Guild Wars 2

GOING FULL YOLO

The weird and wonderful world of WvW in pictures.
First one:
CHECK MY TAG

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Who-composed-the-music-for-Heart-of-Thorns

Why is the word “it” being “kittened” out?

Mr Jeremy Soule has done it again. It is him again, isn’kitten
No idea.

I assumed it was a given that Guild Wars 2 was born with the concept of doing everything together with everyone, wherever you see anyone do anything?

Totally against the selfish way we are brought up in the so-called real world, but there you go.

Won’t hurt to advertise in map chat in Lion’s Arch before you Han Solo.
Use the LFG. Word your request well, and clearly. You will have people coming to you.

That being said, I now turn to ArenaNet:
Please allow 10-man or 20-man parties for the Heart of Thorns.

Ideally, grouping should be open to anyone, but some people prefer to have people of their own level and upwards in an area. Please consider enabling skill level filtering as an option as well. Open/Levelled groups.

This is unpleasant, and will lead to elitism, but it will negate the embarrassment of having to ask and/or being asked to leave.

Increase the players’ health pool in Heart of Thorns, if not decrease the health pool of the trash mobs (if you are not going to decrease their damage, but then you are fully instating Berserker as the only non-pointless gear set, again). Or make a sort of ‘starter area’ where people get a taster of what is coming, without dying too often to learn.

The increment in health could come via a series of quests/tasks whereby players are awarded either items, or better yet, a status that unlocks 40-60% more health valid only within Heart of Thorns. Bug-trap here, coders beware.

All this is leading to: make a prequel set of preparatory stages for Heart of Thorns.
Or enable 40/50-man zerging XD

The casual player. Heart of Thorns was not made for the casual player. It was made for the top-tier player, with the full kit and caboodle at top level, and like-built army. I sensed this from comparing Anet’s announcements and my gameplay, and know my place.

It is the reason why I did not, and will not buy the Heart of Thorns until I am fully capable of taking care of myself outside it.

Sorry, Anet.

I am very tempted thanks to what I have seen in WvW, but it’s a long way away. And after reading this post, even longer.

More to come once I have been and seen it all.
Assumed I’d meh at desert and jungle, but WHAT an atmosphere!
If this is what WvW is like.. Maguuma looks, for the first time ever, tempting.

Wow. WOOOOW. Woohoo!
And I have only seen part of one borderland.
melts into the map

And Blizzcon is looming in November, strategically planted just after HoT and right before Christmas.

* grimly raises the Guild Wars 2 battle standard, nonetheless *

Playing Elder Scrolls Online, or EVE.

…You people…Deserve the likes of GRRM.

What was once red as blood, red as Eir Stegalkin’s rich locks, is now a venom green.
Gone is the lovely Caithe from my Guild Wars 2 Loading Screen. It is Rytlock, his blinded eyes turned away, his powerful back towards us, and facing a great enemy:

Mordremoth approaches, and Tyria is in greater danger, and therefore more dangerous than ever before.

What will this bring?

How will it change what little I know?
How will I fare in this brave new world?

What I see will decide..whether or not I venture forth..
Into the Heart of Thorns.

Thank you very much Belzebu, Thaddeus, and Crimson Clouds, for taking the time to read and reply.
Will take your advice to heart.

I am in this game for the game lore/game world itself. I see any part of it: open world events, Living World, Dungeons, Fractals, Quests, even PvP and WvW as a piece of the story of Tyria.

The reason why I go to dungeons in the first place is to find out what happens next in the story!

Then I find out I have to have play with Others.
Fine, it is how Guild Wars 2 was built.
The Others, having practical sense of what will enable maximum survivability and maximum speed, demand I have the right gear.
So it boils down to: no gear, no lore experience.
No farming, no gear.

Yes, I am being supremely lazy in terms of grinding. I hate to go round in loops.
But I am willing to play out a sequential story for hours on end. Till I collapse.

Now raids are coming in with super-exclusive content.
Brilliant. MORE things I have to grind in order to know the story for, let alone the fact that I need to pay real-world currency to buy. Buying is fine, it keeps the game alive. Grinding is fine, it makes one appreciate the worth of what they are using. But I want the story first.

I have two requests of ArenaNet:

1. Could you please make a much easier “Tour” mode where we can solo a dungeon or raid like a quest? You may keep your rewards, I want the story! Not one single copper.
   I also want to safely see every single nook and cranny of a dungeon. Of Tyria! You may unlock dungeon/raid rewards for those who have farmed and donned the requisite gear, making the system recognise them as viable entrants to a dungeon or raid for loot or achievements or whatever they want as a prize. No need to throw players against each other in LFG. Let the dungeon entry system decide who comes in for loot. Let those who want the story go in for the story without hassle.
2. Could you please populate and open up the entire map of Tyria?
   I want to go everywhere, see and do everything, meet everyone in the tale!

Tyria Wishlist:

• Isles of Janthir
• Janthir Bay
• Maguuma Wastes
• Magus Falls
• Tarnished Coast
• Strait of Malchor
• Ring of Fire
• Unending Ocean
• Woodland Cascades
• Unmarked territory between Sparkfly Fen and Timberline Falls
• The Wizard’s Flying Castle in Wizard’s Fief, south of Garenhoff.
• Far Shiverpeaks
• Blood Legion Homelands
• Blazeridge Mountains
• Deldrimor Front
• Crystal Desert
• Elon River
• Scavenger’s Causeway
• Racial Territories of: The Tengu, The Largos, The Jotun, with full stories (no less than 30 quests and 3 dungeons each).
• And please also make use of the extant big, beautiful Home Cities/Areas that you have built in order to create a quest-rich environment. Upgrade Divinity’s Reach from beautiful diorama to beautiful city.
• Underground World of Tyria: The layered map of Tyria offers many possibilities. An entire world, unbeknownst to the citizens of Tyria, right beneath their feet! New races, quests, and a throwback to the ancient residence of the Asura!
• Ditto underwater realm
• Ditto the skies! Want to fly? Great. We have a whole world up in the sky. Is this where the Tengu come in? Or the Zephyrites return?

If some parts of this map predate current events in Tyria, let it be like a trip back in time in the first few introductory quests. If the abovementioned zones of Tyria are part of the Guild Wars experience, then please provide Guild Wars for the Mac.

The possibilities are endless. You have the grinders, the hitters and achievers. Then you have the lore fans. It feels like we are a niche market, unprofitable in comparison to the bounty hunters. Regardless for the reasons we play, we are here because we all have a love for beautiful things and stories. Something in Tyria appeals to all of us. Well, you can sell us your story!

Six Dragons: four down, two to go. (If my reckoning is correct) What will you do when all six are down, then? Are they really down?

Meanwhile, life continues, with all its intricacies, in all parts of Tyria.

Need ideas? Am willing to write!

It seems that every new player for accounts made after 28 August, 2015 will have to hiccup at every stage of their in-game communications by having to authenticate each in-game message, send items or gold, or access to guild vaults with SMS verification being sent to their phones.

Noted, with distaste.
Why throw a stumbling-stone in one’s path for almost every single daily transaction? I do not know what player misbehaviour warranted this decision, but it is very irritating and invasive to new players (who are supposed to bring fresh blood to Arenanet coffers and thereby continue our beautiful Tyria).
I am also certain my gaming activity is none of my telephone network’s business.
Appreciated that these restrictions do not apply to older accounts.

I cannot offer an alternative, save that these nice, shiny, and EXPENSIVE HoT accounts be allowed freedom of transaction as they please, with the SMS verification removed entirely. If it must exist, then let it be only once, then removed permanently, without being forced to use email verification as an alternative.

Security is great, but convenience and an open welcome to Heart of Thorns are better.
Have faith in us, dear ArenaNet.
Remove these restrictions.

If we see anything wrong in our transactions or account safety, we will let you know.

We all know a certain kind of “newbie”:

I was talking with a friend about the most recent WvW developments, and the HoT hype.

This friend had once told me that Anet should solve its primary coding issues before attempting an expansion, as in, building a house over a cracked foundation.

Below is some of what was said:

Wow..so thieves now similar to mesmers. They can attack while dodging in/out of stealth..

If you notice the new elites remove cripple and chill..however the new necro elite revolves around chill..I don’t think the devs talked to one another.

I have a feeling they fired the dev in charge of necros years ago.

I am not looking forward to the new update.

It will be a mish-mash of poorly thought out traits and abilities.

there will be two factions..those that can go head-to-head (Ele/Warrior) and those that blink in/out (Mesmer/Thief).

Not like they can’t outrun just about every class to begin with.

(I suggest he tells the developers)

You can make then for me if you’d like. I could care less. Like all other games this will fade in time. I’ve played other games run by Anet. Both closed down because of thier inability to listen to users.

I know you really like the game, but it will not be here forever.

It will end as soon as it becomes unprofitable.

(I argue back that they have sold 5 million copies, he says it is over 3 years and at different prices.
I say that they have managed to do that without becoming trash.)

I wouldn’t go that far.

The game is nice, but they are doing a good job of running wvw into the ground.

Me: Which is the only thing that will involve most players, is that what you’re saying?

He continued:
No..wvw is smaller than pve, but larger than they think.

Whenever I told him to let Anet know, he said nobody in a system admits making a mistake in order not to look wrong and lose credit/authority/employment.

To the developers, to the managers, please, please let Tyria continue beautifully, healthily.

Listen to those who care.
It’s for everyone’s good.

Thank you, and hope this reaches somewhere.
I was going to tweet this but thought why expose in-house dust when rivals are waiting to pounce.

Come on, others are regurgitating their old stories whereas you have opened a whole new world.

Please take care of the basics.

Not watering the roots kills the tree, O Heart of Thorns.

Assassin, please!
Or

Master Shadow

Quickblade

Mistrunner

Quicksilver

Go simple? Master Thief

With all the monk-like Kungkittenmoves being added, might as well go Cantha in the naming.

If player concerns are not important to you, Anet, a Marvel lawsuit will be.
DO NOT USE DAREDEVIL.

Pick up a Thesaurus…

Outlaw… RP or lore issues might arise, but waaay better than Daredevil…
Oh, here you go, fancy-nancy and as dastardly as it gets:

Rapscallion

No? Too Oniony?

Blackguard…

I personally like Master Shadow best, Assassin second.

Thank you for the reply, Inculpatus Cedo.
I would like an interpretation of your ‘Good luck’.
Do you perhaps mean, ‘Good luck playing WvW without those HoT-activated features’, thereby insinuating I buy HoT?

I mean to understand in order to do what is necessary.

Will we be able to play WvW and PvP without buying HoT?

These two Lionguards overlooking The False Lake are going to be a favourite ‘couple’ of mine, though they are more buddies than anything else. I shall call them Eliza and Wilfrid:

I think I understand. All I wanted was to see more of them.
More quests involving Largos, please!

I met them!
Largos combat makes even Caithe’s look clumsy.
This is Master Urrahn the Hunter

Don’t touch anything that…

This always makes me laugh. The 4-5 second pause before his reply is to be noted:

Loving you people.
Maybe we should have the players of Tyria as a playable race.

Actually, the bucolic ears were the turnoff.
Not the crouch.

anAngryHamster.2391:

I never will understand the appeal of the Largos. They look like a deviantart Original Species™. “Blues wings and masks! I look so unique”!

That had never occurred to me.
Their appeal, as I said, is that of the penultimate stalker-hunter, stealth assassin/operative.
If I have to relate them to any extant races in fantasy lore, it would be the Drow, inspired by the Svartálfar of Norsemen.

Tachenon.5270:

Here’s what happened.

First, we must go back in time several decades, to Tybalt’s great grandpappy, Humboldt. While fishing one day in a remote corner of Lion’s Arch, Humboldt happened to witness a disturbance in the water — and he saw what he thought was a human, being attacked by feral quaggans! Being brave and bold and all that, he dug out his seldom-used fishing net and cast it over the struggling figures and then hauled them in.

The human was blue, no doubt from lack of air, but the quaggans weren’t quaggans at all, but rather some weird creatures the likes of which Humboldt had never before seen. They shredded the net and escaped into the blue water, but not until after Humboldt had managed to pop a musket ball into one’s rump.

He turned his attention to the blue-hued human and it soon became evident that what he had thought was a human wasn’t any more human than the things he had thought were quaggans had been quaggans. Oh, he was human enough in general form and feature, sure, but the blue hue of his skin was clearly not from lack of oxygen, and the fellow’s armor and accoutrements were like no human trappings Humboldt had ever seen.

“You all right there, partner?” Humboldt asked.

“I will be fine,” said the stranger. “One moment.”

Humboldt had decided the poor fellow must have suffered from blunt force trauma as the blue man began patting himself on the back, but then some sort of compartment opened on the man’s pauldrons and a strange, flowing, filmy cloth-like substance unfurled therefrom, attaching itself to a framework of telescoping metallic rods. The process took only a handful of seconds, and then the man standing before Humboldt flexed what appeared to be gigantic butterfly wings.

“What is your name?” asked the man.

“Humboldt Applespice, at your service. Say, what—”

“I am in your debt, Humboldt Applespice. One day, when certain doom is upon you, I shall be there to repay that debt. If not you, then one of your get. If not me, then one of mine. And now, farewell!”

The blue man dove into the water and was gone.

Humboldt picked up his jug of applespice wine and had a sip, and another, and another, and decided he’d keep all this to himself. He lived a long and relatively happy life and died peacefully in his own bed.

Many years later, as Humboldt’s great grandson Tybalt was about to be overrun by Risen, a strange blue fellow with gigantic butterfly wings suddenly appeared and carried him away into the depths.

So there. Tybalt lives! And is having wonderful adventures — under the sea!

I love you.

Rauderi.8706:

No. No athathins with butterfly wings. Maybe a pair of Largos wings from the gem store. Or as a 1% drop by killing them in game.
#BanSeaDrow2015

It’s not the butterfly wings. It’s the stealth and sheer power they have.
Add to it the appeal of a whole new society to experience.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I think a lot of people have asked to see Largos made into a playable race. The same with Tengu and Kodan.

I’ve said before, and agree with others, that I’d like to see those new playable races worked into the game around the time we go after the dragon that affected them. Jormag for the Kodan. “Bubbles” for the Largos. Not precisely certain on the Tengo though. They could be slotted in anywhere I suppose.

I’d also like to see the stories focus more on the specific race affected as well. Right now we have Mordy and the Sylvari (ha, called that one), but I’d like to delve into more about the Asura when we go after Primordus, more about the Norn for Jormag (this is already set up to an extent with the fang), the Charr and Kralkatoric (maybe even drive us into Elona as part of the story line).

Boy the places I could go if I could sink my fingers into their story….

Maybe I will take up fanfiction again….

I agree with you on all counts, thank you for the ideas and inspiration.
If you do take up fanfiction, link it to us, please.

Will be glad to read.

While doing fractals with friends, all my armour gets blasted off.
What resulted was nothing short of poetry in motion.
(Well, the wrist twist could use a bit of a tweak, but otherwise excellent job, dear devs).

Without further ado, I give you Yours Truly, the first member of the Sylvari Gymnastics Team in Tyrian Olympics.

Mabel Pines, DayLight, thank you kindly.
Haiku?
I did suspect it to exist in the ‘verse’ of the melody.
OliverV, I only hope you are right.

I’d rather have it playable for one full day. Fine, a full two hours or a whole quest. Once a month, as a quest.

Be a Largos Assassin/Hunter for a day, after doing umpteen prequests/prevents that last, say, a week.

Repeatable once a month. Cannot PvP. Or can? <3
No, a questline, or a fractal, to prevent abuse.

PLEASE, Anet.

For the love of the stars in you leave in our eyes, please.

There is.. there is… Oh, I forgot where and when. But there is hope.

I imagined how life begins for a Sylvari, the discovery of their Wyld Hunt, their travels, their coming across adventurers of other races, then Destiny’s Edge, the Three Orders, then Trahearne and finally the Pact, with the aftermath of the Pact’s influence in Orr and the Silverwastes, all of them rotating around territories that are, on one point or another, overlooked by the Tengu Wall, which encircles a protected heartland in Tyria.

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/GwCAY2qAba/The_Tengu_Wall_Song.html

That music always pulled at my heartstrings.

Sung by skipping the first musical ‘verse’. I had to change my pitch to be comfortable, but if you are a comfy soprano, go for it. Sending my version to Master Jeremy Soule, the composer, as a ‘Thank-you’:

The Tengu Wall

The sun is rising
The sky is glowing
As we all go
Our separate ways

The mists unfolding
The long road wanders
Adventure calls
All those who stray

The sun is shining
On another tomorrow
As they all see
A bright new day

The world in a thousand tears
Will call
Your name again to me
As the winds of change are singing
But they do not
Speak your name

The death of many
No longer news now
The place we seek

Is at the heart of all

Of all

In dedication to Master Jeremy Soule, Composer of ‘The Tengu Wall’.
In Memoriam, Trahearne and Destiny's Edge

It’s not a hunch, it’s a crouch, and you’d be well warned to know that is the sign a battle-machine ready to spring into action at any moment.
The flick of the tail-tip? That is not just for decoration, either, if you know cats.

GuzziHero.2467:

Won’t happen.

Largos without the mystique of their rarity would be nothing. Their secrets are what makes them interesting.

How about awarding the unlocking of playable Largos/Kodan to the world tournament champion team members?

All that being said, I’m for these amazing beings to be out there as a playable race.
Go, Largos!

‘The Tengu Wall’ pulled at my heartstrings till they ached.

I find myself in urgent need of a Charrzooka.

Dante.1763:

… the Charr, they are played by just about 14% of the community, lower than any other race(Except for the Asura(and they have a fair amount of clipping issues as well), and a fair bit of players have said that if they didnt have the clipping issues they would roll a Charr!

!!!!!!!
What? But I see so many of them. Well, enough of them.

Dante.1763:

The few hardcore “i will have one of everything” Players would play them, and anybody who wants them as a player race will play them. Of course, quite a few people will roll one they day of release, but just like with the asura and the charr, many many more will delete them shortly after because of all the issues they bring with appearances!

I am one of those. Didn’t know I classified as ‘hardcore’. Thought it normal, even the decent thing to do out of courtesy to the game designers, though the Charr terrified me at first sight.

I must have flinched, literally, and cringed when I first opened the Guild Wars 2 page, going through the races:

‘Wh- what is-THAT?
squints a Minotaur? Like the Taure*? That’s so ol- wait. It is not a minotaur…

Eyes grow large as the realisation of what I am looking at sinks in

..Why on earth is something that big, with all the natural sharp weapons, power, speed and agility of the Cat Nation given arms and armour besides?!! And intellect! Social Order! Engineering! Enlightenment! Ooooh…Martial law…Group mentality…Discipline…Order…Wow.’
..and then I met Tybalt, and all barriers went to hell.

I have a Charr character in mind. I played my human’s story out, played my Sylvari’s. Have my Asura ready, and will play my Norn’s and Charr’s. I have their names ready and set. I want to relish their stories.

My fascination with the Largos is no less. It’s not just the looks and the skills. They’re kitten and have the potential of a great story behind them.

Loving the signatures of Windu and wouw.

BrotherBelial.3094:

The Charr eat them all.

First thing to pop in my mind

Not having mentioned the Tengu does not mean I have not noticed. What I would not give to see beyond that wall. That, and visit Elona, too.

I did not know that they were playable, but the size of the Land Beyond the Wall is quite large. However, it is empty. I have seen it with these two eyes, as I posted in my Tyria Travelogue in these forums. Some glitch slipped me in between the upper surface of rock and the lower ‘sea’ that the entirety of Caledon Forest stands upon.

Happened also on the airship in Arah, where I slipped between the layers of the ship’s wall, and had to re-enter the dungeon to WP back.

Yes, the Land Beyond the Wall is currently blank.
Lots of water. No land yet.

Clipping…This means clash of pixels, am I correct? Then have race-specific armour only for them?

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

It’s unlikely we’ll see new playable races any time soon:

1. The announced expansion doesn’t include them.
2. It’s much more costly than adding a new profession (for GW2): new personal stories, update to the order stories, make sure all gear has a new set of designs & animations, create cultural gear, etc.

I, too, would like to see more races. I just don’t think it’s likely.

Then they can make it into an expansion/addition pack, that will be sold to cover the costs and bring in a profit. Again, unlockable after a certain set of quests/achievements, for example.

What they’ve done with the Skritt and Hylek, could happen at a deeper level with the Largos… and Kodan.

Ralanost.8913:

Yet Asura can be warriors and guardians. Charr can be mesmers. No class is barred to any race, nor should it.

Hmm. You are right.
The question is, how Largos-like would each class’ gameplay feel like?
I suppose the first thing is to define what a Largos mindset/culture is, and have them apply the available skills with their own native ‘flavour’ to them.