Guild Wars 2

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Tarreth.8914:

“your” land?

Yes our land. This whole “the humans were actually the badguys” thing was just shoehorned in by the developers to make the races more equal. Nothing more.

Except the humans of Tyria over two hundred years ago . . . well, they were really kind of . . . you know . . .

Not nice.

Kurodius.7463:

lioka qiao.8734:

LS should take a page from Tolken and George Lucas…

Please don’t compare George Lucas to Tolken. Tolken doesn’t deserve that abuse.

. . . George Lucas is not as much of a hack as people want to hang on him. He just needs someone to collaborate with who is willing to get him to tone down and hone his vision of a story.

Tarreth.8914:

That’s true. I don’t like those from Ebonhawke. They’re stubborn as hell.

In some ways it’s admirable to cling to your convictions, and not to compromise. On the other hand, it’s not as admirable to keep a fight going because of what happened long before anyone participating in it was conceived . . .

Ebonhawke stands, and even though it’s not asked they forget or forgive, it is asked to consider the future rather than the past.

Alas, the real world is proof people don’t let go all that easily.

Tarreth.8914:

Should I remind you, that humans were desperately looking for that treaty? I WONDER WHY…

Not some of the people living in Ebonhawke, they weren’t looking for a treaty and they were fine if they had to hole up in there against the legions’ siege. After all, Ebonhawke has never fallen to the charr.

It’s been said Queen Jennah was the one who pushed for it, mostly to take some pressure off of Ebonhawke and the humans living there. After all, she has bigger things to worry about closer to home, so it was either cut Ebonhawke loose or . . . double down on protecting them by taking their war out of the equation in the only way they could.

draxynnic.3719:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Of course it can, we did it before. Well, we had it done to us before. (Prophecies, Vizier Khilbron’s method of dealing with the White Mantle and Mursaat in the way? Sic us on them. We do his work for him.)

Ironically, though, you can turn that around – Glint was the puppetmaster through the whole Prophecies, but was her real objective to arrange for the Door of Komalie to be properly sealed, or was she using Abaddon to settle a grudge with the mursaat and closing the Door of Komalie was just a requirement of minimising the collateral damage?

Impossible to say, since the one who could tell us is sort of destroyed.

Kurrilino.2706:

Serious… if i wanna play something interesting and refreshing i don’t wanna get new dyes instead. Guys who wanna play football are not joining a Tennis Club

You’re not joining a Tennis Club. You’re simply not getting the minor-league play you crave; you’re getting a pick-up game with Joe, John, Tony, and Rick from down the block. As well as Sam from Texas, Barry from New York, and Selena from Canada.

Of all the faults GW2 has, this is the only one I really feel holds any water: It’s definitely trying to appeal to a broader base of players by not being super-hardcore at what it offers.

I’m okay with that. I wasted way too much time chasing hardcore raid groups so I could experience that sort of thing when I gave up on EverQuest, because I am not the top 10% of the people on my server. (I’m barely top 25%, and that’s only because I would say “I have no idea, someone just be sure to explain what and why and I’ll be okay.”)

The aim is to make this game appealing to a broader audience, not to just cater to one group. They will occasionally throw a steak now and then to some group (hardcore raiders got Teq 2.0 and the Triple Wurm, sPvP gets a tournament and some revamps) but they aren’t flat out going to revamp the game for one group at the expense of those who just want to show up and do silly stupid things like the Queensdale Train, or the World Boss Tour.

Aedelric.1287:

I for one am not optimistic.

The world is really a nicer place when you are, though. Not delusional in the optimism, but just hoping it will be better than it is.

And frankly, the last act of the Living Story showed they did have some effort put into things which were mentioned earlier. And it’s not too late right now to do narrative tweaking, since we’re not talking about prerendered cutscenes or potentially much voice-acting if they tweak dialogue to be inclusive and support a lot of the concerns about the story.

Namely how it seems to not track well what the players do, or really give them any feeling of contribution beyond being a warm body unto the breach.

Obsidian.1328:

Nah, I’m denying parts that are wrong. Just like I’ll never take Peter Jackson’s version of LotR as truth because of all random changes he made to it. And he had full rights to it too, just like this one. It’s called being a purist. Official doesn’t mean a kitten thing more than they are legally sanctioned to write b.s.

So, what you’re saying is . . . “I don’t agree, so let’s pretend it’s not official”? In that case, I think we’re done here.

It cannot be “wrong” if it is the official lore for the game and continuity, as sanctioned by the company. It’s different from New Line’s “Middle Earth films”, because those are clearly adaptations rather than a different book. But if, in theory, Tolkein (or his estate) had written those things, or given a stamp of approval on the scripts? Would you still be saying these are not “the real” Lord of the Rings?

Bottom line? Just because you don’t agree with the direction went in, doesn’t mean the lore/story didn’t happen. Trying to call it “wrong” or to continue to insist it isn’t what is actually there is . . . delusion, fan-canon, and cannot be used to discuss actual lore in the game.

If you are going to discuss lore with any serious inclinations, then you have a responsibility to have the integrity to include things you do not like rather than discard them. Otherwise we might as well start writing fanfiction.

Nothing wrong with that – I’d definitely consider writing some where Ascalon was reclaimed by those still loyal to the fallen nation. Or where it never fell to the charr to the level it did and the Foefire never happened. But that cannot, and should not, ever be held on the same level as canon developed by the people in charge.

Treebeard The Swift.9620:

Love it how anything negative/awesome/shines light on game flaws becomes a “just give us three ideas” by a passing mod then gets forgotten and ignored.

I love how everyone assumes it’s ignored/forgotten We got some telepaths who can work through the Internet over here, quick, someone find them and enlist them to start helping catch crooks.

You support the Lore as its written in GW2 pure because its what’s published despite the truth of what I and many others like Obsidian stated that its a white-wash of GW(1) and very unbalanced against humans in our opinion.

See, there’s where you take a wrong turn. Please try to follow me on this.

You can’t not support the lore as written, because it’s what is. We can sit here and debate all we want about whether it’s a white-wash (I hate that term), or the retcons were unnecessary, or whatever. It is, however, what is.

So, here’s what I point out, yet again.

First. If you want to argue any lore-based arguments then you must take all official lore into consideration. You cannot discard, ignore, or try to argue the lore isn’t what it is simply because you do not like it. I dislike the idea of swapping dwarves for asura, and think that race is incredible to have not destroyed themselves in a puff of badly-conceived experimental sorcery. It doesn’t mean I pretend they don’t exist. Beyond obvious roleplaying from time to time.

Second. If you want to throw lore out the window and discuss mechanics, then this discussion has been over since before GW2 was released and we had any actual hint at lore changes in any capacity. The instant they said there would be five races, it was doomed to happen humanity would wind up losing the center stage. You can’t have one race take over the story with their Six Gods, or continue to exist as the central power and not have it be a problem with how to balance it. (And don’t throw the sylvari at me even in jest to respond to that.)

Nicholas S Lin.6187:

Obsidian, Lostwingman and myself have never been against post GW(1) writers at a personal level. What we are against is what they are paid to write. And that is Lore that white-wash GW(1) as it pertains to human strength especially Ascalon and to a much lesser degree the rest of Tyria and beyond.

We don’t hate anyone and least of all any writer of substance and skill.

That may be so, but a certain one has the blame squarely laid at their feet time and time again. It’s frustrating and grating, which has worn my patience down considerably trying to get around it when it comes to the GW2 writing team.

We are not against “retcons” as long as its fair and balanced against all races. Its clear that humanity has suffered the most as a result of the numerous retcons done against them in comparison to their prime enemies, the Charr.

. . . who were not the only enemy nor the prime enemy of humanity during Prophecies or other campaigns. They were perhaps the only one unique to the lore of Guild Wars, but there were centaurs, undead . . . undead centaurs . . . demons twice over, and what amounts to living magma constructs.

Also the tengu. But we don’t like to talk about that. And arguably the mursaat, but we kind of finished killing them off so hard they haven’t been seen in a long long time. We probably will not see them again, given what we know. (I’m ever hopeful we do though, with Agony.)

They are the prime enemy of Ascalon, and the only reason the rest of Tyria counts them as a problem is because there wasn’t much to stop them after they got through Ascalon. But Cantha could care less, and Elona had its own issues.

In short, the charr were what people remembered but they weren’t the only one nor were they the prime enemy of Prophecies. The primary enemy of Prophecies is the undead lich.

The Charr more than any other playable race has gain the most against humanity. It’s clear to all that most of that advantage is at the expense of Ascalonian humanity. Humanity has not gain any significant advantage in the 250 years since the events of the first game. Apart from Divinity’s Reach. This is of course not an actual advantage since all the other four playable races were also given this advantage.

Of course they haven’t, because humanity had almost nowhere to go but down before the Searing. And even after the Battle of Lion’s Arch where Princess Salma was properly crowned Queen of Kryta, humanity was still the dominant force in the regions they lived in.

So I fail to see why it’s surprising they found themselves getting weakened.

Also, if you want to be objective about the charr at all, just take a long look and realize they were a stand-in for orcs. You could Ctrl+R “Charr” for “Orc” in the first game and not really lose anything in transition. I mean, it’d look a lot like the lore of Warcraft . . . and about half the D&D campaigns run around the world.

So the corollary of the humans having nowhere to go but down, the charr had nothing but to become more fleshed out and three-dimensional at the cost of losing the two-dimensional evil they had before.

There, I said it. Again.

And so I ask this. Are you Tobias and your peer group so blind to the truth that you are clearly anti-human in at least the world of Guild War (GW & GW2)? Its plainly obvious that you try to come across as fair and reasonable yet the truth remains.

“Truth” is such an ugly word here for what you’re trying to sell me. It’s also, well, untrue. Demonstrably so. Here, let’s see what I mean:

Guild Wars 1 was not my character being anti-human, but there was a marked interest in preserving other races when it came down to it. Helping the Deldrimor loyalists retake Thunderhead Keep meant a stable ally and the end to the Stone Summit’s push through that arm of the Shiverpeaks. Helping out the tengu refugees helped stabilize some of Cantha’s problems. Helping out the veldt centaurs in Elona was about stopping the Margonites and corrupted Kournan army from getting any victories at all. Saving the asura . . .

. . . sigh . . .

. . . saving the asura and the surface world from the threat of the destroyers was because it was then considered the most important time to push back. Rather than wait until it was just humanity standing in the way. And it came at the cost of one staunch ally which we simply threw away – the Deldrimor dwarves.

If there’s been an anti-human tendency it’s because in the first game we were human characters and thus any attack on us or our friends . . . was generally an attack on humans. Though to be fair there was a fair share of human-on-human violence going around too. Shining Blade, Cult of Verata, White Mantle, Kurzicks, Luxons, Jade Brotherhood, Corsairs, Kournans . . .

Sergoros.4398:

You quoted me. So it was question to me. So I had to answer and correct you. Thats how forums work. If u quote someone, then you are talking with that person. There is exceptions of course, but they require right context.

Well now I am talking to you. Directly.

No, that’s not how forums work. How forums work is someone posts something, and quotes are used to single out things people said, not always as a means of reply. There are several other reasons why one would quote another and not specifically be talking to that person. It could be they are talking about that person, or about what they said rather than the person at all.

That’s how citations work.

Shriketalon.1937:

…
…
…
*puts away my “totally epic” fanfiction of Mr. Sparkles/Scruffy/Her-o-tron/M.O.X. combining into one giant golem and punching out Primordius while shouting totally-not-stolen-from-Transformers/Power Rangers/Gundam catch phrases *

Heh . . .

It’s not fanfiction becoming canon which worries me (though I saw that happen with EverQuest enough to make me give up on lore there). It’s basically someone pulled in because “they’re really good” and their interpretation of lore or “bits and pieces of ideas” wind up at odds with the people doing it.

And I don’t mean slightly off, or “Scarlet was a stupid idea, retcon her out”, more like “let’s bring back the Six and restore some other human-centric elements from the previous game” or “let’s reopen Cantha instead of going after Mordremoth”.

In other words, things which seem like they’d be win-win but can blow up in the face of the designers easily enough. The gods know that happens plenty with ArenaNet

Lostwingman.5034:

I find it funny you didn’t actually refute Obsidian’s complaint in the slightest. Obsidian’s complaint is that it was not canon in GW1, but only came about with GW2. You reinforce this by only referencing GW2 era material.

So what if it wasn’t canon in GW1, but was added later? That’s how it works when you write sequels. Even good ones. (See: Lord of the Rings’ numerous retcons) You work with the lore which exists, not lore you don’t like because you hate the writer.

Sergoros.4398:

Would you please read thread Before answering on the last post? Then you would know context and…well…wouldn’t look silly. I never played guild wars 1 and never implied, that guild wars 2 story is any different from guild wars 1 story.

Please, if I cared about looking silly I wouldn’t post anything at all. Ever. I also wouldn’t have learned how to dance, or drink, or go to conventions. Actually, I kicked the last one to the curb for being too expensive on my budget. Anyway, if you don’t care about looking silly then I don’t either.

I’m also probably insane — I main a ranger.

Besides, wasn’t talking solely to you, just to the sentiment posited so often about how GW1 was so much not trash. If you haven’t played Guild Wars 1 . . . why not? I mean, it’s pretty darn cheap now and I think the whole of the forums agrees it’s a better game overall. I also say it’s pretty worthwhile even as a single player experience, though that’s an entirely different set of skills to work with than playing with people.

And if you haven’t played GW1 why the heck are you only attacking me about talking about it around you?

dreadicon.5840:

I just wanted to come back in and add another thought after this followup post: Anet, please hire/contract this individual to work with you on design and writing. I really don’t usually jump on the ‘oh, this guy said something good, you should hire him’ bandwagon, but Shriketalon has struck the nail squarely on the head with every pen stroke. He displays true insight and mastery of video game narrative, along with impeccable communication skills. I simply cannot name a serious narrative problem he has not framed with great expertise.

I only hesitate to add that because working for someone sort of restricts what you can do about problems you notice. And it’s very likely if he was hired . . . he wouldn’t be able to do much anyway other than be one more rock in an avalanche.

He’s far more valuable as a non-official person.

I care not if it is a monthly review he performs of your plans, or if you bring him on as a full-time designer/writer, but your team NEEDS his feedback. And not as a lowly intern, or as a ’we’ll listen if we have time.’ No, his voice must be heard by the highest decision-making echelons of narrative design in Anet.

If his feedback is needed, then there is no need for him to draw a paycheck and be contracted. All that’s needed is for him to basically continue doing what he just did with this topic – give feedback in a polite manner enough that it won’t be ignored outright and in a witty enough manner people will remember it rather than forget it after a few days.

I implore you, Chris White, Bobby Stein, Colin Johanson, Ree Soesbee, and all others who read this plea: add this brilliant mind to your force of creativity, and let his talents bring out the true glory in the masterpiece you have created.

No offense is meant, but there is one final thing which comes to mind. Being able to view a piece, unravel its problems, and state them in an entertaining manner . . . does not make it necessarily to follow the person has creative talent enough to make something. There is a difference in talent between critics who know what they’re doing and writers who can make masterpieces.

They might overlap, but there’s no guarantee.

Sergoros.4398:

So…would it be fine, if game, u care about, would transform into puke jokes and story for a 10 year old kids? – Thats what you quoted, when was answering me.

Your answer to this quote was: You mean like how Guild Wars 1 became Guild Wars 2?

So. Its easy to see, that u said, that gw2 have puke jokes, unlike guild wars 1.

And now u saying, that guild wars 2 have no puke jokes. Can you see contradiction or is it to hard for you?

Guild Wars 1 was a classically juvenile story for Prophecies, and I will continue to say that any time someone wants to try to build it up on a pedestal as “better storytelling”. It was badly paced, almost everything was telegraphed, and the cliches were so thick you could spoon them like pudding.

Heck, Nightfall presented unto us “Drakes on a Plain”.

Now, then, how do you see GW2 as any worse than that?

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Guild Wars 2: The darkness that is living story has finally passed

But that may be too long.

It hasn’t passed, we’re just on a rotation away from it for the moment. It will return . . . though the big red blemish which was Scarlet Briar is gone.

bullyrook.2165:

Simple answer: The Charr are getting bored. They aren’t fighting with humans anymore, the ghosts are getting too easy to deal with, and the Flame Legion is backed into a corner. They need something to preoccupy their time.

I will introduce them to this new thing called ‘catnip’ . . .

draxynnic.3719:

That’s some sort of bard, right? :P

Indeed, and he is a spoony one.

draxynnic.3719:

Cormac.3871:

You guys do know that Lord of the Rings broke a lot of these rules. Just setting forth a set of things that you think make for interesting story telling doesn’t necessarily mean that anything that doesn’t adhere to them will be bad.

A common piece of advice for writers goes along the lines of ‘Know what the rules are and how to follow them, and then you’ll understand when it improves the story to break them’. LOTR follows many and breaks some.

(For the record, Sauron actually isn’t just over 9000. The trilogy gives enough background to establish just where his power is from, and more importantly, establishes his Kryptonite early on… and then the whole story is about exploiting that weakness.)

LOTR also wound up accidentally writing some of the cliches and tropes people use these days. So it’s often hard to say if they are following rules or making rules we now take for granted.

I just feel like pointing this out, because Tolkein’s work is undoubtedly amazing but it is a different animal entirely from your current fantasy novels and Guild Wars 2. At the basest point, in fact – Lord of the Rings and Middle Earth are a mythological look at events rather than a factual one.

It’s one of the reasons pragmatic adaptations of it are a nightmarish undertaken and were doomed to various levels of failure for fans of the original. But that’s a topic for another day.

Tyria’s story and plot is structured less like that – except the Manuscripts published long ago and things which were talked about before we actually can witness them.

This… is actually more realistic than you might think. Some of the most incorrigible jokesters are soldiers on the front line facing imminent collapse of their forces and dead or POWship at the hands of their enemies. It’s a way of blowing of steam.

Wasn’t there a movie about that? I think Kubrick made it, could be mistaken though.

Twyll Blackleaf.9641:

Picking up specific examples and quotes to form a timeline will take me a bit, so I’ll get back to tomorrow— pretty late here— with my evidence. Right now I know the events and the general interactions, but I want to be able to provide you with specific wordings and a stricter timeline.

PM me with them, please, they’re right we should take it off the thread.

Avster.1935:

Please don’t compare Game of Thrones Season 1 to GW2 Living Story Season 1, they are not even in the same league (no offense).

None taken; they’re not even really in the same sport.

Game of Thrones, and by extension A Song of Ice and Fire, is written where there’s really no black-and-white and many sides have redeeming qualities to them which keeps things from being too simple. (Even the Lannisters aren’t all rotten, and even the Starks have their issues and evils.)

Guild Wars 2 is unashamedly simplified – there is very clear evil in the dragons and their minions. They’re inevitably what the five races have to unify to fight, so that their little territory gripes over who owns what is just childish squabbling over sandcastles as the tide comes in to erase them from the beach.

I’m no Konig but I do try where I can to be as useful. Being a tabletop player of about half a dozen different games helps keep the general laws of roleplaying in mind:

1. Remember the character’s background/story is there to enhance the fun, not to kill it.

2. Be prepared for things to blow up in your face at any time, and also to take the lumps when you need to for the sake of the story.

3. Never have a character who doesn’t have big glaring flaws to hang plotlines off of.

4. No roleplay is in a vacuum – if it happens that way, it is writing.

5. Less a rule, more of a commitment. Thou shalt learn of Tandem the Spoony.

Twyll Blackleaf.9641:

Depicting women as inconsiderate and lesbian women as “lesbians first, people second” is not refreshing and it is not un-sexist. It is still misogynistic, just in a different way. Might I remind you that powerful women have been stereotyped as cruel and domineering for millennia, and it has always been part of a masculine society’s negative views of women? Adding more cruel, domineering powerful women to the mix is not helping!

And yet . . . we don’t have either of Marjory or Kasmeer acting as though the first thing of importance in their life to date is their orientation. Marjory has her job, and a duty to the dead. Kasmeer has the fall from nobility and moving into a role of actually being useful changing the world for the better.

The detail they love each other isn’t really an issue for each character in and of themselves. It is an issue only when they are together, and only if you take the playful commentary as something distasteful. It comes off as a means of lightening the spirits . . . heck it comes off a lot like some Joss Whedon scripts. Or alternatively, your average episode of Castle . . .

That’s really my point with these character: They are defined beyond “we are lesbians and in love with each other”. So as a general appeal to the players, please stop saying they’re only there for fanservice.

No, what’s in the game for fanservice are things like the Vizier’s Tower room to look at, or the ghosts of former NPCs as enemies in the Ascalonian Catacombs, or the Iron Forgeman fight. That’s more raw fanservice.

I’m sorry if this argument seems to have derailed the topic… but this issue is inseparably intertwined with the character of Scarlet herself and with the entire Living Story, because it has been forced into the story in a way that damages both its original cause and the characters it affects.

Not in my eyes. It’s been slipped in, and it has not damaged the characters but enriched them. It has not cheapened Kasmeer (who had almost nothing before she popped up as Marjory’s assistant . . . except for her trip to Southsun Cove), and it didn’t cheapen Marjory.

. . . at the least of it, it’s started a betting pool for which one is going to die and break the other’s heart. I’m betting Marjory takes the bullet.

Kasmeer and Marjory’s personalities have both been entirely subsumed to their relationship (which is unhealthy in ANY relationship, but disastrous in such a visible example when lesbian relationships are so rarely shown with any shred of finesse in games as it is).

Demonstrably not so, but if you choose to see it that way, eh. What can I argue with if you don’t see it?

Braham has been assigned all the negative images that used to be associated with women (excessive emotionality, needing to be rescued, being needy and excessively attached), for no apparent reason aside from “time to turn the tables on men now, bwahahah!”

Now you’re projecting malice. He’s a young man, and he’s not getting the negative sides of women . . . he’s getting the negatives of being young, brash, and an idiot. Let’s be clear here – a big part of his arc seems to be getting past worrying about making his legacy and just doing it.

Rox has become Braham’s big manly hero who saves him, but then has to ride off into the sunset, leaving him behind as he cries womanly tears— a simple reversal of roles, not an alteration of the roles!

Again, you’re projecting what you want onto her and cherry-picking traits to make your point. Rox is probably more hamstrung by being female than by picking up masculine traits. She stayed behind to help him after Scarlet’s field broke his leg, and is giving up joining the Stone Warband (her dream for so long now it’s been a half running gag with Rytlock) because she accepted she has a different sort of band growing here and she can’t have both.

She chose friendship over duty, and that is . . . one thing media loves to hang on female characters. Rather than male ones, who will tend to go nobly off to fight because they have to, gods bless the brave soldiers . . .

This is not helpful, and it is embarrassing to women like me who actually liked how they— and therefore how WE— were depicted in this game before the giant personality shift.

Well there was a rather large event which happened and that usually does change peoples’ personalities. Strange to see it reflected in fiction.

This is not an off-topic issue.

Not really, but it is off the mark. Right target, but not too accurate with the shot. Step back and compose yourself before trying again.

Tom Gore.4035:

Your comparison would be valid if you’d compare seasons of McGyver instead. The amount of world lore in LS season 1 and McG season 1 are somewhat equal.

And, notably, there’s probably going to be a catch-up just before LS season 2 hits. Since there’s ample amounts of complaints about missing the stuff.

Yumiko Ishida.3769:

well good news and bad news… The good news is, the guy kicked me today as he or she blew up in one of his childish fits and he thought I’m always picking the large 1500 + multi-guild alliance Apocalyptic Armageddon [AARM] over him. The bad news is I have a continuity and RP vacuum now in my own story so now anything I did had planned with him (not sure it would end well anyways) is gone.

I still have to refer to him or her and their characters in my narrative and RP now even though it seems wrong (like every other group and guild that progressed me along my RP story. That I left for various petty immature crap).

Also I blocked him or her. It really started to grate on my nerves with the self-centered crap.

Retcon it. You never really were in that guild and don’t know anything about it.

Sergoros.4398:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Sergoros.4398:

For me > it makes my hero even worse, than scarlet.

You would have hated what our predecessors did. Like, I dunno, freed an undead warlord who was only stopped by a figure of legendary might and not stopped him before he rose to power again? Or how about assisting ethnic cleansing having a foothold in Cantha?

I didnt play guild wars 1, so i have no idea about context here. So I can’t argue about this.

Oldschool players can attest to this being an unavoidable thing, except if you did like I did and bailed out of “Winds of Change”.

Sergoros.4398:

For me > it makes my hero even worse, than scarlet.

You would have hated what our predecessors did. Like, I dunno, freed an undead warlord who was only stopped by a figure of legendary might and not stopped him before he rose to power again? Or how about assisting ethnic cleansing having a foothold in Cantha?

IndigoSundown.5419:

Xzaander.4123:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Xzaander.4123:

the constant updates and patches regarding classes, their skills, traits and so on; Everything contributing to the overall balance of the game.

It’s a trifle odd to see someone posting about constant balance updates, while I’m also seeing posts about how seldom ANet offers balance updates. Remember, it will have been 5 months since the last one when the Apr 15 patch arrives.

Hm, maybe constantly is the wrong word here. If I had written frequently then that would be a blatant lie or even delusional. Continously may be a better choice of wording in this case.

English is not my first language so if I confuse you, you’re more than welcome to ask me to clarify, or correct me.

I was not trying to correct you so much as commenting on the irony of one poster thinking that balance updates come too often while others think they don’t come often enough. I see now that the issue was in choice of word, not meaning. At a guess, perhaps you mean “never-ending?” Game balance updates in an MMO are always going to come sooner or later unless the game is on life support, but frequency varies by game.

The Six knows what he would have thought of Guild Wars 1 and it’s skill balance patches. They were kind of infamous you know.

Zaxares.5419:

Given some of your past posts I’ve seen, bullyrook, that’s an odd stance to have. But I do respect you for it, for what it’s worth.

It’s not that odd, given his posts’ tone. It seems he doesn’t mind what other people choose to do so long as they don’t try to get him to change his own ways. Which, notably, is fine with me.

I mean, unless they’re asura. In which case I still need help calibrating the Asura Trebuchet 3.2.

Garah Emberbane, of the Bane Warband. Alas, he’s been assigned to the Vigil away from them for some time. And after winning the right to his own command, then assembling his own handpicked group. I hear Eurayle is leading now.

Guild Wars 2: Into the North

- New Region: Explore north past Frostgorge Sound into territory soundly claimed by Jormag in an attempt to gather more current information for the Pact. Join intrepid exploring teams dispatched to the Far Shiverpeaks to blaze a trail seeking something which could help fight the dragon of ice and storms.

- New PvP: “The Mistborn Arenas”. A new place in the Mists has become visualized, where groups fight for the entertainment of observers. Each arena is one group against another, with some quirks and tricks to the arenas, as well as slightly different goals. Some arenas, the goal is to ensure all the opponent’s team is dead at the same time. Some other arenas, it’s to control a central point uncontested for a certain amount of time.

- New Feature: Wandering Merchants. A few brave souls wander Tyria peddling wares from one race to people from another, telling tales of wonders and terrors out in the world to entertain their audiences. But they also bring with them unusual goods, which are for sale to those who can pay. Wandering Merchant events can be found throughout Tyria in the zones, and for rescuing them they will turn up the next day in your Home Instance. You may only have one of each races’ Wandering Merchants at a time, and they will leave after that day is over. They will sell interesting new looks to add to your Wardrobe, or tasty exotic food and drink from their homelands.

- New Titles: Pact Trailblazer. For exploring the frozen north and setting up base camps, you will be able to boast of these accomplishments to other adventurers. Each area has a base camp to establish over a chain of Dynamic Events, and then keep secure long enough to become mostly safe. Doing this will earn you the right to wear the Trailblazer title for that area. If you succeed in gaining all the titles, you may be recognized as a Master Trailblazer. (Note: Titles not guaranteed to impress NPCs, Mist Warriors from other servers, or asura.)

- New World Bosses: Trespassing into Jormag’s frozen realm is fraught with danger, and some dangers are not the type to take lightly. The Voice of Jormag is but one terror which can strike any of the base camps which have been established, in an attempt to break the Pact’s spirit.
And other, older things still stir in dark places and have no connection to Jormag. Beware the vaettir who haunt lost steadings Jormag or his followers have no interest in. Or perhaps one should worry about old tales of ice wurms greater than Issormir which hunted the snowy cliffs, able to give norn pause before tackling them.

Zaxares.5419:

It basically sounds like this player wants to use their own “custom campaign rules” for RP. Nothing wrong with that, although I wouldn’t be able to RP with them if their custom rules basically went against the established canon lore. (The same way I couldn’t RP with someone who said they were a Sylvari Firstborn or who insisted that their Human was really a 500 year old Ascalonian Vampire.)

Is that why they sparkle in the daytime or is that something else?

I mostly insist my ranger is descended directly from the old Ascalonian refugee from ages past who had the same name. And as some of the other usual characters of mine from GW1 crossed the family tree somewhere, they’re all kind of . . . well . . . somewhere.

Probably Elona.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Zhaitan was most aggressive because he’s been right on civilization’s footsteps. The others haven’t so much after kicking the races from their homes.

Kralk’s minions are aggressive, for certain. As are Jormag’s. Both groups are perhaps the primary dangers which could be pointed to even before Mordremoth’s reveal.

Primordius did things longer ago with the Central Transfer Chamber, but was mostly quiet since it seems. And “Bubbles” . . . we don’t really know . . .

bullyrook.2165:

redslion.9675:

As long as we don’t have left-handed people in the game, it’s allright, I guess.XD

Ouch, that is below the belt. Why don’t we have left handed npc’s btw?

Animation issues, I’m fairly sure.

No matter, I get that some of you are upset that individuals like me still exist. The best you can do is deal with the fact that not everyone that disagrees with you is some kind of monster. If you can’t do that, then we will never get along. And that would be a real shame.

Quite honestly, I don’t care so long as you’re not actively damaging my life. Once we cross that line, well that’s another story.

Atrament.2314:

On Ceara, she didn’t deserve what happened to her.

Yes she did.

“There are horrors beyond life’s edge that we do not suspect, and once in a while man’s evil prying calls them just within our range.”
- H.P. Lovecraft

Or to back it down a notch? If you leave your door open and wait to see who comes through, whose fault is it if you get a guest you don’t wish?

Just keep in mind that Ceara probably never wanted to do what she did.

Lots of people don’t want to have the results they get, it doesn’t mean they’re not responsible for the choices which led there. Ceara was reckless and had a disregard for anyone’s wisdom, and that is why she got caught and twisted around.

I will allow this much. Putting her down was a merciful act.

Twyll Blackleaf.9641:

Also, Faren’s incompetence is really kind of adorable rather than demeaning. First of all, it’s in-character.

Notably, it’s in line with the Lord Faren from the personal story too. Gutsy but ineffectual, means well but lacks ability. Hits on female humans but has almost no charisma to pull it off.

This isn’t something the LS developed, or made up. This is an extension of the character. Though worth noting he did at least grow some to try to lunge for Queen Jennah when he thought he could save her . . . so there is progress.

It’s tough for me. There are not many characters in the LS which identify to me as male/female first and their duties/goals second . . . Marjory is not one who identifies as female first to me, Kasmeer is. Kiel isn’t, nor Evon or Rox. Braham is a toss-up, but Magnus is definitely male. This is kind of key to me, because it does let me feel they are better than flat characters.

In Faren’s case, not much better, but him and that stupid golem are clearly comedy relief of a sort. I’d like to see them both develop out of that and get their own footing. (Again with the Lost – darnit, give us comedic relief like Hurley who actually grew a character over three seasons and was more than a fat dude.)

Top three requests, in as compact a phrasing as I can use. Forgive me if it comes off as terse.

1. Tell the story in the game rather than outside of it, be it short stories, social media images, or chatting it on the forums. It’s nice if you tease things, but important key points need to be available in the game first and elsewhere only if you really must.

2. Let the player character have some impact on things themselves. Do better than Cutthroat Politics, and give us a chance to actually make a difference in the story rather than “just as planned”. (Kira is overrated.)

3. Fix the pacing. This is the third point because I think you got it after the Tower of Nightmares debuted. But please give us more to work with as far as the pacing goes. Frost and Flame took some time but it left us interested . . . and then it yanked sideways to Southsun. Okay, but it was still paced interesting and connected through the refugees . . . and yanked sideways again to Dragon Bash . . . don’t do this again.

By the way, I compared this LS season to Lost many times in recent posts, because that show suffered from similar problems through the full arc of the show. A dragging middle and a seemingly-rushed third act, too many idiot balls juggled, characters either brilliant or “kill them now please” with few between . . . and deaths which lacked meaning.

Dustfinger.9510:

Heedlessly throwing troops into the meat grinder just to spite the opponent sounds like the skaven of Warcraft. And it only works for them due to a high birth rate. And only by subjecting their troops/slaves to brutalization and torture from an early age.

You make my soul hurt with “skaven of Warcraft”, Dustfinger. It’s called “Warhammer”

Sergoros.4398:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Sergoros.4398:

It is never to late. As long, as both sides are ready to talk. And it wasnt her side, which refused the talk.

I was not willing to give her another chance to escape, and escaping because the protagonist lets the villain monologue is more Saturday Morning Villain than Scarlet’s introduction.

Sorry, not a point I’m going to bend on. Braham did the correct, genre-savvy thing.

U – not. I was fine with that. Even if some players are bloodthirsty, doesnt change my point. We could have talked with her. But we didnt. Its our fault, not her.

It’s not about bloodthirst, it’s about knowing deep down if you give her some slack in the rope, she’s getting out of it. (Again.)

And besides, would have been better to hear her channel Irenicus: “No, you warrant no villain’s exposition from me.”

Sergoros.4398:

It is never to late. As long, as both sides are ready to talk. And it wasnt her side, which refused the talk.

I was not willing to give her another chance to escape, and escaping because the protagonist lets the villain monologue is more Saturday Morning Villain than Scarlet’s introduction.

Sorry, not a point I’m going to bend on. Braham did the correct, genre-savvy thing.

Dustfinger.9510:

awww. That means no playable hyleck :*(

. . . drat, no running around going “hey toadface” . . .

Celtic Lady.3729:

That’s so you’ll buy 2 packs for a set of armor. It’s all about money.

The same reason hot dogs and hot dog buns are done the same, irresponsible way.

See? This stuff right here is why my warrior Garah gets stopped every time he enters Divinity’s Reach and asked if he brought any food with him, and if so to please eat it out of sight.

Donutdude.9582:

Mint Rubber.6543:

To be honest, as a human I’d like to join the Ebon Vanguard.

That Ebon Vanguard would be an interesting organisation to join, however they have lost their main purpose, which was to fight the Charr, after Queen Jenna’s truce came into effect.

They haven’t lost their purpose . . . they’re just waiting for the opportune moment, you see. Either that or they’ll follow my memo and turn to anti-Asura tactics.

Zach.3264:

mtpelion.4562:

Zach.3264:

Maybe not losing anything directly, but I spent the money to have multiple dyes across my characters, now everyone gets that free.
Not only that, but people who were able to get online first also managed to make hundreds if not thousands of gold from the cheaper blue dyes on the TP.

You still aren’t losing anything. They are gaining stuff and you are gaining stuff. Any negative emotions you have are the result of comparing what you are gaining with what they are gaining. Focus only on what you are gaining and you’ll be happier, especially since what they are gaining has absolutely NO impact whatsoever on you or your ability to enjoy the game.

Again though.. I paid for the privilege of having the top tier dyes across multiple characters. Now everyone gets it free.
It’s somewhat disappointing that I only get a measly Unidentified Dye in return.

And I paid for the privilege of early access but now everyone plays the game. I should totally get something for that. Maybe a hat.

I’m noticing something here. People complained about various minor issues like the wardrobe, character-bound dyes, and they kept it up and now it’s getting changed . . . and of course, it’s unfair because of it being changed.

This is just further proof it’s a fool’s game to try to build an MMO this day and age – no matter what you do, part of your audience is going to love it, the other half are going to come up with ways it screws them over.

Lycis.1843:

So if you just bought that cherry blossom shirt, you get that in a endless tonic with complimentary parts which are pants to avoid nakedness. Why again can that not just become a skin and get mixed with other town clothes or armor?

Well, people asked as a minor quality-of-life to be allowed to have town clothes not toggle off for armor when entering combat. Someone on the dev team came up with this, since tonics remain active, I presume.

And since they probably (rightfully) found Town Clothing / Armor separation being clunky as all heck . . .

Though my choice would have been to just change Town Clothing / Armor to “Natural Armor / Social Armor” so you can wear stuff over armor to change the look but still have the stats of the Natural Armor. Then just make Town Clothing armor with no stats.

@Blood Red Arachnid:

I said that point because you come off as extremely skeptical of the human element of science, or human interpretations of it. It’s like saying you don’t trust math since people sometimes get it wrong.

That’s it.

Zaxares.5419:

Charr also have the immense benefit of guns and mass production.

And if there’s nobody able to use the guns, that’s a problem