Anet, after EoD is released, can we please have...

[Kalendrack.7450]

...a vanilla GW2 story and boss rework and core tyria maps overhaul ? 

 

Am I the only one who thinks the Zaithan storyline deserves an update ? It would be huge. Most new players experience the original story thanks to the F2P approach. Imagine if it was a "2022 game experience". Yeah. 

 

Oh, and I know it would be a massive undertaking, so while you're at it, we could use Living World Season 1 Return and free living world chapters for EoD purchase (just saying, I lost a few friends wanting to return to the game because they had to buy all the living world chapters)

 

Thanks,

---

 

You're still here ? Well, English is not my first language but I'll try to explain a few ideas I had over the years. 

 

Cutscenes - The vanilla cutscenes were... original but not action-driven. But the artworks were a cool GW2 signature. We saw with HoT, PoF and EoD preview that the "in engine cutscenes" have come a long way. But it's losing its original flavor. Why not mix the two by having in-game animated 3D characters (freely moving around, not static) with an "artwork" background design ? 

 

Story - Some chapters were... better than others. Some were bugged, or boring (the realisation was, the story in itself was OK). I have in mind some really anti-clamatic encounters that could had been awesome. Well. And Zaithan. You know. 

 

Boss - Just, 2022 boss mechanics, easy story mode and new hardcore strike missions. 

 

Maps - I have a LOT to say on that subject but for this topic, I'll just focus on two things. Assets and graphics update (and terrains - the cliffs especially can be sooo much better now). Ok that's expected, but the second item I wanted to suggest is not : a "select date" option when entering a map that has... history. Ok this is a big one. Let me explain, Anet tried several ideas over the years for how to make "living world". Season 1 simply destroyed old maps, and expansions maps are "time locked" to fit the events told in the personal player story. 

I was wondering if the "display/do not display" things to player depending on were they are on the story (as we've seen in the latest chapters) could be used to have maps that do not bear the stigmates of things that have yet to happen in the player's personnal story. For exemple I hate it when I arrive in Kessex Hills with my fresh new human character and Fort Salma is already destroyed by Mordremoth ! A rework of some core tyria maps could be the perfect opportunity to have the option to choose not only "where" but also "when" you want to go. (I want old Lion's Aaaaaaaaaaarch)

 

Also Maps - Arrh, ok there is a third item. I'll make an other topic for my Maps suggestions only but... ok. I try really hard not to pay too much attention to geography (and hydrography oh my -) when traveling the wolrd of Tyria. BUT it's killing me. It makes no sense. Square moutains everywhere, water that flows in every direction and waterfalls that comes from nowhere... Just, imagine : let's get rid of some (not all) of the "I had to put a moutain there because it is the map limit". Ok. Now how not to fall over the edge of the map ? 

1. Have you ever tried to swim to the sea of sorrow and exit the map ? You can't, a popup tells you you're leaving the map and then teleports you back. OK, now imagine if when you were to venture too far between two maps, the same thing could happen, telling you "You are leaving [Map name] for [Other map name], if you continue forward, you will entend the new map". The entry point on the new map would need to be dynamicly selected depending of the exit point. 

2. How to know for sure I'm about to leave the map before the popup ? Well, remember my suggestion for cutscenes ? Now what if the background was "artwork style" ? Instead of the void hidden by the mountains, we could have a "fog of war" type of thing but with an "artwork horizon sneak peek" of the other map ?

3. Waow, you're still reading this ? Thank you. Most of you probably think I'm delusional by now. Let's go even further, shall we ? Ok EoD will bring skiffs, and we already have Skimmers. Remember my analogy about being pulled back when trying to enter the Sea of Sorrows ? Let's apply our new system and have maps covering the watery areas around claw island - and all of the sea.

Now you can travel anywhere with your skiff. Oh. Anet, skiffs are cool, but can we have multiplayer "mount style" ships ? And the equivalent of the griffon "ship" could be a Pact Airship. And can we also have... 

 

Edited September 12, 2021 by Kalendrack.7450

[Teratus.2859]

Been banging on this door for many a year as well... I want it too much to give up on it but it is a longshot that they will go back and fix up the old game.... well at least on the level that a bunch of us want them to anyway.
 

[Dark Red Killian.3946]

Honestly I’d rather that they redo dragonstorm, making that fight more interesting and enjoyable. There should have been a huge map surrounding this Meta and the fight should be more epic. Compare to dragonfall for example.

[Kalendrack.7450]

2 minutes ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

Honestly I’d rather that they redo dragonstorm, making that fight more interesting and enjoyable. There should have been a huge map surrounding this Meta and the fight should be more epic. Compare to dragonfall for example.

 

Why not both 🙂 ?

[Teratus.2859]

17 minutes ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

Honestly I’d rather that they redo dragonstorm, making that fight more interesting and enjoyable. There should have been a huge map surrounding this Meta and the fight should be more epic. Compare to dragonfall for example.

Same.. a lot of the end of IBS content could do with some serious improving tbh, the earlier episodes were fine imo, but the finale episodes... yikes.

But there's no reason they can't do both.. and should do both if you ask me.
There's a good chunk of this game that could use some TLC.. most of old Vanilla content but there are points in the various years of living world that also need some touching up, most of it in LWS1 and IBS in my opinion.

[Cyndercat.7615]

Can we finish domain of korna while we are at it. Unfinished meta and dead eastern side is really noticeable. 

I dont think theres anything wrong with the zhaitan story. But it really really needs a dragonstand/dragonfall type of map to finish zhaitan once hes fallen. 

Edited September 12, 2021 by zombyturtle.5980

[Teratus.2859]

1 hour ago, zombyturtle.5980 said:

Can we finish domain of korna while we are at it. Unfinished meta and dead eastern side is really noticeable. 

I dont think theres anything wrong with the zhaitan story. But it really really needs a dragonstand/dragonfall type of map to finish zhaitan once hes fallen. 

Hell yeah to DoK as well.

[Brimwood.7963]

Going to be honest here as a returning player but...I MUCH prefer the original Zhaitan story to any part of the story that has come afterwards.

It's the only part of the game where your character isn't presented as an all-important 'hero' as well as the only part where there is at least the illusion that the choices you make have some effect on the overall narrative.

The entire 'living story' that has come after that is, first of all, as dead as it can be (neither the world nor your character changes in the slightest based on anything that happens in it) and worse, it all follows the exact same model for every single episode.

A random dragon reveals itself --> a random (and often annoying) NPC comes up with some sort of deus ex machina effect to combat it --> a few completely insignificant NPCs that have literally no impact at all on the grand scheme of the narrative (other than that you are forced into rescuing them for 50% of the missions) offer to help --> the dragon is destroyed

For the latter part of the story, you can replace dragon with 'god' but otherwise the narrative remains exactly the same. It's honestly a pathetic excuse for a story and the main reason why I quit GW2 after a year as opposed to GW1 which I played from its start until the moment GW2 robbed it of most of its player base.

Now granted, gameplay-wise, the initial story could do with some updates. I remember especially the final 'fight' with Zhaitan being perhaps the most anti-climactic 'boss' encounter I have ever experienced but up until level 60 I actually found the story a lot of fun to replay again, a lot more so than any of the episodes I've been forced to play since to unlock content. And the faction mentor for both the Vigil and the Order of Whispers are infinitely more memorable than any of the 'living world' characters, despite only appearing in four story episodes.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Brimwood.7963

[Tyson.5160]

5 hours ago, Teratus.2859 said:

Been banging on this door for many a year as well... I want it too much to give up on it but it is a longshot that they will go back and fix up the old game.... well at least on the level that a bunch of us want them to anyway.
 

Oh I would be happy with Zhaitan as a strike mission, slightly revamped. Hell they could make strike missions for all the dragon fights.

[Infusion.7149]

2 minutes ago, Tyson.5160 said:

Oh I would be happy with Zhaitan as a strike mission, slightly revamped. Hell they could make strike missions for all the dragon fights.

Note: It would have to be in the scrying pool similar to Forging Steel. Any past events are in the scrying pool : it would not be in the main EotN portal.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

5 hours ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

Honestly I’d rather that they redo dragonstorm, making that fight more interesting and enjoyable. There should have been a huge map surrounding this Meta and the fight should be more epic. Compare to dragonfall for example.

Can we not?

The worst part about Dragon's Stand and Dragonfall are the boring, tedious, 1+ long "metas" full of nothing but repetitive basic events, that just exist to pad out how long it takes. I see so many people just afking around the Pact base camps until the stage where we actually fight the dragon shows up because of just how many people hate doing them.

The GOOD part about Dragonstorm is that it cuts out all that tedium in favor of just getting to the fun part. The battle itself isn't really any different then the actual fight against the Mouth of Mordremoth, or stabbing Kralk, in Dragon's Stand/Dragonfall.

If you want the tedious slog of mindlessly killing a bunch of dragon minions, and basic dragon champs, for an hour+ before the dragon fight well... the DRMs exist for a reason. That's pretty much what the DRMs are in the first place, the pre-meta of Dragon's Stand/Dragonfall before the dragon fight, but in smaller instances instead of a singular larger map.

Edited September 12, 2021 by Sajuuk Khar.1509

[Rogue.8235]

I'm for a slight update to the core game.  Someone here mentioned that the core story was good in that your character was one of many.  I do prefer stories like that as well.  I didn't kill zhaitan, the pact fleet did.

However, it would be nice to update the zhaitan battle.  Probably far too much work though.  The way I'm envisioning it is zhaitan being much more dynamic and the presence of multiple airships (simulating that the pact fleet is rpesent).  More cannons continuously firing on zhaitan.  Beyond that, I'm not sure what else would make it better.  What I envision, by itself, isn't all that great.

I don't mind the cutscenes of the core game.  It's the artistic style that the devs chose and it's skippable >_>

I believe that splitting maps to have the historical version and current version doesn't seem like a feasible solution.  One concern I have is how it would affect the population split.  I have no idea how to formulate a solution to the preference of having a chronologically sensible historical version of the map until you reach the story where it changes.

As for bringing season 1 back.  Not sure about this one.  Season 1 was mostly open world.  especially the investigations and LA.  At least those are the memorable parts for me.  I don't remember much instanced content.  I do remember Vigil Keep being a significant hub because LA was in shambles.

 

[Gibson.4036]

I doubt I'd go back and play it, even with updates. I've done the core story enough. I'd rather they develop new stories and new locations.

It would be cool if there was a way to go through season 1 with my kids. They never got to experience it. And if we had an old LA we could visit at will, I'd never enter the new LA again.

[Ben K.6238]

I do think the Zhaitan story arc needs to be replaced, because it is looking significantly lower quality than the newer content now. However, I'd rather the replacement was something new, because I wouldn't personally come back for a rehash of something I've already played.

But then, something new would probably be a lot more expensive. No ideal answer to that one.

[Naneel.2348]

I don't think Zhaitan Story is worse then the newer ones. I really like that you have choices. They may not alter the outcome, but at least I can decide how I want to approach some encounters. The cutscenes are okay and skipable, while you have to wait for endless dialoges in newer ones 😑.

But if they would really redo Zhaitan Storyline, can they atleast find a better solution then making all existing players the one-and-only commander. I think this was a really big mistake for a MMO. You kill all Dragons as a large group of people, so why is there a need to make the player into a specific character? Especially if we continue to be the "errand-boy" for everything.

I haven't touched raids and strikes yet, but making one for Zhaitan/each dragon sounds fun to me and could be a real challenge instead of Zerging them 🤣.

I haven't played season 1 (started mid season 2). I am not really missing that I haven't played it, but I would like to have a better introduction of the relevant NPC (Taimi, Kasmeer...). They just poped out of nowhere, while Destiny's Edge disappered, started to call me Boss and I was like "and who are you again?"  🤔.

I don't think different version of the older maps should be a thing. But I think they should make it more appealing to play on the them. Maybe more collections or quests that lead you back. I only go back for dailys or harvesting tours. It's not even lucrative to make the events, as newer maps yield way more loot, karma and gold. 😢

[Kalendrack.7450]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:21 PM, Brimwood.7963 said:

Now granted, gameplay-wise, the initial story could do with some updates. I remember especially the final 'fight' with Zhaitan being perhaps the most anti-climactic 'boss' encounter I have ever experienced but up until level 60 I actually found the story a lot of fun to replay again, a lot more so than any of the episodes I've been forced to play since to unlock content. And the faction mentor for both the Vigil and the Order of Whispers are infinitely more memorable than any of the 'living world' characters, despite only appearing in four story episodes.

 Yeah that's my point, I want to replay that story with up-to-date gameplay experience and cinematics ! 🙂

[Dante.1763]

2 hours ago, Kalendrack.7450 said:

 Yeah that's my point, I want to replay that story with up-to-date gameplay experience and cinematics ! 🙂

Id rather they not touch the cinematic scenes they have(at least the two characters talking ones.) I enjoy them alot more than the current standard which forces me to mute the game and do other things.

Also the original Zhaitan fight was alot harder than it is now. It got toned down quite a bit, but i think theres some sTuff they could do to make it better. HOWEVER: the final story used to be the Arah dungeon story mode, and i doubt it will ever be touched, as much as i would love to see it get updated, just like the rest of dungeons.

I would love to see the older maps/armors/weapons/pets etc updated to the level of detail scene on newer content.

 

On 9/13/2021 at 10:51 AM, Naneel.2348 said:

I don't think Zhaitan Story is worse then the newer ones. I really like that you have choices. They may not alter the outcome, but at least I can decide how I want to approach some encounters. The cutscenes are okay and skipable, while you have to wait for endless dialoges in newer ones 😑.

But if they would really redo Zhaitan Storyline, can they atleast find a better solution then making all existing players the one-and-only commander. I think this was a really big mistake for a MMO. You kill all Dragons as a large group of people, so why is there a need to make the player into a specific character? Especially if we continue to be the "errand-boy" for everything.

I haven't touched raids and strikes yet, but making one for Zhaitan/each dragon sounds fun to me and could be a real challenge instead of Zerging them 🤣.

I haven't played season 1 (started mid season 2). I am not really missing that I haven't played it, but I would like to have a better introduction of the relevant NPC (Taimi, Kasmeer...). They just poped out of nowhere, while Destiny's Edge disappered, started to call me Boss and I was like "and who are you again?"  🤔.

I don't think different version of the older maps should be a thing. But I think they should make it more appealing to play on the them. Maybe more collections or quests that lead you back. I only go back for dailys or harvesting tours. It's not even lucrative to make the events, as newer maps yield way more loot, karma and gold. 😢

For season 1 theres a decent chunk of the character plot currently in the EOTN scrying pool not all of it mind, but it gives a better depth of intro than the current and i plan on playing through my next character a little different.

Personal Story -> scrying pool scenes for lws1 -> then lws2 onward.