Guild Wars 2

I wish ANet would resolve some of the mysteries regarding the EDs. Every un-resolved mystery and cliffhanger is like an itch waiting to be scratched.

Lol, as an alt-aholic, I play around in character creation a lot.

Northerny. Maybe they’re supposed to sound cold?

Or maybe he meant Nordic, and that they’re supposed to sound like Vikings or something.

Just by sight, I do believe it’s:

Skin Colour: Mid 1
Face: 2nd in Top Row
Hair: 2nd in Middle Row, Colour: Platinum
Beard: 3rd in Top Row
Eye Colour: Autumn Brown
Jaw Width: 100%

This is, of course, if you’re creating a character from scratch. Lol, this was fun. XD

I normally don’t go around ANet bashing, but as Zelkovan states, I think ANet could use a little improvement in their story-telling and in their portrayal of the EDs in-game.

Storyline-wise, I think having the EDs as primary antagonists is fine, but the way the dragons are going to be portrayed have to be thought through carefully. Take Galactus from the Marvel series for example: despite being a cosmic entity which destroys planets without mercy, I personally feel attached to the character because I can (sort of) understand his motivations. As we begin to learn more about this cosmic entity through the protagonists in the Marvel world, we begin to really understand Galactus, find out the extent of his alien mind, and thus even begin to ‘care’ for him. With Zhaitan, all we really know is that he is powerful dragon who creates Risen without rhyme or reason.

Combat and game mechanics-wise, the final battle with Zhaitan was also a downer. As Zelkovan so accurately puts it, taking down Zhaitan was simply a matter of pressing #2 on the keyboard. Aside from having to dodge a posionous field of undead spit, there was almost zero skill required (no dodges, no having to leap from falling platforms, etc). Funny thing is, ANet is capable of coming up with some very memorable fight scenes. Fighting Abaddon from GW1: Nightfall was one – having to battle a gigantic god with nothing but swords and fireballs made for an awesome fight. The Storm Wizard batlle in SAB was also another memorable fight – remember having to run around in circles just to avoid the increasingly decreasing amount of platforms and jumping on random clouds to avoid being struck by lightning? Combat in these scenes made the boss seem more challenging and epic to defeat.

Nonetheless, ANet has been improving in their story-telling and combat mechanics, so I hope to see more!

Only because it’s more fun to roleplay evil characters than namby-pamby good ones. ;D

If you’re an achievement hound, there are plenty of titles and achievements to complete. Don’t forget to create legendaries for all of your alts. A If you’re an achievement hound, there are plenty of titles and achievements to complete. Don’t forget to create legendaries for all of your alts. A Tyrian’s life is never done. ;D

@Uzi: Brilliant concept. But as Chase mentioned, it’s going to be a very different Guild Wars game by then, with a whole lot of novel coding (and unchartered sales territory) involved. Maybe we’ll have something like that in Guild Wars 5?

I think it’s great, however, that our beloved game is idea fuel for people like Uzi.

Ohhh… Zaxares sweetie, good and evil are just concepts created by people. The Nightmare Court merely teaches each sylvari to experience life to the fullest: love and hate; comfort and torment – they are all intertwining aspects to our existence on Tyria.

It is our role as enlightened people to help educate these poor, lesser races. Sometimes by force, sometimes by seduction. ;D

I actually agree with Danyier in that the Chinese language voices, text and interface language should be ported over and made available for the NA and EU clients. I mean they already have the necessary digital assets in Mandarin, and the NA client, does in fact, have support for French, Spanish and German, so don’t think it’ll be too hard to add another option.

But hey, I’m not a programmer.

Yeah, not everyone is “disappointed in the Living World”. It’s not perfect, but I did enjoy many parts of it, including the ever evolving world and its contents.

@DarcShriek: The Asura would throw you to the Inquest for that sort of blasphemy.

Lol, calm down you guys. Both of you have a point. So jheryn’s idea is a little more speculative and Konig’s is a little more lore-based, both of you have thrown out very good points.

No sense in having two brilliant minds killing each other over a misunderstanding, yes?

Sigh… well, that really sucks.

Just wondering if I’m missing out on something, but I can’t seem to find any Chinese language interface option in the game? I really want to pick up Mandarin, and games are usually a very good way to learn languages. Will it be available after the open-beta?

I think expecting GW2 to release all Living World content is a little like paying for cable TV, and expecting a show to start from the first episode on demand.

Konig, your point number 2 would really make hate ANet.

Big question though, which dragon do they get to be corrupted by? XD

I’m not sure how constantly adding permanent content affects the game system though. Would having more zones increase the amount of assets ANet needs to run the game smoothly (more servers = more cost, etc)? Though it’d be really nice to visit the Bazaar of the Four Winds again – I think it’s such a pity that the devs put in so much hard work to get a zone up and running and have to scrap it two weeks later.

And I believe ANet’s reasoning behind it was to make sure there wouldn’t be too many dungeons available – imagine if you wanted to do a Living World dungeon but couldn’t get a PUG to join you because the amount of players wanting to do the same dungeon would be spread thin?

Instanced dungeons and replaying certain cinematics might work, but recreating the huge amount of open world content is going to be developer’s nightmare.

For example, one of the events included timed appearances of Scarlet all over Tyria, where hordes of players were necessary to take her down. This can’t easily (to my knowledge) be recreated, unless your 100 plus player allies (I forget the player limit per map) are AI simulated OR if they somehow create an instance of the event, allowing you to 5-man it, but that would totally destroy the concept of waves of random allies joining you in battle against the big bad. Even worse, it probably means ANet has to spend twice as long to create an event, because they have to take time to plan the main event and then take time to create said instanced event. You’d also end up with dungeon balancing issues that will only grow as they keep adding content.

I totally get where you’re coming from, and it’s been a real bummer when I’ve had to miss content because of work/life commitments. On the bright side, I know that Guild Wars 2 is always evolving, and if I can’t be a part of Tyria’s past, I can still be a part of its future!

@Bully: You’re just jealous because you’re not Sylvari, lol. But yes, I concede your point.

What happens at the edge of the world?

@Ramiel: Because I am a big D&D nerd, that’s why. XD

@Aidan: Touché, although don’t you think it’s silly that all Asura seem like they all come from the same community? Humans have Krytan, Ascalonian, Canthan or Elonian backgrounds, while the Asura look like they were all born and bred in Rata Sum. Whatever happened to the proud inhabitants of Quora Sum and Rata Pten? (And what’s up with the black dark-skinned Norn?)

@Algreg: A pity, and I totally agree. It’s sad to know game ideas can be stymied because of “considerations” (see the Great Collapse), but that hasn’t stopped ANet from including other touches (see Jory and Kasmeer), so, fingers crossed! On another note, GW2 can be a platform to promote and celebrate cultural diversity!

Yeah, I think so too, but if they could just chuck in a few more sentences than what we have now, I would be so happy.

I’m not sure how high of a priority this might be for ANet, but I’d really love to see a bit more cultural diversity among the inhabitants of Tyria. The world currently features a great deal of architectural styles and clothing, and ANet has gone a long way to flesh out the cultures of the different races, however I think more can be done to make Tyria more colourful. Here are some suggestions:

Language
Novel architecture and clothing are great, but to me, nothing makes me feel more like an adventurer than when the people around me are speaking a different language. While I get that Ascalonian is the de facto common language for all the races, having all the races speak “American” (or “British”, if you’re Sylvari) all the time becomes really boring. In Factions, NPCs would spout out Canthan phrases, which at that point of time, made me feel wonderfully foreign. In the same way, ANet can subtly include NPCs who’ll randomly converse in their racial language within the racial cities. I foresee a bit of problem when translating these lines into languages that don’t use alphabets (i.e. Mandarin), but they can either be approximated into the dubbed language, or left as is, in Roman letters.

Festivals
This to me, comes at a distant to my point above. However, I remember when I first came across the group of Charr preparing for Meatoberfest in Diessa Plateau, I remember my interest being piqued. I know there are already a bunch of recurring festivals like Wintersday and Halloween, but these are obvious commemorations of real world holidays. It seems odd that the other races wouldn’t some sort of cultural festival, and it makes Tyria seem too much of a mirror of Earth.

Religion
I get that this might be a bit of a tricky thing for ANet to pull off, but I think making NPCs more firm believers of their faiths would be the cherry on the icing for this whole cultural thing. Of course ANet has to be very careful in deciding what elements are safe for the general public (players can sometimes get hostile over seemingly trivial matters), but a little more immersion can’t hurt, right?

Beware the wrath of… Bubbles!

That… is actually a really good question.

I’ve always assumed the dragons were given names by the most ancient of races (Forgotten, Mursaat, Dwarves, etc.), which were later handed down to the younger races. If I understand correctly, none of the dragons have ever specifically announced their names to the dis-regardable mortal races. But perhaps they have through their champions?

@Forzani: Lol, ok. I tend to be an alt-oholic, so sometimes when I’m not sure what to do with them, I turn them into walking banks. :P

I personally think trains are more fun than soloing though. Preference, I guess.

I have to agree with Arrion. I’m a bit of a loner (ok, a lot) so I like it when some random person pops up to help you complete an event – breaks the boredom.

“Oh hey! A new friend!”

Plus, I believe ANet’s philosophy has always been for GW2 to be a friendly game where people are encouraged to help each other.

I do believe compulsive hoarding is actually a medical disorder… anyhoo…

Yeah, like most people above me, I’d suggest you make a storage mule. I give each of my storage mules silly names and funky armour I’d never bestow on my mains – just for a bit of a giggle when they’re running around a city doing crafting, banking and whatnot.

I was under the impression that some of these “looters” are actually ex-home owners from Lion’s Arch.

Be careful who you’re taking out. :/

Concluding from Henrik’s evidence, it seems Tyria is actually shaped like a square.

While I totally appreciate the break ANet’s giving us (i.e. finally giving me the chance to get a life outside of GW2), the close to seven weeks of no new content if making me itch for more.

ANet, please give us more places to go pillage and destroy native wildlife soon! My ADHD addiction to exploring new content is acting up again! Ermergehrd!

On another, totally unrelated note, I’m putting on my tin-foil hat and going to claim that Seers are biologically related to the Mursaat. Dun-dun-duuunnnnnn…!

I knew a couple who were both elementalists who wore the same outfits, had the same colour scheme and cast the same spells. Such a romantic and majestic sight to behold.

I totally feel you OP. Rest assured however, that some smart and enterprising person on the interwebs will come up with a way to track the new megaserver timing info and soon be hosting it on their website. Whereafter, we shall all hail them as our new saviour. XD

Or, you could make a nice two-man guild emblem with the guild tag (KATI) – considering you can actually join multiple guilds now. Plus, if you can get the little guild flag, it’ll be an even more striking evidence of your mutual love. Make sure you both have bouquets of roses for an added lovey-dovey touch. ;D

^ I was going to say that. A Charr with outrageously dyed fur and a knack for over-the-top combat/showmanship might work for the trope you’re looking for. Asura might work for that too, if you add the word “obnoxious”.

Can’t think of a reason why Norn would be effete – unless you considering skull-cracking and rowdy alemoots fabulous.

Zaxares.5419:

…And if he gets killed by Bandits, well, you can probably find a replacement worker that same day…

Lol, you must be Asura.

Anyway, I guess I sort of understand how you feel, Zaxares. I’d personally like to see more medieval-magic used (for lack of a better word), so it actually feels like I’m playing a fantasy game (not too sci-fi or steampunk, please), because I just personally like that aesthetic.

The problem is, ANet hasn’t really defined the properties of Tyrian magic (my best guess is that aether works pretty much like electricity), so we can’t really say how magic should have evolved. I mean, for all we know, filling a hot air balloon might require less energy and maintenance than a portal, or the Arcane Council might have been too selfish to give certain factions access to their coveted aethergates.

All is not lost though, while prevailing technology seems to stem mostly from Asuran and Charr (choppers, really? I wanted a gryphon mount!) engineering, human magic might just make headway one day. If the Orrian people finally band together into a large confederation or something, we might actually be able to see real magic!

Klonex, that would be really nice, but assuming updates to the Living World are going to be released every two weeks as per normal, wouldn’t that set the Chinese community one year behind us?

Even if they do make all events as instances (for whatever odd reason), it’s going to be hard to recreate the fun, zerging skirmishes between a horde of players and say, Tequatl. A party of 5 trying to attack an angry dragon is just asking for a wipe. Not to mention that if instances were created, people who have missed early events in NA and EU will be clamoring for it.

IMHO, the status quo is really the best, although not the most perfect, solution. I guess even though Chinese players have missed some pretty historical moments, now that they’ve officially joined the world of Tyria, they can still look forward to many more years of exciting Living World events.

Zaxares, I think you might have confused technology with steampunk and the general Asuran golem/robotic aesthetics.

You are, of course, absolutely correct in saying that a world running on the laws of magic would develop differently from one without. However, citing your example of a Water Elementalist vs an Aqueduct, I think it would be natural technological progression to build an aqueduct that provides constant water better that a water ele. After all, why would I want to pay a person to stand around a village/city, wasting their precious energy and time to channel water that might not necessarily be adequate enough to provide water when needed?

Or portals. If we were going by the Harry Potter-esque style, where spellcasters have to chant a few words and wave a stick around (let’s ignore the methods of travel by fireplace and toilet for a moment), why wouldn’t it progress to having the Asura finding a perfectly taxable efficient way to shunt large amounts of cargo quickly through the use of aethergates?

I think the real main point of contention here is that the way magic is applied in Tyria is too reminescent of our own, so it doesn’t seem as exotic as it should be.

Lol, in the sense of “why on earth would you want to experience a world war?”

Well, I’m sure we can still hope. According to this page: http://www.gamerzines.com/mmo/guild-returning-cantha-elona.html

ANet isn’t ruling out adding Cantha and Elona from their Living World plans (which is an awesome thought, by the way, because it’s free). And if Gamerzines and Massively are aware of the length of this thread, I’m pretty sure ANet is too.

They probably have other big things on their plate right now, like polishing the Feature Pack update based on forum comments (I hope).

That said, I think most of us are just dying from anticipation about whether our favourite lands are going to be explorable again.

I think it has something to do with the background and camera angle.

I don’t think the mesmer was dumbed down because ANet didn’t want GW2 to be like GW1 as much as the removal of the Energy bar.

That said, Swish makes a lot of good points on how to make Mesmer more tricksy. Mesmer spells in GW1 worked like a double-edged sword in that you punished the enemy heavily, but also paid the price yourself – but the satisfaction of interrupting an elite boss’ skill was so delicious. Swish’s ideas bring back a bit of the Mesmer role as a trolling harrying class.

To back up what Ham said, I just want to point out that Livia had hair streaks too, so we’re safe.

@Domination: Lol, you forgot to add the perennial “If you want something, go play another MMO.”

I like the colour scheme.

@Strama: Not sure why you’d believe that the LS of today is going to be the same as the LS of tomorrow? Maybe ANet learned something (albeit very slowly) about storytelling from this first season? Devs did take notice of that ‘15 Lessons from Months of Scarlet’ post on another thread.