Guild Wars 2

EremiteAngel.9765:

Is she the smallest asura in recorded history and why is she so much smaller than the smallest asura we have available?

I was wondering the same thing when I first encountered her in S2 (I didn’t know anything about S1 at the time, where she was introduced and a lot of important facts about her and the other characters were explained).

Now I have to assume it’s a birth defect, but I always found the fact that her overly big eyes (and that huge ribbon in her hair) just made her look ridiculous in regard of her small size.

P.S. It is safe to assume that “Taimi” is a homophone of “tiny”, which I believe Braham jokingly called her once in S1.

Crab Fear.1624:

I was imagining from experience of what has been referred to as natural growing up:

The people, mostly white, pseudo-Rastafarian types that don’t shave, bathe, or wash their hair.

They call it natural. It is gross and smells.

Agreed, but that’s a different story and not related to what this thread is about.

Chadramar.8156:

Ashantara.8731:

Females in general (regardless of the race you pick) get treated a lot different than male characters in the game:

[…]

Yeah. For female characters, the focus on everything from gear to faces is overwhelmingly on being cutesy-wutesy and sexy-hexy, and apparently (but probably unsurprisingly) natural black hair doesn’t fit the bill.

Exactly (I wish they did something about the aspects I listed).

I want more traditional styles in hair and beards, and by “traditional” I don’t mean white western standards only, but all cultures present on our world. I really don’t care for styles that look ultra-modern or even cyberpunk.

(Then again, I am having general issues with the game, which IMO was supposed to be classic fantasy, when it strays off into genre that don’t mix well with it, including armor and weapons designs etc. as well.)

Exalted Glider and Soul Glider.

Because I prefer simple, elegant designs that don’t have intrusive effects and don’t block other people’s view.

But it does already exist in the game:

Well there’s this in the trading post, Mystic Forge Conduit

This.

Also, lock your computer each time you go AFK so that this won’t happen again.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

I use the ‘close-the-Black-Lion-Chest-window-between-each-used-Key’ method, found here on the forums, myself. I’ve not had an issue since I started using this method.

Yes, that is the safest workaround, but also the most time-intensive (especially when you are about to open 25+ chests).

Palador.2170:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Because they both can have beards. At least one male sylvari has a small beard and that can be extended. Male Asura don’t have beards in gw2 but several of the older Asura had a small beard in Guild Wars 1. Here is an Asura male with “muttonchops” like beard and the faces of male sylvari, one in bottom row has the small twig beard.

But in GW2, you don’t get beard options for them. Any “beard” they have is part of the face.

And human beards are part of which body part exactly?

Of course the growth on the images posted by JAFW are to be considered beards as well. When you have alien races in a game that don’t grow hair but do grow some sort of growth on their heads and in their faces, then that is the exact equivalent of “hair” and beards, no? (Btw, Asura do have hair growth in GW2.)

JTGuevara.9018:

Personal Story and Season 2 were easily the best parts of the story. They were done right. Personal story had your story and introduction to the world. Eventually you were woven into the conflict with Zhaitan. The Zhaitan campaign ended with a bang. Fireworks, cutscenes, credits. “Fear not this night” to this day almost brings me to tears. I’ll take Trahearne ANY day over “you know who” who I’m about to bring up next paragraph.

And on the other side, you have Season 1 and HoT. They were easily the worst, imo. What I notice about season 1 and HoT is that they both force the plot. They try too hard to build hype for the sake of shock value. You’re forced to accept certain characters and plot elements. It was done with Scarlet in season 1 and it was done with Faolain in HoT. Scarlet was pretty much shoved down our throats, let’s not sugarcoat it. Eir’s death was wasted trying to hype up Faolain and it just backfired miserably. There’s no conflict or anything of interest there. They literally have zero history of interaction together. The ‘shocking’ revelation in Rata Novus, “The dragons have a weakness.” made me “—facepalm—Nooooo! You don’t say!” To top it off, HoT had a weak, weak ending. “Modremoth is dead…well…see ya!”

Season 3 had promise until chapter 5 and the Balthazar reveal. They should’ve ran with Lazarus. Instead, again, the plot was forced. Done for the sake of shock value.

I can’t say much about the experience of playing S1, as I didn’t participate during the time, but apart from such a boring villain as Scarlet, the story seemed to have quite interesting elements (investigative ones, festivities, fights, funny dialogue, interesting new characters etc.).

But everything else you wrote I can only second. +1

Vayne.8563:

At the time, the Living Story Season 1 was the target of much negative commentary from the fan base.

At the time, I remember defending it, even though I agreed that having temporary content puts too much pressure on people and it’s not fair to people who can’t make it

I bet most of the complaints were about that, not about the story-telling itself.

And yes, I can imagine people hated Scarlet Briar (she was a sterotypical comic book lunatic villain after all), but all the story missions/events during the season per se must have been quite fun story-wise (at least that’s my impression from watching the three-hour video). Things including DR, LA, sudden occurances all over Tyria, the detective work during the investigation, Southsun Cove and the Consortium, the festivities, the election, etc. All that seems incredibly exciting and fun and much better story content than HoT and LWS3.

Edit: But regardless of whether one liked S1 or not, it is still vital content story-wise (I had so many “Ah!” moments watching that three-hour video), and not having it in the game right now for everyone to be able to fully access it as a whole is unacceptable as it ruins a lot of subsequent story content. A huge chunk of the GW2 campaign is simply missing!

I would, but apparently the way the engine works, it can only be implemented as a story instance as the space on the map is already taken by the new LA. It would need a new location if you wanted it as an outpost or home instance, also it would have to be reworked if you wanted to have all the current NPCs in it.

You can’t expect help without providing any vital information such as your system specs.

Zelanard.5806:

If you can log into the forum, you can enter your account on the website. Simply go there and change your network authentication options.

This. Also, you can verify/authenticate a network via your website account as well (all the networks ever trying to connect to your account are listed there). You can also change any account details if necessary (e.g., the phone number used).

There are at least a dozen possible causes I can think of off the top of my head.

Best contact tech support with detailed system specs info.

Nope, never encountered that issue myself. Can you still not log into those characters even after clearing the game cache and restarting the game?

That workaround (opening more chests until have it replaced properly) always works.

Which is why I have stated before that I am starting to believe that they leave the bug in intentionally for people to “feel motivated” to open more chests.

Egrimm Van Horstmann.7921:

I understand for many that is helpful, when I played WOW I preferred that method. In this game I’ve rarely needed that cancel at all if ever. Yet having weapon swap or a skill not activate has on more that one occasion meant death by frustration. I would like the option of choice is what I’m asking, not that everyone likes the same thing.

Actually, having an option in the settings would be great.

What you described has happened to me to on several occassions, so not sure which variant I would prefer in the long run, and being able to choose would help.

Djinn.9245:

I think that the biggest problem is people not breaking the defiance bar.

Unfortunately, that is a general issue all across Tyria, because the game does not explain the mechanic, so newbies don’t know what it is and what it does (and what they can do about it). The countless times I have read someone asking in text chat “What does CC mean?” and “What is a break/defiance bar?”…

Doam.8305:

Fun is subjective but it goes without saying when you take away a persons toys there going to have less fun. The game is min-max because the game has been pruned to be min-max as the devs are the ones who set the tone for a game.

Very true that. Just listening to the latest Guild Chat episode made me want to strangle a certain game designer who talked about being a troll (and he is) by making things super hard for people. All seems to be about taking things to the limit now (“What new crazy thing can we implement into the game?”, “Everyone is going to love this madness!”, “People will want the legendary armor!”) instead of staying true to the game.

I am already considering alternatives to GW2, and I only started playing actively one and a half years ago…

Khisanth.2948:

Bored? No … but Nevermore’s cawing while gathering is horrible. Almost as bad as the kitten horse.

Agreed. It gets on my nerves as well from time to time.

I agree on the Norn.

While the lore is pretty good, I find the design of the Norn severely disappointing and lacking in any imagination. Especially when you consider that the Charr and Asura are pretty unique races, the Norn lack any kind of uniqueness. They are quite literally just larger humans.

Culturally, I have to disagree. While humans in Tyria are similar to older cultures in mid and southern Europe (Ascalon, Kryta), eastern Asia (Cantha), and northern Africa (Elona), Norn are supposed to have a northern European culture (Skandinavia and Germany, as in Vikings, Celts and Teutons etc.).

Anet did a great job with the environment (architecture), even the culture (animism as their religious foundation etc.). But when it comes to developing content for the Norn, it was all reduced to NPCs talking about drinking and hunting, and the personal story was reduced to that as well.

There was so much stereotypism in all of it that it made me roll my eyes on several occasions (e.g., making Norn say stuff like “Ja!” at the end of each sentence is ridiculous, because neither Skandinavians nor Germans talk that way).

As for their looks:

Yeah, Norn are just stereotypical vikings.

I wish they were!

While female Norn have beautiful bodies (much better designed than those of female humans), their males look like mud chunks (with ridiculously large hands and feet). They should have toned down the males and toughened up the females, then we could talk Vikings.

The way it is now, many players abuse Norn PC females as “taller humans with tattoos”.

Females in general (regardless of the race you pick) get treated a lot different than male characters in the game:

• too many immature/child-like (or Manga-like) cutsie faces
• huge eyes and tiny mouths (on Asuras and Charr, for instance)
• no broad-shoulder option for humans (all too “girly”), only “thin” or “heavy” builds
• unnatural poses (hips and knees on humans while standing, the overly “femme” way Norn females stand and sit as well)
• unnatural movement (I always cringe when I watch my female humans run)
• very few classy armor sets; most attempt to look “sexy” while looking rather ridiculous (sure, my Norn has nothing better to do than to display her panties to everyone)

So, naturally, Anet applies the double-standard to haircuts as well. Everything that isn’t considered “femme” by those silly standards, or “cool” and trendy by kids, is not present.

I sincerely hope that will change with future releases.

armaduras.8972:

I really hope not. I have 4,300 hours logged into the game currently with five sets of ascended and five legendary weapons. I am more than happy with the gear provided..

I think you misunderstood the OP’s statement: They didn’t ask for more or higher-tier gear, they asked for different, more fun and rewarding (i.s., less boring/grindy) ways to get it in the future.

And I absolutely agree with that request.

Does anyone else feel reminded of the swamp/jungle theme from the Monkey Island 2 soundtrack when entering Bloodstone Fen?

I like the current mechanic, because sometimes I accidentally hit a skill or target, and then simply moving the pointer away from it, then releasing the MB, is a good solution.

Amaimon.7823:

It’s my speculation that the next chapter will be in the cold norths again regardless of the leaked images because Braham has this Shoot-A-Dragon-Magic-Bow[sup]tm[/sup] and can probably kill Jormag with it, if it’s knocked out like Primo is. So we chase him, we’re in time to convince him, we’re in time to knock him out, or we’re too late, and whatever else happens then.

I doubt it. It is more likely that Braham is suddenly going to show up only to complain about the failure of his mission.

Bumping this thread because the bug has still not been fixed.

Has anyone noticed any progress with this skill yet?

Ben K.6238:

I think the extra expenditure is going to come in two places – the writers have to create a few more unique lines, and likewise for the translators.

Unless they add more dialogue per character, the voice actors will still do the same number of lines each, they just won’t be identical to each other with a different voice anymore.

Of course I’m biased, but I think it’d be worth the extra expenditure. Without the multiple playable races in GW2, I would have left within the first year after release. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask for each race to reclaim its unique perspective from the level 1-30 storyline.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! This, exactly.

I hope and pray that the next expansion will take those “subtle” differences (race, order etc.) into account and make it fun again to play through the story more than once (I only finished HoT with three out of ten characters, the third time only for the backpack, really).

Amaimon.7823:

500 UM + 1g = rare materials.
Magic Warped Bundle
More than half of the items are worth more 1g.
Especially nice if you’re working on legendary armor, because of the 10 T6 materials.
I’ve gotten the 2 evergreen lodes quite a few times as well (~3g)

Yep. The S3 currencies are great for a lot of things, even to buy Obsidian Shards with them.

Greyraven.4258:

No one seems to want to have fun anymore. They are obsessed with numbers, averages, and metrics…it’s like the games have become spreadsheet and parser simulations that have very little to do with going on an adventure with your friends. The vast majority conversations I have had in game haven’t been about the world, the story or what is happening it’s all been about the math behind the game and it’s disheartening.

Agreed.

Back when I joined my guild as a GW2 newbie, I constantly felt pressured to reach this and do that, and there were constantly questions about whether I have already achieved certain things, already got ascended gear etc. Not everyone was acting like that, mind you, but it was enough to put me under pressure and take away a lot of the “Let’s play to have fun!” part of the game.

When I would ask for advice on builds, one member of my guild would always respond by laughing and saying that “If you are still using exotic gear, builds don’t matter as you can’t possibly achieve anything useful.” This went on to a point where I would start spending real money on gems only to convert them to gold to be able to buy equipment.

It was awful, and no, it wasn’t just a matter with my guild+, it was a general agenda in local text chat as well, where some players even reacted in a rude manner when you were disclosing the fact that you were still struggling for gold and had no ascended equipment. They would tell you to grind fractals and meta events and call you stupid for not doing so.

+) I tried a different guild for a short period of time, but their members felt “compelled” to grind Halloween for GH decoration and spent that whole event time doing nothing else, then complained about being bored and tired of it, yet proudly comparing who had grinded the most for the day.

I personally don’t want another statistics class, I want to meet new friends and have fun in a living breathing world…wasn’t that what the MMO Manefesto was about?

As some of the responses here show, people keep defending the min-maxing and don’t understand. Their general agenda, sadly, is: “If you want all that, go play an off-line RPG, not an MMO.”

RandomWolf.3986:

There were instances solely dedicated to character development in Season 1. The best thing about that season was that it didn’t take itself too seriously. Everything made sense in the end, and ANet poured as much effort as they ever did. There was a lot of content even outside the game such as advertisements, contests, videos, promotions, and talks. Season 3 is trying to be gritty, and serious… without realizing that it’s doing worse. Too many moments don’t add up and now I can’t stand Taimi. […] She has the answer to everything, and even when she’s wrong, she’s right.

Let’s not forget that th dialogue in LW1 and LW2 while “funnier”, it was also maturish when it came to mature subjects. There was even curse words.. Now it seems like it’s trying its best to be kid-friendly.

I whole-heartedly agree with this analysis, the marked parts in particular.

Danikat.8537:

At the time there was a lot of complaining about it.

That’s because a) it was new to people, and b) they didn’t know what was to come (had they future-peaked into certain parts and aspects of HoT and S3, they probably would have been most grateful for what they had at the time).

Szu.7392:

People used to farm for leather all the way up the Fallen Watchtower. Now everyone just farms at the bottom with turrets and minions, even after the engi nerf. Pretty frustrating for people who need the achievement or the point of interest.

I agree in regard of the achievement. But the POI can easily be reached solo with almost any profession. There is an alterantive path up the rocks, you just have to dodge and protect yourself on the last few meters.

Ayrilana.1396:

I’d go with neither. The final HoT story instance occurs concurrently with the DS meta. It wouldn’t make sense for the commander to be in two places.

But the island NPCs in Dragon’s Stand often address you by yelling “Commander! […]”.

The boring part about the legendaries is that they all look the same.

Had they given people the option to dye them (or select from a list of pre-made colors for the weapon) or at least left the effects on one’s arm and the footsteps to always display, even when transmuting the skin, that would have let to not everyone running around with the same gear.

The more people you see carrying “your” legendary, the less fun it becomes, because it stops feeling “unique”.

Ariurotl.3718:

The voice acting for Trahearne meets the two main criteria (at least, for me):

1. It sounds natural and doesn’t break immersion, i.e. you don’t imagine an actor reading a line, but believe it’s a character saying these words.

2. It fits the character’s personality.

1. Interesting perception. My main complaint is that it does not sound the least bit “natural”.

2. So the character is a lifeless puppet? My bad, I thought he was a Sylvari scholar who was commanding the troops.

Labjax.2465:

I don’t think it’s the voice actor’s fault. Probably a combination of direction and writing.

Agreed, and it doesn’t really matter who is to blame. The results are still the same.

Verdis.8472:

Been standing at Indigo cave for about 30mins with nobody here.

With event maps like the SW, it is recommended to open the LFG window and join a map where there are people doing the event.

Verdis.8472:

I like this game but i don’t understand how the content can be future-proofed when it’s so group focused. Same with HoT, which i now feel ridiculously pressured to grind through for weeks even though i simply don’t have the time. The amount of people i see saying “GW2 is great because it can be taken casually at your own pace”. Absolute rubbish!

I agree with that. Grinding has become the core element in GW2, which is a real shame.

Just the other day, when I was grinding for my ascended back item in Draconis Mons, I saw people (who were about to finish up said collection) write things along the lines of, “Just one more Druid Runestone, and then it’s going to be ‘Bye-bye, Draconis Mons’ for good.” I think that says a lot about how people perceive the grinding nature of those maps.

Verdis.8472:

How am i supposed to get the luminescent gear? Is there a peak time on the EU servers? Anybody got any tips at all for how to get around this problem? It’s incredbly frustrating.

Like I said, join event maps if the map you are on is empty. Everyone else does.

If there is currently no event being advertized in LFG (which is rarely the case), then open a squad yourself and taxi people in. You’ll see how many will join.

skullmount.1758:

As for the home node, we can get one machete from the MoM achievement item daily, which would go really nicely with a home noxious pod…

Yep, my thought exactly.

Plus, people don’t get Bandit Keys for free, either (and not everyone plays PvP). Hence the argument to not add one just because the opening mechanism requires a key that can only be obtained on the corresponding map doesn’t really count. Also keep in mind that, even if a Reward Track for Machetes existed, you can get more within one hour of playing Dragon’s Stand than by spending hours filling a Reward Track.

Faaris.8013:

Ashantara.8731:

Okay, I am confussled: What shield are you talking about, and how can there be comrades when you are soloing??

Well, you are not alone in the fight, there are Rytlock, Marjory, Braham, Caithe, Canach and Trahearne in this chapter.

Oh, you meant the NPC allies.

I think Canach is the one that creates a shield to protect everybody in the flight phases. And apparently they changed it so now you can join them under the shield instead of using the vents and fly.

I didn’t know that, since I don’t play that instance very often (already have all the achievements) and usually spend the fly phase up on the branch.

Donari.5237:

I’ve never found Trahearne’s voice boring. To me it’s been more the vibe of the understated Brit trope. Perhaps it’s because I grew up with a brilliant, rational father. Dad thought his way through things. He was an academic (linguistics) who seldom lost his temper and provided an example of healthy control of emotions. So the cerebral, reasoned approach resonates with me.

I doubt your dad sounded like a lifeless puppet (rather like an interesting man, calm and balanced — also a state of mind and demeanor that is carried in one’s voice). Trahearne, however, does. There is no life in his voice whatsoever, it is just monotonous and artificial. Even “understated Brit tropes” express themselves in some human way, they certainly don’t sound like that.

I started a thread just a couple of days ago:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/LW-Season-1-had-the-best-story/

Skittish.4539:

They hit multiple times for me. Each plant disappears after the first hit, sure. But you still get another 2 hits for every one as long as you let it keep going.

Exactly. Got plenty out of those six plants from those two spots within 10 minutes.

SnowHawk.3615:

No anime hairstyles

That goes for the faces as well that they added later on. (shudders) Many look downright creepy, not even remotely human.

And yes, stop those “modern” garbage hairstyles like Braham’s (before he went bold). Ugh.

SnowHawk.3615:

More practical hair and manes for Charr!!! NO MORE GOOFYNESS
Black and natural hairstyles- seriously they are overdue
More celtic braids/hairdo’s for norn.
Long hairstyles for all the other races.
More Facial hair options for men. Scars, tattoos!

All this.

Astra Lux.2846:

More. Curly. Hair.

That too.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

The devs have stated that Orr is basically stuck in time. It’s partly like that as new players wouldn’t have defeated Zhaitan yet, so Orr “should not” be cleansed for them.

Which is why I talked about a new fourth map in my OP. It could be added with access only to players who have already finished the Zhaitan storyline.

perilisk.1874:

I hope a future LS map is located in a recovering Orr, just for my 2 cents.

Me too. What a waste of story potential, I simply hate such loose ends. Especially since it is clearly stated that Orr was “cleansed”, hence the magic must have taken care off all the undead as well…

Donari.5237:

Most of them are in hard to reach places so unless they are harvestable in addition to any daily account limit I shan’t be worrying about getting back to them.

What are you talking about? You can travel back and forth between the two three-node spots in Dry Top and Cursed Shore easily and quickly, as both are only seconds away from a waypoint. Only the third three-node spot is hard to reach (Deirdre’s Garden).

By the way, you can stand by one of the three-orchid spots and wait a few minutes to harvest them again. I assume that makes for a good farm of the currency as well as for Empyreal Fragments.

Edit: Okay, the supplies run dry quickly after you map-traveled a few times.

Yep, it has been documented indeed, but I discovered this by accident.

Edit: This goes for all the spots, not just Ancient Hollow.

1. See screenshot. Why didn’t we get to see anything of this “renewed”, “cleansed” Orr? The three Orr maps still look the same (due to keeping consistency), but there should have been a fourth map at some point, showing a slowly blooming Orr that is recovering from its wounds. I am still waiting…

2. The title “Champion of Orr” that King Reza bestows upon us should have been a title reward for this mission since it’s a huge event that happened story-wise (even though the mission itself was easy).

Wow, I just discovered that the seeds we planted for the back item become harvestable after one day. You get three Fire Orchid Blossoms out of each!

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Actually, Matthew Brenher voices several post-HoT characters, including the one by LA’s Mystic Forge, some in various Pact camps, and so on. He was brought back for HoT and agreed to re-record some of his lines from the personal story, including his battle lines.

I think the result is a much improved Treahearne. Instead of sounding like a whining Eyore (“this won’t end well” and “moving on”), he sounds like a librarian reluctantly fulfilling his destiny as a leader in the epic fight against an elder dragon trying to destroy the world as we know it.

So, pronouncing “TO ARMS!”, an obvious battle cry usually shouted to the troops, like you just got out of bed and are about to yawn, is considered “improvement”?

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Voice acting is, in my opinion, a lot more difficult than stage or film — you rarely get any sort of useful ‘feedback’, since you have neither an audience nor any other actors around (at least, not for video games). Everything you do lacks the full context

I do get that and know that the work is being done out of context. In the late 1990s I attended a tv show’s fan club convention that invited the two female German voices of the two lead characters. They told us the exact same thing after the fans had noticed that these actors had no clue at all about the actual storylines and thus couldn’t give their personal opinion on anything.

And while I agree that most things are a question of taste, I doubt that bad voice acting is one of them. You can like or dislike a voice per se (like in your example of the female Norn PC), but you cannot really argue about an obvious lack of intonation. Intonation is either there or it is not. What you can argue about is the way that fact is being perceived. And to me it doesn’t sound like a librarian stepping out into the big bad world, it sounds like someone is reading a phone book, providing the character with zero personality whatsoever.

Grimheart.2853:

Ashantara.8731:

Trahearne was supposed to be an inspiring figure, motivating his troups and being looked upon as the hero he never wanted to be.

https://youtu.be/FopyRHHlt3M

Exactly. The reason for making this statement appear as a bad joke was the lame voice acting.
.

P.S. @ “emotionless” Asura: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6J55-Nh790&t=906s

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/flashpoint-on-guild-chat-a-summary/

Poor Aaron Roxby, he looks overworked (like all the people I’ve ever seen on GW2 Guild Chat) and must be devastated over our reactions on here, which pretty much sum up to: “Sorry Aaron, but your original intentions aside, you failed in what you tried to achieve.”