Poormany.4507

That's a good point I nearly forgot about Almorra's son. Still, some of the dialog around Grothmar Valley makes me think that at least a few of the Charr that joined the expedition were somewhat hesitant about it. It sounds like entire warbands went with Bangar rather than individuals, so some of them are probably going along with it more out of loyalty and thoughtlessness rather than having deeply held convictions. At this point though whatever reasons they went with Bangar have probably already been replaced or reinforced by whatever Jormag is whispering to them, so I don't think many, if any, of them would be hesitant to follow Bangar anymore, even if he challenged and/or killed Almorra.

I do think they'll at least try to put her in a golem like what happened with Blish (the most reasonable alternative option imo), but whether or not she agrees and the procedure is successful depends on if Anet wants to keep her in the story or not and could go either way at this point.

Also disappointed with many of the recent QOL updates (except the dynamic HUD - that one I feel was well done). Most of the rest seem to be random minor stuff that very few/no players truly care about (flashing, cute Black Lion icon(???), barely noticeable visual noise reduction, sorting templates) while completely ignoring many of the main issues, many of which have existed since launch (loud/unnecessary sound effects on certain, specific items (everyone knows which ones most players want to be disable-able/muted altogether), overpriced build template costs, consume all options for tomes/other common items, etc.) Wish they'd focus on the latter ones more in place of the former ones...

It was proven when all the Ley energy went crazy after Mordremoth's death, hence all the ley-crazed bosses and anomalies.

No, because that would make the game even easier than it already is and there would be no point in fighting most enemies by hand. You could just dismount attack-remount, and repeat until the enemy's dead.

I wouldn't even start thinking of an alliance until there is some credible evidence that there is another imminent real threat, not just a vague claim by an already untrustworthy and manipulative foe.

I personally keep clicking the wrong buttons for WvW, but it seems like the gemstore was moved to make it more prominent at the end of the UI as opposed to in the middle.

They already cut this release down from a full expac that most players were expecting after LWS4 to another season with "expansion level content." Further cutting it down to a few episodes with "expansion level content" every few months isn't enough to satisfy and retain players in the long run. Eventually they'll get bored and leave the game, at least until something with real expansion level content does get released.

Don't really like this idea. There's too many player ideas that have mass support, like the ones the OP mentioned, but are just plain impractical at the moment due to financial/coding/personnel limitations (Cantha expac, Tengu/Dwarf playable race, fully open map boundaries, etc.). Also, I feel like this would encourage fake/alternate forum accounts just to fill votes.

While I personally feel like this mechanic adds immersion to the game and makes players feel like they are wandering blindly in a raging snowstorm, I do think there should be an optional way to disable it. Even better solution, imo, would be to add a section to the graphics settings for visual screen effects and be able to scale effects like this, as well as other annoyances to many players that are commonly posted and are legitimate concerns that don't really affect the game's difficulty level (flashing, AOE effects/circles, contrast, screen edge effects, etc.) That way, people who want the extra immersion effects and flashing lights can still have them, while those that don't, for whatever reason, can scale and/or disable them.

I'm just hoping they don't kill Rytlock off in Icebrood. Him and Canach are the only two well written DW characters that aren't just in the story as plot devices (Taimi). Biggest probelm for me is that random DW members join the PC every episode/season without any explanation (other than VA availability). Like where's Canach, Caithe, Gorrick, etc and why aren't they helping the PC at all atm (same for Kas/Jory in LWS4).

Map was (as always) really well done and looks beautiful, but (again) had too little meaningful content to fill it. Story was disappointing and completely predictable in almost every plot point in the episode to the point that it almost seemed like filler. I did like Jormag's interactions with the different characters in the open world event though. Boneskinner was a huge letdown and I expected it to be a story boss, not a AOE spamfest that dies in a minute with no mechanics.

Leaning towards DsD based on the heavy water emphasis in the first trailer. Also, the area below Labyrinthine cliffs got a map update shortly after Blood Legion Homelands/Far Shiverpeaks and those just came out, so that could be next. Just hoping its not some random mini threat that is resolved in one season (i.e. Lazarus)

Blue & White, since the next expac (in the unlikely case that they do one anytime soon), based on the current story/trailer, will likely be about either Jormag or DSD, which both have the same color combo. Maybe Blue and Red if its a Jormag/Primordus expac.

I don't think they'll do movement as another expac feature (except maybe underwater, as some have said). However, an underwater mount would probably be enough for water movement for most players and that's much more likely to be released for a LW episode than an expac, especially since mounts are PoF's main feature. I do think something else, such as player housing, heroes, playable race, new profession(s), or some other non-movement related gameplay feature is much more likely as a primary expac feature at this point.

DSD because it has the most potential and the three dragons so far have gotten ruined for one reason or another. Zhaitan - Fight was pathetic relative to the huge buildup it got. Would be really cool if that fight is somehow redone to be a real fight (not him hanging onto a rock doing nothing while being blasted with a cannon). Mordremoth - Fight was too full of bugs and required multiple people do stand a chance for a casual player. Sylvari being dragon minions and dealing with that issue got reduced to a few one line comments now and then. Kralk - He would have been one of favorites, being portrayed as a storm itself, but the ending of S4 with him being humanized and having feelings out of complete nowhere just put me off on him (Would have been much better if all his polite talk before & after the fight was just cut entirely). Jormag and Primordus still have potential, just hoping they won't be turned into the generic fire/ice dragons that have been done so many times. Aurene is way too Deus ex like atm, but she could be really strong character-wise if they tone her down a bit (without using some poorly though out, last minute excuse).

By the time Kralk himself was slain at Dragonfall, there's yet another suggestion in Tom's reply that Aurene may not have been able to absorb all of his magic despite taking it in at ground zero. Perhaps this was because Aurene was still relatively juvenile in size and experience and snacking on Kralk's magic would be a bigger undertaking than taking on Joko. Jormag getting Kralk magic is also suggested by the Icebrood Saga mini from the promo (the icebrood with purple Kralk-like energy instead of the Vine-touched energy we saw in LWS3) Maybe we're seeing Mordremoth's mind energy being used already, based on the Suspicious Travelers and Bangar, to telepathically send thoughts/speech longer distances, even outside the Shiverpeaks, much like Mordremoth did with Scarlet?

Hard no - Orcs are way too overdone in fantasy MMOs and they're almost every single time a boring, uncultured, savage race that serves as trash mobs. There's so many better and more unique options that are already in GW2 for playable races (Kodan, Tengu, Dwarf, Largos, etc.).

Secret hobby, maybe?

Agree with OP on this one - so many of the achievements in the prologue rely on group events and require you to compete with other players for completion and it is to your advantage to get the least number of players around as possible. The events themselves don't even need that many players and it just takes away from your own progress and makes you wait hours if there's more than 2 or 3 players doing them each time. I don't think previous episodes have this kind, or at least that many, of this kind of achievement. I don't want to compete with others during events and be mad at other players for taking away from my own achievement progress. I really hope they don't keep doing these during LWS5.

IMO, GW1 had much easier to use build templates than these, and the current ones are very clunky and confusing with all the different types and tabs - not quick and easy to use like GW1's 1 or 2 click templates. Putting an obvious cashgrab in game for a system that was done better 15+ years ago in your own game and should have been in the game at launch, when the community is already not feeling good about GW2's current and future state just seems like a very bad move to me.

HoT - Mushrooms, rolling devils (hate their long knockdowns)PoF - Jacarandas (keep sneaking up on me with their long range AOE), Harpies (hit really hard and usually crush my squishy ele), Awakened Canids (long knockdown while they destroy my HP)

Only way I could see it forcing players to use it would be enabling level 80 zone (semi) afk mob farming for those with heroes, giving them an advantage over those without them. In GW1 post-hero content was much harder to do with just henchmen, so the choice was pretty much to somehow find a multiple person party that can work together to clear content or go the easy way and use heroes. Pretty sure you can guess what most players (including myself) picked and what ultimately, turned GW1 into a single player game (not that that's wrong, but I don't think that's something Anet would want for GW2, which is much more heavily advertised as a cooperative game).

Really do not like this idea for GW2, personally seeing how heroes made GW1 a solo game and removed almost any need for playing with anyone else in game. Also, seeing how they're handling build templates, heroes/companions would likely be completely paywalled and not worth getting at all for most players (arguably even pay to win for farming), since the game is already really easy in open world and story instances. Strongly prefer they spend their time/resources on adding something useful to the game or fixing bugs that have been in game for years.

This has been an issue because LW maps die after a few weeks or months and players doing achievements and collections after that have difficulties completing required events because of the low player population in those maps. Little to do with festivals (although they do worsen the problem) and the issue persists outside of festival times.