Poormany.4507

Agree very much with this. Also, can they pls give Taimi mouth movement when she's talking while in her golem and it's open? It breaks the immersion every time she's talking while in it and her mouth doesn't even open.

If they did have DsD killed offscreen before EoD, who/what would be the main enemy of the expac though? Kuunavang doesn't seem like she's corrupted from the magic from the first teaser (more like she supports humanity, on the contrary). The government has shown no signs of hostility (seems like the xenophobia's been gone for a while now based on the previews). The jade mining company could be the main villain, but just doesn't sound large scale or powerful enough to have much impact (considering we have an elder dragon or two on our side, depending on if Kuunavang joins us).

As it's called End of Dragons, I really doubt the DsD would be left out of it entirely (most likely it will be killed at the end imo), as that's pretty much one of the main selling points of the expac at this point and is already being hinted at in the Taimi/Gorrik conversations.. I'm guessing there will be a DsD skin, but (like all other things DsD related) is being withheld for now.

I'm guessing the Canthan government, or whoever those tattooed villain-looking guys in the Jade Sea trailer are, took control of Gyala and the other formerly Luxon hatcheries and are using them to produce siege turtles for their own purposes (whatever those may be). Other than that, there's too little info atm to speculate much, escpecially since the Jade Sea (where the turtles are likely born) is mostly being kept under wraps.

The interact icon appears as a chat bubble or gear at long distances, then disappears at intermediate distances, becoming a regular cursor icon, and then pops up again when I'm right next to the npc/object. It is also randomly switching between the gear/chat bubble icon and mouse cursor when I click off of the object/npc. Has this always been the case or is it a bug? Thanks!

My main guess is that the Dragonjade, particularly the newer one with all of the elder dragon/Balthazar magic who we have killed so far, has very serious side effects. In the trailer at 0:30, there's magic seen leaking out of the jade that does not look too good. I'm guessing it'll either drive people mad or something and/or drive the DsD to attack Cantha en masse to get to the large concentrations of magic in the Jade Sea and we'll have to somehow avert those while at the same time not shut down all of Cantha's technology. Maybe that will be Joon's conflict that she's referencing in the trailer?

Shing-Jea and Echovald are definitely not high tech, and those are half the maps we're getting in EoD. I'm guessing the Jade Sea is just the main industrial part of Cantha that gets all the resources, so obviously the heavy-tech would be centered on that. I'm speculating Kaineng's going to be a blend between Jade Sea level tech and the more traditional looks in GW1. Also, I haven't seen anyone saying Cantha's technology should remain "old" or "traditional", as significant levels of technological development would have clearly taken place in 250 years, especially with new access to Dragonjade tech. What many people, including myself, don't want is unrealistic levels of technology that could not have possibly been developed even by the Asura (i.e. steampunk Kaineng where everything's metal/electric and there's flashy neon lights everywhere).

That seems like a ton of time/resources that would be needed for a minimal issue. Considering there's actual bugs from Core that have still not been fixed due to spaghetti code/loss of old devs, redoing the basics of combat from scratch like this and almost certainly introducing tons of body-block bugs, is pretty much an impossibility at this point. Maybe in a GW3 (if that happens), it would be a nice idea, but I just can't see this kind of large, overhauling change happening in GW2.

From before fishing was even announced: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/search/?&q=fishing&search_and_or=or&start_after=1326499200&start_before=1578960000&sortby=relevancy There was definitely player demand for fishing before fishing or EoD were even announced. Also, from Reddit 5 years ago: "Fishing would be awesome." (https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/57ns4s/fishing/) Not everyone cares about e-specs as the sole factor of an expac's success (myself included).

It seemed very obvious that a ton of content in the Saga got axed in favor of EoD. Cutting out an entire 1-3 maps from the Saga doesn't give the vibe that there "wasn't going to be enough meat." There could have easily been a whole expac or another LW season entirely about Primordus and ending with the events of Dragonstorm (which I suspect was initially planned before the Saga began or even as far as the prologue to first episode were developed, hence the "expansion-level" features promise before the Saga). To me, it seems like Cantha and EoD were just NCSoft wanting profits from an expac as soon as possible and banking on nostalgia/Cantha hype to do so. However, by cutting the Saga and making the second half lower quality in order to do so, justifiably raised most players' expectations for EoD by a ton.

IIRC, the Mursaat almost won the Battle for Lions Arch at the end of WiK because nobody (except the player/heroes) had protection against their magics, with the Asura only activating their anti-Mursaat device at the last second. Tbh, I don't think Lazarus (the real one) should have even been brought into the story at all at that point, maybe shelved for an Isle of Janthir expac/LW or something. Randomly introducing him and killing him off in 5 minutes (and then immediately throwing Livia away as well from the story randomly) just felt like a waste and like they were just checking off story points/characters from GW1 to finish on a list, even more so for players who did not even get to see him in GW1 I would imagine. Joko took full advantage of his enemies' weaknesses, redirected a river, throwing entire regions into famine, and made them dependent on him. I don't agree that would make him a moron. His enemies (the Sunspears and Order of Shadows) were utterly demoralized and in standstill until we arrived and helped them take on Joko. I feel like he would have been an awesome threat, but his story got cut short (with one of the weakest/rushed maps in the game) and his threat was very much nerfed down. I could easily see him having a full 2-3 more episodes in LWS4 if the plague was not written to affect humans only (really bad decision imo) and he had released it outside of Elona.

Much more excited for this map than Shing-Jea - The environment looks really nice on this one! Also, if the Echovald returned to mostly plants, did the Jade Sea mostly melt? Although I am again wondering: Why are there so many Tengu everywhere in Shing-Jea and now the Echovald even though they were being genocided less than 250 years ago?

Jormag did recently promise the Asura council through Ryland: "When Primordus is destroyed, Jormag will see your former home restored to you." Given Jormag uses their victims' desires to persuade them, I would assume there is at least some motivation among the Asura to reclaim the Depths. It is likely much of the ice was created by Jormag during its awakening between GW1/2. Given that Jormag is dead and their ice has been shown to be controlled by their magic (the receding glaciers in Drizzlewood and initial thawing of the Frozen so soon after Jormag's death), I wouldn't be surprised if much of the ice created by Jormag during their awakening being (partially) receded as well. The giant lake between Bjora and Drizzlewood looks like it could fit ~2 maps without overlap and the current world map could also be expanded (maybe even as soon as EoD to keep it square).

My guesses are it'll either deal with the Gods, reclamation of the Depths of Tyria/Far Shiverpeaks, or deal with possible Canthan political issues that likely won't be able to get much time during EoD. Gods/Mists (most likely imo): Obvious Lyssa mystery that still remains unsolved and is still being teased. It was hinted in one of the legendary weapons that at least some of the Gods (specifically Lyssa) may be upset that we killed Balthazar. Also, if the elder dragons are gone, which were the main motivation for them leaving Tyra, the Gods may consider returning with the possibility of either supporting or being hostile towards our method of ending of the dragon cycle (whatever that will be). Reclamation Efforts (possibly likely): Were recently mentioned during Dragon Bash for the Norn. We still haven't really explored much of the Far Shiverpeaks and none of the Depths of Tyria in GW2, so there could be some interesting Norn/Asura lore there regarding the earlier pasts of those races (from pre-GW1 times, in the case of the Asura). Canthan Politics (least likely): Luxons/Kurzicks were seemingly forcibly integrated into the Canthan Empire so there may still be tensions there, which could lead to some kind of uprising. However, given the amount of time since that happened, this plot would be unlikely, but still possible.

I also don't think there was much Asuran contribution (maybe some inspiration here and there, but no major direct contributions) - The trailer text from Joon seemed to allude to jade tech being developed pretty rapidly ~100 years or so ago and largely independently by Cantha: " Look around us. Your children would be trapped in the past if not for me. Their worlds are carved from the jade that I gave purpose. I promised them a future. A century of progress cannot end this way." I'm guessing we'll find out in EoD exactly what it was that happened 100 years ago that enabled jade tech. Maybe something with DsD?.

My predictions on masteries and story: Fishing: Likely won't be involved in a major way in the story. Only way I could see it being involved is if we need to catch bait for some DsD minion, an ingredient for a potion, or something. Skiffs: As others have said, could be skiffs or skimmer required, as the expac will focus on DsD and presumably travel on water. A possible explanation for no skimmer access could be something like "there is an overload of magic in this area, Skimmers cannot be used" or something like that. Another big thing for Skiffs could be involving combat while standing on top of skiffs with enemies that cannot be hit from underwater or using items while standing on a skiff, in which Skimmers would be of no use. I could definitely see the final battle with the DsD being on a skiff, so underwater combat could be minimized/avoided. Siege Turtle: I could see the actual mount being locked behind collections, similar to the Griffon/Roller Beetle/Skyscale where we have to grow a tortoise into one to get our own mount. However, I do think they may be usable in story instances with just the first one or two mastery tiers unlocked. Arborstone Restoration: Likely not involved in story much after we go there initially and more of an upgradable hub like Sun's Refuge or EoTN. Jade Tech: Likely not involved in the story and consist of optional (likely combat based) boosts.

Agree with OP, especially since those without Twitter accounts, since the Twitter update in the last few months, cannot view replies/comments on Twitter, only the general overview post (on PC at least). I do not feel like making a throwaway Twitter account just to view GW2 updates when there's already an official forum where those should be posted as well. I wouldn't even think a blog post for each update would be necessary, just a brief forum post, preferably stickied to the top for a few days to a week so anyone can view it on the forums.

One thing that jumped out to me in the new livestream schedule is the map called New Kaineng. Given that Echovald Forest was changed to Echovald Wilds (likely due to the renewed plant growth since GW1), I am wondering if anyone has any speculation of why Kaineng was renamed to New Kaineng and what happened to the "Old" Kaineng from GW1?

The only reason there's a ton of tengu in the trailers is because that's what most people are excited about in EoD, regardless if they are a playable race or not. I can't see it being a playable race at this point because that would have definitely been the first thing said in the lead-in announcement into EoD to get massive hype.

I don't mind changes as long as they are consistent with the lore and/or make sense mechanically. I'm looking forward to seeing what the other maps are like, but Shing-Jea so far has issues with the 180 degree environmental changes/theme compared to GW1 and multitude of reused assets that have been shown so far. I'm still hopeful that Anet will consider the current player feedback and make (even small) changes accordingly. Many, if not most, players currently have sky-high expectations because of how clearly rushed and overall not-that- great quality the Saga (particularly Champions) was, which was advertised as expac level content initially. It sacrificed a full possible expac that a lot of players were expecting for Primordus/the depths, many of whom had been waiting for it since GW1 (over 10 years). Given how much players were willing to give up for the Saga so that EoD could be fully developed, I think most of those, myself included, would expect at least a higher-than-average quality Cantha expac in return.

The edited one looks so much better to me and much more true to the Shing-Jea aesthetic in GW1. I did not get any "tropical paradise" vibes from Shing-Jea in GW1, as they seem to be going for, more like farmland, wealthy estates, a snowy mountain, and Seitung as a trading port. I don't see how the environment would have completely changed into a tropical setting all over the island, especially in the southern half (even in 250 years). The northern half, which was a coastline, I could see being more tropical and bright in the present, but not really the southern farmland/monastery/trading post half. Agreed - Them showing the map as probably being confined to the southeastern section of the island makes this even more confusing, as it seems like the Tengu have expanded their settlements from their initial settlement at Aerie in the far west of the island. I would have expected them to be in hiding or more withdrawn in their own village(s), not openly walking around and normally living alongside humans, given they were just being hunted down like animals less than 250 years ago (as mentioned in the Sunqua Peak fractal lore about the tense xenophobic climate in Cantha even after GW1 and Winds of Change).

Anyone else having slower than normal camera rotation in DX11 and/or know whether this is an issue with DX11 or on my end? Thanks!

Pls no more Braham (at least for a while). Honestly, I still don't get how he got back from being Primordus' champion barely scathed (not at all physically), much less alive when he just barely seemed to be hanging on during Primordus' control even with the Spirits of the Wild protecting him. It would have made much more sense and had more impact for him to have died or gotten severely wounded for his sacrifice at the end of the Saga. I do think he'll have a break in the story for now though while we go to Cantha. He doesn't really have much reason to go there and much more to stay back and possibly lead or help the current Norn resettlement/expansion efforts in the Far Shiverpeaks.

The new Bladesworn elite spec video shows us fighting a Tengu in Cantha (Shing-Jea Island in particular if the trailer location is accurate). As all the other enemies in the trailers seem to be hostile factions (naga, bandits (likely Crimson Skull remnants or descendants)), it would seem like the Tengu are also hostile. Any thoughts/speculation on why we'd be fighting the Tengu in Cantha, given that we've just allied with the Tyrian faction? Also, how did they survive for that long with the Ministry of Purity already actively targeting them and the village of Aerie in particular, in GW1?

They haven't said yet. My guesses are dragonjade tech for Luxons and the other one being something Kurzich related (something with amber or Juggernauts maybe?)