Quite Frustrated with PoF

This is my first time on the forums, and my main purpose here is to catch up with what people think about this latest expansion. For myself, I am equally impressed and furious. The new specializations are some of their best work, and level design has been immeasurably better than both the base game and the first expansion; so my question is this: have they answered for why the main quest is so absolutely atrocious in this game?

I'm currently in the quest The Departed, which so far is the greatest culmination of this expansions worst ideas. No mini-map, repeat “wander around until you find what we want you to find with no clues” objectives, and items you have to interact with are not highlighted like normal or given even an aporximation for where they are located. Why? Why is this filler acceptable?Even before reaching this quest, your very first objective on entering this zone is to talk to half a dozen people scattered around the zone so they can offer you a sentence of dialogue. Once you complete this, you have to return to each of them and do it again because 'this time you are better equipped to ask them the right questions'.With so much creative content in terms of level design and new character options (mounts are very well welcomed and add excitement to previous zones) – why would they feel the need to pad this content with such terrible time wasters?Honestly, I would have much preferred for this expansion to grant access to all of this cool new content, give us these new zones, these mounts, these specializations, and just hold off on a main story until they put something together that was fun to play – instead of effectively punishing players with tedium because they have to advance the story to access this content.Anyways, back to The Departed where I continue to run around aimlessly because my quest doesn't say where to go and nothing shows up on the map....

I mean the map is small. How long can u run aimlessly bbefore u find what u need?

I actually liked The Departed story-wise and thought it was kind of neat in showing a side of things you never really get to see or know much about. While wandering around aimlessly was kind of fun for me I know that if I ever ran it again I might find it more and more tedious the more I ran it.

uh oh lets nerf this chapter again...

Well it's easy to run around when you're given no indication of where to go or what you're looking for. Double so when portions of the level are underground with only a few entrances. There's no reason for any of that.

Story wise it would have been fine if they didn't artificially obstruct your ability to progress through it. Sort of like when one objective ends and they make you walk to the other end to continue the quest, but don't allow mounts or have any content in between.

The Departed is just an example of what I consider to be the worst of this expansion (despite the wonderful level design, specializations, and implementation of mounts). I feel it is the most blatant and oppressive padding added to a game in years, and there is no reason for it.

There are plenty of clues of what you have to do and part of it IS wandering around aimlessly. Your character feels lost not knowing who they are.

I thought The Departing was one of the best story instances I've done in a game ... on the first playthrough. Subsequent times it's more frustrating than fun with how long every portion takes. I too enjoyed wandering aimlessly but I hoped more NPCs would have flavour text. And If I recall correctly the only time you actually wander aimlessly is looking for your equipment (which should probably have some indication of the area to search).

@Sylvanwood.2746 said:The Departing is one of the best chapters of the POF story, in my opinion.

Disagree with this one. Nothing is fun about being strung out when the villain who had the element of surprise and the intent to kill us uses us for a punching bag instead of just shoving the sword through our chest. Nothing is fun about the several bugs this chapter has including but not limited to cut scenes failing to load, server DC's at the end of the speech etc...

Sylvanwood I've said twice now that the mission was an example of my frustration , so I don't understand how you can think that is my only complaint when later on you go to quote some of my broader points that didn't take place there. And yes I did pull up the full map, which doesn't alleviate much because the first half doesn't indicate where to go.

It's perfectly fine to create a level or an entire expansion around being lost so long as their meaningful content inside of that time period where you are lost. The Departed doesn't have anything to do while lost, aside from one or two nps that offer a single line of dialogue. If others enjoyed the empty obscurity of it all then I'm not trying to diminish that for them. To me it comes across as woefully underdeveloped content.

Glacial, that was the worst part, but it's immediately followed by "Find the spirit with your name" which is just as bad. In fact, I ended up progressing that step without actually finding the npc because I walked over the area where it was - having never spotted the opening to an underground area I had no reason to believe existed. The next step though requires you to fight the npc the game said I found but I never saw, so it didn't really help.

You can craft compelling segments or full stories where obscurity is diagenic, but to implement this by stripping away functions of the game without establishing this concept, and without giving you anything to do while looking around.

I mean, who want to play Bloodborne if they took all the enemies out of it and you just walked around looking for text blurbs? That's what these sections feel like.

@VendettaChef.6809 said:

Honestly, I would have much preferred for this expansion to grant access to all of this cool new content, give us these new zones, these mounts, these specializations, and just hold off on a main story until they put something together that was fun to play – instead of effectively punishing players with tedium because they have to advance the story to access this content.

What is "all this cool content" that you need to advance the story to access?I completed the story about a week ago and would love to know what content I should now have access to that I didn't have access before.

I just mean that you have to progress in the story in order to access mounts (and areas only certain mounts can access), especially related to hero points to use the new specs

I loved the story ... all of the story ... and The Departed was one of those moments where I actually sat back and praised Anet for its creativity in showing me something I have never seen before. Im going to have to disagree with you on this one ... hopefully this wont be nerfed again due to complaints like these :3

Oh Anet has done a lot of beautiful showing, and overall I do really like what has been added - I just feel like there is a lot of useless "dead air".

@VendettaChef.6809 said:I just mean that you have to progress in the story in order to access mounts (and areas only certain mounts can access), especially related to hero points to use the new specs

The only mount you need to advance the story to get is the griffon. And absolutely none of the hero points requires a griffon to reach.I don't even think there are places that can only be accessed with a griffon.

I mean in order to get the mounts you need to play through the story, and many hero points can only be obtained with a mount.

The Departed was actually my favourite story instance. I'm not sure how you'd get lost, unless you're rushing through paying no attention to what the NPCs are saying. The absence of aspects of the UI made it much more immersive imo.

@VendettaChef.6809 said:I mean in order to get the mounts you need to play through the story, and many hero points can only be obtained with a mount.

You don't need to do the story to get the mounts.

Checkpoint saves needed. Had to attend to a emerg and disconnect while in the final encounter with Bal. Have to redo the entire thing again. Maybe one day.

The first time I went into the instance and got to the point where i found my weapons, i never saw the dude with my name, my camera was angled in the wrong direction and by the time I turned it around, the spirit was out of sight. Looked basically everywhere I could before looking up a guide and finding out there was a cave at that point.

I do get that you are supposed to feel lost and I was completely immersed in the experience up until that rush for looking for the spirit with my name. After I looked up where to go and finally followed, I was fully immersed in the experience again. Just that hiccup ruined it a bit.

I was blown away by the experience otherwise. Also the boss with the unfairly difficult short breakbar was unnecessary, but that thankfully was fixed (and speaking as someone who beat it the first time without dying).

@Haishao.6851 said:I don't even think there are places that can only be accessed with a griffon.Oh but there is. At least one mastery point which people cheesed with gliders before Anet fixed it.

I found that part the best part of he story lol

@Irreverent.3594 said:

@Haishao.6851 said:I don't even think there are places that can only be accessed with a griffon.Oh but there is. At least one mastery point which people cheesed with gliders before Anet fixed it.

I was able to reach each and every single Mastery Point without the griffon.

@VendettaChef.6809 said:I'm currently in the quest The Departed, which so far is the greatest culmination of this expansions worst ideas. No mini-map, repeat “wander around until you find what we want you to find with no clues” objectives, and items you have to interact with are not highlighted like normal or given even an aporximation for where they are located. Why? Why is this filler acceptable?

"Filler"? Sorry, but the game's worst part in the past has been it's predictable, boring "Go there, fight, kill, repeat" routine, with no real adventuring in terms of having something to do other than killing stuff. Now, for a change, you get to use your head, get to dive into the thrill of discovery to figure things out (which, by the way, is the true nature of adventuring and the very essence of role-playing). How can you complain about that? :o If you are just out to fight, I recommend you try a different genre, like first-person shooters, for instance.

@VendettaChef.6809 said:Anyways, back to The Departed where I continue to run around aimlessly because my quest doesn't say where to go and nothing shows up on the map....

I recommend you listen to dialogue more closely, because the NPC Nenah told you to follow her for she would lead you to the Judge. It's really not that difficult and the map isn't very large, either.

Gamers are spoiled by games like Skyrim (great game overall) these days, where they get a quest marker for everything. "Missing person" quest, nobody knows where he is, but the game slams a big ass quest marker on your map. Not only that, it even shows you which door to open.

THIS IS SICK

You're given an indication, because the NPC points to where the weapon is and they're you're following a named NPC. Sometimes you actually have to watch what's going on. It doesn''t have to be and shouldn't be a giant green arrow on the minimap every time.