Ra Ra.9423

I quite like the current UI/Font/Textures. I've seen some of the newer ones, and I've not had the opinion that they're 'better', just different, as every game's UI style is different. My vote would be to keep as is. Good question though!

I don't think the Oni Boss is the 'big bad'. I feel like it's more like a champion or minion of the 'big bad'. From Guild Wars there are a couple of origins proposed, from Oni originating in The Mists to Oni being Outcasts (an enemy NPC group in GW) that are in an advanced state of corruption and insanity caused by Kanaxai's influence. Now, I can see Kanaxai, who actually was a demon, being the big bad, or another demon akin to Kanaxai. The present story felt like a winding down, with a few hints of something to come. I suppose when we move into the next expansion those hints will come to fruition, and we'll find out the truth behind what the Oni are or who (or what) is directing them. Maybe?

I just want to chime in to say THANK YOU to Anet for giving us Old LA. I have very much enjoyed re-exploring the area and listening to the npc chatter. Not to mention the huge nostalgia bomb that brings back memories of the fun we had exploring the city initially. Even did the old Troll's End jumping puzzle. (though, it didn't seem as hard as it did back then - these interim years of practice made a difference, I guess 😄) Whatever magic they worked was well worth the effort.

In the Hero Panel Achievements - Specialization Collection - Gravity: The item 'Catalyst's Trinket' flavor text says 'A rare trinket obtained by defeating specific enemies in Old Kaineng'. However, the Hint says 'Earned by defeating Aetherblade enemies in the Echovald Wilds'. Per the wiki, it seems Echovald Wilds is the correct place. However, the text needs fixed, so players aren't farming the wrong zone because they didn't read thoroughly. (of note: I've not yet actually gotten the item to see if it says the same, and if so, the item text will also need fixed.)

The thing that bothers me about the 'negative' reviews on Steam, is that many of them were existing players simply complaining that they couldn't link the Steam and their existing account. Therefore, there's a number of negative reviews that aren't actually negative reviews about the game. As mentioned above, these players are basically sabotaging their own game. I get that it would be nice to link the accounts, but that's feedback more for this forum rather than Steam reviews! A REVIEW of a game is a player's impression of their enjoyment, or lack thereof, of THE GAME. I'd ask our community to be aware of this, and not contribute to what is essentially false negatives. GW2 is my favorite game, and I want others to be able to enjoy it as well! It's been great seeing the new players in the maps!

The achievement hasn't progressed for me at all, in playing through that story with 2 characters.

QoL Suggestion: Is it possible to have a kind of indicator of time of day, such as a small sun/moon icon attached to the minimap to allow players to see in-game if it's day/dusk/night/dawn. It seems there's more conditions in EoD relating to time of day, such as achievements for escorts, catching fish, etc. I don't think that relying on keeping wiki up to inform on this is a good system. (though wiki is great!) I realize we have the /time command in chat for Tyrian time, but it doesn't say at which time each of the time of day conditions trigger. I know I haven't memorized them. Also, with parts of Cantha being on a different day/night cycle it adds another twist to tracking time of day. Sorry if this has already come up in this thread; I didn't read through all 217 pages 😄

In looking at the future release on Steam, hopefully bringing new players to this game, I was very interested in the part of the post where Grouch said they would look at "cleaning up some aspects of the early game experience". As they move forward with this effort, I'd like to hear more about what the plan is, and which aspects will be 'cleaned up'. There's certainly some things that could be looked at. One thing I see in new players is the personal story delay until level 10; they make a character and are release into the world to go out and do stuff. What stuff? I know the game shows you hearts, so that's a direction, but a bit confusing to players expecting a story. I'd like to see a return to the story starting right out. (though I believe the change was made because of key-farming, which didn't affect anything since tomes of knowledge are plentiful) I'd also like to see a starting area that have the kind of tutorial things that was included in the training area of EoD, showing AoE effects, defiance bars, etc. I really liked that content being included, and I think it's helpful to players. Maybe it could be added to the first instance of the game, though I wouldn't want to detract from the nice impression of killing a big boss right away when a person enters the game. Alternatively, just add a heart in the beginner areas of each race, similar to what's in EoD. I'm sure there's other things from people's perspectives, but these two things have been on my mind for a while.

I just read your plans for 2022, and it sounds exciting. In talking about communication with players, one thing I've really missed are the 'Guild Chat' episodes on Twitch. Ruby does a fine job on those, and it's great getting to 'meet' some of the Anet team members. The discussions bring some insight to the game as a whole, as well as sometimes giving us tantalizing tidbits to guess at. For my part, it's a good thing to put faces and personalities to the great content Anet has given players over the years. I'd think an episode with JT and Colin would be good in giving the big picture of GW2's future direction, perhaps illuminating more on the recent post. (Aside from just getting to 'meet' them.) Also, since Josh Davis apparently has a new position, it'd be nice to hear his hopes and dreams for the game. One of my past favorites was the sound artists who showed some of their goofy ways they create sounds for the game, as well as interviews with Lena and other music composers. Anyway, just a nudge to say that I hope to see Guild Chat episodes in the future!

I'm really curious about Raisu Palace. You hear a lot of NPC chatter about what's going on there. Also, the whole western part of Shing Jea has yet to be uncovered, including Minister Cho's Estate. A 'Forging Steel' type mission might be fun there to discover what nefarious things are going on. And, I agree, I like your idea for Undercity!

In the Percussive Maintenance collection, the Mechanist's Safety Manual Hint states "Purchased from the map currency vendor in the Dragon's End." However, the item is actually obtained from a couple of heart vendors in Seitung Province. Haven't actually found a 'map currency vendor' in Dragon's End, other than the one by the first waypoint, who doesn't have this item. Change the Hint?

I've now played once through the story and done map completion in three of the maps. Since I had enough hero points, I was able to do so with the elite specs right away, so have been playing in the new maps with Gunblade, Virtuoso, and Untamed (so far). It's some of the best story they've done. It has been immersive for me, and had me out-loud laughing at times, and in tears once. Story has always been an important factor in my game enjoyment, and this story has hit the marks. It provided good conversations giving exposition and context to what's going on. There's been moments where explanations gave more context to things that have happened in past stories, which I really appreciated. The conversations used quite a bit of modern idioms or slang, but, strangely, it didn't feel jarring to me; rather it felt like modern Cantha people were acting more ... modern. 😄 I also liked the periodic cinematics, and think they were well-done and used in a way that really helped develop a character or tell an important story beat. The map exploration is incredible. I think they hid things in every nook and cranny, from hidden chests with different interaction mechanics, to little caves that turn into puzzle-solving adventures. There are a lot of things to interact with and discover. I especially appreciated the zu Heltzer graveyard and meeting Danika's spirit there to unlock an achievement collection. (which I've not completed yet) There are a couple of mini-dungeons in Echovald that are fun, and likely more I've not discovered yet. I really like the Zip-lines, and how they help discover all the verticality of the maps. Don't even get me started on the ambient conversations around all the maps! So many great tidbits. The new Elite Specs are pretty subjective, based on each players preferences. I did enjoy playing all three of the specs I tried, from just a 'traversing the open world' perspective. I've not done any strike missions yet, so haven't any opinion on how their builds may work in group play. Neither have I taken them into WvW yet. I don't have many negative impressions. I did find that in mapping Echovald there was a LOT of traversing around the map to find some of the more hidden PoI's, MP's, & HP's. The pathways were loaded with foes, so I'd often find myself killing the same old groups of npc's over and over, which is a bit tedious. This encouraged me to use the skyscale more to avoid things, but I was also probably missing some content by not covering the ground, so to speak. tldr; I think this expansion was more than worth my time and money. I've enjoyed what I've experienced so far, and expect to continue making my way through the achievements and map-content for some time. There's lots to do!

What team were you placed on? Phoenix Dawn What team did you expect to be placed on? Moogooloo Did you change/toggle your selected WvW guild after Thursday night, even briefly? No Have you shard/world transferred recently? No What is your default world when World Restructuring is disabled? Darkhaven I had checkmarked my wvw guild before the last beta, and hadn't fiddled with it since, so it wasn't a 'fresh' selection prior to 1/13 deadline. I don't know if that makes a difference, but thought I'd mention that.

I'm curious to know why there would be removal of participation refresh for repairing. Support/defense gets little participation anyway, and this just seems to reduce even that. I play with a small group, and at times find that my participation has run out, despite the fact that I'm scouting or refreshing siege, or various other things. Sometimes opportunities for taking camps or towers is a little slow. (or the map is overrun with zergs making solo/small group stuff pretty impossible) I realize a system was created where you could join a commander tag and ask for them to designate you so you could share participation with the zerg. However, our group teams up in a squad of its own, so we can easily see where each other is at. When we've joined the commanders squad, it's harder to track whose blue dot is where; it just doesn't work as well. My 2 cents..

Thank you for finding that information. I looked again and see that it says that on the Gates of Maguuma (achievements) page. Interestingly, I had looked at the Point of No Return (achievements) page, which doesn't mention having to be on the same character. It simply states: The achievements unlock after completing the story for the first time, and can then be earned by replaying the episode.