Spoilers for [someone] but glee for GW fans!

[Aethgar.1784]

Did anyone else glee right out when Kuunavang re-appeared? I honestly didn't see it coming when it did, but her new model is GORGEOUS and I squealed like a small child when it happened. There was a lot of "OH MY GOSH EEE!"

 

 

[The Greyhawk.9107]

Not really, we all knew she'd be in this game and I kinda saw well ahead of the reveal that Navan wasn't what she appeared.  Was kinda put off by how different she sounded/was portrayed, back in Factions she sounded like a wise old woman but in her she sounded like a 20 something barely out of college, kinda like everyone else in the story.

[Zola.6197]

I am with you. I didn't clock her until a few lines before her reveal. I was like OH. KuuNAVANg. *facepalm*

 

It was a lovely surprise. I'm glad that her model is chilling in Arborstone because it looks so good. I hope she continues to be a reoccurring NPC. Her bringing up her desire to find Albax when you talk to her in Arborstone was really exciting, too! I hope that's part of the upcoming story.

 

ANET. Give those poor saltsprays a break, my god. You tortured them in GW1 and now they're all void creatures we have to kill in GW2. Just let them be happy now, pls...

😞

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

The reveal was quite something. I only guessed it as we entered the Arborstone instance and I spotted Ishan crucified on the windows up above well before the plot pointed it out.

Truthfully at first I was a bit put off - as awesome as her model and the animations were. So my reaction was "wait that's - OH BEAUTIFUL - but dang it, dragon waifu theory confirmed. Kossage will have a field day with this instance. WHY DOES SHE SOUND DIFFERENT AND HER ATTITUDE IS SO OFF!"

On 3/5/2022 at 9:38 PM, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Not really, we all knew she'd be in this game and I kinda saw well ahead of the reveal that Navan wasn't what she appeared.  Was kinda put off by how different she sounded/was portrayed, back in Factions she sounded like a wise old woman but in her she sounded like a 20 something barely out of college, kinda like everyone else in the story.

This is all luckily explained immediately if you listen through her optional dialogue. So even with the initial "but WHY!?" moment, it went away quickly and I really like how they explained it. After all, they weren't going to get the same voice actress from GW1, and nobody liked the direction of Factions voice overs - over and over again, devs have replied to the question of "if there was one thing you could change in GW1, what would it be" with "voices in Factions".

But the changes are, imo, well explained: after the events of Factions and the GW1 heroes' actions, she had begun changing her perception. When Soo-Won "lessened" the effects of Zhaitan's tidal wave (lol okay), Kuunavang approached her and asked to become her champion, gaining the power to become like water and shift her form (and, without a doubt, her voice - I dunno about you, but if I could change my appearance to anything I want, I'd definitely remain looking and sounding like a 20-something year old on my average time).

[The Greyhawk.9107]

4 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

The reveal was quite something. I only guessed it as we entered the Arborstone instance and I spotted Ishan crucified on the windows up above well before the plot pointed it out.

Truthfully at first I was a bit put off - as awesome as her model and the animations were. So my reaction was "wait that's - OH BEAUTIFUL - but dang it, dragon waifu theory confirmed. Kossage will have a field day with this instance. WHY DOES SHE SOUND DIFFERENT AND HER ATTITUDE IS SO OFF!"

This is all luckily explained immediately if you listen through her optional dialogue. So even with the initial "but WHY!?" moment, it went away quickly and I really like how they explained it. After all, they weren't going to get the same voice actress from GW1, and nobody liked the direction of Factions voice overs - over and over again, devs have replied to the question of "if there was one thing you could change in GW1, what would it be" with "voices in Factions".

But the changes are, imo, well explained: after the events of Factions and the GW1 heroes' actions, she had begun changing her perception. When Soo-Won "lessened" the effects of Zhaitan's tidal wave (lol okay), Kuunavang approached her and asked to become her champion, gaining the power to become like water and shift her form (and, without a doubt, her voice - I dunno about you, but if I could change my appearance to anything I want, I'd definitely remain looking and sounding like a 20-something year old on my average time).

I meant why she sounded like a 20 something in her dragon form, not her human disguise. The VA isn't relevant as "wise old woman" voices are hardly rare.  The voices and dialog of EoD is probably my largest...post-release....grip, second only to a certain Meta.  The majority of the character introduced in EoD all sound like they're going to post videos on TikTok as soon as this as this bothersome Tyrian Commander stops wasting their time.  It doesn't seem like their even trying to make this seem like a different world from ours anymore.

[Zola.6197]

18 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

But the changes are, imo, well explained: after the events of Factions and the GW1 heroes' actions, she had begun changing her perception. When Soo-Won "lessened" the effects of Zhaitan's tidal wave (lol okay), Kuunavang approached her and asked to become her champion, gaining the power to become like water and shift her form (and, without a doubt, her voice - I dunno about you, but if I could change my appearance to anything I want, I'd definitely remain looking and sounding like a 20-something year old on my average time).

You know, I had just assumed it stemmed from a desire to rework aesthetics and we just weren’t supposed to think about it, but that is a good point.

 

You could compare Kuunavang to other bonded champions whose appearance was altered by their bond (Commander and Aurene being the only real exception). Her GW2 color palette is pretty in line with Soo-Won’s color palette, so it could just be the affects of her bond.

 

Then again, she’s retained that color post-Soo-Won, so maybe that doesn’t work (since Braham and Ryland mostly reverted).

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

8 minutes ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

I meant why she sounded like a 20 something in her dragon form, not her human disguise. The VA isn't relevant as "wise old woman" voices are hardly rare.  The voices and dialog of EoD is probably my largest...post-release....grip, second only to a certain Meta.  The majority of the character introduced in EoD all sound like they're going to post videos on TikTok as soon as this as this bothersome Tyrian Commander stops wasting their time.  It doesn't seem like their even trying to make this seem like a different world from ours anymore.

From a doylist viewpoint: to use one VA for the same character, and they didn't like the Factions voices (no one did).

From a watsonian viewpoint: "If you could change how you sound, wouldn't you?"

 

Honestly the voices don't bother me much. I didn't get that sense at all, but it wouldn't be surprising. ArenaNet loves using up and coming voice actors because they're cheaper and gives the VAs a chance. What bothers me would be the distinct lack of accents you'd expect from Canthans, and hearing that one particular male voice all over the kitten place. I'm pretty sure it was Dave Fennoy. His voice is very distinct to me, especially after hearing it for hours when playing Telltale's The Walking Dead, and imd does list him under End of Dragons. The guy also voiced Zaiem in S4 and I could just tell.

10 minutes ago, Zola.6197 said:

Then again, she’s retained that color post-Soo-Won, so maybe that doesn’t work (since Braham and Ryland mostly reverted).

Braham and Ryland are outliers. Or rather, destroyers and icebrood are outliers.

Risen, Branded, and Mordrem remain unchanged. Even Caithe remained crystalline (even if she 'lost her flowers') with Aurene's "death".

[The Greyhawk.9107]

8 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

From a doylist viewpoint: to use one VA for the same character, and they didn't like the Factions voices (no one did).

From a watsonian viewpoint: "If you could change how you sound, wouldn't you?"

 

Honestly the voices don't bother me much. I didn't get that sense at all, but it wouldn't be surprising. ArenaNet loves using up and coming voice actors because they're cheaper and gives the VAs a chance. What bothers me would be the distinct lack of accents you'd expect from Canthans, and hearing that one particular male voice all over the kitten place. I'm pretty sure it was Dave Fennoy. His voice is very distinct to me, especially after hearing it for hours when playing Telltale's The Walking Dead, and imd does list him under End of Dragons. The guy also voiced Zaiem in S4 and I could just tell.

Braham and Ryland are outliers. Or rather, destroyers and icebrood are outliers.

Risen, Branded, and Mordrem remain unchanged. Even Caithe remained crystalline (even if she 'lost her flowers') with Aurene's "death".

Edit: Actually never mind, for some reason I'm just not communicating my thoughts properly for some reason in this and a handful of other threads.

Edited March 8, 2022 by The Greyhawk.9107

[nutri.1385]

On 3/6/2022 at 6:51 AM, Zola.6197 said:

I am with you. I didn't clock her until a few lines before her reveal. I was like OH. KuuNAVANg. *facepalm*

 

It was a lovely surprise. I'm glad that her model is chilling in Arborstone because it looks so good. I hope she continues to be a reoccurring NPC. Her bringing up her desire to find Albax when you talk to her in Arborstone was really exciting, too! I hope that's part of the upcoming story.

 

ANET. Give those poor saltsprays a break, my god. You tortured them in GW1 and now they're all void creatures we have to kill in GW2. Just let them be happy now, pls...

😞

I don't want to spoil you too much, but if you go to the wiki and search for Saltspray dragons, there is some more Albax presence in EoD. I think you will like it. ^^

Edited March 10, 2022 by nutri.1385

[Kalavier.1097]

1 hour ago, nutri.1385 said:

I don't want to spoil you too much, but if you go to the wiki and search for Saltspray dragons, there is some more Albax presence in EoD. I think you will like it. ^^

 

I want to see Shiny again. Bring Shiny back!

[nutri.1385]

35 minutes ago, Kalavier.1097 said:

 

I want to see Shiny again. Bring Shiny back!

Me too! I hope he's there somewhere and no one has discovered him yet! 😄

[Zola.6197]

Ah, I ended up doing a collection for a certain saltspray dragon, and some of the post-collection dialogue in Arborstone confirms that Kuunavang's bond with Soo-Won is indeed responsible for her scales changing color.