Seems like it’s finally time for some serious optimizations!
My old rig would sure enjoy it, if they did…
EDIT: Didn’t they mention in the Last Stand Patch Notes that they were going to be rolling out optimizations? I don’t remember them ever expanding on that.
I think it’s ironic that many players point to Flame and Frost as a really good example of how to do the Living World updates…when people seem to forget the massive amount of complaining that occurred since there were very few things to do over 4 months. It makes me wonder if all of them were there from the beginning or if they just showed up in the last month to do all the content that had been added in the previous three months.
Honestly, I think players are focusing too much on the achievements and not enough on just playing the game.
I don’t know about other players, but the big problem with F&F for me was just a case of too little too far apart. If they had released each part of F&F every 2 weeks like they are doing now, it may not have been so bad. Like I said, it was at it’s best at the end when all the events were out and everything was available, then it felt like a nice, full release.
You put “Dragon Bash” and “it” together, didn’t you? It triggered on those last four letters, ignoring the space.
I could try to fix it, but I don’t think I will. =3
After not so extensive playing, I can say this release is…about the same as Dragon Bakitten even has the same (lame) villains. DB wasn’t bad, it was mostly boring. The second half of it did pick up a little though. And I expect the same of Queen’s Jubilee. The Crown Pavilion’s cool (too bad it’s going bye-bye), it’s neat to have the balloon events that overlap other things in other zones making them feel more busy and alive, which was one of the things I really liked about F&F by the end. So…yeah. Queen’s Jubilee is boring at worst, okay at best.
EDIT: “Dragon Bakitten?” What’s wrong with the filter? Maybe it wasn’t too fond of DB either. lol
Well there were at first thats the story behind the great collapse but now that the remnant of what used to be cantha in gw2 is no more, i can assume there can be no cantha at all
I’ve seen people argue about this before, so I won’t argue, I’ll only say it once to avoid conflict. In lore that district was the Art district, not the Canthan district. The Canthan District disappearing was the result of development issues, not something in lore.
Holy crap! Thank you for addressing this in the context of the current update! I’m going to hold you to your word that in 2 weeks your new “strategy” will come into effect…and be successful. Again, thanks for communicating.
There never was any Canthan buildings in DR to begin with. What the hell is there to miss? And even if what you said was true how would that in any way indicate that they would never add Cantha later on? This reminds me of all the players begging for Labyrinthine Cliffs to stay because it had Asian influences in it.
So the new Pavilion and the Gauntlet have been absolutely confirmed as being temporary? I can imagine the Gauntlet being temp. but not the Crown Pavilion. Why would they fix the Great Collapse just to remove it all again? That’s doesn’t make sense. I’d prefer to hear the answer straight from one of the devs or something.
Yes, I would want to expand on the Centaur War. Maybe even visit the Woodland Cascades. Unless there is some kind of twist in QJ, an attack won’t happen though.
To me, the game simply feels incomplete without Cantha (and Elona, of course, but I guess it is a real possibility that we are getting Elona someday, but not Cantha).
It is simply that Cantha was part of the world in GW1, and in GW2 it is not, and maybe it never will. It is a bit ridiculous to wipe out an entire human nation like that.
Lore-wise, we simply lost contact with Cantha. This contact should be reestablished once the sea dragon is defeated, IMO.
I wouldn’t mind not having Cantha right now in the game if there was any hope that it would be brought back at all, but every time a Dev talk about Cantha it seems pretty unlikely that it will return.
I’m not against adding the continent. I’m just baffled by how many people so vehemently demand it be added (this is not directed at you, of course). I still standby my opinion that much, much more of Tyria should be opened up before moving on to other continents. Adding Cantha after defeating Bubbles is an interesting idea though. But I was pretty sure it was Zhaitan who blocked off Cantha, wasn’t it?
Also, I want Cantha back for roleplaying reasons. I have a canthan character that used to live in the Canthan District before the Great Collapse, but since a Dev said that there was never a Canthan District in DR despite the npcs that say that there was, I don’t know what to do with this character anymore.
I don’t roleplay, so I can’t really respond (as far as I’m concerned though, playing a game period is sort of like roleplaying, isn’t it?). It is inconsistent and confusing for the game lore-wise though, and the devs. should probably clear up whether it was Art or Canthan district and leave no loose ends if possible.
“We want more mini-games. We were promised 30 at laucnh!”
devs produce more mini games
“Gah, no more mini-games. Give us real content!”
They can’t win, they can’t.
It’s not the number, it’s the lack of any spacing that is getting people. If these mini-game releases were spread out, I doubt people would be complaining.
Why does everyone go on about Cantha and Asian influences so much? What’s the big deal? The game is mainly European in theme. Nothing unique, but how would adding stereotypical Asian themes to the game improve it? Should it matter if something is Eastern versus Western? Isn’t the only thing that matters whether the content is satisfying or not?
More OT: Labyrinthine Cliffs would never be left in the game without the Zephyr Sanctum. I guarantee you that no one would visit a zone that small unless they were roleplaying. That said, I’m willing to bet it’ll appear again at some point, maybe even in another location. The devs. wouldn’t go through the trouble of establishing the Sanctum if it was never meant to return again. Personally, I think the whole Zephyr thing came out of nowhere. I’d rather have a zone that’s actually connected to the rest of the world instead of being in it’s own little bubble in the middle of nowhere.
I agree on one thing, though: Labyrinthine Cliffs does look great. Love to see that kind of effort in the aesthetic of another zone in the future.
Why have a festival at all? When planning the summer releases out was the plan, nothing but releases that play like festivals? (Okay, Pirates excepted, but it did overlap DB).
I’ll power through this one, it could still surprise me (if not, I’ll skip it like I’ve been doing to CP), but I hope the next update will be more serious.
My question is what will they do with the fractal that doesn’t get chosen from Cutthroat surely that won’t go to waste.
The only thing they’d be wasting is the concept. I doubt that they’ve started work on either yet. And, I honestly believe that we’ll get both offered from Cutthroat eventually. Their both too good to mention and never implement.
Would that mean that the Aetherblades will be nothing more than festival crashing louts in fancy garments wielding awkwardly constructed swords whom appear once a month perhaps every other with the soul purpose of closing out the current bi-weekly event? Some pirates …
If Anet decided to do that then…yeah. And disappointing it would be. I didn’t care for the Aetherblades the first time, I wouldn’t care the second time.
More OT: Yeah, I agree with OP. Festivals and Mini-game based events are a fine way to give players a “breather” from serious fighting content, but we’ve had too many too soon. They should be spaced much farther apart. I wouldn’t want another one until Halloween, honestly.
After poking around more, I’m hearing about something coming from the sky. One of the devs hinted: “Look to the skies”. Maybe they were simply referring to the Balloons? Maybe the Aetherblades return? If this event was sort of like DB with part of it being a festival and the other half having an actual threat, I’d be okay with that as long as the next update was not a festival release. Guess we’ll see.
The Pavilion is the name of the area that’s replacing the Great Collapse, right? I hope not because the wiki has it listed as temporary. Of course, the wiki could just be plain wrong there. If it’s true, what would happen to that area after the event is over? Would the Great Collapse just open back up again?
EDIT: lol, somebody removed the Pavilion from the “Temporary” list.
I hate to get on the negative train but I am getting tired of mini game after mini game update. A new zone would be awesome. The features listed sound great and do have me excited, but the promise of more mini games does not.
I agree, but I don’t even think the features are all that interesting. Also, I already said it in this thread (on page 1) but no zones are likely to be added the entire rest of the year.
What does QJ stand for? I always figured the release would be called Queen Jennah’s Next Hero. Which, if that is the case, is kind of a corny name. Not very dramatic, but oh well.
It had better not be another celebratory update. Yeah, yeah, not every update has to be all action, but we’ve had 4 releases where nearly nothing happens that had any weight. I’ve said it before but a councilman I never knew dying and then right soon after being replaced has no weight.
I hope it expands the centaur war plot. (Nobody should get their hopes up for entering the Woodland Cascades though, according to the wiki, no areas are being added for 2013. Scroll down to the bottom of “mentioned” to see it.)
I’m still certain the Kiel will win, but I’d vote for Evon just to spite her. I don’t expect Evon to turn out to be an interesting character, though. Anet is good at a lot of things, gameplay, atmosphere, world lore, etc., but they come short on story and character…with a few exceptions.
Why do people act as if voting for Kiel will stop RNG? As if the in-game characters control what the developers put into the game.
Kiel will win anyway. We’ve spent more time with her throughout the LS, so of course she’ll win. The majority won’t vote for a guy they barely know. Frankly I don’t care who wins. Cutthroat Politics sounds like it will be a nothing release. They have one thing listed under features. Maybe they’ll add more, but I somehow doubt it. Still holding out for that blog post and future content.
I agree that I want less tech and more fantasy. GW2 is becoming less adult and more kid oriented which isn’t my cup to tea.
You know, I agree with you. GW 2 is almost more Steampunk that it is fantasy. I don’t like it, usually, when fantasy is mixed with more modern technology. It’s funny that this universe has invented flying airships and laser cannons, but everyone still uses swords to fight with. The more steampunk-esque (I guess that’s how I’d describe it) elements don’t ruin the appeal of the game for me, but I’d like more straight fantasy stuff too.
Then again, I could just be taking it too seriously. Then again again, everyone on these forums seems to take the game too seriously.
There’s only two Way Points, so I don’t see a reason not to make them free, especially with all the people who splat on the ground leaving me to revive them, and then when I fall to my death no one is around to rez me. I second this thread.
Now that Bazaar of the Four Winds has been released, it’s time to bump this thread and share my thoughts…so far.
I like it. The new temp zone is incredible, moving around it is fun, and it’s unique (both the zone and the movement, that is). I like the overhauled achievements. Everyone I’ve seen is having fun and so am I. I’ll have more to say later on.
If Zephyr Sanctum is not permantent, why would the Labyrinthine Cliffs be? The zone looks to be small as is, without the sanctum it’s bound to be smaller. I’m fine with the area being temporary, I’d rather have a larger map that better ties into the main lore, than something that seems to come out of nowhere (and BTW, how will this tie into Sky Pirates?). If you need hard evidence, just think about what few WayPoint’s it apparently has and it’s lack of Skillpoints, Points of Interest, or Vistas.
Judging from the previews it looks amazing. The scope on everything is incredible. I’d love it if they took the art design of the map and applied it elsewhere. Or at least just the scale of the scenery.
But you can’t expect to get the achievements for every release. Your bound to miss at least one event, right? I understand that release after release seems overwhelming, but every time I’ve tried to get achieve’s for an event, I do it a couple of days (playing like 2 hours a day). Maybe that’s just me and it takes others a lot longer to do them.
My only thought, delay it further!!! This is way too soon!
Anet has been releasing major patches every two weeks since Secret at Southsun and only now are people going crazy over it, as if the company is just going to fire out whatever rushed crap they have. I think Anet deserves more credit than that. They probably have a plan about dealing with such a short release schedule. And if it doesn’t work out, they will adapt and change their plans.
Search didn’t pull up any answers and neither did the guides to Dragon Bash part 1 and 2. So simple question: when does Dragon Bash end? It’s been here for a little while now.
Did anyone see this update coming? I know there were several threads talking about the possibility of it unlocking the Dominion of Winds (and BotFW could still have a connection there), but no one guessed it would be about a giant flying merchant ship. Pretty interesting concept. Wonder how this is connected to Sky Pirates.
I’m pretty excited for this one, the new achievements system might finally make achievement points useful, and I’m glad to see Home Instances develop. Should be an okay release.
Boy, the hype train rolled out of the station at top speed for this release! There’s several threads speculating what this update will contain. You can count me on board!
From what I heard on Guildcast the devs are looking to make things more permanent after hearing that players wanted them to keep some of this stuff in the game for more then just 2 weeks. I guess heres hoping they are actually listening right?
Yeah, I’ve heard this too. I’m confident that when they say there will be more permanent content, they really will do it. Anet may not always make the best decisions, but you can tell that they are listening. What they do with what they hear is another story.
Judging from the release page for Dragon Bash, I was right, it’s just another holiday event. To be fair, it does look like it’ll offer plenty to do, and I suppose we could use a break from saving Southsun and all. I’m still holding out for something far more substantial, but I’ll probably enjoy Dragon Bash in the meantime.
And on the subject of town clothes, still not sure why they don’t do what they did in GW1. Disable costumes in PVP (WvW and sPVP in this case) and allow them to be use when fighting in PVE. It doesn’t make sense from a greed/normal profit stand point, as they’d be selling much more if they could be worn in combat. I totally would have bought the wintersday clothes if not for that.
Yeah, I don’t see why there isn’t an option to display town clothes, but still use the stats for your regular armor, that way you can fight while wearing whatever you want without it impairing your character. Because you can’t yet wear them while in combat, I never even look at the town clothes tab, it’s kind of pointless for me.
Sounds like it’s just going to be another holiday release. I could swear one of the devs a while back said that every 6 months there would be a “mini” expansion, the first being Lost Shores. The June update should be the next. I could easily be wrong about Dragon Bash, but it sounds like it will just be a month (or 2 month) holiday with no major permanent content. Maybe I was wrong about what I heard originally.
Either way, I’m not too hyped for this one. Holiday events are fun and all, but I’m still waiting for major things to happen. The apparent inclusion of RNG skins for the third living story arc in a row doesn’t help much either. Guess we’ll see on June 4th and whenever Dragon Bash is released. Maybe Anet will do something big for the 1 year anniversary, which should be in August, right?
People seem to roll from one extreme to another. F&F was all no forced group content, SS is all no forced single player content. We could have both. Why gate off group content behind the wall of single player content? Just have both readily available. I have no problems with solo instances as long as there is an option to party, like in the personal story or an already available group version. You can easily please both group and solo crowds. There’s no reason to resort to extremes.
Yeah, the solo instance is incredibly disappointing for me. One room, one boss. Annoying mechanics. Canach spent the fight knocking me back, I’d heal, attempt to disarm a mine at random, being unable to figure out how to tell a poison mine from a land mine and hope it hurts him.
I like all the events on the actual map, but this instance is just dissatisfying. Maybe they ran out of time to make it more eventful and exciting? It’s very bizarre that MF was so well done and fleshed out, while this instance isn’t. Even the solo instances in F&F were far better than this! Please, let the June update end satisfyingly. Again, I like the events on Southsun itself, but the ending instance just sucks. :/ Better luck next time.
I agree with this thread. Weather variety, not just in Southsun but in other zones too, would be nice. I’m not even sure it rains in Ascalon. Maybe an option can be added to Video settings to enable/disable weather for those of us with ancient, barely mid-line rigs from like 2005. That way at least some of the playerbase can enjoy a bit more variety in the gameworld.
Now that it’s been out for a few days, I can say that I still love this update. Southsun is full of life and bustling with people, which probably won’t last as the next story is sure to sweep players away elsewhere, but I’m confident that Southsun will see at least a small regular population from now on. I like how unique items were available that didn’t require grinding for money to buy on the gem store or were RNG, be nice if the skins weren’t RNG again though. (As a side note, I’d appreciate a waypoint around the camp on the edge of Driftglass!)
Overall it’s a pretty good update! I’m looking forward to the June story, which I believe is supposed to be one of those “mini expansions” I heard about a while back that’s supposed to be released every 6 months or something. Be nice if someone could confirm this.
I don’t think I can add much to what the OP said. I agree with them. I’m really glad to see things happening in the map, at the very least.
I do disagree on the instanced content. Yeah, all the open/DE stuff is chaotic, but I like it, really gives Southsun the feeling of unrest. I just hope when this is over, the new areas/changes stay (and I fully expect them to this time) and that they add vistas and stuff to the map.
So far, so good!
EDIT: I think I generally agree with everyone so far.
lol