Guild Wars 2

I did not receive the updated Ring of Fire m-map art that came with the new patch (and, indeed, did not know that such a thing existed until just now, when I saw someone else mention it). Consequently, water replaced land, and land, water, while I explored Ember bay. This isn’t too bad, but it was somewhat distracting.

Wasn’t Phlunt at the summit? Because if so, doing as you suggest would cause a bit of a plot-hole, as I doubt he’d be allowed in the Grove if he was responsible- nor would the Arcane Council send him unless they were deliberately trying to pick a fight.

Occasionally using my own ideas, mainly ones for a Cantha/Depths of Tyria expansion as illustration.

1- Personal Story “forks” at around Level 20 or 30. For instance, you could continue along the current path and join an Order, or explore the Depths of Tyria, eventually fighting Primordius, losing, retreating along the old Dedege route to Cantha, and who knows what’s going on there.
1.1- A player could go back and do the other campaign’s story later.
1.2- The first arc of the new story, some of which would be in already-available areas and some in new areas made available through the Living Story, to get the hooks in people to buy the expansion. (For instance, the Depths of Tyria portion with the loss to Primordius as a cliffhanger). Also, some new lands aesthetically fit the “gradual reveal” thing they’re doing for the Maguuma wastes- and the Wastes are in fact one of them. They are, in-story, unexplored. The Depths of Tyria would be the same. But to have to “explore” Kaineng city would meke little sense.
This is the “general patch”, along with any A.I., interface, etc. improvements.

2- New lands. A Small expansion would be 1 new region the size of Ascalon, (Such as the Maguuma Wastes if they are indeed building up to an expansion). A large one would have multiple such areas (Depths of Tyria, Echovald Forest, Jade Sea, Kaineng City). Basically, something comparable to Guild Wars 1 expansion.
2.1- New areas with completion hearts. I know ArenaNet have this vision of a game that runs on Dynamic Events, but hearts get players moving around, going to where the events are. Take advantage of this, design hearts to lead players to events.

3- Really good story, and very different from first campaign story. Not because the first campaign story is terrible, but because both on release and anyone later playing through the campaigns in sequence will enjoy it more if there’s something fresh. That’s why I think that the first expansion should be Cantha rather than another Elder Dragoon as a villain or Elona (more Undead as the main enemy).
3.1- For future expansions, don’t be afraid to have them require previous ones, so long as each one does not require all that came before it. This serves ArenaNet twofold- it gives them a way to get money out of players (Indeed, part of the reason I think an expansion is just better than the Living Story, besides the fact mentioned above that gradually allowing access to areas only makes sense in some places, is that I would be more comfortable if ArenaNet, the video game company, was making money with video game sales) and gives them more freedom to tell any good story that they can come up with.
3.2- The content of the story is not to be compromised in the name of its shape. Cutting the “Greatest fear” story to force a new chapter every 10 levels is an example of this. So is having all dungeoon story modes focus on Destiny’s Edge. Story chapters, if there are any, should be as long or short an the story you want to tell requires. Different story choices should not just be mirrors of each other.

4- New dungeons. 1 or 2 in a small expansion, at least 5 in a large one. Designed in such a way as to discourage speedrunning. Include Story Mode in the Personal Story multiple times (tough which ones should depend on story choices). And make them fun and spectacular. I don’t want dungeons to be only really played by a small subset of players who insist on speedrunning everything, I want the average player to want to get good enough to do explorable mode. Why does everyone think Portal is such a great game? because rather than meeting the Lowest Common Denominator, it raised it.
For instance, in my previous idea, you could have the unsuccessful attack on Primordius be Story Mode and the actual boss fight against him be in explorable mode.
4.1- Also, change old dungeons to discourage speedrunning. Consider nerfing Stability.

5- If new races are added, do so cautiously and in small numbers. Making all new armors fit and voice acting all new content for all of them would take increasingly long for each new one added. New professions are probably just a bad idea. No max level increase. None whatsoever.

In general, just focus on making new content, and making it good.

I liked Fear Not This Night, but for a leitmotif to build a dragon boss fight theme around, I can only think of Bash The Dragon. Not with the words, but the tune of the chorus occasionally breaking through an ominous theme.

“She needed to die, but…it was not a good victory. Killing a helpless woman already bleeding on the floor- that’s not the kind of Charr I am. And Lion’s Arch still burned. But nobody’s such a hero that they never fail, I guess. And if this is to be my one failure- I guess I’ll take it. I’m alive, I’m still me, I technically won, and there’s a new enemy for me to redeem myself against.”

There’s an elevator in the Gladium Canton

My advice- even if you don’t intend to do a lot of crafting, it’s a good idea to level up some crafting disciplines early on. If you don’t, you may find yourself in a situation where the place you want to be only gives crafting materials too high-level for you to use, which is frustrating.

Several reasons. Firstly, I always though that they were kind of cool, ever since Prophecies. Secondly, their mindset is in many ways similar to mine, specifically the rejection of religion and the acceptance and admiration for taking from the world what is yours.. Thirdly, I’ve liked the aesthetic of dirty machines that are clearly machines ever since I watched Junkyard Wars as a child. Lastly, the name that I had chosen for my first character, Feanor Sunfyre, could only be a Charr name.