Guild Wars 2

Takoyakii.2146:

Well.. those npc feel like they just slapped them together at the end with no explanation anyway :P

Case in point: Duchess Crysanthea

Purecura.1795:

I also want to mention that Rytlock is just not a Revenant. he’s the first HERALD TOO! So what lore will be born from that? Rytlock is shown at one point using a Glint based spell to destroy fines in the HoT Story.

He uses herald stuff a couple times, including the elite when he first shows up.

Almost a full week and zero attention. Neat.

Stand The Wall.6987:

An attempt is made to improve gameplay smoothness, and you guys come to complain? You would rather suffer through excruciating skill lag and choppy visuals in zergs?

But changing the projectile doesn’t do anything but make it harder to see there’s an ele attacking you. The obfuscating part is the impact particle, which is completely unchanged.

I don’t get why they didn’t just put the entrance in an instanced version of that part of VB, like they did with Hearts and Minds in Dragon’s Stand.

AESOkami.1072:

Judging by the fact that there’s no replies about what happens in the recent Spirit Vale release, I’m just going to assume that we learn nothing about the mordrem.
(I’d find out if I didn’t keep getting stuck in raid teams with bad DPS.)

There’s basically zero lore in Spirit Vale, which is a shame since there was so much potential for it.

Soon.5240:

Smoosh.2718:

Ok, picture yourself as someone who has just hit level 80 been playing for 3 or 4 months and wants to get the new legendary weapon. How on earth are they to get the gold or materials without resorting to heavy heavy grind?

They buy gold from Anet.

I’m not being facetious. This is the new business model for the game. We’ll see more of it in the future. And as people get used to it, it will be more blatant.

And, btw, I have all ascended, and my legendary(s) for my one (1) toon. So I don’t care about the difficulty anymore. I got mine.

When I saw the direction the game was headed with HoT, I deleted my Alts, and sold all the Ascended Mats I was collecting for them and then sold it for a small fortune on TP.

Be sure to thank John Smith, the dev behind all the income “redistribution” and the crafting changes, and the higher ups that approved those ideas.

Paulash.5814:

The reason Anet killed off Eir was pretty simple. Out of all the member’s of DE, she had the least potential to become an interesting character. I don’t think it is arguable that her personality had little-to-no depth and that she was generally pretty kitten cliché. Her purpose in the end was only to help characterize her son and add some depth to his personality in the way he dealt with her death. She was a lost cause and Anet clearly recognized that. RIP Eir.

Then why not kill off Zojja, since they’re never able to include her because Felicia Day seemingly doesn’t have time to record?

Also, the devs previously said that there were stories behind how she met Garm and why he’s the only black wolf in Tyria. Garm’s missing on top of everything, so I guess those plot threads are as dead as Eir.

Xillllix.3485:

Why would you do this and not fix tempest useless warhorn and elite skills?

They already got peoples’ money for the expansion, so they go back to not caring or doing anything until they have something else to sell people, then they feign involvement again and people eat it up.

Jax.4903:

Amethyst Lure.5624:

It’s a bit puzzling why it isn’t a gfx setting, particularly since you can make different settings for raid etc.

The bad thing is Raids are such a small percentage of GW2 and many players will never participate in them; yet, everyone got a major graphics nerf across the board. Makes no sense. The special effects went from PS4 to PS2 quality. I really hope A-Net acknowledges this since many of us are upset over this issue.

The nerf was very likely targeted at SPvP, not raids. Readability is an issue when spectating, and they’d rather scramble to get a return on investment on all the money they’ve thrown into the esports toilet than do it properly or preserve the game’s art.

Serophous.9085:

Well then, if people we like aren’t suppose to die, and if apparently a forum force of people demanding change can work, I think it’s time I have a heart to heart with J.R.R. Martin…

I have no problem with characters dying so long as it’s done well and matters. Eir died pitifully and the only character that mentioned it after the fact was Braham. Her death was done purely for cheap shock value.

Absconditus.6804:

They have introduced a new stuck bug, not unlike the one in the past where we had to /dance to get out of it (and that’s not a joke). This affects multiple professions. I notice it far more on Mesmer/Chronomancer when using Blurred Frenzy though.

Also happens frequently with scrapper with rocket charge.

reapex.8546:

Gaaroth.2567:

reapex.8546:

I think Roy is on vacation, the Revenant developer

i dont think so, but he really deserve one. Yes there are things to hammer out but Rev is in super good place. Let them fix the big stuff and they’ll come back to balance

He said during the live stream about taking a vacation and Ruby said, he deserved one.

Except all the class devs are MIA, not just Roy.

Technically you can meet one of the henchmen from Nightfall/EotN… as a disembodied head that sits in your inventory and eats bloodstone dust.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Herta
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Herta

Xstein.2187:

reapex.8546:

Xstein.2187:

Serophous.9085:

Celtic Lady.3729:

Xstein.2187:

2. Yes, many believe that her death could have been much, much better.Her death did not have meaning. The creature was not killed, it did not save any lives, and it did not help them escape. She also did not go down fighting like a legend. It also doesn’t matter if she comes back as a druid. This was her chance to die as a legend (even if she comes back, she is only going to die once).

There are several ways the scene could have gone that would have drawn less complaints. For example, they could have shown a scene where Eir dodges one strike in great pain. Next, the creature knocks Brahm down. The creature raises its tail and begins to strike to finish Brahm off when Eir dodges in front of the tail just in time, giving her life to save her Brahm.

Anything, ANYTHING at all where she at least made an attempt to fight rather than stare at the creature and appear to have given up would have been better. She should have gone down fighting, injured or not. She was a legend. A Norn. This is how it would have been.

https://youtu.be/kU5euLJ8pqY?t=76

this doesn’t look like someone who was giving up. And she gets into a fighting stance when the beast roars. At 1:20 we can see this stance better, like she is ready to try and dodge the attack, but fails.

making it look like she had nothing left and was weak from the start so she just accepted her death.

That was the point, she had nothing left. She gave her all to survive and in the end, she had no extra energy reserves left. She survived the crashed, she fought off hordes of mordem to give Pact soldiers a time to escape, was captured, starved, dehydrated, and stabbed. Then somehow she manages to hit Faolin, it was incredible she could do that. Everything I listed was all physical, that doesn’t take into the account the emotional and mental suffering she endured. I’m surprised she could even run, she’s a truly epic norn. Her legend and death will be one to remember, imo.

Ya, suppose its probably just in the eye of the beholder. Still would have liked to see her do more than just stand there when it attacked and would have liked her death to have more meaning. However, can’t change what already happened. We can only discuss it. However, it would be awesome if they put a statue of Eir up by her hut instead of just having her alive there still greeting you with “I wasn’t expecting you”.

You can say the same for the Pale Tree, who’s still just standing there and talking about Scarlet’s death. They really couldn’t have updated either instance for characters that finished Dragon’s Reach/Hearts and Minds?

Palador.2170:

Celtic Lady.3729:

Rytlock seemed much more personable in the Personal Story. He seems unnecessarily condescending and rude now.

Not sure why they decided to change his personality.

It starts to change once you’re out of the charr story, actually. He starts off pretty awesome, but once the rest of DE enters the picture, he becomes a jerk. He just gets worse over time, by and large.

They all do, but Zojja’s probably the worst. Her personality does an instant 180 between the asura personal story and DE’s reunion.

As a tank maybe. Power builds fall short of condi pistol/pistol by a huge margin, and when those take scrapper it’s just for two traits and function gyro.

Ephemiel.5694:

It’s a bit obvious that Anet wants to eventually replace Destiny’s Edge with the “new generation” [Taimi, Kasmeer, Marjory, Braham and Rox].

Why else kill both Traeherne and Eir, have both Zojja and Logan MIA and still keep us in the dark about Caithe’s loyalty?

They can’t figure out how to get us to like DE2 as much as or more than DE, so they’ll just kill off DE.

Necrum Davengers.3519:

Rofl they downgraded static field before, and now this: Fireball and Eruption?! What were they thinking?

ESPROTS

morrolan.9608:

Daralii.8940:

morrolan.9608:

Its not just engi though, its all classes when I get back on I’m going to remove the graphics option to reduce visual clutter or whatever its called.

Not optional, the changes were global. Also not all classes, just eles, engis, and mesmers.

I know they were but isn’t there still the option to reduce particle effects?

There’s just effect LOD, which doesn’t really do anything.

SirMoogie.9263:

Jaken.6801:

I expect a throw away adventure, with some neat little references, which don`t go too deep, or in a bad scenario, will go against established lore.

I wouldn’t be so sure. A raid video released by Arena Net suggested there would be huge, mega reveals in the raid story being told. It was also said to bridge the gap between Heart of Thorns and the next big thing. Bobby confirmed the mega reveal part here:

BobbyStein.2315:

I can’t talk about the “huge awesome mega reveals” other than to say that since the wings are essentially a multi-part story you will learn things along the way.

It could be marketing speak, but it could also be Arena Net making yet another mistake past MMOs have already learned.

They also said the Nightmare Court would have a big role in HoT and there’d be elite spec lore. I’m not taking anything they say at face value.

GummyBearSummoner.7941:

yea im still waiting for an official response ): i want my awesome visuals back

I’m not counting on it. As of late ANet’s response to any negative feedback is to clam up and hope it goes away on its own. They’re somehow even less transparent than Valve.

morrolan.9608:

Its not just engi though, its all classes when I get back on I’m going to remove the graphics option to reduce visual clutter or whatever its called.

Not optional, the changes were global. Also not all classes, just eles, engis, and mesmers.

Most of the staff behind GW1 and launch GW2 left the company a bit before LS1 started. Why else did you think the last several years have been nothing but changing or removing stuff from launch?

They started reworking them years ago, then after the first one they dissolved the dedicated team. I won’t be surprised if they outright remove explorable modes at some point.

kubetz.3058:

Balance patch is planned for December. I expect skill changes and lot of bugfixes then. Fingers crossed.

I’m really just expecting hammer nerfs. They balance the game around PvP, and that’s the only game mode where scrapper’s strong.

Axialbloom.8109:

How is the Fireball visual nerf a buff? And please do not say something like ‘in pvp they cannot as easily tell where it comes from.’

It seems faster, but it might just look faster because of the size reduction.

Celtic Lady.3729:

They seem to be okay with people farming XP for Tyria but not for HoT.

It is puzzling.

It wouldn’t be as bad without the ridiculous diminishing returns on HoT events.

Kalavier.1097:

DiogoSilva.7089:

DarcShriek.5829:

War is hell. Heroes die.

Usually, a good story would make a hero’s death more meaningful, either by giving us a proper character arc for that hero before their death, or making the consequences of their death major.

You can have a story that is both realistic and cruel, while being satisfying and rewarding to the reader/ audience. One of the reasons for why Game of Thrones is so popular is because it can do both pretty well.

Eir’s death felt kinda of empty to me.

A story that is Realistic would include deaths that are not epic or grand.

Sometimes a hero dies from what would seem a simple thing (Like being caught in a trap). Sometimes they die holding off a horde of enemies from getting to others.

A story that is realistic wouldn’t have a giant plant dragon.

Zumi.6384:

Levetty.1279:

Yeah they definetly look much worse and I have no idea why they changed it.

They just took out some of the extra shiny animations that you’d see on high graphics.

As for why…….ESPROTS!

Seriously though, the idea is to make the skills and such less “noisy” so that it’s easier to follow in spectator mode for PvP.

Which is why a global change makes complete sense instead of it just being limited to SPvP or spectating.

GW2 esports can finally take off once they’ve ruined the game’s aesthetics. Well worth it ANet.

I’m pretty sure it’s for esports spectating and not for performance reasons, which is even worse. I’m not sure why they would think that it’s particles of all things that’s keeping GW2 esports from being a thing.

Don’t you love it when great effects are nerfed in the name of #ESPORTS? :^)

Mizstik.1736:

I think you guys need to step back a bit and get some perspective. This kind of gameplay is just how MMOs are.

Here’s a case study. Take a look at FFXIV’s Heavensward expansion ($40). The feature list is nearly the same:

- 4 new zones (also large and vertical)

HW added 6, not 4.

Gaaroth.2567:

Rain.9213:

I still really think that I would love to see a condition Greatsword elite spec for Revenant. I keep saying Kalla Scorchrazor as the legend too as she wields a greatsword and would offer us another female legend and our very first charr legend! That or…. SPOILERS!

Show Spoiler

hide spoiler

Trahearne would also be awesome for a condition greatsword spec. Actually making it a hybrid condition/power, range/melee weapon like the underwater spear would be freakin awesome and let it synergize with the majority of Revenant builds. Plus it would be awesome communicating with him again and having him be your sidekick this time around. You could still be partners in the fight against the dragons too!

Special mechanic could be calling on the power of Caladbolg for some special effects

too soon Rain, too soon

I wouldn’t be too surprised if either of the you-know-whos in HoT end up as elite specs eventually.

Vayne.8563:

You didn’t beat the dragon on your own. You beat the dragon because he was distracted by an attacking army.

If you’re in the army someone else is beating the dragon at the same time. If you’re in the instance, the army is attacking him, drawing his attention away.

It’s sort of like Sauron being distracted in Lord of the Rings by the attack on the gate. Without that attack, Frodo would have never made it to his destination (and even then he almost didn’t make it).

But why would he be distracted when he was fully aware that he was never in any actual danger, and he’d be able to regenerate whenever?

tbh, I’m pretty sure Trahearne died to appease everyone that kittened about him outranking the PC. It was a good death, but fanservice all the same.

It’s also possible that the drop rate is bugged like Final Rest’s was, even though the devs insisted that it was fine.

The wiki says you can just buy the insignia from the master craftsmen.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Recipe:_Svaard%27s_Marauder_Insignia

Basaltface.2786:

Daralii.8940:

Kodama.6453:

Rhomulos.2089:

Likely an older version of the Scrapper’s ascended hammer that doesn’t exist anymore

This. The hammer is shown as the icon of fix-r-upper. I think they changed the skin as they decided to scrap the old scrapper concept and gave him a electric theme instead. The new fix-r-upper just fits more for electric attacks.

But I hope they will implement the old version some day too. It looks really well and I would like to have it.

I really have to wonder why they shelved the Forge concept so late in development.

cause it probably worked…and we cant have that on the engi class…

Based on the old hammer strings that were added way back, I wouldn’t be too surprised if the mechanic was moved to druid and F-Gyro was cobbled together at the last minute. They suggest the spec revolved around building heat with hammer skills that fueled gyros. Would fit the name “Forge” and explain why they were both added so late.

Kodama.6453:

Rhomulos.2089:

Likely an older version of the Scrapper’s ascended hammer that doesn’t exist anymore

This. The hammer is shown as the icon of fix-r-upper. I think they changed the skin as they decided to scrap the old scrapper concept and gave him a electric theme instead. The new fix-r-upper just fits more for electric attacks.

But I hope they will implement the old version some day too. It looks really well and I would like to have it.

I really have to wonder why they shelved the Forge concept so late in development.

logan.5846:

You’ll also need 75g worth of various items,, 750 of each zone currency, and a rare drop from noxious pods which only spawn after a 2 hour event in which you’ll be lucky if you have a chance to loot 5-10 of them. You also need to kill a treasure mushroom, which requires Nuhoch stealth mastery. I don’t know if you factored that one in.

Oh yeah, and you need map completion of one zone in HoT.

The machined weapon part is a guaranteed drop(or at least a high drop rate) from the Mouth’s chest after you’ve unlocked the collection. Buy the plated weapon first and you can get it immediately.

Cero.5132:

Static Discharge does still not work with a lot of Toolbelt-Skills.

Static Discharge´s damage is inconsistent. Probably dependant on which Toolbelt-Skill activates it.

Stomp Gyro gives up on stomping after it´s interrupted/the target ported away.

Bulwark Gyro takes 100% the damage the engineer´d originally get.

The bulkwark gyro started taking full damage from watchful eye after the last relatively large post-HoT patch, but as far as I know it hasn’t been said whether it’s a bug or intended.

Sure would be nice if the class devs would post. At all.

It goes in alphabetical order(based on the elite spec’s name) for all the elite spec collections you’ve unlocked. You have to kill another treasure mushroom for each one.

mXz.4512:

Reaper and Rev are pretty strong, just don’t get too careless. I haven’t had much chance to play Scrapper as much.

It’s great in PvP, but in PvE it’s worse than baseline engi in every regard.

SirServed.5693:

Monk Tank.5897:

Don’t organize a map with 30 min left on it?
If you shuttle people into the map the window will go away.

It seems you guys really don’t get it. Here are images of before and after:

I’ve had this happen as well, at about the same percentage. Map suddenly closes with zero warning and we’re all dragged into a silent Dragon’s Domain.

- We dunno. Braham mentions not knowing if Garm was with Eir in the crash, so it’s up in the air.

- Common trope to show character progression, often a loss of innocence.

Lindelle.3718:

Sanity Points.8073:

That moment when you find Eir still alive in her house.

This was the first thing I went to see.

Strength to a Norn is different than Strength to a Human than Strength to a Sylvari…
Our Norn PC has much to add to the telling of Eir’s legend and should have been present at her wake. Accommodating and adhering to the cultural sensitivities of the member races is as much a success of the Pact as combining magitech for a stronger fighting force.

And I agree with this, I’m sad that norn have pretty much completely lost their culture and now we are just big humans.

“To Eir! She’ll break the fang yet!” >_>

Their culture and their shapeshifting. Eir did it a lot in Edge of Destiny, never did it ingame. Neither did Braham or Knut, the only other important norn characters.

Zania.8461:

Story, while interesting and engaging part of gameplay is expensive and resource heavy to develop while having a very limited replay value.

Look at SWTOR. They put so much emphasis on story during development, that when game ran out of the limited non-story content people quit in droves. So in later patches development of more personalized story content was shelved in favor of making other, less resource demanding content.

The bulk of SWTOR’s budget went into everything being voiced, not the story itself. It wouldn’t cost hundreds of millions of dollars to scatter some text around.

Ven Zehn.6573:

There are some other events that can be used to infer elite spec development, like Taimi’s current situation for Scrapper, as far as the drones go.

Still nothing I’ve seen for druid, we have no ranger npc’s that work with us anymore, Canach hasn’t done anything berserkery, nothing really for thief aside from Caithe who also hasn’t done anything for DD, and Zojja was an ele iirc, nothing there either.

I was hoping we’d each get some “quest” related to learning the elite spec, to unlock it to allow progression in that tree, something GW1’ish.

At this point I’d be happy with some flavor in the weapon collections.