I think the important thing we have learned is that Heart Of Thorns showed us that a storyline thats been rushed while all the other content got fleshed out is a bad storyline, using gating, game mechanics and cruxes like grinding bugs is a cheap clinch for a good storytelling medium.
Season 2 had some truly memorable story moments throughout its 8 episode journey, but this felt like Dragons Reach part 1 with bits you had to do with tiny bits of story between them, that frankly, sucked, as a medium of storytelling.
I personally preffered every episode “but” Dragons Reach part 1, and maybe episode 6 when we found the Master of Whispers in an anti-climactic way, but honestly thats the problem.
A-net, you rush good stories too easily, you need to draw them out, this should have been a 16 episode storyline with at least 4 major events “per” episode rather than 5 major stories and the rest being just… gameplay.
The story, is an aspect, of the MMO, not a part of the game, it needs to be its own thing, seperate, from the game itself.
And its meant to be soloed, so can we stop making group content that has to be completed to progress the plot, please?
Ultimatley heres what I think:
HoT had the potential to be good, I see what you did with its plot but I think you should have drawn it out more with depth, not mastery points, with longer storylines that traveled back to Tyria to do stuff like, e.g., see some major racial tension in Lions Arch, where we might have to put down riots and side with the rioters or against them to protect/harm sylvari.
Or stuff like an assassination attempt on the Queen by a rival political body blaming Canach, we have to help him escape DR while the mobs try to kill him.
There are many other plots I could have easily conjured here that would be easily able to draw this out more.
But the worst culprit, was Mordremoth himself.
Mordremoth never once after S2’s finale felt like a threat, he didnt feel in your face or personal, even as a Sylvari player.
And that final battle was a joke, you should be ashamed.
It could have worked, but you should have spent more time building it, maybe riding Mordremoths back in an instanced version of Rata Sum being attacked by the dragon while we have to climb into its body and “THEN” do the whole mind thing.
There was room for expansion, but you just rushed it too easily with no depth or substance.
LS season 3, needs to be “deep” with ALOT of character development, and less focus on mob grinding.
great job indeed