Guild Wars 2

It’s the adrenaline, man.

That’s why I wrestle a bear first anytime I want to get some gardening done.

Right-on, Awe, right-on. +1

I didn’t do farm champ runs, because the couple times I tried I found it too boring, but if this reduces their effect on the economy, and reduces the mob around Queensdale, then it seems like a positive change for me. The rest of the economy might still be slow at earning gold (compared to fixed-price items, like Icy Runestones and cultural armor,) but at least trading posts costs won’t be driven up for everyone who isn’t farming champs by those who are. Or, rather, they won’t to the same degree that they have been.

I’m sympathetic to those whose favorite way to play got nerfed, though. That’s never a fun experience, whether or not it’s necessary.

In my opinion, there were a ton of armor sets in the game at launch. It seems totally fair to me if Anet wants to use their new, complete armor skins as gem store fundraisers, since they take a ton of work and are bound to sell well. Between all the miscellaneous pieces (back items, helmets, gloves, shoulders,) that have been added, the existing complete suits, and the option to convert gold to gems if I ever really, really want a gem store armor but don’t want to cough up the $5-$10 for it, I’ve easily gotten my money’s worth for what I’ve put into the game. I’d like more armor sets, but I’m comfortable with the level we’re at now and the financial angle of it.

Imagine if the Aetherblade armors had been added to the game as something you had to grind for. Or the male Trickster armor. Or the female Phalanx armor. Just because it’s available in-game doesn’t mean people aren’t going to complain about it (“The first new set and it looks like thaaat??”) and if it’s in the gem store, those who want it can have it without having to grind for it, and people aren’t going to complain “Well, it’s not worth doing the content over and over for armor like that.”

You’ll note that I assume a grind for new armor sets, and the reason for there is that it’s likely a new complete set would be a grind to earn each of the pieces. The alternative would be to give away the entire set as a prize, which isn’t ideal whether it’s an easily earned prize (Sunless wings) or a rare one. (Sunless weapons.) If it’s common, suddenly everyone has a copy of the armor set, which they’ll either wear (Aaah!) or have to keep in storage (Aaah!) If it’s rare, either from RNG or extreme difficulty to obtain, that’s a lot of expensive assets being wasted on little-used content.

bravoart.5308:

To use your harvesting sickles. Unless you have the infinite one, of course…

Since I can use a copper sickle on Toxic Seedlings, it costs me a whopping 0.48 copper per harvest. Mushed Spore Samples vendor for 17 copper, meaning that each one is 16.52 copper of profit, so it’s not a money sink. I might have to carry around an extra sickle or two if I don’t want to seek out a vendor every 50 harvests, but I have more than enough room in my inventory for that.

So I’m not convinced it’s a pitch to sell infinite sickles. If every gathering node had that bad a return rate, maybe, or if it required orichalcum sickles, but for a limited-time event that can use copper, it’s as easy to just buy a couple extras.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Because if those clumps of nodes had a 100% output rate, people would stop doing Offshoot events and collect Spores far more quickly than intended?

Try stopping and thinking about something besides your own gains and you might see the reason why next time. Balance, player-motivation, etc.. So many factors besides how easy you want the content to be.

Redenaz.8631:

When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead.

Instead of giving out so many booby prizes, they could just give out fewer prizes total. Tweaking the balance in this case isn’t exactly rocket science.

Of course, again, it’s not like Mushed Spores are seriously harmful. Since they vendor for 17, even if you’re using orichalcum sickles, you’re still making anywhere from 8c to 16.52c per swipe. I’m just confused what purpose they’re serving, compared to other gathering nodes that are less common, but without the junk.

Maybe it’s to emphasize the painstaking process of collecting “pristine” samples? It’s a bit of a stretch, but I can see it making some flavor sense. Oh, well.

It seems like the function of promoting team play is already served by the mechanic “just put a lot of mobs / elite mobs / champion mobs in a place.”

As for encouraging people to solo…Why? This is speaking as someone who solos most of the time, but why would you want to discourage people from playing together? It might have some flavor sense (as in the Norn/confidence situation Pixelpumpkin wrote about,) but is that worth telling players, “No, you probably shouldn’t bring your friends for this one?”

So much of the game is designed around encouraging you to play with friends that a condition to discourage it doesn’t seem to fit.

I’m just not sure what the point of them is. When I harvest five closely-grouped nodes and get one or two Pristine samples, I’m left wondering why there wasn’t just one or two useful ones instead. I’m less “bothered” than I am “confused.”

Right. They did not bring back the related quest chain, so it’s not possible to get any new copies of the Mad Memoires, or to complete an old copy. Sorry!

Alukah.2063:

If the feedback was that her story is developing too slow I’d fully agree, but you guys are criticizing a content in development as if it was the finished product.

The catch is, of course, that since we can’t see the fully picture, people are less concerned that Scarlet’s character is developing too slowly than they’re frustrated and worried that she’s not developing at all...Which is more or less the case from a pure player prospective. That’s a big trouble with the story pacing; the establishing stages dragged out half a year to introduce characters, and with our villain we’re still at the “we haven’t gotten to her development yet” stage.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t really mind Scarlet, personally, and I’m still optimistic about seeing where the entire Living Story goes. It’s just a tricky medium for storytelling, and “You just have to see the whole thing to judge it” is a concession that very few properties can get away with, since it asks for a lot of patience and a lot of confidence. Personally, the only example that readily comes to mind for myself is the Netflix season of Arrested Development, which is told in such a way that it really demands the whole show, or most of it, for any of it to make sense. The difference, of course, is that I could marathon that season in a week, rather than a year.

Bobby Stein’s posts in that thread are some of the best feedback I can remember in a while, and they give me confidence development is being thoughtful about their direction, even with some bumps along the way.

I think that would defeat their role as, really, the only way of identifying to other players what Order you’re in. That might be frustrating if you want to mix and match Order-exclusive elements, but I like being able to look at someone else in Whispers armor and thinking “Shared experience, yeah! Go Whispers!”

You get one when you unlock it, but you can get any number of additional ones from the achievements page of the Hero window. It’s extremely convenient.

I think it’s safe to say we’ve seen all there is to Halloween this year now. If there were anything else, it would have been teased by this point, at the very least. They wouldn’t suddenly unveil a dungeon on Halloween without any build up to it because the surprise factor wouldn’t be worth the trade-off in anticipation. (Not to mention all the grouchy players who would miss it without any advance notice.)

MithranArkanere.8957:

Krait saying things like “this alliance gives us power”? Nonsense.
The moment Scarlet told the about an obelisk shard, they would have tried to capture her and get it by force. And if she escaped, they’ll swarm the entire world to find her and get the obelisk back.

Unless it’s just a scheme and krait turn against the nightmare court at some point of the story, this will not be believable.

I don’t think the krait have the forces for that. Their shallow-water Deeps don’t seem particularly well-organized or connected to each other, and even then it’s questionable how formidable their total strength would be, spread out across lands peopled by so many other races, both the good factions and the bad, all of which will be hostile. Swarming all over Tyria doesn’t seem doable at their current strength. (Or, indeed, they would likely have already done it.)

I can only reason that turning against Scarlet and the Nightmare Court is their eventual plan, once they have the strength to crush everyone on their own. That would fit with the mentality of krait supremacy, and make allying with non-krait more palatable to the layman. (Laykrait? The nonpriests.)

Whether or not they’ll actually muster enough power to hit that point of betrayal before the players stop them is another matter.

Nicely done!

No wonder they were able to build it so quickly: Darn thing is hollow inside. :P

“Coo!”

“No, quaggan means, “WoooOOOOooooh!”

Halloween quaggans are best quaggans.

Equinox.4968:

My question to people who want more races (or more professions) is this: what will adding these things really do for the game other than simply adding more “stuff”? Flavor and RP alone are not enough to justify such an addition. […] “More” isn’t an end unto itself.

Couldn’t have said it better. If they were going to do more race-based content, I’d like to see additional content created for the existing peoples. It’s not like we need a new race because we’ve heard every possible story there is to tell about the Norn, or the Charr, or the Asura, etc.

We do still have one question used in character creation that isn’t used in the personal story, after all, and I’d like to see that developed into some “return home” content somehow.

I liked it with the twisted minions because they didn’t go into a downed state; they had a separate mechanic tied into the finishing mechanic, to use it in a unique way. That was clever.

With the Nightmare Court in this release, I feel like I just don’t get it. They don’t seem especially tough or determined or anything (compared to plenty of other foes we’ve fought,) so I don’t see why they have a downed state, something that I had appreciated for making players special heroes in the world. There’s no player on the downed end struggling dramatically for survival, and it’s not as satisfying to do a finisher on Nightmare Courtier #8, so it just doesn’t seem to serve the same purpose at all as it does in WvW or PvP.

I like that idea, Crise, of using the Krait shapeshifting as a new mechanic somehow, considering we never get to see it elsewhere. That they don’t have a downed state and the NC do just makes having to finish some enemies all that more distracting. (In a “this is a hassle, what is this for?” way.)

Astralporing.1957:

Redenaz.8631:

Parlourbeatflex.5970:

They believe other, lesser races have nothing to offer them, so the krait never bother to communicate with them. Never beaten, they are convinced that they are blessed and elevated: the superior species in the world.

The living story explains that whoever is pulling the strings (Scarlet, probably,) found something to offer them: Krait obelisk shards. The Krait might not like working with the Nightmare Court in return for them, but they do have a reasonably explained motive.

You seem to have missed the most relevant part of the post above:

The krait will seize whatever they want for themselves — slaves in particular — with a ruthless efficiency.

Yes, Scarlet might have something that they want. It doesn’t mean they will cooperate – it should only make her their primary target.

I considered that, but Scarlet, assumably, is too smart to put herself in that situation. She might provide a fragment to prove she can provide something of value to the Krait, but she’s not going to make herself unnecessary to the scheme. They can kill her for holding out on them, but one less Sylvari in the world hardly advances the Krait ascendancy. The Krait will take anything that’s in their power to take, but, let’s be honest, the Krait aren’t exactly one of the mightier peoples in Tyria. They’re vicious, mean, and good at picking on quaggan, but we’ve never seen them organize with very impressive strength or numbers.

The fact that they can’t take what they want right now is just another on the long list of reasons the Krait priests would be willing to temporarily compromise their “all Krait, all the time” ideals for a chance to raise their standing compared to other world powers.

Anyone want to guess why the Nightmare Courtiers seem to have a downed state and the Krait don’t?

(Other than “The Krait would need new animation for it?”)

I didn’t mind having to finish clockwork creatures, since that felt like a new mechanic with them, but if it’s just an enemy going into a downed state, I’m not excited to see that in PvE. A downed state makes players feel special, or especially strong-willed/resourceful, and I just don’t get the same satisfaction from finishing off an NPC.

Much as I like the Tengu, I’m not in a particular hurry for them to be introduced as a playable race, if they ever are. They’d require a substantial amount of work to have a personal story arc as broad as the other five races, and, art-wise, they’re going to have just as many problems adapting armor to fit their model as Charr do. I think Charr players might like to see their issues sorted out first, before we get another bestial humanoid race.

If there’s ever an expansion, then I’d think more seriously about them introducing a new race. It’s just too big a thing to fit into Living Story, if they want to make the Tengu experience on par with the other races.

Parlourbeatflex.5970:

It seems like anet have once again had to twist the lore and give unfounded powers to the mastermind behind it. And everyone is forgetting how religious the krait actually were.

imagine a scenario where scarlet tries to communicate with the krait, who apparently havnt communicated with any other species for as long as anyone can remember.

How did she even setup a meeting?
Why do the krait trust her, especially as in there eyes, shes a non believer?
And then why would the krait trust the nightmare court, again non believers?

Just because the krait are hyper-supremacist doesn’t mean they’re too brutish and stupid to hold off on the slaughter if it serves their ends. They already use other races for slaves and sacrifices (rather than exterminating them all on sight,) and there’s no definite reason a clever schemer couldn’t manipulate them if they say all the right things. (Respectfully deferring to krait religious leaders, for instance, so as not to provoke them.)

Speaking of the krait religious leaders,

The prophets of the krait are false religious figures invented by a ruling priest caste to maintain their control.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shadows_in_the_Water_%E2%80%93_The_Krait

It’s not the rank and file worshippers calling the shots; that’s what the priests are for. And while there might be some true believers among the priest caste, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that there are those who wouldn’t say no to someone who offers them power, with the obelisk shards to prove it. There’s bound to be tension between “follow our leaders” and “follow our other traditions,” but as long as faith in the leaders is stronger, it’s less unbelievable than it sounds.

Shiren.9532:

I had a look through the heavy female armour and I can’t understand what people are talking about.

http://www.gw2armor.com/human/female/heavy_list.php

Most of those seem to be fully covering the body. The balance of full body coverage to armour showing skin seems to be in favour of the full body coverage. This new set seems to be offering some much needed variety.

I generally have to agree about GW2’s heavy armor. Many sets do get a bit silly with reminding you the armor is female, but it’s a fantasy game, some people (of both genders) are going to enjoy it, and there are a reasonable number of alternatives that put less emphasis on the chest area for those who want something more sensible. (And, yet, still with a built-in furnace, in the case of Sorrow’s Embrace armor.)

In this case, think the female armor just looks bad. It’s visually too busy and incoherent, it looks too similar to the Viper armor, and with or without gender adaption, the male armor just has it together more, visually. I look at the male one and think, “Yep, there’s a solid armor set.” I look at the female set and think, “Someone has been mixing-and-matching too many pieces.”

Really, I’m disappointed most of the time when there’s a major change between armor types, not because one gender always looks better than the other, but because usually one of them had a better design going. Just look at the light armor from this update: The male armor hardly looks anything like the coat-type clothing that was designed for Marjory.

“How/where” Scarlet found them would make it more satisfying, I agree: I’m all on-board with the Krait-Nightmare alliance, with the understanding that the Krait are doing it to regain supremacy, but I’m not crazy about Scarlet’s magical involvement.

I disagree with your assessment of the problem dynamic: I say it avoids the problem of motive for the Krait, but creates another problem in leaving a plothole for where Scarlet found the shards. Which, really, feeds into the existing problem of Scarlet being obnoxiously overpowered.

I’m surprised this release appears to be just…around…the tower, but I’m optimistic about what I’m seeing so far. It does seem a little heavy on the achievement grind without progressing the story much after the initial cut scene (or so it seems from where I’m sitting, not having finished it yet,) but the promise of a full-release follow-up is more encouraging than Halloween’s “intro, grind, ending” arc.

I wonder what that thing is behind Scarlet. Looks most like a monster mutant krait to me, but it’s hard to say for certain.

Same! They’re goofy and amazing, and I want them. :<

It’s hard to tell what has changed, and how much is just the lighting difference in these screenshots.

The female light armor is pretty cool, I think. Nice to see that Marory’s armor is available for players now.

As for the male version, I wish it looked more like the female version, but I can’t say it’s particularly bad. I don’t get so much of a clown vibe from it as I do a “Raven” one, as in the trickster spirit from certain cultures’ folklore. (Which is also reflected in the Norn spirit of the wild of the same name.)

Obligatory reminder that coolness is subjective, so they can’t “just…do…it…COOOOOOOL” as you suggest.

Odd— The female version of Phalanx looks a heck of a lot more like the female Viper armor than it does the male Phalanx. Same angle to the end of the dress, same extra weight on the right-hand side, same style of shoulders…I really just don’t get this design.

If you took Viper armor and spliced it with Vigil armor, the female Phalanx armor is exactly what you’d get. Can’t say I like the change from the male version.

Electro.4173:

You know what should be converted to home-instance rewards? Marjory’s Journal and the Zephyr Sanctum Model. Get them out of my bank and into my Home, please.

This. Absolutely this.

I like having those things, but it’s not like I’m going to use them any more frequently than I already go to my home instance, so it’s not like I need them on me. They would add something else to do in my home instance when I do go there, and serve the “trophy case” functionality perfectly.

If you’re not having fun, why are you doing the parts you find to be a chore?

I’m not thrilled that the best way to earn money at the moment seems to be champ farming, which I don’t do because I find it extremely tedious, but people are always going to find ways to min/max a system, whether or not it’s fun. There’s so much else to do in the game if I focus on what I find enjoyable. (Personal story, raising alts, most of the Living Story, world bosses, world exploration, etc.)

While I do think ascended crafting could stand to be less of a grind, I’m glad the stat increases are so low. As it is, it feels less like a requirement to stay relevant (which it would be if the boost were more substantial) and more like an optional long-term goal. You’re asking for “more than skins and jumping puzzles,” and a small stat increase is a way for some people to scratch that numerical progression itch without making it an absolute requirement for everyone else.

First one. The second one is fine, but the first one has a far more memorable silhouette.

Having finally gotten myself down to the lake before the release starts, I’m going to have to concur with Durzlla. Having talking to NPCs and hearing their ambiet chatter, I think it’s safe to say she’s an asuran mesmer. We’ll probably know more about her once the release drops, once she returns with her findings.

If she returns with her findings.

Also, screenshot with the location of the box with the key imprint, in case anyone wants to see it themselves.

220? I take it you must have been using the 10 clover recipe thirty times? That’s well over double the return rate I expected. Egads.

I would say not to do so many at a time, since you only need 77, but that’s hardly helpful at this stage. That’s a pretty wild problem to have. Wow.

…Go for three legendaries?

Since you bumped it, I’ll bite.

People always latch onto the Dreamer as being ridiculous, and it is— But I think that’s okay. It, Quip, and the Moot, as silly as they are, provide something fun for the players who enjoy something a little silly, just like the toy weapons from Wintersday last year or the floppy sword from this Halloween. I get that being a drag if you use a pistol or shortbow and don’t like the silly ones, but do want a legendary, but I think the option is good on the whole, considering the serious options.

As for the proposed idea, I’m afraid I don’t like it. If there’s a full set of weapons for each deity theme, each individual weapons feels less special, because it’s just like the eighteen other weapons in that set, and similar to the other 113 legendary weapons.

If I see Meteorlogicus, or Sunrise, or, heck, even Quip out in the wild, I can speculate on a story behind them. Their idiosyncrasies provide a kickstart to the imagination: Who was the first hero to wield The Judgement? How did The Flameseeker Prophecies go from being a book to being a powerful talisman in a shield? What party did the Moot come from, and how can I get there?

If it’s just one in a set, the story seems to be “Here was an ancient weapon, blessed/gifted by <deity> in the days of Arah.” That’s okay, but we have so much else dealing with the human gods that I prefer the vivid personalities of the limited number of weapons. They’re fewer, but they’re far more distinct. There are implied legends, implied heroes, that you just don’t get with set weapons, generally.

For an example, see the ascended weapons. I like the lore connection, much as I like the lore connection in a lot of ascended trinkets, but I’m also a little disappointed in how the connection works when it’s spread across so many weapons. I’m excited that there are Tybalt weapons, but I’m confused that there’s a Tybalt staff/warhorn/focus/etc., because there’s just no connection there. It’s not as special that way. (Though I get why they did it, of course, and don’t disagree with it.)

And then there’s just the practicality of it. So few players earn legendary weapons that if there is a complete set for each deity, that’s a lot of artwork going to waste. I’d rather see a distinct, alternative option for each of the existing legendaries than see each one rounded out into a set.

Karka are people, too.

If you agree with me, vote The Karka Queen for Lion’s Arch Captain’s Council next time a seat election comes up.

If you really agree with me, meet me in Hooligan’s Route to discuss how we can make a difference. Bring weapons.

I don’t actually expect Orr to be cleansed in-game. That’s three very large zones that would have to be reworked pretty heavily, and that’s just not a good use of resources that could be put into making new zones.

Storywise, I like to think that even though Zhaitan is dead and the basic source of his corruption is neutralized, Orr is still going to take years to clean out the last of the undead and make it fit for people to live there again. Even the land itself is hardly going to spring back into life, after so many years as a blighted, toxic hellscape. Not to mention all those years spent underwater, before Zhaitan dredged it up again.

You’re my hero, biofrog. +1

Totally overlooked the Legendary question.

I’ve been playing since launch, and I’m still not thinking seriously about making a Legendary, largely because of the massive cost for the precursor. (A “precursor” is player slang for a specific weapon you need to make a Legendary; basically the base you transform/upgrade.) They’re extremely rare, extremely expensive, and I agree that they’re the most limiting factor.

I wouldn’t worry about ascended gear at this stage, either; there’s plenty of time to learn about that once you’re level 80. As for buying equipment on the Trading Post, I wouldn’t recommend it until you’re near the endgame. It’s just not worth the time and hassle, when you can get so much level-appropriate gear from karma vendors.

I didn’t realize it was ever changed to four players, but that sounds much more interesting than with eight, since it’ll be easier to tell what’s going on without everyone getting in everyone else’s way.

I mean, it’s okay at eight, but just too chaotic to ever feel like the game is developing a dynamic, so I quit playing. I’d have revisited it had I known it was down to four players. o_o

It was going to be a preview of tomorrow’s release, yes. Usually that entails a couple of devs running around in the new or updated area, maybe showing off new reward items, commenting on balance changes, that kind of thing.

Thanks for the heads up, RubiBayer! I appreciate that the notice is getting out on Facebook, Twitter, here, and the Release page, to try to make sure people are aware of the change.

Drat. I was looking forward to this one, because we know surprisingly little from the release’s preview page. (Like: Is it a dungeon? A new open zone inside Kessex Hills? Etc.)

Guess we’ll just have to wait for tomorrow.

Oh, hey: They’ve updated the release page with a notice about the livestream being canceled. I remember people complaining about the release page being inaccurate two weeks ago, when the Halloween preview turned out to be a class balance tweaking preview instead, so at least the page is accurate this time around.

Hrm…I’m not sure this would be useful enough. Is it intended for one-versus-many, few-versus many, or many-versus-many?

It sounds a lot like a weapon that basically has the same role as elite skills, of causing a large, infrequent disruption. (Some elites more than others; see Tornado, Tome of Wrath, Mass Invisibility, etc.)

Edit:

I did write a response, including a comically over-exact, color-coded version of the post I’m complaining about, but I was getting carried away and disrespectful, so I’m trashing it. Just read KorKor’s posts and you’ll see “items you need” aren’t the subject of complaint, but rather the larger application of “grind for it” to the game in general and holiday items specifically, even ones that aren’t valuable or flashy like weapon skins.

…You’re absolutely right. I’m not sure what I was thinking there, hah.

(Spoilers: I wasn’t thinking.)

Because we have a two-week release schedule. Halloween goes all the way out to Nov. 11, and given the amount of content in Halloween (that is, I’ve finished most of what I’m going to do with it,) I’m glad we’re getting something new to do.

The obvious follow-up question is “Why isn’t this release Halloween-related?” For that, I’m afraid I have to write it off for stretching into November so far. Halloween will still be around, but I think it’ll mostly be for stragglers and diehard fans by that point.

Alternatively, maybe they didn’t want to spend two releases on seasonal content, instead of moving on to something a bit more permanent? Hm. We might have a better idea where this is going once we see the new release details.

I’m going to hang on to a stack of candy corn for crafting, mostly cooking, but I would just dump the rest that I can’t store. You could speculate on increased prices next year, and I’m sure someone has made a large profit on doing it this year, but I’m personally not interested in trading post speculation, even without the storage hassle involved.

I would not recommend eating it all clean through in one horrific binge.

You know, in case anyone was considering that. =D

Edit: It occurs to me I could be more clear: When I said “dump the rest,” I’ll probably be doing that on the trading post. All the people doing, well, exactly what I’m going to do will probably drop the market, but I doubt it will ever bottom out completely like it did last year, thanks to this year’s reduced supply. You might be able to make some profit, if you hold onto it all year, but I wouldn’t expect a massive return, and certainly not as much as some people made this year. I wouldn’t bother converting it into a cob if you can’t use it, because we don’t know what rewards will be offered next year, and cobs don’t seem to be in high demand this year, compared to the equivalent amount of candy corn.

That’s because it was nearly half your post on a straw man.

Gaile has a sticky for this in the Support forum, actually:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Policy-3rd-Party-Programs-Multi-Boxing-Macros/first#post1532762

Gaile Grey

Dual- or Multi-Boxing

You may use more than one account at the same time.
You may use more than one computer at the same time.
You must be actively playing on each account.
And as stated above, you may not program your keyboard to perform functions on more than one account at a time.
a. For example, if you press W on your keyboard to move forward, a single character on a single account should move forward. The keystroke or mouse click should not perform functions on more than one account.

It seems to assume you’ll be using another machine to run the second instance, but I suppose it might be possible to run it twice on one machine. (I’ve never looked into it, so I don’t know if it can.) If you run it twice on one machine, though, the “they must be controlled separately” restriction gets a whole lot more complicated.

It’s a fair question. I have a full suit of celestial armor on my elementalist, and while it was satisfying to have to make each piece slowly, it was also tedious at times. 5 charged quartz per insignia, times as many armor slots, plus any accessory slots I want to fill with quartz…It adds up to a lot of trips to skill points I’ve already completed. While the stat combination is the flashiest, it’s not exactly best in show for every character.

Now that my ele is suited up and my alts don’t have a use for celestial gear, I’ve generally quit charging quartz for it, since I can’t sell anything after basic quartz.

With or without the web short story, I was pleased with how the writing and acting we got for the Bloody Prince and the Mad King developed their characters and their relationship. For as little as the Bloody Prince actually does, we get a pretty clear picture of his upbringing, ambitions, personal struggles, etc.

I just wish there was more that actually happened. While the banter in the Mad Realm is entertaining and develops the Prince’s character, nothing actually happens there, which is hardly the struggle I expected from the build up to the release or, indeed, the impression left by the first story instance. The story arc opens, pauses for A Sweet Friend, then seems to realize it ran out of time on pause and has to end rather abruptly.

I’m looking forward to hearing about the Mad Wives in the future. I was initially wary about developing more concrete information about GW1 favorite Mad King Thorn, but the story around him in GW2 thus far has been nothing but entertaining. (Despite other difficulties with this year’s Halloween.)