Guild Wars 2

So with 3 legendaries announced for HoT, (but more on the way) it seem to deflate a lot of peoples hype. Personally I don’t care that much about those, I’m waiting for the difficult stuff to be announced.

I got to wondering though, about what other things are still uncertain that could possibly have the same effect as this legendary announcement. PvE maps seem a topic that has had quite a bit of discussion, seems most expect something small like 3 or 4. Others a bit more. We know that there will be 3 biomes, and that their will be a smaller footprint compared to a traditional MMOs, and that they are supposed to be feature rich.

So the question is: If you found out today that Anet was only releasing 3 avg size PvE maps (with more on the way), what would be your reaction?

Answer: I would have none. I expect that to be what happens given what we’ve seen and heard. And no, I don’t include cities and similar content as ‘maps’ of PvE content. Yes, they are areas, true. But not PvE maps. Let’s kill that argument before it begins.

Again, we’re not expecting a continent of maps given how little hype we’ve heard and seen on this issue . . . sadly.

my reaction will be extreme disappointment.

For me it would depend. Is this 3 maps in total or 3 maps on release with more coming for free afterwards?

I was under the impression that 3 zones was already what they announced with the one currently at at least some form of playability.

I believe the mystery is still surrounding the final size and content density of the zones.

Kythan Myr.4719:

So with 3 legendaries announced for HoT, (but more on the way) it seem to deflate a lot of peoples hype. Personally I don’t care that much about those, I’m waiting for the difficult stuff to be announced.

I got to wondering though, about what other things are still uncertain that could possibly have the same effect as this legendary announcement. PvE maps seem a topic that has had quite a bit of discussion, seems most expect something small like 3 or 4. Others a bit more. We know that there will be 3 biomes, and that their will be a smaller footprint compared to a traditional MMOs, and that they are supposed to be feature rich.

So the question is: If you found out today that Anet was only releasing 3 avg size PvE maps (with more on the way), what would be your reaction?

Verdant Brick is one zone. The Guild Halls will each have one zone entrance to enter. There is the Golden City as one other zone. So at least 4 zones, if you count the guild halls as zones (if they are large enough like cities) that’s 6 zones. So at least 6 zones coming with HoT but there will probably be way more.

The Verdant Brick we know from the beta is 25% of the full map, which means the map is rather large and not “average”

If only 3 maps came I wouldn’t buy the expansion at all. I’m sorry but systems are nice but they won’t keep you occupied when you figure out how a map works. People learn at different speeds, some fast, some slow I don’t expect 3 maps to take particularly long to master regardless.

You also have to realize that GW2 is pretty update-heavy (up for debate for some). They tested a lot in the past but what we’ll see in the future is Living World seasons + feature packs + expansion packs.

In the last iteration of LS we saw new zones opened up. We can expect this to happen with LS3 too.
It all depends on their future roadmap of which I hope they’ll share the details with us before the release of HoT.
If LS3 starts one month after the release then we’re pretty much set (imo).

butch.8136:

If LS3 starts one month after the release then we’re pretty much set (imo).

Given that their own staff has stated that they are essentially firing on all cylinders just to get HoT done, I wouldn’t expect any major injections of content via new maps for many months after release.

@Substance if that’s the case then it’s a better deal to wait for the end of LS and a discount for the expansion. That would mean more content for less money if you buy it later. RIght now the 50$ is not justified…not yet.

Substance E.4852:

I was under the impression that 3 zones was already what they announced with the one currently at at least some form of playability.

I believe the mystery is still surrounding the final size and content density of the zones.

No, all we know is that there will be at least 2 zones and that each zone has 3 biomes.

Verdant Brick is one zone. The Guild Halls will each have one zone entrance to enter. There is the Golden City as one other zone. So at least 4 zones, if you count the guild halls as zones (if they are large enough like cities) that’s 6 zones. So at least 6 zones coming with HoT but there will probably be way more.

Yes, the guild halls are zone-like areas however I don’t think it’s reasonable to compare them to zones like Verdant Brink.

Also, we don’t know if the Golden City is a zone or just part of a zone.

Rebound.3409:

@Substance if that’s the case then it’s a better deal to wait for the end of LS and a discount for the expansion. That would mean more content for less money if you buy it later. RIght now the 50$ is not justified…not yet.

That’s my feelings more or less. I remember a time when expansions told you exactly what you were getting, then asked for the money and a resounding “take it” would follow.

It’s all about making an informed choice and decision which is good practise with all matters to do with money. Hopefully someone is seeing these posts and perhaps realising that a rough or semi detailed outline of what we’re getting and actual content would increase sales dramatically.

I believe and fully expect the expansion will be 3-4 zones, tops. I’ve already prepared myself for the PR onslaught that is forthcoming. Arenanet’s marketing team will say “It might only look like 3 regular-sized MMO maps, however with our revolutionary biome design it’ll really be like getting 9 maps!” The fanboy’s will eat it up and continue counting the WvW map, Guildhalls, stronghold and any other little old map (ahem* challenging content) to pad the numbers.

Let me tell you a little story about how Southsun was introduced and how things work with exceptions and new cards/regions at all:

You have a bunch of guys(mostly), bugging Anet since release that the mobs are laughable and pittyful, with the exception of some mobs in Orr. Anet finally responded with the addition of Southsun, a nice but relatively small island full of hard to kill Karka, wicked AoE Lizards, a mean jumping puzzle and in the beginning, lots of possibilities to farm anything from shells to champ bags. Then the champ bags largely vanished, and so did the players. Of course they did not forget to kitten and moan how unfairly hard and time consuming Karka are and how the income does not justify the input you have to give to farming them after they have resisted(with retaliation and phases of dodging) their maximum damage/dodge tactics and made fools out of a majority of them on their way out.
As a special bonus, add Canach to this map, the orchestrator of the mad animals uprising event. Everybody and his mom now loves the rebel Canach who was the main focus of that story but hardly even appeared on the island, your own importance to put down the uprising was laughable at best. Surprisingly, most people hate Trahearne for the same reason, maybe because he was more visible in the personal story, I don´t know.

Let me tell you another story of how Drytop was created after Soutsun was largely abandoned:
Now you have a bunch of the same type of guys who have not spent a year on the hardest open map probably, maybe except for the Karka queen, and now demand stiffer competition in PvE after the upgrade of Tequatl and the three headed worm have failed to capture the favor of the raid community for being, well, open worlded. Again, Anet responds and creates Dry Top in the living story, a jump heavy map with legendary mobs that gets enlarged over the course of some months, RNG at it´s finest with insect weapons, new currencies and a system of collectible sand(Really, Anet?). Although there are more people in Drytop than in Soutsun because of the RNG mechanic, recipes and some other reasons, it noticeably dropped in favor when Silverwaste came out, dropping some of the really stupid )except for the collectible sand) stuff for a much better experience.

Tl; Dr: Even if HoT would be gargantuan and largely fantastic(which it probably won´t be), you will find people that rush it in a week an complain about it being to small.^^

Setting aside the Golden City ( if it exists) and the guild hall maps , i actually expect 3 PvE zones with the launch of HoT. Why? Because of 2 points : Content Replayability and Size.
Content Replayabiliy: Considering the the amount of stuff to do in the map itself ( outposts , day and night cycle , adventures ), we will certainly spend a lot of time in each map. Take silverwastes and dry top for example : most ppl spend a lot more time on these maps than the original maps.
Size : If the area we got to explore in the demo is only 25% of Verdant Brink, i think its safe to say , its a pretty big map. Looking at this video “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SSed8tYnek” , the area does look massive.
I think the main problem here is the typical mindset about expansions and the number of new maps. Instead of 7-8 new zones where u explore one zone , do the story and move onto the next and never return , we are getting say 3 zones which are massive with tons of replayability. Whats the difference if we spend the same amount of time in 1 HoT zone, as we spend playing in 2 original zones?

With that said , its all assuming that the maps are actually large (not like silverwastes or dry top ) and there are tons of engaging event chains to keep the players hooked.

Torolan.5816:

stuff

You fail to understand your opposition’s argument. Southsun wasn’t a fail because the content was too hard, it was a fail because the content was buggy, laggy, boring and unrewarding. While no longer buggy and laggy as it used to be, Anet put no QoL into the zone, they left it to rot. Raising the HP on enemy mobs to make it more “difficult” is just lazy on the part of the developers. They claim to have challenging content in the expansion, we’ll see. If their recent updates are any indication for what’s in store many players will be disappointed, myself included.

Kythan Myr.4719:

So the question is: If you found out today that Anet was only releasing 3 avg size PvE maps (with more on the way), what would be your reaction?

Considering the living world is their thing, I fully expect to see only a single main map. The rest of the area would be gated in the same way Dry Top/Silverwastes was. HoT is nothing more than simple marketing – a better way to sell the living world. An expansion simply generates far more interest compared to free content.

If HoT launched with 10+ maps, people would just blow through them and rarely see them again. Instead, why not release with one map, then add a new one every other month. Each map would certainly see far more activity in comparison and there would potentially be a constant stream of new content until the next expansion.

butch.8136:

If LS3 starts one month after the release then we’re pretty much set (imo).

S3, as in the story episodes, begins with HoT as its personal story. The regular 2 week releases could actually begin with HoT depending on what they’re planning, otherwise, a 1-3 month delay is fairly standard. They could use the festivals as a distraction for example.

IIvIIozzie.9250:

Torolan.5816:

stuff

You fail to understand your opposition’s argument. Southsun wasn’t a fail because the content was too hard, it was a fail because the content was buggy, laggy, boring and unrewarding. While no longer buggy and laggy as it used to be, Anet put no QoL into the zone, they left it to rot. Raising the HP on enemy mobs to make it more “difficult” is just lazy on the part of the developers. They claim to have challenging content in the expansion, we’ll see. If their recent updates are any indication for what’s in store many players will be disappointed, myself included.

As you obviously also were there when Southsun was introduced, lets recapitulate it then, ok?
Sadly you are right with the idea that Southsun was left to rot. I don´t even want to defend Anet for this policy because I too think that this is not only sad but also a bad idea for the development of the game. I also agree that adding HP instead of a mechanic is bad and the easiest way out.
But:
1. Regular Veterans and young Karka were never that buggy. Granted, sometimes they jumped back to full HP and you had to begin from scratch, but that was rather uncommon and was rather quickly fixed.
2+3. The content was laggy because people came to the island with the idea that they could rush from settler champ to settler champ all day long. This kind of also adds in to point 3, the boring map. I gladly agree that the settler champ uprising idea was pure garbage, but that lasted for how long, 3 weeks? Besides, people regularly ask Anet for literaly circular and horribly boring events like the Queens Anniversary or the Halloween labyrinth in the forums, so isn´t this the kettle calling the pot black then?
4. A karka veteran is not unrewarding, you always get a shell from it. That is not enough to make people farm them regularly because people only accept the utter maximum instead of pretty nice, but it is a solid item in the AH.
5. Tequatl was hard to beat for randoms for the first months after it was buffed the first time, and the three headed worm is still impossible to do without TS because of its mechanic and the timing. You simply can´t cater to the more hardcore players when you advertise your game as easy accessible and for it´s equal opportunities regardless if you are new or a veteran, sad but true.
Vinewrath is still pretty high in the favor of the more hardcore players, at least I would guess that because of it being a dumbed down Marionette and more hardcore people would have really loved that if it had not been open worlded.

3 maps is about what I’m expecting, and it’s the reason I’ve not given them my money for it. The complete lack of hype about actual content (or any information at all about it) does not give me any confidence that HoT is worth $50. If they thought they had $50 worth of content, we’d be hearing about it instead of features that everyone gets for free, like the new wvw and pvp maps.

So far, it looks like that money buys you
1 PvE map
A small bit of LS (content supposedly supported by gem store sales)
1 profession
1 added spec/weapon for each class
4 HoT area masteries (the others seem likely to be for everyone)
Being able to claim a guild hall (that perhaps everyone can access after that?)

Lmao I remember when the pve community was so quick to defend anet because they haven’t necessarily experienced their disappointing side, I see some still have high hopes though. In time they will come to learn of why the wvw and necro community are so cynical this is only the first step xD.

IIvIIozzie.9250:

Torolan.5816:

stuff

You fail to understand your opposition’s argument. Southsun wasn’t a fail because the content was too hard, it was a fail because the content was buggy, laggy, boring and unrewarding. While no longer buggy and laggy as it used to be, Anet put no QoL into the zone, they left it to rot. Raising the HP on enemy mobs to make it more “difficult” is just lazy on the part of the developers. They claim to have challenging content in the expansion, we’ll see. If their recent updates are any indication for what’s in store many players will be disappointed, myself included.

In my opinion, people didn’t start complaining about the content delivery system until Anet was pestered into making an expansion from the stuff they were working on for the Living World. Anet had to change gears and hold the content that would have been delivered more regularly for content that will have to come in an expansion. The most common complaint I heard about content from LS Season 1 was that it was coming too fast.

You guys have a really short memory apparently.

Vayne.8563:

The most common complaint I heard about content from LS Season 1 was that it was coming too fast.

You guys have a really short memory apparently.

Season 1?

Season 1 was full of tiny spread out updates, with a couple larger drops of open world content. You’re probably thinking of season 2, with its mostly every other week releases. Most of which were rushed and buggy disappointments.

They actually released some nice stuff in S2 when it wasn’t on the 2 week schedule. Chapters like Echoes of the Past.

edit:
I think a lot more would have higher hopes if we knew HoT was adding 6-7 maps, and an entire LS season. But the general impression Anet is giving is nowhere near that. After 8 months (so far) without any LS, HoT needs to have more than a chapter or two at release. Especially when you consider the fact that LS was free (to active players, at least) and supported by the gem store. That $50 price tag needs a lot more to justify itself. And not just a promise of future content that is supposed to be gemstore supported anyway.

I’ll answer very simple that I judge on quality and not on quantity. It actually seems there will be “just” 1 map. This map however is bigger then normal PvE maps. It also consist of three layers above eachother, making it actually the size of three bigger then average PvE-maps.

Now compare this to 15 new pvp-maps, all the size of claw island.
I think you would go for the quality of the first option right?

further. Size isn’t everything. It also matters how well packed it is with stuff to do.

So all in all. don’t judge on quantity, but on quality. I’ve pre-ordered, also based on what I’ve seen in the closed beta. Others are waiting till it is released and more details bout the quality are known.

Id be quite interested if they add other weapons and armor to the game that is not legendary but difficult to obtain through the diffcicult end game content. Id love that.

They would still fill a void for a lot of us players who like prestige.

apharma.3741:

Rebound.3409:

@Substance if that’s the case then it’s a better deal to wait for the end of LS and a discount for the expansion. That would mean more content for less money if you buy it later. RIght now the 50$ is not justified…not yet.

That’s my feelings more or less. I remember a time when expansions told you exactly what you were getting, then asked for the money and a resounding “take it” would follow.

It’s all about making an informed choice and decision which is good practise with all matters to do with money. Hopefully someone is seeing these posts and perhaps realising that a rough or semi detailed outline of what we’re getting and actual content would increase sales dramatically.

Nowadays it’s honestly the same it hasn’t changed much (look at wow expo trailer ex)….the only company that does it wrong or as they say it “different” as if “different” automatically means exceptionally good, is ANet..i can’t think of any other company that sells you promises instead of “here you get this and this and that…for x”.

Buying a game with the so called “promise” they will add more stuff in the future is literally gambling with a company that has proven in time to be very slow and lackluster in what they offer sadly. If they had a better history and image i would have said the odds are in your favor in this gamble…but i don’t see that at this point.

That’s my personal impression at least..and they won’t see any of my money till they either show actual quantity of content not just a few thrown features around OR i read a few dozen reviews after the game is out..and if it’s good then i will buy…because that’s the only way of finding out what they are actually offering in therms of quantity and quality…they are incapable of showing us upfront because they don’t have that much to show really. It would backfire.

mercury ranique.2170:

I’ll answer very simple that I judge on quality and not on quantity. It actually seems there will be “just” 1 map. This map however is bigger then normal PvE maps. It also consist of three layers above eachother, making it actually the size of three bigger then average PvE-maps.

I thought the same thing, till I actually saw Verdant Brink. The multi-layer concept looks great on marketing material, but the reality of what has already been seen is very different.

From what was seen in earlier stress tests, and from datamined maps, Verdant Brink looks to be about the size of Dry Top and Silverwastes combined. That is considerably smaller than a lot of existing maps, many of which are around double that size.

As for the three biome layers, the jungle canopy and floor areas didn’t seem to have much overlap at all in the stress test areas. We’ve yet to see the underground area at all, so there is some hope for overlap there. A lot of the area was also taken up by inaccessible canyons, although those areas could possibly be available at a later time (but I don’t see that being very likely).

The way events are displayed on the map makes frequent overlaps seem even less likely. Unless it sees a major overhaul, finding events would be very frustrating without indication of which layer they are in. I just don’t this idea of 1 map = 3 maps worth of playable area being a reality.

Substance E.4852:

butch.8136:

If LS3 starts one month after the release then we’re pretty much set (imo).

Given that their own staff has stated that they are essentially firing on all cylinders just to get HoT done, I wouldn’t expect any major injections of content via new maps for many months after release.

LS3 could be part of the expansion from a developer standpoint.
Now they’ll want to give us some time to catch up with the story of the expansion, so that could take a month or two.

Ah hell, we don’t know. We’ll see, I guess.

butch.8136:

Ah hell, we don’t know. We’ll see, I guess.

That’s the sticking point with a lot of people though.

They’re asking for our money with the constant reminders of pre purchase, offering beta access to pre purchase and many other teasers as if too say “hey guys, buy it”.

But we just don’t know anything about the actual meat of it. We’ve seen the starters and it looks nice but where’s the main?

I cant believe how slow anet are at releasing information for Hot.
I would love to know how many new pve zones there are gonna be,and how many new dungeons.
One new map the size of drytop and silverwastes,even if it has 3 levels is too small

If it’s 3 zones the size of verdant brink with those layers that’s already twice the size of the average wow expansion…

From what I remember reading, and I could be wrong, they were going to have three completely different zones, and each zone is going to have those three biomes, or levels. In essence, that’s effectively 9 maps if I am remembering correctly.

Verdant brink we are getting only 25% of the map, and it’s a convoluted, twisted maze on just that 25%.

I do think therefore, that we will be getting quite a bit of real estate. Could I be wrong? Sure! I can’t prove a thing I’ve typed. I’m just going by recollection of what I think I remember reading.

But I suspect that, while the horizontal land area won’t be huge, we will have a ton of vertical area.

EDIT: on the other hand, it could be that they just meant three maps, not three zones, and each biome is one map. If so, that’s three maps. Still, between the horizontal size of each map and its maze-like design, I think it will be pretty substantially interesting, at least for a time.

Fox.3469:

If it’s 3 zones the size of verdant brink with those layers that’s already twice the size of the average wow expansion…

Did you actually play BC or WotLK?

EDIT: Average, right. Beta’d Cata, which provided less new landmass to explore but redesigned a considerable chunk of the old world. No experience beyond that.

Lhos.1643:

Fox.3469:

If it’s 3 zones the size of verdant brink with those layers that’s already twice the size of the average wow expansion…

Did you actually play BC or WotLK?

Yes i did, did you play the new map already? The 25% of that map has already more content then one of the zones in those expansions.

Fox.3469:

Lhos.1643:

Fox.3469:

If it’s 3 zones the size of verdant brink with those layers that’s already twice the size of the average wow expansion…

Did you actually play BC or WotLK?

Yes i did, did you play the new map already? The 25% of that map has already more content then one of the zones in those expansions.

The last stress test looked like a lot more than 25% of Verdant Brink…and I’m pretty sure I did most of what was available in the short time that test allowed.

I’m not a WoW player, but I’m guessing those two expansions had more than a couple hours of content in them.

Morfedel.4165:

From what I remember reading, and I could be wrong, they were going to have three completely different zones, and each zone is going to have those three biomes, or levels. In essence, that’s effectively 9 maps if I am remembering correctly.

Verdant brink we are getting only 25% of the map, and it’s a convoluted, twisted maze on just that 25%.

I do think therefore, that we will be getting quite a bit of real estate. Could I be wrong? Sure! I can’t prove a thing I’ve typed. I’m just going by recollection of what I think I remember reading.

But I suspect that, while the horizontal land area won’t be huge, we will have a ton of vertical area.

EDIT: on the other hand, it could be that they just meant three maps, not three zones, and each biome is one map. If so, that’s three maps. Still, between the horizontal size of each map and its maze-like design, I think it will be pretty substantially interesting, at least for a time.

Seriously… Where are people pulling these numbers from?! Anet has not given any numbers concerning zones. All we know is that there are multiple zones (i.e. at least 2) and that each zone has 3 biomes.

Fox.3469:

Fox.3469:

Lhos.1643:

Fox.3469:

If it’s 3 zones the size of verdant brink with those layers that’s already twice the size of the average wow expansion…

Did you actually play BC or WotLK?

Yes i did, did you play the new map already? The 25% of that map has already more content then one of the zones in those expansions.

The last stress test looked like a lot more than 25% of Verdant Brink…and I’m pretty sure I did most of what was available in the short time that test allowed.

25% is what they told us and considering we haven’t seen the underground/root biome, that might be correct.

mrstealth.6701:

mercury ranique.2170:

I’ll answer very simple that I judge on quality and not on quantity. It actually seems there will be “just” 1 map. This map however is bigger then normal PvE maps. It also consist of three layers above eachother, making it actually the size of three bigger then average PvE-maps.

I thought the same thing, till I actually saw Verdant Brink. The multi-layer concept looks great on marketing material, but the reality of what has already been seen is very different.

From what was seen in earlier stress tests, and from datamined maps, Verdant Brink looks to be about the size of Dry Top and Silverwastes combined. That is considerably smaller than a lot of existing maps, many of which are around double that size.

As for the three biome layers, the jungle canopy and floor areas didn’t seem to have much overlap at all in the stress test areas. We’ve yet to see the underground area at all, so there is some hope for overlap there. A lot of the area was also taken up by inaccessible canyons, although those areas could possibly be available at a later time (but I don’t see that being very likely).

The way events are displayed on the map makes frequent overlaps seem even less likely. Unless it sees a major overhaul, finding events would be very frustrating without indication of which layer they are in. I just don’t this idea of 1 map = 3 maps worth of playable area being a reality.

We only saw one layer adnt hat will be the same this weekend) If you jumped down the center you would land on an invisable barrier. There are two more layers below the one you saw in closed beta

Diovid.9506:

25% is what they told us and considering we haven’t seen the underground/root biome, that might be correct.

True, we’ve yet to see that biome. If it covers the majority of the map, 25% might be accurate.

But a lot of the area in the upper biomes was wasted on large inaccessible canyons or mountains. The space those filled up on the map took out a huge chunk of the overall area.

mercury ranique.2170:

We only saw one layer adnt hat will be the same this weekend) If you jumped down the center you would land on an invisable barrier. There are two more layers below the one you saw in closed beta

There were two biomes accessible in the 2nd stress test. Some of those areas were definitely not canopy. The blog post about this weekend event specifically mentions changes to a jungle floor biome event made since the last beta.

I like the theory of there being a zone for each legendary weapon, maybe a 4th for the back item. Its a possibilty.

As to the zones being average size, that I do not agree with. With each zone having 3 levels, the X and Y dimensions of each zone will not be a true indication of the full size of each zone, as we will need to consider the Z dimension too. My personal opnion is, that while we may only get 3-4 zones, each zone will have a large playable space available, with each space containing a lot of activities to take part in. The physical size of a zone should not be the only factor we consider. The amount of play we get out of each zone should also be an important factor (for me this is the most important factor).

We will be getting 25% of one zone available to us in this BWE, so we will be able to get an idea of the rough size of at least one zone. But my focus will be on how much that 25% entertains me, how many things it gives me to do and how much there is to explore and discover. I really don’t care how long it takes my character to run from one side of the map to the other.

How will I react if it is only 3 zones? That all depends on how good those zones are, and how much they keep me entertained.

mrstealth.6701:

mercury ranique.2170:

We only saw one layer adnt hat will be the same this weekend) If you jumped down the center you would land on an invisable barrier. There are two more layers below the one you saw in closed beta

There were two biomes accessible in the 2nd stress test. Some of those areas were definitely not canopy. The blog post about this weekend event specifically mentions changes to a jungle floor biome event made since the last beta.

Still doesn’t feel at all how it is announced. As it felt very much one layerd. Also there where these hallways that seemed to lead to different levels and closed off hallways.

further, there was only bout 40% max of the map opened up. (looking where the mapname was). So even if it was 1,5 biomes, it was still only 20% of the entire map.

My point stand that it is bout quality and not quantity. The night cycle needed work and they said they did.

Lhos.1643:

Did you actually play BC or WotLK?

EDIT: Average, right. Beta’d Cata, which provided less new landmass to explore but redesigned a considerable chunk of the old world. No experience beyond that.

You are right about Cata, it did change allot and i only counted the new landmasses. But anyway, they damaged stormwind a little, we blew LA up :p

This is something i have been worried about… what if this Verdant Brink that weve been playing isnt just a small portion of what we are going to play, but a sizable fraction of what to expect? =(

Something people have been asking for/wondering about since launch is when we’ll start breaking down the barriers between zones (i.e. Queensdale and Kessex becoming a single contiguous zone)
And while we may never see that happen for existing zones, we might see that played out in future zones. Where instead of giving us 3 or 4 smallish maps they give us all that space in one really big one. The difference with it coming like that is that it’s just going to look like one zone to a lot of people, and they won’t be able to look past that number to look at the actual space.

A few really big maps is so much better than a bunch of smaller ones with arbitrary square borders, if people will just stop harping on the stupid number and instead focus on the actual amount of space we get.

mercury ranique.2170:

Still doesn’t feel at all how it is announced. As it felt very much one layerd. Also there where these hallways that seemed to lead to different levels and closed off hallways.

further, there was only bout 40% max of the map opened up. (looking where the mapname was). So even if it was 1,5 biomes, it was still only 20% of the entire map.

My point stand that it is bout quality and not quantity. The night cycle needed work and they said they did.

I agree that quality is more important than quantity…to a degree. But there still has to be enough area to offer a variety of content. Inaccessible crevasses and narrow winding paths aren’t very useful for that. There seemed to be a lot of dead space, with overly busy content outposts.

It is just a portion of a single map, but it didn’t give me the impression of being equal to other maps in the game. I feel like it’s just a bigger, improved version of Silverwastes or Dry Top.

I couldn’t care less about the number, because that’s how Anet decides to divide land. I’m concerned with getting the entire region Magus Falls, whether it’s divided into 2 maps or 8. BTW all of Magus Falls is what I expect Anet plz plz plz! Remember how Anet said this xpac was a feature set up kind of one and has less maps? Well, look at Magus Falls compared to say the Far Shiverpeaks of Woodland Cascades, etc. Magus Falls is pretty much the smallest region, which means we’ll likely get it all and STILL have less maps. One more thing I want to address about size is that both Blood Legion Homelands and Blazeridge Mountains are about the same size as Magus Falls, maybe even smaller. BUT! Think about their size together – normal isn’kitten I think those two regions will come together in a Charr xpac (or at least some focus of Charr). So in conclusion I expect the complete Magus Falls.

From what we’ve seen, HoT will extend waaay down towards Rata Sum from Verdant Brink

If those “three maps” are that large then that’s a good thing! But I doubt the maps would be that big. We’ll likely be getting more than 3 maps.

(PS The Verdant Brink map we’re getting today with beta is 25% of Verdant Brink itself, not the entire HoT maps)

I See No Tomorrow.7302:

(PS The Verdant Brink map we’re getting today with beta is 25% of Verdant Brink itself, not the entire HoT maps)

I wouldn’t know because I didn’t pre purchase due to lack of info and I am not blessed by Zommy.

Edit: To clarify, it’s hard to get an accurate idea of size when you’re not allowed to actually play it for yourself. Streamers can be watched but in my opinion they generally aren’t very good at showing what you actually want to see.

If the legendary thing proves true, finding out that there were only going to be three maps would insure I didn’t waste my money.

LordEnki.9283:

If the legendary thing proves true, finding out that there were only going to be three maps would insure I didn’t waste my money.

Anet has already corrected an inaccuracy in that article (about the time to max out masteries). If there were more than 3, they probably would have corrected that by now. I think it’s fairly safe to assume there are only 3.

So, 1 beta weekend for people practising poor consumer practises later and this is 12 pages back.

Still any words on map sizes, numbers etc?