Okay, rather than founding a topic on partial petty niggles, I thought it may be nice to consolidate.
So first of all: the new fractal is a beast and it melds together all the elements awesomely. The mechanics, the map, the intriguing story; all of that set up the first treat of this patch update. Kudos on all fronts.
Second: The music. It keeps being absolutely on point. I didn’t really expect to hear anything new, but the willingness and talent of your audio team are just awesome. I hope the tracks will be released through some means, be it Soundcloud or an actual soundtrack purchase.
Third: New charr VA. It’s better than I feared, but it still needs some bug catching in the soundmixing department. I think that whoever adds the effects to the voice needs to get used to the new actor, because (especially in the first instance), my main kept mutating between ok – almost indistinguishable from the original – nuhoch – someone with malfunctioning gag reflex. And it’s not exactly considered best manners to start practicing your ventriloquist skills on a funeral…
Fourth: Dragon’s Watch. Eugh. I’ll have to live with it, I suppose.
Fifth: New map is a bit of a one trick pony at the first glance, and it will provide a huge economy boost for HoT owners But then again, HoT provided a huge economy boost for HoT owners, so maybe it won’t matter that much. And hey, the leather market may finally stabilize now the things actually drop from something again.
Sixth: And now for the bad. What. The. Hell. did you do to Almorra Soulkeeper. The wise old charr general speaks like a skritt (fast enough for the actor actually sound slurred because of the syllable tripping) and acts like a bad fanfiction. Seriously, this is not the same Almorra Soulkeeper that has founded the Vigil and let it against Zhaitan and Kralkatorrik’s minions, this sounds like being written by someone who utterly despises the character and gives her a Ron-the-deatheater approach. Considering I’m a charr and a vigil member, that was quite the kick in the gut.
Seventh: Not much replayability. As has been touched upon in another topic here, lot of the storyline takes place in the open map, which can’t be replayed on the same character. Well, thanks.
And finally:
The White Mantle. Dear gods, the White Mantle. Yes, raids are key part of that story, but it’s not the main issue. It’s the same mistake that happened back with the Caithe-past-centered episode in Season 2: You once again count on people knowing the lore when there’s a solid chance they don’t.
Current episode counts on three things: A) You raid. B ) You played Guild Wars 1. C) You’re a human.
If you don’t raid, the comeback of Lazarus comes with little ceremony and is literally dumped on your head, with some backup cinematics from Benett and other suporting characters, giving you the Scarlet Wars treatment of “oh, you should know this, if you missed it, sucks to be you”.
If you didn’t play Guild Wars 1, Bloodstone Fen is an uknown to you, Mursaat is an uknown to you and bloodstone is only known for being trash loot and having no culinary application. Suddenly talking to a Mursaat is not properly explained, there’s some sort of a narrative switch that says “Oh, this should be a big deal!” without telling you why is it such.
And if you’re not a human, then you know sod all about Caudecus and his politics and Shining Blade. For an Asura, a Charr, or a Sylvari, Caudecus may be the name you’ve never even heard, since you pretty much only meet him in the Caudecus Manor story instance, and Dungeons are not fixed part of the story, just a recommended one. White Mantle, you really don’t meet at all, since that’s all human personal story territory. My charr legionnaire being up-to-speed with all intricacies of human politics (enough to give even me a headspin, and I know my lore quite decent) just sounds wrong, stupid and shortsighted.
Overall: good patch, sizeable new content, but that royal kick in the head in the story department, butchering character voices and the long wait for the next chapter are just too much for me to be content with it. The latter, I can live with, but please, could we do without the other two next time, thank you -..-