Psientist.6437

She. I, too, am uncertain whether we will actually fight another Elder Dragon. The writers might hold something different for us. In any case, I agree it would be the most forseeable option if Aurene was to replace the remaining Elder Dragons as well. Let's wait and see what Season 5 is going to bring to the table. Do we know Jormag's gender? Perhaps 'they' would be more appropriate. So resolve the threat posed by 6 too big to fail dragons with one too big to fail dragon. Imo, that increases the risk to Tyria. How cute and nice does Aurene have to be to change Tyrian magi-physics? Can she or any being channel and balance all the conflicting and insistent domains without changing? The studio may tell us she is cute and nice enough but it requires trivializing their magi-physics. I would prefer Aurene confront us and Glint's plan with her inability to remain cute and nice enough for all time. I want Aurene to demand we help her avoid being imprisoned by fate.

Changing the nature or structure of the All may be a volatile plan but it may also be necessary. There is an indelible link between mind and magic. There are multiple examples of minds being dominated or corrupted by magic. The All is held together by massive magical minds that are dominated or corrupted by magic. I don't care if the writers spin a tale of an incorruptible mind, the magi-physics doesn't work. Aurene's mind is incorruptible and can withstand the dominance of magic because we played hide and go seek with her? They have offered too many instances of minds giving up some share of free will to magic. What are the human gods but beings who have given up some of their will to the will of magical domains. Even if we stretched the magi-physics to provide Aurene, can we expect 5 more incorruptible minds to appear? What happens to Aurene's incorruptible mind after eons of watching mortals fight each other, or watching all her companions die? The plan to stop the Elder Dragon doesn't have to perfect, I just hope it doesn't depend on soft magic wand waving. The writers have made magi-cosmology central to their story without ever delivering adequately hard rules for magic. Imo, it is time to deliver those rules.

I am hoping/predicting that the plot will move towards trading the "Tyria that is" for "the Tyria that could be." Jormag will offer us information about the nature of the All and how Elder Dragons maintain the integrity of the All. He will try to get us to help him change the very structure of the All or how it is maintained and then try to take control of the All. Perhaps he will offer more reliable access to the the after life. More reliable than dying. That being said, I am still afraid. Aurene's resurrection shook my confidence in the studio. They keep building plot from soft magic trickery.

Manipulating the exchange rate would be very risky. It would provide every employee with weaponized information that could possibly withstand an NDA, but it would not guarantee an increase in revenue. The studio approaches analytics with faith. I am confident someone would talk. Everything about the current rate can be explained by player activity and Tyria's high standard of living. Other posters have covered this. I only continue because currency theory is addictive. The gem exchange is an honorable way to monetize players and I have no interest in tearing it down. IF The gold supply includes the quantity held in active user accounts and the quantity held within the BLTP.We approach every trade occurring within the BLTP as describing the Lifestyle.Build statistically significant baskets of goods that do not include every trade, a lifestyle.There is an acceptably largest significant basket of goods or a meta-basketry that can be called Inflation or Deflation. THEN The gem exchange can cause inflation or Inflation. Players produce all new units of gold and provide all velocity for existing units of gold. Anything that increases the demand for gold will increase the new gold creation rate and existing gold velocity. Currency velocity describes how frequently a unit of gold is traded. (A Unity of currency provides quantum bits of virtual work that experience a change in position as a change in state?!) To predict Inflation we would need to make assumptions about overall player demand for goods and average and modal player income and income sources. The topography of the overall player demand curve is very complex. An increase in supply can cause an increase in demand. The topography of player income and income sources is much less complex. Average and modal income is likely lower than easily assumed. I remember a post from years ago putting the average at 2-5 gold per hour. I don't remember precisely. At such a low average, income from dailies becomes much more significant. Imo, the likeliness that the gem exchange is causing Inflation depends significantly on how thoroughly the demand curve for gold to gem exchanges overlaps with savings (gold that does not have a determined trajectory) and the share of new gold being aimed at savings or the BLTP.

The studio could avoid this situation if they committed to using pinky swears or crossing their heart magic. This is entirely on them. More seriously... Tom Abernathy is vacationing at the beach. Who lives near the beach? The DSD! Season 5 location confirmed, underwater Cantha!

The meta is not bad for the game. No one has ever offered a convincing argument that it is bad for the game. The meta is an unavoidable extension of players seeking maximum competency.

And the people who don't mind the grind will defend it as fair because they consider their ridiculous ability to grind as normal and therefore it's fine. My mind already starts objecting when I do the same thing twice in one play session. What can I say? I either pay for some things with real money to skip the grind or I go insane doing it. That's the reason I just gave up again and took another break. I don't hate the game, it has grown on me over time, but I do hate those excessive grind things that just bore me to death. If they reduced the cost by half, which would be great from an enjoyment point of view for me, they probably would sell a lot fewer gems because a big chunk of their money is made there. If you wonder how that works, go to youtube and search for "tribeflame ceo let's go whaling". It's not about ArenaNet but you might find it interesting to get a glimpse of what goes on behind the mtx in online games these days. When you understand what they explain a lot of this stuff makes a lot more sense is what I'm saying but judge for yourself. That video is very useful for understanding why Legendary upgrades are so expensive. And as a bonus, they even depend on loss aversion for part of their value. I may be wrong, but I think upgrade overwriting is the only example of monetizing loss aversion in the game. If we need an indelible marker for predatory monetization, I would suggest monetizing loss aversion. The most maddening part of that video is his opening; "We won't talk about the morality, hahahaha" and the frequent laughs from the audience whenever he talks about monetizing players by manipulating our reptilian brain. I don't know where modern gaming would be without manipulating our reptilian brain.

Julia Nardin, thank you for the response. It would be impossible to NOT use human civilizations as a lens for Tyrian races and that lens can discover differences as well as similarities. Perhaps Charr biology can explain some of their social structure. They are large carnivores that would have always required large animals. Large animals are terrible at converting acreage into calories and they migrate. Charr need more territory. Even the introduction of animal husbandry wouldn't change this requirement. Charr would still depend on inefficient animals. Shrink a Charr to the size of a human and it would still take more land to keep the same number of Charr alive. Using Mongol society as a lens, Charr dependence on meat would be similar to the Mongol's dependence on horses. On the effects of biology on society: Please spend as much time talking about Sylvari and pollen! The potential for pollen to effect Sylvari society is mind blowing. Does the Pale Tree produce pollen? Does it use pollen to influence the Sylvari? How much variation is there in pollen types among Sylvari? Can Sylvari control when they produce pollen or control the type of pollen. Are Sylvari effected by pollen and are they aware of the effects? Could Sylvari fall in love or lust based just on pollen? Did Caithe find Faolain's flowers and pollen irresistible?

The worst I can say is that they are surprisingly expensive and some of their value depends on arbitrary negative conditioning, the overwrite mechanic. The fact that the value proposition of Legendary upgrades doesn't conform isn't that big of a deal. We can react as market conforming consumers or accept the studio's proposition. I am worried about what comes next. Will build templates require legendary gear for some functionality? Will we see Ascended upgrades and will the studio design into overwriting?

Why bother with the armor? A smooth crotch would look less suggestive and draw less attention. The overall effect would be more compelling with only a helmet.

A question concerning more nuanced races. Are there general lenses you use to analyze the races, such as economic, religious, or magical affinity/disposition? Personally I would love to see more attention paid to Tyrian economics. I think it would be fun to write and play and build confidence in the player economy. Does the writing staff have any input into rewards or reward metas based on the narrative? When you write about people using magic, do you have an image of what that person experiences? What does their body experience, what is their inner dialog? Would you still be willing to give the PC narrator control over an NPC? Or has the response to Caithe made it inappropriate? The Requiems were a great idea. I don't think the three we had so far were used correctly. That being said they did a lot of work. They added dimension to characters, kept attention focused on Tyria during content droughts, and gave writers a new way to project themselves. Are you considering something similar for the future? You could safely release narrative about unimportant characters. Your word count budget was just increased by 15%. What would each of you send those words on?

Some ideas for mounts SaddlebagsInventory slots that only the mount can access and a masteries that effect the mechanics of consumable effects. Slots are linked to hotkeys, the equivalent of commanding the mount to consume an item from a lot. This does not require an active mount. Masteries would need to cover who receives the effect: player, mount, other players, foes, the environment and when the mount uses an item: auto-consume, at dismounting or mounting, only on command, randomly when mounted and what can be consumed: existing foods, weapon modifiers, new items. New items could provide a basis for chef 400-500 recipes. Mounts could insure the player is always covered with effects, provide effects on demand such as fireworks. The biggest flaw in the skyscale is the inability to launch fireworks while flying. Fishing from SkimmersImo, the biggest hurdle to fishing in Tyria is lack of space. Zones are kept busy and fishers would often be in the path of events. Fishers would also be easy to troll. It is very difficult for shore line fishing to avoid conflict. Tyrian shore line fishing would be prone to general conflict and fishing wants to be about just the conflict between Tyrian and fish. Skimmers can provide fishers access to an expanse of open water. They are the ideal one person boat. I would change the saddle to either just a platform or a platform and a seat raised on a stalk. The mounts compete for identity. This would give the skimmer a very unique identity and allow fishing to exist as fishing. Mounted resource gatheringFishing demonstrates that each mount could have a resource that it is uniquely suited to collecting and provides a way to approach pseconomics. Many Tyrians are repelled by the general ability for any player to take a market position so we have a supply chain that is broadly determined by luck and access to capital. Tyrians lack unique and respected ways to earn a resource. Partnering with a mount to gather resources could be a respected job. The new resources could be used by every crafting discipline. Together these ideas would provide valuable pseconomic effects, legitimizing auto destruction of resources and gameplay competency market position. They would also prove and increase to economic activity. Sounds fun as a kittens only clouder too.

I really don't see a dragon in this vague outline. It looks more like the vague outline of a wolf's face. Maybe Garm got lost in a snow storm, in the Shiverpeaks, near a beach. Lol, At least we can rule out outer space and jungle. Living World Season 5: Whirlwind of Allusion

I would prefer a unique hotbar, especially if all or some of the slots could be set to auto-consume.

As I said, not seeing a Dragon Glasses required? ;) https://www.google.com/search?biw=1920&bih=998&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Sea+Spray Which also happens when a dragon ascends from the ocean (waves, sea spray).The painting doesn't have any of the features that would readily identify it as sea spray though. There are no semi-solid masses of water near the bottom, little difference in particle size or shape, no organically shaped droplets and no large 3D structure. We see bright, distinct, evenly sized particles; which are the distinct features of a winter storm. There are good reasons everyone seas a winter storm. The only part that could possibly read as water splashing is the surface under the particles. It could be distant waves or an artifact of the painterly effect the artist employed when depicting wind sculpted snow. If it were water producing spray, I would expect to see all the features that appear between the surface and fine mist seen in the images you linked. Maybe there is a dragon, it would be amazing if the studio released future versions with a giant face becoming more distinct.

Looks like a winter storm to me, the particles are very distinct and are being blown in different directions. The surface could be a storm swept sea. Perhaps a coastal winter storm? Is the view from a cave? If so then a hidden face may not be an outrageous claim. Perhaps the studio will release updates of the scene with the face growing more distinct. The logo doesn't give any clues, it could represent ice, water or crystal.

Player housing or home instance rework, hopefully home instance reworkorIntense, heart pounding, toe curling fishing

Or a combination of parthenogenesis and magi-physiology.

I am sorry for Trahearne as well. The studio's treatment of him was bizarre fan service, pandering to a vocal group enraged by his mote of Mary Sue and enraptured by their own plank of Mary Sue. The Trahearne effect likely destroyed the studio's confidence in the PC narrator and increased their willingness to use narrative tricks. Why bother with the difficult process of emergent characterization of Tyria and its people when you can just blow smoke up our butts instead? Spotlight divas have hobbled the writers. Want to experience a NPC's character development first hand by embodying the NPC instead of through exposition? Sorry, that would mean moving the spotlight. Want more than one or two dimensions for an NPC? Sorry, that would mean moving the spotlight. The studio deserves criticism of its writing. They covered over Trahearne's death and the hole it left in the Pact with a joke about pushing paper. However, the fact they are willing to feed the Mary Sue beast doesn't change the fact that too many fans are Mary Sue monsters.

Sage advice. Maybe not owe... I agree with the statement, I really do. I would only ask that maybe you could loan us some civility and honorable behavior. I will pay you back with the same and interest.This is directed at the OP to this quote. It is good advice to live and let live within what can be allowed. If you decide to come and kill chickens on my lawn all bets are off ;)I started a timer to measure how long before someone took my comment out of the context offered by the OP and spun it into them posing, chest puffed at their property line. It took longer than I expected. Your chickens are safe. edit: Your play on words deserves more than what I first offered. But it also implies I am not being civil or honorable. For many social people, doing the work of being social is considered civil and honorable. Being good at social is often considered civil and honorable. Not wanting to be social typical or being bad at social typical often elicits defense of social typical honor. I may be wrong, but this thread was likely triggered by such a defense. They were willing to engage but to an extent deemed uncivil and dishonorable by the entire group or vocal individuals. That defense is likely to limit or eliminate the potential for a social atypical person to learn social competency or proficiency. A guild has every right to gate keep, to demand social payment or collateral. A guildless player is a free agent who doesn't lose all of their free agency status when joining a guild. Honor is not an objective absolute but instead a relativistic topography where individuals cost signal their values with maintaining the topography as a universal value. Within the topography of Tyrian social, I would describe civility as demanded collateral instead of a loan.

Ideally, perhaps obviously, build templates will load any gear in a players inventory. Hopefully the only connection between build templates and Legendary gear is that it is gear. As long as the community is paid adequately for their contribution, then there isn't anything wrong with making a luxury good a community unlock. However, because it is a luxury good, the community can't be paid by the unlock. The payment for contribution should reflect that. The community will benefit from the increase in economic activity, but the community may not be aware of or want that benefit. As well, the antipathy many have for the economy in general is focused on the Legendary tier. Please studio, don't come across cheap in the contribution reward. I think community unlocks are great for the game. They are such an obvious fit for the game and the studio. The MF centered events are lame though. They are starkly economic and need more embellishment.

Which is something only the most socially sophisticated people say. (this is a joke and is meant to generate laughter) OP. It is not rude to avoid talking with other players. In fact, putting yourself in a position where you are stressed may lead to you being rude. My go to excuse, at least when I made the effort to belong to a guild, was that wearing headphones gave me earaches. Obviously, I wanted to hear everything everyone had to say but my delicate ears kept me from listening. The time you spend in Tyria is yours, you do not owe us anything.

I have no idea what that means... What is a content guide? How does turning off hearts help with map completion? The content guide is the minimap helper that highlights the closest undiscovered or incomplete map objective: hearts, points of interest, vistas as well story quests and events. You can change the settings for the content guide to show only what you want it to show. For map completion, I turn off events, story destinations and completed hearts. Set up that way, you would not have to wonder which hearts are done or spend time searching the map for the last PoI. The settings are on the first page of the Options menu.

I prefer the skyscale because it is a jack of all trades. The uniqueness of each mount, while providing fun gameplay options, also made it necessary to change mounts often. Key-binding each mount makes switching easier but it was still something that annoyed me. Switching back and forth was the fuel keeping me going through the collection. I only have 2 minor complaints: Skyscale wall grabs as though it is afraid of flying.I keep getting the mount shot out from under me and can't deploy my glider. I don't see the logic of why we can't recover from being dismounted from the skyscale.

That...is extremely useful info. I did not know that. I am giving you a gold star ⭐️Sod it, have two ⭐️⭐️ Where you aware of the option to permanently show all useable objects, everything that is revealed by pressing CTRL? It has been one of those days and I am fishing for stars.