Episode 6 Guild Chat this Friday: We want your questions for the devs!

[Lauren.3061]

Sorry if these questions have been asked in some form already, as I just mostly skimmed the above, but:

(1) Were you at all hesitant about ending the season on such an upbeat note? Season 4 is the first time a major chapter has had its ending land in such a positive way since we killed Zhaitan in the core story, and back then, we didn't have LW seasons/expansions on the horizon like we do now. Since Season 5 is supposedly coming fairly quickly, how do you make that transition from PoF/S4 arcs being resolved (Joko is dead, Kralk is dead, Aurene has taken her new place, Elona is reorganizing/rebuilding) into some new threat suddenly? S2/HoT/S3/PoF all ended with some pending challenge incoming... this was so different.

(2) WHERE IS ZOJJA... I mean seriously. =/ Logan got a nice bit of closure to his redemption arc this chapter for leading the Pact through this fight. Kralk KILLED Zojja's beloved Snaff. How... HOW haven't we seen her in this update?

And just a general comment - from a story perspective, I LOVE how cohesive PoF and S4 were in terms of themes, location, and just vibes in general. I really resented S3 at the time and even more in hindsight because there are SO many hanging plot questions from HoT that never got answered, and it felt like the story was jerking away from Maguuma and its inhabitants so fast. I seriously hope that S5/future expacs keep that nice, unified feel that PoF/S4 did. Multi-plots are fine, but only when they "work" within the larger expac story that's being told.

Thanks so much for such great storytelling in Season 4!

Also semi-unrelated... I've LOVED the voice-acting in PoF/S4, just seems like the actors are so engaged in the stories, plus I've loved the behind-the-scenes VA vids on the YouTube channel, keep 'em coming please! <3 <3

[Fundor.2098]

First of all, thanks for the awesome episode and season, once again!It was great to see a season ending on a positive note for a change. :) Gives a little breather for the commander too!The map is also great! Melandru's Lost Domain and the Burning Forest are currently a couple of my favorite locations in the game! I love the aestethics <3I'm also loving the meta! It's well structured, exciting and feels truly rewarding!And flying the rental Skyscales around the map... pure lurve <3

Now for the questions:

1. What makes Aurene different from other Elder Dragons in that she can absorb the same amount of different magics but not go crazy like Kralkatorrik? I'm guessing that the bond with the Commander has something to do with it, taken what we went through at Glint's Lair in All or Nothing?

2. Moving on to Season 5, can we still realistically expect Living World updates in about every 2 to 3 months? Taken that Season 4 had quite many delays, though very much understandably, considering the pure quality of the content. :)

3. After the season finale, what would you like to say to the playerbase about the future? Any non-spoilery/allowed tips or teasers? :D

[Poseidon.3261]

I normally do not post in forums, but I believe this to be worth tossing in a few questions in the hopes they might get answered.

1. Why the change in story style? There was an article put out, if I remember correctly, talking about how to have deaths in the story, something along those line and how to do it right. However as soon as this story came out, it made the end of the previous episode feel unnecessary. On top of that, the story did not feel like it had a natural progression, it felt like it was mostly trying to show off the map and was very cliche.
2. Where are Kasmeer and Marjory? I have not heard anything about them in this episode, and they are two of my favorite characters within all of GW2. Seeing as this was supposed to be a grand finale to the season, I would have thought all the major players would be there, and yet neither made the cut.
3. Why is the Kralk fight afk easy? What I mean by this is you just about have to try to die in what could have been one of the best story fights, and on top of that you do not have to use anything other than the special action to throw spears through all phases. You don't need to make all story bosses really hard fights I suppose, but in a season finale, why would you not make the boss at least a little harder than only needing to occasionally look at the screen.
4. Why was Kralk given a "good guy bad circumstance" gimmick at the end of the season? It is fine to have an enemy that is just evil. Trying to have Kralk, who has been evil for all but the last few minutes of this last episode, show himself to not be evil cheapens everything that happens in the story related to him. Due to the story direction now, it is now canon that Kralk was not a thinking, reasoning being, and was instead a beast controlled by instinct.
5. Why are timegates necessary? This is in specific as to why are there timegates in the collections for the new mount. The main reason that people wanted the new map was for the new flying mount. This is especially true for those that cannot afford the 250 gold required to buy the griffon. Because of the timegates, assuming you have everything you need, which is a bunch of timegated mats for a timegated collection for the overall timegated skyscale set of collection of collections, it takes a minimum of EIGHT DAYS to get the new mount, and that is minimum because we the players do not even know if there will be MORE TIME GATES. Why is it necessary to make everyone despise obtaining the Skyscale because we are not allowed to get the mount you flaunted about before the episode released.
6. The map is very nice in that it rewards people for having finished previous masteries, i.e. HoT masteries, but why is the map so cluttered? This is a very large map with a lot of events, but why is it that it was made to feel so cluttered together?

[Xanadrine.4352]

Ill keep this brief 2 things, with the introduction of the griffon we had a taste of gliding flight on a mount. Now with the skyscale we take it a step further, and really start to get that flying feel. Does Arenanet think flying could be introduced into the game, there seems to be a demand for it since people got a taste of flying.

Is the fact that Aurene absorbed Joko's lich magic leave her open to becoming a undead dragon, or possibly possessed by him? And where did she fly off to, was it out to sea?

[McDoodlebees.1296]

@"Rubi Bayer.8493" said:And if you have questions about the skyscale mount, hang onto them just a little while because we have a deep dive Guild Chat episode about the skyscale coming up on May 24.

Now, intentional or not, THAT sounds like Anet is trying to wait the controversy out until enough people have progressed far enough to get their skyscales. By then, any questions we have on timegates and the tedium that pads this achievement line will have lost their teeth. Not to mention the ugly fact that people who do not have access to every chapter of season 4 will have to shell out cash to get it JUST to have access to the achievement line at all (Something smells like NCSoft). That way you can say things like "We understand this has ruffled some feathers but we're very proud of what we made, and it looks like a lot of players have enjoyed it too! So many players are out there showing off their hard earned mounts and having all sorts of fun exploring the maps with them. We thank you for all your feedback and patience, and we look forward to showing you all what we have in store for you in the future. Thank you!". Then following up with pointless chatter about its development, ideas that inspired it, all without answering key questions that were relevant a week and a half ago.

Here's the thing, we do NOT want to wait until the 24th for this to be addressed. We don't NEED a Guild Chat episode to address this at all. A forum post from someone who represents the Dev team that worked on the skyscale achievement line would do just nicely. Don't act like this needs more than that, it doesn't.

[wickedkae.4980]

When will necros get the skeletons as pets? Since, ya know, necros raise the dead and skeletons make more sense than bags of meat.....

[fivebrights.7359]

I've been dying to know: Were there any plans to include Ziya in this patch? Her Sun's Refuge side quest dealt with imbuing others with some protection from the Brand, which felt like it was meant to have importance further down the line. It certainly seemed like there was ample opportunity for her, or at least her research, to factor into this patch, but I haven't seen so much as a mention.

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

When is interaction priority going to be addressed? Trying to interact with nodes when a banner is up, open a chest when an aviator's box or mesmer portal is close, or trying to open the bank when an NPC is standing there. Proximity isn't precise and just isn't working out.

[Bast.7253]

So, several questions for you. Timegating annoyances aside but also somewhat in relation:

1. Will they change it so that alts can access the rentable mount in the future instead of having to repeat the story steps? Because that's a bit of a burden right now ontop of the preexisting issues with the collection.

2. Where are Marjory and Kas? It seems like even a majority of the playerbase has forgotten about them. They've never been my favorite characters or even that overly interesting, but feels like they've just been exiled from Dragon's Watch.

3. Did Glint realize the full potential that Aurene had in terms of being able to withstand multiple kinds of magic, or was she really just counting on Aurene and Vlast replacing the two dead elder dragons and maintaining at least a bit of balance. From the prophecy in a city of gold, it would seem like she was aware and that perhaps Vlast and Aurene were meant to cycle all three domains and magic to each other? But now it's seeming like Aurene may have the possibility to replace all of them?

4. Wouldn't a giant island size land mass being plopped into the ocean create some massive tidal waves?

5. Where was Canach during this episode? Last episode he was helping us by setting up bombs in the mountain and with us during multiple instances, but this episode I don't think I heard him say a word of dialogue, he wasn't in the epilogue, and he didn't seem to really have much of a role? I guess because it was more focused on Braham, Rhytlock, and Logan due to their history with Kralk?

[Vyrulisse.1246]

I'm mostly curious about the first instance with the flying.

1. Was it difficult to get working correctly? It was very visually cool and the music/sound effects were great as well. Were there any weird workarounds or tricks you had to do to get it working well?
2. Not a question but thanks for finally let us ride Aurene into battle! :P

[Celeste.9135]

I feel like the quality of amour skins has gone up drastically since POF and the subsequent living world updates, especially the way they fit onto the Charr and Asura models is amazing. I'm really loving the Mist Shard set so props to whoever had a hand in it's design! My question is would you consider adding an alternative version to the Blossoming version that keeps the improved textures on the armour but without the branded crystals? I love the design but the crystals make the "improved" version a little harder to mix and match with other set pieces. Currently I just use the standard but it would be a nice addition.

[TGDM.5908]

If there is a legendary trinket for LS4 as there was for LS3, will it be coming in a future update or is it something to expect after completing the Skyscale collections?

[Bast.7253]

A couple more questions about the lore and some general statements:

1. I'm still not entirely sure how the Skyscale came to be, in terms of lore. I feel like it was a bit fast and I missed something. Did they just appear out of thin air? Or did they get pulled in from the mists? Is it that they were in the mists, brought to Tyria, and somehow these new skyscale were born but essentially pulled out of the mists and created as full grown adults? It's just quite confusing.

2. So Kralk's torment makes it seem as though it was the combined magic of Balthazar, Zhaitan, and Mordremoth that created the torment. But what about all of the bad things he did before this torment and before absorbing this magic? Like killing Glint? You could say that him killing Glint started the chain reaction that led to Aurene and it was his design all along, but then why did he provoke people to attack him anyway instead of him just flying off into his own little corner and leaving things be a long time ago?

3. Did he prophesize the death of some other elder dragon, realize that it would lead to this corruption, and decide to initiate the events of his Destiny's Edge AND this prophecy just so that the world would have a way to mend itself via Aurene?

I enjoyed the story, but it definitely feels like parts were a bit more rushed than they should have been. Especially with regards to these two former points. I fully expected Aurene to resurrect and replace Kralk this episode, but I didn't imagine the curveball of Kralk having a split personality or being corrupted by magic. With that being thrown, I feel like I have more questions than I did going into it.

[Nodius Caelestis.3892]

While the overall storytelling of the episode is enjoyable, it had a poor opening. Despite the logical possibility of resurrection through the Scourge's Magic which players had speculated, it could have been done differently without going against everything that had been built up over the season. It involved no emotional impact, which is quite disappointing. However, the twist with Kralkatorrik was interesting, but it left the question of why Glint was ordered to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled. Finally, the ending was marvelous, but at the same time worrisome.

Questions

• Are there other scripts regarding Aurene's resurrection? Is the episode completed hastily due to time and human constraints?
• Since Kralkatorrik did not act out of fear for death, why was Glint ordered to prevent the prophecy from being fulfilled?
• Considering how brightly and cleanly Season 4 ended, will there really be a Season 5 and will the game be continued after that?

[Tails.9372]

1. Given that Kralkatorriks actions were heavily influenced by the the magic that corrupted him and the fact that whenever there's a magic leak elementals start to from (which kinda reminds me of an immune system): Is the magic in this world an entity with its own will?

2. Can you (at least in theory) purify an elder dragon? Aside from some scoping issues there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the method the forgotten ones used.

[Ghostof Luzifer.6159]

I loved the episode, the map, the story, the collections, the meta all pretty amazing. the map feels so alive due to the wyverns the airships, interaction with all the different masteries. the only problem II have is that most of the content feels so easy.

Could you make the encounters a little more difficult?

It would give the story another sense of epicness. When you just clap the end boss, it looses emotional impact on you.

Edit: underwater content next???

[hugo.4705]

Before I forget, any cut content?

[Nep Leet.5491]

ARE SKRITT AURENE'S MINIONS?

We've yet to see any corrupted skritt, which begs the questions:

• Are skritt dragon minions?
• And if so, are they the minions of the Super Shiny Dragon, Aurene?

[Thundabolt.8541]

Are we going to see more involvement of quaggans in the future?

[Donari.5237]

Late entry question:

Tldr: Why are there human God statues on Dragonfall that just happen to match Kralk's three stolen energies?

Dragonfall exists because it is Kralk's corpse, right? He didn't just happen to fall on an existing landmass? (Or did he? I saw some NPC chatter about previous structures engulfed by the changes, I think, and I have seen some burned out building frameworks). So why does it happen to have statues of the three Gods who most represent Kralk's stolen energies? Melandru for the nature from Mordremoth, Grenth for the Zhaitan death energy, Balthasar for Himself.

It seems strange for the statues to spring forth from his death, and a real stretch for him to have just happened to be rift-portalled out to the waiting fleet over an island that happened to worship the three relevant Gods. Plus while Balth makes sense, Melandru and Grenth simply share some aspects of magic that Mordremoth and Zhaitan also used. Is there some deeper lore reason for all this or was it just efficient re-use of game assets that sort of matched?

[hugo.4705]

Plus, I saw that the three final legendaries of the meta are death-vine-branded so I just want to ask again, if a test subject is put at the center of an arena and if we shoot all dragon energies on it, does it become Death-vinetouched-branded-icy-burning creature?

[PaladinVII.1647]

The original post links to A.Net's youtube, not twitch page.

[LucianDK.8615]

@Donari.5237 said:Late entry question:

Tldr: Why are there human God statues on Dragonfall that just happen to match Kralk's three stolen energies?

Dragonfall exists because it is Kralk's corpse, right? He didn't just happen to fall on an existing landmass? (Or did he? I saw some NPC chatter about previous structures engulfed by the changes, I think, and I have seen some burned out building frameworks). So why does it happen to have statues of the three Gods who most represent Kralk's stolen energies? Melandru for the nature from Mordremoth, Grenth for the Zhaitan death energy, Balthasar for Himself.

It seems strange for the statues to spring forth from his death, and a real stretch for him to have just happened to be rift-portalled out to the waiting fleet over an island that happened to worship the three relevant Gods. Plus while Balth makes sense, Melandru and Grenth simply share some aspects of magic that Mordremoth and Zhaitan also used. Is there some deeper lore reason for all this or was it just efficient re-use of game assets that sort of matched?

I think you missed that Kralkatorik flew through those god realms, balthazar, grenth and melandru, before Aurene forced him out. Dragonfall is pretty much formed from god realm islands falling from the mists.

[Stephane Lo Presti.7258]

@PaladinVII.1647 said:The original post links to A.Net's youtube, not twitch page.

We'll be live on both, and also on Facebook!

[Cynder.2509]

What about the voice actors? Who did the voice for Kralkatorrik? Is it the same who did the one for Mordremoth who also voiced the human player character? I think Kralkatorrik's voice was amazing in the last chapter!Also great work on the last episode!