Incar.7358

I have enjoyed the writing almost completely so far, even the long opening - although it feels no longer than previous prologue segments, and I've already done it 5 times. The immediate out-of-your-depth feeling you get going into the first portal is spot on. While still absolutely fascinating, and a player gripe for many years that the Mursaat story was rushed or misused in season 3, I found it a little jarring to suddenly have a Mursaat there. Not to mention have Livia being OK with that, even if there has been an off-screen arch in coming to cope with it. There seems to have been a good deal of narrative backflipping to accommodate it too. And then, even worse, once you're finally invested in this jarring character placement, they're unceremonially killed off. I'm curious and hopeful we'll glean a lot more lore regarding the Mursaat and Seers still, and wonder what people's thoughts are on Mabon's and Isgarren's relationship, given the Commander is compared to Isgarren and has recently been introduced to Peitha: a character of the enemy race who they're now working with and learning to trust. While not a new plot device, it's clearly and hopefully going somewhere truly interesting. Also, I did the Leo DiCaprio meme of pointing at the screen when Galrath appeared. My fondest memories of GW1 are questing with friends to fight Galrath outside the Wizard's Tower. So, if there's anything SoTO needs going forward, it needs more Galrath.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this release. I don't mind it being split either, this first half has felt pretty polished to me, it provides time to polish the second half, and releasing it like this has cut any content drought down too. It's nice to see new content and changes whether they turn out for the best or not, at least something new is being tried to refresh some older aspects of the game at the same time as new content being delivered. I seem to have been fortunate in barely running into a bug as well. We've gotten a lot more lore which is always a bonus. A story which doesn't feel nearly as rushed as the last. New maps and all the content within, with more to come. New masteries. New systems for players to interact with, etc etc. Some of it needs adjusting now that it's out in the wild, but it's only been a couple weeks so far. Give it time, no plan survives initial contact. Of course "if it ain't broke don't fix it" should always apply, but I'm leaving my full judgement on that until all the feedback is in and we get to see whether or not the seemingly more controversial changes are adjusted or completed so.

I loved Peitha's character and whispers. Really crept up on me in some places - didn't have a problem with bass at all. It's not on the wiki yet but there's one line she gives after helping Glade and R'tchikk which really sent a shiver through me. Some of the open world dialogue triggered incorrectly, such as by Vass's Compassion which gave her name before you know it, but there was no real detriment from those experiences and I was otherwise completely immersed with her.

I don't often comment on the forums anymore for the very reason that the forums seem to mostly be people crying about what they want from the game even when it makes zero sense to have that, comparing it or mechanics to other games and saying "but I want it that way", the "grind" (grind??) is too much, "this" or "that" is a problem for an OP alone but they want it fixed and they want it fixed naow because the game is "unplayable", whatever character it is they don't like for some unknowable reason is "trash", or the same constantly repeated threads about topics such as legendary PvE armour which always turn into the same slog arguing about whether the raid armour counts as PvE or not, or how casual the casuals are, how l33t the l33t are etc. I'm not innocent of making some dumb comments over the years, I'll admit, but this game has been going over a decade now and I've played it pretty much the whole time. No one is innocent of making dumb comments in their lives from time to time. Regardless of those dumb comments I have enjoyed the game that whole time, flaws included, and still find new things about it to enjoy. For instance, I refused to play an Asura for the longest time but eventually gave in and experimented with various setups, landing on an engineer. With the news of SotO I decided it was time to play the core story with this character and was happily surprised by the dialogue and Zojja's characterisation especially. Gotta say, against my younger self, I'm looking forward to more of her in this coming expack. I don't have as much time or energy to play as I used to, certainly very little energy to get into constructive or not bickering on the forums, but I do read it daily. Nowadays that reading leans more into the lore side of things, or attempting to satiate my curiosity about what's coming next by reading through all the theorising. I have no doubt (and as is often used as an argument: no statistics on how true it is) that there are many many others like me around here. For me, most of the promises made for SotO are exciting. I realise they are only promises at the moment, but first blush at what's been offered, even just some of the QoL content, has piqued my interest enough to pre-order. I'm happy to pay for the game to grow, and more content is more content. Content which, by my eyes, is slowly and steadily moving in the direction a great deal of players have been asking for - although for a vocal lot doesn't seem to be moving quick enough.

Yes. Except for anything instanced. If the outcry about the Siege Turtle wasn't enough, that soon would be, and also it would start instantly being compared to the barriers placed by raids... which has become exhausting to hear, even from myself.

True, but even something as seemingly small to you as that is massive to someone like me who's been waiting since the first time I fought Zhaitan in 2012 to do it.

Please, no. Nothing against the fact that people like Strikes and Raids and such, but I'll forever be bitter with story locked behind doing them.

I've always believed the encounter to be somewhat anti-climatic, but only because it felt sparse to me both visually and in regards to real hero moments. So, if we're to keep the running order mostly the same (and I'm thinking this up as I write it): The opening is sound - locating the power cores and fighting various bosses, it's classic GW2 - but after that it quickly begins to feel exactly like they were trying to go big but were extremely limited in how to implement that. Nowadays, new technology and experience can accomplish a lot. For instance, protecting the airship doesn't feel all that epic, its a simple fight with simple defence mechanics against the giants, but it absolutely could feel epic. Instead of the airship stopping by the giants and renaming itself "easy target", it should keep slowly sliding by, with more emphasis on the desperation to keep the deck clear - throw in more mobs and a couple veterans perhaps, and make the giant's attack more devastating. Bring up Destiny's Edge to actually assist too so it feels like all that work through the dungeons has paid off to really get them back together, instead of them idling while the Commander does all the work. I quite like the thought that you might have to run to one or two other parts of the ship to defend or repair. Extra points or an achievement if you do kill the giants as you pass by. The cliff you helicopter over to always felt way too big and empty too - more of a visual thing to me, perhaps add more debris - and the towers are miles apart. Again, more mobs and DE there to help? They're Tyria's greatest heroes and they do so little. Maybe teach the mechanics of the boss fight with the Mouth when taking the towers down, so for newcomers it's not a frustrating "wtf" wipe moment and more of a controlled lightbulb moment as the towers don't fight back and players have a chance to figure it out. I know many of us who have done it thousands of times probably take it for granted, but newcomers shouldn't be expected to hit the wiki for everything. Also, why three towers? If there's a reason, please tell me, I simply can't remember. The dragon lieutenant encounters before The Glory of Tyria also drag on. Don't get me wrong, I love fighting dragons, but it doesn't need to happen more than once as a demonstration of what to do with Zhaitan later on. One dragon and a bucket full of mobs attacking the deck while you team up with DE again to build some desperation would be fine. Throw in one of those defence or repair moments again, then throw a spanner in the works that "Oh no! It broke anyway, abandon ship, but where? What's this? The Glory of Tyria!" I wonder how hard it would be to animate the dragon crashing into the deck as it dies? Would be a good way to show how much more powerful both Zhaitan and the GoT are just after. Zhaitan because it crashes through GoT no problem, and GoT because it survives it. Then, of course, there's that final fight. GoT is huge, and everything spawns in an orderly line to come at you one at a time until Zhaitan appears. It's more than a little bit of a yawn fest. I always thought something added to the deck, like equipment and crates, would be fun, and as the mobs spawn they can crash through them until you've been fighting so hard nothing is left - maybe that could even be an achievement, to save/destroy everything on that deck. Directing the Commander to fight on the lower deck could also be fun, and perhaps shift the lieutenants who come together to attack while you're on GoT instead of the previous airship. Everyone else tends to stand around doing basically nothing too, either removing some of them, having some lying dead so it looks like GoT has already been fighting, or changing some of them to be moving around GoT would be good immersion. Finally, Zhaitan. Mega-laser is awesome. What comes after, not so much. Cut out the searching part, or place the two lieutenants here. Cut down Zhaitan's health against GoT's canons a bit so it doesn't take as long to knock them from the tower, and then add a section. This final section could be that Zhaitan has fallen down and the tower has collapsed on them, but they've lost a tail, an arm, and a leg or some such so they don't have the power currently to free themselves, and you have to confirm the kill anyway. Helicopter takes you to a cavern entrance, very eerie and ominous, no mobs, short walk through some corridors/debris and "Oh my! Zhaitain's head! And they're still alive!" rest of the body is trapped so it seems feasible you have a chance at fighting them. I think it'd be awesome to have to fight the individual heads coming out from Zhaitan's mouth until finally poking them in the eye or something. DE to help of course. But anyways, that's just my thoughts on it dribbling out. Probably not remotely doable - I'm not a game developer, nor do I have much knowledge in that regard.

I just completed the strike. I found there weren't any groups doing it that weren't asking for KP or LI sadly, which meant I had to swallow my anxiety, pop some St John's Wort, and advertise for my own casual friendly group with the supportive voice of a friend making jokes of me in the background... the group filled in seconds. That was the hardest part, and something not everyone with anxiety will be able to do. Some mechanics I can see being too much for some also. There's a lot of dodges required to avoid insta-down attacks, though helpfully the arrows on the ground tell you which direction they will move - when you can see them. There's a lot of visual noise. Like, a lot. You need to keep eyes open on yourself and others too when the numbers appear above your head so that you can move away and be prepared to block or dodge, and the same for the AOE which locks on too. For most of the rest of it, it's a typical case of avoiding the red or orange, and attacking the enemy when they're open, bursting them down as much as you can - i.e. the easy part. It took several tries. We had to witness the mechanics first hand, learn when they were about to trigger, and then learn what to do with that information. I'm a relatively decent player and was downed in some simply demeaning moments as we learned because I made a mistake or wasn't quick enough (or in one instance, a bug which prevented continuation). I don't believe it to be a terrible encounter, but I understand the frustration. Stick at it, that's all I can say. As for those who find it difficult to mix with others, such as myself, who often play solo or only have a small group of trusted friends, those I feel for. Instance group content doesn't often take into account the basic difficulty some of us have communicating with or approaching others for help. I personally have use for this mount with my trusted friends, and even when I play solo I still join squads on the move, so I give no validation to anyone who says "if you're not going to talk to anyone because you're anxious, why have a co-op mount?" Just because that thing, doesn't mean I'm not happy to provide silent support out there. Thank you

I like the meta, hell overall I actually have enjoyed the expansion so far however, after a 2 hour turn around time each go, it's extraordinarily easy to burnout on. Clearly grasp the frustration. Like so many I haven't been lucky enough to complete it yet. Can put it down to so many of the reasons listed above, sure, but the biggest reason today was the amount of people leaving once they decided it was going to fail - usually with minutes to go at 20-30%. Each time about half the team up and left rather than see the meta run its course and give it a go, self-fulfilling their prophecy. Whether it truly would have failed even if they stayed on, I don't know, but it is upsetting to see so many frustrated. I, too, want the turtle. Other than seeing the story to the end, that turtle was the biggest selling point. I expected some lengthy quest through Cantha to get it, but not even being able to start the quest because it is locked behind this is... disheartening. Hearing also that strikes are required doesn't inspire me. I think I've played one strike in my entire time playing GW2, and decided then and there to dismiss that content. Not because it was difficult, certainly not - I'm a decent player by my reckoning, my toons are readily geared to be able to raid and I have no doubt in my ability to be able to raid, but I don't - I don't want to play that content. It doesn't interest me. I have nothing against hard instanced team content, but there's a place for it, and a much smaller playerbase for that. OK, the end of an era battle, make it awesome definitely, make it memorable, yeah! But. This, so far, will be remembered for the wrong reasons. Trying to force players up a learning curve they don't want to climb was a terrible idea.

I'm not fond of these streams tbh. It's nice that they're having fun, explaining tidbits, and showing us something, but they're hardly professionally done and tend to meander around instead of getting to the point. Anyways, what they showcased of Kaineng feels like the difference between Kotor and Kotor TSL; one was tightly made, felt alive and finished, while the other felt like a half-baked mod until it got modded itself. Previous maps in the series have always had a refined quality about them, even my least favourite ones - they felt done. Kaineng does not so far. They seem to have gone for scale and forsaken the detail. That being said, it's hard to experience much through someone else's screen when they're not stopping to really appreciate what's around them. I'm underwhelmed so far, but cautiously optimistic it will perform better once I see it, and this "jade-punk" for myself.

No matter what happens - transition chapter or prologue - I'll be disappointed if we don't get to see the Dominion of Winds in some capacity.

Being mostly a PvE/Story solo player, I'm all for this way of acquiring legendries. 'Return To' has been a delight for me as this is the content I know and love and am happy to endlessly play and replay. This might be answered with "why would you want legendries then?", and simply: I'm a long term player, that should be enough. Despite a lot of other's uncertainty about the future of GW, I'll be playing it well into that time. In the meantime, I feel like I've missed a huge part of the game by not developing my own knowledge of how to create a build, or to know what's 'gud', and simply rely on other's know-how. As OP has stated, most of the reason I don't experiment with creating my own builds is almost purely the repetitive cost. "Why would you want legendries then?" would probably asked again, and we can talk about WvW/PvP, which I also play but don't enjoy enough to play long enough in those modes. "Raids are PvE, play that!" I also don't scoff at Raids, but I am neither sociable enough, nor focused enough to see content I don't enjoy through to the end. All that being said, I also definitely wouldn't want to diminish the prestige of current legendary items. Perhaps giving new ones acquired in this fashion far more generic aesthetics would be apt, that way people would also be drawn to completing the other smaller achievements/events with armour rewards (and for ANet's business model: paying out gold/gems for the 'look' they want elsewhere).

Most of my time spent in-game is playing the story on alts 😅

I wonder if the luminous green grass is something to do with a far-reaching effect of dragonjade, perhaps some by-product of its use/production damaging the land🤔