(edited by Eluveitie.1290)
Dragon's Reach: Part 2 discussion thread
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
Evidently, I’m writing as I’m playing it. And no one is keeping me from writing what I think as I play it, either.
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
Evidently, I’m writing as I’m playing it. And no one is keeping me from writing what I think as I play it, either.
Yes. But do not make assumptions and critisize before even playing the content. That is just disrespectful and ignorant.
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Wasn’t Glint’s Kralkatorrik’s champion?
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Wasn’t Glint’s Kralkatorrik’s champion?
Yep. So you’re kinda right. Also I meant Glints child. But although it is the same as Kralkatorriks magic, that would be kind of weird to include him now.
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Wasn’t Glint’s Kralkatorrik’s champion?
Yep. So you’re kinda right. Also I meant Glints child. But although it is the same as Kralkatorriks magic, that would be kind of weird to include him now.
Could the blood stone actually have some connection with Kralkatorrik as well?
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Wasn’t Glint’s Kralkatorrik’s champion?
Yep. So you’re kinda right. Also I meant Glints child. But although it is the same as Kralkatorriks magic, that would be kind of weird to include him now.
Could the blood stone actually have some connection with Kralkatorrik as well?
Phew, I doubt that. Probably only in appearance. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bloodstone
Here’s a bit more info on it.
Ar those crystals in the visions representing Kralkatorrik?
Either Glint or the Bloodstones. Or both?
I only know of one thing that fits the theme of number 5 in Tyria, and that’s the Bloodstones.
Wasn’t Glint’s Kralkatorrik’s champion?
Yep. So you’re kinda right. Also I meant Glints child. But although it is the same as Kralkatorriks magic, that would be kind of weird to include him now.
Could the blood stone actually have some connection with Kralkatorrik as well?
Phew, I doubt that. Probably only in appearance. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bloodstone
Here’s a bit more info on it.
But how could a young dragon help us much against Mord? I still think this have something to do with the big dragon. The vision we had in the machine might also have something to do with this.
Mordy has found where the Baby dragon is and is closing in on it. That’s what I gathered from the vision now that I’ve watched it again.
Or
He’s found a way to unlock the Bloodstones.
I make guides to builds you may not have heard of;
http://www.youtube.com/user/ceimash
http://www.twitch.tv/ceimash
http://www.youtube.com/user/ceimash
http://www.twitch.tv/ceimash
Regarding the last instance, it was great. Had some really interesting points and the vision was very well done. Wish we could’ve gotten the PC to actually speak during the summit, but it was still good.
Wish the leaders adressed the current situation in the world. “Despite the Flame Legion being in civil war, they are still constantly assaulting us” and so on with every race. But they insist on being vague.
The crystals definitely seem to be the Bloodstone. Although I’ll need to watch the cutscene again when someone uploads to get better conclussions. We now know the dragon that attacked the Dream was indeed Mordremoth’s doing and it has been trying to influence the Sylvari since the start.
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
Evidently, I’m writing as I’m playing it. And no one is keeping me from writing what I think as I play it, either.
Yes. But do not make assumptions and critisize before even playing the content. That is just disrespectful and ignorant.
I was playing the content and criticizing as it progressed each part individually. But you don’t seem to comprehend that. Anyway, nothing was adressed either.
We used Fort Salma and Cocordia to make our points, but never in any episode I saw the humans, the Queen or anyone besides the B-conics mention it. And it would’ve been a far better plot to have the attack on Fort Salma be used as a determent of the Queen’s leadership and protection of her people by The Ministry, than shoehorning Scarlet -once again- in every matter. Specially when we know she attacked Divinity’s Reach out of a whim in S1.
(edited by Eluveitie.1290)
Regarding the last instance, it was great. Had some really interesting points and the vision was very well done. Wish we could’ve gotten the PC to actually speak during the summit, but it was still good.
Wish the leaders adressed the current situation in the world. “Despite the Flame Legion being in civil war, they are still constantly assaulting us” and so on with every race. But they insist on being vague.
The crystals definitely seem to be the Bloodstone. Although I’ll need to watch the cutscene again when someone uploads to get better conclussions. We now know the dragon that attacked the Dream was indeed Mordremoth’s doing and it has been trying to influence the Sylvari since the start.
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
Evidently, I’m writing as I’m playing it. And no one is keeping me from writing what I think as I play it, either.
Yes. But do not make assumptions and critisize before even playing the content. That is just disrespectful and ignorant.
I was playing the content and criticizing as it progressed each part individually. But you don’t seem to comprehend that. Anyway, nothing was adressed either.
I apologize if I was too harsh. I’m kind of a fanboy :P
A link to the cinematic though.
Regarding the last instance, it was great. Had some really interesting points and the vision was very well done. Wish we could’ve gotten the PC to actually speak during the summit, but it was still good.
Wish the leaders adressed the current situation in the world. “Despite the Flame Legion being in civil war, they are still constantly assaulting us” and so on with every race. But they insist on being vague.
The crystals definitely seem to be the Bloodstone. Although I’ll need to watch the cutscene again when someone uploads to get better conclussions. We now know the dragon that attacked the Dream was indeed Mordremoth’s doing and it has been trying to influence the Sylvari since the start.
You seem to not have played the episode completely. Or just don’t care.
Because most of the things you mention are addressed there. If you don’t like the story, then no ones keeping you.
Evidently, I’m writing as I’m playing it. And no one is keeping me from writing what I think as I play it, either.
Yes. But do not make assumptions and critisize before even playing the content. That is just disrespectful and ignorant.
I was playing the content and criticizing as it progressed each part individually. But you don’t seem to comprehend that. Anyway, nothing was adressed either.
I apologize if I was too harsh. I’m kind of a fanboy :P
A link to the cinematic though.
No worries, I expanded my reply to make clear what was that bothered me about that fist part.
Thanks for the link!
That does look like it could be Glint’s egg, too.
(edited by Eluveitie.1290)
I really don’t think that one resemble Glint in anyway, it looks more like Zhaitan or his champion, I think it was showing with Zhaitan’s downfall, the magic went unbalance and went to Mord, the bloodstone was absorbing it.
The party instance was the weakest part, with no consequences if you fail, and it will be tedious to repeat on alts. It did at least have some interesting dialog with Canach though and we can’t expect much more from GW2 in conversation sequences. The game engine simply doesn’t offer enough complexity to give them better gameplay.
It proves once again that we can’t trust anything in this game and that the Pale Tree is a lying kitten who rather hides stuff and have people die than telling us from day 1 that our wyld hunt was for Mordremoth and not Zhaitan.
And was I (because am I = kitten >.>) the only one thinking it’s weird to heal an avatar ? Wouldn’t it be more important to tend to the tree itself who then would be able to recreate an avatar (one who doesn’t lie and hides as much hopefully).
(edited by RedStar.4218)
I don’t think the vision is tied to the Bloodstones. The Crystals are golden. Similar to Zenith weapons.
Ankittenhe only one thinking it’s weird to heal an avatar ? Wouldn’t it be more important to tend to the tree itself who then would be able to recreate an avatar (one who doesn’t lie and hides as much hopefully).
No, drax and I had an immediate facedesk reaction to the line simultaneously, more or less.
A lot of the writing is sub-par in a lot of places. The art and gameplay are fantastic or beyond, the writing… is stuff I’d expect from Newgrounds – hit or miss stuff, from terribly horrendous to pretty darn good but not expertly awesome.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
My opinions and questions so far are written in the other thread which I set up at the same time as Eluveite. I allready asked for merging, since they are the same:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/lore/lore/Episode-4-Feedback-and-discussion
SO far the interogation was very straight forward and while it had some funny bits it still had too much handholding.
I don`t think you could really do something really wrong here if you aware on what to do.
Btw. is it just me or are basic interrogation techniques now Kasmeers “special skill”. All she sad was: “her eyes were twitching”, which is a normal sign if someone is lying.
They are basicly saying: being smart is now a power… (yes, I somehow have no faith in the world of Tyria anymore)
Quoting Trahern: “That won`t end well….”
I very much doubt it’s Glint’s egg. Glint’s egg (at least one of them) hatched already. You protect it from destroyers in the GW1 mission Glint’s Challenge (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Baby_Dragon). Thing is, that was 250+ years ago. That baby dragon is an adult dragon. Sure there is a good chance there are dragon eggs descended from Glint, but I doubt Glint’s eggs are still around – that’s a long incubation period.
And yeah, the Avatar thing was weird. I’m glad she at least mentioned her roots were being attacked. Healing an avatar seems strange but I’m sure there’s some forum post explanation for it.
(edited by Shiren.9532)
A lot of the writing is sub-par in a lot of places. The art and gameplay are fantastic or beyond, the writing… is stuff I’d expect from Newgrounds – hit or miss stuff, from terribly horrendous to pretty darn good but not expertly awesome.
The main plot is getting more and more annoying with each update, and some things simply do not make any sense (god, it’s starting to feel like Bleach all over again and Mordremoth is going to be the new Aizen…).
Another thing I found annoying was Trahearne telling us that is here to learn from us. Are you kidding me ? He’s the leader of the Pact, he stayed with them for 2 whole years. Sure he was busy with Orr and organizing an attack on Kralk, but don’t tell me he didn’t came across important information on Mordremoth…
I mean our PC got his name and we barely stayed with them after Zhaitan’s defeat.
To say something positive : Taimi’s scence was nicely done (when she’s attacked and when we save her) and I liked Anise’s dialogues.
I really liked this episode, mostly because of Anise. That is one great personage!
Cyan Graceland — Elementalist
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
Okay, finished the interogation quickly.
Wasn`t that long to be honest, but still a bit annoying that we cannot skip through spoken conversation.
Anise and Canach have stolen the show and I still do not get what Kasmeers power is. Telling lie from truth based on the reactions of a person… its`s either the writers trying to “explain” why she believes that someone is lieing/telling the truth, but this was nothing more then CSI: Divinities Reach.
On Taimi`s part:
You build the miniature waypoints. They are your model. You have control over them… Why aren`t you shut them down instead of playing with your new toy?
The fight would have been done in minutes (but that is game mechanics I guess. I should not think so much here)
Oh and if I hear her distorted voice hear her shout “enemy retreating” I don`t know what I will do… this has to beone of the most annoying “victory” shouts an NPC is uttering (I heard it so much in the last few epiodes where we were running around that i am not really fond of her anymore)
The first mission was kinda “meh”. It’s nice that they dabbled in those sorts of missions, but the lack of dialogue choices kinda made it a bit subpar, because a lot of the choices were between “stupid/abrupt” vs. “smart/sly”.
We all know that the mission was about being subtle with the information gathering and for us not to draw attention to ourselves. There shouldn’t be an option to have our character to scream out, “you’re a traitorous liar!” to the person we’re questioning. Since most of the interrogations weren’t voice acted, you should have probably at least gave us a bit of a dialogue tree, maybe 4 choices each round, and the different questions you ask give you certain amount of points towards the meter. Best choice give us zero points, and it progresses from there.
Second and third missions were nice, but I think Taimi gave in a bit too easily at the end. She was probably still in shock at that point, but right after your character mentions “it’s for the greater good!” she flips and gives it over just like that. After she ran away and gave everyone hell, I would think she would still be a bit more argumentative on the subject.
The last mission was great, but the character’s speak to the leaders was a bit generic. This would have been a great place to ham it up a bit. The leaders all understand that Mordremoth is a huge threat, but each of them still have their own problems. The character could have went into better detail as of why he’s such a huge threat. The attacks on the forts and the waypoints are examples and starting off points, but they shouldn’t have been used repeatedly over and over again as a point.
Smodur was a bit of a stickler. The forts were a good example, but I think the player should have brought up it being attracted to magic. Ascalon is probably filled with different magical trinkets, and the Flame Legion wields all sorts of potent magics and artifacts. The vines are already on BC doorstep, if the FL really wanted too, they could have probably lured it to BC pretty easily.
The hunger for magic could have been used on Phlunt’s dialogue too. Rata Sum is a huge magical epicenter, and it’s already within reach of Mordy already. If it wasn’t for the story writing and the fact it would take a huge amount of resources to change it, Rata Sum and the surrounding labs would probably be wrapped up in vines by now.
As for the cinematic. I’m guessing it’s either another one of Glint’s eggs or a very important piece of Glint herself. Maybe her heart? Who knows. It would tie into the Master of Peace’s mysterious mission, and the fact he was carrying something away in his backpack.
What I really want to know though, is what were they structures releasing the beams of light rising out of the clouds/dust/whatever?
Another thing I found annoying was Trahearne telling us that is here to learn from us. Are you kidding me ? He’s the leader of the Pact, he stayed with them for 2 whole years. Sure he was busy with Orr and organizing an attack on Kralk, but don’t tell me he didn’t came across important information on Mordremoth…
I mean our PC got his name and we barely stayed with them after Zhaitan’s defeat.
I found that particularly annoying because Mordremoth’s name and existence as the sixth Elder Dragon was explained on the forums to come from the Pact. I think it was Bobby who told us that the Pact were the ones who discovered Mordremoth and told us about it, yet our first encounter with Trahearne has him being almost completely ignorant.
So we went into the Dry Top without knowing about Mordremoth, in episode two we suddenly know its name from the Pact but when the leader of the Pact shows up he knows less than us. Meh.
Honest question. Did anyone at any points think the first mission was not the work of Caudecus? As soon as I heard plot against the queen I rolled my eyes. The whole thing felt like an excuse to demonstrate Kasmeer’s special powers.
(edited by Shiren.9532)
Well one thing I like it’s that they are not forgetting previous plots. So even if it was terribly obvious, it didn’t bother me.
But the Kasmeer thing…Someone watches too much Criminal Minds and Lie to Me.
Kasmeer just has some good observation skills.
Cyan Graceland — Elementalist
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
My opinion on this patch story-wise is pretty simple:
1. The Party: The idea was good. It’s replay-ability is round 0 though. There’s just too little hidden things.
Problem with straight “talked” instances is that our character is silent. It really hurts the execution. Overall, it was cool, but lacking. If we’re into party stuff, why don’t we party a little bit more?
2. Taimi instances. Didn’t interest me at all. I like the voiceover of Phlunt and some of Taimi’s responses, but it’s just dull and boring. The fight itself was just long with boring phase. The second part wasn’t even necessary. I’m a bit biased about Asura stuff, though.
3. Pale Tree instance. This was a big facepalm straight away. It was where the lack of our PC character talking hurt soo badly during the “speech”. Ugh, that part was just terrible. Smodur, again, was the most interesting.
The fight itself wasn’t bad. I would like if they had made a new model for Mordy’s champion rather than re-using Sylvari’s PS model.
The cinematic was cool and I like the fact we’re getting rid of that Pale Tree.
Whole patch was just stolen right away by Canach and Anise for me, though. They were 100x more interesting that the main plot, maybe except of cinematic. I’d love to just cut down all our DE 2.0 with a lawnmower and replace them with Canach supported by Frostbite.
Canach and Anise are the only characters that really interested me so far in this LS Season.
[rude]Antagonistka – Revenant, EU.
[SALT]Natchniony – Necromancer, EU.
Streams: http://www.twitch.tv/rym144
[SALT]Natchniony – Necromancer, EU.
Streams: http://www.twitch.tv/rym144
Kind of off-topic, but does anyone know where the hell is Ree Soesbee? Her writing is far more interesting to me.
Kasmeer just has some good observation skills.
That she mentions as being a power. It’s so cringy, ugh.
As someone who doesn’t know who Livia is, what are the implications for us if Anise = Livia? Is that a good thing? Bad thing?
Gotta admit, Anise and Canach’s cameos through the entire chapter of the Living Story were deeply intriguing. I found myself more interested in them than anything else. The first part of the chapter with the party felt like Anet trying to give Human Players a chance to serve their nation as well, like the other races’ players got in the previous chapter (I know the Sylvari didn’t, but a meeting with the Pale Tree is just as good). The second and third parts with Taimi I found refreshing in the sense that it reminded us that Taimi is indeed a child and can be quite irrational -and- vulnerable. I also liked that we weren’t given a choice but to agree with Phlunt. I know our characters are supposed to be infallible and such, but having no choice but to do as he wanted felt like a step towards making the world feel more real. We can’t always get what we want.
As for the Summit and such, I rather enjoyed it. It was a treat to see all the Charr salute when Smodur appeared. Small gestures like that tend to go a long way, and it made me smile. Being the speaker at the Summit felt a little odd to me, but I went with it. Somehow the setup was a little too informal. I felt like a kid in a tree house speaking to other kids about pretend armies and kingdoms.
But that fight… wow! Evacuating the World Leaders was a brief prelude to something far greater. For a while now I can’t say I’ve been feeling all that heroic. The biconics hanging around have left me feeling more like a babysitter than the Commander of the Pact. With the emphasis returning to being the Commander of the Pact, rather than, “That guy who took down Scarlet with 5 mooks,” it felt -great- to be able to re-affirm that I am, indeed, the Commander. I single-handedly drove a Dragon away from the Summit. No one else helping.
If anything could have helped brace me for another six months of hand-holding and baby-sitting, it was putting my money where my mouth was by driving off that dragon by myself. Shows that our characters are more than talk; we’re the real deal.
(edited by Vexander.9850)
Honest question. Did anyone at any points think the first mission was not the work of Caudecus? As soon as I heard plot against the queen I rolled my eyes. The whole thing felt like an excuse to demonstrate Kasmeer’s special powers.
It did sadly. Why they chose to put a supernatural spin on Kasmeer, maybe it’s just something that doesn’t fascinate me. You can generally tell when people are lying in the real world just by listening carefully and watching their behavior. We don’t need some mystical mojo-juju to argue why the character is significant, why couldn’t she just had been a scholar in psychological behavior; after all Mesmers are like entertainers. They should be wanting to study all things behaviror wise in order to ensure their clients are always satisfied.
Okay, finally went through everything. Started several times writing, but lost all progress at some point.
Anyway.
My overall opinion on the individual writing of the segments and the implemented lore is positive, however there are several parts which I was about to slam my head onto the desk.
The positive
Canach and Anise stole the whole patch. If these two and their conversations weren`t around, the whole patch would certainly be not so memorable.
The negative Is more but it “might” be little things
The “World” Summit
First of, who called it the “World Summit”? Did they flunk geography? As far as I am concerned this is a continental meeting. There are several other continents around. Even if there is no direct contact to them, we know they are still out there thanks to the Zephirites.
We are talking about the continent of Tyria, not the planet/world Tyria. These leaders are not representing the the world (And given how much we know about the “whole world” i wouldn`t even give them the g7 treadment)
The Summit
The world leaders had often better points then the PC.
To be honest, we have still no idea in which way Mordemoth is more dangerous then any other ED at the moment.
The Vision and the reason the PC says “he is the most dangerous” was vague to us, to give us a mystery. The PC had clearly a better understanding of what he has seen, however he does not really tell anything “new” or “speacial”.
At this point Mordremoth just shows that he is active, but in no way more then the others. Most of it can be explained through “normal feeding behaviour”, till the attack of the grove.
The PC just is not convinicing. He even tells a personal tale about Majory, which is sad, but unfitting on this stage.
Trahearn
Oh boy, for me he was the worst offender in this patch.
He did what he had told us he would do. He gave us an update on the pact. He told us what they had done. The problem here lies however with what they have not done:
- He tells us he had an army ready to walk against Kalkatorik before the roar. We have established that every leader knew that it was an eldar dragon. We have no timeframe but that was about three months ago, give or take… So, where is the pact? No scouts? No forward troups to kitten the situation? To limit possible damage? He basicly has told us he “made plans”, planning a “forward base”. However…
- He tells us that we should talk to the summit, since we have the best knowledge about Mordremoth… WHY? He is leade rof the pact. It is build out of the Orders, which are described as be either founded to go against or changed their target aginst the eldar dragons at the moment.
Their whole purpose is to gather infos and fight against the dragons. This is supposed to be the group to have the most insight in all the Eldar Dragons.
They even told us that we know all our Info about Mordremoth from them.
Why am I suddenly the best suited to talk to the summit? I am the Commander of the Pact, but Trahearn is the Leader and Spokesperson. It is his job to talk to people (I am not against being a puppetmaster here to be honest. I am an adventurer and not a politican).
He even tells me *he wants to learn from me" . What does he want to learn? We know not a lot more then he should know.
His whole existence is just sad.
I thought about the crystals in the vision being seeds, like the one the pale tree grew of. But that’s just an assumption.
But measured by the light beams, they must be a great source of magic.
I’m still saying it was dark jade.
Mursaat construct, known as Jade Armor and Jade Bows
Mursaat fortifications, Ring of Fire
There’s a Jade Cloak as well, introduced during GWB: WiK in GW1, but it’s green.
e: My reaction to seeing those high, golden towers and “dark jade” outcrops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIu89txQ0LY
Chris “Dawnheart” Aerinoh — Revenant, Guardian — Blackgate
(edited by Christos de Soufre.3802)