nosleepdemon.1368

Honestly that was part of it, too. Like, how *dare* THEY. Those jerks.

Felt pretty weird to me too, it's a bit jarring. I had chalked it down to ANet being accurate to Sylvari, as I am playing a Sylvari female (IIRC, Sylvari are technically neither male nor female? Might be wrong). Knowing ANet's stance on these things AND the ... less shall we say, 'in your face'ness of said things in the new expansion, I am going to assume 'they' was thrown in there as a middle finger to whoever told them to stop flipping writing teenage drama queen characters all the time ;).

Yeah the game is too easy for PvE, that's for sure. The only reasonably challenging content outside organized big groups is fractal CMs or SAB trib mode (and only if you don't follow a guide). Back when Heart of Thorns released, that was in my opinion the perfect difficulty level... Or perhaps Orr pre nerf, but HoT required you to understand mobs and what they did moreso than Orr. Players had to work together, ACTUALLY work together, instead of just showing up to a commander tag. Nevertheless, players don't like challenge, not truly, so Arena Net catered to the lowest common denominator. It is what it is, and while I have no kittens to give about some internet personality parading themselves on the twitches and youtubes instead of having a job or practical hobby, I do sympathise with the criticism. It's my one issue with SotO as well - all this mysticism, hinting at a threat more malevolent than the Dragon cycle. And yet, zero danger anywhere.

Five years OP? You're not a vet, you're just not new anymore and think that somehow means something. I been here since beta, bruv, and I for one am greatful that I can finally finish Ad Infinitum without spending 300g in mats. Looking forward to grabbing some ascended armour for my Thief as well from the Vault. By the way, those items are limited in quantity, so one should choose carefully.

Yep I definitely don't dislike her, and I too would be annoyed if I was basically a 10 foot death machine that just got smacked down by a softly spoken 5 foot Sylvari, whose battle tactics amounted to little more than standing still, eating kitten and healing through it. I'll be looking over my shoulder tonight though. For glinting teeth.

There's no need to 'IMO' about Asura, they are absolutely hideous. Imagine one of them cracking a shark toothed smile at you in real life. Yikes. I didn't realise Frode and Dagda weren't blood related, that's why I was shocked, because she was ugly even for a Norn!

Well that does explain it, I was under the impression she was actually related to Frode, so when I saw her I wondered if perhaps Frode's parents never told him she was adopted.

Edit - I did not realise the precise relation of Dagda and Frode, which led to my initial confusion. Other Edit: I don't hate Dagda, just in case there was any confusion there. All the characters and writing in SotO are/is a huge step up IMO. However... I'm at the point in the expansion where I encounter Dagda, and ... oh my. What *happened* to her? How can she be Frode's sister? The only way it's possible is if she fell through the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down, thus clearing the path for her far more appealing brother. Sweet mother of God. She might be the most unfortunate creature I have ever met in this game. That Skritt who's friends with the mute Charr bares more resemblence to Frode than Angry-Ms-Ape-Face. I have a spare Total Makeover Kit in my Commander's inventory, do you think she'd accept the hint? Heck, could it even *help*?!

I did not even realise SotO had launched until I logged in on a whim to see what new BL items were available. I knew the launch was coming of course, just ... simply did not realise properly, that we were at the end of August. The summer's been absolutely glorious here, so I spent most of it outdoors. What an amazing surprise this expansion has been! The story and lore is well beyond EoD, and everything so far has been superbly executed. This is my favourite expansion since Heart of Thorns. My only criticism so far is that off the bat, the danger in the new zone seems rather minimal. Even dropping myself to the bottom of the map just teleported me. Kind of expected the mobs to be more difficult.

The story alone not being teenage drama drivel elevates it above EoD, which I was unable to finish beyond the first hour or so. I've enjoyed it a lot so far, the new characters are interesting, the writing doesn't make me want to scream, the map design is neat. I think it's probably my favourite since Heart of Thorns.

It was good fun yeah!

The writing WAS pants in EoD though, it's hard to argue against that point. Then again I wasn't expecting much storywise - the story in GW2 is basically high-school drama with sci-fi. You guys remember those dodgy Aussie kids sci-fi shows in the 90s? It's basically that but a little bit worse. Thankfully there's more to GW2 than the writing, so if the new gameplay mechanics and maps are interesting enough, I'll buy it for that. For me the world of GW2 has always been more interesting than the individual stories of the teenage NPCs that inhabit it. I think for many adults playing the game, we didn't buy EoD for the story, and probably won't be buying the next expansions for the story either. Don't get too caught up in throwing 'woke' around, it's not like any of us watched The Expendables for its deep and meaningful story either, is it? That's kind of what GW2's writing is - it's The Expendables for a generation raised on feels instead of 90s action hero bodybuilders. In a decade or so the cycle will continue, and GW2 will be regarded as some kind of reactionary trope.

Why would you do something you don't enjoy? I don't get modern gamers at all. Don't you realise your time is important? If you don't like doing whatever it is you are doing in game RIGHT NOW, then stop! The ends do not justify the means, you shouldn't 'grind to get to the good bits'. In that regard, I don't care that it will be easier to get the Skyscale soon. I got it after finishing the 'return to' stuff (easily the most fun I have had in this game, especially compared to the utterly wretched story in Cantha) and it was pretty fun to explore for the collections. Unfortunately right now by the same token, there isn't much for me to do in game. I don't fancy the teenage angst type writing in EoD, so I have moved on to more engaging games for now.

Maybe the judges thought it was a bit too much 😄

I belieeeve you can still get around it by rewriting the twitter url as nitter.net. Edit: nope, tweet not found. I guess twitter got wise to it 😞

The characters come off as teenagers in adult's bodies; they're perpetually offended, and really thin skinned in EoD. Like the commander getting annoyed at the curiosity of the Canthans, or the 'this is not a secure frequency' gag being repeated just so Yao can be angry (and then carry on for the next half hour of story). These people have an enourmous responsibility in what they do, but they seem more concerned in the minutae of how they are spoken to. At this point, Mai seems like the most reasonable and held together of all of them, and she's an alcoholic mass murderer. Oh gawrsh, as Goofy would say. Maybe I've just aged passed the target audience. I am nearly 40, I must be older than the average gamer by now. It's just that the tragedy of Ryland, Crecia and Rytlock in the previous arc was so good.

I'm not really a fan of anime/manga, sorry. Akira was pretty good though.

Games - Not many to be honest, obviously it tends to be best found in RPGs or the equivalent. For characters specifically, I think Shodan is a pretty standout antagonist in System Shock. I ought to throw Prey (2016) in as well, because like System Shock, it really blended an atmospheric and terrifying game world together with its character(s) and lore. Actually Prey might be my favourite game of all time; When I played it I got that 'Half-Life' moment I thought I'd not experience again in my life. It's hugely underrated. TV - I'd say the Expanse trumps everything in recent memory, especially Naomi's arc after she gets herself out of a very, very dire situation in the final season. That one hit home particularly hard for me, because I disliked her intently until that moment, and I finally realised just how much she loves her son. Books - Much easier; almost all of my 'favourite characters' and story comes from books. That makes sense, obviously. My favourite book of all time is Blind Sight by Peter Watts. He has a pretty interesting blog, too. The book explores the meaning of consciousness, and wonders how important a role it plays in the evolution of intelligence. It altered my perspective on life. When I was younger I enjoyed Iain Bank's entire catalogue, may he rest in peace. His books were decidedly more childish, but The Culture is a very interesting society. Guild Wars 2 specifically, I thought the LS arc with Rytlock's son slowly losing his mind was really, really good. To transition from that to EoD. Ouch. And yes, Bridesmaids is atrocious. It's like a spectacularly unfunny rendition of The Hangover. The Hangover - dudes pushing a smashed up car with an enraged tiger in it up a hill. Comedy genius, the writers must have worked backwards from that scene to piece it together. Bridesmaids - chick in a bridal dress craps on the road. Oh. Hilarious. My 4 year old sings songs about farts and poop that I find funnier than that film (actually, they can be pretty hilarious and oddly psychotic at times).

Thread necro, but I kinda feel the same way as the OP. It's taken me a looong time to get through the GW2 story; in fact, way back during LS1 all my RL mates quit on account of how bad it was. The whole Destiny's Edge nonsense was so childish, it was a real turn off. Thankfully we got some really good characters in the end, and to me the highlight of GW2 was doing the legendary neck piece collections, as the story really got quite good. But now in Cantha, sweet Jesus. It's all so on the nose, for all the reasons players have mentioned. I'm not sure why one would intentionally destroy such a good run lore and story wise, did the story stuff change hands maybe? It really does not feel like the same quality. It's almost, dare I say it, like the bridesmaids film - where they just take all the bad stuff about a male only cast and flip it on its head. I'll keep soldiering on, because GW2 is a darn good game, but it's become a proper slog.

Yep let's face it; All they really need to do is nothing, which is precisely not what will happen. It's gun get wrekt.

I think you got it a bit backwards - shortbow doesn't need specialization, it works brilliantly and compliments many builds which is a huge plus. What we need is to buff Hammer as well, so it is as useful as Shortbow. The distinction can lie in what effects the weapons have other than damage. Maybe hammer projectile absorb could be traited to reflect for example. Hammer also has the longer range and auto-pierce, so perhaps some changes can capitalize on this.

I ran Retri, Corruption, Vindi in WvW with Celestial stats and SB/GS then later, Mace/Sword. Being able to combine SB's AoE with Alliance AoE produces a huge pile of damage, and you can easily poke/escape using road, triple dodge and both Alliance leaps. It's a pretty superb combination. The backup weapon's not really needed.

Yup GS replacing staff should be interesting, I'm looking forward to checking that out today on my Rev. This is for WvW btw. I am using SB right now running Renegade, Invocation and Salvation/Retribution (depending on zerg or not). Staff has always been an 'oh kitten kitten kitten' swap when suddenly being jumped or accidentally eating some wombo combo. GS has the block and some mobility in the leap, but can also do a bit more offense. I might have just been using staff wrong, but I feel like GS will take a more even share of time with the SB instead of being a backup.

Shortbow won't be all that good without the Renegade traits, but the extra weapon choice could be interesting. I kind of loathe taking staff as a defensive weapon in WvW, so maybe x + shield could replace it. Scepter as the mainhand new weapon is interesting, but unfortunately every single scepter skin is unbelievably ugly. I'd say it's the ugliest weapon class, but Warhorns and Maces exist, so it's a close second.

Weird, for me it is noticeably louder, especially the tail end of the choir chant's sustain, right before release. There are some percussive sounds too, I think, but the lower frequencies are not over powering, it's the mids and up where the choir lies.