Mad Queen Malafide.7512

I've seen a crocodile slide. An elephant's legs aren't positioned sideways last I checked, nor do they rest on their chest. Maybe an elephant isn't a good comparison?

I think it is going to be a ton of fun.

When Heart of Thorns came out, that wasn't exactly my jam. I wasn't fond of the often confusing amount of verticallity in the maps, and the densely packed zones with annoying enemies conjured up bad Factions flashbacks. Path of Fire on the other hand, brought back my favourite setting from the original Guild Wars. I loved the story, the mounts, the music. It was like a blast from the past. And the enemies were toned down, which I prefer. Path of Fire brought me back to the game. So far I like all of what I've seen of End of Dragons. Fishing, skiffs, siege turtles and the new maps all look like a lot of fun. I don't really have an opinion on the new elite specs, but I look forward to new skills.

Bought it without hesitation, though I had to buy it through the website. Some of the ingame payment options seem to not be working at the moment, as I reported in the bugs section.

Siege Turtles with gatling guns or lasers... when?

I joined the party of a random person, just to sit in the backseat while he drove me all around Lion's Arch as I shot the weapons at everything in sight. I can see this becoming the next afk meta! In all seriousness though, I love this design. GW2 is one of the most cooperative MMO's available, and I like that this mount follows that design philosophy. I wish more mounts had a coop option. Why can't someone hop onto the back of my skyscale or raptor?

Yes, ING Bank. Though I tried clicking Rabobank, and same problem.

So far I see a lot of potential for Siege Turtle races during community events. That said, I am not fond of the way the Siege Turtle fades out if you get close to it. It is really jarring. Please either remove it, or give us an option to turn it off. Also, please add a classic Siege Turtle skin, with old cannon! Also, also, random idea: Allow us to customise the weaponry on the turtle in the future.

As the title says, purchasing End of Dragons with Ideal through the ingame gemstore seem broken at the moment for EU players. You select your bank, and press continue, and nothing happens. If on the other hand the same payment is done through the main Guild Wars 2 website, it's all fine and dandy. So... what gives?

I'll reserve my opinion till I see the Jade Sea stretching out towards the horizon. There is so little they showed of it so far.

Indeed. The negative voices are always the loudest, but not always the most reasonable. It would be a mistake for Arena Net to make instant changes based on those few loud naysayers, while ignoring the silent majority. And some of the negative voices are even so negative, that you'd almost think a developer killed their pet dog or something. End of Dragons is not Factions. It will never be Factions. But if you want to play Factions, you still can. The new vision of Cantha in GW2 was always going to be different from Cantha in GW1, and it was always going to defy your expectations. To me, it kind of is like listening to covers or remixes to some of your favourite songs. I don't dread the changes, I welcome them. I may not like everything I get, but I may be pleasantly surprised by some of it. And who knows, maybe I'll like some of it more than what I knew from Factions. Sometimes a cover is better than the original work. I try to go into it with an open mind, with nostalgia goggles firmly put aside. So far, both the Echovald Forest, The Jade Sea, Fishing, Boats and Siege Turtles, all look like a lot of fun. I'm excited to explore Cantha all over again.

It's really not up to discussion. The GW2 engine is capable of visuals that far exceed what the GW1 engine was capable of. That is going to lead to compromises, especially in regards to large areas. This is why the Echovald Forest in Factions barely looked like a forest. This may be why the Harvest Temple looked so different from the GW1 concept art. Both games have strong art direction. GW2 simply has a different art direction from GW1. That much has been clear from launch. As a side note, technology and magi-tech has also been in the game since launch. Seems odd to complain about it with EoD. 250 years have passed. Did you really expect those two factions to still be around after 250 years? GW1 Factions was all about the conflict between the Kurzicks and the Luxons, both in story and in gameplay. For example, players had to choose a side during the story, and we had pvp arenas that pitted Luxon players against Kurzick players (Jade Quarry and Fort Aspenwood). There even was a whole mechanic that allowed guilds to take control of certain outposts through pvp, and you could see shifting territories on the map. It was neat... do we need to repeat it? That is simply not the direction End of Dragons is going into, and so that kind of nullifies the role of the Kurzicks and Luxon from a gameplay point of view as well. They are simply not important to the plot (as far as we know) and the gameplay. That is a big assumption. They could have left for all manner of reasons (money, new jobs, the company itself, stress and overtime). The art direction of GW2 seems like a very unlikely reason for any of their departures. Change is good. I don't need GW1 remade exactly as it was, and I love GW1.

I feel that Factions never really reached its full potential. There were things about it that I liked, but it was much smaller in scale than I would have wanted, and the zones were all so densely packed with annoying mobs of enemies. You couldn't take 2 steps outside an area portal without being attacked by enemies. The story also wasn't very good. But there were some things that I did like and it had a lot of potential. A potential that I think can be realized with the GW2 engine. It seems strange to me that people get so upset, just because it looks different (especially over how green the jade is, of all things). Take your GW1 glasses off for just a moment and appreciate the wonderous world they've created for End of Dragons. It is such a torrent of negativity, that frankly seems uncalled for. I think it all looks very promising.

I'm waiting for the return of the return of Shiro. "I have returned!... Again!"

I love what I've seen so far. GW1 was always limited by its engine. No matter how good the concept art, the engine was always holding them back from fully realizing their vision of Cantha. Areas such as the Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea looked alright in GW1, but didn't fully reach the intended vision. Those same areas look much better in GW2, from what I've seen so far. Echovald Forest now actually looks like a massive forest. We can actually see the horizon in the Jade Sea area. And I suspect the Harvest Temple will resemble the original concept art far more closely than what we got in GW1 (the original concept art for it was way better than what we got). There is an astounding care for detail in the few previews we've gotten. The environment artists really outdid themselves. And yes, things will also be different from GW1. I'm not stuck in the past, and Factions is still playable anytime I want to go back to it. There will be lots of new ideas, which I find exciting. The Siege Turtle mount looks like a ton of fun. And it sounds like they may be taking meta events and heart quests into an exciting new direction. I'm eager to see what they've got in store for us. Truth be told, Factions was always my least favourite Guild Wars 'expansion'. I liked the setting, but I did not like the execution. It always felt a bit rushed and small to me. I'm looking forward to seeing it reimagined in GW2. Honestly darlings, why all the negativity?

Thanks everyone for sharing these lovely pictures!

The winners have been decided, and it was very difficult, because we love all of the art pieces. But we have to pick winners, whose magnificent works will forever be framed in the Queen's Frozen Palace. So after much deliberation, a few duels on top of a Drake Pit, and several illegal Moa Bird fights, we decided on the following winners: 1st Place: Kroy. You win an ArenaNet Community Chest and a Shrouded Bench of the Final Judge. 2nd Place: Monocromie. You win a Palawa Joko Funko POP! mini code and a Shrouded Bench of the Final Judge. 3rd Place: Fleaf. You win a Mini Llama Code and a Shrouded Bench of the Final Judge. The other participants win an honorable mention and: 100 ectos and 4 mystic coins. Kroy darling, it took a lot of restraint on my part to not scream in excitement over your wonderous art piece. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it. It really is perfect in composition, colors, concept and level of skill. Incredible work! You will all find your prizes in your mail soon.

The winners have been decided, and it wasn't easy! In First Place: Nitsirk. You win a Grinning Gourd Rifle Skin, a Mini Llama Code, a Polyluminescent Undulating Refractor (Orange), a Mini Pumpkin Jack and 10 Mystic Coins. In Second Place: Sindicus. You win a Grinning Gourd Rifle Skin, 250 Globs of Ectoplasm, a Polyluminescent Undulating Refractor (Orange), a Mini Pumpkin Jack and 10 Mystic Coins. In Third Place: Yailith and Ben. You win a Grinning Gourd Rifle Skin, 50 Globs of Ectoplasm and a Mini Pumpkin Jack. Thanks to all the participants for their amazing entries, and congratulations to the winners! Look in your mail for the prizes.

A true classic! I love it. EDIT: And now the Pumpkin Carving contest is closed. Our judges will be inspecting your gourdtastic entries and will be deciding on the winners by doing combat with each other in a Thunderdome, armed only with chainsaws... ...Oh, I have just been informed that there will not be a Thunderdome. They will just decide the winners as usual. I guess we'll save that idea for next year then. If you win, your prizes will be mailed to you soon. We will announce the winners in this thread, and in the main event thread.

What an incredible night! I want to thank everyone who attended, along with our incredible staff who really added so much to the event in ways the Queen can hardly describe. The costumes were fantastic, the racing was incredibly competitive (as it should be) and exciting, and we are just stunned by all the generous donations. Without all those donations, we couldn't have handed out such amazing prizes to everyone. This really made the Horrorween bigger than ever before. Also a special thanks to Laranity and CMAJ. You knocked it out of the park again with your amazing concert! It was once again one of the highlights of the event! Further more to those who attended, if you have some nice pictures of the event, please share them in this thread. Including images directly isn't possible under current forum rules, but you CAN post links to images. Upload your images to a free image hosting service such as: https://imgbb.com/ Then share the link in this thread.

Kroy darling, I love it! EDIT: And now the Art Contest is closed. Our judges will take their time to look over all of your incredible submissions, and decide the winners. We will announce the winners in both this thread and in the main event thread. If you won, your prizes will be mailed to you as soon as possible.

Oh that is wonderful! Truly, I am flattered darling! Love your use of color too! Considering the fact that the forums were down for a while, we are extending the deadline to after All Hallow's Eve. That way you all have a bit more time to make the deadline.

Oh my sweet darlings, these are wonderful! I love Fleaf's cartoon rendition of us. It almost seems right out of Gravity Falls. And great job Nitsirk on the carnival with my old friend the Snowman King. The sparkly mantle is a lovely touch, which I'm sure he'll appreciate!

Ooooh, a baby Yoda! The Queen does appreciate freaky jack-o-lanterns! EDIT: Since the forum was down for a while, we are extending the deadline to after All Hallow's Eve. That should give all of you some more time to submit your Jack-o-lanterns.

Oh darlings, the Horrorween is nearly here! The Queen can barely contain her excitement to meet you all. Be sure to submit your art contest and jack-o-lantern submissions in time! Check the opening post(s) for details.