Believe it or not I would like a verily dark story to happen during the rebuilding of Lion’s Arch. Kind of been imagining it in my head the last couple of weeks. Basically it involves a magistrate from the Consortium taking over the rebuilding efforts. However like all things related Consortium they don’t really supervise the magistrate that in charge of doing so. The magistrate starts by using his/her place of power to turn piracy illegal by blaming the Captain’s Council for the fall of Lion’s Arch. As well as rising tension between people blaming specific races (the Sylvari is especially singled out) for not killing or incarcerating Scarlet when they had the chance. Even going as far as blaming them of aiding and abetting during her grand scheme. Having mock trials and putting some of our favorite characters as witness, in order to frame our allies for misdeeds. Even forcing Kiel to testify that the Captain’s Council sat back and did nothing in preparation for Scarlet attack.
All in all the magistrate would have a secret agenda of course. Maybe trying to harvest the energy of the ley-line that Scarlet has uncovered. In turn trying to spreading paranoia and fear to keep the local masses in check while his/her plan went unhitched. Furthermore the magistrate is employing scheme’s outside of Lion’s Arch in order to keep the heroes of Tyria busy. Sending out specialized assassins/mercenaries and other criminals to lay traps for the heroes to be killed in. In the end power and greed turn to be the magistrate undoing which eventually leads to his death at the hands of Mr, E. It is unveiled that the magistrate is actually a member of a secret criminal organization called the Modus Sceleris. The Consortium takes no blame because they state that “the magistrate was no longer in their employment, because he/she was not sending back the proper paperwork during the post-reconstruction phase of LA.” The captain’s council takes back the city and receding the Consortium control over the city.
We would end up visiting certain areas across Tyria as this story would unfold. Including seeing such places as the Wizards Tower in Kessex Hills and going underneath The Crown Pavilion in Divinity’s Reach. Also meet up with Vael decedents in just outside of Ebonhawk as they hunt down the last Hydra in Tryia. Offending many Grawl and Charr along the way.
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I agree, they could have played Scarlet’s story as a tragedy at the very end. She could have become disgusted in what she finally became, but had little to no free will to change her fate. 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. Scarlet had no character depth and even with the epilogue approaching with accordance to her demise, I think we will never be privy to that information.
I actually feel now that Scarlet was meant to be the polar opposite of Trahearne was. Scarlet was born out of the hatred that was out there for Trahearne to see if the community would like the idea better. You can really compare and contrast these two characters, but they are still written verily poorly. While Trahearne was the exposition king, they made sure that Scarlet was the lunatic without reason. Angel Mccoy herself has expressed before her biased for the Sylvari race. However these two characters have not helped in creating any relate-able or enjoyable experience, for me to even consider the Sylvari race to be intriguing (beyond just their appearance). It just makes me think that the writers can use the Sylvari race for any ultimate Deus Ex Machina BS plot device tool; whenever they want to. Of course they believe it’s okay because we could careless.
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I don’t hate any of the character on their own. However I dislike the disjointed roller coaster in game writing for all of them. Some of the more decent work is being “written outside of the game,” when it comes to their actual character depth. It’s irritating to say the least. Especially when the story is presented way outside the official site like through facebook or flickr.
I bet people would have liked Scarlet Briar more if she was not thrown at us when she was first introduced. Who could forget the first time she got away from us was by riding out of the queen’s gauntlet into clear sky above via explosives (wile-e coyote style). Her teleporting out I could buy, but doing what she did then I could not. Not to mention all the time the mismatched alliances just popped in out of nowhere. To which their explination is simply scarlet threw them into a blender and told them to “go at it.” It’s still a bit of pill to swallow even with the Edge of the Mists story content and Angel Mccoy forum post (outside of the game) explanations. Only to have all of the resolution stuff shoved in till the very end. Which left many plot holes here and there within the game.
If this was suppose to show progression of their story telling antics from the personal story to the living story, then I could defiantly not see the improvement. I give credit to them fixing some mechanical issues for the living story content, but Scarlet’s narrative itself was way too disorganized. I am still hoping they can make another compelling in game narrative like (or better then) Guild Wars: Nightfall in the near future. At least Varesh Ossa felt more grounded in narrative logic then Scarlet Briar did. Heck even Shiro (with the bad voice acting) was interesting to think about then Scarlet story arc. Hopefully Jeff Grubb will be the writing lead for Season 2.
I agree that this living whole living story has been “wishy-washy” with the entire overarching narrative. While I enjoy new original plot lines even if it’s a sub-plot to the main story. I don’t enjoy them if they are overly ambiguous, poorly structured, and horribly executed. It does not help when the writers constantly come in and say “we have all the pieces of the puzzle, but you have to fill in all the plot holes.” Especially when we are missing crucial information in order to make sense of any of it all. Furthermore If the writers have to continually answer story elements outside of the game (short stories, interviews, developer posts, wiki and so forth), then your presentation in game failed to convey proper story delivery elements.
I’m sorry, but the information we got about Scarlet’s scheme/motivation should have not been back loaded to the end of the story. Certain things should have been there since the Flame and the Frost narrative. So by the time we got to these last 4 living world updates it did not feel like the writers were legitimately insulting our intelligence. There should have been more character depth so we actually cared what was going on, and Scarlet should have never been introduced the way she was. It was not smooth. It’s probably what made people disdain her character from the beginning. She should have been eased in into the story. Perhaps even show her before she became Scarlet Briar. Or had an investigation of her background before her grand reveal.
In all honesty GW2 probably would have had a better structured narrative if they were not rushing everything out the door. It’s one mistake they have not learned from since launch, and still practice within the living story “test-project” so far. You may rush out narrative in a large quantity, only it does not make it the best quality. What may even more kitten ing is if you take the two stories of GW1 beyond content (War in Kryta & Winds of Change). Those were presented better as a structured narrative and that was with a small team of (5-10) people. Compared to the 200 plus people they have now at Arena Net, which fluctuates to do one portion of the living story. It’s also pretty hypocritical when you say you “only release things that are fully fleshed out (complete),” but when it arrives it’s partially complete.
No, not that boring non-fitting nonsense again…. I love Everything else in this game – except SAB! Create something that fits to lore and story instead!
Not like the whole living story itself has presented itself much better either. Honestly my tolerance level for SAB is much higher then lousy narrative that is overly ambiguous, poorly structured, and horribly executed.
If you really think about it the whole story up until this point has been a Dudley Do-Right cartoon. Except with all female leads, and the twist is we are suppose to take it seriously. I feel like I just insulted Dudley Do-Right cartoon right now by even saying that. Alright, how about it’s more like the Dudley Do-Right the movie with Brendan Fraser.
The thing is some of those GW1 moments can easily be transcribed as a multiracial event. Look how Orr was handled . Especially it’s explorable dungeon Arah narrative that involves the elder races (not just humans) and priory multiracial investigations.
However Arena Net saying that “we need to suppress all the human lore (to make them boring) and bring the other races into the light.” Which is a pure mockery, because of what we get in game. Especially for the Sylvari who seem to get tossed all around for being an undeveloped race. Out of all the races they are the ones who get poorly written main characters on several occasions. They swing the emotional wrecking ball around way too much. Either dull and boring exposition king Trahearne. Or way over the top megalomaniac Scarlet.
Caithe and Faolain are interesting because they present a morale gray area due to their personal relationship with each other. However TA’s story mode Cadeyrn death was really poorly presented in game and came out of nowhere. Never explained why he was taking orders from Faolain, since he was the original founder of the Nightmare Court. Sieran was believable, even with some of her somewhat annoying antics. Canach had some decent narrative (most the good stuff outside the game), even though some of it was under developed. His transition from being a hardcore renegade to a person seeking redemption feels a bit rushed.
I understand certain people on development team have a bias for the Sylvari. However if your going to write these characters into the game, please make them engrossing. Without excessive emotional roller coaster personality (or lack thereof) gimmicks. If you do a Sylvari with an eccentric personality make them believable to the point where we care what happens to them.
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I think adding to the pile of problems with the story is the PACING of it. It was the one thing I elaborated on several times before. It made things really hard to follow. While some of us understood what was going on because we turned every little rock over and speculated (up the wazoo), others who did not just felt beyond frustrated by the convoluted narrative. Almost most stories of this nature follow a three act narrative arch. An introduction, conflict, and then resolution.
The problems in this story that was presented to us in a sort of “information will be administered via ivy drip, until the floodgates open at the end” fashion. By the time they introduced Scarlet there was already way too many questions that should have been resolved before her appearance at the Queen’s Jubilee. So people did not get bent out of shape when she first appeared. The presentation issue was that the character was literally thrown at us. To which the background information we got on her was way out of line from the person we met in game. The short story “What Scarlet Saw,” which was outside of the game alleviated some of believability issues. Although people who play causally miss these stories completely end up presuming the character is just terribly written from the beginning.
In the end the writers went with answering most of these questions they presumed we understood by the last four updates. Which as much as I am grateful for in the “Origins of Madness/Edge of the Mists” story arch, it did not answer everything. The unfortunate part is if Scarlet dies by the next update there is going to many of those question that will never be answered. So we are left with plot hole galore. Which the community then tries to peace together, until Arena Net latter comes in to straighten those plot knots out. The problem becomes when it’s years latter these question are answered, which by that time some theories are kind of accepted as truths. It is then the missing pieces of the puzzle is presented as a back door event that happened outside of the game.
Honestly Arena Net has written good in game content before. Some of the racial personal story is pretty good. Also the first reappearance of Mad King Thorn (in GW2) was well presented and had good pacing. I think when they are not rushing things out the door it shows up better. When months ahead of time they have executed the concept, before moving onto the actual project which takes several more months. Nevertheless they don’t really want to do this until Season 1 ends. Hopefully Season 2 will be better with the new structure they are going to deliver it in.
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Snip
Funny. I was recently thinking that I’d like to see more of the Consortium. I’m curious about their base of operations and what they’ve been up to. Though I hope things don’t go as you speculate because that’d be a pretty poor way to recover from an attack having to deal with political and economical baloney. Too much a reminder of the real world. :P
Of course they would end up loosing their foothold in the end. Probably a rebellion lead by those people that were screwed by them. I am thinking the captain’s council (those who remained), Canach, and lead by Kiel (maybe Evon though reluctantly at first) would take them down. In the end two things would happen. First LA gets a new look thanks to the Consortium funding. Second once they are figured out the Consortium can lay blame on some megalomaniac and narcissistic leader they hired on the LA project. So they could say it was not them and plead ignorance on things going atrocious again.
I have my own theories and what can happen next if LA would come back. Especially if the writers want to make the situation darker story with season 2. I think the biggest winner out of this entire attack is the Consortium. They can make a comeback out of what happened to LA. First they can make it a point that can fund the reconstruction of LA for a price. Second they can blame the Captain Council for the lack of security prior to the attack on LA. They could use captain Kiel as a primary witness to this occurrence. Which knowing her would not lie under oath.
Furthermore their HQ is not primarily in LA unlike the black Lion Trading Post. So once the new city is built they can administrate martial law (consortium mercenaries at the forefront) and get rid of piracy in the new LA. As for the stuff in Southsun they can simply blame it on Canach again and then try to execute him. So they can get rid of the primary witness to somewhat refute that fact. Of course someone would actually rescue him or he would escape. Their next step would be to exile, imprison, or execute members of the captain council (including Captain Kiel). Probably even outlawing Evon Gnashblade business altogether within the new LA.
Of course this is a bit of speculation. However after seeing what happened to Hobo Tron and the minstrel, getting blamed for their involvement with Scarlet during the Queens Jubilee incident. I have this feeling the people will start laying blame on the people who had nothing to do with Scarlet’s attack (once she is gone). Especially with those people who were in places of power during LA’s collapse.
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I can actually see the majority of the player population still flocking to one city though. Divinity’s Reach seem the second most populated city next to LA. I doubt we will be seeing anything with the Tengu for some time. Simply because most of the living story content has been created to renew the interest the player base in already built zones. New Zones don’t seem to be high on Arena Net agenda at the moment. Although the Consortium could always finish their tropical resort in Southsun. Which would make that place a bit more useful to go to.
Mordremoth being the sixth Elder Dragon would actually be a clean slate for Arena Net to work on compared to the other Elder Dragons. Not much is known about it. Either be it’s minions or how it corrupts. One major problem I have had with the Elder Dragons in Guild Wars 2 is they never felt like a personal threat. They are very impersonal when it comes to the destruction they cause. So when we finally killed Zhaitan in a very anti-climatic conclusion. I walked away from that battle with this in mind: “one down five more to go."
Which is depressing because I know this is not what the writers intended. Especially with build up of making Zhaitan become diabolical to you personally through it’s minions or exterminating your closest companions (& hope). Zhaitan then would make promises to bring your beloved NPC’s back to life if you sacrificed yourself body and soul to it’s cause. By the end you were suppose to feel like death is a natural part of life, and what Zhaitan was offering you was a blasphemous/unnatural escape from reality. The problem was the message was too mottled, because of the rush design of the whole personal story. Which turned Zhaitan into another typical destructive/consume antagonist.
However if it does turn out to Mordremoth being behind Scarlet. It probably means that Arena Net is trying to fix those problems. As well create a central identity (more background information) for the Elder Dragons, and why we should find them personally threatening. It would be interesting if Mordremoth not only had power of nature but was much more of a cerebral opponent. Constantly playing games with it’s enemies in order to destroy it’s competition. I think it would be proving ground in creating an overarching narrative behind Mordremoth slowly through the living story. So they can get feedback on what the community likes/dislikes about it. I take it that season one being centered around Scarlet was a way to flesh out any issues adapting a story to the living world structure. Before they got into the real meat and bones of Mordremoth narrative. Finally we never actually have witnessed an Elder Dragon awakening and how destructive it can be.
As why not continue with the other established Elder Dragons? Actually I think Arena Net is probably going to continue their plot line but will be on a grander scale. Hence why Mordremoth would be a “B” plot line, while the other Elder Dragons would eventually be destroyed “one by one” in the main narrative. If they did rush any of the other dragons right now I don’t think we would be happy with the results, because it would repeat past mistakes. Nevertheless that does not mean we will be fighting Mordremoth by the end of Season 2. Mordremoth could throw other obstacles in our way before we could even get to it. Probably as going as far as to killing, corrupting, or kidnapping some profound characters in the Guild Wars universe to show off it’s power. Maybe some of the original destiny edge members will be it’s next target. Or perhaps Mordremoth could even bring back some older adversaries that have been dormant since the end of GW1.
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So we have another massive capital city that has been built over or by a massive monstrosity? Well I hope this time it does not follow the same destructive pattern as Orr.
Of course it could end with a cliffhanger where Scarlet gets assassinated before you fight her. In which no question will be answered maybe till season 2. Until they then decide to ditch the whole Scarlet sub-plot and go back to Kiel investigating the origins of the Consortium.
Maybe it was built wherever the steam creatures are coming from.
or the much more likely answer (which i already gave), she hid it with mesmer magic, like she’s done multiple times before.
Yeah, the tower of nightmares was the mesmer magic. Which I am still questioning who actually did that for the whole tower. Obviously it was not Scarlet herself. Was it the Nightmare Court, Krait, tower itself, or some other third party that gave off that illusion?
However the base in TA, gendarran field’s Aetherblade jumping puzzle, Scarlet’s hideout, Aetherblade retreat, all used heavily modified holographic technology. The same tech that was hijacked during Dragon Bash festival in order to hide most of her base of operations. As well as create the holographic projectors she used frequently in order to trick her adversaries with a recorded projection of herself. Which would leads me to believe that is what she used to hide that UFO/drill ship in the sky above Lornar’s pass. The construction of that UFO/drill ship probably came under the rule of all of all the partnerships she has accumulated since the flame and frost narrative.
As for the Marionette; I think she actually end up building that thing inside the UFO/drill ship. Which in all intended purposes was probably cloaked by her own holographic tech. I also believe that Scarlet has another major base in unknown grounded location. Which allowed her to create the UFO/drill ship without gaining too much attention. Unless she built that thing in one the bases we have already raided, and it was already in flight before we arrived. If that was the case it would have been great for the writers to drop a hint about it back then instead of now.
The queen’s mechanized bodyguards still bugs me, on where did these things originate from. Scarlet’s modifications of the Wachwork Knights she made on the fly seemed a little too convenient at the time of her grand reveal. I know the theory that it’s a follow up creation of Uzolan’s work, but it still leaves too many questions. Nevertheless once Scarlet figured how to modify them for her scheme’s, made the possibility of a giant Marionette duplicate creation became highly probable.
The only problem I am still having with Scarlet’s story so far is trying to fit all of these obscure continuity issues together. Even with her motives coming into light, there is much more that still remains unknown about Scarlet’s overarching narrative. The biggest in my mind is how she was able to get some of those hostile racial factions to work together. It’s still a little hard for me to swallow even with her ability to deliver on just straight promises anarchy and power alone. Her demeanor is not something I would call for being one to pleasantly negotiating any type of partnership. Unless she was like Lucy Liu character O-Ren Ishii (Cottonmouth) in Quentin Tarantino’s movie Kill Bill. Basically loyalty and inspiration out of fear. Even though the only one I kind of get a hint of that going on is with her Aetherblades.
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If it does turn out to be Mordremoth has influence over the dream that is really going to create an interesting dynamic with the rest of the world. It will also creates a really dangerous scenario as well. Especially in the case of Scarlet; or even if the same dynamic is tied to the origin of the Nightmare Court. Taking a hand picked prodigy Sylvari that is born and driving their talent into overdrive (breaking the mind in the process) to do it’s bidding.
But if Mordremoth does have this type of personal relationship with the Sylvari it begs the question: why leave the Sylavri in a Yin/Yang state of being? Is it too fool the other races into a false sense of security to trust the Sylvari until it’s awakening? Or is it because it’s power has not grown passed a certain point to take mass control over the entire Sylvari race? It could mean the Pale Tree and Glint share something after all. However the Pale Tree would end up fighting Mordremoth through psychological battlefield (instead of physical prowess) to save her race from it’s corruption.
On the note that Sylvari stem from the Elder Dragon itself. There could be another theory that they could have been genetically created by one of the Elder Races to fight the Dragons. However it failed once Mordremoth awoke, or found a way to counter the genetic anti-corruption. There is absolutely nothing to back this theory up but at least it would mean they are not directly Mordremoth minions.
So I wonder how long we have a background story on the main site that explains the new Asura charterer Taimi a bit more. Other then she is fascinated by Scarlet methods even though she knows it’s for nefarious purposes.
Unless Scarlet puts a major obstacle in the way of Zojja, I don’t think she would get involved. Zojja seems like she would become obsessed with certain issues (Elder Dragons and preserving Snaff’s legacy) that have a higher priority over other problems. Also Scarlet involvement with the Thaumanova Reactor has probably yet to be made official to anyone outside of LA. Mark my words though if there is evidence of Scarlet continuing Kudu’s work (which abruptly ended in CoE) then Zojja will give her hell.
Kiel still seems to be determined that the Consortium is the bigger threat at the moment with their morally ambiguous attitude. If she turns into an Ellen Ripley caricature, something tells me it won’t be pretty. Also I take it Magnus told her he would be dealing with Scarlet personally, so she can do her own thing.
Maybe it’s already happening. All of the Elder Dragons are silently killing each other off screen, while we wait for a new expansion, and receive more Living Story. I think one year from now we’ll still be stuck with only Zhaitan, and countless passing villains. And at some point all of the other Elder Dragons will simply be declared dead.
Or Scarlet could build a clockwork/steam dragon of her own. Using the power she would siphon from around the world to create it, so she could eliminate the other Elder Dragons. Afterwords scarlet merges with her new monstrosity (technically ending her story), and we have to deal with Scarlet Cybernetic Dragon 2.0. Which also means she does succeed where Kudu (Albert Wesker/Ernst Blofeld) failed. Sorry I could not help myself. On a side note I actually did like Kudu though he could be a bit campy at times.
This is an excerpt from Robert Hrouda during the Queen Jubilee LW update; referencing to why they could not stick in the Mursaat in that particular update.
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.
Unfortunately Robert no longer works at Arena Net. However I can tell you that they have not forgotten. They have stated on numerous occasion they are saving some of these mysteries till latter. At this point the living story has been a drive to fix problems that occurred or cropped up in the game since launch. Like those 2-D artwork background cut-scenes you see in the personal story, which no longer happen in the living story. Believe it or not Scarlet was made to fix one of those issues we had with just dealing with elder dragons. Making her feel more of a personal antagonist. Perhaps when they get everything in order we might start seeing more old content slowly seep back into GW2. The only issue now is that it’s a matter of time. I am still wondering what Jeff Grub has been working on in the background, since he is not been apart of the living story team.
I can’t comment on what Ree and Jeff are working on, but I can say that I’m ultimately responsible for the quality of the Living World story. I don’t imagine we’ll please everyone with our new direction, but that’s true of any story. That stated, I encourage people to leave their feedback. Just please be respectful.
Anyways hopefully we don’t have to wait years on end to see nothing but teasers of something that would eventually lead to nothing. I am hoping that they can pull of something that we were not expecting, but in a extraordinary superb way.
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I think Abbadon’s story was well written compared to something like Scarlet (via in game). Comparing the two is like comparing apples to oranges. Abbadon’s narrative works because it had better presentation, character depth, and pacing. Scarlet’s narrative arch has been practically a full year of miss match. You know those times when a developer sees a really fantastic picture drawn by someone (like Daniel Dociu) and then points to it saying “I want that in game now.” Only to have the lore written around the picture instead of vice versa. Yeah…. it feels like Arena Net have been doing that with every single living story update. Which is saddening because they have admitted to doing just that in a few interviews. The only difference from them doing that back then to them doing it now, is that there is shorter time period to develop said ideas before they ship.
Knowing A-net certain rules will eventually bend to make it easier to obtain ascended gear over time. The account bound lock may stay on for awhile. However it does not stop them from putting ascended gear to NPC vendors or being able to salvage ascended equipment. But the final act will be able to get the it off the trading post. By that time we will have at least one or two full fledged expansions. To which people will have lost interest in GW2 statistical gain for endgame content that it won’t matter anymore. Even at the end of GW1 lifespan they were practically giving away tormented weapons. So I place it on the wait and see category for now.
I have way to much time put in my alt’s to care at the moment for ascended gear. The only three places I can think ascended gear would come into actual play is fractals, for zerker dungeon runners, and somewhat in WvW. On that note at least they are not selling it in temporary RNG boxes through the black lion store. So it could have been much worse then what we have now. But I do agree with some of the other posters, I will have to start stocking up on transmutation crystals. If I ever start going for this stuff. Which is a pain think about.
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After reading up on Konig points about Shiro narrative in Factions, I went back and started to refresh my memory on the lore in Factions. I have to say I really did dismiss Factions for being the weaker story arch in the entire GW franchise. However after reading the cold hard text without hearing the bland voice acting made me rethink that position a bit. Also because I just finished playing through Dishonored, and I can’t get the voice of Michael Madsen portrayal as Daud out of my head. I actually now think Factions had a decent and somewhat interesting story. I did enjoy how they intertwined Shiro past with the present conflict with the PC. Just to flesh out his back story a bit more, so we could understand Shiro’s personalty before he went bonkers.
It kind of left me wondering how Terick (AKA:Razakel) eventually turned Vizier Khilbron to becoming a servant of Abaddon . It also makes me wonder what demon Abbadon used in order to convert Varesh Ossa and General Kahyet to his cause. Did he have another demon in the guise of a human or was it a full-fledged demon without the theatrics? I take it that the Fortune Teller ruse would be foundation of the pattern he end up using, in order to convert other potential mortal servants to his cause.
Anyhow I kind of wish that Scarlet past would become more prevalent in game; instead of just focusing on the “trouble she caused this time.” Basically more character depth and maybe shed some light on personality when she was still known as Ceara.
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A mail entitled “New Arrivals to Tyria.” Can I ask how many people got this mail? It’s basically Rox Whetstone telling the player that they should look for more friends/allies. To get more recruits for their guild or become apart of one. I take it most players who already reserved in a larger guild permanently did not get this. If this is the case then I have one thing to ask. Arena Net are you still working on the guild alliance system or did you give up?
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Abbadon storyline had really excellent pacing because it was subtly dropped in over time. Even after he was introduce as the primary antagonist he still was hiding behind his pawns. It as also then we learned of his full motivation which was bringing about the Nightfall Prophecy. Which would lead to his freedom. The story with Scarlet has been obscure and overly flamboyant so far in comparison. With more focus on her theatrics and the twisted alliances she makes somehow.
During the events of the Thaumanova Reactor incident I would not have mind if it was Kudu in the forefront, and Ceara was an assistant to Kudu. It would interlocked the events that happen during the time Ceara was spending with the inquest before they screwed her over (the first time). It would also allow us to witness how Ceara would differ in characteristics from her current alter ego. I mean it would convey her past a bit more to us, as she is transitioning into a morally ambiguous individual. Which is something we have yet to see in game.
If A-net does take a break from scarlet they can continue a story that is less then half complete. For instance they could continue the story with the Modus Sceleris’s gang. I know they had plans for them, but they stopped for some apparent reason.
Hey now, it was not Bobby who hyped the Thaumanova Reactor it was our good friend Anthony Ordon.
I wonder what kinds of things would happen if you mixed the Mists with chaos energy…
It matters, but we all pretty much know exactly what happened at the Mouth of Torment.
Nobody knows what happened at Thaumanova…yet.
To shed some light on my bias, our team brainstormed up a bunch of fractals for you guys to pick from and then we settled on the best two. I got pretty excited about Thaumanova, given what we intend for it to entail so I’m Kiel supporter all the way.
Abbadon will also be great if Evon wins though.
He also admitted that Arena Net had retcon out the idea that there was once a Cantha District in Divinities Reach post launch of GW2.
So, I’m not going to spoil anything but I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you guys that according to game lore, there was never a Canthan district. If you’ve done your research, you’ll know that the great collapse was formally an arts district.
Just a final quick note, I’m certainly not denying that at one point a Canthan district was planned and partially implemented. But the actual lore of the district that the game shipped doesn’t support it very well right now.
I think it’s great that you guys are fans of Cantha and I would personally like to see it in the game as well. But what you’ll be finding under that tent (very soon) is not Canthan. I’m just making assumptions here, but if we did return to Cantha I suspect it would be a really big deal, way too big to fit under the even largest of tents, or even in an existing city at all.
Though in Anthony’s defense he probably did not how much people would end up loathing Scarlet in the near future.
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Konig, bobby probably responded because this is the first real lore thread where the negativity about Scarlet has been toned down quite a bit. Since we are trying to be forward thinking about what her actions might be. Also on us keep the speculation below a certain wild and fantastic threshold.
And then I end up reading your final paragraph on Scarlet being tied into the Elder Dragons. For shame Konig. You know they don’t have an outline on Scarlet’s plans, and will just shoehorn our ideas (even the bad ones), so it would be less work for them…… “Just kidding” as Scarlet would say.
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I noticed on reddit a few people brought up the point that Anthony said “…at this time.” Which could be interpreted that down the line they might put them back in. But that still raises the question why not have the Azurite Crystal or Temporary Special Consumable Recipes tied to a vendor in the fractal HUB? More options to spend those pristine fractal relics. Or even have it as a universal drop that could happen in any fractal?
I mean they had a development time of 4 months to think that over, even if Colin told them not too. Which is also interesting because one of the argument over the second iteration of SAB and the Aetherblade path in TA was about shallow rewards. You think they would have thought during the development cycle: “hey, we should work to improve said reward system for our next upcoming project?” Why not use something you already have in game? You see when you work on an update of this caliber you try to make it a well rounded update, and improve on things that did not work the first time around. Which by all means they are going to improve on other aspects of fractals with this update.
It still makes me wonder even with the old rewards of fractals being improved/streamlined, why not add old temporary content for the veterans to strive for. Is the new rune set, sigil, tonic, and leader boards really enough for someone who has mastered fractals before to do it all over again?
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Spoiler: there was always a rare chance to get them in the 10-20ish. The only change we made was to make them skins so you can apply them without spending a transmutation stone.
There was always “a rare chance” to get Final Rest from the Shadow Behemoth – it just never happened in the lifetime of the game until the fix that made them fairly common.
No one has ever reported getting fractal weapons to my knowledge from sub-20s play. Either that chance was insignificant or the table was broken.
Wow you read my mind on what I was thinking about. Yeah, when it comes to drop rates I trust the players statistical data then most of the A-net’s slighted information now. Due to the whole Final Rest debacle. I also was one of those who was looking for that dam thing.
Initially I thought so too. But I’ve since decided that I don’t really want them touching such an old and important piece of lore. Looking at all the ways they have marginalised the gods in GW2 I have a feeling it might have been a let down :/
Thaumanova should be good though.
While I agree with the idea that it would have been bad to rush Abbadon Fractal within a four month time frame. I don’t think the Thaumanova is going to give us more information on the lore we don’t already know. Also if anything is new is added it will be very either formulaic/stereotypical, or will be allusions to things we will never have answered. Especially after I end up seeing this on the update page and reconfirming the inquests involvement:
“Thaumanova Reactor Fractal: You voted, and Kiel delivered! Experience the moments leading up to the catastrophic destruction of the Thaumanova Reactor, caused by the Inquest’s reckless experiments with Chaos Energy.”
So yeah, I don’t have my hopes up.
It’s kind of disappointing even though most of the rewards got shuffled around for the better, but nothing interesting reward wise was added to fractals. No returning temporary content rewards, or new unique rewards that justify a full run (other then a new tonic) in my opinion.
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It makes me wonder what will happen to other temporary recipes; like the one for dragon’s revelry starcake when dragon bash will return next year. Will they shoot this down for people who could not obtain it last year?
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Well at least we can tell people who were hoping that Sentinel stats would return with the reintroduction to the Molten Facility, that it still won’t be obtainable for now. I believe Wooden Potatoes was looking forward to this happening.
So as many of you know both the Aetherblade Retreat and Molten Facility are returning to Fractals. Which begs the question will the old rewards from these dungeons be returning also? For instance all the obtainable special food recipes from both dungeons. Or the Molten Facility special Azurite Crystals resource; which only can be found in the facility. Maybe the cosmetic Monocle and Molten Jetpack skins make a comeback.
Considering that this is one of those times that Arena Net can show that temporary content, does not have to mean temporary rewards forever. What do you think they will do?
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I did notice during the final cut scene that Scarlet point of view on those strategic losses were in fact personal victories. As she treats every loss as a learning curve for her next plan. I have been trying to guess at what she end up learning with this scheme. Was it she wanted to know her enemies darkest deepest fears? So she would get to know them on a more intimate level. I never imagined her taking poisons or hallucinogenics seriously. Due to how she treated the Hylek’s alchemist apprenticeship she incurred on a whim. She obviously is going to integrate the technological breakthroughs she acquired with the toxic alliance. Also maybe the Hybrid was another step in her goal to see if she could create her own maleficent and blasphemous version of life.
She also has to know by now the unwanted attention she is attracting. Eventually leading to people tracking her down to her exact location. I wondering if she already planned out an end game for her opposition. Perhaps an open ended zone with all of her creations and a hidden fortress. Maybe a diabolical amusement park of Scarlet’s own design? Speaking of location I wonder if she would set up base deep in the Maguuma Jungle.
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Also remember that Bobby Stein answer is half of the story. They may not directly respond to overly negative criticism, but they do listen. They can’t be blind to it. Especially if the negative criticism is brought up a thousand times over, or it brings up an interesting point (even if it’s overly pessimistic). They will respond from time to time. However it’s usually in another way. They either make some drastic changes with their methods by delivering certain content within the game. Or they respond indirectly without directly quoting the person. Just like what Bobby himself has done in the past.
The reason for not directly addressing negative criticism is normally because they can become overly emotional at times. For example Josh Foreman when he would talk blatantly about the design decisions he made on SAB. Josh worked exhaustively on SAB. His feedback sometimes to the community was not up to par, to where the Arena Net higher ups wanted it to be. So they reprimanded him for his actions on the forums. In my opinion he did nothing wrong. He even enlightened us that it was not his decision to make the SAB infinite coin, and it was actually marketing. Or the fact that the alpha testers and QA people he sent his second iteration of SAB to, gave a thumbs up to it every time direct feedback was needed. My interpretation of those two problems is that there are some internal communication blunders within Arena Net, that can be easily be fixed for the next SAB update. Nothing astonishing wrong with being open about it. It happens with all companies.
Josh situation is the most transparent one by recent occurrences. However I have seen it happen to to other portions of the development team, whether they admit to it or not. Why do we get the PR speeches most of the time (especially from Colin; which is stark contrast to the actual PR people) and not a direct response? It’s because it would enlighten us of any inward flaws of Arena Net’s strategies. Or where the problem truly is. In their minds they have to work as a coherent team of like minded individuals. There is no inward fighting or disagreements. Because it tears a company apart from the inside out. The problems I have with that is the extreme flip side of censorship that occurs in spite of it. It not only hurts your patrons positive perspective of the company, but it damages your work force who feel driven into a primitive hive minded atmosphere. Nevertheless I will say Arena Net is far from the worst offender of this problem.
Anyways that is a far off topic I want to go on about that issue. Since I know in some way they are working on the problem as we talk about Scarlet now. Maybe that’s why they are supposedly putting Scarlet away for now. Because it will take about 4 months from the date they actually address the issue, to the day we see if their fixes worked. Or they sometimes say it might be longer, due to some content being easily scrapped for other reasons. I just wish they were more open about their issues. Particularly if they have any during the development of a project, then waiting till the last minute. I know they talk about shelving ideas, but they can tell us why this final decision was made.
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Not to mention that we’ve been told over and over and over again that she’s a silver-tounged individual who is able to coerce anyone into anything, but thus far her talk has been far from what you would expect from someone like that. I mean I would believe that she could do what she does with the alliances a little better if her dialogue seemed to match what we’re told about her.
This is what I want to see. Her coaxing one of the these alliances into existence. I want to catch her in the act of doing it. Because right now she seems like a demented lunatic when she addresses her adversaries. The best way I could imagine her doing it is compared to Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg (Garry Oldman) charterer from the Fifth Element offering a package deal of some sort.
It probably has to do with the Zhaitan fight, and how it was rushed (developers have admitted it before). Which left the entire game feeling kind of anticlimactic. Not only have been trying to improve their game mechanics (like Tequatl the Sunless) but also their story telling. Until they get everything right where they want it, then maybe afterwards Arena Net will return to weaving a narrative about the remaining Elder Dragons. My guess would be around July of next year is likely the time they will get get back on track. However that is only speculation. I also hope they fix the Zhaitan encounter, before they move onto the next Elder Dragon. Until then Scarlet was their intentional plot filler. Though her significance to the lore is what is being questioned, and hopefully will be answered once her narrative concludes.
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I don’t think Arena Net believes they have quite conveyed the natural existence of the Sylvari in game as of yet. Until we get the next Elder Dragon chapter then it’s probably not going to be the last Sylvari main character we get. I doubt the next living story is going to the amazing adventures of Captain Ellen Kiel and her merry crew.
I just had a flash of thought. What if Scarlet was done in by the Skritt? I was thinking it would be hilarious because of the pure irony of someone of her stature being done in by the Skritt.
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I agree with Redenaz overall sentiment on this issue. The extension of the 2013 Halloween did not build anything new or refurbished anything old to warrant it to be on more then 2 weeks. I thought some of those features Redenaz explained would have come back the following update after the initial update. My guess is they put all of their work into Nightmare Tower, and most of the other side projects they have been doing for WvW. From my prospective I have two major issues on what was not accomplished this years Halloween event.
The first issue I have is what Collin has stated repeatedly about recurring content, and how it will be used. Awhile back he had stated that recruiting content would allow the team more time to build new content without making from scratch. He was pleading this idea would bring bigger and better things, even when something like Halloween would return. Saying Halloween would set the tone for other recurring content in the future.
Unfortunately last years Halloween did feel more robust/complete then this years. The only thing that would artificially make it feel longer was jacking up the weapon recipes from last year. So the new BLC RNG tickets weapons would feel more accessible then grinding for something that is old. I could sort of understand why they did it too candy corn, but also to incur this increase to the rare Halloween materials was a bit excessive. So I might be cringing when Wintersday, and Dragon Bash rolls out again with “new content.” If it’s anything like this years Halloween.
The second issue I have is the one thing that lacked in this years Halloween was the communication. Even with their newfangled “collaborated development,” process that is going on now. Instead of explaining why the three features which Red reiterated on did not return this year; they instead opted to be silent. They even had a live stream on the lore of Guild Wars Halloween, and I know that question came up. It could have been something like: “we did not have enough time for this years Halloween to get everything we wanted out the door.” Or “there are some other bigger projects ahead that we are currently working on, and unfortunately it nixed our efforts on this years Halloween.” To a point where they would explain that this years Halloween should not be reflected on as what will happen to other recurring events. Also they could have explained why they upped the resources for the old Halloween weapon recipes for this year. It did not necessarily have to be a response here on the forums, but elsewhere informing us about the reasoning behind this years Halloween cuts.
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The message seems to be alluding what happens when a person overstep their boundaries just to play god. In the end she wants to create a world that bends to the freedom of anything beyond whats predestined. Also creating life that cannot be contained or counted by simple annotations of what is good or evil. Breaking those rules to her agenda. Nevertheless so far all of her visible work shows that she is out to conduct her own personal gain with a narcissistic tendencies. She could simply labeled as a generic terrorist with a lack of strong motivations. Scarlet own goals seem to hampered by the fact she uses a rinse and repeat method in order to get what she wants. Becoming very predictable.
We get hints she is stealing stuff for a massive plan (very subtle), and she has corrupted political officials. However most of this downplayed to her cliché theatrics of doing evil deeds. It’s really bothersome because like in TA Aether path she knew exactly what everyone was up to in her facility, but the possibility of what that means is never explored. I mean Scarlet could literally be one step ahead of Caithe sneaking around with prerecorded holographic message. Really? No way of developing that any further? Or how about that emulated Steam Creature portal device that she has in Gendarran Fields. Does that means she can explore parallel universes (through the mists), and that’s why she knows how certain events will transpire? None of these questions or ideas are even remotely dealt with. We just get her constantly making one odd-out alliance after another. With no explanation to how or why.
You know what I would love to see in this next update. This is speculation on a future possibility, but it probably won’t happen. It turns out to be Faolain who is actually the real person behind the toxic alliance. Why did she do it? Out of envy. Since Scarlet was upstaging her efforts with the Nightmare Court; just after her disappearance in TA story mode. She would explain that the entire tower was to set the stage for a massive deception. So she could have a biological/chemical army of terror to call her own. It would also serve as a rival faction to Scarlet mechanical monstrosities. Faolain would give us hints about what Scarlet’s true motivations are. Also tell us why she despises Scarlet because of their past “disagreements.” Faolain would show us why she was using nightmarish hallucination. So she would not only trick the Krait into forming this new alliance (something that was thought to be impposible), but in case there was fallout with the her plans then Scarlet would take the blame.
It will have a very causality feel to it. Because of Scarlet theatricals misgivings she is making enemies out of those who have dealt with her before. Her influence has indirectly caused other problems in the world to which she has not direct control over. It would also explain the relationships she has squandered in the past and therefore creating future debacles not just for us but for Scarlet. It would make her to be charterer that can be supposedly all powerful but flawed.
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Wow, does this “next preview” make things feel very short sighted or too predictable? Well I guess they are really trying to build this up, because anything can happen in the tower of nightmares. Can I say get ready for another anticlimactic struggle against mediocrity? Or will a-net prove finally prove me wrong with an actual compelling narrative? I guess we will have to wait till next week to find out folks.
So what would you propose for a better system to those who do not enjoy supporting the RNG system? Should they fix the drop rate on the scraps where they would guarantee a drop for every chest you open. However at the same time have a rare chance to drop a ticket. Giving a better initiative to spend money on the chests. Without being completely screwed over by getting nothing you want to invest time or money into.
I think Arena-Net would take on further positive business opportunities, if they created a user based workshop for cosmetic items. It would also save them a certain amount of time and resources. I mean the possibility would be endless, and they would be working with the community on a more personal level.
I also agree the RNG habitual use is the only thing holding back GW2 experience at times. If there was a straight buy option in the gem store I would gladly buy it. Like the ability to buy black lion tickets for decent amount of gems. Instead of trotting through the trading post hoping they have what you want. However everything else has been fine so far in the in game store, with a few exception that are brought up now and again.
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The Black Lion Chests have never really intrigued me, due to the system that governs it. I don’t think it’s engaging enough; compared to that of the mystic toilet system (which I also find atrocious). Ideas that were probably brought in place by monetization team. Out of curiosity I have tried a few times. Just to see if the system was well adjusted/fair to my taste; but I feel you don’t get what you strive for. While someone who has spent less time in game, could easily acquire something with little to no effort. So instead I will invest in things that are permanent, and are not one time use consumable based.
However it seems that they feel the system is fair, and it brings in enough revenue to warrant it’s existence. Probably due to some statistics that we will never be privy to. Therefore I doubt this system is going to be adjusted to better suit the casual patron. You can tell everyone to stop buying key, but that won’t work. I doubt any influence we have here would make that large of an impact. Furthermore there are other markets globally that encourage this type of RNG monetization.
The only advice I can give is stay away from anything RNG based. Especially if your starting to feel like your being taken advantage of. If the BLC are not yielding anything good for around 10 keys then it’s unlikely to change. As for A-net themselves they have the right to choose whatever business endeavors they want to commit to. However financial repercussions will occur if they cannot balance themselves on that proverbial monetization tight rope.
By the by I would love to see Ms. Crystin Cox do an interview on what her team has accomplish for Arena Net during the past year. Just to see where the thought process on their business model aligns itself to. Including any thoughts on future improvements or if the system itself has been working as intended since launch.
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Maybe I’m the most blasphemous person on this world (hell yeah), but I have no idea what Atlas tried to convey there – I’ve watched 2 separate episodes of Doctor Who, is all (didn’t grab my attention).
Someone would please care to elaborate? :/ I want to know and offer my congratulations. Heck, I still do that, ‘cause it’s very creepy and cosmically awesome.
It’s referring to The Family of Blood episode where the Doctor is hiding on earth from a hostile alien species (“the family”), who wants to consume his life essence (to live forever). By hiding, he can hold out till this alien species dies due to their limited lifespan (3 months to be exact). In order to hide he becomes human/mortal and wipe his memory into a Time Lord device, so it will be harder to track his location. However things go wrong and “the family” finds him which forces the doctor hand to intervene. The twist is the doctor was not running away because he feared them, but he actually was trying to let them live out their short lives without his intervention. However because of their persistence along with the atrocities they have (and possibly would have) caused, he punished them for all of eternity (poetic justice). Here is a clip of the events leading up to what he does to them, so you get a better idea.
Back on topic I find it interesting that nothing technological has been shown yet. I have been wondering if scarlet just has another hidden machine up at the top of the tower. Or most of her work is purely biological and chemical this time around.
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I hope they do answer that question well, then.
Going by what they pulled in the past, unless it’s convenient for them to so then they won’t. It’s interesting how we come up with theories so we can cover up these massive plot holes. Only for A-net to twist what we thought happen and latter come up with something verily underdeveloped.
According to one developer from the recent Halloween Lore live stream he states that it’s easier to leave things open for interpretation then finishing something. The speculation just keep people interested. My guess he got his inspiration from JJ Abrams mystery box lecture . Basically all those hints about Cantha is just to keep you engaged and does not mean that it will ever appear again. Or the Wizards Tower in Kessex Hills meant to be the ultimate teaser, but probably never to be delivered on. Or filling in the (plot) hole over the Great Collapse.
It’s because every single time they introduce another pseudo alliance without solving the “why they are untied,” it set’s the introduction clock one tick backwards. There is still unanswered question about most if not all the alliances that scarlet has been apart of. We have yet to get to the part where her plan is truly revealed to us. So we are no where near the true conflict stage. Also according to Bobby Stein outside short stories can be skipped because they are complementary narratives to what happens in game. So you can technically throw out the short story ”What Scarlet Saw,” right out the window. As well as the short story ”Twlight Prepations,” which alludes to why the Nightmare Court allowed Scarlet to build a base in TA.
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