Guild Wars 2

Guilds really need a lot of extra features to give them some meat, but ultimately the quality of your guild is down to the quality of the people in it every time.

My guild is awesome

I’m female and about half of my characters are female.

Ultimately, I’d play more male characters if half as much effort was put into making them attractive to women as was put into making the female characters attractive to men. Meh. This is one of those self-fulfilling prophecies really. Kinda like how not many people play charr because their armour options are lacking, and then Anet spend less time on charr armour because not as many people play them.

Elbegast.6970:

For a Living World, we need:
Seasons
Better Weather Effects
Dark Nights (no, not Christian Bale)
Purchasable Real Estate
Player Owned Shops
Player Owned Farms (for Livestock and Produce)
Fishing, Hunting & Farming Professions
Player-Generated Dynamic Events

For a Living Story, we need:
An In-Game Calendar that lists recurring festival events and distinguishes them apart from the Living Story releases.
Shorter story arcs, more zone-by-zone storytelling and less focus on larger player-funneling zerg events.

Just chiming in to say evolving seasons/weather would make me explode with joy. And also that, while the two concepts intertwine in terms of implementation, it is important to distinguish somewhat between the living ~world~ and the living ~story~ as has been done here.

int randInt return.3280:

If you can’t change the 2 week schedule on new releases, you can at least lessen the problems related to them. Make them stick around for few cycles into the next set of LW, and make them smaller but more interactive (with players and with the other content).

While sound in theory, this brings with it its own problems.

I noticed yesterday, actually, while working on some Tower achievements, that the whole thing felt messy with Halloween stuff still showing up at random. Pumpkins here, doors popping up there. I don’t really know how else to describe it except as messy and cluttered.

The biggest problem, however, is that the quicker players complete the latest achievements and then they abandon the previous content as soon as the next release arrives. People who couldn’t take part in Halloween until the late stages found content like the labyrinth impossible to tackle because everyone else had moved onto the Tower. The 2-week release cycle hurries players from one shiny new set of content to the next.

There’s a reason that old LW content that remained permanent became abandoned/unused, and it’s not always to do with problems specifically related to that content. Players have to hurry onto the next set of achievements if they want to do them. My guild leader got all of the Tower achievement done after a big, long session of grind a few days ago and then declared he wasn’t touching Kessex Hills again. I get the impression he hated every minute of it and just wanted to get the reward out of the way.

Honestly, I get very similar feelings about most LW releases. I feel pressured to complete the achievements ASAP so I can get on with the content I would rather be playing, if it weren’t for the fact that I’d miss out on a time-limited reward. I’m okay with skipping cosmetics I don’t care about, but utility stuff like home crafting nodes etc. I hate to miss out on. So I grit my teeth and grind to get them before I run out of time.

StriderShinryu.6923:

Lunaire.5827:

I’m not sure I can call this discussion ‘collaborative’ if mid-way through the thread a dev says cadence is non-negotiable.

To me, it’s not so much that it’s non-negotiable. I can respect that if a developer has a set plan in mind for what they are doing and trying to accomplish, there are going to be core pieces to that puzzle that can’t be changed. However, if there was a plan in place and those core fundamentals were established, they would also be able to be discussed and detailed.

Yeah, I’m rather annoyed that arguably the hottest concern raised in this thread has been dismissed without any significant discussion or justification. If it is viewed as such an important idea, I’m desperate for someone to sell it to me, because despite reassurances to the contrary, I’m seeing a lot of quantity and problems in quality that I can only attribute to stretched resources (and have even been explicitly described as such in other thread, such as the restrictions on cutscenes/important storytelling polish).

I do not believe that the 2 week release schedule is healthy or beneficial for the game. Nothing said so far in the thread has convinced me otherwise. If there’s no chance in hell of it being changed, at least help us understand why.

I’d like to show some love for the male version, too. I always feel like it’s super hard to find some bare arm action for male scholars.

This would be great, but ultimately still not as great as unlocking armour sets as reusable skins, which would be our ideal scenario.

I managed at level 23 on my necro, though I did have to take my time during the solo instance for the most part. There were a few close calls. Having to ‘finish’ enemies is probably the most frustrating part.

Neriandal Freit.2810:

Shes mad, insane and has a plan no one knows.

Honestly, I kinda hate ‘insane’ being used as a character definer. It takes a very, very skilled writer to be able to pull it off without making the character feel flat as a cardboard cutout and a nasty outdated stereotype of the mentally ill, and it really hasn’t succeeded in Scarlet’s case IMO. When it’s paired with an attempt at making a comedic character, the whole thing makes me cringe. When Kasmeer dropped a note about her being a ‘psycho’ I cringed even harder.

Exploring mental health issues can make for some really interesting characters, but only if you’re going to approach ‘crazy’ with a little more research and consideration than ‘lol she so random and cray and also a super smart genius’.

The Nightmare Court are frivolously violent and have their own agenda that is largely morally incomprehensible to anyone with a conscience or an ounce of compassion, but they aren’t described as crazy or mad. They have a completely absent moral compass that is super interesting (to me) and worth a lot more exploration than it gets in the personal story, but they’re relegated to being Faction X of latest alliance XY in this release again.

EDIT: In a non-game example, take the supremely popular villain Loki from the Marvel movies. Nobody would claim he didn’t have a lot of problems, but we get to see them all unfolding in insecurities about his parentage, jealousy of his popular awesome brother, a desperate need to be wanted/loved. What he does as a result of that is violent and eccentric, and he’s frequently misunderstood as being mad/irrational/nasty for the sake of being nasty, but is actually a fairly complex character. That’s why he has such a huge fanbase.

Maybe Scarlet would be more palatable if she got similar visible development, but the old adage ‘show, don’t tell’ applies here. Everything we know about her, we have to be told., and that makes it unconvincing by its very nature.

Vick.6805:

Mesket, I don’t disagree with you, but I might be able to take that more seriously if we didn’t have plush quaggan backpacks all over the place.

As to the topic: I wouldn’t mind more wings if they were done tastefully and were not animated. They should move according to the character model’s motion physics. They should not have their own independent animation.

However, I would love to see other types of back pieces, too. Such as:

Guild Capes
Orbs
Cosmetic Weapons like Anton’s swords
Auras
Scarves

There’s lots of cool stuff that could be done with back pieces, rather than repeating the same ones.

EDIT: Isn’t this more of a Suggestions forum kind of thread?

Amen! Capes, scarves, ponchos, more non-novelty backpacks and ‘practical’ accessories like quivers would all be awesome.

Tamaki Revolution.3548:

I can see how the change is bad from a few of these pictures, but a lot of the "After"’s look a lot better than the befores (poster above me). I have 0 Salad people though, so if the general consensus is that the older versions are better, I do hope that they can fix the changes.

It’s really down to taste. A lot of people loved the natural-looking subtle colour variations and texture detail that has been replaced by vary garish flat colours and colour transitions with the change.

Northlander.4619:

It felt insulting to be honest. Not because there was a skimpy armor set for females. It felt insulting because you automatically assumed I wouldn’t want female characters to have a similar look as the males have. That I somehow needed a fully covering, robe-like armor to turn into a few straps of cloth or I wouldn’t roll a female light armor character.

It’s frustrating because the problem with starting you out in such provocative amour was raised even during the beta weekends, and that feedback was ignored. It was actually changed to this, I think in advance of that convention for Asian markets (g star or something like that?). Before that, starter scholar armour was one of the more neutral early sets, which was much preferred.

Again, I don’t have a problem with this type of armour existing, but it should always be a choice for the player to wear it, and it should never be a case of ‘only skimpy on the female’. Having it forced on you right out of the gate, especially when a) it even potentially clashes with your chosen character background (a human street urchin wouldn’t be wearing such fanciful lingerie, and let’s not even start on at how culturally out of place it is for races like the norn), and b) the male starter scholar is elegant and much more modest, really annoyed me.

The problem with Clockwork Chaos invasions as an anti-zerg example is that the most profitable way to complete the invasion remains to not complete it at all. Yes, not zerging is the best way to finish the invasion, but why would anyone do that when Aetherblade Pirate zerg farming is the the most rewarding output available from it?

I haven’t seen any map so much as try to complete an invasion since probably the middle of the Clockwork Chaos event. The mechanics of it are still far too skewed in favour of rewarding farmers. It should have much, much fewer Aetherblade champ spawns, more random Twisted champs (since this encourages people to split up and spread out in order to find them), and better rewards for event completion.

Psycho Robot.7835:

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Regarding Cadence of release: This is not something we plan to change in terms of timing and I wanted to make that clear from the outset.

I’m disappointed to hear this. I don’t see why the development team feels the need to release content so fast. If the content starts being fun, adequately rewarding, polished, and bug free, then there’s obviously no problem with rapid releases, however I doubt that this can be done, and honestly, even if it can be done, I would just wonder how much better it could be if the release schedule were slower.

Agreed on this. I’d love to hear more development justification for the fast releases, as it’s just really hard to understand from the perspective of a player feeling overwhelmed by the quantity and underwhelmed by the quality of a large number of LW releases.

Can’t expect much more when players are being hustled from one fortnight of content to the next with a dire impetus to complete the achievements before they disappear forever.

ninetales.5208:

Maybe they need to bring Dougal Keane out of retirement He’s pretty cool in the Ghosts of Ascalon.

I’m ok with the strong female characters to be honest. Mostly I wish for moar Asura.

Ooooh! I would dig some Dougal Keane action. He was very likeable.

After yet another ‘alliance’ plot, I’d have to say we really need some diversity of plotlines in the Living World as well. It really is becoming a ‘team rocket’s blasting off agaaaaaaain’ scenario where every single release has exactly the same plot structure.

Add that to the fact that Scarlet doesn’t only violate common sense/lore in her own right with a really unconvincing backstory, but seems capable of making entire other factions/races behave contrary to their cultures as established in the lore, too (see: xenophobic krait suddenly allying with the NC, misogynist Sons of Svanir taking orders from a woman), and it’s becoming a real uninspiring mess that I really just can’t invest any interest in at this point.

I realise it’s now going to be a while before we move on from Scarlet, even if all the feedback about her is taken on board, but until she’s gone and we get back to the real lore, my interest in the LW is probably going to remain limited to ‘do I care about/want this release’s cosmetic reward or not?’.

Nightingale.9714:

This is excellent work. Ive read posts on this upcoming change in the sylvari section where they explained exactly how hard it is to make this kind of update and the flat-out truth is that you ought to be grateful. They put in a lot of work to make the sylvari glow work and it should be appreciated. I know we’re all very sorry that YOUR special combination of dyes that was just PERFECT before no longer looks the same. But I’m afraid youre just gonna have to find something else that works….

And another thing: this kind of update took several months to get released since its inception, if you try and make them rework it again: not only will you not see it for quite a while, but you might like it less. Not to mention the fact that many of us like myself really like the changes.

Bottom line: Bite the bullet and get used to the change. There are new combinations to explore and ONE of them will meet your needs. Thank anet for responding to our cries for this change and make it work.

You know, the vast majority of negative feedback in this thread has been extremely respectful to Kristen, particularly recognising that she has always been really engaged with the sylvari-fan community and regularly responds to ideas and concerns in the sylvari forum in person. She’s awesome and I’ve always loved her sylvari work . . . but I still think this particular change is a negative one.

It really doesn’t do you any favours to come in here demeaning everyone providing their honest feedback just because you personally like the change.

EDIT: Just to add, reverting to previous versions of software does not generally take the same amount of time as it took to build the updates, providing version control has been effectively employed.

BobbyStein.2315:

Player Agency
<snip>

I think the main thing I’d say on this topic is that even if it’s hard for technical reasons to have the player character central to and fully voiced in cutscenes, sometimes the plot could have been restructured to allow the player character to take a more central role.

We often become personal assistants to the latest NPC in each story release, but I think you could attain a lot more player agency if the NPCs helped us. Like, we stumble across evidence of the Bloody Prince and then accidentally dig him up. We start investigating a murder we witnessed, because the NPCs recognise we’ve accomplished a lot of stuff and can probably handle it.

It’s a subtle reframing, but one that could potentially be quite powerful – especially if we can get technical improvements that will allow our characters to be voiced and active in the story-related content in the future.

Psycho Robot.7835:

BobbyStein.2315:

Story Pacing & Continuity
There are some folks who feel that the Living World story is moving too slowly

Wait, what? Too slow? Is that what you got from the past 10 pages? All I see is person after person saying that the pace is too fast. Its nearly unanimous so far that the development feels rushed, and its not flushed out or properly refined. Plus, even the people who do feel that its too slow likely only feel like that because there is actually very little story in each patch. If you slowed down you could actually give enough story in a patch to last for a month, rather than deal with time constraints so overbearing that you can’t even fill two weeks worth.

I think what Bobby meant was the pace of the story is too slow. Separate issue to the pace of releases.

Yeah, I’m pretty bored of them now, too.

Frustrating.

If you want the armour to be revealing/impractical, make it revealing/impractical for both genders. If you want one revealing set and one not revealing, release 2 armour sets! It’s so bloody simple that I don’t understand why Anet keep making this same fundamental mistake.

I love the sylvari look, but I’m generally not fond of this change. I feel like this has killed a lot of the subtle colour detail and skin pull-through that allowed the sylvari cultural armours to look ‘grown’.

I guess I’ll get used to it, but I think it looked much better before Sorry, Kristen. I know you work really kitten the sylvari aesthetics.

timmyf.1490:

Because of the Personal Story, the Living World can only modify the game in very limited ways.

While it’s not related directly, I think it would indirectly be beneficial to make the final step of the personal story solo-able. I’d place bets on there being huge numbers of players with characters sitting at that final stage – myself included. Make it less of a hassle to progress past the personal story, and you can worry at least a little less about that.

Things I enjoy most about the Living World:

• Seeing/exploring new locations
• Changes like those currently in Kessex Hills that are subtle, non-fanfare, mysterious and generate genuine community intrigue and enthusiasm. They also genuinely change the map, which in the longterm makes core gameplay like the progression of alts much more interesting because the maps will be different over time as you complete them repeatedly.
• Some of the cosmetic rewards – I’m less a fan of the novelty ones that look pretty silly on most characters, but the flower backpieces etc. have been really nice.
• We now have fewer excessive grindy achievements than we used to get (see Halloween 2012 vs 2013) although rewards are hit and miss (see Halloween 2013 20-slot bags)
• We now have a smaller emphasis on RNG ticket-based rewards per event, which is awesome. Dragon Bash drove me mad trying to get a Jade Ticket, which I never did manage despite sinking hours and hours into the attempt.
• EDIT: I’ve also appreciated the range of difficulty in content in releases such as the Queen’s Gauntlet and Tequatl.
• EDIT 2!: Jumping puzzles

Things I dislike about the Living World:

Writing/Story

• Scarlet – as a villain, as a character, as a plot device. She’s poorly written, shallow, uninteresting and much, much worse than anything Tyria deserves in its lore.
• The lack of development of existing factions/characters/locations/races/plot elements from the personal story – instead we often seem to get some new flavour of the month villain, like the Aetherblades. This is partly an extension of my Scarlet hate.
• Poor framing of the player character in the story – we often have no idea what is going on. Take Halloween, for example – we could have been the characters discovering the Bloody Prince’s existence. Instead, some much smarter character does it instead and we just get to play personal assistant again.
• Critical story information only being available in prose on the website – this should 100% be IN the game.

Content

• The temporary nature of content – hate this as GW1’s strength was that you could play at your own pace. Even now you could go back and complete all of the content (bar seasonal festivals). While I like the idea of world actually being ‘alive’, what we’ve mostly been getting with the LW is not world change, but an episodic story. Miss an episode, and you have no idea what the hell is going on.
• Gating story progression behind achievement grind (e.g. recent Halloween content)
• Too fine a focus on achievement-driven, checklist-checking playtime and throwaway content that will be played only until people have got their achievements and then abandoned. Focus on content that will be played persistently because it’s fun and has longterm value.
• Meta-achievements that can only be achieved through combined use of daily and static LW achievements – this is extremely inflexible if you can only log in one or two days a week and forces players to play to the game’s schedule instead of their own. See the current Halloween meta, which not only blocks story progress but also requires multiple days of play to complete because you have to complete dailies.

Things I would change:

• Reduce the pace of releases. I’ve seen development quotes bemoaning the lack of resources to put into stuff like cutscenes, but I would quite frankly rather see FEWER updates of HIGHER quality with a focus on that layer of polish which cutscenes would add.
• Even more permanent content (this has improved recently, but I still grimace when I think of the permanent expansion we could have had by now if the LW resources had been spent on that instead).
• Reduce the amount of time-gating. If some of the LW content sticks around permanently, make sure the achievements and rewards stick around permanently, too.
• Work on the story delivery system. This is desperately needed if you want players to be more invested in the LW than “Have I done all the achievements yet?”
• Make meta-achievements more accessible – the best LW instances in this respect have been e.g. the Bazaar, where you could complete the meta via multiple static achievements, all daily achievements, or a combination of both.
• Make sure that critical story info for a LW episode is not lost in a written piece on the website. Either put the prose in the game, or make it more available via cutscenes/dialogue/discovery in-game. Either way, it belongs in-game!
• EDIT3!: Account-bound/reusable cosmetic rewards, via a skin bank or something similar to the Achievement skins panel.

ColinJohanson.2394:

Faowri.4159:

If it is temporary, can you at least make it possible for players to acquire in other ways? That’d be an awesome compromise. The same goes for any significant non-cosmetic LW rewards, really.

You’ll be able to acquire the skill forever, it’s simply easier to earn (doesn’t cost skill points) during the release window.

Awwwwwesome. Thank you kindly for allaying my concerns

Durzlla.6295:

I’d say with how many people hate scarlet that she’s doing a good job as a villain

Hahaha xD Alas, there’s a biiiiig difference between hating a character for being a good villain, and hating a character’s writing, background, plot purpose and impact on the game.

Oh please god no.

Holy Whirlwind.2067:

Hope this now makes more sense to you, and shows you why this scenario is much different than the one the OP posted about.

I appreciate you taking the time to write this response and respect your opinion, but it’s not really a case of me not understanding, and more a case of me disagreeing about the community value of zergs. I’ve already pretty much explained why, but I feel that Scarlet is the prime example of why zergs are farmer-first, play-naturally second. Zergs were ultimately the worst way to approach that event for fun and actual completion, and still are . . . unless you want to farm Aetherblade pirates and other miscellaneous champs. A lot of this is driven by problematic game mechanics and reward systems as well, of course.

But I don’t want to divert from the OP’s topic any further. I personally felt, and still feel, it’s an equivalent concern, but I’ve said my piece so I’ll let you guys get back to it

The acquisition period for most Living World rewards is temporary. Miniatures, novelty items, backpieces, crafting nodes, etc. etc. Even returning content doesn’t always have the same achievements/rewards available to acquire. I really don’t think it’s such a stretch to assume the LW reward system will continue as is, which is why I’m pre-emptively voicing my concerns.

But I’m repeating myself now, so I’ll leave it there.

lordkrall.7241:

Complete the Tower of Nightmares meta achievement to receive a Krait Obelisk Shard for your home instances, which can serve as a place of power for earning a skill point or charging Quartz Crystals!

It states directly that the meta achievement will reward a Krait Obelisk Shard, whilst nothing is said about rewarding the skill for it as well, thus it is safe to assume that the skill is NOT tied to the meta and thus most likely not temporary.

Halloween has two achievements with rewards, and it’s not the first Living World release to do so. It’s not safe to assume the best solution for players is the one we will get. You may be happy to give Anet the benefit of the doubt that they would not lock new skills behind temporary content. I am not, and thus this is valid feedback.

lordkrall.7241:

But the skill is not given for the meta. The node is given for the meta. And even if the meta is time-limited quite a bit of the content needed for it is permanent. Such as Tequalt, TA new path and so on.

It’s not out yet, so you don’t actually know how we get the reward. I’m not looking to pick a fight here, mate. I’m just stating my concerns in advance in case, like many other LW rewards, this actual potentially game-impacting reward is locked behind temporary, time-limited content.

If it isn’t, no worries.

lordkrall.7241:

What makes you assume that it is temporary?
The majority of the things from the last release have been permanent after all.

Going by the list of releases, we have arguably 5/20 releases that have resulted in significant permanent content, and very, very few of those allow you to complete the meta outside of the allocated time period, and the meta is usually what warrants a notable reward.

EDIT: Actually, I’m not sure any allow you to complete the meta. I forgot the Boss Week meta reward was wings, which is gone, even though the new Teq achievements are still there.

Wallace MacBix.2089:

Faowri.4159:

I’m actually looking forward to seeing what the next update with the krait is, so long as Scarlet is scarce. It’ll be great to see a pre-established race get to do some ‘living’ in this living world, and making an impact on the world.

But the note about the anti-toxin skill reward did make me cringe. Locking important content like entire new skills behind temporary content does not strike me as a clever move.

If it is temporary, can you at least make it possible for players to acquire in other ways? That’d be an awesome compromise. The same goes for any significant non-cosmetic LW rewards, really.

Or it could be a perm new dungeon (or instance or mini dungeon). Or the way to get the skill could be outside of said tower, in which case there’s no reason the skill can’t be gained at anytime.

I’d be cool with that. I’m just erring on the side of caution here, seeing as the vast majority of LW content has been temporary.

I’m actually looking forward to seeing what the next update with the krait is, so long as Scarlet is scarce. It’ll be great to see a pre-established race get to do some ‘living’ in this living world, and making an impact on the world.

But the note about the anti-toxin skill reward did make me cringe. Locking important content like entire new skills behind temporary content does not strike me as a clever move.

If it is temporary, can you at least make it possible for players to acquire in other ways? That’d be an awesome compromise. The same goes for any significant non-cosmetic LW rewards, really.

I really love the female sylvari voice, personally. JH suits my guardian to a T!

Charming Rogue.8071:

Faowri.4159:

Saw a commander in the Labyrinth today yelling for people not to activate the door events until the zerg arrived. Play the way you want to, and don’t let the farmers dictate the rules of the game. If they try to, abusively, then report and block.

That’s pretty kitten selfish of you. As a zerg we come together as a community, to gain equal rewards for everyone. In this scenario you’re just stealing all the rewards for yourself, unwilling to share. Or you could stay ignorant and “just be playing the game”.

It is absolutely not selfish. A zerg isn’t about community – it’s about optimising farming via an overpowering mass of players to reduce the amount of skill and time required to smite bosses and churn out champ loot. It’s mind-numbingly dull, performance-intensive, and certainly would not be done if not for farming purposes – hence the reason you don’t see zergs where the rewards aren’t good.

Some players get performance problems in zergs. Some players just want to be able to see what the hell they are doing. Some players would like to get a hit on a boss before the zerg decimates it. They are none of them obliged to participate in a zerg to complete map content. I’ve seen far more rude commanders/zerg participants than I have seen people deliberately screwing with a champ train.

Lexandro.1456:

Faowri.4159:

Lexandro.1456:

But it still begs the question as to why people are fine with legendaries needing boatloads of playtime and mats to craft, but are against a tier with a playtime/mats requirement lower than legendary.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

It does if you remember that Legendary weapons were supposed to be prestige cosmetics, not perma-BiS gear. That has gone out of the window along with a lot of other gear grind principles.

Nope, still makes no sense to me. The grind is fine for something that had zero effect on gameplay? Infact that makes even less sense to me.

That’s how the game was marketed – skill > time, anti-grind, max stats for everyone at level 80, time investment for cosmetic rather than power rewards etc. etc. Obviously not the case now, but that’s where the acceptance of Legendaries comes from, because they were a high level prestige cosmetic reward.

Lexandro.1456:

But it still begs the question as to why people are fine with legendaries needing boatloads of playtime and mats to craft, but are against a tier with a playtime/mats requirement lower than legendary.

Makes no sense whatsoever.

It does if you remember that Legendary weapons were supposed to be prestige cosmetics, not perma-BiS gear. That has gone out of the window along with a lot of other gear grind principles.

Full cutscenes with art, voice acting and such, sure. Pretty confident that text overlayed on existing music with some afterfx maybe wouldn’t be as resource-intensive. Besides, just throwing out ideas

Ok I Did It.2854:

If you want them ingame can you not just have an Asuran Story Teller in LA that takes you to a small cut screen and reads the story too you.

Ooooh. Thought! I could get behind a Lost Odyssey-style visual story presentation thing. I loved those. Some of them were really moving.

I really, really wish there were separate titles. I don’t particularly care for WvW and I dread getting to that point where the only locations I need for completion are in the WvW maps.

I don’t really see it as different, personally. There’s no mandatory requirement to participate in a zerg to complete content. It’s a little like when low level players are harassed in Queensdale for ‘interfering’ with the champ train.

Kyrel.8942:

Report if they were harassing you. Otherwise pay no heed to the unreasonable whims of others.

Hyep.

Saw a commander in the Labyrinth today yelling for people not to activate the door events until the zerg arrived. Play the way you want to, and don’t let the farmers dictate the rules of the game. If they try to, abusively, then report and block.

Okay, I’ve just completed Demongrubb Pits and that seemed to count, as it’s completed the Puzzle Jumper achievement and also my monthly achievement. Seems to be resolved . . . maybe? Something was definitely screwy back there.

Apparently it was supposed to be fixed in this patch: Link

Fixed a bug which prevented finishing the clock tower from counting toward Daily Puzzle Jumper or Puzzle Jumper achievements.

Oddly enough, while running around Mad King’s Labyrinth, at some point the achievement count has crept up to 11/12. I didn’t notice exactly when this happened, but it definitely wasn’t at the time of the last puzzle being completed, and I’m still 100% sure the count isn’t right and should be 12/12.

Maybe some weird achievement lag?

Summary: Jumping puzzles I am 100% sure I’ve not completed this month are not contributing to the monthly ‘Puzzle Jumper’ achievement for me since the Halloween patches, leaving me stuck at 10/12 and unable to progress.

Details:

• My Monthly ‘Puzzle Jumper’ achievement is currently sitting at a count of 10. The last JP i did that contributed to it was Morgan’s Spiral, before the Halloween patch went live (though on the same day).

• On the day the first Halloween patch went live, I completed the Mad King’s Clocktower and this did not increment my total.

• I completed it again when I saw a release note stating that the bug causing it not to count for Puzzle Jumper and the equivalent daily achievement had been fixed. This still did not count toward the total.

• I completed it again today to see if the most recent patch had fixed this issue. My total still did not increment.

• To quickly finish off the achievement, I attempted Pig Iron Quarry on my mesmer successfully. This did not count toward the achievement.

• I switched to a different character and completed Collapsed Observatory just to be sure. It also did not count toward the achievement.

Anyone else having issues, or is it just me?

Excursion.9752:

What a great story that could have been used in the game as part of the living story! This is the type of stuff needed for the living story, an actual story. I personally would like to see an update every 3 weeks to a month than rushing out what seems like unfinished/rushed content.

In all honesty that was more telling than anything that happened in the story thus far. Granted I didn’t take the time last night to kill the prince but I can go out on a limb here and say it will fall short on telling what’s going on.

What I would have liked to experience

1) Find scrolls talking about Edrics reliquary. This leads you on a quest to find more information.

2)You trace the scrolls origin to some family who talks about relatives in the past and talks about the story of what happened on that day. How the Mad King burned the village of Pelchalice and killed over 600 people. That there was an uprising against the King to remove him from his thrown. But still no questions answered on why the Mad King would put his own son in a tomb. You still are looking for more answers and the family talks of people who escaped that day from the castle.

3)You are able to trace the family that has kept the secret all these years about a sons plot to overthrow the King. How it was the prince who did all the bad things to the village of Pelchalice. How the sons last meal was candy corn and how he was locked in the box and the records purged so he would not be known. Then the family drops a hint thinking the tomb was near the Black Citadel.

4)Here is where we start the story as it was given to us by finding the tomb and meeting the prince for the first time.

All of that would have been great in my opinion and it would have actually made since. Other than me playing a guessing game and throwing garbage at him until I picked up a piece of candy corn and tossed it at him. The first question that popped in my head was why candy corn…

This type of format would also have been a great way of framing the player character as the main, driving character in the Living World narrative for a change. We’re always somebody’s assistant or helper, and always seem to be the last person in the know. How cool would it be to be the character actually making these discoveries for a change? Or to have the burden of responsibility on our shoulders after accidentally letting the prince out?

It’s one of the better stories. But imagine how much more awesome it could have been as a concept art-style cinematic.