The newest meta is awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed it

[Fueki.4753]

@"Memoranda.9386" said:Finally having completed it today, I did rather enjoy it.

For me, it seemed to have the same "theme" as Dragonfall: the Commander and Co. are sneaking in the ruins (Commander and Co. are entering Kralk), and the Pact/Legion forces are assaulting the keep proper (Almorra leading the physical destruction of Kralk's body).

Further, this is kind of the theme everyone - and I use that term lightly - seemed to want, which was more "meta maps" after PoF was decried for being boring, although after HoT "everyone" wanted core Tyria maps with more local events, etc.

Just can't seem to please everyone. Not every map can be the best. There were some strong points and some weak points, and some pacing issues.

And while I don't know if I'll always enjoy it, I can see myself popping in once a while to run the meta if I have the extra time to spare.

It's also similar to how Mordremoth died.The Commander and her merry two Sylvari companions entered Mordremoth's mind to destroy it, while outside force (Pact remnants, Nightmare Court remnants, Lord Faren and his speedo-loving followers) assaulted Mordremoths' mouth.

[Memoranda.9386]

@Fueki.4753 said:

@"Memoranda.9386" said:Finally having completed it today, I did rather enjoy it.

For me, it seemed to have the same "theme" as Dragonfall: the Commander and Co. are sneaking in the ruins (Commander and Co. are entering Kralk), and the Pact/Legion forces are assaulting the keep proper (Almorra leading the physical destruction of Kralk's body).

Further, this is kind of the theme everyone - and I use that term lightly - seemed to want, which was more "meta maps" after PoF was decried for being boring, although after HoT "everyone" wanted core Tyria maps with more local events, etc.

Just can't seem to please everyone. Not every map can be the best. There were some strong points and some weak points, and some pacing issues.

And while I don't know if I'll always enjoy it, I can see myself popping in once a while to run the meta if I have the extra time to spare.

It's also similar to how Mordremoth died.The Commander and her merry two Sylvari companions entered Mordremoth's mind to destroy it, while outside force (Pact remnants, Nightmare Court remnants, Lord Faren and his speedo-loving followers) assaulted Mordremoths' mouth.

I sense a recurring theme.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Fueki.4753 said:The 150 minutes exposure of pure, eye-hurting particle spam didn't help either.

:+1:

I couldn't even see half of the sources that damaged my HP.

Oh yeah, the visual noise is adding to the headache I get each time I play this meta. :angry:

I'm not looking forward to repeating this 9 times.

If it only were just 9 times... You have to grind this like crazy for many of the achievements (if not most). It is an awful design.

[Jilora.9524]

Great meta. Very fun. Otter 148/160 no salvage. Profitable always action. Got lucky today joined 2 maps at cache keepers 1st side. I'm sure as less do it it will be easier to join maps at 2nd part instead of the whole 2 hours but either way I enjoy it

[Cyndercat.7615]

@"Cynder.2509" said:Having the same problem like others that nobody is doing anything to contribute to the meta and most lfg groups are full maps anyways and they even advertise it as full then. I don't see why you would advertise for a full map. Either remove it or don't host at all.Anyways, it's a shame that nobody wants to do the new map meta as it's quite very profitable (got about 100g from just one run).I really enjoyed the "old" one and the new extension because it kinda feels immersive to me considering the lore behind the whole thing. Maybe I might enjoy this a lot more because of how much gold you can get out of the whole thing. :tongue:

Loads of people are doing new meta all the time however Its very hard to jump into north maps atm as they are almost always full with people who have completed south, which is also why there are no LFG.New south meta maps fill up in less than 5 mins so if you want to join an active map you have to be quick with LFG. Alternatively, if you land in a dead map you can tag up and will find an almost full squad in minutes to do both metas.

[Blude.6812]

Worst experience of my entire time playing GW1 and 2. Unplayable with the lag. Never seen lag like this before ,let alone the time spent slogging through the meta to get a gated mastery. Can't see a damn thing, even chests. NO, it's a mess although pretty.

[voltaicbore.8012]

I think the combined meta is their response to what happened in BJora, where the first half's meta was totally abandoned for a while when the Drakkar meta came in. Having the northern meta attached to the southern meta assures that the entire chain will be done even if people really only want the northern meta now.

I just wish they'd revisit the solo- or low-number-ability of the first meta chain, just to get things going.

[Fueki.4753]

@Ashantara.8731 said:If it only were just 9 times... You have to grind this like crazy for many of the achievements (if not most). It is an awful design.I'm just repeating it for the Mastery Point.Once I get that one and still need more points, I'll restrict myself to the southern Meta.

I couldn't care less about other Achievements that have nothing I want.

[Link.6157]

I couldn't disagree more, this is the worst meta in gw2 because of the pure length (and seems extremely laggy). During my first north meta now, disconnect after 2 hours, ofcourse i couldn't get back in, ffs when will anet do something about dcing in maps like this ...

[LucianDK.8615]

Yep, this whole meta is way too long. At least they fixed the issue with the southern meta where many chests would not give any rewards after slaying a keeper.

The southern meta is so much better designed than the northern one that its staggering.

[Ashantara.8731]

After doing it 2-5 times a day, I am done with it for now. I have my Otter's Blessing enrichment, I'm happy.

I hope by the time I return to finish the Special Missions I have left, they will have found way to separate the two meta events. The current design is just plain awful - you don't have anything left to do during the first half, yet you are forced to play it (no wonder some people go AFK until the start of the northern half).

[Fueki.4753]

@Ashantara.8731 said:After doing it 2-5 times a day, I am done with it for now. I have my Otter's Blessing enrichment, I'm happy.You must have crazy sleepiness tolerance.I couldn't even bear doing it more than once a day, or else I'd fall asleep during the second south meta.

[Perihen the Thawk.9527]

It's long, but it's just one map so I think it's totally fine to have one super long meta like this. Personally I love it, very epic feeling. I'm not the kind of person that farms any meta for extended periods, so I doubt I'll get too tired of it.

[Fueki.4753]

@Perihen the Thawk.9527 said:It's long, but it's just one map so I think it's totally fine to have one super long meta like this. Personally I love it, very epic feeling. I'm not the kind of person that farms any meta for extended periods, so I doubt I'll get too tired of it.

With Dry Top, The Silverwastes, Dragon's Stand, Dragonfall and Drizzlewood Coast, we already have five map-wide metas stretching over hours.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

@Fueki.4753 said:With Dry Top, The Silverwastes, Dragon's Stand, Dragonfall and Drizzlewood Coast, we already have five map-wide metas stretching over hours.And we have like 30+ that don't so.... who still has the overwhelming majority of content here?

[Fueki.4753]

@Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:

@Fueki.4753 said:With Dry Top, The Silverwastes, Dragon's Stand, Dragonfall and Drizzlewood Coast, we already have

five

map-wide metas stretching over hours.And we have like 30+ that don't so.... who still has the overwhelming majority of content here?

I only corrected Perihen, who claimed it's just one map with an hours long meta.

[Tuna Bandit.3786]

Incorrect.I have EVERY excuse to not click it.Down there with Jormag, I cannot survive. Shoot from up there, were I CAN hit: NO creditI am done being killed just because Anet hates glass canons.So yeah if I die. I wait till the end, take an orb and be done with that OP stuff.5 more times for mastery, then NEVER EVER AGAIN unless that Meta is SEVERELY nerved.

Seriously, the AoE during the last fight is so huge, that I cannot escape and that single hit takes my health, often skips downstate and kills me.Just the freezing alone is enough to down me from 100% healthSo I should come back why?Just to get killed again?To pleasure ArenaNet's morbid design?

Plus: The map is horribleThe meta is TOO longThe meta is designed for selfish play. Specially the 2nd half. You have to GRIND so much, that once you grinded to unlock the achievements, you grind even more to complete them and DONT STOP to pick up downed allies because it will make your grind SO MUCH LONGER.Look around when you do the meta and wonder why there is so little picking up downed allies compared to other maps... YOU KNOW WHY NOWTHAT is why this map plus meta is a horrible design.Not the fights, not the mechanics. The SHEER grind and the OP AoE fields at the end fight.

It really struck me when I did the meta a few timesCompared it to other maps.Even redid the metas on maps I have not visited in a long time. I got downed? Almoth always someone helps me up.In Drizzlewood, specially north? Nope!

That ALONE is a indicator that the map/meta is a TOTAL AND UTTER FAILURE

[Jokubas.4265]

Now that I've gotten to experience the new map and its meta (done the whole thing 2 or 3 times now working on commendations) I can finally post about this.

The new meta is pretty fun overall, but it still feels really weird being locked behind the first half of the map. I'd like to say it should be completely standalone, have the bridge just be a zone line to a Northern Drizzlewood, since a lot of the new stuff only counts in the new half of the zone anyway, but the new half of the meta doesn't quite feel complete enough for that.

The problem is how it interacts with the progression. It really hurts since so much of the new stuff, like the Dominion Special Missions, require you to be doing things that only happen during the meta. That's technically true for a lot of things on the original map, but the more open nature of the first half of the map makes that less of a problem. The new meta is much more linear, so those events either happen or they don't, and once that window has passed that's it for another two hours. Also, the fact that the cache bosses still happen after the original meta is really jarring. In theory it's a break, but the hectic nature of trying to keep up with everyone during those bosses (the camp teleports help a lot, but the bosses die really fast before the zerg arrives and makes them scale) makes it one of the most stressful parts of the whole meta (especially when you still need them for the achievement), and it's just a long enough time to suck if you just sit and wait.

It feels good to be rushing the citadel with everyone. The one question I have is how the Claw of Jormag part is supposed to work. It seems like you're intended to be hiding behind the cover until you break the Claw and move in while the dragon is down, but everyone just seems to stack near the literal claw and I can't really blame them. I seem to get hit with a million things while hiding anyway, half of which push me out of the cover. Also, while that far back I can't exactly hit with a lot of CC. So it seems you might as well just stand in the thick of it and just heal through everything, because at least then you're not sacrificing damage or CC.

[ShadowCatz.8437]

@Orion Templar.4589 said:I thought the new northern assault portion of the meta was fun. It's definitely a non-stop action rush to assault the citadel and claw with no stopping to catch your breath anywhere along the way. I did feel a bit trolled by some of the cache keeper rooms between the meta phases having fewer caches, and some having none at all. But considering the number of caches that appear after the northern assault is done, that likely makes sense.

My only complaint is about how long the combined meta is. Dedicating that much of a block of time to run a meta from beginning to end is a challenge. It makes me try to find a map that is farther along and if I cannot find a map that is farther along, I'll give up and go do something else. I think now that the northern assault is added, the dev team should see if there's a way to creatively shorten the southern portion so it's still engaging, but won't take nearly as much time.

Did South and North meta and didn't see Cache Bosses had all 4 chest in each room. There is not chests that where missing as far as I can tell in South.

[ShadowCatz.8437]

@Jokubas.4265 said:Now that I've gotten to experience the new map and its meta (done the whole thing 2 or 3 times now working on commendations) I can finally post about this.

The new meta is pretty fun overall, but it still feels really weird being locked behind the first half of the map. I'd like to say it should be completely standalone, have the bridge just be a zone line to a Northern Drizzlewood, since a lot of the new stuff only counts in the new half of the zone anyway, but the new half of the meta doesn't quite feel complete enough for that.

The problem is how it interacts with the progression. It really hurts since so much of the new stuff, like the Dominion Special Missions, require you to be doing things that only happen during the meta. That's technically true for a lot of things on the original map, but the more open nature of the first half of the map makes that less of a problem. The new meta is much more linear, so those events either happen or they don't, and once that window has passed that's it for another two hours. Also, the fact that the cache bosses still happen after the original meta is really jarring. In theory it's a break, but the hectic nature of trying to keep up with everyone during those bosses (the camp teleports help a lot, but the bosses die really fast before the zerg arrives and makes them scale) makes it one of the most stressful parts of the whole meta (especially when you still need them for the achievement), and it's just a long enough time to suck if you just sit and wait.

It feels good to be rushing the citadel with everyone. The one question I have is how the Claw of Jormag part is supposed to work. It seems like you're intended to be hiding behind the cover until you break the Claw and move in while the dragon is down, but everyone just seems to stack near the literal claw and I can't really blame them. I seem to get hit with a million things while hiding anyway, half of which push me out of the cover. Also, while that far back I can't exactly hit with a lot of CC. So it seems you might as well just stand in the thick of it and just heal through everything, because at least then you're not sacrificing damage or CC.

Stacking is probably better as you can rez ppl when you have time, boon get shared and you have some condition removal form profession that can condi cleanse group of players. Important here is to be in a group/party/squad as you have higher priority from boons.

Don't stand behind its claw is there is heavy chill behind claw. Here position is important and to in time have a condition cleanse ready when CoJ use fear. Combine it with a teleport back to fast be in range do more damage. Dodge when there is a wave incoming. It is hard to time everything to not waste CD, but it is possible. And use blue portals when dead to fast get back instead of waiting to get rezzed, if you see that most players are occupied or can not rezz w/o getting killed themselves.

IMPORTANT: When the meta is over and it is time for hunting down chests. Do it in small groups as there are still enemies around that can be really hard to kill as single player and you have less issues with being tagged from snipers. (Faster to rezz people when they get downed with a couple of people in group. There is no need for dedicated healer, just two or more that rez when it is possible and some other take care of enemies so that rezzer wont be interrupted.)

[Perihen the Thawk.9527]

@Fueki.4753 said:

@Perihen the Thawk.9527 said:It's long, but it's just one map so I think it's totally fine to have one super long meta like this. Personally I love it, very epic feeling. I'm not the kind of person that farms any meta for extended periods, so I doubt I'll get too tired of it.

With Dry Top, The Silverwastes, Dragon's Stand, Dragonfall and Drizzlewood Coast, we already have

five

map-wide metas stretching over hours.

I don't feel like any of those take 2+ hours like Drizzlewood Coast. Dry Top for sure only takes one, it's on a timer. And I just did Dragonfall the other day in about an hour, I think. Been awhile since I did The Silverwastes or Dragon's Stand, though, but I feel like they are both under two hours easy.

I didn't mean there are no other long map metas, but Drizzlewood is, I think, uniquely long. My point was just that I doubt that's about to become the new normal anytime soon, so I don't mind one particularly long meta.

[Perihen the Thawk.9527]

@ShadowCatz.8437 said:

Did South and North meta and didn't see Cache Bosses had all 4 chest in each room. There is not chests that where missing as far as I can tell in South.

That was changed back in a patch shortly after release. For a brief period there were like 0-2 chests in each cache.

[yoguil.7320]

@Tuna Bandit.3786 said:Incorrect.I have EVERY excuse to not click it.Down there with Jormag, I cannot survive. Shoot from up there, were I CAN hit: NO credit

Same with me. Have done the meta nine times now, only seven of which did count (not enough damage before getting killed I guess - and it's a bloody long way up there from the waypoint). Oh, and with those other two grindy mastery points in the north I'm now at around 20% - honestly, wtf?

As much as I enjoyed it the first time playing the meta repeating the same stuff over and over again is work, not fun. I'm done with it. Keep your mastery points, Anet, I'm, no longer interested.