Poormany.4507

I also think this list is very off. Why are random games in a series chosen when others are left off? (e.g., Why are Morrowind and Skyrim listed but Oblivion isn't, even though it was extremely popular and is getting a remake?) How are giant MMOs like Runescape or Everquest not anywhere on this list even though they are pretty much everyone's first MMOs and pretty much every gamer in the world has at least heard of them, while niche games like Chrono Trigger rank in the 30s or 40s? (I love the game, but no way is that in the top 30s or 40s for the majority of gamers). Tetris as #3, seriously? (I forgot that's even a video game) Why not put games like Candy Crush or Farmville on the list, they're just as popular in modern times and have a ton of spinoffs? I do agree that GW1/2 should be on the list for their longstanding MMO statuses (How many other MMOs last 10+years?), but probably aren't due to marketing. Whenever I mention I play them to people irl, they've never heard of them. Definitely blame poor marketing on that one, which GW is notorious about, with poor decisions like releasing trailers the week or day before seasons or expacs launch and partnering with rando companies like Kung Fu Tea and Quiznos that most people have never been to or heard of.

That doesn't sound fun to me at all - It just sounds like combat would take forever per encounter and have annoying gimmicks each time. Overall, this idea sounds really bad imo for GW2. Maybe it would work for a single-player game or a different mmo that caters specifically to more hardcore players, but there is zero chance of this type of system being implemented in GW2 (a game whose appeal is largely casual player centric), especially this late in the game's life where players already have firm expectations of combat. That is not the reason people are not engaged in PvP and WvW... Playing against npcs should be distinct from playing against real players. If a casual player, such as myself, doesn't want to compete with other players or player-like AI, they shouldn't be forced to do so just because a few players want hardcore combat.

After looking into the demon designs in GW1, this one seems very similar to the second from the left on top. Given that specific demon was found in the Realm of Torment, formerly claimed by Kormir and now reclaimed by demons, Expac 4 could be the tie-in to or the actual Gods return storyline, which would be consistent with the hints dropped in GW2 so far (Lyssa being the main one).

With the new hints that Expac 4 will seemingly be largely centered on demons, where do you think the storyline will go? Kanaxai is almost definitely behind the events of Gyala, but where exactly do you think the story will go past that? Maybe some kind of connection to the Deep Sea Monster? It just feels really random imo for the main plot to go in this direction unless it has some kind of purpose or connection to a larger plotline.

Since they're switching to the mini-expac model, the chances of playable Tengu went even further down than the already extremely low chance they had. I doubt they would (or would even be able to) pack that big of a gamechanging feature into a mini-expac while simultaneously working on the next mini-expac to launch right after the previous one as they said they would try to do. The probability of playable Tengu in GW2 at this point is pretty much 0. Maybe in GW3 in 5-10+years (if ever)...

We do know that the Purists are up to something in Raisu Palace, which is where Shiro's body was last seen in GW1. Since they're supposedly controlling Risen using magic, I could see them potentially using Shiro's magic somehow and either intentionally or unintentionally bringing the Affliction back. I really doubt it will be a major plotpoint though, if it does come up, because the Affliction was already the main plot of Factions and it would pretty much also be redoing Joko's Scarab Plague plot in GW2.

Just do daily jumping puzzle/minidungeon, daily gathering, and daily activity in PvE and/or daily land claimer, daily monument master, daily beast slayer, or daily dolyak killer in WvW. Any combination of those usually takes only 10-15 minutes total, definitely <20-25 minutes. As someone with very limited gaming time, I am easily able to get the 2g daily doing just the "easy" achievements.

Does anybody actually care about AP leaderboards/rankings that much that they're worried about missing retired and TUTORIAL achievements of all things? This has got to be a troll post...

Probably a mix of both, but yes. Same reason people wear expensive/overpriced designer clothing in public and ride around in fancy/overpriced cars irl.

The writers pretty much said in a Reddit post (I don't recall the exact one) that E's story has been shelved for now due to irrelevance to the story, but they would like to bring it back if the story goes in that direction. I could see the case of E being brought back with the new mini-expac format in a mini-expac focusing on Kryta (where E seems to be centered around), where smaller scale stories are more likely/easier to be told.

Why would Anet implement such an option? A huge part of the appeal, if not the majority, for shiny skins, including Skyscale ones, is to show them off to other players. Adding an option for people to hide others' gemstore skins/effects (which is pretty much the only way to get these), which only annoy a fraction of the playerbase, would just drop gemstore sales.

IMO, most of the issues would be resolved if Anet had written clearly and transparently what their plans for the new model are (i.e., "Mini-expacs are expected to be released every 1-2 years," "There won't be any more elite specs," "Mini-expecs are expected to cost $25-30," etc.). If they've had a year to work out the new model, why are they being so cagey and hiding the details? That generally tends to indicate bad news for the players whenever a company does this. A roadmap could easily be made in a few hours/days, definitely would not take a whole year to do so.

1. The blog post is extremely vague, even regarding their current plans (What will the general release schedule look like for these mini-expacs?, Will there still be elite specs?, How much will they cost?, etc.). 2. It generally seems like Anet's focusing less resources/staff on GW2 than before based on the low amount of content in the last release after a year of time to work on it and mini-expacs having much less content than full-on expacs. So its reasonable to ask what/where those extra staff/resources going to? (Not that I expect Anet to actually answer that question if they're really putting resources/staff into side project(s)).

It is less content overall though for a higher price. Likely no new elite specs (completely left out on Anet's post, which probably wouldn't be the case if they were planning on adding them), reduced number of expac maps, and masteries are already downgraded from previous ones (compare the usefulness of the masteries in EoD with those of HoT and PoF). The new model pretty much replaces 3 LW episodes with a mini-expac and puts a $20-25 price tag on them, when they were previously free (all you had to do was log in for 1 second on one day out of a few weeks/months).

I'm guessing that with the new mini-expac model, they are putting most of their PVE resources into that since its paid content. Unfortunately, that seems to indicate we'll just be getting 1 hour Gyala-style updates once every quarter while all the resources get put into mini-expacs every once a year or so. There will only be one more free quarterly episode between Gyala and the next mini-expac with the new model.

As much as I like Aurene as a character, Anet wrote themselves into a corner making her an elder dragon at the time they did. How will Aurene, now as the most powerful being in Tyria (that we know of) not instantly solve any problem the antagonists throw at the PC? I feel like they're trying to get out of that corner by sidelining Aurene and, as you said, making her more static in the story. As you mentioned, the story journal itself mentions that the PC and Aurene will likely drift apart as Aurene takes on her new role as sole elder dragon. As much as I dislike it, I would not be surprised if Aurene is permanently sidelined in the next episode or mini-expac (most likely her being used to maintain the energy grid in Cantha long-term once we kill off the demon in the next episode). It just feels like a necessary step in the story to prevent the inherent "Why can't Aurene just defeat them???" question from repeatedly popping up. That being said, I would love if there were periodic side quests (like Knight of the Thorn) to visit/check up on Aurene and see how she's doing and possibly bring her items from our journeys like in Precocious Aurene.

It seems like it would be a good map size for 2 quarterly updates. That way, it could still be associated with a mini-expac, but would not need to be 3-4 maps big. It could also be a good starting point for a Tengu-themed storyline that way as well, with the next mini-expac afterward being Tengu-centered with us visiting other Tengu occupied areas in Tyria.

Agree with the ideas so far - Either make it free or bundle it with HoT. The LWS2 story is pretty weak on its own anyways (probably the weakest of all LW), unmemorable (I barely even remember anything that happened in it), was pretty much just a prequel/ad for HoT, and as others have mentioned, it doesn't really bring any new features or maps to play, unlike other LW seasons. Since LWS1, which had a much more robust story/new achievements/Old Lions Arch map was brought back entirely for free, I see no problem with making LWS2 free or bundled with HoT (the latter option still making profits for Anet).

Most likely in Cantha, since they're now doing mini-expacs. I would expect either/or Drowned Kaineng and Battle Isles to be the location(s) based on the rumors of Purist activity and the realization that the Deep See Monster is not the DSD.

Considering they just posted a screenshot today of more void, it does seem the void is not yet entirely finished off and will likely be used to jump start the next update.

It was generally good for me with some awesome features (Jade Bots) and fishing/skiffs are nice QOL additions, although lacking in purpose outside of the fishing achievements. Some of the maps are strong and event-packed (Shing-Jea and Dragon's End) while the other two are pretty underutilized (New Kaineng clearly seems unfinished/rushed out, like they were 3/4 of the way done making it, but then got abruptly cut off). Storywise - Overall good (I loved Ankka's character), but the void stuff could have had a better explanation/lead in, and felt kind of tacked on as a plot device (Hopefully we'll get some more on it in the update this week).

How was EoD IBS tier? It felt much more like LWS4 tier to me - not quite PoF or HoT level in terms of masteries (PoF/HoT) and metas (HoT), but definitely tiers above IBS + Champions quality. "I thought this to, but an expansion was in the works, but their overloads would not green light it due to having a Chinese theme. Some of the groundwork had been laid hence why they announced and released it a year later." I never heard of this either and it definitely did not seem like the case. Maybe you're thinking about the abandoned Divinity's Reach district that was removed because of its Chinese theme? The mainstream unofficial speculation is that NCSOFT forced Anet to make EoD in the middle of the Icebrood Saga because the game wasn't doing as well as it had hoped financially (especially during/right after Covid) and needed an expac to quickly boost sales and get players back into the game.

Agree - I have no idea and am concerned why so much playerbase seems to support this change in direction. It's essentially paying more for less imo. Paying $25-30 twice a year-1.5 years for rebranded Living World with possibly no more elite specs and likely random map-specific masteries (See IBS red/green/blue masteries) vs paying $30 every 2-3 years for 2-3 years of content including new elite specs and whole game-changing features (Gliding, Mounts, Skiffs, Jade Bots). Sure, we may get some high quality mini-expacs, but there's also a heavy chance of getting IBS or Kourna quality ones as well for the same price. Wondering and am concerned about what the response would be to a sub fee for new expansions at this point using the same argument ("We're changing to a sub system for future new content, but you'll get content releases much more frequently and we'll be able to better focus on all game modes").

Agree with OP. I'm also hoping that the mini expacs are tied to an overarching story and flow well together. What I'm worried about is that they'll just do a bunch of rushed smaller scale unresolved random plots to check off items on a list with stories being shoehorned in for no reason (We need an underwater mini-expac, we need a Malyck mini-expac, we need an E mini-expac, we need a Gods mini-expac etc.). See LWS3 for an example of how NOT to do it (random Caudecus, Shining Blade, Livia, and Lazarus storylines that were shoehorned in, too rushed, and went nowhere) On the other hand, the later mini-Joko -> Kralkattorrik storylines in LWS4 were very well done in this respect imo, so I'm cautiously optimistic that they learned the lesson and will go a more LWS4-style route.

Based on the recent teasers and mentions in EoD, it seems like Empress Ihn's visit to DR is going to be involved in the Commander's reason for going back to Cantha. Possibly the purists use this visit as an opportunity to launch an attack and/or try to use whatever power is in the Jade Sea to take control. of Cantha, such as by using the Ley energy as a bargaining chip to an empire that is desperately in need of energy or using Kanaxai as a weapon (similar to how they're trying to use Risen as a weapon). Some type of purist plotline would make sense, as we know they have been making big plans in Raisu Palace and that they already have members in high-ranking political/military positions from Minister Li's story. They could also tie this in with the Deep Sea Monster/underwater/Battle Isles-based mini-expac, in that the Purists try to control it or use its power to control the risen. If they do go this route: a possible map sequence could be: Quarterly updates: Jade Sea + Drowned Kaineng/Raisu Palace (Possibly also western Shing-Jea for a purist-based map) -> Miniexpac: Unending Ocean + Battle Isles.