Guild Wars 2

1. To start with the obvious: a new zone is a major plus. I would have hated to just see Brisban get destroyed or something. Instead we got a whole new zone and creatures.

2. The sandstorm is great. It makes for a really interesting play when you can’t always see forever in front of you. On that same topic:

3. The mines that are actually dark. Thank you, really. Caves are supposed to be dark; they’re caves (plus I’m not afraid of the dark when I’m wielding dual Fiery Dragon Swords to light my way).

4. The story wasn’t awfully written. It was nice to have to walk around town gathering clues rather than just be told something or have to kill 20 enemies and a big bad guy before he’s willing to tell you what he knows.

5. A major point here: your companions felt like companions. You didn’t have to do everything yourself, but you were a major character. I was particularly happy that Kasmeer created a portal for us while the sylvari whatshisname and the Master of Peace were still talking. It helps to make it seem like we’re actually still there and not just listening to two people talk far away. On the topic of portals, it also made it feel like it’s not just you climbing the ruins and your followers hopping through time to keep up with you. They helped you and you helped them. We need more of that.

To conclude, thank you Anet. This release has been pretty good so far and I hope to see more interesting content soon.

Couldn’t say better. They have done great job with this, I’m definitely impressed. If we continue to have things like that…Well you know.

This is great.

I also like how it ties in with the personal story, e. g. when talking to Belinda as a human noble. The region based achievements are great and I hope to see those for the other zones, too. As far as I remember this actually came up in one of the CDIs. I’d also love if they added more environmental effect, like darker nights. The sandstorms and the quicksand are a cool start, though.

This is the way I hope Season 2 will continue to be, everything has felt perfect.

Agree 100%. Searching for clues in Open World is great. The feeling of having a team in story instances is great too.

Yes this update is amazing. Especially the story content, not just one 3 minute instance with barely any story this time.

I love it. This is the way to go Anet.

Whilst I appreciate the atmosphere of the sandstorm.. I found myself becoming physically ill/naseous feeling when running around in it.. the way I get sometimes with FPS games sometimes. I know I’d appreciate a bit shorter of a sandstorm. :P

This definetely demonstrates that they are capable of improving upon the previous season. I really liked the story bits aswell. The little extra in Scarlet's house with the holograph was also nice, it really ties a few mysteries together that were speculated about in the past. The sandstorm, quicksand.. dark caves. We need more of that. And they didn’t forget to add a JP to the zone

only thing i didnt like was the jump puzzle im not good at then(but others love them its just me) and tend to not do them but i got by them with a little patience. i did like the story like the new map although small it looks like it gets bigger maybe next chapter also looks like it heads to anew zone afterwards so promise there. it is more then i expected in the first chapter. i give it a 8 out of 10. 3 points off for the jumping i had to do.

The release was not perfect but Arena Net has definitely learned some lessons from season one.

This release is perfect, my sap is definitely rising.

Aedelric.1287:

The release was not perfect but Arena Net has definitely learned some lessons from season one.

I wouldn’t call it perfect either, but it’s a great step from S1.

Ignavia.7420:

I also like how it ties in with the personal story, e. g. when talking to Belinda as a human noble. The region based achievements are great and I hope to see those for the other zones, too. As far as I remember this actually came up in one of the CDIs. I’d also love if they added more environmental effect, like darker nights. The sandstorms and the quicksand are a cool start, though.

I noticed this too as my character was a human noble. Does anyone know if the dialogue changes for other non-human-noble characters?

It’s a good start.

I agree, it was a solid update and much better than most season one updates (I’d say the last two updates of season one were also pretty decent).

The story seems more interesting (for now), and it looks like each chapter will come with new areas, likely more within Dry Top as the zone has not yet been fully unlocked.

My only complaint would be the relatively poor rewards, you earn significantly more running an EotM karma train. A bit more loot wouldn’t hurt the enjoyment of the otherwise solid content.

Looking forward to the next update... When exactly? I believe the two week thing is not happening anymore?

It’s quite amazing, I’m very engrossed and eagerly anticipating whatever is coming next. They did a great job with teasing…

narwhalsbend.7059:

Ignavia.7420:

I also like how it ties in with the personal story, e. g. when talking to Belinda as a human noble. The region based achievements are great and I hope to see those for the other zones, too. As far as I remember this actually came up in one of the CDIs. I’d also love if they added more environmental effect, like darker nights. The sandstorms and the quicksand are a cool start, though.

I noticed this too as my character was a human noble. Does anyone know if the dialogue changes for other non-human-noble characters?

Yes it does! I had a little chat with Taimi about my great accomplishments and how I won the Snaff price. I also liked being recognized for being a commander of the pact and killing Zhaitan. All in all I think the story part has definitely improved a lot since last season and I’m looking forward to how it will go on in the future

I’m really enjoying this so far. Apart from Belinda’s awful voice, everything else feels good!

Blackhat.4016:

6. You can repeat parts or play them later.

I know this is not a big deal for most players but for me this was the biggest reason to come back to GW2. I missed some parts of season 1 (the last chapter for example) because I was too busy IRL and honestly, I don’t like playing the first half of a game and then miss the end.

I probably won’t be able to play next month either which means I would miss an entire chapter again. No problem now, just buy it with gems and play it whenever I want.

Well done Anet, this might be the first time I’m willing to spend real money for gems.

Surely you could find the time to quickly log in one day?

Music and Taimi , period

Where to start?

• Episode 1 consists, not of a single instance, but of at least 3 (from what I can tell, I still have only finished the second).
• Storytelling is interesting this time around, for several reasons.
• Story instances have been a great introduction and tutorial for the new map so far.
• Sandstorms.
• Zephyrite’s powers.
• Different types of dynamic events.
• A lot of map verticality.
• Attention to little details that make the world more immersive and fun to explore (that “sandsea” near town that killed me the first time around, coin searching, etc).
• Beautiful, beautiful music. Every time the map replays old music, I get sad because I want to keep listening to the new pieces.
• Beautiful map and art direction.
• I haven’t even explored half the map yet! What this about really dark caves and interesting champion mechanics? I can’t wait to find out!

All in all, the experience is refreshing, rich and very fun. Everything was very carefully crafted. If we could say Anet is sometimes poor at executing their ideas somewhere else in the game (the new trait system, ascended, etc), this new patch also shows that they are capable of excellent and very careful execution at other times.

This map brings the best of the second southsun’s patch and of the bazaar’s mechanics, imo, fills in with even more interesting map mechanics, and has good storytelling and a much improved story structure on top of it.

I was a bit cold when I started playing the patch, because frankly, GW2 was losing its charm to me. I immediatly recognized the improvements, but what I didn’t expect to see, was so many of them. Previous LW patches would have ended by now, or start becoming highly repetitive by now. I’m still halfway(?), and I’m already very hooked to the game again – there’s still so many unique things to do!

I’m not sure if it’s possible to keep this level of quality every two weeks, but this patch elevates GW2 has a game.

Nothing is perfect, and time will reveal the new (or the still old) flaws, but for now, I’m distracted and mesmerized by the new stuff.

narwhalsbend.7059:

Blackhat.4016:

6. You can repeat parts or play them later.

I know this is not a big deal for most players but for me this was the biggest reason to come back to GW2. I missed some parts of season 1 (the last chapter for example) because I was too busy IRL and honestly, I don’t like playing the first half of a game and then miss the end.

I probably won’t be able to play next month either which means I would miss an entire chapter again. No problem now, just buy it with gems and play it whenever I want.

Well done Anet, this might be the first time I’m willing to spend real money for gems.

Surely you could find the time to quickly log in one day?

I think a LOT of people missed the distinction between “play” and “log in”… at least judging by some of the conversations the past couple days here and on reddit.

EDIT: posted before I saw blackhat’s reply – (s)he obviously got it and is an exception.

It was a great singleplayer experience sure.

• Story was ok, I agree with OP’s points
• Hunt for coins was fun, had me hunting for a long time and I helped some people get theirs afterwards.
• Jp was just hard enough

But it’s not enough to keep me playing more than the evening of release.
The story achievements were too easy and you had to basically repeat the exact same instances to do them. Most of them you couldve gotten the first playthrough if they were enabled.

I hope next chapter will have achievements that are actually hard to get and give some decent rewards like titles or unique skins.

Clip.6845:

I hope next chapter will have achievements that are actually hard to get and give some decent rewards like titles or unique skins.

I agree with this point. Story achievements felt a bit meaningless, and little more than an excuse to repeat content.

I’d rather have them unlocked right from the beginning (chances are, I’d still have to replay the instance to get some of them), or alternatively, have them substantially change some gameplay parts to refresh the experience when replaying.