Guild Wars 2

I don’t know; condition cleanse or redistribution builds seem to be pretty strong counters. I have seen both druids and tempest simply eat this type of problem right up. Though they give up a lot of their damage to do this.

Honestly I think this is going to be one of those things we hold out for awhile. Probably past the next quarterly update. Right now they are rushing to get season 3 content out the door. While the rest of the team is probably going to be focus back on expansion 2. If they could not get this fixed within the first few weeks then it’s going to take a long time. Going off what has happened in the past with other short to long term removed/suspended features. Most likely any fix they try to do will probably cause a domino effect of issues throughout game. Though they won’t tell us the direct reasoning. So they are pushing this issue to the side; probably until they do another major QoL update way down the line.

Also I treat the whole “I’ll contact the dev’s and get back to you as soon as I can.” As a huge red flag. Since the majority of the time nothing ever really comes back. For a long time.

I loathe boss dailies more. They interrupt my flow of play more then jumping puzzle ever have. Most of the world bosses are brain dead content in my opinion. They are just as bad as the daily login reward system. The only difference is you sit in front of most of those bosses are to go AFK and auto attack them to death. The exception being a few the re-design ones. Which still promote zerg-ish kills, without strategy. Furthermore Triple Trouble is just scaled to higher play populations to make it seem like it’s difficult when it’s really not. The only world boss that seem like it was intelligently designed in core Tyria is now gone. Of course I am talking about the Twisted Marionette fight. But hey, everyone has their opinion right?

EDIT: In all honesty I rather have them open a fifth slot for the daily (one new one per each category). Since the old world boss rotation was lame anyways. Due to how many times we had to kill the Frostmaw in one month at times. Which was the pinnacle of what I mean by brain dead content. I would rather be hit by a truck then have to deal with that nonsense again.

eNeRgOo.5463:

I agree and not agree with this one.
After killing Scarlet you get cutscene and trailer of what she managed to do, that’s first.
In Dry Top story you get to know why she went mad – She got into Ley-Line machine, got to know how world works and either ended as Mordremoth’s Intelligent marionette, which is unlikely, because dragon was asleep then and she just woke him up. Plus some little scenes when you see where she was working, what she was doing, planning etc. So I’d say, she was more like a terrorist. She wanted to show the truth about Sylvari she got to know by herself when enlightened because of Ley Line Machine… Sooo she woke him up. That was in her twisted mind. She dropped nuclear bomb also when being Kamikaze, and the rest was done by a bomb.
So it’s not like you don’t get informations, because you get.

The problem was they left it open in a very nonsensical way at the end of season 1. Yes, season 2 answered some of those questions but not all of it. Due to the feedback that was left at the end of season 1. Otherwise it would have never happened. I still don’t know how she got some of those alliances to work together. However out of the game I technically know why; thanks again to Ms. McCoy. To me there are still some things that Scarlet did that seem illogical to pull off without anyone really noticing.

Honestly though let me get my prediction for season 3 out of the way now. I think the whole Malyck thing is going to happen, but not in the way you hope it will turn out. If they follow the pattern they have been doing lately then it might turn out that we already have unknowingly came across that “other pale tree” during HoT. Malyck will either be found dead. Or barley alive enough to tell you what happened. The writers then try to convey that your pale tree is unique now as it’s the only one left standing. The pale tree itself will make a miraculous recovery because of Mordremoth death. They still need her to be Glint 2.0.

The rest of the plot will get thrown under a bus unfortunately. Due to them trying to fix the rest of those plot holes left over in HoT. The focal point will remain……. Elder Dragons & Destiny Edge 2.0. By the way if Logan or Zojja dies it’s another pointless death like Eir’s. You then go back to Taimi where she will tell you why Mordremoth weakness made perfect sense. Rytlock plot line doesn’t matter anymore. You really think Black Citadel is not going to except Rytlock coming back with open arms? Your kidding yourself if you think differently. Considering how nonchalant they took his disappearing in the first place. Unless he start spiting out Titan magic, I think his status is fine. Mr. “E” plot line is still written out very slowly or revealed very poorly.

Marjory pays her final respects to Belinda before moving on. Kasmeer get reinstated to her noble status officially with a party in Divinity’s Reach. Canach stays the brooding anti-hero. Braham and Rox stay very one dimensional. At least Braham won’t turn into Logan 2.0. All the while the set up for the next copy and paste Elder Dragon threat will appear (champion/mouth and all). Just before expansion 2 trailer shows up at the end of either season 3 or 4.

eNeRgOo.5463:

Yeah, but first people moan on the forums, so they see those senseless ideas and they implement them into the game and then game makes no logic. They should kind of follow things they did previously, that’s why I want Malyck and Sylvari’s lore made into the end finally, not Rata Novus story start. What’s the point of playing sylvari race character and doing the story when it’s just twisted, without logic and isn’t following up previous stories?

I can see what you mean. However the writers have also even given us the middle finger (again metaphorically speaking) before, by doing the thing you suggesting. During the last scene with Scarlet Briar where she was going to reveal why she did it. Braham comes over and tells her that he does not care. He rather bash her skull in first. Later on one of their writers (Angel McCoy) tells us they did not want to have Scarlet do another stereotypical megalomaniac villain archetype end-game monologue. As if it at the last moment they were trying to clever while having the primary antagonist who was the embodiment of the word: “cliché.” In the end I wanted information/motivation for Scarlet’s rampage and the trade off is I got Scarlet’s death. It felt like that scene from Jurassic Park where Ray was trying to get around Nedry hack. As if I was Ray and A-Net’s writers were Nedry’s virus mocking me. However it was more anticlimactic.

eNeRgOo.5463:

I have to blame the community. They wanted Trehearne killed – they got it. Before HoT they called Caithe traitor on forums – They got it. In HoT my character yelling at Caithe “You traitor!” or “Kill her off if she moves”. This is the most annoying point, because at the end of LS2 I made all choices in dialogues with Marjory and other heroes after she stole the egg that she’s okay, she knows what she’s doing, she’s thief and knows the world more than me, she’s my friend, i like her etc. etc. My character screaming traitor to her is moment when the story had it’s own big fail, because:
a) it doesn’t follow-up the previous choices,
b) doesn’t give us choices,
c) is following forum people opinions, which is catastrophe here.

Going to next lore – Rata Novus is around – and not completing Sylvari’s lore in LS3 will be the point when I’ll probably take a long break of this game, because I’ll know that my character is one big no sense.
P.s Yeah, as a story fan I am soo excited about Rata Novus even though I am not Asura.
After Rata Novus I bet we’ll get next expansion pack etc. etc. BUT it’s just pointless to make story go there, when HoT’s expansion one is incomplete.

Again no one was holding Arena Net hostage, and forcing them to kill off those characters. It was Arena Net who pulled that trigger (metaphorically speaking). We criticize the writing because it was and still is awful. First of all Trahearne got severely disliked because his character was kind of shoe horned into the role of pact leader. It was a terrible transition from what he was, to what he became. He was also dull and loved to speak in exposition. He sort of became more tolerable in season 2 of the living world. I am even going to say: Did he deserve the death he got? No. Neither did Eir.

The problem is that Arena Net has used the tool of death like it’s some magic wand to make us feel empathic for something. It doesn’t. Instead it invokes frustration because the death is so meaningless. Just like the anger your feeling right now. I felt when so many fodder characters were written into the lore to only be killed in the next story step forward. No characters development means that we can’t relate to some of these people. Perfect example of this is Marjory’s sister Belinda. Did you know originally at the end of season 1 that Marjory was going to be killed off? The writers scrapped that idea and then threw in her sister instead. She died in less the 2 episodes within season 2. I felt nothing for her at all when she died, because I barley knew her. Or how about scruffy forced “death” scene that was suppose to move us emotionally in HoT?

As for Caithe and the egg. I knew the writers were writing themselves into a corner for that one. That made little to no sense whatsoever. It still doesn’t after playing through HoT. Why? Well because it was Caithe’s “New Wild Hunt” that even the Pale Tree had no clue about it. Like I said shoddy writing. We don’t tell Arena Net to make this stuff up. They do it all by themselves.

First of all don’t blame the community for disliking something they had no direct control over. It’s Arena Net shoddy writing that dug these plot holes in the first place. The Sylvari got a bad wrap because how Arena Net handled their in game lore. It’s like the writers don’t care about their work, and want to be somewhere else. So they have been writing a fan fiction narrative. Biggest one was the handling of Scarlet Briar. This even started when they completely murdered the founder of the nightmare court within the story mode of Twilight Arbor. Both Cadeyrn and Faolain had cheap deaths. They deserved better.

As for Malyck not getting extended lore. One the developers admitted they wanted a “summer blockbuster” equivalent of a story to be told in HoT. Basically they choose to take a sledge hammer to continuity, pacing, and character development. Just like Micheal Bay does with all his movies; in the need of more explosions. However replace the explosion with a “forced sense of urgency” and you get what Arena Net did with HoT main narrative. It’s more boring, when I actually think about it. Second another developer stated they did not want to sacrifice gameplay over story. Hence why the last two acts and some of the core GW2 personal story lore (incluing Malyck) got axed in HoT.

Season 2 felt like a baby step forward, while HoT was 2 steps way back for the narrative. Again not the fault of the communities, but how the in game lore has been delivered so far.

Not everything was fixed. Commander Recipe Books are still locked behind terrible disjointed RNG system. Look at the prices for those recipes in the TP compared to all the other recipes (including Vipers which is the second highest on demand). Even Maguuma Lilies and Freshwater Pearls are still absurdly expensive. Black Diamonds are going down in price, while those two only have gone up in price. To me Dragon Stand was semi-fixed. Crystalline Ore is still a pain to get. They only upped the rate that Noxious Pods spawn, but not how many machetes you get. Furthermore they were going to add a Noxious Pod for your home instance, but that was never implemented. So you can still corner snipe those markets, until they get fixed. Heck, even Mystic Coins finally got noticed by John Smith after reddit posted it. After it posting about the issue here several times over.

I believe it might have been planned back before we got the Escape from Lion’s Arch Season 1 update. Due to seeing Xunlai Electrum Ingot ascended crafting component in our material bank section since that particular update. However it seems they might have kept delaying it, because of they thought people would stop doing certain content connected with what was already in the game (fractals, guild missions, & WvW). Nevertheless with HoT we have new stat combinations that don’t have ascended variants. So maybe it’s still in the works. Honestly the one person who knows the answer to this question is probably John Smith (their fabled economist).

That probably has to do with my support ticket I sent in last week. It was about the commander stat recipe books being a highly disjointed in drop rates compared to other recipe books. On April the 15th.

“So I have finally noticed that in Dragon Stand certain stat recipe book drop from Noxious Pods is almost completely nonexistent. Even with doing Dragon Stand for over 30 to 40 times, I have yet to get one Commander stat recipe book. What is even more disturbing is that the Commander Jewelry recipe book does not seem to drop at all. Yet you have a merchant NPC in Dragon Stand that gives out the recipe to make Exquisite Burl Jewels. Furthermore in places outside of Dragon Stand I can get other recipe books at a steady rate. As a matter of fact I am sitting on almost close to 16 Minstrel jewelry recipe books. Why do Minstrel recipe book (especially for jewelry) have such a ludicrously high drop rate?

The reason why I bring this up is due to other items that have been effected by the same problem before. One of those being Final Rest which practically never dropped; until it’s drop rate was fixed. Now I can understand cosmetics being locked away by low drop rates. Heck, I play the Aether Path in Twilight Arbor hoping to get one of those ultra rare Aetherized Nightmare Weapons that never really drop. Due the shoddy drop rate for those particular weapons (close to getting a precursor it seems).

However new stat based items is kind of inexcusable by having these disproportionate drop rates. Particularly when it’s this blatantly obvious there is a bug somewhere causing this issue. Stat based items should not be locked away like this at all. It’s bad enough that some stat based items are time gated account wise. However if you have multiple GW2 accounts you can easily get around a few of these time gates.

If anything check to see if the commander jewelry recipe books is dropping at all in Dragon Stand. If you don’t believe me.”

Support sent this back to me:

“The Commander Recipe Books are supposed to be a very rare drop, but it is possible that the drop rate may be a bit extreme. I’ll let the developers know about this and have them take a look into the drop rate to see if some leniency may be possible. However, I will not be able to confirm or deny a possible change to the game so I really won’t be able to let you know if this will be adjusted. However if it does, it should show up in an upcoming patch so be sure to check those patch notes!

Let me know if you have any other problems you want me to look into!”

Guess what got fix and what didn’t?

After doing Dragon Stand (even post-HoT reward system refurbishment update) I wanted to see if my problem with getting commander stats recipes books are still painful to acquire. It apparently is (for me at least). However I think it’s necessary to ask about this. Why are commander ring, earning, and amulet recipes not trade-able? Every other commander recipe is. It’s bad enough that after doing dragon stand 50 plus times over I have only gotten one commander weapon recipe book. That was conveniently after this last fix to the reward system. All the while I am sitting on 17 Minstrel jewelry recipe books from VB.

I still have to play out some more of the game. Before I really start saying it was an amazing patch. One of the problems I am personally trying to see if it was addressed was the new HoT stat recipe books disproportionate drop rates. For instance Minstrel recipe books seem to drop all the time. I have 17 Minstrel Jewelry Recipe books in my storage right now. While other recipes like the Commander books seem to drop at a way lower ratio. To this date I only have 1 Commander Weapon Recipe book. Which I got conveniently yesterday after going through 40 Noxious Pods.

Also talking about Dragon Stand I have notice there are more Noxious Pods that are spawning. However the drop rate for the Machetes seems to be the exact same as before. So it appears getting Crystalline Ore will still be a chore.

penelopehannibal.8947:

I’m told that if an audience watching an opera, play or movie feels hatred towards a bad guy in the storyline, then the writer has done rather well.

So if a lot of people hated Scarlet Briar for whatever reason, then kudos to the person who created her!

So you think that an antagonist is summed up by how much it hate it gets? Even if that hatred is because of bad writing, acting, or direction? So Jesse Eisenberg deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of “Alexander Luthor, Jr.” in Batman V. Superman? Which also sums up Scarlet persona to a point.

James Quall.6029:

Sindex.9520:

However the writers gave her way too much leverage that was never fully explained. She even got one of the most xenophobic race (Krait) in guild wars franchise to work with the Nightmare Court.

This actually raises an interesting point that has always bothered me. If one has done the different paths of Twilight Arbor (including the old spider path that they just got rid of instead of trying to fix) you see that with Faolain gone the Nightmare Court starts ripping itself apart with infighting at the first sign of a power struggle.

There was one living story update that included a bunch of audio logs from Scarlet and the entire deal was a clumsy, ham fisted plot dump meant to catch people up with the story. One of the logs was regarding getting the dredge and the Flame Legion to work together: “Flame Legion gets gears, dredge get magic, and I get two armies” or something like that. That was seriously all the explanation she had to give for how and why they worked for her.

Scarlet didn’t need (or apparently even have) any other reasons for why she could gather so many different armies with conflicting goals and ideals, including the Flame Legion who would never follow a woman in the first place. Somehow she got all of these people to be her perfectly loyal slaves that never disobeyed and there was no conflict between them and no infighting or power struggles whatsoever.

She was just so brilliant and perfect and a master tactician and engineer and leader and she can do anything because she is just so wonderfully wonderful~ Seriously, the book Sea of Sorrows is all about how Lion’s Arch withstood attacks from Zhaitan and Kryta attempting to recapture their old capital. But Scarlet, who had been beaten at every turn and had wasted so many troops and resources, still managed to succeed in destroying Lion’s Arch where even elder dragons had failed. I really mean it, Scarlet was someone’s Mary Sue fanfic character that inexplicably got into the game.

Yeah, actually I have the answers to some of these question via Angel McCoy’s response she made on the official forums (under the lore section). I left it out originally because this evidence was never presented in game. So take it as will. Since I am still not totally convinced by it.

Angel.4918:

I believe Matthew was alluding to the fact that we didn’t detail out any specific leaders, other than the characters you met in the weapons factory.

So, I will say this. We have been going on the premise that the groups working with Scarlet are not the main population, but splinter groups. It’s not “The Nightmare Court” who has allied with the krait, but a sub-group of them. Faolain, for example, is not allied with either the krait or Scarlet. We have not publicly detailed out who each of these groups is or who their leaders are because we didn’t think that was something the average citizen of Tyria would know. If you’re really dying to know the answer, I can look it up in the next couple days and post something about it. But, they won’t be characters you’ve met before.

Angel McCoy.1832:

That’s actually 4 questions. Can’t fool me. Hehe. Konig, we devs walk a fine line between giving too much lore, thus spoiling players’ in-game discovery, and not giving enough. If I’m cagey about something, it’s because I don’t want to give you spoilers, and I’m confident that when you activate your superpowers, you’ll find the right conclusions yourselves—and have a lot more fun than if I had spoon-fed it to you in a forum post.

That’s the key. It’s all about you and your experience. Eight hours a day, five days a week, and often more than that, we’re all here, working to make your in-game experience as good as it can be.

Here are some concrete answers for you. Activate imaginations now!

1. Why did the krait agree to work with Scarlet?

Warning: The following is paraphrased in out-of-game language and doesn’t even pretend to be polished writing.

Imagine with me for a moment….

Scarlet sends a missive to the krait in the deeps there. It says simply, “I have shards of one of your obelisks. And, I know what it will take to bring back your prophet.”

The krait replies: “Take a hike. You’re lying. Prove it.”

Scarlet sends the smallest shard with a note: “There are more.”

Krait: “Give them all to us or we’ll kill you and enslave all your friends.”

Scarlet laughs. “You’ll have to get to me first. Can you fly? Of course, if you don’t want your prophets, then I totally understand.”

Krait (after much cussing and killing of slaves): “Hm. What do you want from us?”

Scarlet: “I’ll be sending a Nightmare Court posse along with further proof that I can bring back your prophets. Listen to them. If you kill them, I’ll assume our deal is off, and I’ll turn the shards over to your enemies. You do take your religion seriously, don’t you?”

2. Why did they not take the obelisk shards, perhaps enslave some of her minions, with the ruthlessness they are known for?

See above.

3. More so after their “prophet” died?

As you may have noticed, these krait were profoundly changed during their interaction with the nightmare plant and Scarlet. They are no longer the same creatures they were. They acquired a new look, new skills, and new behavior. Scarlet gave them their prophet, as promised—and may be able to do it again one day. Who was it that killed the prophet? Hmmmm.

4. Why do her alliances…continue working with her?

Each has its own reason.

Krait: They’ve been warped by Scarlet and the Nightmare Court. By the end, the scenario had changed. Scarlet proved she could bring back a prophet to their satisfaction (whether it was actually a prophet or not, no one really knows, but the toxic krait believe it was). And they can’t exactly go join other normal krait. How do you think regular xenophobic krait would feel about these toxic ones?

Dredge: They want power and magic. This group of dredge see an opportunity to add magic to their repertoire. Given their history, this would be a huge feather in their caps. Besides, how often do you get the opportunity to atomize a city like Lion’s Arch? Now that’s fun!

Flame Legion: They want technology and power. This group of FL is taking a huge risk. If they can go home with awesome swag, then they’ll be welcomed, but if they can’t, then they’re likely to be killed the moment they arrive. A large body count (especially the charr and human ones) along with whatever weapons technology they manage to acquire is an inspiring reward for them. And, they get to say they helped bring down Lion’s Arch. They hope to be lauded as heroes when they return to the FL.

You will, of course, have noticed that the three alliances don’t work in very close proximity to one another. There’s a reason for this.

You’ll also have noticed that Scarlet was extremely elusive in the tower of nightmares. Can you imagine why?

Have to agree with the others about Scarlet being a terrible character and you actually dodged a bullet. If you ever get around to playing season 2 episode 1. Aerin’s story perfectly summarizes what happened to Scarlet. Without all the terrible theatrics that character put us through. As matter of fact the voice direction that was given to the actress who played her was of a British Harley Quinn archetype. Which would not be terrible if we did not have to take her that seriously. However the writers gave her way too much leverage that was never fully explained. She even got one of the most xenophobic race (Krait) in guild wars franchise to work with the Nightmare Court.

On the flip side: Yes, you did miss out on some really intriguing/inventive game play mechanics that came out of season 1. Due to Arena Net experimenting with the direction they wanted to take the game in. Some of the content was very zerg oriented, but as time went on it got a bit better. Furthermore some of that content does come back periodically. Also fractals sliced up two of the dungeons we got in season 1.

I think it’s a poor excuse. Given that the story has been in a poor state since the release of GW2. Only to for to continue to be on a roller coaster of mix bag of ambiguity in post development. First I want to say that the gameplay choices in those personal story instance in HoT was a enormous improvement over anything before it. The narrative on the other hand was just tacky. It just copied and pasted the whole final act from GW2 main personal story with Zhaitan. Meaningless/predictable deaths sequences, ludicrously rushed character development, and another main antagonist death that felt anticlimactic.

Season 2 while good in varying points started to throw up warning signs to me that HoT was going to suffer. First we had the problem where our PC (playable character) threw out the name Mordremoth as if we knew it for a very long time. Without any explanation how we found out about it. However in an unofficial interview we find out that we knew it simply because we were apart of the pact (guess our PC know Steve’s real name). The second warning sign is what happen to Rytlock. The one character who is a walking brooding/ambiguity fluff ball gets zapped into another dimension. In the words of the exposition king with a severe lack of personalty Trahearne “this won’t end well.” Final warning sign for me was Caithe stealing the egg. Even the Pale Tree is confused by this outcome.

HoT was one giant stumble. I felt so detached from it’s not even funny. It’s like watching an M Night Shyamalan movie (post Lady in the Water) and hoping to be entertained. Also instead of proving me wrong about those narrative warning signs from season 2. Minus the straight out over exaggerated/fabrication they were doing in pre-HoT interviews, about the certain sub plot lines actually mattering (Nightmare Court anyone). I found out I was right about all of them. Including pulling a plot threads out of thin air, or making our PC say/do unrealistic things. Yes, I am looking at you Buried Insight and Heart and Minds story instances. By the end Rytlock wasted more time telling us how unimportant it was to question his present massive plot hole existence. Then it took for us to learn how to eliminate dumpy mental projection Mordy in Hearts and Minds. Not only that but Caithe had another Wild Hunt to protect the egg that (again) the Pale Tree was not aware about……… sigh.

You know what the best thing is now that HoT is over. Hopefully no more horrendous Sylvari main plot threads in this game. I know we still have to deal with Canach (his plot threads being less insufferable) and the Pale Tree (Glint 1.5), but at least no more dents to the Sylvari (damaged beyond repair) in game lore. It has been more cringe worthy compared to how boring the Norn and Human neutered lore we have been given.

To be quite frank: If your passionate about your work as a writer, and you start seeing these glaring errors then you will do everything you can to fix it. Not just move on and accept it as it was totally flawless piece of work. As matter of fact if your that passionate you would tell management to delay some of these chapters to do it correctly. I understand that transitioning from a person who solely writes novels/short stories to a person who writes for a video game can be rough. However don’t treat it as a passing hobby. We know when your faking your enthusiasm, especially in interviews.

Sorry, escaflowne. I empathize that your annoyed by this situation, but not sure what type of support your going to get here. There is one time I would agree this being a problem. That was with the permanent finishers which were removed from the gem store, then two days latter put into the black lion chests. Beyond that I really don’t argue the point. Even the finishers I bought months before the last sale went live.

Many things like the Gem RNG Dyes Packs (going in the anniversary presents), Mini Ghost Carlotta (gem to free Halloween item), Scarlet/Toxic armor pieces (free with some temporary obscure events), and Aetherized Weapons (going into fractals permanently, after a long hiatus out of the game) have already done this. Furthermore I also bought many of those listed items at for full price (with real money).

Honestly though I am always happy when these once exclusive gem items go back into the game some how. I wish they would do it more. Just to incentivize people to do more content in other places. Even the ones I already have. As long as it does not follow what happened with the permanent finisher sale.

The HoT maps need a overhaul in a couple of areas. One being the Mega Server System in the map being absolutely terrible to deal with the participation system. This has even been confirmed by John Smith as being a problem with the new areas being attached to these mechanics. Next would be the Diminishing Return system with the new liner map timed meta areas. You need to spend a lot of time in these maps but the DR system kicks in way too soon on any of these maps. So it’s very counter productive. Also the LFG system need to be updated badly for all the new areas. Finally there needs to be a better balance for these new currency map “rewards.” There is no reason why some of these rewards (especially the ones in Dragon Stand) should be that obnoxious to get.

Alright, as for this next balance update fixing some of these elements. I kind of doubt it. The only thing that we seem to be getting is scribing according to Mike. Which is going to really disappointing if that is the only thing that gets fixed.

Khyan.7039:

RoseofGilead.8907:

Definitely not. Skins/items awarded for hard content should remain that way.

Explain me then why we can buy runs at endboss and claim to have completed tribulation mode?
It’s not even that way if you have some golds in your pocket. You can be rich and get what you want without efforts.

I don’t buy runs but I know it’s possible, and it’s probably an exploit, I dunno. Buyers will never be banned for this. Again, the weapons means nothing, currently.

As much as I deplore Arena Net for not fixing long standing exploits (for years on end). Considering it’s also one of the reasons they dropped dungeon content. I can’t agree with them just handing out everything on a silver platter. Simply because of the people that exploit the content. Since this also extends out to practically everything in the game. Including raids, fractals, legendaries, the trading post, and other “high-end content.” Heck I am totally for them reworking the daily log-in reward system, because if you have multiple accounts you are rewarded more. Next to those who are just buying more character slots on one account. However that does not look like it’s going to happen any time soon. While the SAB stuff is only here till the nineteenth.

As for the OP’s subject matter; not sure if that will ever happen. Unless there was something equally rewards you for the time and effort you put in overcoming Tribulation mode.

Funny I thought it was a bugged the other way around. Nevertheless I agree with the majority here that it would be nice to get the flail fix for the other colors. As always thanks for the open communication with the community Josh. Really appreciate it.

Yeah, it’s a bit disappointing to hear that the prospects of future worlds are hampered due to the always busy work schedule they have. However I am not that surprised by it at the same time. After World 2 came in with a lot of critical feedback. I kind of felt future SAB content was going to be doomed. Especially when they kept moving Josh around after it’s release. Starting with Triple Trouble update. All the way through HoT tight nit development schedule. Which actually started with Seasons 2 development and finished up this last October.

Honestly though I wish they would give them more down time to work on these “festivals.” Simply because they can prototype all kinds of things. I believe that even SAB itself brought in some interesting mechanics into the main game. Just like many of the Season 1 content did. The only things I did not care for in Season 1: was when they introduced scarlet as a character, temporary content (reoccurring seasonal festival don’t count), and the lack of polish for it’s limited run. Beyond that there were some fantastic stuff to come out of Season 1 even compared to Season 2.

While I am a big fan of practically every jumping puzzle and mini-dungeon in the game. It’s refreshing to have content like SAB that is not just fun to do, but is just as equally rewarding for doing it. Even compared to a lot of other area of the game. No massive amount of currency grinding or terrible RNG system to muck up the fun all the time.

Now if only Queen’s Gauntlet, Bazaar of the Four Winds (Labyrinthine Cliffs), and Dragon Bash would get the same treatment as SAB. I think they would relieve some of that content drought that Mike was referring to in his recent post. Just make sure they are as equally fun to do with the rewards that you can get.

Ramoth.9064:

A lot of comments here seem to be based on heresay or speculation.

Absurdo.8309:

There is a lot of hearsay in this thread. I doubt that many have even put forth the effort to raid.

You two are hilarious. I think I will continue that blasphemous thought process on a whole new level. If Arena Net does not see positive scaling statistic of people participating in Raid content via the long-term, it will be next on the chopping block. Though I have a feeling that adventures might get that treatment first. Due to their lack of quality in design/polish and people diminishing participation (sad to say). In that they will halt their development for other things (like legendaries) down the line.

While I am fine by all content in the game. Particularly with raid content taking out the ludicrous open world boss scaling issues. While reeling it back into an actual small group personal instance. The problem is what happened with the switched mentality of catering too much to the hardcore.

That pendulum finally swung too far with HoT focusing on that hardcore demographic. Especially when you break the stepping stool that gets people to that content. Dungeons and Fractals allowed people to slowly get there. However the stagnant nature of them, as well as the nerfs (before HoT came out) killed a great deal of that prospect. Now you have a three story roof with no ladders. While the people at the top are throwing stones at the people below, not realizing their own player base is shrinking. Due to the first raid not even being fully complete and peoples patience being very limited. That’s without me even mentioning the time sink itself.

The other glaring problem is ascended gear. Exotic gear alone can get the job just fine in raid. The stigma of people believing that you need acceded gear also drives them away. Especially when the one the lead designers of the raid tweets out a comment telling us so. It’s just like when they told us that Canach Lair fight instance in Southsun was on the level of being elite dungeon content. That was a straight out fabrication. Yet people believe that was originally the case. One solution would be dwindle down the materials/grind needed to create ascended gear to make them a bit more obtainable. Beyond what there is now. So people can experiment more outside of the norm with their gear, without the fear of being punished for selecting a “bad stat.” Or something that does not fit their overall play style.

Here it is, since no one wants to link it: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/guild-wars-2-design-manifesto/

Mike O Brien.4613:

Thanks for all the comments. I know there’s nothing I’m going to say that will make you feel better, but I’ll share some final thoughts for the night.

I said three weeks ago I’d focus on sustainability and quality. I want to reiterate the part about sustainability. Be angry about legendary weapons, sure, but how about the recent drought of content? That kind of thing happens when we spread ourselves too thin, and when we let the content development pipeline empty out so we can fight fires. What I think we actually owe you is sustainable, predictable, high-quality content. I’m making a decision that’s painful in the short-term so we can position ourselves to deliver that.

I believe in quality over quantity. However the legendary weapon being delayed is only part of the problem. It would be nice to have better transparency with all of the content being in the works for years on end. Some of us are still waiting for SAB, Queen’s Gauntlet, Labyrinthine Cliffs, Dragon Bash, Season 1 Living World, tribal armor (& other former PvP exclusive armor sets), female animation fix, and other things to return to the game. Before you came in as temporary director the only thing we heard was ……… “Nothing is off the Table.” For years on end it just built our cynicism up.

Fractal leaderboards should have never been in development long . That was a blatant waste of time and effort. Since the 2013 Fractured update we had our progress reset in fractals, because of this never appearing in game system. We were kept in the dark about it for years Mike.

WvW had it’s problems starting with the “Ruins of Power” in the old alpine borderlands. People hated the idea of this being a feature; even before it came in. Yet it pushed in by the lead WvW developer. This same ideology shaped the development of both Edge of the Mists and Desert Borderlands. Now look at WvW and tell me no one saw the poor state it’s in now (from a mile away).

I could even go into a long rant about how they handled the lore/story since the launch of the game. Even HoT story was rushed. According to writers saying “something had to be sacrificed for the good of the gameplay.” Yet these were the same people hyping up story elements that really did not matter at all in the expansion. The Nightmare Courts major role being gutted out, and defeating Mordremoth by mindscaping at the last minute are perfect examples of this. The only silver lining so far has been Raid content. With season 2 trailing a bit behind, because a lot of those plot points were dropped in the expansion.

It’s not surprising this happen. However I am surprised it took this long to admit to this problem. The legendary journey and fractal leader-boards have been in development since 2013. They canceled fractal leaderboards about a month ago. The poor state of how copy and pasted the legendary journey is unbelievable. With a pure lack of imagination when it first came out. Sure the scavenger hunt portions are somewhat interesting. However ever since they introduced ascended gear it like they been circling their wagons, and using archaic backwards thinking MMO dogma to keep people in game. That has to stop now. If you are willing to bring up that joke of a manifesto from 2010 Mike. Then I suggest you start being forward thinkers of the MMO industry like you advertised you would be.

Here is another idea: The next time you tell us you want to release an expansion by it’s deadline and it’s not finished. Delay it. Simple. Don’t rush it out the door like you admitted with both core GW2 and HoT. Stop treating your game like it’s some early access game on steam.

By the way I will give Mike this: At least he is being honest. The unfortunate thing about Colin is that he was skirting us around with “nothing is off the table” PR talking point. It’s better to have this type of transparency and dead on information about content in development I’m tried of being left in the dark for so many years on these problems. Only to find out 2-4 years latter it’s been canned for now.

Zee The Free.1536:

So any movement on the dev front about finishing this item? It seems that this was a big part of the expansion when you advertised it. I would love to know what the plan is and why it was not complete before release.

The only thing I can remember at the moment is that fractals leader-boards have been officially canceled. So they are no longer tied to the back piece. These are some quotes I pulled from Mike’s AMA reddit post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/48zlyd/im_mike_obrien_here_with_gw2_dev_team_ama/d0nwsln

Anet_Sean

I can’t promise A certain date, but we’ve de-linked the backpack from Fractal Leaderboards so we can release it sooner rather than later.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/48zlyd/im_mike_obrien_here_with_gw2_dev_team_ama/d0nz8hg

Anet_Sean

So yeah, development on this has been suspended. The more we worked on Fractal Leaderboards the more we realized it just wouldn’t work with Fractals as they are right now.

We did come up with something else entirely that we really do like as an alternative, but that would take a lot of development work and we just have too many problems with Fractals in their current state before we can devote those kind of resources to a project like that.

I guess it’s personal preference on what you enjoy doing as a class. However for HoT I probably got the most out of my Reaper/Necro. Especially when grinding out for anything in HoT. Tangled Depths is certainly fun as a Reaper against the chak. However now that I have made a viper Tempest/Elementalist with Dagger/Warhorn combo it has also been fun to play in TD & DS.

Dragon Stand with Scrapper/Engineer can be useful when having the Sneak Gyro for that last 15 minute reward/explore section. Daredevil/Thief with a pure venom build I used to help take out Vinetooth Prime in Auric Basin. Dragonhunter/Guardian is fun use. Even though I kind of use him sparingly. Due to me using him as a primary for old core content all the time (especially dungeons/fractals).

After that it’s kind of mixed bag because the rest of the classes either feel underwhelming, or I have not found the right niche for them. That even includes the Herald/Revenant which I find boring outside of team play. Same could be said with my current Chronomancer/Mesmer build. Yet I used to love playing my Mesmer in core.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Earlier in the game’s history, the coins were as high as 13s, which seems cheap compared to today’s 30-40s, until you remember that most people had trouble putting together the 2g to unlock traits, i.e. 13s then was harder to come by than 40s is now.

You just proved my point. Right now we don’t have many methods in acquiring them, so they are on a stark rise, because of the demand. Arena Net wants new players to come into the game and spend as much time as they can in game. However some of these “corrections” to old systems and new sinks have made it equally hard for new player to get these older items. Which can turn off some people wanting to get these items altogether, and go play something completely different.

As vets we had an easier time, because the older system allowed us to take advantage of the once undervalued Mystic Coin. So I understand why most of us don’t complain about it being a non-issue. As some of us have thousands of mystic coins sitting in our in game bank. Simply because we have no use for them anymore. Except for profiting off the higher demand.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

For a long time, (some) people complained that mystic coins were undervalued. Now, (some) people are complaining they are overvalued. I think it’s fine either way:

• if they are undervalued, stuff is cheap to make, which benefits one set of players.
• if overvalued, those who don’t need the coins earn extra gold by selling them, benefiting a different set of players.

The only thing that worries me is whether ANet has reconsidered the current set of sources, given that they keep increasing the number of sinks.

Actually it’s more like Arena Net striking fair balance. Which does not have a massive loop hole. Laurels are in somewhat of a perfect spot and people hardly complain about them. Unless you bring up the time gated issue in general. Unfortunately when Arena Net sees something out of whack, they go in the extreme polar opposite direction to fix it. Instead of fixing the real underlining issue with a proper balance. Either removing said feature, making it useless, or increasing it scarcity to astronomical levels. Saying they will come back to it latter.

EDIT:

Behellagh.1468:

Mystic coins are still PvE dailies.

As far as I know it’s only one PvE daily type that rewards them. It is the Mystic Forger one (as you mentioned), which does show up sparingly during the month.

Danikat.8537:

What do people make with them on a regular basis?

Like Sid Mad said it’s not just used for Guild Upgrades (as seen at the bottom page of this link).

It’s also used for feast recipes, mystic forge equipment (including some infusions) , legendaries (more for 2nd gen), and even that wintersday presence collection (Runes and Sigils included).

You also have to take the fact that many of new players were not around when Mystic Coins used to be plentiful. Which also really starts jumping up the demand for them. Furthermore that demand will keep increasing as more recipes are introduced that use them.

Also there is another way to get around the problem of Mystic Coins being limited by the daily reward system. It’s by having multiple premium (non-F2P) accounts. Furthermore it even helps with other time gated account bound content. Wanted to get that out of the way before anyone starts saying: “it’s suppose to be limited; hence why Mysitc Coins were nerfed to this supposedly “perfect system” we have now.”

This topic was brought up here:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Discussing-Mystic-Coins/first.

Almost a month ago now. However I am not going too be too surprised if starts becoming a recurring subject, until something is done.

EDIT: Because having a word like “until” and “topic” (next to each other) causes the latter word to get censored. So changed the word “topic” to “subject”.

Though you can get around such time gates by either A) having multiple Guild Wars 2 accounts with 500 max crafting (also help in getting certain things that are locked behind laurels and mystic coins) or B ) have a friend or guild member you trust to craft said item for you.

1. Mega server system with HoT participation reward system fix.

Band Aid fix would make the participation system cross server ip compatible for all HoT maps. Auric is a complete nightmare, because the priority of doing Pylon events is becoming cumbersome. People either do the octo-meta then leave the map for dead or just go around doing hero points. A more complex fix would bring back the bloody district system from GW1.

2. Daily system needs more variety for each game mode.

I loved the old system, before we got the mobile game equivalent of log-in/out to get rewards. However can we perhaps have 2 to 3 more types of dailies pulled from the old system. Jumping puzzles and Dungeon for PvE would be at the top of my list for those.

Everything else I believe people have touched on here or was talk to some degree with the developers over the last AMA.

EDIT:

3. Make the GW2 official forums more user friendly for the developers.

Honestly I want this stop being the excuse of: “we don’t really want to use the official forums because the format is awful.” I mean a couple of my favorite indie game developers have changed and updated their own forum format multiple times. Yet a company that has 300-plus people with a budget quadruple that of those small development companies can’t prioritize it, and higher someone permanently to fix the “broken system.” Even when those indie companies utilize a bunch of other social/media outlets. They still strive to use their official tools (including their official forums) first to get their main message across.

On a side note I still find it depressing the people with so much tech background can’t adapt. Compared with those with little to no tech background that can post on these official forums just fine. So hats off to you good people who at least try to post on these forums; even with the so called “awful format” we have here.

saye.9304:

but in one of the guild chats both lead writers( boby and leah i think) said raids will have side and non important story and they even said they know there are many people who love story and lore but they are not raider., few months after it turns out raid contains one of the major story lines from gw1, were they lying?!

The problem is the over exaggeration/hype some of these employees directly talk about never pan out in that way. A clear example of is when the writers were hyping up story elements that never really mattered much in post-HoT. One of those being that the Nightmare Court narrative would highly significant to the HoT narrative. Furthermore this does not just happen with story elements from the game, but other significant once-upcoming game mechanics. So taking the word from a developer at any point and time can easily be skewed in the future.

I think the best part about this is that it’s not temporary content. However I have to agree with the notion that not everyone will see any of this. At least with dungeon or even fractal content that was do-able to some scope. Though I have this strange feeling that some of these “stories,” that go into these new raids were planned out long ago. Which means some of it was suppose to go into dungeons content. Since fractals lore seems to cover mainly past events.

I remember a long time ago when it was confirmed that even before GW2 came out that they had “cool plans” for the Mursaat. It was until the Queen’s Jubilee first came out that we got a real response on why they were not there. By former dungeon lead Robert Hrouda.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

I originally had the Mursaat/White Mantle as one of the factions. They’re certainly a stronger pick than something like bandits or pirates, but there’s a lot of factors that go into these sorts of things. Creating a new army never before seen is pretty complex and takes a lot of time and iteration. Not only is there a large design cost for it, but art has to create a brand new environment, new armor, new character models, new weapons, and those are not simple tasks either. I played a ton of GW1, so I know their significance. I also knew how much time I had to do this, what my asset request bank was, and knew that I couldn’t do the Mursaat justice… especially with such a small area.
If I’m gonna do Mursaat and White Mantle, I (as a hardcore GW1 player) would want it to be epic and grand. We haven’t ..forgotten..about them, I just have higher expectations for them than what I was capable of putting out in this release.
…and yes I’m proud of that reference.

Once HoT was in development they had their template to create the Mursaat again (via the Exalted model). However by this time they knew where they were going to have to put this story. It could not be featured in the main HoT story, because so many plot threads got severed even from season 2. Just to focus on a rushed story about our protagonist on a rescue mission.

Which brings us to their new “challenging group content.” So of course they bumped this content into the raid. Which even according to one lore enthusiast Wooden Potatoes: “has done a better job at delivering a story then previous content.” Including the main HoT narrative (so far). So I can understand why people are a bit upset about this.

EDIT: Also I have this feeling that the narative about the Wizard’s Tower at Garenhoff might get the same raid treatment.

The Exalted feel a little too one dimensional to me. There is probably more to them, but right now they just feel like plot device to handle “Glint’s Legacy.” So the main protagonist(s) can get on with their mission. The Mursaat are devious, megalomaniacs, and powerful magic wielders.

On one hand they saved Kryta for their own means when the Charr came knocking at their borders. Right after the Searing at Ascalon and the Cataclysm that sunk Orr. On the other hand it was only done to accomplish their so called end game. By stopping a self fulfilling prophecy from wiping them out (via sacrificing the “chosen.”) After bailing out (kind of phasing out of reality) when the previous Elder Races tried to figure out how to deal with the previous Elder Dragon threat.

There is much speculation due to the loose end (plot thread) left in Eye of the North that Lazarus the Dire might still be alive (or at least his legacy). Basically the Mursaat were one of the most unique/interesting antagonist we ever had in the Guild Wars franchise. Also keep in mind that another loose end is what happen to the white mantle founder Saul D’Alessio. Since the Mursaat took him at the end of one of the bonus mission pack in GW1. His empty tomb can still be found in GW2 (Martyr’s Tomb).

RedBaron.6058:

Maybe with Colin’s departure WvW gets more love and is not anymore the son of a lesser GW2 God?

I kind of doubt that. Though WvW is getting that overhaul “soon.”

Donari.5237:

Oh foo, disappointing if clear answer about elite specs — “elite specs are for expansion packs.” So no new elite lines to play with until the next expansion. At least now we know.

Not surprising actually. I know during HoT production it was hinted that might not always be the case. However I think with post-HoT development they probably figured that some of those elite specs needed more time to cook.

Qugi.2653:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Qugi.2653:

Maybe dumb question but why not here on official forum? I am sure you wait for that question.

The formatting on reddit makes an AMA work better in that system. No preference, just a matter of functionality for this sort of short-term project.

Maybe I old but I see reddit to hard to follow. Up vote, down vote conversation not in order even when select view new. I do not agree but I accept you explanation then.

I will just wait for some person to make tl;dr version I guess.

After reading the post you pulled out in another topic. About the former outsourced contractor that used to maintain these forums. I am not surprised. Until they bring someone in to either refurbish it, or come up with something new then this place is dead weight.

It seems that developers are jumping ship. Simply because Reddit is the Facebook of community driven forum outlets. I loathe either outlet (even Twitter) for personal reasons. Nevertheless I can’t deny what either of them have become. Until something comes along and knocks them all down. However I feel the same way as you do; about any type of official communication being on several different social media outlets. It’s a bit lazy, but according to them they have too much stuff on that table. At least John Smith is still using these forums, and has progressed in using it’s format over the last few years.

Anyhow as for Colin’s departure. I don’t actually think I will miss Colin that much. I wish him the best of luck, but I am looking forward to the new replacement director. This whole Reddit AMA seems to be there in order to reintroduce O’brien coming back in as a temporary active director. Most of the time I thought Mike was sitting back comfortable in his position (as CEO of the company). Just like Gabe Newell actually contributing anything major at Valve (at this point & time).

I bet it has something to do with an algorithm somewhere being clunky dealing with player population distribution. Honestly I still want to know why the district system got axed during the transition from GW1 to GW2. Since GW2 is worked around a heavily modified version of GW1 engine.

Well at least that actually is a bit of good news. Knowing that they are still dropping within the last 6 months or so.

I have a question for all those people who still runs the Aether Path (in Twilight Arbor). Has anyone gotten lucky in getting one them in the last year or so? I have started to make this a daily habit, of running this particular path for the last month or so. With no luck so far. I wanted to see (out of pure curiosity) if anyone else has gotten one recently.

vesica tempestas.1563:

Ardid.7203:

So my investment on viper armor for my engie was a really really bad deal… and a lot of raid groups looking for “Viper ascended condi build” are plainly wrong.

I wouldn’t worry about it, 2 dimensional players think in terms of ‘min maxing’ they don’t revile in diversity of build, they simply want to make life as easy as possible – ie duller and most likely a learned behaviour from other mmorpg.

Hey, that saves me a boat load of time and effort. Considering I was thinking about getting six sets of ascended armor (one for each class type with berserker & vipers). I take it the same thing could go with healing stats from exotic to acceded? Basically investing in the ascended trinkets/jewelry and weapons for condi or healing is slightly better overall?

Oh yeah, totally forgot about WvW needs (via the GH upgrades) for mystic coins Apocolyte. Good point. Beyond that they are also needed to make a few mystic infusion recipes and food feast recipes. So it’s not only cosmetic items that requires mystic coins.

Behellagh.1468:

The 2nd big run on standing supply that spiked the price came with the Wintersday 2015 patch. Not sure why but supply went from 176K to 20K in a day.

Probably due to the fact that people buy some of this stuff (mystic coins for this prime example) without realizing how much time/resources are needed to get said item. I have done the same thing before with a couple of different items. Including those items from Season 1 of Living World that were in limited supply (thanks to it being temporary content). For instance the Spinal Blade Pack Cores I still have 10 each type, because I never got around at getting high enough ascended crafting (at the time). Look how expensive those things are now.

Axialbloom.8109:

Malediktus.9250:

I always have too many mystic coins, but then again I got 30 accounts to loot them from.

What the…

Simply people buy multiple accounts to get around the daily limitations (time gates). Or they get them as “joint accounts” for family members or friends. Or to some of them it’s cheaper option then picking up extra character slots through the gem store. Usually these account are picked up when GW2 is heavily discounted. It’s quite common practice for online gaming; especially on the steam platform. It’s another way to load up on things like Mystic Coins if you want, because Arena Net does not have any rules to stop this practice.

It’s not surprising whats happening with mystic coins. I am still one of the few people who was perfectly fine where they were before “the fix,” to the daily/monthly reward system went in. It was actually more rewarding back then (even with a AP cap). Now it’s just mildly annoying without much variety. As a short term goal Mystic Coins have increased in value. Surpassing the value of an ectoplasm.

As That Guy pointed out there are so many things that already use mystic coins. Probably with new sinks coming down the line. Will increase their value as the supply decreases more over time. It’s like Arena Net wanted them to be the value of a Laurel (but directly trade-able). Yet their value will continue to rise beyond that.

Furthermore with the game going FTP and collections on top of that have caused mystic coins to become more scarce. Especially when you consider those FTP accounts don’t get access to daily login reward system, but have access to the TP. So they can get mystic coins, but they can’t really earn them. Beyond that daily system giving out a RNG Mystic Forger daily with a 1 mystic coin reward.

So there is about about 16 story steps according to the log. However I believe there is only 11 instances to get through. It really does not take too long at all. The mastery system was the only thing to gate the story; making it feel longer then it really was (the first time around). Since it’s actually shorter then season 2 living world.

As for the backpack you have to go through the getting the exotic tier first which is not too bad. However the last tier you need to complete most (if not all) of your mastery’s for. Also you need to make sure you have to have finished up Whisper’s Secret collection. Which is probably the biggest money sink if you have not already done it.

Here is some more info on what I am talking about:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lightbringer's_Pack

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lightbringer%27s_Pack_

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Whisper%27s_Secret_

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Warmaster's_Pack

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Warmaster%27s_Pack_

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crusader%27s_Pack

Edit: Here is also another special tip. Don’t get the leyline chest/coat piece during the story. It a complete waste of an option if you get it. I learned this the hard way. Basically the fight with the Mouth of Mordremoth (Dragon Stand map) eventually gets you this piece of armor (all the time).