Guild Wars 2

XerMeLL.6042:

I just played the game last November and i dont really know anything about LS2, all i know is its a story aside from Personal Story and HoT story.

Season 2’s story is mostly setting the stage for HoT’s story but the instances are nice both in terms of gameplay and story telling in my opinion.

Do you think i will just wait for the season 3?

As I said, I like them. But I can’t decide for you whether they are worth the gems.

If the season 3 came, will they stop selling the season 2?

They won’t stop selling season 2 but they will stop selling it at a discount for a while.

If i start playing season 2, do you think i can still understand the whole story since i dont know anything about season 1?

The important parts of season 1 are explained in season 2 so not really.

OriOri.8724:

emikochan.8504:

The part of orr you can’t enter is actually the dungeon of Arah

I know the dungeon is there, but does it really cover the entirety of what’s left of Orr? The dungeon always felt smaller than a regular Orr map, and there is much more left of Orr than what the first 3 maps reveal.

No, it doesn’t: http://guide.thatshaman.com/

Don’t expect new professions. With the Revenant we now have 3 professions per armor class. Furthermore, Anet has said that elite specs are their way of expanding character options.

New weapon types are a bit more likely. Though even they require a lot of work in terms of variety, animations, balance and so on. So… maybe?

No, we don’t. However, the Winter and Spring updates happened on the day the PvP league ended so there is a decent chance the Summer update will be here next tuesday.

Watch BogOtter’s boomerang videos:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/3lcjko/guild_wars_2_boomerangs_8_guide_for_returning/?st=iq51hh3v&sh=68ee3953

To me the two obvious legends to channel are Headmaster Togo (using a scepter, focus, torch or something similar for the Ritualist feel) and Varesh Ossa (using a greatsword, for the Dervish feel).

Almost always when people discuss builds, it’s for one of the following categories: Fractals, Raids, PvP or WvW. Only very rarely are open world builds discussed. This is because in general anything can be ‘useful enough’ in the open world. Of course there are builds which kill enemies faster or move through the world faster in the open world and some people optimize for that, but there is little need to squeeze out as much damage or survibility or what have you as possible. This is why a website such as MetaBattle only has PvP, WvW, Fractals and Raids as its build categories.

Given the existence and returning nature of the lunar new year, I’d say the chances are very slim of Dragon Bash ever returning.

Besides, I don’t think that asking for something between now and the start of LS3 (which Anet has said will be around the next quarterly update i.e. july) is realistic. It’s not like they can or will change their plans due to player request within such a short time.

I don’t think we will see any new skills outside of Elite Specializations.

The only possible exceptions I see are the missing healing and elite skills (i.e. Guardian needs a healing and elite spirit weapon, necromancer needs an elite signet and so on), but even those are doubtful..

Maybe a surgically precise subtractive design is the unexpected direction they were talking about?

That was a quote from a narrative designer though, specifically talked about in the context of raids. So that seems highly unlikely.

Torch or off-hand Axe.

Do you mean in terms of looks or in terms of armor class? Both have problems.

The former has the problem that Anet purposely wants scholars, adventurers and soldiers to be visually distinct.

The latter has the problem that everyone will wear heavy armor because it simply is the best and no one has a reason not to. At the same time the professions are all balanced around their current armor class. They would have to rebalanced. After that rebalancing, armor would basically have ceased to be a relevant factor.

As I understand it, various characters in the original story were voiced by voice actors that are too high profile i.e. that hardly have time to appear in living world / expansion story. This is one reason why they moved away from DE 1.0 to DE 2.0.

That combined with wanting the story to have real impact and wanting to give you a sense of urgency in HoT leads to deaths.

As for why Eir specifically? Well.. She was DE’s leader, something you as a player took over. And as you said, Braham’s story arc probably had a lot to do with it.

The thing that bothers me about Faolain is that the expansion had a lot of potential to learn more about the Nigthmare Court, where the nightmare comes from, what their ideals are, how the NC and Modremoth impacted each other etc. But Anet delivered on none of that.

I once created this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/elementalist/Suggestion-Elite-spec-Spellslinger/first

Basicallly it is an elite spec that uses a pistol and has a focus on combo fields and combo finishers.

Justine.6351:

It’s not impossible, most traits requiring pet are choice traits.
People wouldn’t take Lead the Wind without a longbow right?

(non-Druid) Traits which involve pets that aren’t optional:
1. Alpha Training (and thus, to some extent, Precise Strike)
2. Companion’s Defense
3. Bark Skin
4. Fortifying Bond
5. Lingering Magic
6. Pack Alpha
7. Loud Whistle
8. Pet’s Prowess

That’s 8 (or 9) of your 15 (non-Druid) minor traits i.e. the majority. There is only 1 specialization (Skirmishing) that has no minor traits involving pets.

As for the utility skills, there are many that don’t require pet and the elite spec would no doubt bring a skill line-up with that in mind.

1. It’s not just utility skills. It’s also weapon skills such as Hilt Bash (Greatsword), Hunter’s Shot (Longbow), Crippling Shot (Shortbow), Precision Swipe (Sword), Winter’s Bite (Axe) and Freeding Frenzy (Harpoon Gun).

2. No other elite spec limits you in what core utility skills (or core traits) you can take. How is it fun or good design to have a ranger elite spec that does that?

Lore is not the problem. Pets weren’t mendatory for GW1 rangers either. Gameplay is the problem. The Ranger has so many skills and traits that simply do not work without a pet, that it would take a lot of work to make an elite spec that functions with those skills and traits. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it won’t be easy.

Sartharina.3542:

Warrior needs Main Hand pistol before it goes Off-hand, as a reliable ranged DPS weapon that can be paired with Sword , Shield for more defense (especially against other ranged attackers, with CC against people who close), Axe for emergency melee/hybrid range/melee (Pistol/Axe 4 would clearly include a pistolwhip), or warhorn for support. Also – have you not seen how many Charr Legionnaires and Warmasters (Such as Warmaster Gritblade at Red Rock Bastion) use main-hand pistol?

1. I was just giving examples to make a point.
2. There is no interaction between a warrior’s main hand abilities and his off-hand abilities (that is the domain of the Thief).
3. We have also seen the pistol being used off-hand by warrior-like npcs. However, it should be noted that Anet stated that they purposely didn’t want to hold npcs to the same rules as players so we can’t really use that as an argument.

Sartharina.3542:

And Ranger needs rifle for thematic reasons. (And if you say “Rangers don’t deserve Rifles”, well, screw you and the Alamo you DIDN’T die defending, unlike the real world’s most famous "Ranger’-archetype)

The Ranger actually didn’t get firearms for thematic reasons. See, the Ranger to Anet and to many is not ‘one who attacks at a range’ but ‘one who guards or moves across a range of land’ as in ‘park rangers’. A Ranger’s origins do not lie with Legolas, they lie with Aragorn (and his group of Dunedain rangers). Anet wants to emphasize a Ranger’s connection to nature, to the wild and firearms were seen as being too ‘civilized’ or ‘technological’ for that.

Eros.6801:

We have Lion’s Arch but there is no actual Lion in game, i think gw2 need more wild life species.

The Netherlands has a history of using the lion in symbolism related to the country, the Netherlands is in northwestern Europe.

See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Belgicus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Republic_Lion

Hesacon.8735:

But really, I don’t mind certain things like skins being behind a separate paywall, but actual content doesn’t sit well with me.

But once that paywall means there are 3 different ways of getting it free (logging in at the right time, playing it with someone else who has it unlocked or paying for it with in-game gold) then how much of a paywall is it?

Besides, Season 2 has been on sale in the past.

Hesacon.8735:

I didn’t start playing until shortly before HoT came out. It seems silly to me to pay the equivalent of a new expansion for a couple quests that I only want for the mastery points.

Except you can get gems by trading in-game gold for them.

In addition you can play the instances with someone else who has them unlocked, even if you don’t have them unlocked yourself (in this case, you won’t get the rewards though which seems to be what you’re after).

Sarie.1630:

Diovid.9506:

1. There are reasons why some professions have access to fewer weapon types than others. In the case of Elementalists this is due to attunements, in the case of Engineers this is due toolbelt skills and kits, in the case of Revenants this is due to Legend swapping. Thieves probably suffer the most from this however..

The reason I always assumed is that the weapons professions start off with in the core game are there because they fit thematically.

That is just a part of the reasoning, one I neglected to mention so you’re right there. However, for ‘thematic reasons’ you could arguable give the current professions a lot more weapons than they have now.

Warriors: Off-hand pistol, off-hand dagger, non-magical staff all make sense.
Guardian: Warhorn is a strong thematic fit.
Revenant: Anything can be made to work, basically.

Thief: Off-hand sword and rifle make a decent amount of sense, even torch could work.
Ranger: Main-hand dagger is probably the important one here.
Engineer: Main-hand mace and torch fit.

Elementalist: I think Ele needs elite specs the most for a logical expansion of weapons.
Mesmer: I always though off-hand dagger would be obvious for the whole dueling dagger thing.
Necromancer: Off-hand Axe and Torch (creepy ghostly lights) are contenders here.

My point is, they needed more than just thematic reasons to limit weapons in the way that they did and balance reasons are one the most important type of reasons for doing anything combat-related.

1. There are reasons why some professions have access to fewer weapon types than others. In the case of Elementalists this is due to attunements, in the case of Engineers this is due toolbelt skills and kits, in the case of Revenants this is due to Legend swapping. Thieves probably suffer the most from this however..

2. There is also a reason for gating weapon types behind elite specs. Without that the number of build variation would increase exponentially with each elite spec that is introduced. This makes balance much more manageable.

BuddhaKeks.4857:

Squee.7829:

I felt like the Mursaat were overdone in GW1. And at no fault of Anet’s story telling. The players themselves just seemed to LOVE sticking mursaat into stories where they really didn’t need to be for the sake of some theory or another. I never quite saw the obsession. They were kinda neat I guess, but come on. Don’t Deadpool the Mursaat (i.e stick them in every single story and thought to the point where we get sick of seeing them).

The Mursaat appeared in exactly three storylines. The main campaign of Prophecies, which introduced them, the quest about Lazarus the Dire, which was put in as a potential lead into Guild Wars 2 (which is finally paying off) and some appeared in the War in Kryta.
In the first story they did technically not need to be, but no player demanded it either, they just were and became popular. The second needs a Mursaat because that is all the quest is about. Now I grant you that they did not need to be in the War in Kryta storywise, but it did make the White Mantle even more of a threat and gave the heroes an additional obstacle to overcome, so their appearance is entirely justified. So how are three stories, which all include the Mursaat in a very justified and reasonable way, “Deadpooling” them?

I don’t think that’s what Squee meant since Squee specifically said the following:

The players themselves just seemed to LOVE sticking mursaat into stories where they really didn’t need to be for the sake of some theory or another.

In other words, Mursaat kept appearing in theorycrafting, not in the game.

Warrior, Ranger, Guardian and Necromancer are all new-player friendly.

I very much doubt they would destroy LA again. That would mean too much work for the developers and too much annoyance from players.

What would be fun to see is LA being attacked and (thanks to the upgrades) staving off the attack for once.

Griffons, Skelk, Skale, Bats, Raptors and Crustaceans would all be great options.

All of them already have multiple subtypes ingame.

I’d like a codex which gives lore details on historical events, different locations, different creatures, different factions which exist or have existed in Tyria. Well.. I’d rather have that in-game than in book form but.. I’ll take a book if I can’t have the feature. See the Mass Effect games for reference.

Rise, without a doubt.

Sir Mad.1092:

How does it change the business model?

Quite a lot actually. The fact that GW1 was instanced means it is a lot less expensive to host. That, combined with having a lot less players and being a lot less graphically advanced and less complex gameplay-wise (for example due to less active combat and a z-axis that was largely non-functional) and various other things means GW1 could be supported through a much smaller staff.

Sir Mad.1092:

Vayne.8563:

I’m not sure how familiar you are with MMOs, OP, but they’re different from other games. They take a lot of money to run. That money has to come from somewhere.

Games like WoW and FFXIV have subscriptions that keep them afloat. If you have a million people giving you $15 a month, that’s $15 million dollars a month. Games like SWToR have “optional” subscriptions that don’t really let you do anything unless you subscribe. You can play through the story and that’s about it. Same with most games that have optional subs.

Then there are pay to win games that require you to pay to do well or advance.

Anet is none of these. It’s a buy to play game that supports it’s staff of 300 plus employees with sales from the gem store.

Anet isn’t going to stop making gem store items any more than the company you work for is going to cease to try to make a profit and pay their employees.

Someone has never played GW1.

Except GW1 was not an MMO, it was a CORPG (and in fact, GW1 also had an in-game store, though it was less expansive).

I just want more lore, more story. This can be in form of novels (especially a novel set between 1080 and 1120 AE centered around Ascalon, but I’ll take anything), in the form of maps, in the form of a PnP RPG, in the form of a single player video game, in the form of an animated series, whatever.

This is somewhat more recent and mentions both the next season and the next expansion: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/48zlyd/im_mike_obrien_here_with_gw2_dev_team_ama/

Both the next expansion and LS3 are mentioned here: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/state-of-the-game-update-q1-2016/

And have also been mentioned in various other places.

Here’s my entry (which I made a few months ago): https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Suggestion-Elite-spec-Ritualist/first#post5969027

Anet has said Season 3 is coming somewhere around the 3rd quarterly update (they were considering tying the two together but haven’t made a decision yet) and after the 3rd raid wing.

This thread is moving in this direction: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Suggestions-Future-Elite-Specializations/first

It is the same reactor. The fractal despicts the reactor before it blows:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thaumanova_Reactor
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Thaumanova_Reactor_Fractal

As Inculpatus cedo said, Hero Points and Mastery Points are two different things.

Hero points are character-bound and used for core and elite specializations.

Mastery points are account-bound and used for masteries.

sorudo.9054:

the problem is actually quite simple, the story is to straight forward.
we already know the dragons are the enemy, we already know killing a dragon solves everything.

Actually, we know killing them might be good in the shortterm but problematic in the longterm. We have learned (from Ogden and from the book of the Apostate) that killing the Elder Dragons increases magic levels in the world which in turn causes the world to become unbalanced. The dragons seem to be part of a natural cycle of the world (magic level increase —> dragons wake up --> magic levels decrease —> dragons go to sleep, etc). We are ending that cycle. In time, I hope the story moves towards us trying to solve both the threat of the dragons and the unbalance of magic that results from that.

This also makes the actions of the player character and his guild more morally grey; because how good is it to stop the Elder Dragons, really?

To add to what Konig said, you can download the GW1 game manuals from the official GW1 website, which are a great read (and something GW2 should’ve done): http://www.guildwars.com/en/download

Finalfreefall.8247:

The Inquest isn’t precisely evil either. They are horrible little jerks true, but they’re still fighting the dragons as a rouge element. Given how successful the research in CoE was I’d actually assume that they were close to pulling off a win and establishing Asura domination.

Not evil? Both their methods (i.e. cruel experiments, stealing ideas, stealing inventions and the like) and their goals (Asura domination) sound evil enough to me. They might not be evil in the sense that they want to kill everyone or destroy everything but that’s about it. And like Konig said, they are not fighting the dragons.

ZombieLeach.5862:

p.s. I’d like to point out that the courtyard the gears sit in looks like it should be the remains of the Historical Monument of Nolani. It’s in the correct place at least. (Link)

Not exactly: http://guide.thatshaman.com/

Thanathos.2063:

As far as I remember, they were able to resist because of Ventari’s tenets.
Stronger connection to Ventari’s dogma -> higher resistance against Mordremoth.

Wrong. The nightmare court has the same protection against Mord as the normal sylvari do. It is the soundless that seem most at risk. Here are the guessed reasons for resistance against Mord’s influence:

1) Distance from Mord (the closer you get, the stronger his influence).

2) connection to the dream (hence the risk of the Soundless which are only loosely connected to the dream).

3) a strong pale tree (which was weakened by the attack of the Shadow of the Dragon).

4) A strong will. Which is why sylvari like the player character, Caithe and Canach do not become corrupted even when they are very close to Mord.

What is a different matter alltogether is why the pale tree and the sylvari were born free in the first place. That might have had something to do with Ventari’s ideas but we don’t actually know. It might also have had to with being grown on top of the graves of Ronan’s family. Or growing outside of Mord’s influence.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

Playing Guild Wars 1 would be your best bet

Specifically Prophecies and Eye of the North, which coincidentally are the two campaigns that take place in the continent of Tyria and are thus most relevant to GW2 anyway.

Dashingsteel.3410:

We already have enough ugly desert maps. I don’t want to see 4 more. How about the shiverpeaks Anet? or maybe that woodlands area….. anything but more desert maps

Remember that the Elon river was diverted, making large parts of the desert lush. In addition, parts of the desert were flooded by the ocean, making parts of the desert underwater.

We already knew we season 3 wouldn’t be starting before the end of march: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/state-of-the-game-update-q1-2016/

From that same source we also know that we will however get the 2nd wing before the end of march.

Ayrilana.1396:

Kralk didn’t rise in Ascalon.

Somewhat to the north of Ascalon, you’re right, my mistake. He flew south over Ascalon towards the desert, which was my main point.

Tanith.5264:

Bear in mind, guys…Kralkatorrik rose in the desert, but it’s Ascalon that he menaces…and we’ve already got those maps. Don’t you want to do something about all those dang Branded?

It’s the opposite: Kralk rose in Ascalon but then flew to the desert (where we presume he still is, though we don’t know for sure).

EdgarMTanaka.7291:

Living story for me kept me active in PvE every day but now (even though I have lots still to do PvE) I more or less only play PvP and it is starting to get boring. I don’t like to farm and grind stuff, I like story and exploring and GW2 pre HoT gave me that, but now everything is only about PvP and a little raid. I haven’t heard a word about new living world for “casual” gamers (I do like the difficulty of HoT maps) but I am not a raider.

See: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/state-of-the-game-update-q1-2016/

Note that Living Story season 3 is under the ‘Looking Long Term’ section meaning it won’t start before the end of march.

OanSur.4590:

Does it mean we won’t get any story unless we pay for it ? No new content for a year and BAM – here is the expansion for 40$ ?

We already know we are getting a third season of the living story, we are getting it this year in fact. However, it won’t be starting before the end of march.

Yes, I too was expecting it to come sooner but with them working on the second expansion and on everything else (such as the WvW revamp, polishing HoT, more raid wings, balance updates and so on) I can’t really say that I blame them.

This is an option (if you like GW1 stuff that is): http://thatshaman.blogspot.nl/p/historical-guide.html