Guild Wars 2

MercyKilling.8519:

displacedTitan.6897:

If you guys think ESO is actually going to have a lasting impact, you have not played the beta for it at all.

I have…and I do.

This game lost sight of what’s “fun” and instead replaces it with grindy, repetetive content IMHO.

This is how I felt about the ESO beta. But to each his own shrug

Kal Spiro.9745:

Wow, ok, I did read that wrong. That is massively lame. It makes it that much harder to maintain a look for a low level character as you’re leveling them up since you need to blow 3 stones for every transmutation instead of one.

I have to pool my stones together to have enough for some of my characters as it is, and now I’m going to be down by a third of them? It’s like they want people to start farming them ahead of time.

Going to answer here because your thread was locked.

They’re bleeding stones out of the economy this way. You answered your own question in the other thread when you said crystals were harder to get. There are many many more stones than crystals in circulation, if they were to give one charge per stone, people would literally have 500+ charges.

Many people bring up mounts solely because they want to bypass the waypoint system. The waypoint system is a gold sink. No matter how expensive you make mounts, the waypoint will always sink more gold over time. Therefore there will not be mounts that give you an advantage over the waypoint system in game.

Now if you want a mount that will just change how you run, there are toys for that. The Drill and the Broom. Maybe more in the future.

Zylonite.5913:

I have to agree with the OP. I am sorry but if this is called a feature PACK patch then what do we call an actual feature patch where new things are introduced?

A “content” pack. Same as everywhere else in software development. A feature pack refines. A content pack adds.

When you say you speak for everyone, you never do.

Wubdor.5190:

nGumball.1283:

Wubdor.5190:

How is it fair to have 3 stones turn into 1 charge, though? I don’t understand.

Because the charges are even useable on level 80 items. It is the same price as before basically, you can mainly choose here to waste your charges on low gear or wait for level 80 which most people will do.

Then I shall ask again. How is that fair?
Crystals are way harder to obtain than stones. Can you imagine the outcry when they would simply state: “Listen, guys, we’re gonna go ahead and remove the Transmutation Stones completely. You’ll now only have access to the Crystals, which you can buy from the gem store!”

That is exactly what is happening now. Now, I will admit that we don’t know yet how we get these charges. Maybe we’ll get one charge upon map completion instead of three stones. Then that is a serious nerf, and is just a “subtle” push for people to buy more charges on the gem store.

Or it’s just bleeding stones, of which there are many, many, many more in circulation than crystals, out of the economy without shooting charges through the roof.

You have infinite use of the appearance of an item, not infinite use of an item itself.

I doubt you’ll ever get that kind of information. I’ve never seen a game company willing to post details on their demographics because it can potentially leak information or cause undue speculation.

Reminiscent Valkyrie.3109:

Calys Teneb.7015:

A) You have to get the legendary on your account somehow. That hasn’t changed.
B) Combatwise, there are very few players that care if you have two Incinerators other than “Hey, that guy has two flaming daggers.” You don’t get any combat benefits, or they are insignificant in most situations to exotics.

Other than swappable stats, legendaries didn’t have any combat value to begin with. People spent hours farming for a look. Players will still have to farm for a look the first time but now they aren’t restricted to one character.

The thing is, the look is what drives many people to make a legendary, if you can just make your character look better by making another legendary skinned exotic, just like that, what’s the motive of making the legendary skin have ascended switchable stats?

The people who originally had one incinerator can seem like they have two, and to the people who actually had two incinerators, what’s the point of making it for the skin if everyone can now just use the wardrobe system?

Ok, I’ll explain this.

I do not have an Incinerator. I would like an Incinerator for the skin. If I like the skin, I still have to farm for the original legendary.

This is the same as the old system. However under the old system, I needed to destroy the Incinerator to transmute its appearance. Now I don’t have to destroy a weapon to get its look elsewhere.

And the look of your weapons should only matter to you. If you’re doing it to show off, that’s fine. If you’re doing it to appear elite, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.

A) You have to get the legendary on your account somehow. That hasn’t changed.
B) Combatwise, there are very few players that care if you have two Incinerators other than “Hey, that guy has two flaming daggers.” You don’t get any combat benefits, or they are insignificant in most situations to exotics.

Other than swappable stats, legendaries didn’t have any combat value to begin with. People spent hours farming for a look. Players will still have to farm for a look the first time but now they aren’t restricted to one character.

Brother Dulfite.5793:

The fact that players voted for some nonsense science mumbo jumbo over getting to see a being like abaddon (and probably other dieties in the game) and his fall is beyond me. How could ANYBODY want the first over that?

Because that’s a great idea for an expansion or a full dungeon but not something for a fractal. I mean, the Ascalon one doesn’t feel very epic in such a short window.

Manuhell.2759:

Calys Teneb.7015:

It doesn’t really matter how runes worked before, swapping the way that people did was never intended. Compensation for a mechanic that is not intended finally being removed, I can’t wrap my brain around that.

If it wasn’t intended, why didn’t they fix or even comment on it before? It worked like that since…well, ever. Now they are changing it…and giving an huge downside to elementalists and engineers.

shrug Speculating on the down/upside to any of these changes is premature until they’re rolled out.

It doesn’t really matter how runes worked before, swapping the way that people did was never intended. Compensation for a mechanic that is not intended finally being removed, I can’t wrap my brain around that.

Kits and Attunements, the same as before? Nothing has changed. Before, when stacking sigils, every other class had an advantage at that time as well. Now that stacking sigils is gone, the net change is zero because it was and advantage for everyone that has been taken away for everyone.

4 is to 2 what 2 is to 1. Double is double, it was before and it is now. And the compensation is that Eles and Engis have access to up to twenty skills at one time where other classes only have ten.

Or it wasn’t intended to stack a bonus on a weapon you don’t have equipped.

Quarktastic.1027:

I say this to everyone at least once:

This is an MMO.
You are not a special snowflake.
You will never be a special snowflake.
Nothing you own will ever be truly rare or unique.
Get things because you like them, not because you think they’ll be rare or make you stand out. They won’t.

Unfortunately in real life, I get things because I like them, but then I obsess over them.

babies his LG G2, the first smartphone he’s ever had

Not pointless but definitely debated many many times before.

Brother Dulfite.5793:

Sorry but DE 2.0 isn’t comparable to DE. I despise some of the new characters (kasmeer and Marjory) and I feel annoyance towards how caring for one another Braham and Rox are (I know ones a girl, but still she is a Charr and he is a Norn! They should be bashing one another lol). The only character I actually like out of the new ones is Taimi (I actually like her MORE than her DE 1.0 counterpart…).

I’m not sure where you’re going with the Charr+Norn thing. It’s been well established that the two races get along very well.

As much as I want to argue against that from the Tyrian point of view, and there are many arguments about why it doesn’t make sense to have an army occupy another sovereign nation no matter how well intentioned, you’ve destroyed my composure with the image of beating Trehearne into a desk.

Well done.

But yeah you should think about setting up a community event on your server. I think even a few devs went to the “Farewell to LA” party right before the invasion.

Konrad Knox.5162:

zallis.2138:

They were celebrating the death of scarlet. It wasn’t a huge blowout party because instead of being celebrated on the streets, they wanted to hang out as friends. I think the brisban hint was awesome, and taimi is an interesting character to me. Her talking to braham was cool because they have a lot of the same things going on. Both have a hurt leg, and both agree they would rather do something than talk about doing something. But yes, I would have liked to have a little more, like what did scarlet have on caithe, and I would like to have seen the conversation with rox and rytlock. But I don’t think the party itself should have been changed, just more after that.

Here is what I don’t get? Why not have a party at a camp in Lion’s Arch? People there feel alone and hopeless right now. They need a cheer, they need a strong hand and a light of bonfire. They need hope, they need to see their heroes.

Retreating back to Divinity’s Reach, behind its sturdy safe walls, to party away from the people whose lives were destroyed, is just such a shallow, snobbish, and frankly selfish thing to do. My character is not a noble, he is a commoner, and he would never do that. He’d gather everyone around for an open invite bonfire and share stories to release people’s stress. He’d give away food, connect children to parents, have a meeting place for everyone who lost loved ones, so everyone can follow to the light and gain some comfort. Why couldn’t this party take place in a camp like that?

What’s stopping you from roleplaying that now?

Not sarcastic. Get a group together, get a cheap bonfire, set out a bunch of feasts and toys, go nuts. Make it a server event! I’m sure people would enjoy it and have fun and there’s been a farewell party for LA before the event, no sense in not making a community event to celebrate the success.

In all seriousness and with no sarcasm, because I would like to have more options, but if we’re going to be here to debate “my character would or would not do this and there should be an option canonically from the writers for every option” then months of work would go into one five minute instance.

I’d also point out in response to an earlier comment about your character being the second in command of the Pact, that in game the Pact is not a global army. There are six armies and three orders in the game. The Pact’s commission is not to supplement or oversee the six armies. The Lionguard defends LA, the Wardens defend the Grove, the Seraph defend DR, the Peacekeepers defend Rata, the Frostwolves(?) defend Hoelbrak, and the Charr are their own army.

An illustration of the separation of armies is already in game lore. In Gendarren, there’s a fort that you defend periodically from the Risen. One of the Lionguard there has an ambient chatter that his nephew in DR was proud of him and wanted to know when the centaurs would be gone. He states that he had to explain that he’s a Lionguard, not a Serpah, and isn’t part of the war against the centaurs. This is in-game lore that explains the separation of commissions, even for someone who is presumably Krytan but is not a member of the Seraph.

Every nation has races in the Pact. However, even if our character is second in command, he cannot call the Pact back. He would be overruled by his commanding officer, Trahearne, who would keep the Pact’s commission to fight Dragons, not solve all the world’s problems.

I respectfully disagree however that games cannot be taken seriously as a good form of literature; there are many cases that games have provided good, compelling narratives because of their genre (“graphic novel” types like 9 Doors, Hotel Dusk, Walking Dead, etc.) and even some cases where the story was very compelling or at least sensible despite being in a weird game genre like RTS, FPS or action-adventure (Bioshock, Eternal Darkness, SC2, The Last of Us, etc.).

999 did not have a strong narrative. It has great puzzles and gameplay, but the narrative was extremely weak. And this can be supported with the fact that the iOS port of the game that included NONE of the puzzles but ALL of the narrative was an unmitigated failure.

The same could be said for Bioshock and Eternal Darkness. The narrative was the weakest part of the game, but was supplemented by unique or compelling gameplay that made it tolerable.

I’m going to be really honest, I love GW2 and all the games I play, but I’ve never seen the narrative be a strong point, and it’s never something I’ve expected. Even in games like Dark Souls or the Elder Scrolls series it’s been pretty “meh.”

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Lane.3410:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

. . . someone must be thinking of a different Twilight.

Someone must be thinking the writing in the LS was leagues better than it actually was.

Not leagues better, but definitely better than Twilight. It’s no Silmarillion, but neither is it as much trash as people want to claim.

It still beats Factions.

Reading the Silmarillion is about as engaging as reading the Bible…

I think you’re confusing too much from China. What was data mined still had stuff in it from that release and got mingled up with a lot of stuff that they’re announcing now. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be implemented the way it is in China.

Qawsada.4251:

Kalavier.1097:

Gw1 isn’t retconned.

Yes it was. 5 days added into the calendar only show how the LS writer didn’t bother looking up the GW 1 wiki. Saying how the event in GW 1 doesn’t matter because the human gods are nothing more than glorified mages is also crap. There are reasons and there is bull pulling.

Calys Teneb.7015:

Qawsada:
There may be reasons for that, despite how you feel. Leading a campaign against a developer PERSONALLY because you dislike their work generally doesn’t garner much sympathy, even if the populace may agree with some of your points. That hasn’t gone well in other gaming communities, and isn’t likely to be well received here either.

Watching my favorite game getting horrific content and content that retcon or leave plot holes or create a mary sue character can leave me so much in terms of reasoning with them. I complain how badly the story has gone and I rather they hired a different writer than the “writer” we have now. GW 1 was build in integrity and its all torn down thanks to that hack. Of course, she is not the only one that is tearing down GW 2.

You can feel that way. However, you’re singling her out solely because she’s the most visible. In the game industry, a single person is not responsible for 100% of their departments content that goes into game.

As a designer (NOT FOR ARENANET, just to emphasize), I get told “no” a lot. “No, we don’t want to go this direction.” “How do you plan for this.” “How do you plan for that.” “What happens when.” I have a team to help support me on solving these issues, and often it’s a sales pitch to get them to accept the idea in the first place. Sometimes my ideas get turned down and I need to support someone else’s because that’s the direction of the game.

Angel McCoy’s vision is not her telling people what to do. It gets adapted. It gets modified. Portions are cut out. That’s what a team does. The times of people like Miyamoto designing the direction of an entire game are long gone. That was when companies were just starting out small and maybe only had one or two designers or writers. Not the case any more when you have teams of them.

Writing exists to support the design decision of the game, the game does not exist to support the writing decision. Whatever problems you have with the writing, it’s there to support the direction that Guild Wars 2 is going as a whole. Angel McCoy is not a designer, she’s a writer. She has input into the direction, but her team’s writing is expected to support what the design directors want for their game. Just like the art, just like the music, just like the game play. It all supports the design decision as a whole.

Therefore your personal vendetta against one person who is just doing her job in supporting the game’s direction is ludicrous. If you don’t like the writing, that’s fine. But that’s what the direction that ArenaNet want to go with it. Basing your vendetta on interviews months old and what you hear of her scripting of Scarlet is not healthy to discussion about the game as a whole, nor is it respectful of what game developers do, nor does it show that you have any understanding of what the development process is.

Qawsada:
There may be reasons for that, despite how you feel. Leading a campaign against a developer PERSONALLY because you dislike their work generally doesn’t garner much sympathy, even if the populace may agree with some of your points. That hasn’t gone well in other gaming communities, and isn’t likely to be well received here either.

Shiren.9532:

LastShot.4762:

Technically none of the npcs should know it’s a dragon(unless scarlet left some hints somewhere), all they can see is a beam shooting out of a giant drill, only players know it’s mordy cause we see where the beam actually lead to at the end.

Maybe they’d know something if Braham and Marjory weren’t so intent on disrupting the only person with any answers?

I’m really starting to resent these characters. I love the idea of a former Ministry Guard (Marjory) taking on the corruption in Divinity’s Reach (and following that story to Brisban if it’s linked to the bandits). I hate the recurring cast of characters with weak to no motivation to be involved in every release, replacing more relevant characters and turning the Epilogue into some kind of mix between a teen Sitcom and a Soap Opera. These “friends” are adding familiarity to the releases but they are not making the story stronger. They are making the story about them and not what’s actually going on (the things I care about).

I don’t care about someone’s sister or “insert joke here”, I want to know what impact the ley line had on Thaumanova, what’s going on in Lion’s Arch, in the refugee camps, in Maguuma, in the three Orders, in the Pact, with the Pale Tree. Tyria is so much bigger than these four characters.

In game, the siege of LA happened in a matter of days. Think of it as Groundhog Day. Yes, to us we replayed the events over and over, but in a very linear ending. One of the Lionguard talk about going in and taking back over during Escape, only to be told to wait until the trade winds carried the miasma out to sea.

For us as players, that was every hour, at least it appeared. However the miasma dispersion for characters didn’t happen until Battle.

In Battle, we killed Scarlet and the drill was blasted with magic. However, it didn’t explode until today. For the characters, that was within a very short period of time, even if it was two weeks for the player.

The point I’m making is that there’s no reason to expect the characters to know anything about Thaumanova. LA has just been reclaimed so nothing’s happening other than it appears. No one’s sure that Maguuma is an option yet. The Pale Tree isn’t under focus because they don’t even know what dragon it is. Yes, as a player you want to know that, but as a character in a video game, you’re asking for a lot of information to come too quickly to be realistic.

Because nature?

Celtic Lady.3729:

Cool! I just got this in-game mail saying that my points in WvW had been refunded! I didn’t have to check the forum or anything! I just got informed in a helpful way that something had happened that affects my character. Wasn’t that nice? Whodathunk?

To be fair, this kind of outrage would have been magnified on a scale of thousands because the WvW points affects a larger player base and has more of an investment.

Just saying.

Zhaitan’s no more. Risen are still around.

Even in GW1, players beat the big baddie and the big baddie’s armies stuck around quite a while.

Tseikk.9032:

Calys Teneb.7015:

Tseikk.9032:

Rengaru.4730:

Tseikk.9032:

HMM? WHAT ABOUT THE FORTUNE SCRAPS THEN
edit: ACCOUNT BOUND, CANT BE GOTTEN ANYMORE FROM ANYWHERE.

Except, you can still get them.

i don’t think so

According to the wiki, you can still buy Kite Fortunes from the Gem Store, which also have a chance to drop the scraps, as that was originally how you got one.

The wiki is wrong. I checked in-game, and no you can not buy those anymore.

Wouldn’t be the first time it’s out of date, its just the only place I can look right now.

The Pact’s commission is for Elder Dragons. Until now there was no indication (in the story) that a dragon was involved.

Tseikk.9032:

Rengaru.4730:

Tseikk.9032:

HMM? WHAT ABOUT THE FORTUNE SCRAPS THEN
edit: ACCOUNT BOUND, CANT BE GOTTEN ANYMORE FROM ANYWHERE.

Except, you can still get them.

i don’t think so

According to the wiki, you can still buy Kite Fortunes from the Gem Store, which also have a chance to drop the scraps, as that was originally how you got one.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Did the Ogden’s Hammer guy turn up missing also? How about the guy looking for the latrines, or the wine-drinking gossiper?

If they’re all three gone, LA will be a much quieter (and less aggravating) place.

Ogden’s Hammer is in the Vigil camp. I think the latrine’s guy is missing, and Doc Krait Oil is dead…

Never heard the wine drinker so I don’t know what to look for.

Sarrs.4831:

Calys Teneb.7015:

Mai Trin is in the Edge of the Mists. She appears in hologram in the central hub, presumably transmitted from the airship directly over the location.

I have no idea why she’s there, though, other than that we need an excuse to have gone to EOTM.

Taimi speculates in the DEB that Scarlet sent her there to set up a base so that Scarlet could unleash the dragons on Tyria and then hide in the Mists.

I believe that’s Trahearne’s, as there’s a Pact member near the Lion’s Statue.

They only placed the chests back in the last update because they had left the impression that Scarlet’s Lair was going to remain in the state that it was during Marionette, chests and all. Also, since Escape had been pushed back, players had had a chance to farm the event directly before the patch. ArenaNet put the chests back because they recognized that they hadn’t been clear that they were to be removed even through the Lair would remain.

In this case they were very clear that the vendors would be gone.

Sarrs.4831:

Feothyr.6072:

Sarrs.4831:

Where’s Canach?

In a cell in Vigil Keep. Haven’t you paid attention? :P

Oh, so he is. My mistake.

I know it’s fun to be snide, gosh knows I enjoy it, but if the feedback you have to offer can be truncated to “LOL WHY DON’T YOU JUST QUIT?” then please go back to the drawing board.

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

It was also stated later on this epilogue would take place in the Death End bar (forgot where) What did you expect?

Wrapping up of loose ends. I can think of at least five.
Mai Trin- Where is she?
Aetherblades- What happens to them?
Molten Alliance- What happens to them?
Toxic Alliance- What happens to them?
Caithe’s secret- What was it and how did Scarlet learn it? Did I miss it or is something actually going on? Come to think of it, since Scarlet’s dead, will the Aetherblade Path in TA change?

Mai Trin is in the Edge of the Mists. She appears in hologram in the central hub, presumably transmitted from the airship directly over the location.

Sarrs.4831:

So uh.

Where’s Canach?
Where’s Mai Trin?

Both are in the same places they’ve been since Escape. Canach is in a prison in Vigil Keep and Mai Trin is in the Edge of the Mists.

kitsuneshoujo.5734:

What’s your age have to do with any of this? if you don’t like the story that’s fine, but why do you have to derail my thread with it? Make a new one and complain about the story there. >.<

Never said I didn’t like the story. I actually do. I had the same feels you did.

Dafomen.7892:

Calys Teneb.7015:

Stormcrow.7513:

Wow. I had a meh moment and carried on with the cutscenes and promptly logged out. Unfortunately I find GW2 to have little to no emotional effect on me. This could be because of shoddy writing

Neat.

I think LoTR and Game of Thrones is boring, shoddy writing … and don’t usually go around flaunting that I find them very dull and uninteresting.

Good for you, because it would misplaced here anyways, as this is GW2 forum.

I for one couldn’t care less about the “story” in GW2 anyway…thats maybe because im not 14 anymore, who knows…

Although those two genres are compared to the writing in this game all the time.

Growing through the era when games were allowed to be light-hearted and silly has spoiled me in an era where everything has to be as serious and realistic as possible.

Stormcrow.7513:

Wow. I had a meh moment and carried on with the cutscenes and promptly logged out. Unfortunately I find GW2 to have little to no emotional effect on me. This could be because of shoddy writing

Neat.

I think LoTR and Game of Thrones is boring, shoddy writing, but I recognize that other people get into those books and don’t usually go around flaunting that I find them very dull and uninteresting.

But then again, as much as I love to read, there’s never been a book I’ve connected to the way people seem to. I read it once, usually enjoy it, might pick it up a few years later to reread, but nothing has ever been the “it influenced my life” level that people talk about.

Yep. Looked at that, went “Ok I’m done here” and bawled.

Forums.

15 chars go down the west side, down the west side, down the west side

Pennry.9215:

Log in video shows it explode. Is there supposed to be another scene where it magically comes back together? Didn’t it also explode after we killed scarlet before patch?

No. You saw magic streaming through it and there was shaking in the instance, but there was never an actual explosion.

atheria.2837:

Traveller.7496:

So, only thing that we get is the “heroes” stand around in a bar making jokes. The PC tells them it’s a Dragon and Kasmeer is surprised. (has she been living in a barrel?) Then Marjory’s sister comes in (?) and drops a hint about going to Brisban wildlands, which is about the only interesting thing about this. After standing there and listening their yammering some more you get a reward (which you deserve) and can leave. And you’re left hanging with a feeling of … lacklusterness.

But yes, I was really disappointed that so many plotlines were left unanswered and the focus was on these NPC’s the devs are trying hard to push as interesting characters. So fitting end to the living story, I guess.

Did anyone else believe that was a party?

Not one had a drink or food and didn’t exhibit any party-like exuberance.

Not only that, that was the quietest part I have ever seen, no band, and these are the heroes of Tyria in a tiny place without the grandeur of the city they are sitting in with its Queen still firmly on the throne?

Ok, so where’s the dragon and how do we do anything when there is no direction to the dragon or any ability to rebuild our city.

A blank week?

I am as confused as anyone else.

Rox and Braham had cups.

But you had a full month to collect five hundred. At ~40 per day, it’s possible to do it in about two weeks, which is what people originally thought they had to do it in.

Further, the Devs stated on the seventh and the eleventh that the vendor would be removed at the end of the cycle.

You best believe in troll threads son. You’re posting in one.

That alone will be the reason why many other players will at least go out and give the new MMOs a shot like ESO/Wildstar

Players won’t give ESO a shot for long. It doesn’t matter if they like Elder Scrolls or hate every other game on the market. I’m not in the beta, but I’ve heard some of the outrage about it at reddit/other gaming sites.

The game is subscription based AND locks very powerful classes and some end game content behind a pay wall. Objectively, even the most devout fan isn’t going to be happy with that.

Brother Dulfite.5793:

What if we didn’t kill Scarlet and we just think we did based on a triple layered inception?What if in three years, after we’ve killed all eternal dragons, that this entire game is in Scarlets dream and we realize that the world of Tyria is actually in control by Abaddon (who was only dead in her dream and not in real virtual life) and the dwarves are in fact alive and are in fact the supreme nude race?

Dallas (the soap opera) did it long before Inception. I don’t now how old you are, but Dallas was before even my time and I’m thirty so I’ll explain it a little.

Dallas had a season written out where Patrick Duffy was a main character. Duffy had a bunch of contract issues with the producers at the time and ended up walking for the season. The writers wrote him out of the entire season and had to scramble around to come up with a new plot that didn’t involve Duffy, so that season was much weaker than intended to be.

At the end of the season, Duffy wasn’t finding other work that he liked and his issues with the producers were worked out, so he wanted to come back to the show. He had been written out as having been killed off at the beginning of the season so the writers had to come up with a way to bring him back.

So basically his soap opera wife wakes up at the end of the season and sees Duffy’s naked kitten in the shower. She exclaims that she thought he was dead, and he’s very confused as he just woke up. They essentially retconned the entire season to RESTART at the end of the season before and that his wife character had dreamed the entire season that he didn’t participate in.

This is a fairly well known meme, it’s been referenced in Family Guy, but this is the basics of what was done with this before. Fill in Abaddon for Duffy and it’s about the same scenario.

Except Scarlet is his wife.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

BrotherBelial.3094:

Come on. You can’t have a single player RPG story in an MMO. Sure if this was a Dragon Age style game then yeah we could change how the story played out. But it’s not. We the player are just along for the ride. As we are in any MMO.

I’m not asking for branching story lines at all. I’m asking for the story to not be quite so straight forward.

See, when you write a story you can have a hero travel from point A to point B, and that’s exactly what happens.

Or, you can have the hero’s journey be interrupted by unexpected factors, causing him to end up not quite where he meant to go.

Same goes for the villain. You have have the villain hatch up a plan, and then execute that plan exactly as planned.

Or you can have something unexpected happen. A twist, a sudden change of events that cause the story to take an interesting turn.

Just some examples:

• The main character sets out to find a treasure, but the treasure isn’t there. He/she finds something much more dangerous instead.
• The hero is preparing for war, but then his own soldiers abandon him just before a deciding attack, and turn against him.
• The villain sets out to find something, but unleashes something she did not intend to instead. This forces the villain to change his/her allegiance.

Not going to lie, and I don’t mean to be rude, but I am so sick of pretty much all of these themes. They’re everywhere. They’re in anime, they’re in most video games, they’re in a lot of movies, they’re in a lot of books. And they’re always predictable and done to death.

I call it Star Wars Syndrome. Vader being Luke’s father was a fairly unique plot twist for its time, even through it had been hinted at. The correct pronounciation is VAH-DER, not VAY-DER and it’s German for “Father,” obviously. But once it had been done, it got beat almost to death, particularly in Asian cultures where they latched on to it with verve due to the father and family honor culture.

I live in a world of shades of gray. It’s refreshing just to have simple black and white somewhere. I’m thirty one. I want to play a game to escape from all the moral quandaries and just go “That’s a bad guy, kill it,” like when I played Mario in the arcade.

Let me have my goombas to stomp.