Xynxycs.6718

It's an educated guess on the fact that Anet felt that it was financially worth re-implementing Season 1 for story reasons.

You made up a figure in your head and just felt like throwing it into the discourse with baseless confidence, gotcha. Thank you for your guesswork and anecdotes. How about if they do the content after S1 they see new LA, otherwise they have original LA until they finish the last episode of S1? Is is so much to ask that players have to beat a stage in a video game to unlock the next level? You're acting as though players couldn't just meet up elsewhere, or as someone in the thread already suggested, have them talk to NPC to bridge the gap between versions. Heck, I'd be happy if players were shuffled into the story-appropriate version of the map based on their progress first then have an NPC around to ferry them between versions no matter where they were in the story. Fine by me. Finally, I'm not talking about little bits of content here and there, I'm talking about a pillar of the story.

Snark? Well, my argument is that new players need original LA. If isn't snark, I don't know what is. Why do you keep saying "ambient storytelling?" It's an integral part of the main narrative. A place can be a character in itself, and LA is a big character in the personal story and in season 1. It isn't something that the player *might* notice. It's central to the plot.

The difference between your point and mine is that new players are definitely going to care about the story if they plan to stick around—whereas your "but what if they need to talk to vets" is a hypothetical. Granted, it does happen, and regularly, but it will happen much less frequently than new players playing a story step that involves LA. Also, vets will have access to Lion's Pride. Anet could merge the map chat so that everyone can hear and talk to one another while in LA. [...] You know what, having thought about it, maybe the only players that are still around in Guild Wars 2 are the ones that are willing to ignore the story. Maybe the story is so bad that only the truly epically brainstemmed (like me) could really enjoy the game for its plot.

I'm sorry, but this "it'll split the player base!" argument holds about as much water as a cannonball. Every new map they add "splits the base." Every expansion and (former) living world patch. It's a questionable premise to you because you're good, you were there, you already know. You have a good grasp on things. New players don't. It's all about presentation. Nothing is too late. If they wanted to take a serious look at the new player experience and if they decided that it was throwing too many people off... they could change it. New players don't have to settle. They can take one look at this wacky decision, and all the other bizarre/outdated early leveling experiences and bounce. It's just an awful situation for new players. It's nice that you don't care, but as a vet, try to imagine what it's like for a brand new player (not good).

A wizard did it. Wizard!

Your input is noted. Have a nice day.

I'm talking about hooking players from the personal story, where it's often a make-or-break moment for player retention. I'm talking about the disconnect between seeing new LA and original LA during the personal story where you travel to New LA and go into a story instance and see Original LA then finish the instance and go back to New LA. I'm talking about the player experiencing the mother of all spoilers for the next season when it's entirely unnecessary. Do you understand, or do you need further clarification?

I think that's exactly the solution. Maybe when a party groups up and there's a pre-season 1 player everyone gets put in OLA. Players could also receive a message via mail about the mist stranger, and he could appear on the map with an icon. I think this is easily remedied: when post-season 1 characters meet up with pre-season one characters, they can just right-click their friend's name and "travel to Original Lion's Arch." They already do this with servers and it doesn't segregate anyone. This wouldn't devalue the Lion's Pride item, either, because it would act as a city portal stone. This solution isn't any worse than what new players currently have, which is "you want to know what's going on in this primarily story-driven game? Look at the wiki I guess"

This isn't going to be a popular post (not that any of my posts are), but this one is for new players. Y'know, the crowd that Anet desperately need to attract for the game to continue to have any kind of success. New players shouldn't only have access to Original Lion's Arch through an unlockable in season 1. At a time when it's crucial to get new players invested and onboard with the story (after all, that's what Anet is offering with each expansion), they slam into a brick wall of story disconnect. Take the missions after The Battle Of Lion's Arch. "I'm saving Lion's Arch! Oh wait, this isn't Lion's Arch. Where am I?" It's a small detail but it's absolutely crucial to the presentation. It's embarrassing that anyone has to go to the wiki to read spoilers to understand what the heck is up with the central city in the game. Okay, feel free to pummel me with your worst insults.

Thank you for sharing your valuable opinion 🙂

No graphics update, just sprucing things up a little. And yes, adding a lot of stuff! But it would be mostly through writing and reusing old content. I didn't say I'd buy a pack with no new content, I said "no new maps" 🙂 I think that maps take a considerable amount of time from the devs when they could be using their time to incentive new players to join the game while using pre-existing assets. They're going to do this anyway with SotO with "mirror worlds," but I'd rather they return to old maps and really give players a new perspective! Can you elaborate on what you mean by "two games"? They're doing a fine job with balance since implementing HoT, PaF and EoD. We wouldn't consider Guild Wars 2 to be three or four games now, would we?

Friends. Preamble: Arenanet have build an incredible world. Beautiful assets, engaging lore, astounding vistas. These talented people have crunched themselves through highs and lows to bring players new content (whether us players believe that they put it out fast enough or not). While I share your craving to see what's out there or expand on previously established places in the lore (those untreaded places Cantha and Elona especially!), we're spoiled rotten for places to go in Tyria—and I believe that there is untapped potential here for Arenanet to bring players something quite special. Here's my issue with the way these incredible maps and assets have been used so far: Each new map has been presented in as part of a long, linear story. For example, players who aren't interested in missing two expansion's worth of content have a large number of story steps to run through before reaching this new land. The context for our characters (and alts) is offered through the story of the Commander, the Pact, and the Elder Dragons. A Fresh Start I would buy a Guild Wars 2 feature or story pack that offered no new maps or assets. A feature pack would reuse the maps and assets of the existing expansions, mechanics, and professions while allowing the developers to tell new stories, giving new context to alt characters. A feature pack would offer the player the chance to create a new character (one totally removed from the story of the Pact, who perhaps rises to their own gloried history). These players would be placed in re-leveled areas / servers separate from the servers of the "pact commander" story. For example, a human born in Cantha would get to interact with the locals in a brand new way; a Charr raised on the Sandswept Isles might contend with different challenges and heart quests on their sandy home; an Asura schooled in a previously-unseen and underground Inquest vault before its fall could perhaps tell a compelling story about the Inquest and their grey morality. Once our new breed of heroes outgrow their homelands, new stories and adventures would await them in the distant land of Tyria and beyond—but this time, it would play out a little differently. The stories of these characters would take place after the Commander stormed through, of course. By giving players new starting locations and contexts, Arenanet would effectively have a "new playable race" without the hassle of having to fit them with armor, voice actors, and so on. Players would have a chance to experience a new stories in their immaculately crafted world through a new perspective: new missions, a new cast of characters, and, occasionally, new areas, all without forcing the devs into a painful cycle of quick turnaround. Remember the excitement of hearing that you can choose your race and background at the start of the game, only to find out that all stories funneled into the same Commander story? This would be a chance to recapture the magic of role playing that draws players in like honey does bears. This would create new content that can be enjoyed by new players (along with the vets) right out of the box. Players who aren't fully invested in the 10-year long Elder Dragon cycle would be able to boot up a new character and expect a fresh experience. New hearts in familiar areas, getting the chance to access new areas previously unavailable to the Commander, and perhaps even branching stories with low stakes (and high lore yields, of course). Maybe one of the packs could turn the player into a villain, complete with a customizable dungeon lair (that players from the main server could delve into). Extra Features: Personality: This renewal of Tyria could see the return and proper implementation of the personality system. The player's voice actor could read one of ten lines (based on the now-forgotten personality points distribution). This would give players a real sense of role play without undermining the current story (as rewriting so much dialogue in the existing story would not be worth it from a content perspective, as nice as it would be). Player Housing: It's a long-requested feature, and this would be the perfect time to implement it. Housing would be available to both "Fresh start" and Commander characters. Players could deck out their homes with trophies (based on their achievements in the Microsoft Windows Hero Panel we currently have), keep their lore books, expand their storage, craft their ideal homestead, lab, or training area—basically, whatever they like—in a "neighborhood instance" of an existing map. The neighborhood would allow guildies and friends to live in proximity to one another, or as roommates (to shave down what would be an absorbent gold cost for the property). Hardcore Mode: OPTIONAL!! For players who like a challenge! Available to "Fresh Start" characters and Commander characters. Higher risk, higher rewards. Players would receive no bonus items for leveling, short-term penalties for being defeated (being sent all the way to one point in the map, armor must be repaired at crafting stations for resources), and would have drastically reduced Waypoint access (for example, players would need to be near a Waypoint to use them). Mount, underwater swimming, and gliding access would be restricted until the character unlocks them after completing all the necessary story steps (no jumping forward). A hunger system (with Hardcore vendors implemented who could offer the player supplies on the road) would give Hardcore players a consistent gold sink throughout their adventure, and more of a reason to use cooking). Of course, missions would offer harder content which would encourage players to team up to tackle them and rewards that would be unavailable to non-hardcore characters (exclusive skins, titles, emotes, etc). New Vigil/Whisperers/Priory Side Missions: Quests, if you will. "Fresh Start" characters and Commanders alike would be able to explore the organizations that they signed up for! Epic battles against evil, sinister plots of intrigue to unravel, and hidden lore—now all optional content for the player to explore given at each organization's head branch. Revamped Core Maps: The world of Tyria still looks great, but it could do with some love and re-balancing in some areas and beautification and increased populations (NPCs with dialogue) in others. This feature would come as a part of the update in general but fits with the "fresh start" theme. Areas get new entrances and exits (for example, being able to access the Crystal Desert from Ebonhawk). Dungeons also get a much-needed rework. Well, that's about it. But what do you think? Would you go for this type of content? I'd much rather get deeper content than something spread thin, and I think that opening up the world this way would take the pressure of Anet, who have been under an infinite amount of pressure. Also, this might mean we'd get a few smaller areas in places that some players thought we left too quickly (Elona, Cantha). Thoughts, comments, praises?

That's just not good enough. The game doesn't rewrite your previous personal story choices so that you can "play together" (for example, playing with an Ash legion friend won't change your Iron choice so you'll "play together") There's no warning, and there's no way back. The game took away our choice.

The four of us were playing the personal story together. Two chose The Order of Whisperers, two of us (including me) chose the Vigil. We went through Setting The Stage together. Once we progressed the story, I and my fellow Vigil recruit found out that our story choice had been changed. My friend had just used her level 80 booster, too. That really shouldn't have happened. We're pretty devastated about this one.