go and what to do.

I don’t bother with the living or personal story in GW2 as I think they’re a bit meh. If I want an engaging story I get better quality from a single player story driven game.

In my opinion with MMORPG’s and ARPG’s stories feel tacked on to the game/combat mechanic, but with single player RPG’s if feels the opposite.

JustTrogdor.7892:

I ignore people that ignore the living story.
/ignore

And I ignore people that…. OOH SHINY!

Rhotsbin.8579:

niea.7504:

Having to try a few times and figure out something on my own? Unacceptable!

Expected response.

Proper response.

Although I admit the Canarch fight was boring, the kb cooldown was excruciatingly slow, & the deactivate/explode mechanic made no sense. (if it’s deactivated. it SHOULDN’T explode.) Niea is right though, figuring the fight out is the whole point.

DarksunG.9537:

Although I admit the Canarch fight was boring, the kb cooldown was excruciatingly slow, & the deactivate/explode mechanic made no sense. (if it’s deactivated. it SHOULDN’T explode.) Niea is right though, figuring the fight out is the whole point.

The exploding mines that were already converted bothered me too.

Southsun is terrible, but then it’s a poorly executed story module set on an island which was irritating even before the event chain was put on it.

Put simply: if Southsun gave the same quality of loot rewards as Orr, very few people would be playing it. It’s Arenanet’s standard means of getting people to play new content that isn’t actually as well-executed or as fun as the existing content (see also: fractals and the ‘ascended gear’ PR debacle).

Anything you need to do in this game requires a dulfy or other 3rd party internet guide, which is a strange departure from the current “hold me by the hand” techniques of emergent content in online games. But it’s not to make the game challenging, ROFL. It’s still a casual EZ mode romp of dings with a dropoff of mind numbing grind at the end. It’s really just to cut costs.

Does this game even have an instruction manual? You certainly can’t count on ANET to provide us with the helpful in-game things we’re used to in the genre.

Heck, this game launched without a FORUM. They were planning on letting 3rd parties do all the work until massive outcry, then this site appeared. They also almost completely lack a customer service department. They keep the overhead low. I mean, you don’t see fancy chandeliers in the lobbies of dollar stores, do you?

I didn’t go to dulfy and I figured out everything in South Sun. Of course I talked to NPCs and read what they had to say. The OP apparently didn’t.

And you know, it’s not the OP’s fault. Games for years have trained us to either go to outside guides, or to follow an arrow to a star. It’s not like most people read quests in WoW.

But you can get EVERYTHING in the Southsun expansion without a guide. It takes a bit longer (which means you’re not through all the content in 2 hours), and at the same time, it gives a bit of mental challenge to a game that otherwise lacks it.

The clues to where the plants are were in the achievements sections (they should have been in game). The clues with what to do with Canach was in the instance itself…and they weren’t clues, they were instructions. Somehow the OP missed that.

But everything on the island can be done without Dulfy. I took me about two days to do it all.

This is a perfect example of someone not taking the time to talk and listen to NPCs or read the clues on the screen.

1. Canach is immune to normal damage.
2. Canach can be hurt by his own mines.
3. Using the wrong disarm signal on a mine causes it to explode.

These three facts are given to you during or before the fight. Going in, the solution was obvious. I ran like mad to get active mines between me and him, scanning them as I went. Then I hit them with the wrong signal to make them explode while he was in range of them.

I don’t want to think about how long it took me to give up and come to the forums to see if he was bugged, only to discover that the obvious way to defeat him had nothing at all to do with the ACTUAL way, which isn’t explained in game at all.