Guild Wars 2

We just have to wait until the “must-ace-the-content-in-10-minutes” faction / “mount caravan” pushed along and all new areas are deserted again. Then, we finally will have leisure time to enjoy the hard work of the map designer. ;-)

Well, yes, there have been mount talks before and I never bothered. Mostly because I couldnt imagine that Anet would give into the mount-crowd. Now everything is different and I just have to add my 2 cents: First, I have nothing against mounts in MMO’s in general. I can see the certain role of mounts in Elona and I understand Anets approach of including mounts into the mastery system. What really annoys me about mounts in GW2 is not the presence of mounts itself, but how people are going to use them. I have watched lots of MMO’s during the past years and in every single MMO with mounts, people are using them constantly, even in the most useless situations. If possible, they would even ride to the loo with them. :-P Mounts cluster all places in these MMO’s and they downgrade the games somehow. Turning them into a silly kindergarten, where there could be graphic beauty and depth.

Yesterday was the day of my Gift of Battle (server: Elona) … Heard alot of unresting stories before about this new reward track and just wanted to KNOW how long it will take me to complete the path (from zero to 100%). Need that d**n GoB for Astralaria and forgot to buy some for my 1000+ badges of honour before the change. =8-| …

To keep it short: it took me almost exactly 6 hrs of non-stop running with the main Elona Zerg on EB and BL. No break (not even for restroom). Luckily, it was quite an entertaining zerg (not only “tshoo-tshoo”, but a good deal of exciting battles!), with an experienced, comfy and relaxed commander. Many thanks <3 <3 <3 for this smooth GoB farm! :-)

Booster: Activated all kinds of buffs and booster and kept them running through the whole trial: the 24h guild buff (10% on WvWvW reward tracks), XP booster (50% gain on WvW reward tracks, amongst others), heroic booster and celebration booster. Dont know if all these booster stack or not, though. Didnt matter, had enough of this stuff dusting in the inventory. 8-)

Ascended weapon chest: besides GoB, I leveled >20 WvW ranks and landed a WupWup Weapon chest from one of the rank chests.

All in all, it was a much less tiring experience than I thought, and an okay way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. (y)

Don’t do any organized roleplay, but what I really miss in this game is being able to SIT on objects in a normal sitting position, let it be the furniture galore shattered all over Tyria or any other ‘sittable’ object or piece of the landscape. :-)

Mark, everything worked out fine. (y) Downloaded the soundtrack and finally, after 6 months wait, I can listen to HoT in the car, on my way to and from work.

The HoT maps as well as the music are so f***ing awesome! Real artisan masterwork. To me, Dragon’s Stand is a 3D artwork of Caspar David Friedrich, eerie, bold and beautiful. Kudos to the artists and composers and thanks for your effort! <3 <3 <3

Dear Mark, saw your message first now. Thank you so much for your effort! <3 I emailed them and hope to receive an answer soon. Would be the first time I’d hear something from them (besides sending me the vinyls). 8-)

Anyone here who also has problems with Arenanets subcontractor IAM8BIT, who is distributing the HoT soundtrack on vinyl? IAM8BIT consequently ignores my email inquiries (they haven’t answered at all yet – dead company?) and the Arenanet support also refused to react (“you should fix your problem with IAM8BIT, not with us” – as I haven’t tried exactly that the past 6 months … :-P )

I purchased the 2x Vinyl LP of the HoT soundtrack from IAM8BIT Januar, 26 2016. I got an email confirmation of my purchase, but no digital soundtrack code. Since then, I am asking IAM8BIT to send me the download code, as it should be included in the package. IAM8BIT website: “… and as an added bonus, a digital download code for the entire soundtrack + bonus tracks are provided with every purchase of the vinyl set. Analog + digital – in one package!” Arenanet has been marketing this package as well.

Up until now, I haven’t received the digital soundtrack code. Even the LP’s arrived last month, but still no code, and still no whatsoever reaction by IAM8BIT on my inquiries.

Of course, I am still expecting that Arenanet reacts towards IAM8BIT in the strongest terms on this breach of contract. And I would finally like to receive the digital download code, asap.

pepsis.5384:

(…) So, am i the only one?

No. ^^ My main is a Norn ranger / wannabe Warrior. She loves her GS/LB or GS/AA or GS/ A/T combos. Maybe Horn sometimes. ^^ She is so far from a druid mindset you can get. I’d loooove to play her in a raid (cause she would be a fierce raider, for sure :-) ), but all they are looking for is druids … bummer. My second main is a thief lady, mostly with DD/PP, or Staff/PP. That may be more suitable for raids right now.

I can understand that a raid requires certain professions and builds, but that would mean, I wouldnt have the same fun playing it. Why should I invest my precious (- very limited -) free-time in gaming if it would mean less fun than other parts of my life?

That said, I could see myself raiding one time … (with a group of like-minded, fun-loving peeps) … :-) But it should enhance, not choke my life.

ADDENDUM: … what really bugs me is the fact that Anet employed the real story masters for the raids (Bobby Stein, amongst others) and left us with sub par narrative design in the main game … the storyline in GW2 sucks since they started with their “Living Story/ Living World” concept and it hasnt improved in HoT either yet … why on Earth am I still lumbering around with these deadheads “Edge of Destiny 2.0”? Its simply an offence to people expecting good story content in GW2. And yet there is a great, interesting storyline in the raids all of a sudden! Bandits, Bloodstones, White Mantle, Mursaat! How many years did I wait to finally get this type of content! … but I cant play it. And I wouldnt enter a cleared wing either just to experience parts of this story / picking up what others left behind, because this is not how I view experiencing a story.

A good suggestion would be to open up a “story mode” for the raids. That would not only cater us story nerds, but also offer a way for ‘less experienced’ players to find their way into raids.

This is a fantastic move! … and Josh Foreman is the 8-bit God of Tyria. :-)

The Tyrian World / Cosmos / Lore.

Mike, thank you so much for your recent community input! It’s good to hearing from you! Seriously. ^^ I am also convinced that you had (and have) a great share in the development of the Tyrian Cosmos, even if it has not been that obvious yet. Would like to hear more in future about how you view the future development of the Guild Wars Universe. :-)

Mike, thank you so much for your recent community input! It’s good to hearing from you! Seriously. ^^ I am also convinced that you had a great share in the development of the Tyrian Cosmos, even if it has not been that obvious yet. Would like to hear more in future about how you view the future development of the Guild Wars Universe. :-)

Addendum: Its not about how long time it takes to craft a legendary weapon. Can take a whole year or two, doesnt matter. :-) But for me, it should make sense. These adventures doesnt make sense and I dont like that they are instanced. I would rather earn my mastery points in the open world, where I can interact with other players and do some good for the community – instead of fooling around in a dumb instance …

Also, I usually dont do PvP, Dungeons, Fractals or Raids. Would do it for Astralaria, though, if there is a good reason for it. ^^ But adventures … thanks, but no thanks.

Cyninja.2954:

(…)

Not true. For crafting the final Legendary, you have to max out all Maguuma Mastery Lines to be able to purchase Gift of the Itzl, Gift of the Nuhoch, Gift of the Exalted and Gift of Gliding to craft “Gift of Insights”. Which means you need almost all Maguuma Mastery Points (112 out of 139). Which means you have to do almost all adventures at least at Silver. Silver and Gold gives you a Mastery Point respectively. Bronze doesnt give you any Mastery Points.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

They’re supposed to be making the HoT areas easier with the April update. Maybe that will include the adventures and making the harder ones easier.

… it not that they are ‘hard’ in the first place (they are, somehow), its their total deprivation of sense / meaning I detest … I would even rather do JP’s than these ‘adventures’.

Here I am, a throughly happy crafter-in progress of Astralaria, the most beautiful weapon in GW2 (just mho :-) ) Hithereto, have been enjoying every step of the crafting, which has now taken me to the final level (Cosmos). Almost that I feel blue for the day when its done … The new legendary crafting system added a heap of great and meaningful content to GW2 – by tieing together very old (GW1), old and new story bits and pieces of the Tyrian Universe, and combining it all into a unique context for each weapon to craft.

Tyria finally begins to shine, in its entire depth and complexity.

During the crafting process, people are finally able to experience the whole Guild Wars Universe – my deep kudos to the devs who hatched the idea and the designers / writers who put it into the game in such an intricate way. . . .

Here I am, a throughly happy crafter-in-progress of Astralaria … until this awkward moment quite late in the process, where I suddenly realized that I have to max out ALL my Maguuma Masteries and that I have to ace almost all adventures for that (at least on silver). During the past weeks, I have now been struggling with this task, without significant success. No, I never have been interested in these adventures. To me, its just f***ing immature time killing. Time I dont have … and time I would love to spend on something much more meaningful than senselessly jumping around in an instanced zone.

This adventure crap succeeded to destroy much of my legendary crafting enjoyment, up to the point where I am on my way to either temporarily ‘lend’ my account to one of my adventure-loving nieces or just quitting GW2 for good – even if I still think that its the most beautiful MMORPG on the market.

Very much appreciated, since I (… and with me many others, I guess) haven’t been able to play the HoT story yet. <3 <3 <3

10+ for Devildoc.

I dont mind working for achievements in GW2. I dont mind challenges, even if I am a very casual player (about 2-3 hrs /week). I looove Open-World events (much more than instanced events).

But what really bugs me with this horizontal mastery levelling is its – gated – XP imbalance. Why is there so few XP / reward for exploring the World and interacting with the NPC’s? Why is all XP achievrment and focus on (meta) events and adventures?

Agree with Devildoc, when I listened to Colin at Pax, he said that the different masteries will be connected to the races. I, too, imagined that I have to do special Itzl / Nuhoch / Exalted stuff to level these masteries (like “Mini Quests / Missions”). That didnt come true. Arenanet missed a big opportunity of exciting and engaging storytelling here, imho.

Ragmon.6350:

Don’t grind XP, play the game for the same reason you would play normally and you will get the XP that way

Sorry, but this is not true. “Play the game like you normally do” means for me: Map exploration (visiting new areas, climbing viewpoints, intentionally getting lost on the maps, finding Lore Gems, talking to NPC’s and listening to their stories / chatter, as well as playing the Story. Went for my favorite playstyle for two days and it gave me literally no XP progress at all. However, I needed at least some basic masteries to be able to move around the maps for my favorite map exploration leisure (Gliding 2, Jumping 1, Exalted 1 and Nuhoch 2). These masteries are even needed for the story. As adventures arent available anytime, I went for events and got the above masteries within a weekend.

What annoyed me: the way you get your HoT XP is very gated. I dont mind taking part in events, just the opposite – looove open world content! :-) However, I love map exploration as well (if not more) and it doesnt add to my horizontal levelling like in the ‘old’ zones. Thats a bummer.

To obtain the above mentioned mastery levels – Gliding 2, Jumping 1, Exalted 1 and Nuhoch 2 -, I played since HoT release. I am mastery level 8. Sufficient to say, I have an 8 to 5 job and are mostly only able to play on weekends. For me its absolutely sufficient, as I now have the masteries I need to finally be able to enjoy the new zones. But please dont say “just play the way you want and you will get your needed XP” This is not true.

Exalted … who? Concerning narrative design – why create new characters when there is plenty to build on in existing lore? What is the purpose of these seemingly unsubstantial “goodie two shoes”, when we could have gotten “the real stuff”, a bunch of uber cool Mursaat, right in the middle of Maguuma near one of the bloodstones? Feels a little bit like an anticlimax right now … And yes, I wondered too why they threw away such a huge chunk of story before HoT even was released. For what purpose, again?

Content worth its name and Narrative Design that lives up to former Guild Wars ambition. :-) At GW2 release and during the first year, you could still sense former Anet playfulness and creativity. Since 2nd year, it just went downhill …. Yeah, and the SAB.

Yeah, love the Dredge caves, too. As well as freakin’ Skrittsburgh. .

Agree on Glint’s Lair, one of mine as well. :-) Its just gorgeous design! … as I haven’t reached the Magus Falls in GW1 yet (playing through Prophecies first time right now, to get some historical perspective ;-) ), I’d love to see this place as well. ^^

Just very recently, I went to Scavenger’s Chasm for the first time. Love at first sight! :-) To me, it’s one of the most beautiful places in Tyria. Tranquil, relaxing, mind-expanding. Could go there every day for meditation.

… one of these useless discussions, again … if you dont like playing ranger class – out of whatever reasons, dont do it, just play some other class you like more. But please let others play their favorite classes as well. What irks me about these tiring “Ranger discussions” is that a group with explicit minority interests is consistently complaining to Anet about a class they are not even playing. On the other hand, there are thousands of players out there who love playing their ranger.

… then you havent really read what I stated above, zaced. I am playing different classes in PvE since at least two years back, which gives me a direct comparison. Personally, I haven’t experienced ranger to be in any way subpar to thief, for instance. At least not if you are playing general PvE content. And I know other folks who play f***ing good rangers in ranked PvP as well. :-) Its different when it comes to speed-clear dungeon groups, but this is another track, imho, as dungeon mechanics (the bosses in particular) have been unidirectional / monotonous / very unsatisfying since start – which favors certain armor / weapon stats and gameplay. But this has nothing to do with the question if you should or should not play a ranger. My answer: just play the class (or classes) you have most fun playing, dont listen to what others want you to play.

I am playing a ranger norn from day one of this game (from Sep 1, 2012, to be exact). This hottie is still my favorite char and will be so even in future, love her to bits. :-) My second main is a thief lady, which I love playing as well. I have played the whole Living World Season 2 with my thief and she will also be my main during HoT – she has an important mission to fulfill in the djungle (connected to her back story). Then I have an elementalist and two guardians as well which I play somewhat frequently. Why should I ‘move on’ from playing my beloved ranger norn if I have so much fun with this class? I simply dont care about all these self-proclaimed game troopers who think they know how people should play this game …

Posted today a couple albums with screenshots on my Flickr account:

Rémi Heltzer completing map 100% – http://flic.kr/s/aHskg6AZyh
Some Dungeons – http://flic.kr/s/aHskj2Js8j
JP Scavenger’s Chasm – http://flic.kr/s/aHskg7uXwB

The F2P decision sounds okay, but what really bothers me is that they didnt add a max level 20 cap for trials. Without a cap, it will be ridiculous. Never imagined that Anet is going to sell out their fantastic game so cheap … this F2P thing ruined all my enjoyment about the HoT release date …

My only guardians are both Sylvari. The new ‘Dragonhunter’ gives them a neat twist, in the wake of HoT / Mordremoth showdown. :-) But I agree, the name itself is kind of lame …

QSDragonLord.7421:

i didn’t say thieves aren’t assassins, or can’t be. What I said was that the thief is a burglar/highwayman/etc., and the stealing mechanic matches that. An assassin could as easily be eastern styled ninja, as it could be a western sniper assassin. Mechanics for the class aside, the idea has merit.

Well, my thief Heltzer lady lived many years with the Brisban Bandits and was trained by them. Which means: mob actions, working with blade weapons, fireguns and even explosives! Since leaving the bandits, she pursues her own vendetta against her posh family in DR, which makes her to a rather stealthy, plotting killer. Turning into a martial arts fighter comes a little unexpected, but could be an interesting turn, cause of her Canthan origin. :-)

Add: … this is how I imagined my thief lady – before the announcement … 8-)

Thief with staff?! My Rémi Heltzer wanted the Predator so badly, tho … Now, she has to delve down into her ancient Canthan Ancestor’s legacy instead. =8-) If thieves dont get the rifle, please please make it a martial arts staff at least … PS: but what about all them staff skins? Not a single one fitting as a martial staff … which means no good prospects … PPS: beautiful teaser artwork, btw. :-)

Started playing GW1 a month ago (want to complete all maps / campaigns). I experienced bad lags in Ascalon – to the extend that the games was almost unplayable. On different servers and at different times of the day. Now roaming the Northern Shiverpeaks, there are near to zero lags.

Same here. Am playing GW2 since launch and never experienced this problem before. I am using a Logitech G500. May trying to uninstall the driver software though …

Lutinz.6915:

Everthing …

Agreed. Whats more, the Mursaat have been traitors right from the beginning of times: According to GW1 Wiki, they are an ‘ancient, TERRIBLE race of spellcasters’. Mursaat took the stage during the pre-human / pre-God era as one of the ‘elder races’ (the other: Seer, Forgotten, Dwarfs, Jotun). The Mursaat could use their magic to slip beneath the skin of the World (more: its the only race who can practice all four disciplines of magic simultaneously). And this is what they did when the very first Bloodstone was created to seal all magic away from the Elder Dragons. The Elder Races agreed to give their magic to the Seers, who would seal it within a Bloodstone, starving the Dragons. All races … besides the Mursaat. Instead, they flew into the mists and took their magic with them.

It took me quite a while to comprehend my ever growing displeasure with the developments and changes made to GW2 since launch August 2012. Now, I finally could put a finger on it. For me, it filters down to the fact that ArenaNet and NCsoft arent into the most cracking of relationships. Sorry to say, but this cooperation drained the darn gifted ArenaNet devs from their jolly playfulness and creativity and seemed to be a major drawback for ingenuity, quality and exceptionality of this franchise. … Something is rotten in the state of GW2 …

Edit: suffice to say, I (still) love the game. The only MMO and video game I play at all, cause for me it is still the best on the market. However, I felt less and less intended to log in, especially during the past year. What still keeps me in the game is the Living World content (even here is much room for improvement), its pure timeless beauty and the weekly missions with our wacko guild community (a blast every time!). But this will not be enough for the future, I fear …

As stated, its a good time to stop and this is what I am doing right now. It obviously only gets worse, not better. Played since GW2 release date and highly enjoyed the game. Still love the breathtaking artwork, the deep / complex lore and sleek game mechanics. Still hang with the game during the past yeear cause there have been some interesting improvements storytellingwise. However, other parts of the game didnt improve, just the opposite. So thats it. May logon again for continuing LW2, but definitely not for the changes they made to the game.

+100 – Cant agree more. Much disliked (and still dislike) the game changes implemented during the past 6 months (they killed a big chunk of my excitement I felt for the game) for the same reasons you mentioned. Havent even logged into the game since Wintersday patch. One of the final features of getting awarded just for logging in and logging out summarizes it perfectly for me: Arenanet has become so unsecure about / cynical towards their own game, they just want people to login and logout. Obviously nothing of real excitement left to do ingame any longer … very sad.

particlepinata.9865:

My personal experience in this game is that theres a shift from horizontal progression/gameplay to vertical progession/gameplay over the last year.
Every patch things are symplified/narrowed/gated more. (npe/traits/gating of ps/cutting content out of the PS/narrowing achievements). And the new login rewards dont bring people to play more, only to login and logout (good for the metrics/not to retain players).
After the newest Wintersday incarnation (which is ten times the grind then the ones before) i come to the point that it dousn’t feel good anymore, its got a forced feeling over it. I personally have come at the point that i think it will be a good time to stop.

Can understand your reasoning (why complaining about something you get for free?). But I dont want to be treated like a whiny 3 year old, rolling on the floor and demanding their treat. Arenanet is simply playing on the greediness of people and I dont like that. I would rather like to play a game where I am treated as a grown-up, who can make decisions on her own and who wants to be awarded for an effort, not for just logging into the game. This is ridiculous and just another strange move by Arenanet devs, at the brink of turning one of the finest MMO’s ever made into a trashy bog standard themepark game. Like a couple similar decisions during the past 6 months. They once started with the – much appealing – branding motto that you can do what you want in Guild Wars 2, in an open, free world. That you can roam everywhere on your own discretion, that you have free rein. Not much is left of it now …

Hi! As much as I appreciate Arenanets fantastic generosity, I wonder if there might be any option added to the game to shut off the Login Bonuses? There are already too many things activated when logging into the game for my taste … and I really dont need to be awarded just for logging in …. Thanks and I love you and your game, because it is breathtakingly beautiful and it has such a genious, wondrous, deep lore – you dont have to throw gifts at me. I cant love you more than I already do. :-)

Aedelric.1287:

… I would like to see another likable prominent male role, …

Rytlock Brimstone? More Man is not possible. =8-)

Funky.4861:

… There is one issue i would love for you to address, when you have a slot for it. Time and time again we are subjected to pretty obvious misandry in LS episodes …

… deep breath intake … slowly breathing out … no comment.

KdT wrote: “… I hate my character whenever I interact with Canach …” – Yeah, same feeling here. :-D However, as I know that my sweet char has her own agenda with Canach (asking him for a favour dear to her – and his – heart), I can view these dialogues as part of their secret mission. :-)

Really enjoyed this patch, some more historical dimension / depth / epicness sips back into the storyline. There are also nice crisp encounters everywhere which made you wish for more (like the dialogue with the Zephyrite masters, for instance). The library, of course! Think it will become my favorite spot to go back to for some more reading. :-)

The pacing is still not perfect, imho. The overall dynamic through the storyline is not really balanced, as well as the transition between the instances, between lore-heavy parts, more or less cinematics and the combat heavy parts.

For what its worth, here are some pictures from Rémi Heltzer’s yesterdays adventures in “Echoes of the Past” – played it through in one piece: www.tumblr.com/blog/aurora16875 – to me, it shows how much the story improved – its simply beautiful stuff! Could be a great animated movie! :-)

Yeah, I love the alchemical / esoteric references in GW1+2 – the real esoteric mysteries, not the distortional stuff New Age loonies are mashing up. Think that Arenanet so far used these references in a smart, sensitive, respectful manner. Really hope they will keep it that way … :-) Not only to pay deference to these ancient stories of mankind, but to give their own story the appropriate depth.

Example – story of Abaddon in the “Book of Revelation” – Abaddon the Angel of the Abyss / Bottomless Pit: At Rev 9: 1-3, the “5th Trumpet” rings, a star falls down from the sky, which holds the key to the Abyss (presumably Abaddon), opens the Abyss and a horde of locusts emerge, which then tormented for five months anyone who did not had the seal of God on their foreheads. Towards the end of the Book of Revelation (Rev 20:1-3), the Angel again descends from the heaven which holds the key to the Abyss, fights and binds the Dragon (sic! here another word for Satan) and throws Satan down into the Abyss. With his key, he locks Satan away, for thousand years to come.

Some nice analogies to Abaddon in GW1/GW2: 1) Angel of the Abyss, 2) Abaddon frees the locusts which destroyed all sinners = gives the magic to the people which at the end threatened to destroy them altogether because of their greediness, 3) Abaddon fights the Dragon and throws him into the Abyss = … we might see where the Guild Wars story is heading …

Admittedly, different scholars during mankinds history do not agree upon the figure of Abaddon in the Book of Revelation. Some view him as the Angel / King of the Abyss, some view him as the Demon of the Abyss. But even this has been smartly translated into Guild Wars lore. Even here, Abaddon is depicted as an ambigious character. Well done, Arenanet. :-)

Well, well, we got it ingame. :-) Finally, Rémi’s appropriately dressed for Divinity’s Reach posh feudal parties. :-)

Agree with anything you said here about the LW ‘soap cast’ … they are not really bad, but not very good either. Marjory is still my favorite (besides Taimi) – BEFORE she got engaged with this blonde chick …. Moreover, why am I forced to be a Pact Commander at all?! =8-) This is why I love Trahearne so much. Loved roaming around with him in the latter part of the personal story. :-) Both of us – Trahearne and my bombshell Norn – are some truly manqué heroes, drawn into a plot they’d rather would stay off from. Trahearne because of his intellectual ambition as a Priory researcher and my Norn as its simply Not Fun for her to play a military leader. 8-( … where she rather would prowl around with her buddies, pulling out dragon teeth. :-)

Talking about ingame characters …. here is a list of my NPC favorites / which characters I’d like to see more of in future (+). Its Christmas soon and time to put up a whish list! :-)

Living World I + II:
Marjory (there still is hope for this character!!)
Canach (cant get enough of him …)
Rytlock Brimstone
Eir Stegalkin
Riot Alice +3
Bonny Anne Reid +3
Taimi
Hao Luen +3
Ellen Kiel +
Evon Gnashblade +
Laranthir of the Wild
Phlunt
The Pale Tree Avatar
Mai Trin +2
Moto +2

Personal Story:
Trahearne (the Marshal FTW! Got a tear in my eye during the Source of Orr ritual …)
Apatia (RIP – Apatia forever … GiGi’s lost love … saddest story yet)
Faolain +3
Caithe +2
Malyck +
Galina Edgecrusher
Ballista Geargrind & Mangonel Gearstrip (‘Armor Guard’ Instanz)
Varkk
Shodd +
Almorra Soulkeeper +

Tyria:
Ember Doomforge / Summit Peak +
Minister Caudecus / Queen’s Throne Room (+ The one and only really bad boy …)
Minister Duran / Summit Peak +
Baedren & Galdulf / Cereboth Canyon +
Lord Arrin / Claypool +
Zomorros / Mystic forge +2 – ingame!
Skritt King & Skritt / Skrittsburgh +
Tork & assistant Marpi / Restricted Zone XRB
Jonno / ‘Jonnoville’ +
Ailionora & Jeek / Oros Spurs +
Riel Darkwater / Chantry of Secrets +
Ordance Officer Ironbarb / Iron Legion kitten nal +
Niiri Freemane / Drytop +
Amoxtli, Savio & Kitabu / Drytop
Suwash / Jetsam Isle +
Sludi / Might and Main
Seraphette & Bandito / kittenattler Caverns
Nia & Cymbel / Cymbel’s Rescue
Bria / Bria’s Manor? +
Dessa / Fractals +
Steward Gixx / Durmand Priory +
Kroganna Frazarblade / Summit Peak
Spooky Luka the Disbeliever / Shattered Keep +
Donala / Whisperwill Bogs
Kyran Stonecrush (member of the Stone Warband) / “Last Whiskey Bar”
“Ref” Sparkeeper / “Last Whiskey Bar”
Gullik Oddsson / Secluded Glen +
Captain Romke / Wreck of the Saehrimnir +
Kodan Icehammer / Krok’s Ruin
Valiant Ashgren / Gorlois Spine +

Finally, my char is able to sit appropriately! … at least on a flying carpet. :-D

Big welcome hug, Leah! Little late, but I’ll leave some thoughts anyway. I have never played much of GW1 myself (started with Prophecies and reached Rin), but what I have seen from a lot of Lets Plays, it was / is awesome as f***k, storywise. Which means, the (lore / story) foundation for GW2 could not be in a better shape. I am playing GW2 since launch. Imho, Arenanet succeeded very well with the GW1 – GW2 continuation. Not only did they do a great job to implement GW1 lore into GW2 (everywhere in Tyria!), they also succeeded with the historical evolvement. The GW1 – GW2 timeline is consistent, bold, exciting. You literally ‘sense’ the historical dimension behind characters in GW2, let it be prime characters like Rytlock, Eir or Logan or supporting characters like ‘Bonny’ Anne Reid (Lions Arch!), Hao Luen (Cantha!) or Ember Doomforge (Ascalon Truce Negotiations!) … to name just a very few. I have been so excited delving into the World of Tyria, and even after two years, there is still so much to explore! ^^ Arenanet created the most beautiful and sophisticated MMO on the market (lore-, history-, graphics-, music- and mechanicswise). Simply awesome, breathtaking stuff. However, and this is the downturn, it ends here, too … There has been some really nice attempts to carry on the story during LW Season 1 (loved the Marjory character, for instance … before she got engaged …), but somehow, all these inspiring threads (like the “E” story / young boy murder, the council election of Ellen Kiel, the scheming of the Consortium, Caithe/Faolain and Caithes ‘secret’, the fights between Countess Anise and Logan, what did Scarlet – really – saw in Omadds Machine? …) ended into nothingness … There have been great events during LW Season 1, but no consistency. To make bad things worse, Destiny’s Edge 2.0 never came close to their predecessors … LW Season 2 aimed for more focus and consistency, but what did we get? Two months worth of story so far this year … if Season 1 has been full of action but chaotic, Season 2 just gave us a beautiful (if small) new zone, two fantastic cut scenes (Eternal Alchemy, Rytlocks disappearance) and some entertaining small talk between Canach and Anise, nothing more … To me, its saddening to see how the storytelling / narrative deterioriated since 2013. On a more upbeat note, it only can get better … Wish you all the best for your work! :-)

AnAspieKitten.5732:

Let’s be fair, they can introduce SAB back during a LS event , they just don’t want to.

Well said. ^^ If Edge of the Mists runs parallel to WvW activity, there shouldn’t be any problem for SAB going parallel to other activities in the game. SAB does not interfere with anything ingame.

Talking about the same team working on Living World probably working on feature updates … Finally we got an answer why GW2 narrative design / storytelling went downhill during 2013 and reached an unprecedented low-water mark in Guild Wars’ / Arenanets history right now … (which means: no story at all for months) =8-]