a Positive(kind of) take on the Battle for the Jade Sea

[blackheartgary.8605]

Precursor:

the following is not intended to spark a lengthy conversation, debate, or heated argument regarding  the meta event and any issues individuals might have. This is simply  one person's point of view.

 

Hello.

I wanted to jot these words down the moment I first experienced the Battle for the Jade Sea. I wanted to, but i also wanted to find the right words that could describe what i experienced without sounding too much like an kitten.  Thought of wordage had to come first, and now that I am ready, if  it is alright with you, I'd like to share with all of you my personal experience with EoD's final meta event.

 

It started, with my main character entering the map itself.

Dragon's End, aka the Jade Sea was nothing at all like the Sea i once remembered from Factions. Yes, while it of course looked vastly different(250 plus years will do that), it just felt different.

Something was looming over the horizon. 

My first few moments being in the area  were non-social ones. For a moment, I stopped to take the environment in. Deep contrasts of color schemes. Calming yet ever-so-slightly foreboding music in the background. As my character moved through the space I could tell things were just tense, not just from the map chat but from the collection of NPC groups amidst the map.  These groups, or factions, if you'll pardon my puns, were fighting each other and also fighting me in the previous map. in fact, the Brotherhood and the Singers were engaged in a form of "gang warfare" in the Echovald, and I had to fight through loads of them to get here, to a map where they held an uneasy alliance. 

 

Then it dawned on me.  The reason for the uneasiness...

The Dragon's End Map was designed around the prepping of all of us for a world-altering battle; one that could very well spell the end of the planet Tyria as we know it.  There were large roaming groups of Dragonspawn everywhere, and the further I roamed about, the more there were.  Yet, despite the looming threat all around them, the NPC's  continued their preparations for the oncoming battle.

a Commander Tag was present, and I could only assume that was the individual explaining the event chain that was to follow.  This player was roaming about the map completing event after event with a group of others following them.  The instructions that were being given was not unlike a military general  strategizing  and prepping his troops for battle, with a slight dash of memes and humor to keep it classy.  

I tried to pay attention. I truly did, but there was a lot going on all at the same time. 

Plus, this map was huge. The area reminded me a lot of the Crystal Desert Maps in size and scope,  but when it came to the art that was being displayed here, there was simply no comparison. 

Yes. that was my distraction. The Canthan zones are just absolutely breathtaking to behold. Their beauty was only matched by how dangerous they could truly be if not properly navigated.  This distraction, the stopping every few moments to just stare at the zone in awe and think of how long it must have taken for the artists, coders, and other developers to create what i was seeing in front of me instantly drowned out the Commander's  explanations.

Sorry, Commander.

I've been deep diving into the lore of the game and focusing a lot on the story leading up to Dragon's End prior to entering the zone/map/whatever you wish to call it. The Jade Sea was once the scene of a heated and violent battle between two warring Factions: the Luxons and the Kurzicks, and each were fighting over the valuable Jade Mines  that existed after Shiro Tagachi  summoned the Jade Wind to turn the Entire Canthan Sea into this resource.  I remembered the hundreds of hours i used to spend in this area doing Alliance Battles, or just exploring and seeing what was just out there.  When I arrived at the Jade Sea this time, another, more gruesome Battle was about to commence, but this time, it was to save an entire planet.

 

Yes. That was just the preface of my thoughts before the event chain began. All of what you just read was racing through my brain while  I was exploring Dragon's End. A timer began, and it snapped me out of all of that. This timer was specific: we collectively had to complete readiness activities to prepare for an assault against Soo-Won, the Deep Sea Dragon.

But Why? Because She was consumed by Void Magic and was producing Dragonspawn from all of the previously Deceased Elder Dragons?  or was it because the players on the map wanted to ride a turtle? My thoughts were the former, while Map Chat insisted it was the Latter.  So I snapped out of it, and worked my tail off to help as best as i could to complete the events.  I raced from side to side, area to area, and with each completion of the events, I found satisfaction knowing that my contribution was helping prep for a much harder fight ahead.

 Except It wasn't.

The Timer kept ticking down, even though all the areas were on "high readiness".  Map chat was growing quiet.  I was seeing less and less players moving about and doing things.  A Giant Jade Maw event was happening, and yet no one was attempting to complete it.  Something about not understanding the mechanics or not enough people.  I went over there, and was immediately reminded of why playing solo sometimes sucks.  Then, after respawning, I was reminded what the definition of insanity was. Meanwhile, The Commander and their crew were chilling nearby in front of a bridge, with banners out, consumables for everyone, and watching the timer tick down.

BTW... Timers ticking down?  slightly anxiety inducing.

Finally it was Time for the first Big Push. Three NPC's gathered where the Commander was, and began to dialogue, then split in 3 different directions. Something about "all the preparations have been made, etc. etc." We split into 3 groups, each Pushing their respective NPC towards their intended destination.  We'd stop along the way from time to time to stomp on some Dragonspawn,  and it was often at times Hilarious watching the NPC I was following  clear an area, backtrack several ticks away only to reverse course and keep moving. 

Finally we got to our destination. 3 huge walls were blocking the entrance to a temple that was inhabited by a Salt Spray Dragonspawn. our team had to assist in defending siege turtles as they knocked down these walls, giving us an entry point or 3 to engage what was inside. 

The fight was messy. there was a lot of running around, people shouting for CC and "moar dps!!!" and yet, there was so much chaos happening inside that tiny space that finding the hitbox to actually land hits against the target was a challenge in itself.  Despite all of that, we managed to take the beast down, and claim we were ready for the next phase.

we were not ready for the next phase.

4 events on the map spawned after a few moments. each connected with Zhaitan, Moredremoth, Jormag, and Primordus.  (excuse my misspelling).  each of the 3 groups now had to peel off and contend with the 4 areas that were leaking Void Magic and stop them as fast as we could.  once done, a 5th event spawned at the Harvest Temple, representing Kralkatorrik.

Yes. I just mentioned these 5 Elder Dragons. You know, the 5 Elder Dragons we have spent the past years fighting against?  Their Energy all combined into one thing called the Void, and it was spawning  hordes of enemies.

"but wait", I thought, didn't Aurene absorb them? nope. not all of them!  They were now a part of Soo-Won. That's why we had to put her down. 

Getting to that 5th event was easy. completing that 5th event was pure chaos. Above Me, I noticed beams of light representing the Elder Dragons themselves coming down into the Harvest Temple.  All of them. converging on one area. 

This was truly.... apocolyptic. 

For a player like me, someone who looks into the surroundings to get a feel for what's actually happening,  this felt both chaotic and terrifying. was this the actual end of guild wars 2? I started having that feeling that comes with the culmination of a lifetime of work coming to fruition. and it actually scared the hell out of me, even for a brief moment.

I had to shake it off, however. we had a job to do. Aurene wanted us to charge the 5 crystals in the center of the harvest temple with the leaking magic from another 5 areas that spawned after we closed the previous 5.  Players were running all over the place. Fights with Dragonspawn were happening all around the Temple. 

And Then, it was time.

After almost 90 minutes of prep work, event chains, countless Dragonspawn Slain, and countless moments of me stopping and going "hey this place looks pretty-oh yeah back to task"  we ascended to the top of the Harvest Temple, which just had it's top ripped off. By Soo-Won.

This was what I was looking forward too the whole time. I had finished the Story Mode itself, and now I wanted to see what the Commander and several other players were all fussing about.

It did not disappoint!

This disk-like platform we all stood upon suddenly got real quiet for a brief moment. Then Soo-Won arrived. To the Developers, a Massive Kudos to the design of this particular Dragon, btw. WOW.

I hear the echoing, booming voices of Aurene and Soo-Won communicating to each other. I could immediately tell that Soo-Won was using a dualing voice, one of herself and one of The Void.  The fight began with everyone being downed or defeated almost instantly, and that set the pace for what was, without a shadow of a doubt, the greatest 20 minutes or more of fighting I have ever witnessed in guild wars 2. 

There was just so much happening all at once.  i heard this booming, ominous voice just telling all of us to "just give in to darkness" or "embrace  oblivion" or something like that while Aurene is begging... pleading with Soo-Won that we didn't mean to do this, we didn't want to destroy her.  Meanwhile, Tsunamis, Whirlpools, countless Dragonspawn, an insanely beautiful yet deadly Tail squashing us over and over again, and even Soo-Won herself  biting, swiping and spewing acid at us. we had to break off several times to fight champions of each Elder Dragon on smaller platforms. we got turned into wisps, chasing after our own memories  just to get our bodies back, which were encased in crystal. In what I can only assume as a meme reference to the Nickname "bubbles", we were encased in bubbles by Soo-Won's Tail and our teammates had to pop those bubbles.  This was both Horrifying and Beautiful at the same time, and yet...

In the middle of all this...

we had to fight the Mother of all Dragons. To Stop Her. To remove the Void from her, before literally all of Tyria was obliterated.

and we failed. Soo-Won sacrificed a part of herself to keep the Void away long enough for us to try again. 

At least that was what the end of the fight was telling us.  To me, the Map closed, and i respawned on another instance. 

Alone. 

With the Calmest of music playing in the background.

Only for me to attempt to do this all over again.

 

To ArenaNet, to Guild Wars 2, to the people that made this event... 

This is me saying thanks. That was one hell of a ride.  Keep it up.