Guild Wars 2

We still don’t know how the transmutation charge cost will be (both per skin and gem price). It probably won’t be the same cost of a legendary (or else there would be no point in making it an account bound skin), but don’t forget your legendary has the ability to change prefix whenever you want.

Not the best positive notes, but it’s not all bad.

I’m guessing the charge amount is going to be through the roof for the legendary skins. If not, we’ll be seeing even more of them around, on lower level characters no less, haha.

Personal opinion of course…

The Good
-New characters (Braham, Rox, Kasmeer, Marjory, Taimi). Destiny’s Edge 2.0, as people say, but I feel like I’m on a new adventure with these guys. As if I’m helping create the lore for future generations. With Destiny’s Edge (original), their story had primarily been told already, I was just there to help repair them and get back together. In the personal story, I didn’t really feel like I had a crucial part in anything.
-Something to do every 2 weeks.
-Getting to see more challenging content being developed/evolved, and interesting mechanics being applied. (Liadri, the Marionette fight, etc.)

The Bad
-Promotion of selfish gameplay due to the group based, temporary achievements.
-Moderately grind-y achievements at times.
-Bugs

I’m not a huge fan of numeric rating. But I give it a pass / C for average. It has many points it can improve on, and considering they’re treading unknown ground with this type of thing, I think they’re doing pretty well.

Hit “O” in game, and hit the (Purchase Gems – don’t remember the exact phrasing of it) option.

If you’re looking for retailers, I believe Amazon has them as well.

My random guess is because in a normal LS release schedule, tomorrow would be a regular gemstore update. Instead of [blog] [blank] [blog], it just goes [blank] [blog]. Gives players something to look forward to I suppose? And next week, it skips April 1, which would be a normal release on the LS schedule.

“The man you’re chasing is Kraig the Bleak. Magic for hire. You’ll probably never see him again.”

It’s possible Caera/Scarlet could have come across knowledge of this guy, but we don’t know much about her besides brief journal tidbits and her short story. Lord Faren knows lots of people and has connections as a noble, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he knew this guy either.

“Listen closely,” the deep voice said. “There are forces at work in this city, in this world, that will take us all down if we let them. Together, you and I can make a difference.”

This seems to indicate a more human background.

“One you won’t forget. I’ll be in touch. You can call me E.”

I can see things pointing to multiple characters. But if E contacts us again, it definitely wasn’t Caera.

If they mean by changing the weapon out completely (as in not equipping), I can see how this will affect people. It makes sense to me, that if you’re not using a weapon that grants a certain type of bonus, you shouldn’t get the bonus.

Though it will make classes that don’t have more than 1 weapon equip (Elementalists/Engineers) slightly more annoying, as they only have one option).

I feel you. I have some friends who are stupidly lucky. Before the magic find change, a friend of mine would get rares and exotics left and right from drops. Another friend has gotten 2-3 (can’t remember which) expensive precursors from mystic forging without trying for it.

I’ve played ~4000 hours (I think that’s the closest 1000th) and gotten maybe 6 Black Lion Keys from enemy drops. Maybe that’s where all my luck is going, haha.

Miroe.2054:

We dont know… so therefore…

I’m actually half betting on E being a Tengu, just for shiggles.

CHIPS.6018:

TBH, the players doesn’t like/know these character enough for them to have an impact yet.

Taimi is the only one where nearly everyone likes. However it is way too early to kill her off.

Personally, I’m glad that Marjory wasn’t killed off. I already have an attachment to the characters, and just listening to the alternative audio made me sad.

They also have a lot of unexplored territory that ANet can further explore story wise. Marjory is the only person to have physical contact with E. There’s the unresolved issue of the ghost boy, and she could potentially be the character to help remove a minister (likely Caudecus) from his position.

Would the alternate ending have made for a better one? Who knows. With the current one, there’s an air of anger (of Sylvari/Scarlet), loss (of loved ones in LA), but a spark of hope (we survived, and won, albeit the waking of a dragon). I get enough despair from Game of Thrones (in fact, I don’t even care much about them anymore, because he’s killed off so many). As much as character death can compel, it can create disinterest as well.

Some people were speculating that one of the current characters would die, myself included (I was betting on Kas or Jory). It was mimicking the original Destiny’s Edge too closely. Two of the same race, and one bites the dust. One character couldn’t be there for the battle (Braham/Logan). At least with this, they’re mildly different.

Rainbow Sprint.3215:

The real question is what would happen if Scarlet was human? What would the community’s reaction to her be then?

Apparently humans are the most played race in GW2 already and really theres not that many examples of a good sylvari character in the game already. So some players already don’t like the sylvari. Their only interaction with a major character sylvari being Treherne and Scarlet. Scarlet’s first problem was some people didn’t give her a fair start, her second problem was she just seemed kind of too perfect, graduating all asura colleges, forming impossible alliances, etc. The third problem was she kind of started getting better at the end but by then everyone already wrote her off as a mary sue.

It really depends on what you mean by major character. Caithe is also a Sylvari, and has a presence in the dungeon story, as well as some parts of personal story (if non Sylvari). She also still maintains an air of mystery from the living story.

I don’t see Scarlet graduating all colleges as too far fetched. Sylvari are born with knowledge already accumulated from the dream, so it’s possible that there’s just been a good build up of information she’s had access to already. It’s just that she’s the one who was curious enough to bother. Many Sylvari feel content staying at home.

Carbon Footprint.3421:

The reason is that if a new player lvl 20-ish saw the pact helping defend LA it would break the flow time and story when they help create the Pact 10-20 levels later. They have basically painted themselves into a corner with the PS and nothing can enter or leave the PS. All events of the LS happen after/outside of the PS.

I recall reading a dev saying that as of now, all personal story is viewed in the angle of ‘this is what happened in the past.’ The living story is what we live in now. Doing the personal story as a new character, or new player, is viewing the events that have already happened.

soaringleaper.7905:

Aedelric.1287:

Perhaps a new Tengu mini could be a hint towards this? Who knows, I am semi optimistic.

What does a Tengu mini have to do with this? I fail to see your logic.

It really doesn’t, it’s just a random remark I think. Tsuru Whitewing is just a NPC character that has yet to exist, but is part of Mini Series 3. Thus potential hope/speculation/etc.

1. New stuff every 2 weeks.
2. Marionette battle.
3. Cast of characters I enjoy, and want to see more of. Getting to know them through idle dialogue and things in game, not just short stories was nice.

Kingkiller.9645:

And was Trahearne even there? Cause I didn’t see him. Did he chicken out and decide to stay behind to “guard the fort” or something?

Trahearne’s Wyld Hunt was to purify/cleanse the corruption Orr, which you do in an earlier personal story. Story wise, Trahearne used up too much energy doing that and thus stayed behind at Fort Trinity.

Saint.5647:

Can non-legacy characters use the scrying pool? I 100% agree with this idea. I think it’s one that much of the community is in support of. Ideally this should be located in the Hero Screen though under an LS tab or perhaps a ‘library’ in Durmand or the player’s home instance.

If you’re referring to the HoM in general, any player can access it. They just have to get the portal stone from this NPC http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Scornheart

Lorelei.7809:

At the end of the latest update’s discussion if you talk to her (I just pressed F on any possible NPC whenever possible to all of them, not just the ones you’re supposed to click on, you get some interesting hints that way, also, of what’s coming up). She said, effectively, that she was so angry with Scarlet she is tempted to stomp any flower she sees. You say Scarlet’s more like a weed. Then she says something along the lines of she thought at first that Sylvari were innocent, but after Scarlet she doesn’t think she can trust another Sylvari again.

It must be race dependent dialogue again. This is the exchange as a Sylvari:

Marjory: I personally reported your victory over Scarlet to Logan Thackeray. He sends his regards.
PC: That was kind of you.
Marjory: It was purely selfish. For the first time in my life, I actually feel sincere when I brag about the people I fight beside. I never felt that in the Ministry Guard.
PC: Why did you quit the Guard anyway?
Marjory: That’s a long story, perhaps for another day. I’ll just say that I overstayed my welcome.
PC: Did they kick you out?
Marjory: No, I quit of my own accord. I guess I couldn’t take the political games anymore. I’m a simple woman. Right and wrong. Truth and lies. I’m not a fan of gray.
PC: Their loss is our gain.

The issue with something fun is that it is majorly subjective. I’m not familiar with Lazzaro’s “Paths to Fun” theory, so I’m merely guessing here. For me, people fun is anything from mini games, events I hold with my guild, or spending time with friends in game (also fulfills socializing).

Care taking for me, is running my guild, making sure they have fun too. Also teaching new people how to do something, giving them tips, ressing the random person I come across if they’re having trouble. Even though the game doesn’t have a holy trinity… I still take notice of my party members, their health, and their conditions. My class utilities are not solely for me, they’re for them too.

The issue with having mechanics do certain things is that it can start being convoluted, if adding things to accommodate everything.

Belinda doesn’t really need to have any real involvement in the plot for Marjory to get involved at this point. Even though Marjory and Kasmeer originally came involved with Scarlet due to the investigations at Dragon Bash, I’m pretty sure she feels some sort of bond with the rest of Destiny’s Edge 2.0 that she would go with them for shenanigans.

I started working on my first legendary a few months into the game launch. My method of making money back then was farming Orichalcum, Ancient Saplings, and Omnomberries every day. My second legendary was funded almost entirely by world boss ectos (salvaged from the rares) and Clockwork Chaos invasion events (when they were good for champ bags). The third legendary I’m working on now (just some T6 left) has primarily been funded from old material pile ups in my bank, and daily dungeon runs.

The general consensus seems to be to make your own group and ignore the 80 only ones. I personally don’t care if I’m in a group with those who aren’t 80 (if I’m not pressed for time), or even if they’re new. If they can follow directions, or know what to do, they’re welcome in my book. I was actually in a PUG SE P3 80s only group recently with a completely new level 61 player (so under the actual dungeon level), but none of felt like kicking. Guy just followed us and everything worked out.

I’m not sure how balancing would work. There’s already downscaling, but changing that would probably have pretty big consequences on most of the game.

It’s the same kind of debate with the old Lyssa farming (infinite mobs that drop loot if you don’t finish the event). You can call it an exploit/bug, or oversight.

I believe ANet has fixed prior bosses in the past to increase their range to prevent it from happening, so it’s more likely it hasn’t been fixed for that specific boss yet.

Kaiyanwan.8521:

Thaddeus.4891:

ESO is a generic MMO with outdatted quest system that will only last because of fan of the series.

The problem is, that ANet gave up on quests all together. Those heart things? They are just too random to tell a story, they are just like tasks, fire and forget. The personal story is actually the same as the outdated quest system you are talking about, but it just ends, and is gone after Zhaitan.

The LS has no quests, just random zergs and close to zero story. You can not just get rid of so called “outdated stuff” and not replace it. Offering nothing instead of the little you had before does not sound like a good deal.

Everyone who likes a good story is hopefully lost in GW2.

I would much rather prefer a story where I can see it get told over time. One that I can be part of, and eventually connect the pieces. A story I get after waiting for months-a year isn’t special to me. It’s a series of steps I have to complete that everyone will be at different levels at. If I come late to the game, I could know the ending already.

Sindex.9520:

It does irk me that even the writers themselves on the forums expressed for us to “watch her demeanor change dynamically,” during the final 4 chapters of the living world storyline. She did not change overall, and pretty much stayed exactly as over the top as she was at the very beginning.

I actually really started to enjoy Scarlet more (than my base), after the Marionette patch. It was a point where we could clearly see what she had been and what happened to her (especially through her journal).

To me, her high pitch voice was her over the top demeanor without a care in the world. Her mature voice was more serious and in my opinion, almost like she hated her circumstances (whether it be the players, her general frustration, etc.) We’ll probably never know for sure, of course.

For the most part, I played GW2 solo (only interacted with others when there were people at the same event), and talked to my guildies in chat.

A party kinda means more commitment to traveling together (which works a lot better in a traditional MMO with quests and straight linear progression). With GW2, the person you’re with may have already done the thing you want to do, so at times, it may not make sense to party and then talk about what you want to do next (because you two could have entirely separate things done).

A party member killing things for you in a heart region does not contribute to your finish either I believe. You would still have to hit everything, it doesn’t necessarily speed things up. Event wise, it can be advantageous. But many are short, so once it finishes, everyone goes their merry way to whatever they want to explore next.

The only way I have enjoyed partying to play PvE content with (that was non dungeons) was if we both had nothing done. That way we didn’t have to discuss where to go, and merely did whatever, and both benefitted.

Rym.1469:

Fluffball.8307:

Rym.1469:

Nobody.
If you see somebody described as evil, he’s evil.
If someone is good, he’s good.

This game lacks any grey side when original lore is full of it. Shame, real shame for writers.

Canach.

He’s a good boy now.

Unless it’s just temporary cloak to achieve freedom. I hope it is

As for Caithe, I do agree. She’s the only member of DE after Rytlock I like, none of the rest is interesting

He takes justice into his own hands like a vigilante. Nananananananana Canachman! Right now he’s just in jail. Which that in itself doesn’t make him good.

It is what you make of it. You will find that many players hate it, many players love it, and many players feel mixed about it. On an objective stance. Living story has both positive and negative notes.

Some positive ones being that it gives players to experience a story that is constantly updating and have an impact on (Cutthroat Politics – though many will be skeptical and say it was rigged), and that it is slowly improving on some aspects lacking in the base core of the game (useful NPCs, obvious telegraphed attacks (especially for those colorblind), incorporation of strategy into fights).

Some negative ones being that a lot of the content is temporary (however, there are permanent features that get added now and then), it can be extremely buggy upon initial release days, or promotion of selfish gameplay for achievements.

More subjective issues can be things like the pacing (bi-weekly updates have pros and cons), or the writing.

You will find a lot of negativity on these forums. I would suggest that you form your own opinion about it (it seems that you already have) and see if that opinion changes in the future. Then you’ll know whether or not it is good in your eyes.

kta.6502

If a sylvari PC is dusk or night cycle, Caithe opens up more and tries to establish a closer relationship.

Wait what? Time to make a third Sylvari!

As for Trahearne. He’s not really the main protagonist nor did he save everyone from Zhaitan. His Wyld Hunt was to reverse the corruption inflicted upon Orr (which we help him do). He’s not at all present for the Zhaitan battle. Caithe and the Sylvari PC’s Wyld Hunt is to defeat Zhaitan. But this really isn’t that influential either. It’s pretty much mutually decided between the orders and races that Zhaitan is a threat to get rid of.

Whatever race your character is + Destiny’s Edge (multi racial) are the main heroes of the Zhaitan battle.

Oulov.7913:

This one is with female vocal and I think it’s even better:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nl_rsTre628

Sharm did a great job with the addition of female vocals as a standalone version. However, in a sense of in game during the battle, I don’t think the vocals fit very well.

Gender only plays a small part with relating to a character, in my opinion. I’m female and can relate to both the male and female characters of the story.

Can someone please list the reasons why they claim Braham is an idiot across the entirety of the living story? Faren I can see why people can think that of him, (but people really do ignore his finer qualities and only press that one thing).

I personally never saw Canach as the “bad guy”. Ultimately the actions he did were super terrible and thus deserves to be in jail, but his intentions were good. But if Canach being a bad guy or Evon having questionable ethics is poor representation, Scarlet being female and the main antagonist isn’t a great representation of females either. …Considering the fact she’s murdered tons of people and caused tons of destruction.

Izaya.2906:

@op

I’ll give you a relatively common example. Try melee’ing TA up Malrona without reflects/aegis/vigor and all effects up.

Its kittening almost impossible to see the glow on her back for the AoE blast. I even find it easier to melee solo without vigor than to have vigor and 4 more people a cluttering it up with particle effects.

Tells are fine, but even for content designed for 5 players its a pain to see visual cues.

Also, when inside a relatively closed space, the camera zooms you in and you don’t notice you’re standing inside a red circle, so coloring the area altogether helps in those cases.

Malrona isn’t that difficult a boss to melee in a full party. It is a pain to see the visual cues, but Malrona only alternates between two moves really. The AoE, and poison spray. The timing may take awhile to learn, though.

- WildStar
– The Elder Scrolls Online

WildStar seems to have potential. But as a person who wanted a beta invite so bad to try it out… I got one and have maybe tried it for 2 hours so far. Something about it feels off to me, I’m not quite sure what it is yet.

TESO I haven’t played since the first few betas, but then, it was not that entertaining. It felt like a downgraded Skyrim with multiplayer. TES, for me, has always been a single player experience. The combat had a lot of issues, and the semi forced linearity doesn’t help.

I really don’t understand all the “hate” on Braham. For a 17 year old young, male Norn, he’s done pretty well for himself (and others).

Cyanchiv.2583:

Do you consider sylvari to have homosexual relationships? They are technically gender neutral, so that may be a bit complicated. Other then them I believe Kas and Jory are the only couple in the game that share a homosexual relationship.

I believe there is a Sylvari couple that features two men. But people like to debate Sylvari gender, so eh. Kas and Jory is just the one more people are aware of. There are plenty of heterosexual relationships in the game, it’s just that KasJory is in the spotlight with living story.

MrPersons.1560:

Personally I think its just so they can have a kid character to give attention to so people can get more attached to characters from LS.

or it was just because they wanted to throw in a somewhat crazy child to get attention like the one everyone seemed to like from Borderlands 2 (though I found her more annoying than anything – the borderlands one)

Tiny Tina was more liked due to her ridiculous behavior and crazy tendencies. It helps that Ashly Burch voiced her perfectly too. But when you dive into her personal background a bit, you realize it’s actually kinda tragic.

Taimi isn’t really crazy or anything. She seems like a (normal in a sense) Asura who thirsts for knowledge and has a science-y like intrigue. In a way, it makes her similar to Scarlet.

Not specific to that build, but never buy something unless it’s on sale. PC parts are constantly being discounted and dropping in price month to month, which will drastically change the total price of your PC.

I believe the GPU and CPU will be capable of handling GW2 at high, but I’d go for a second opinion. I’m not that accustomed to AMD (Intel and Nvidia here).

I am all for an in game library of books. Maybe even a home instance library collection we could fill out.

Maybe scraps to compile into books could be found in different zones of the world (depending on the book focus), to encourage players to go back to them?

What I want to happen in new maps…

-Interesting event chains (or single events that aren’t escorts)
-Jumping puzzles that have a moderate difficulty, but aren’t annoying to go through (Southsun Steam puzzle – which makes you start over if something goes wrong)
-Hidden dialogue or just dialogue with NPCs
-Beautiful environment (I personally don’t like Orr because… it feels dead/looks dead)

Mirta.5029:

Algreg.3629:

enjoyed the beta of a certain upcoming game, eh? Sure, why not, seems like a fun thing to do.

Which game would that be?

I would be very interested in seeing this concept in game. I remember marriage being possible in Perfect World and I always considered it very sweet.

Getting married with billions of shops around, before they added that chapel. Lulz.

webtoehobbit.4201:

Please appease all of our fears, deliver some amazing conclusions to things and wrap up some BIG points that you have still left wide open. We the players deserve some sort of conclusion, don’t make this game be like the Assassins Creed series where nothing ever gets wrapped up story wise, all it does is bring up more questions and strings us players along into the next game where we once again get little to no answers but rather just more questions.

It’s kind of funny, because some players want that sort of “wow” factor type of ending at the end of each living story update like Assassin’s Creed had with its endings. Despite the fact it always caused more questions.

Personally, I’m fine with unanswered questions, so long as they aren’t cast aside to be forgotten. But I definitely hope the epilogue answers some of the more major ones. Curiosity is killing me.

I was actually talking about this, semi jokingly, with some guildies the other day. There are some games that have marriage specific content, but I think ANet (if they ever decide on implementing a marriage system) would have to keep it relatively balanced. Don’t need people marrying each other all willy nilly for the sake of rewards. I know I did that in an old MMO. Married my co-leader (who was already married IRL), cause we knew nothing would form between us, and we mutually wanted the rewards.

Some small effects I could see are something similar to what Ragnarok Online had. (Fuzzy memory here, apologies). Healing others at the sake of your own HP, for example. Maybe refill your partner’s endurance by sacrificing your own. That way it would be better between two players who actually know each other’s playstyles or such?

But as fun as a marriage system would be, it really isn’t that necessary at the moment.

Largos. Not much is really known about them, so my vote goes to them.

May your steps be relentless.

I don’t think the Elder Dragons can appear in humanoid form. There’s no mention of it at all in the lore. They are definitely intelligent (for instance Glint (not elder), Zhaitan sending forces to attack Claw Island, or any of them controlling their champions/minions), but they probably see no point in having a dialogue with any of the other races. They’re awake, they’re going to do what they want (cause they’re Elder Dragons), they’ll consume cause they can and want to. They have no interest in taunting others, they just act.

You can also pick up the three books, if you feel like reading more than summaries.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Edge_of_Destiny or http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Destiny%27s_Edge

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ghosts_of_Ascalon

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sea_of_Sorrows_ or http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Cobiah_Marriner

Just some positive notes about some male characters.

Braham

When the Molten Alliance attacked in early 1326 AE, Braham went to the Black Citadel for aid from Rytlock Brimstone for defending Cragstead, and when that failed went to Hoelbrak to seek aid from his mother and Knut Whitebear which also failed.

He’s proactive instead of waiting around, he’s not afraid to be shameful and ask for help from a person he has resentment for. He aimed to save his homestead from danger, Ottilia just being one of the people he wanted to find/help. It’s not his fault that Ottilia was fickle. In the beginning, this is what she said about Braham: “Yes. But, if it weren’t for Braham, I wouldn’t be here at all. He found me, you know? No one has ever done anything like that for me before. He…he…he’s amazing.” But once she got the chance to travel, she took it. Better for her to leave Braham’s life than resent him and stay. Braham also worked to rebuild Cragstead, making it a haven for refugees displaced by the Molten Alliance.

Not to mention, he’s a true friend to Rox, as evident from this living story update. He knew how much getting into the Stone Warband meant to Rox. He put her wants before his.

Lord Faren
A special character, he has living story involvement, and personal story involvement.
He’s the former host of the Divinity’s Reach Fanciest Cat competition. That likely means he’s charismatic. He’s also a noble, though we don’t know if totally by his parents, or if he’s had part in his own wealth. He is the player character (human noble)’s friend, throwing a party for him/her in the initial story quests. He goes with you to fight the bandits and rescue hostages.

He is intuitive and knows people.

Lord Faren: No common thug would use such expensive parchment. There’s a papermaker at the trading post named Cin Fursarai — terribly prickly man, but I bet he could identify the design.

He’s one of three characters, alongside Countess Anise, and Logan that you can pick to fight alongside you in trial by combat in another personal story. Hell, he even tried to save Queen Jennah in the living story, albeit in a flashy cheesy manner.

Logan
He’s a competent fighter (/Guardian), despite the way he often dies in dungeons or whatever. That’s more due to his programming. Before the human and charr treaty, he befriended Rytlock, despite being originally foes with him. He is a character that went from throwing away major responsibilities (originally scout for hire to act against his brother who was former Seraph captain) to champion of the queen. A lot of people blame Logan for always running away or being useless during the battle with Glint.

He and Queen Jennah share some type of bond (likely Mesmer magic on Jennah’s part), that allows her to summon him whenever she wishes. During the battle before Destiny’s Edge broke apart, the Ogre Revolt was happening in Ebonhawke, which was why Jennah summoned Logan. I don’t know if this call can be ignored, it’s not really explained well.
—-
And although not directly related to living story or much of current Guild Wars 2. The stories do have plenty of great male characters (sometimes leads). Dougal Keane, Kranxx (the best of Ghosts of Ascalon besides Killeen), Gullik Oddsson, Cobiah Marriner, Sykox Steamshroud. Hell Captain Magnus was indirectly responsible for the formation of Destiny’s Edge, and has fought in plenty of battles. The battle against Morgus Lethe, defense of Karka, this most recent living story. He’s the current leader of the Lionguard. I can understand why he wouldn’t have much of a more prominent role, he’s probably busy dealing with the city in general most of the time.
—-
Sure there has been a great female focus, and there have been great female characters (opinion based). But the game and most recent lore have not been without great male characters.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1xffs0/permanent_rich_ore_locations_30_final_version/

For a map of the permanent rich ore locations (including iron).

deSade.9437:

Dem metrics. They’re making my eyes bleed.
Other than that, I call a GG. Make it a song?
/casualscarletfarmer
P.S. Sera is incredibly funny at parties.

It was meant to be a fun fact type of trivia. I enjoyed the poems, I just thought “well, that’s teeeeechnically not true.”

Thaddeus.4891:

This kind of boss already exist in the game. Its Kholer. He is clearly there to push people to learn how to dodge. But since it’s optional and have a really bad reward, nobody do it and nobody can learn from it.

I miss actually fighting Kholer (or as I like to call him, spin to win man). Any time I taught someone AC before stacking became so popular, I would tell them Kholer is their introduction to dodging.

Vol.7601:

Right now they only hit a bit harder and have way more HP.

But what if Anet had a system where Vets have highly telegraphed skills that could down you. It would certainly teach players to dodge.

What if Elites utilized more dangerous skills?

They’re starting to with the living story. Not all of them do it, but aetherblades for instance can warbanner and buff themselves. The warbanner itself can be deadly depending on the circumstances. I think one knocked out ~22k HP from my 3k armor, 27k HP shout heal warrior during Escape from Lion’s Arch.

I personally think that the berserker meta and stacking in dungeons has helped aid in this noob bubble. We have such a focus on speed clearing and most efficient tactics, that newer players don’t necessarily learn what it is they’re doing. They simply know do as much damage as possible. Kill the enemy before it kills you.

I was in a CM run the other day, and this exchange occured: http://i.imgur.com/IkJN2BO.jpg This guy calling for stacking was a newer player (judging from AP at least). Stacking, a mechanic of the game? This is what we’re teaching the players. Not LoS (line of sight would be a better “mechanic” description), not how to dodge (this guy downed the most during that battle cause he didn’t bother to evade the attacks hitting him).

Players aren’t learning, players aren’t teaching. Most of the abilities of bosses and enemies don’t get seen at all because they’re mashed up against a wall 90% of the time. The 10% that it doesn’t occur, people flail and down because they don’t know what to do now that the boss isn’t part of the scenery.

We’ll likely get a bit more information by the end of the week. I don’t expect it to be a very lengthy update being that it is supposed to be an epilogue.

But more than likely, it’ll tie up some potential loose ends, and provide a moving forward (or moving on, as Trahearne would say) goal that we’ll explore in future releases.

-Canach’s future (right now the latest update is him boarding Kiel’s airship in Escape from Lion’s Arch)

Not a super loose end, but he seems to have much more potential as a character than just the Southsun living stories.

-“Caithe, someday you’ll see, Tyria needs me. -Scarlet” on the Spinal Blade Pack Blueprint
-Caithe’s secret from Twilight Arbor – Aether Path
Scarlet Briar Hologram: “But I know better. I know you. How nasty you fight, how you think…what you did. And what you did is soooo nasty.”
Caithe: “Are you even here? Stop hiding behind prerecorded nonsense. Come out and face me.”
Scarlet Briar Hologram: “Ooh, and I just realized: I know something about you even Faolain doesn’t know.”
Scarlet Briar Hologram: "Does that mean we’re dating? Should I start calling you “dearheart?”"
Caithe: “Keep babbling. When I find you, I’m going to shut your mouth for good.”
…
Scarlet Briar: “I’ll give the Nightmare Court your regards, Caithe. And won’t they love to hear about your little indiscretion?”
Scarlet Briar: “I knew you’d want to see the heart of my new facility, Caithe. So tell me: how do you like it?”
Scarlet Briar: “What do you think the Pale tree will say when she finds out what you did? Or does she already know?”
…
Scarlet Briar: “I know a secret, I know a secret… Caithe’s secret, in fact. And soon, so will everybody else.”
Scarlet Briar: “Such lovely, juicy secrets, Caithe. It’s just not fair to keep them all to yourself.”

Unless said secret was Mordremoth.