Asura gates were originally created with energy from Primordius, it makes perfect sense to have Taimi able to teleport anywhere within the RoF, and quickly build another gate, since currently, that’s one of the places in which more of Primordius energy is concentrated.
Ummm… what? Taimi sent a crew to Ember Bay to set up a portal. And you can’t just quickly build another gate, it needs time to calibrate it.
And also, the fact that WE, haven’t been in those areas, doesn’t mean in any way, shape, or form, that no one else has been there. In fact, there’s a very small chance there’s any completely unexplored area in the whole world of Tyria, for anyone to conclude “there’s no time to build a portal”.
The fact that some sort of living creature has already been there doesn’t mean that those creatures set up an asura portal? There’s the shipwrecked circus in Ember Bay, they were there before Taimi’s crew arrived. The circus was caught on the island, they didn’t have a portal.
Plus the fact that once again, it’s been established in the story, that dragons do consume energy from the waypoint, and with that alone you have a more than logistically reasonable explanation, as to why we travel to anywhere the dragons live. All in all, there’s absolutely no reason, to question why we travel around the world when there’s a plethora of different, reasonable and lore supported reasons, as to why we can jump to any point of the map, at any given time (even to a never before explored area of the map, which is something we’ve yet to do in the game anyways).
With all that said, I don’t even know if you’re serious or just trolling.
That’s actually really kittening impressive for it considering how little content has come out since HoT period, much less in Q3 alone (which amounted to a whole LW episode I think. Can’t remember if LWS3 episode 1 came out at the end of Q3 or the beginning of Q4).
Both episode 1 and 2 were part of Q3. Out of the Shadows has been released on July 26, Rising Flames on September 20. The new Living World season should have brought some people back to the game again, but the earnings in Q3 are even lower than Q2.
So no, I don’t think GW2 is in a bad state at all. So far LWS3 has been kittening awesome, and that is being put out while they are also working on an expansion too.
Already working on the next expansion while parts of HoT are still missing.
Keep in mind that they also changed their release schedule from 2 weeks to 2-3 months between each episode. The amount of story (instances) however didn’t really change, just the release of new maps.
Assuming they keep this quality up for LWS3 (and on Reddit a dev said they hope to release a new map with every release of LWS3), not only will we be having high quality updates
Depending on what you consider to be high quality. While the pacing of the story in episode 1 was ok, it felt overly rushed in the second episode. They just scratched the surface on every event and rushed from one to another. Looking at the introduction of some enemies and allies. Plus, they scrapped the journey to Ember Bay completely which lead to the question why we are exactly there . Other than that, the bosses such as the sloth queen or the Molten Dominator are ridiculous – the giant Lava Wurm is a simple defense event, you don’t even fight against it yourself.
Furthermore, Ember Bay has a huge problem with constantly changing NPC models, even Hungry Hal looked different every time you gave him an apple: Changing Hal . Other NPC’s had multiple doppelgangers within their field of view, and also changed their appearance in every map instance while keeping the same dialogues . Don’t forget the actual achievement of Hungry Hal, carrying 50 apples back and forth.
All things considered, I don’t acknowledge the current season of the Living World to be high quality.
Game’s going strong man.
So, not really.
Going through the races of Tyria, there’s a lot to think about related to their culture, let’s take a look at their spoken language:
The only known Asuran word is “Bookah”. I always wondered what the asuran language sounds like, it would be so cool to learn more about it. The discovery of Rata Novus and the content of the dragon lab made me think about this: The Asura have their own language from when they were underground, but quickly adapted to the “common” language.
Edit: found more: Asuran runes The banner holding translatable Asuran runes, it translates into: Line 1: ‘qwa umza lagee wan’ Line 2: ‘o kwa tanzin wan’.
That’s a nice approach to imagine what their language sounded like!
The highest rank of the Charr is called Khan-Ur. Sounds sort of primeval, maybe warrior-like. In real life, “Khan” was a title for a mongol leader (-> Genghis Khan).
Other words: The volcano “Hrangmer” was roughly translated to Jaws of Oblivion.
Foreign languages could also mean that there have been different accents. Personally, I think that if they had accents, it would add a nice touch to their culture. I mean, skritt do have their special way of talking, it could be interesting to hear some variations along Asura and Charr, too. Yes, they lived together with the humans for a long time. But even though the main language of some countries is English, there are unique words and accents in each country.
I’m sure I missed out on some points so feel free to add anything you know about it!
Why does Lege armor have to be tied to Raids?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: Tekey.7946
Throwing in Anet’s decision to lock XP gain for everyone behind raids so you won’t get xp on any HoT or Living Story season 3 map unless you defeated a raid boss.
Being able to get xp in a game shouldn’t be a specific reward.
I’ve gotten plenty of XP on HoT maps despite never even stepping foot into one raid.
I think you mean locked out earning XP to go towards spirit shards if you don’t max out the raid mastery.
If all of your mastery tracks are full (except for raids), you won’t get any xp until you’ve defeated a raid boss. Personally, I don’t care about spirit shards, but my xp bar stays at 0/0 all the time.
That’s why it’s been highly controversial to lock xp gain behind raids. Now that people claim that raids are hard and they should get a special reward (legendary armor) for it, it’s even more questionable.
This statement is factually incorrect. Especially so when it comes to themepark MMO’s. The entire point of them is to have enough unique content to cater to everyone, not having content for the majority.
Maybe theoretically, but if they don’t have enough resources to do so, that won’t work out. GW2 never meant to have raids, but they decided to introduce them afterwards with HoT.
Now if they abandon content that pleases 90% of the playerbase in order to constantly push out new raid wings for 10% of the players, that won’t end well.
HoT didn’t contain any dungeons or fractals – but raids instead. They said that there’s a dev team for raids and another one for fractals. We got 3 raid wings within 9 months but only 1 fractal in 3 years. Looks like their fractal team could use some help.
Clearly Anet thinks developing raids it worth their time, so to me that means raids are probably more popular than you think.
I read it and decided not to reply to it as there was nothing to reply to other than this:
I find it extremely entertaining that you somehow think to know better how to run and develop an MMO than Anet.
No matter what you find entertaining, it’s common sense to focus on content that covers the majority of the playerbase.
Locking an Elder Dragon fight (main story) behind raids would be the worst decision ever.
(edited by Tekey.7946)
Why does Lege armor have to be tied to Raids?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: Tekey.7946
The whole argument behind locking that reward behind specific content is that raids are supposed to be hard, thus that best stuff is locked behind them. If they’re truly easy, if the difficulty in them is finding a group of ten people that are all interested and dedicated, well, then that’s an issue for me.
Either they’re hard, in which case, some people will not be able to do them, or they’re easy in which case they don’t deserve a specific reward.
People can’t have it both ways.
Throwing in Anet’s decision to lock XP gain for everyone behind raids so you won’t get xp on any HoT or Living Story season 3 map unless you defeated a raid boss.
Being able to get xp in a game shouldn’t be a specific reward.
I could say the same thing to you.
I have no stats nor do you. But what I do know is that Anet dedicated a team to raids and has been consistently putting out new raid wings. What I also know is that I’m in 2 guilds in which the majority of players raid, but one of them is a guild dedicated to raiding so take that as you will.
Clearly Anet thinks developing raids it worth their time, so to me that means raids are probably more popular than you think.
You didn’t read my post, did you? Anet doesn’t think anything. I said:
’they’re the masters of inconsistency. They started off with dungeons, then scrapped them in order to focus on fractals. What did we get?’
We had 1 new fractal in 3 years. Let that sink in.
Don’t you think that there are more people who like dungeons and fractals compared to raids? Anet simply has the talent to make wrong decisions and disappoint players. That doesn’t mean that raids are more popular than anything else.
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LMAO if we were such a small minority, Anet would not have catered to us. The fact of the matter is that many people left GW2 due to “lack of meaningful endgame content” and have now returned with the inclusion of raids.
Anet wouldn’t be developing raids if they didn’t think it was profitable. The sooner you accept that, the better. We’re gonna get raids anyway, whether you like it or not.
No one knows what Anet thinks, they’re the masters of inconsistency. They started off with dungeons, then scrapped them in order to focus on fractals. What did we get? Let’s see:
2014: 0 fractals
2015: 0 fractals
2016: 1 fractal
Whereas they released 3 raid wings within 9 months, and a new portal to the next raid has already been added to the aerodrome if I remember correctly.
You said that people left because of the lack of endgame content. That doesn’t mean that everyone wanted to see raids. Maybe they left because there were absolutely no updates at all on instanced endgame content for years.
That being said, personally, I don’t like the 10-player-system of raids. On the other hand, I prefer instances that are connected to the main story – unlike fractals. So 5 players + story + challenge = hard-mode dungeons. Maybe even some different levels of difficulty. But those dungeons should rather deal with side stories instead of an Elder Dragon fight.
Look son, you are drowning in a very shallow kiddy pool.
I say you focus all that mental effort into something actually important. Go do stuff with your family or something, be happy, live life.I dunno man if it bothers you so much that you have to keep dragging this on, just use your imagination dude. Imagine they all stay the same at all times. There, solved.
You shouldn’t see this as a personal thing.
Anet is a company, they want to earn money. Therefore they need to provide a decent product. While they managed to implement some unique features in GW2, there have been many, many problems in the past. Plot holes, half finished expansions, really long content breaks and constant bugs with every single patch didn’t give me a good impression of the game.
You could assume that a company would learn over the years get some experience in what they’re doing. I know that there have been massive changes within the team but they really have to get their stuff together now.
It’s their chance to make up for the mistakes of the past with the new season of the Living Story. But all I can see is again half finished work. Nothing changed. Maybe the next expansion will be like Hot all over again.
Is it really the entire population of the map, every time? 100%? Not a single consistent character? Or is this more hyperbole?
Every time you change the map instance, it’s the asuran researchers, the circus people (+ sloth feeder – event) and Hungry Hal. Maybe the circus director will stay the same, but that’s nowhere near a hyperbole.
You called it
something rather minor in the grand scheme of things
Now compare the case of a normal core Tyria map with Ember Bay. Which one of those descriptions is more appropriate?
Saying that the change happens is not hyperbole. Placing so much emphasis on the importance, impact, relevance, of something rather minor in the grand scheme of things is.
You know that different people find different things important? Sure, maybe there are players who do PvP or WvW only and don’t care about the open world.
But there are also players who enjoy the story and the lore of Guild Wars – and for those people things like NPC’s are important. It’s not a minor thing, having the complete population of a map being replaced in every map instance!
And it seems it is part of the design of some NPCs. Probably because it’s easier to do it that way.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_2_Wiki:Projects/Shared_Model_Project#More_information
“If an NPC’s model is randomly generated (for example Klunn’s appearance changes) DON’T constantly switch the picture. Just pick whichever model it uses that has the best picture and notate it on that NPC’s page and next to it’s name here as well.”So it’s not a bug then and it’s not going to change.
This thread can be closed. Thanks to Greener.6204 for the link.
Why does that mean that it’s not going to be changed? Who are you to decide that the thread should be closed? And why do you think it’s not a bug? Maybe those NPC’s weren’t meant to be randomly generated → Hungry Hal?
There are plenty of NPC’s which will always look the same – your post is completely illogical?
(edited by Tekey.7946)
NPC’s have been assigned alternating appearances for quite some time. In fact, we have a whole project on the wiki which has to be aware of this (read the second bullet point).
Cool, didn’t know about that, I also heard of another player that it already existed for years. And that’s why I’m concerned about it, being still present in new maps like Ember Bay.
That assumes the story writers were aware of that little feature the map makers were making. That assumes there hasn’t been any bad writing as MMO’s aren’t known for having great stories.
There’s communication going on in a company. No map designer will implement things like that without having the order to do so because the story needs it.
Also I don’t agree with that generalization of stories in MMO’s, that’s certainly not true.
You still haven’t proven that it’s not LS3 related.
Greener provided a link to another NPC changing it’s appearance that is not related to the current Living Story. And there’s been the black Phil Thackeray.
(edited by Tekey.7946)
Bloodstone has made others insane. Insanity can show itself in different ways. The commander has been gathering bloodstone. Insanity may be displaying itself by making us see things that aren’t really happening. So we think the NPC is changing appearances when he’s really not.
There’s nothing said yet that proves one way or the other. It could be a bug. It could be LS3 related. You haven’t proven that it’s a bug. Once LS3 is over or a dev posts it’s a bug, then there will be proof either way.
The whole Bloodstone insanity magic thingy lead to seeing those sad anomalies everywhere. The current events dealt with that afterwards (Burden of choice achievement). For my part, I don’t see any of those anomalies anymore. We surely don’t know how it continues yet, but there’s been no connection to seeing different people every minute in Ember Bay. Otherwise it would have been mentioned in the story of Rising Flames, at least a little hint.
Had this thread, and its title, merely commented on what seems likely to be a bug, noting its existence, I would agree that fixing it would be desirable. But the focus on hyperbole, derision directed at developers and players alike, and a generally hostile tone taken over a seemingly minor, certainly low priority, mistake makes it really difficult to take the OP seriously here.
I’ve been blamed for using hyperboles by saying they changed their appearance every day. I checked it again and it can even happen every minute, because it’s related to the map instances. Some people were constantly distracting from the actual topic, blaming me for a wrong use of the word immersion. Others said that it was just my problem of having a strong sort of OCD. People said it’s not worth to be fixed, because it’s not as bad as a bug with legendary weapons – being ignorant to players who enjoy playing the story. Who decides which bug is worth to be fixed? I think it’s human to rage at some point.
The second thing (related to the developers) is: It’s not the first time something has been discussed endlessly with tons of players justifying Anet’s mistakes with intentions and the like. Endless discussions end up with changing nothing at all – because some will always claim it’s a feature, no matter how bad it is. I’m just done with that. And Anet really took the time to ensure the quality, giving us a promise. I’ve been following the third season of the Living Story and there have been several cases of disappointment.
(edited by Tekey.7946)
You haven’t convinced me that it’s not intended so please don’t speak for me. Thank you.
You haven’t proven that it’s not LS3 related. Until you do so, you will not convince anyone that it’s not intended.
And when can we be sure that it’s definitely not related to the story? When GW2 is shut down? Because they could always go back in 5 years and create a story about the mysterious transforming people on Ember Bay. I could also say you didn’t prove how this should be connected to the story.
You said:
1. Could be LS3 related. NPC really looks unique, but uses magic tricks to appear like varying common NPC’s to fool others.
Why should anyone do that? Do we have any evidence of something going on with the population of Ember Bay? Is there any connection to the story?
The asuran researchers went from Rata Sum to Ember Bay in order to gather information on the seismic activities. And now they’ve got nothing better to do than fooling other people?
The circus people (+ Hungry Hal) and the asuran researchers are being replaced in new every map instance → technical. There’s not a single point why this should be part of the story. Therefore you can be sure that it’s not intended.
Wow, it only took 60 posts to convince people that it’s obviously not intended.
I also added a comparison of Hal to the original post: Hal the Heremit
Anet said they changed the schedule from 2 weeks between each Living Story episode to 2-3 months in order to ensure the quality. And actually they should have gotten more experienced over the years. But we’ve got longer breaks and the quality is even worse now. Great!
Caudecus could never blend in just by using a total makeover kit.
He’d also need a name change contract.
Just like Sya..
Also I didn’t find anything about total makeover kits in the lore yet, Sya is supposed to use Mesmer abilities.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aid_Worker_Sya
There could be any number of reasons the NPC changes appearance:
1. Could be LS3 related. NPC really looks unique, but uses magic tricks to appear like varying common NPC’s to fool others.
2. Someone messed up the code. There may be references to NPC’s with random appearances. And someone accidentally put in a reference to a randomly changing NPC.
3. Could be intentional for the reason of the character can’t decide on what they want to appear like. Total makeover kits are canon.
You’re assuming it’s #2. That’s why people are saying you’re reacting without information. And for most of us, your reaction is more than should be for the appearance of a random NPC that most of us likely don’t register looks one way vs another. It doesn’t impact the game’s playability. It’s not a bug that halts the process of getting a legendary’s precursor that has been reported well before the precursor collections were made and yet something relies on that bug not happening.
1. It also happens to the asuran researchers. I think they’ve got enough to do, why should they fool others?
2. Yes, that’s what I’m saying.
3. I need a source on the makeover kits. Sya uses mesmer magic to change her appearance.
Plus they’re changing with every change to the map instances. That’s why I’m completely sure that it’s a technical thing or lazyness (or time).
And it doesn’t have to be a ‘progress’ bug to be worked on? It’s part of the story, the lore and the map doesn’t work as it’s supposed to be. It’s their job to fix it, no matter what kind of bug it is.
(edited by Tekey.7946)
Total makeover kits are canon.
Just want to comment on Anet’s decision here, the following isn’t connected to your comment in particular:
That’s the biggest joke ever. Another player already mentioned it on the first page but I really didn’t know that. It’s honestly the most ridiculous explanation I’ve ever heard of Anet.
Just imagine what that means with regards to the story. Caudecus escaped, we’re searching everywhere, can’t find him because he used a total makeover kit?
Just think of it. Then laugh, laugh a lot.
Where do they even get a makeover kit? How can NPC’s get gems? How much does it cost? How can they rewind time in order to change your age (face)? Your size? Your skin color?
Makeover kits are cash shop items to give the players the opportunity to customize their looks. They’re even providing exclusive faces, hairstyles etc. to sell it to us. They are certainly not part of the GW lore. If they claim otherwise, everything that ever happened in the story is a joke.
Edit: Does anyone have a source to that? I still hope that it’s not true.
(edited by Tekey.7946)
I personally have problems with your immersion complaint as its so selective. This breaks immersion but that doesn’t.
An NPC standing in one spot without moving for years-doesn’t break immersion.
A character suddenly disappearing from a spot that’s not a waypoint and reappearing miles away- doesn’t break immersion.
A character disappearing from a spot then reappearing at the same spot days, weeks, months later – doesn’t break immersion.
A character suddenly changing from male <—> female/hairstyle/armor/name while you stand there talking to him/her. No problem reported with immersion.
Characters turning into other species or objects such as furniture or other people in front of you then switching back- doesn’t break immersion
An NPC changing how they look when switching maps-breaks immersionIt’s a very specific immersion breaking that ignores all other immersion breaking going all around you. Since its been shown to be a design of some NPCs, even though it bugs you I’m counting this as not worth ANet’s time to change.
I never said it’s the only problem with immersion in GW2. We never talked about waypoints, yet you’re claiming I don’t consider it to be immersion brekaing? How would you know?
The reason why it’s so important right now is that it shows the current direction of Anet. The problem with switching NPC’s didn’t occur as often in core Tyria maps. In Ember Bay however, it’s 100% sure that they’ll change as soon as you leave the instance. That’s a step backwards – they were already able to do it right but now their work is getting sloppy. We have the chance to stop it right now so the new maps won’t be affected by it anymore.
And no, it’s not shown to be part of the design of the NPC’s? The only example where it’s been explained was Sya.
There really is no problem (or spoon).
Develepor A coded NPC #325 to be human, female, set hair, etc. – always looks like that.
Develepor B (who is really into the whole Living World idea) coded NPC #1876 to have varying stats when the map is loaded. They may be better at their job than Develepor A or have a different idea how the world should look/change.
Dev A may just like a certain character look and wanted it to be permanent.
I’m sorry but I don’t understand how this explains the situation?
You are trying to turn this into a “sky is falling” and “everything is broken and ruins my immersion” thing.
Everyone has some form of OCD (some mild, some not so much). This seems to be something that affects you deeply, but is not bothering the rest of us. There is nothing wrong with an NPC changing when you change maps or log in or out.
That’s ridiculous. Let me tell you the story of how I noticed it in Ember Bay:
I’ve been exploring Ember Bay, seeing the circus for the first time and talking to a crazy old guy sitting next to a statue, claiming it would be his fiancée. I told a friend of mine about it – but he said it’s just a normal young man. I went back and he was right – the whole story changed.
There’s a reason why characters in movies, books or games have a special appearance. It’s part of the story and can change the whole meaning of it. That’s why they have to be careful with randomly generated NPC’s – at least when they have a special dialogue or meaning.
Fault = yes, they intentionally programmed it that way.
You’re criticizing it = something you’re entitled to do.
Giving them a chance to fix it = assumes something done intentionally is broken.The fact you don’t like the NPC changing when you change maps or login or out, is NOT proof it is broken. It is your opinion.
This is not about personal opinions, they’re being inconsistent with their content. Some characters change their look constantly, some don’t. As long as it doesn’t have a special meaning to it, it’s proven to be broken.
1) Your perception is based off of unrealistic expectations and a lack of information.
Really? Giving an NPC an unique look because he has a special dialogue is called unrealistic expectation nowadays?
And you’re the one with a lack of information. You claimed that I would be exaggerating with saying they changed their appearance every day. You’ve been wrong, you had no information on that and yet you blamed me. Shame on you.
2) Your perception is likely to lead to blood pressure medications.
3) Your perception is abrasive and does not incite constructive criticism and discussion.
4) Your perception is not the only plausible one, and you asking that question admits to that possibility. It’s always good to attempt to see the world from other perspectives.
5) Your perception disallows cheesecake.~EW
All I can see is that you’re constantly avoiding the actual topic and still can’t accept it being Anet’s fault. I’ve been criticizing it, giving Anet the chance to fix it. And the first thing you did was arguing about a single word I’ve used – distracting from the topic. How is that constructive? Just look in the mirror now and then.
Just as it is right now, we’re losing the actual topic again. What’s your final statement to the problem? Should they change it? Or should they leave it as it is right now? Why?
And why is it so hard to acknowledge a problem with GW2?
It’s not about acknowledging a problem… it’s about your reaction to it being disproportionate to the problem.
That’s because I’m really fed up of reading hundreds of pages of people trying to defend and justify an obvious mistake. ‘Everything was intended to be like that. But they’re humans, they make mistakes. And Anet won’t change a thing if everything’s downplayed as if it was nothing.
There are so many people defending Anets intention of a thing I would call lazy work or a bug. Give me a reason why they shouldn’t do anything about it.
1) It’s their game, and not yours. While any one of our suggestions about improving GW2 might be worth considering from a standpoint of pleasing their audience, ultimately any problems or perceived problems are their’s to act on as they see fit and aren’t subject to a player’s perception of importance.
2) You don’t know why it’s happening, you just assume it’s a bug or laziness on ANet’s part without any proof of your own…. where as others have given you reasonable doubt about it being a bug (or at least a way to understand it from a narrative standpoint)…
The proof is Anet’s inconsistency. There are several NPC’s keeping their look.
There.is.no.explanation. They were either too lazy or didn’t have enough time. Accept it.
Like all problems in life, the solution comes down to 1 of 2 choices. Either 1) Quit taking it so seriously, or 2) kill it with fire.
Why should I change my perception? They are being paid to do their job. But the game is falling apart. The last patch (Nov 1st) didn’t change a thing related to the environment, yet there appeared several bugs preventing people from completing their personal story, letting their games crash. You can’t complete the heart in Brisban Wildlands because you’re being ported under the map. You can walk straight through the door of the Queen’s Throne Room. Things like that happen every time a patch is released. I’ve never seen a game that was more of a mess than GW2.
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Since when are different map instances different planes of existence? You’re mixing up gameplay with lore. Map instances do not exist in the GW lore. They’re just there because of technical limitations of our game.
And why is it so hard to acknowledge a problem with GW2? There are so many people defending Anets intention of a thing I would call lazy work or a bug. Give me a reason why they shouldn’t do anything about it.
Why are map instances a technical limitation of the game and the progress of events in different map instances a technical limitation of the game and the inability to interact with other real life players across different map instances a technical limitation of the game, but how an npc looks across different map instances can’t just be written off as a technical limitation of the game?
? The guide in Lion’s Arch looks the same, no matter in which instance you are. Why doesn’t she look different every time? There are several NPC’s keeping their appearance, no matter what you do. It’s just another case of Anet’s inconsistency. I heard that even Hungry Hal, a NPC with a certain name is changing his appearance. That’s just ridiculous.
Have you ever seen an npc change appearance right in front of you? Have you ever noticed an npc’s appearance altered at all while you were in that map, without changing maps or logging off? I have a sneaky suspicion that the only time an npc looks different is because it’s a different instance. Therefore a different plane of existence. Therefore not even a little immersion breaking.
Since when are different map instances different planes of existence? You’re mixing up gameplay with lore. Map instances do not exist in the GW lore. They’re just there because of technical limitations of our game.
And why is it so hard to acknowledge a problem with GW2? There are so many people defending Anets intention of a thing I would call lazy work or a bug. Give me a reason why they shouldn’t do anything about it.
There is a huge post on the lore forums about Sya (formerly Symon) and whether or not she was using mesmer magics to appear female or had went through a complete switch, and it was confirmed makeover kits are canon.
Are they serious? I don’t even know what to say.
but it’s not immersion breaking as the OP claims, because it makes sense within the lore.
How does that make sense? Within one minute I’ve seen 6 different circus people telling me the same things about their magic tricks and fiancée. If you talk to the asuran researchers, you’ll even hear their voice – staying the same although they look like another person.
So, in a game with makeover kits(that also allow sex changes); the ability to name change; shapeshifting, magic; mesmers (illusions, clones); etc…you claim this “problem” is ruining your gameplay.
Makeover kits are cash shop items, obtainable by players. It’s obvious that this is just a feature to customize your character. These are not mentioned in the lore of Guild Wars.
Maybe, the circus folks are messing with you/everyone.
Maybe, the generically named NPC is standing watch.
Maybe, just maybe, another NPC relieves the previous generically named NPC and is now standing the watch.
If you read through the thread, you would know by now that this doesn’t only happen to the circus on Ember Bay. It’s a general problem.
There is nothing immersion breaking about any of this. This would actually improve immersion because it fits more neatly into humans perceived notion of the world around them and puts a semblence of reality in to the game.
They changed within a single minute. How real is that? How often did you talk to someone who suddenly transformed into another person, continuing the conversation afterwards as if nothing happened?
Is it possible that there are bugs in the game…oh yeah, too many to count.
Is this one item you seem obsessed with a bug, not in my opinion and nothing you have offered so far indicates it is bugged.
Why is every single problem in GW2 being downplayed so hard? Just give me a reason why they shouldn’t assign a certain NPC to a certain dialogue.
Edit: I left out fractals and alternate dimensions.
Different life choices made them look different. Log out/back in…they look different because you have logged in to an alternate reality.
Wait, what? Every time I log in my character’s in an alternative reality? How do you get to this conclusion?
I’ll wait patiently for the thread where map closings ruin immersion and force you to log off because “real” maps wouldn’t just turn off.
And in this case, in Ember Bay you’re standing next to a circus guy, change the map (because your map is closing) and all of the people suddenly look different. Much wow. such immersion.
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Maybe the castaways change because they have 8 hour shifts doing their jobs as well as 15 minute breaks every hour, and a lunch break, and when they’e gone someone else takes over. Wouldn’t it be more immersion breaking to see one person standing at one spot 24/7 instead of different people?
There’s this one guy, sitting around and talking about his fiancée (the statue: Delsa). Is that a job? I don’t think that they need shifts to replace a guy sitting near a statue. Also, that would mean that the statue is literally engaged to the whole circus. And every single circus guy uses the exact same words while talking to you.
The same happens with the asuran researchers. They change their appearance, but their voice and their dialogue remains the same. It’s still the same person, so that’s not really an explanation.
They were also replaced within 1 minute, as Healix said:
NPCs that don’t have a fixed appearance have their appearance randomly generated when the map is initialized.
As soon as you get into another instance of the map, they’ll look different.
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On top of that, it’s a rage post with hyperbole (like, “changing their looks every day”). The failure here isn’t with ANet.
Do you know that this hyperbole is more than true? I just checked it again, here’s a picture of the NPC’s today: Ember Bay number 1
I logged out and got back in. That’s how they looked like 1 minute after that: Ember Bay number 2
Do you believe it now? Could you please explain it? Why does this happen?
And that’s another point of having an immersive game. Open world games do much better than GW2, having no loading screens, no separated maps, just like a real world. That surely does kill immersion in GW2, too.
If you want to play a game that lends itself to extended or frequent periods of immersion, you don’t play MMOs. And, if changes to the game world upset you, then you certainly don’t play MMOs.
~EW
You’re justifying NPC’s being replaced within a minute in GW2 with ‘changes to the game world’? Is there a reason for those changes? Do you really think this is intended?
Not too easy or too hard?
And there’s the hitch. Too easy or too hard for who?
i remember when i was fighting zhaitan i had no idea what was going on and he just….died.
sort of lost whatever faith i had in the game’s pve right then and there.
I don’t know why they didn’t revamp the “fight” (speaking of a time where the devs weren’t working on an expansion yet). It’s the main story of the core game and doesn’t give new players a good impression.
I didn’t realize people looked the same all the time. Wouldn’t that even be even more immersion breaking in a game where changing your appearance magically is a thing?
Sure, they can change their hair and wear different clothes. But they can’t suddenly change their age, skin color or face.
The problem is that NPC’s were switched completely. They’re not the same person. The guy who was a magician on the first day is a researcher next day and vice versa. It’s not about changing visual aspects, it’s about replacing NPC’s completely.
Also, makeover kits are gameplay features for players. AFAIK they don’t exist in Tyria, talking about the lore.
Think of it from a developer’s point of view.
- You have some devs populating the map with generic NPC’s – “Drop one here, and here, and maybe here…”
- Some devs who add dialogue – “You can say this or maybe that, while you have some chatter…”
- And some devs who make the generic NPC into a story mechanic – “The players will interact with this NPC repeatedly…”
You then have artists who are creating many generic NPC models; a list which can be constantly added to without having to manually adjust individual NPC’s in the world in order to add variety.
Could some current NPC’s be assigned standardized appearances? Sure. But the developers don’t always know where the NPC will end up on the development spectrum when they’re first given their set of appearances, and time/energy may not warrant going back and giving them all assigned looks.
That’s not even how it works? You’re setting up an empty box for the NPC and place it in Ember Bay. Then you assign a dialogue and a certain appearance (choose from models) to it and it will stay like that. Why are they constantly replaced by other models?
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I find that people who tend to cry out about their “immersion” being broken tend not to understand what immersion actually is.
And I find that you’re just arguing about semantics rather than facing the problem. I could have also said I find it illogical and it ruins my gaming experience instead of using the term immersion. Now what’s your explanation on NPC’s changing their looks every day?
See, words don’t change a thing about Anet’s failure.
Especially if you recently saw a loading screen
And that’s another point of having an immersive game. Open world games do much better than GW2, having no loading screens, no separated maps, just like a real world. That surely does kill immersion in GW2, too.
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You’re right.
Sometimes I just want to travel to a volcanic island in the middle of the ocean to have a nice conversation with my old pal, npc #347. Then I get there and his hair color is brown instead of blond, AND he changed his clothes. It breaks my heart as well as my immersion :’(
I feel your sarcasm.
Personally I don’t pay attention to NPC appearances and I could care less if ANET decides to change it for whatever reason. Does not ruin my immersion.
I don’t know what’s wrong with a volcanic island in the middle of an ocean.
However, it’s okay if you don’t care, but there are also people who do care about it. And they don’t change it intentionally, there’s no reason for it, it’s just completely random. Is there any reason why Anet shouldn’t do anything about it?
So people are not allowed to change their appearance. Got it.
I don’t even want to know what Op thinks of Sya.
Why should they? For what reason did Phil Thackeray choose to be black and then change back and forth? They’re part of the story, the lore of Tyria, it’s about authenticity and immersion.
And I don’t even know why I have to argue about NPC’s having the urge to change their face, skin color and age every day. That’s ridiculous. Seriously.
It seems odd that they wouldn’t just randomly generate a fixed appearance when they first add the NPC however.
That’s the point, they chose to give certain NPC’s a special dialogue so they were already working on them. Why shouldn’t they also assign a certain appearance to them?
These examples are very easy to dismiss as intentional; Phil is very dubious to claim he’s Thackeray’s cousin, to the point even your character says “You might hurt yourself from stretching so much” or something along these lines. So it’s very likely he’s indeed just a guy hoarding makeover’s to play out his facades(perfect gender change and complete physical transformations are canon on Tyria).
I’m sorry but I’m not even sure if you’re being serious or just kidding – and at this point I’m too afraid to ask. Maybe I just don’t understand Anets intentional approaches. But maybe these are just bugs.
The circus even more so, I mean in a world full of magic how the heck would you entertain people if not with actual magic? They are probably mesmers or have their own makeover’s, and changing appearance randomly just to mess with you would be no surprise…given they are crazy enough to be living on the freaking Fire Islands already.
That doesn’t only happen to the circus people. The asuran researchers also change their appearance while keeping their dialogues and position. What’s your explanation on that?
The historian also, only changes appearance after you (SPOILERS) return to him from the Consortium Tradesman, which is also when you get the chance to lie to him and go back to LA to get the krait oil. This is very important, you as a character gets the chance to notice the very purposeful transformation on his appearance and either keep trusting it or dismiss him as a spy of sorts.
No, turned out it wasn’t related to the time when you talk to him. It just happens randomly. To some people he looked different from the beginning.
So we need to see that on more NPCs before claiming it’s a bug or ruins immersion
It’s a well known problem. There are plenty of examples. Also, bringing up speculation about some NPC’s changing appearance doesn’t change anything related to the immersion. You could find a story to any bug in GW2 but that doesn’t mean that it’s intended.
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https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Total_Makeover_Kit
It’s not just for players.
They have to farm AB multiloot a lot to have enough gold, so they can buy one of them every day.
Honestly I’m fed up with making compromises. These are the basics of a game and they can’t even handle that.
There have been several cases of NPC’s switching their appearance, even Historian Tranton has been affected within the last Living Story quest. We still don’t know why it happens.
Every time you’ll get into another instance of Ember Bay, the NPC’s will be replaced, while their dialogues are still the same:Ember triplets – Ember 2 – Ember 3
Edit: even Hal is transforming. He’s part of the achievements in Ember Bay, he’s certainly not a generic NPC (has a name) and nonetheless he’s being replaced by other models.
Another player mentioned that the problem existed for years: Black Phil Thackeray
That’s just unprofessional. Not only does it ruin the immersion, it shows that they are not even able to assign a certain look to a certain NPC. What’s Anet excuse this time?
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Rather than destroying a city, it might be more interesting to have a dragon fly over one and corrupt a sizable fraction of its inhabitants. The best candidate in this regard would be Kralkatorrik hitting the Black Citadel and turning many of the charr into branded.
It would certainly be a cool way to introduce the dragon when it comes time for it to become active.
Would be cool and if I remember correctly, there’s been a similar event in the beta, turning players into branded creatures.
But unfortunately I have a bad feeling with their latest introduction of dragons in mind:
Taimi: "Primordus is active.
Oh, Jormag is also active."
I think the introduction will look something like this:
“Did I mention Kralkatorrik yet?”
Why does Lege armor have to be tied to Raids?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: Tekey.7946
I think that Legendary Armor being tied with the Raids is a skillful example of players manipulation from ANet’s part.
The main issue here is not why the Armor is tied with something, but Why after one year from the launch the promised Armor is not ingame?
Or we could take off the tinfoil and realize that the delay is likely caused by Anet having to divert resources into developing Living World content in addition to whatever early development they are doing on the next expac.
So the thing that should have been ready for the last expansion is delayed because now they need the resources for the next expansion? Sounds funny
Only a minority of players want legendary weapons. Most players want new content to play.
Living Story adds new content.
When ANet realized that they may end up losing more players by not shifting focus to the Living Story than they would keep by focusing on the legendary weapons, they changed gears.
They had to choose between two evils. Neither choice was a good one. So they had to choose the one that impacted the game negatively the least.
There’s been 9 months from Living World season 2 to HoT. After that, there’s been another 9 months from HoT to the start of Living World Season 3.
They are still working on the content of HoT, yet they started working on the next expansion and that should justify that parts of HoT are delayed again? They knew that HoT contains the next season of the Living World, but apparently they didn’t plan ahead.
Doesn’t look good if you think of the next expansions.. I know, there’s a dedicated expansion team now, but Anet is constantly working at full capacity – yet that’s not enough to reach their goals.
If every casual left this game there would be no game. That’s my opinion but it’s pretty common knowledge in the industry that the bulk of players are not hard core, which is why stuff keeps getting dumbed down. It’s not because there are zillions of hard core players.
When you divide the smaller number of hard core players up there are even less in any game. More likely hard core players will go to games that already have more challenging content.
Alienating the casual base which for 3 years has been Anet’s bread and butter will actually hurt the game far more than alienating the hard core crowd.
The idea is to throw the minority a bone while still appeasing the bulk of the playerbase. I’m pretty sure the bulk of this playerbase is casual.
I just edited my last post, but unfortunately you already responded to the old post, however, lets just continue:
If they really want to know how many players think that HoT is too hard right now, they have to ask them again. Many of those who complained about it at release got used to the difficulty by now. It just takes some time.
I think we’re talking about 2 different types of groups, one group being the new players, the other one casual players.
A casual player that played since release could be perfectly fine with the difficulty of HoT. It’s been the huge amount of time they had to invest to gather the xp for your masteries e.g. the casual players complained about. They didn’t have enough time to invest. That doesn’t mean that they don’t want to have challenging content!
The newer players are actually rather the group complaining about the difficulty, but then I’d just suggest to play through the zones chronologically, beginning with Orr, Living World Season 2, and then HoT and Season 3. You shouldn’t boost your character to lvl 80 and jump into HoT without knowing how to play.
In the end, we’ll see their decision by the release of the next maps. If the continue releasing easy maps for new players, at least I know that I’m not part of the group they care about then. But as you said I’m just going to look for a new game with more challenging content in general.
The sad thing about it is that I’ve been a fan of Guild Wars since Prophecies.
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Perhaps. But it’s also possible that they could design some maps to be easier than others and appeal to a broader base.
I’m not happy about Ember Bay providing no challenge at all, it’s a step backwards from HoT. The maps should contain some sort of progress in difficulty as you play through the story – newly added maps should be challenging and harder than the old core-Tyria maps. It’s been like that since the release of Dry Top and Silverwastes, then HoT – and now we’re going back to easy? They have to take it to the next level – at least to the same level as HoT!
Furthermore, you could assume that players who arrived in Ember Bay already played through the previous Living World/HoT story. Not only they’re getting better and better as they’re playing, but they’re also getting used to the difficulty of HoT. Plus they’re likely making use of the new elite specializations. Seeing Ember Bay after that feels like a joke.
You said they could make maps some easier than others. How does that work? Does one part of the Fire Islands contain some weak kitten destroyers whereas they’re 10 times harder on the next island? You can’t please everyone. Anet tries to do so – but in the end no one will be satisfied. If they continue releasing ridiculously easy maps, I’ll be the one leaving.
And what about all the people who find HoT too challenging, or too stressful? Should they be ignored?
It’s okay to provide zones for a variety of play styles. If Anet doesn’t they’ll lose too many players and no one will have any new zones to play in.
I’ll highlight some things in my quoted text. You said they should provide zones for different playstyles – fine, every core Tyria map is made for a very casual playstyle. If you bought HoT you noticed that the difficulty in those maps is higher. That’s perfectly fine because a game needs progression and end game zones. In the beginning, Orr has been the end game zone. After 3 years, the players got better and Orr became a rather boring thing. So they adjusted the difficulty of the maps in the expansion in order to provide challenging content again.
Referring to your suggestion to handle both at the same time: How does that work?
Ember Bay is easy, casuals are happy, advanced players are bored as hell. The next map is 10 times harder, advanced players are happy – casuals will complain they can’t follow the story and play the game because the map is too hard? With that, you’ll please no one. It’s neither fish nor fowl, and everyone’s disappointed, so in the end both of those groups will say: Screw it, I’m leaving.
We’re talking about the post-expansion content, people who are in Ember Bay played through HoT and got used to the difficulty. I’m sure many of those who complained about the difficulty in HoT just needed time to adjust. The first time I’ve played those maps I thought they’re pretty hard, too.
If they really want to know how many people are still complaining about the difficulty in HoT right now, they have to open a new feedback thread.
And then make their decision accordingly to the majority of players. You can’t please everyone.
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Perhaps. But it’s also possible that they could design some maps to be easier than others and appeal to a broader base.
I’m not happy about Ember Bay providing no challenge at all, it’s a step backwards from HoT. The maps should contain some sort of progress in difficulty as you play through the story – newly added maps should be challenging and harder than the old core-Tyria maps. It’s been like that since the release of Dry Top and Silverwastes, then HoT – and now we’re going back to easy? They have to take it to the next level – at least to the same level as HoT!
Furthermore, you could assume that players who arrived in Ember Bay already played through the previous Living World/HoT story. Not only they’re getting better and better as they’re playing, but they’re also getting used to the difficulty of HoT. Plus they’re likely making use of the new elite specializations. Seeing Ember Bay after that feels like a joke.
You said they could make maps some easier than others. How does that work? Does one part of the Fire Islands contain some weak kitten destroyers whereas they’re 10 times harder on the next island? You can’t please everyone. Anet tries to do so – but in the end no one will be satisfied. If they continue releasing ridiculously easy maps, I’ll be the one leaving.
Why does Lege armor have to be tied to Raids?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: Tekey.7946
I think that Legendary Armor being tied with the Raids is a skillful example of players manipulation from ANet’s part.
The main issue here is not why the Armor is tied with something, but Why after one year from the launch the promised Armor is not ingame?
Or we could take off the tinfoil and realize that the delay is likely caused by Anet having to divert resources into developing Living World content in addition to whatever early development they are doing on the next expac.
So the thing that should have been ready for the last expansion is delayed because now they need the resources for the next expansion? Sounds funny
Ok. Spears. 5 races. 2 handed wep. So 5 basic skills. 9 professions (not all.. sure. so let say 4 professions rev war guard and engi) so 4 professions x 5 races × 5 skills= 100 new movesets(assuming male and female have the same moveset if not 200) that require a lot of work + resolving the spear double slot/use problem. All so we can have spears on land. Gl with this…
What’s your point exactly? With the elite specializations our classes could use more weapons. A necro with a greatsword doesn’t have the same moves and skills as a warrior – they had to animate it. They’re working on the next expansion and have to deliver some new features – and it’s their decision which weapons they’ll implement or switch to other classes.
It’s not like they’re being paid for their work or something… /sarcastic
Before the start of the Living world season three, I’ve been wondering about the maps we could soon see. A strange area in Maguuma caught my eye – somehow it’s special, here’s why:
- Located in the center of the Maguuma Jungle, it’s completely surrounded by explorable zones.
- The left arrow shows a connection inside the Cavern of the Shining Lights in Dry Top. The way is blocked by a wall, but you can see that this is not the end.
- The arrow on the right indicates the direction of the portal in Tangle Root (Brisban Wildlands). If you stand in front of the portal, it points towards the unknown map. You can actually see a small part of it being revealed on the map. But for some reason, the portal leads you to a completely different place -> Dry Top. According to the position of the portal, this map could have been there before Dry Top was released – eventually leading into the Cavern of the Shining Lights.
- On the western side, there’s Rata Novus. Could the map reveal even more about the asuran legacy? Could it lead deeper into a greater structure of abandoned cities? Rata Novus could be just a small part of it – I’d love to discover more.
What are your thoughts and ideas to this area? When could we eventually deal with it?
It’s fun to play. Why do you need rewards for everything?
As far as I know, the rewards have been different in the last years (exotic?). That’s why people were expecting something else. Right now It’s fun to do it one time, but you won’t get back afterwards if there’s no other reason. Especially because there’s a much more profitable game mode right next to it (labyrinth).
Also: I don’t believe that you’d play GW2 if there were no rewards. Being rewarded for the time and effort you’ve spent has its psychological reasons (in a game).
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otherwise they just become a cosmetic addition to the game which will take a lot of Dev time for next to no return.
I’m really sick of seeing this type of argumentation – doubtful if it’s even a point. With that mindset you could also scrap the whole game. “Why do we need chicken running around in Ebonhawke, it’s just a cosmetic addition to the game which took Dev time for next to no return. Why do we need fish swimming in the water, birds flying in the sky, it’s not necessary.There are more important things in the game the devs should work on.”
If you want a game which doesn’t pay attention/invests time into the design of the environment, then you might as well choose to play pong.
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Uhm, You actually can fight the wurm in ember bay directly with ranged weapons if you so desire. Though the setup doesn’t really make it nescesary I suppose.
Then again, with the mursaat and titans gone, who is left to pose a threat? Though i do miss the GW1 destroyers. It seems to me that gw1 had way more varying encounters than GW2. imo.
Yup, I’m aware that you’re theoretically able to attack it, but it doesn’t make sense like that. They should’t have let a golem do the work for you, the whole fight should have been designed differently.
Well we’ve got a pretty huge threat at the Fire Island Chain -> Elder Dragon. There are in fact new types of destroyers in Ember Bay, with the power the dragon absorbed they should be even deadlier now. The ‘Molten Dominator’ is a champion of Primordus – ridiculous. Lorewise they’re supposed to be stronger than usual destroyers but there’s no difference to those in Kessex Hills.
And yes, the hydras or dryders are also missing.
The entire concept that a game has to be challenging or easy to play is meaningless.
Everyone in an MMO doesnt have the same skills and never will, so you cant force a one size fits all players into an MMO and expect it will be fun for everyone.
Every game has its own target group. Talking about the open world: The problem with GW2 is that they want it to fit everyone’s style – from casual to advanced players. With that mindset no one will ever be pleased: There were casual players complaining about the difficulty of HoT while the advanced players were pleased with it. With Ember Bay they’re heading back to ridiculously easy – casual players enjoy it, advanced players just find it boring and dull. They don’t want to have a specified target group in order to get as much players as possible. But that way there’s always a certain group being dissatisfied.
However, there’s another point: the new maps are part of HoT. With HoT you can assume many players already learned a lot since they started and are also able to use elite specializations. Those specializations actually made every class stronger. They adapted the difficulty of the mobs in HoT to match it. Ember Bay is a part of HoT – knowing that the classes (and players) are now stronger, they still reduced the difficulty.
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It used to be deadly in the Guild Wars 1, you mean. While I won’t disagree that Ember Bay is relatively safe if you’re not sleeping in the monster fields or lava, you can’t exactly compare the two.
Yes the deadly statement was related to GW1, but they also advertised Ember Bay as a completely deadly area where everything wants to kill you (in the GW2 making of Rising Flames video).
However, at the same time I wanted to compare the difficulty to the HoT maps. You can see that they went back to easy again.
I mean there’s an active Elder Dragon but the destroyers are just weak.