Shaaba.5672

I'd rate it as POF level without the benefit of amazing masteries. Beautiful, but feels destined to be abandoned. The masteries are meh. Story is good, I quite liked the dialog and new characters. I do appreciate the new approach to legendaries. I'm looking forward to the living story already, as that is where the x-pacs seem to be make or break in the long run.

I pretty much agree with most of this. I hate the batteries littered everywhere. They are both inconsequential and frustrating, I hate that my alts have the mastery, but no ability to use it unless they get a power core. Especially frustrating that the zip lines are cut off for alts. The zip line is the only thing I like about it so far. I guess others would like the free-fly ability, but it's not something I am interested in. The various buffs it gives on your buff bar is too much clutter and makes it hard to read other buffs. How many battery charges do I have, let me check ... ok, not that blue buff, nope, that one is my birthday buff ... oh there it is. What's that number again, it's hard to read. I've always hated those light blue buff boxes with numbers that you're supposed to be able to read but in reality are a PITA. Just really not impressed with the whole system. Some of the ideas are good, some of it is just busywork for the sake of it.

It's nice to see content on this game. I appreciate that you do so. However, unless it also talks about how much of a bad decision it was to lock a mastery behind a successful meta, then it's incomplete.

Make the meta challenging, I don't care about that. Some content is not for everyone. The problem I have is that it's mandatory for what should have been a core, advertised feature. It's not even an attempt - it's a successful run. Why couldn't the sequence of events be - attempt the meta, a new collection is now available for you if you talk to X? The masteries in this X-pac have not felt good out of the gate, and this is the cherry on top. There are perfectly viable places to drop the egg acquisition into the story or from the events on the last map, but instead they gate it behind a meta and leave a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The zip line is the only one that felt impactful and meaningful as soon as you got it and didn't have to level it up, but even that is negated on alts because they are missing the power core. Mastery fail so far on this whole expansion. And by reading this, I find it's also gated behind a strike mission that I have no interest in doing? I guess the turtle is not for me and I should just admire them from afar and hoard all my extra mastery points that I won't be using on it on future content that may or not be gated/be satisfying. I just want to emphasize how BAD this feels. If no one takes anything else from this post, just take that away. It's not leaving a good impression or helping the word of mouth on this game. If there had to be a special reward for the meta, then make it something actually prestige - some skin or title - not an advertised feature of the game.

I haven't played the meta yet, but I already see the flaw in your idea ... relying on a random group of people to listen in map chat. When does that ever happen?

This was by far my least favorite chapter so far. The puzzle aspect was ... okay, but having to whip the bot out and put it away constantly was getting to me and it zips so quickly that I found it hard to pilot precisely in that small space. Piloting it for the Jade tech quest heart was fine because the targets were big and there was a lot of room between them.. I eventually just looked up the puzzle part on Youtube when I got stuck because I was getting frustrated with the jade bots. I suggest anyone who's stuck do the same - trying to explain it via text is sometimes a challenge.

Is there actually money in it? It doesn't seem extremely profitable to me, but then again, I'm not selling what I gather. And I know people like different things - there are a lot of people saying they don't like it as well as people speaking up for it. This game has a wider variety of players than a lot of other games - it's casual and relaxing if you want it to be, challenging and active if you want it to be. And I realize that when I get full masteries and get better bait/lures it will be different too, but my reflexes aren't what they used to be and I don't want the fishing to be so twitchy. That's me and I'm giving my feedback. Also, I don't know if you intended to come off as really snarky in that post, but it did. Get off my lawn, kid.

np 🙂

I know that, that's not the problem. It's the bar I don't especially enjoy - or I should say I don't mind it, I just think it's a bit too finicky and demands a bit too much of your attention. Like I said - I'd prefer a middle ground where you don't just cast and pull, but the current implementation isn't doing it for me.

Fishing power and bait/lures all effect the bar

I feel that perhaps some middle ground can be found. Right now fishing is not really enjoyable - but not horrible for me. I know masteries will ease this, but ... I wish it wasn't SOOO interactive, ya know? I would have preferred the innovation in fishing to be more in the things and collections you can fish up rather than making you pay such close attention to it. If anyone has done Rift fishing, it was the cast and pull mechanic, but the collections and the things you could exchange for fish and variety of objects you could fish up made it more interesting to me. edit: I just realized the level of engagement that I would like. In WoW, there are quests to 'tame' animals, basically you jump on their back and they perform random actions. So if they try to buck you, you have to respond with "hold tight", or if they make a sharp turn you "pull reins" Something like that. The fish makes random moves and you respond with one key to counteract that. I'm paying attention, but not second by second activity. TFDR: so far, the collections seem boring, and I wish the interaction level was dialed down a bit.

Came here because I am getting the pop-up concerning client/server communication to the point that is nearly unplayable.

Yeah, I get what you're saying. My head cannon is that this sylvari had some wanderlust and ended up in Cantha years ago, before the Aetherblade, etc. Since Canthans had not seen Sylvari before or had any experience with them, they decided to let it slide and he got special permission to stay. Curiosity and no previous bias towards Sylvari made it ok. In my head at least.

Agreed. I am not a fan of the visuals of the EoD specs in general (waaaay too much noise) and untamed is one of the worst because they aren't even pretty. It's just detrimental noise.

Would absolutely appreciate an update. If I know you're working on it, I am more inclined to be understanding. Right now it's simmering into resentment.

I think it's a more accessible mesmer for people who are put off by the clones. It plays more like a traditional mage and is easier for people to get their head around blade charges rather than single target clones. I feel that's it's niche more so than any particular combat role, and that's fine IMO.

I think this is getting to the problem I have too. It's just TOO much. I said desaturate the colors, but maybe the glow is the problem. Either way I think it should be toned down in some way.

Good point. Most of them are ok, but there are a few that are very large and flashy, so it gives me the impression that the whole thing is over the top. I think if the color was desaturated even a bit it might overall bring down the visual noise. For instance, even the dagger 1 has a large purple trail that seems overly large. reduce it a bit and desaturate it and that would help. Dagger 3 it's more understandable that it needs to be seen, but I'd still rather it was toned down. The F skills are colorful, but the only one I think is over the top is, as you said, F4. Whoa. RoS I am the opposite, I like the swords, but not the circle. Both are overkill. SoD I don't mind as much because it's quick and doesn't linger. Psychic force is a wash - it's large and flashy, but it's quick. The elite's animation is fine, I just think - again - it's too flashy and colorful to be lasting that long. Overall my problem is not with the animations themselves so much as that they are too large and colorful and in your face. In my perfect world, they would be a bit smaller and less colorful. It just seems that the virtuoso announces itself more than any other elite spec, minus maybe the harbinger - but the harbinger visuals are mainly focused on the character and not the enemy, so not as in your face.

Personally, I think the visuals are a little overwhelming and I'd prefer them to be toned down. How do you feel about it?

I loved the redwoods of Bitterfrost - I'd like to see that explored some more. Maybe overgrown ruins overrun with mischievous monkeys :)

Don't penalize - incentivize completion. And, as others have said, reward participation, not wins. If a person AFKs and doesn't work towards the goal, they get bare minimum - credit for the achieve. Get a few points ... presents. Get a lot of points? More presents. An active participant on the losing team should get more than someone on the winning team that runs in circles.

I don't have the mindset for it. I dislike getting stomped and watching the people who love to stomp others. I also hate being the one doing the stomping - I feel bad. The only time I really enjoy myself in PvP is when it's a close match and people aren't raging. As you can see, that's a very narrow window and mainly not worth it for me. If I get lured back in it's because of a reward I want, not because I miss the gameplay.

OMG not everything has to be super super big and shiney. I get what they were going for with the fireworks, but when I saw it I cried a little at the addition of another visual noise vomit item. I want the whole thing to be smaller. I mean, I actually like the item, but as a general rule, I'd get rid of the visual vomit this game uses to fund itself.

It's been a long time since a festival has actually felt like a festival in game. It fits the Norn pretty perfectly, so good call on that. I think what makes it feel alive is that the whole city is used. You've got the arena happening on the lake and you notice the beetles racing by. When you find the race, you notice the pinata activity. Meanwhile you keep seeing these moas running around and see their icons on the map and then have to figure out where that is happening. Above all that is the huge hologram that reminds us what this is all about and random fireworks lighting up the sky. There are even open world events that encourage people to group up and go fight holograms rather than individually fight halloween doors or open presents. (full disclosure, I LOVE the idea, don't love the implementation) It feels very immersive. I love that it uses the whole city and the events are not bunched up in a central area. You've got the arena loving crowd doing their thing and would never know about the moa jockeys having their own brand of fun on the other side. You have to discover it. And btw, the best thing about this event is by far the first-person moa riding. I've had so much fun smack talking Meep, that little pretender. So thank you. It may not be as flashy as Halloween or Wintersday (they can't all be), but this has become my favorite holiday just purely based on the feel of it.

Hmmm ... remember the mordrem invasions in core Tyria? That's my yardstick for poorly thought out events.