Guild Wars 2

Especially the music… the tone the mood the environment , everywhere is depressing.

Verdant brink is dark and the music is so heavy and down turning.

Can we at least have lions arch have a lively and bustling town music and mood after the reparation?

Please put in lively catchy townfolks music.

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

well, it’s in a warfare…in a middle of a war..

You do know why the mood is depressing in this new area don’t you? It’s not like they are exploring a new area as fresh explorers, there are many people who died in the attacks and so many more that are currently missing.

This is just the first area of the expansion. I can only image the mood will change as we move beyond what we get to see in the beta.

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

It’s time to bring him back.

Zardon.4976:

This is just the first area of the expansion. I can only image the mood will change as we move beyond what we get to see in the beta.

You mean beyond the stress/event testing and get to a real beta?

TheFantasticGman.9451:

Zardon.4976:

This is just the first area of the expansion. I can only image the mood will change as we move beyond what we get to see in the beta.

You mean beyond the stress/event testing and get to a real beta?

I image remaining betas will be limited to the same map. So I mean when HoT is released.

The pact fleet got annihilated in mid air. Who knows how many died and how many are missing. You are in there to help people trapped in a hostile area with no supply lines or real back up. Of course it’s depressing. But that is just a small tidbit of the zone. I seriously doubt the entire place will give the same feeling.

Even with the destruction of the pact fleet, there’s usually someone with gallows humor around.

Introducing Jaar-jaar the Hylek.

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

3 sylvari walk into a bar.

everyone dies

the end.

/laugh

Solori.6025:

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

3 sylvari walk into a bar.

everyone dies

the end.

/laugh

Now thats what we need.

Do you guys even read…

i am saying LA should have lively music, as of now, every new zone is getting darker and more depressing.

if you think that the entire game should wail in agony and be sad that many died to create an immersion then it will spell badly for the players.

can you imagine going into every zone and it is dark and depressing? for goodness sake, this is an mmo, not a dungeon crawler. you make LA and other towns like divinity’s reach to be so lively and beautiful but the music is still saddening and it kills the mood.

A sylvari walks into a bar.
Bartender says, “You need to leave. We don’t serve plants here.”
Sylvari says, “That’s cool, I’m a carnivore.”
Yohohohoho.

Zackie.8923:

Do you guys even read…

i am saying LA should have lively music, as of now, every new zone is getting darker and more depressing.

if you think that the entire game should wail in agony and be sad that many died to create an immersion then it will spell badly for the players.

can you imagine going into every zone and it is dark and depressing? for goodness sake, this is an mmo, not a dungeon crawler. you make LA and other towns like divinity’s reach to be so lively and beautiful but the music is still saddening and it kills the mood.

Actually one of the issues I had with the game from the onset was how poorly it represented the threat of the dragons et al in the general world. When you’ve got what were (originally) beings akin to Eldritch Abominations pretty much eating your world, you would think that would take precedence over everything else (This was one of my issues with early LS S1).
I’m not a huge fan of everything being all depressing and miserable, but it fits the world they set up. Unfortunately, that world ended up having virtually no emotional impact or sense or legitimacy anyway. :-/

Dark Saviour.9410:

Introducing Jaar-jaar the Hylek.

Soon in the gemstore: Jaar-Jaar backpack. I do hope it is going to be an Itzel. They are so much nicer then the grumpy Nuhoch!

I nominate Taimi to be our comedic relief. And maybe a request to channel Tybalt for Revenant?

Tim.6450:

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

It’s time to bring him back.

He is the hero Tyria deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

At least it isn’t Lavender Town.

No seriously.

ImTasty.2163:

Tim.6450:

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

It’s time to bring him back.

He is the hero Tyria deserves, but not the one it needs right now.

Destroy Lion’s Arch, noone bats an eye. But destroy a bunch of airships, everyone loses their mind.

Tim.6450:

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

It’s time to bring him back.

Oh don’t worry, I believe one of the waypoints in Verdent Brink was found to be called “Faren’s Flyer Waypoint” or something to that effect.

Zackie.8923:

Do you guys even read…

i am saying LA should have lively music, as of now, every new zone is getting darker and more depressing.

if you think that the entire game should wail in agony and be sad that many died to create an immersion then it will spell badly for the players.

can you imagine going into every zone and it is dark and depressing? for goodness sake, this is an mmo, not a dungeon crawler. you make LA and other towns like divinity’s reach to be so lively and beautiful but the music is still saddening and it kills the mood.

Maybe the new LA will have more upbeat music? It is being rebuilt after all. You are worried because the new area (a very small part of it) has a depressing theme and so does the current LA. Well, they are both sites of great tragedy. Why would they not? But we have only seen a very small portion of the new Maguma Jungle, so who knows what else there is in store. Maybe the Hylek and Mursaat will have more upbeat themes. You are using two small examples fairly poorly.

I loved the music that I have heard so far, but then music is very subjective.

There are thousands (atleast) dead. The forces are scattered. The iconic heroes of tyria are missing. The sylvvari (the pacts trusted friends and allies) are now seen as potential enemy weapons at best and open traitors at worst.

Theres screaming. Dieing. People in helicopters being snatched out of the air. Former allies turning and slicing up there best friends. Some sylvari are being kidnapped undoubtedly to return as more weapons. Even the wildlife is trying to kill you. You can be attacked at LITERALLY any moment but you know when night falls its only going to get worse.

Your watching your friends being cut up, strangled, and poisoned to death on a regular basis.

Oh. And the vast military fight that you NEEDED in order to win the war your now stuck in the middle of is gone….completely.

Yeah. Id be pretty depressed too.

Just because the topic of a story in and of itself is depressing doesn’t mean having the entire tone and the entire narrative be that way is a good idea. Agony and anguish get old real fast if you have to much of it which is why even the darkest and most bleakest games have moments of brevity. Moments that allow the player to breath, have a good laugh, and recenter before going back into the dark stuff.

If they didn’t have those comedic moments, those hopeful moments, those happy moments then at best people would get bored of the constant doom and gloom and at worst the game would just end up making them feel bad and give few incentives to keep going.

Not to mention it’s the good moments that give the bad more impact. If all your moments are negative or depressing it all starts to lose its flavor.

tacticalevilnoodlefox.5694:

Just because the topic of a story in and of itself is depressing doesn’t mean having the entire tone and the entire narrative be that way is a good idea. Agony and anguish get old real fast if you have to much of it which is why even the darkest and most bleakest games have moments of brevity. Moments that allow the player to breath, have a good laugh, and recenter before going back into the dark stuff.

If they didn’t have those comedic moments, those hopeful moments, those happy moments then at best people would get bored of the constant doom and gloom and at worst the game would just end up making them feel bad and give few incentives to keep going.

Not to mention it’s the good moments that give the bad more impact. If all your moments are negative or depressing it all starts to lose its flavor.

The thing is though that the theme of this IS dark. Were on a rescue mission from the beggining. Im 100% sure wel see some of the old comedy come back. But that will be once we have a foothold. This isn’t the part of the story where people joke around as there fighting monsters. Its the part where there hoping theres someone left to joke with when its over.

I doubt the entire expansion will be like that. But the beggining? That initial experience? Hell yeah. What there doing fits there story perfectly.

I liked the music. I like dark ambient, when I’m not listening to outer-space ambient music hah. A lot better than glittery high-fantasy music x100.

Solori.6025:

Aemnas.8903:

There does seem to be a need of some comedic relief…

3 sylvari walk into a bar.

everyone dies

the end.

/laugh

3 Sylvari walk into a bar. They never walk out…
On an unrelated note, the bar gets a salad bar.

I don’t see any problem with the game’s mood. Guild Wars has always been a little bit of a gloomy franchise. That’s one of the things that kept me coming back to it. This sounds like a personal preference issue. You can’t please everyone, and I know that I for one wouldn’t be keen on a lot of upbeat content disrupting the mood of the story. Just make a charr w/ pink dbz hair and be your own comic relief.

It is war.

You expect war to be rainbows and sunshines?

Shadelang.3012:

tacticalevilnoodlefox.5694:

Just because the topic of a story in and of itself is depressing doesn’t mean having the entire tone and the entire narrative be that way is a good idea. Agony and anguish get old real fast if you have to much of it which is why even the darkest and most bleakest games have moments of brevity. Moments that allow the player to breath, have a good laugh, and recenter before going back into the dark stuff.

If they didn’t have those comedic moments, those hopeful moments, those happy moments then at best people would get bored of the constant doom and gloom and at worst the game would just end up making them feel bad and give few incentives to keep going.

Not to mention it’s the good moments that give the bad more impact. If all your moments are negative or depressing it all starts to lose its flavor.

The thing is though that the theme of this IS dark. Were on a rescue mission from the beggining. Im 100% sure wel see some of the old comedy come back. But that will be once we have a foothold. This isn’t the part of the story where people joke around as there fighting monsters. Its the part where there hoping theres someone left to joke with when its over.

I doubt the entire expansion will be like that. But the beggining? That initial experience? Hell yeah. What there doing fits there story perfectly.

I haven’t seen much for HoT (trying to avoid most of it so I can play blind when it comes out). Just warning of the dangers in thinking that just because something is a dark premise that that’s all there has to be to it and you can never have anything else and putting any comedy or light hearted moments in the dark spaces somehow ruins it or isn’t appropriate. It’s a trap people tend to fall into very very easily.

Hell I would even argue that it’s in the most torn and miserable times that people are most desperate to find and cling to any shred of happiness they can.

My thoughts exactly.

Anet really needs to put in something like a lively jazz number to break up the monotony of the reality of war. No one wants to get stuck on the thought that hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers just died in the story in a mass slaughter, and that they were really our only true active defense against a colossal dragon that is out to devour the world.

That’s just a total bummer if we actually sit and think about it, and who wants to be sad or actively involved in the story at the end of the day?

Erukk.1408:

a lively jazz number

“You’ve probably figured that out by now. Let’s hope so. Or we’re in real trouble… and out come the intestines. And I skip rope with them!” -Sheogorath

I certainly hope it’s not going to be all doom and gloom as many have said, and that there will be many moments of light put into this release. Many people play this game to escape the doom and gloom of their reality. I hope Anet will keep this in mind.

Didn’t you go above the trees?

No one is expecting more than 3 new maps… I don’t expect them to be anything too different to the first one.

yolo swaggins.2570:

At least it isn’t Lavender Town.

No seriously.

I like this song. It’s relaxing. Definitely wouldn’t fit in GW2 HoT’s Pact crash site though. That shouldn’t be relaxing.

You keep comparing maps with Hostile mobs, fighting and death to Tyria cities where everything is safe. When scarlet attacked LA i’m pretty sure there was Depressing music on the map for that month.(i play with the music off now) You are complaining about a new map that’s had many deaths of tyrians in an on going war. It is not a cheerful area, all of the ships where annihilated. Will there be maps or a city(if there is one) with less depressing music? sure. If you don’t like the music there is always the mute button. I don’t play with music on now because there is so much more stuff to hear besides music.

Crystallize.8603:

No one is expecting more than 3 new maps… I don’t expect them to be anything too different to the first one.

If it is only 3 maps, I very much think they should have a lot of visual difference.

CETheLucid.3964:

yolo swaggins.2570:

At least it isn’t Lavender Town.

No seriously.

I like this song. It’s relaxing. Definitely wouldn’t fit in GW2 HoT’s Pact crash site though. That shouldn’t be relaxing.

Never heard of Lavender Town Syndrome?

Honestly, glad to hear it is depressing. I mean heck, Orr is always happy happy yay we’re going to kill zhaitan. The pact didn’t really suffer any huge losses it seems in troops. So glad to hear it’s the opposite in the jungle!

I am with the OP. For example, Tolkien knew we needed Tom Bombadil, Rivendell, and Lothlorien to lighten things up. The gloom-and-doom was mixed fairly liberally with the more light-hearted.

A Volcano.2510:

I am with the OP. For example, Tolkien knew we needed Tom Bombadil, Rivendell, and Lothlorien to lighten things up. The gloom-and-doom was mixed fairly liberally with the more light-hearted.

Keeping in mind those are character driven narratives while what OP is complaining about is the soundtrack. We could also include things such as the map design and the aesthetics as things that create a depressing atmosphere but either way it’s not something that could be addressed by Braham making a funny joke. Or maybe it would, I’m not good with the more jovial side of things.

Zackie.8923:

Especially the music… the tone the mood the environment , everywhere is depressing.

Verdant brink is dark and the music is so heavy and down turning.

Can we at least have lions arch have a lively and bustling town music and mood after the reparation?

Please put in lively catchy townfolks music.

You should play Derelict Herds by Opeth while you play. Really cheerful music.

I know right? I mean, Orr was such a cheery place!

If you were going to fight an Elder Dragon of plants and save all of Tyria, only then to be hit out of the air by huge vines and then crash into the middle of enemy territory, all of your friends are dead, and you have no clue how to get out of here, would you be happy?

Nothing wrong with throwing a ‘Joker’ in the mix. lets work on more of an emotional range for players. Yes times are tough and depressing but that doesn’t mean we’ve lost are ability to smile all together. The purpose of gaming is entertainment which I felt the spirit of GW2 captured pretty well.

A Volcano.2510:

I am with the OP. For example, Tolkien knew we needed Tom Bombadil, Rivendell, and Lothlorien to lighten things up. The gloom-and-doom was mixed fairly liberally with the more light-hearted.

Even those still had something creepy, otherworldly or melancholy about them. Tom near the barrow downs and dealing with those creepy kitten living trees that try and EAT PEOPLE and both Lothlorien and Rivendell dealt with Elves and them leaving Middle Earth.

It is depressing, because Verdant Brink is the site of the Pact’s annihilation. So many people died that day.

Lévis.5489:

It is depressing, because Verdant Brink is the site of the Pact’s annihilation. So many people died that day.

most are permanently enslaved, or corrupted to serve the jungle dragon..

See…

Silver lining..

The is no place for happiness during war time. It is all fine and well.