Edits to Return of Scarlet's War

[The Greyhawk.9107]

On 4/7/2022 at 3:02 PM, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Twisted Marionette has a public instance, but it's largely dead because of lacking rewards, high coordination requirements, and lack of visibility.

EoD also bugged out the minimap horribly with the new world map.

Storywise, there were only four (five if you separate Escape from LA and Battle for LA) big open world story moments - The Lost Shores; Tower of Nightmares; Twisted Marionette, which is already returned; and EfLA/BfLA. Theoretically, ToN and BfLA were both separate zones so could possibly return as instanced "world bosses" (ToN was just climbing the tower though so, who knows).

I say theoretically because whether it can or can't depends on technical knowledge that only ANet devs are privy to AFAIK. From what's visible to players, though, it should work...

The Lost Shores would be trickier, but the sequences of what players did were simple enough that with a lot of nerfing the difficulty they could be made instances (even using old LA like the PS). The Ancient Karka final fight could even make a good instanced world boss like TM and Dragonstorm, tbh.

They'd also need to add in the story beats from the original Dragon Bash as that when both Marjory and Mai Trin are introduced, oh and the story beats from the Queen's Jubilee as that's when we first meet Scarlet herself.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

7 hours ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

They'd also need to add in the story beats from the original Dragon Bash as that when both Marjory and Mai Trin are introduced, oh and the story beats from the Queen's Jubilee as that's when we first meet Scarlet herself.

Yes, but those are all instances. Ideal content to re-implement with a story journal. I was listing the big open world stuff that would be harder to bring back.

At most, in those releases you just have Scarlet's Minions Invade, which is just a up-scaled version of the Awakened invasions (so just copy that format, nerfing the original to the same point so fewer players are needed, and the content is good for QA), and some individual NPCs which can be added to open world with phasing very easily.

 

From Flame and Frost: Prologue release until Clockwork Chaos release, the only "difficult to translate to modern form" moments would be our visiting Labyrinthine Cliffs as that map is only available 3 weeks a year (can probably do large instances that lead directly into another instance, ala S4E2's three back-to-back instances though, with entry point in LA), and aforementioned Scarlet's Minions Invade.

[Lonami.2987]

On 4/8/2022 at 9:49 PM, Bobby Stein.3612 said:

Good question. I can't talk about that at the moment but I very much appreciate being reminded of stuff like this, because we have a smattering of content that was written, voiced, and in some cases partially built from nearly a decade ago that never made it to ship. Where possible I do like to be reminded of what we have in case there are opportunities to do something with it later.

You can always revisit it later, post-release, and add those small things you missed the first time. It doesn't need to be a "done and move on" kind of thing 😛.

Anyway, here's an index I compiled a while ago, but never got to post, hope it helps:

* https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/113766-return-to-living-world-season-1-scarlets-war-predictions-and-analysis

* https://old.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/u6f3y0/return_to_living_world_season_1_scarlets_war/

Did a lot of LW1 forensics for the wiki long ago, so I know the whole thing pretty well. Don't ask me about my birthday though, I always forget that kind of non-vital information lmao.

By the way, if you're looking for a great 10th anniversay gift, repurposing the Zhaitan fight into an open world meta event (the likes of Dragon's Stand, Dragonfall, Dragonstorm, and Dragon's End) would be the best thing ever, plus a great redemption story as well ^^.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Lonami.2987

[SunRoamer.5103]

  An interview from yesterday confirms that Lost Shores/Southsun will not return in the LS1 re-release.

Relevant quotes:

Quote

Obviously, the Guild Wars 2 holiday events, such as Wintersday or the Super Adventure Box, were easy cuts from Scarlet's War, but other story arcs are being culled from the story as well. The Southsun Cove arc is one such casualty, as ArenaNet decided to focus on Scarlet Briar and her schemes first and foremost with the rerun of Living World Season 1. Unfortunately, this means characters introduced in that chapter, like Ellen Kiel and Canach, will have to be introduced elsewhere in the narrative.

Quote

Luckily, these old checkpoints also mean characters whose first introductions were the victims story cuts, like Kiel and Canach, can simply use later intro points.

The bit about introducing characters elsewhere could be interesting, however, as I wonder if there will be any lore implications.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

3 hours ago, SunRoamer.5103 said:

The bit about introducing characters elsewhere could be interesting, however, as I wonder if there will be any lore implications.

Kiel showed up in Dragon Bash and Canach later in Edge of the Mists related. Both are too Scarlet story focused to have dropped so I'm guessing that they'll be using the original introductory text for players who didn't do Southsun content then with hose releases (Episodes 2 and 5, I imagine).

 

EDIT: I Have to say though, I'm really disappointed that the Season 1 return will be as lacking in the storyline as the recap was. Sounds like we're only getting 2/3rd of Season 1 story brought back. I hope that, by the end, they do a new recap cinematic for the missing parts, at the very least.

EDIT 2: Based on the interview, I'm guessing the following is how Season 1 return will be:

1. Flame and Frost arc (Prelude + The Gathering Storm + The Razing + Retribution) (confirmed)
2. Sky Pirates of Tyria (Dragon Bash + Sky Pirates of Tyria)
3. Clockwork Chaos (Queen's Jubilee + Clockwork Chaos)
4. Tower of Nightmares (Tower of Nightmares + The Nightmares Within + The Nightmare Is Over)
5. Battle for Lion's Arch (Edge of the Mists + Escape from Lion's Arch + Battle for Lion's Arch + Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath)

If so, then the following releases will be missing:

1. The Lost Shores (confirmed cut)
2. Secret of Southsun (practically confirmed cut)
3. Last Stand at Southsun (practically confirmed cut)
4. Bazaar of the Four Winds
5. Cutthroat Politics
6. Tequatl Rising (mostly still in-game; just lacks Rox's involvement and achievements)
7. Twilight Assault (mostly still in-game; just some achievements and some random hostile spawns)
8. Fractured! (mostly still in-game; just an instance that was an expanded form of the original Thaumanova Fractal, and some open world dialogue)
9. The Origins of Madness (mostly still in-game; just lacks one instance and some random hostile spawns)

This not counting festivals or during-festival foreshadowing like the changes to Kessex during Blood and Madness 2013 or dialogues during Wintersday 2013.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[Narcemus.1348]

16 hours ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

Kiel showed up in Dragon Bash and Canach later in Edge of the Mists related. Both are too Scarlet story focused to have dropped so I'm guessing that they'll be using the original introductory text for players who didn't do Southsun content then with hose releases (Episodes 2 and 5, I imagine).

 

EDIT: I Have to say though, I'm really disappointed that the Season 1 return will be as lacking in the storyline as the recap was. Sounds like we're only getting 2/3rd of Season 1 story brought back. I hope that, by the end, they do a new recap cinematic for the missing parts, at the very least.

EDIT 2: Based on the interview, I'm guessing the following is how Season 1 return will be:

1. Flame and Frost arc (Prelude + The Gathering Storm + The Razing + Retribution) (confirmed)
2. Sky Pirates of Tyria (Dragon Bash + Sky Pirates of Tyria)
3. Clockwork Chaos (Queen's Jubilee + Clockwork Chaos)
4. Tower of Nightmares (Tower of Nightmares + The Nightmares Within + The Nightmare Is Over)
5. Battle for Lion's Arch (Edge of the Mists + Escape from Lion's Arch + Battle for Lion's Arch + Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath)

If so, then the following releases will be missing:

1. The Lost Shores (confirmed cut)
2. Secret of Southsun (practically confirmed cut)
3. Last Stand at Southsun (practically confirmed cut)
4. Bazaar of the Four Winds
5. Cutthroat Politics
6. Tequatl Rising (mostly still in-game; just lacks Rox's involvement and achievements)
7. Twilight Assault (mostly still in-game; just some achievements and some random hostile spawns)
8. Fractured! (mostly still in-game; just an instance that was an expanded form of the original Thaumanova Fractal, and some open world dialogue)
9. The Origins of Madness (mostly still in-game; just lacks one instance and some random hostile spawns)

This not counting festivals or during-festival foreshadowing like the changes to Kessex during Blood and Madness 2013 or dialogues during Wintersday 2013.

They did include dialogue at the final bonfire that states that some of the refugees are heading to Southsun Cove, so while I am not holding my breath, we may still get introduced to Canach there. They could have easily just left out any mention of the place whatsoever if they wanted, and I feel like introducing Canach As an antagonist is definitely an important plot point because of the commander's antagonism towards him throughout LS2. As fast as Flame and Frost seemed to go, I could see the inclusion of those stories with the Sky Pirates story.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Narcemus.1348

[Tails.9372]

3 hours ago, Narcemus.1348 said:

I feel like introducing Canach As an antagonist is definitely an important plot point

Southsun Cove is not just important for Canachs introduction / backstory but also for the Consortiums which are still one of the major parties involved in the Fractal story (something that, aside from some minor events and side stories, has been on ice since LW S1).

Edited April 20, 2022 by Tails.9372

[Narcemus.1348]

1 hour ago, Tails.9372 said:

Southsun Cove is not just important for Canachs introduction / backstory but also for the Consortiums which are still one of the major parties involved in the Fractal story (something that, aside from some minor events and side stories, has been on ice since LW S1).

Technically they were a part of the side story where you extract the magic that was causing you to go mad after the bloodstone explosion. And I believe there was a consortium employee at the casino talking to Zalumbur, but you are right, any actual story revolving around them seems to have been scrapped.

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:35 PM, Bobby Stein.3612 said:

Nah, I'm just happy we're bringing it back. I'm involved, sure, just like any other discipline director at the studio. But I'm not driving the development other than to advise on the story stuff.

LOL. No.

while not in charge of it could you perhaps message this through to those in charge of it since i discovered something:

there is one thing that should be addressed. when finishing victory or death from the core game's personal story it STILL leads you to magister McKay in Lion's Arch  and her summery cinematic while also receiving the mail informing what season 1 was and how its unavailable. 

This needs to change, directing ALL players who continue their adventure from the personal story DIRECTLY to season one instead.

the letter stating its not available and being tunneled to season 2 should be removed immediately as well.
I know season 1 has not been fully rereleased but it's VITAL for new player enjoyment that this gets fixed soon.
less attentive new players could be mislead by this legacy "bridging the gap" from the past and still miss season 1.

[SunRoamer.5103]

From what I could gather, one of the major additions were the eight lore books sprinkled throughout the release. These explore the lore of the Molten Alliance and  talk about character that will become more important much later during the Icebrood Saga (Crecia and Efram) and End of Dragons (Renyak).

Some characters mentioned in these texts - Vova and Vastya/Vostya (are these differing spellings just in the wiki or also in game?) - are possibly entirely new? Vastya/Vostya is revealed to be running the blood transfusion experiments, which makes me wonder whether the name might be misspelled in both cases and it's supposed to say Kostya instead. Vova seems to have initially been almost equal to Gigarg, who "had [the dredge] following orders" from Scarlet. Speaking of Gigarg, both Gigarg and Rodion are new names given to the previously unnamed bosses of the Molten Furnace dungeon.

In the letter to Renyak, two more charr - Sentius and Flax - are also mentioned. It is also revealed that Renyak's brother (and thus Renyak himself?) was with the Molten Alliance, as he leads the attack on Cragstead. This boss was also previously unnamed.

Have people spotted any other additions/edits? Like I said, I didn't get to play much during the original release of Season 1 so it's difficult for me to tell.

Edited April 20, 2022 by SunRoamer.5103

[Bobby Stein.3612]

1 hour ago, ShroomOneUp.6913 said:

while not in charge of it could you perhaps message this through to those in charge of it since i discovered something:

there is one thing that should be addressed. when finishing victory or death from the core game's personal story it STILL leads you to magister McKay in Lion's Arch  and her summery cinematic while also receiving the mail informing what season 1 was and how its unavailable. 

This needs to change, directing ALL players who continue their adventure from the personal story DIRECTLY to season one instead.

the letter stating its not available and being tunneled to season 2 should be removed immediately as well.
I know season 1 has not been fully rereleased but it's VITAL for new player enjoyment that this gets fixed soon.
less attentive new players could be mislead by this legacy "bridging the gap" from the past and still miss season 1.

Thanks for the heads up. We're gathering info and checking to see what's going on here.

[Zola.6197]

1 hour ago, Bobby Stein.3612 said:

Thanks for the heads up. We're gathering info and checking to see what's going on here.

Does it really make sense for players to be directed to S1 when it’s not yet complete in game?

 

No skin off my teeth either way, but that might just confused new players before the season rerelease is over.

[Narcemus.1348]

1 hour ago, SunRoamer.5103 said:

From what I could gather, one of the major additions were the eight lore books sprinkled throughout the release. These explore the lore of the Molten Alliance and  talk about character that will become more important much later during the Icebrood Saga (Crecia and Efram) and End of Dragons (Renyak).

Some characters mentioned in these texts - Vova and Vastya/Vostya (are these differing spellings just in the wiki or also in game?) - are possibly entirely new? Vastya/Vostya is revealed to be running the blood transfusion experiments, which makes me wonder whether the name might be misspelled in both cases and it's supposed to say Kostya instead. Vova seems to have initially been almost equal to Gigarg, who "had [the dredge] following orders" from Scarlet. Speaking of Gigarg, both Gigarg and Rodion are new names given to the previously unnamed bosses of the Molten Furnace dungeon.

In the letter to Renyak, two more charr - Sentius and Flax - are also mentioned. It is also revealed that Renyak's brother (and thus Renyak himself?) was with the Molten Alliance, as he leads the attack on Cragstead. This boss was also previously unnamed.

Have people spotted any other additions/edits? Like I said, I didn't get to play much during the original release of Season 1 so it's difficult for me to tell.

On that last note, it doesn't mean that Renyak is in the Molten Alliance. The Aetherblades and Molten Alliance were working around the same time. He could just be writing to his brother in the Aetherblade on a project they are working on together. They were both working for Scarlet after all.

[SunRoamer.5103]

5 minutes ago, Narcemus.1348 said:

On that last note, it doesn't mean that Renyak is in the Molten Alliance. The Aetherblades and Molten Alliance were working around the same time. He could just be writing to his brother in the Aetherblade on a project they are working on together. They were both working for Scarlet after all.

Regarding that, I'm not sure either. The main reason I wondered about Renyak being a part of the Molten Alliance is the mention of Deldrimor steel in two of the lore books:

Quote

When the place is burned to a crisp, I will deliver the supplies you called for. I must say, whatever experiment they have you working on that requires that much Deldrimor steel... Well, it's going to take multiple trips to deliver it all. It better be worth the trip.

Quote

Gigarg has our brothers and sisters running around like headless chickens, forging massive plates of iron and Deldrimor steel for his own armor.

Of course the Aetherblades might also experiment with Deldrimor steel, although most of their tech revolves around stolen airships and asuran holo-tech, right? The Molten Alliance definitely strike me as more of the metalworking kind amongst the two.

On another note, since they ended up giving unique names to a lot of the old bosses, I think that maybe some of the other characters (Sentius, Flax, Vova, Vastya/Vostya) will show up later during invasions or the battles in Lion's Arch.

[Bobby Stein.3612]

1 hour ago, Zola.6197 said:

Does it really make sense for players to be directed to S1 when it’s not yet complete in game?

 

No skin off my teeth either way, but that might just confused new players before the season rerelease is over.

I believe it does make sense to direct people to LWS1E1 rather than shoot them to the Scarlet's War recap (which spoils said season) or move them straight to S2.

[Randin.5701]

Probably more finicky to do than may be liked, but the ideal would probably be to direct new players to the new episodes. Then, once they've caught up with whatever episodes are in the game at the time, have an alternate version of the in-game mail pop up explaining that season 1 is being added to the game, and they can either wait for the remaining episodes, or just watch the recap cutscene in Lion's Arch if they want to just get on with things.  

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

23 minutes ago, Bobby Stein.3612 said:

I believe it does make sense to direct people to LWS1E1 rather than shoot them to the Scarlet's War recap (which spoils said season) or move them straight to S2.

glad to hear you agree, even though i was directed  by other community members to dev comments already talking about it, that they apparently want to wait until the season is implemented more for the moment. but perhaps you all at anet could change your mind, i dunno.
just nice to know you agree on the sentiment

Edited April 20, 2022 by ShroomOneUp.6913

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

13 hours ago, Narcemus.1348 said:

They did include dialogue at the final bonfire that states that some of the refugees are heading to Southsun Cove, so while I am not holding my breath, we may still get introduced to Canach there. They could have easily just left out any mention of the place whatsoever if they wanted, and I feel like introducing Canach As an antagonist is definitely an important plot point because of the commander's antagonism towards him throughout LS2. As fast as Flame and Frost seemed to go, I could see the inclusion of those stories with the Sky Pirates story.

That dialogue is all leftover from Season 1 it seems. I don't think they actively chose to bring it back, but rather just reactivated all of the NPCs and most(all?) Diessa events at the moment of The Razing release (the third release that gave us the Braham and Rox instances). All the Prelude and The Gathering Storm dialogue is MIA from the related NPCs, as well as everything in Wayfarer's (even the dead merchant or the phase-able objects and NPCs as done in Diessa; a bit of a shame).

[Zola.6197]

Did the dialogue between Braham and Ottilia make it into the patch? He did specify that she wasn’t interested in the celebration at the end, but I don’t think they included the scene itself anywhere.

 

Or was that a blog post?

[Dreggon.6598]

I noticed in mails sent to the PC by Braham he refers to himself as "Braham Eirsson". I think this should be changed to just "Braham" because at this point in the story I'm pretty sure he doesn't consider himself Eir's son. I know in a literal sense he is, but his dialogue strikes me as trying to avoid being in her shadow, and while he does introduce himself to Rytlock as Eir's son it's more an attempt to get Rytlock to help him rather than trying to steal her glory/name for himself.

 

Also noticed Rox calls Frostbite by its name in Molten Furnace, but we don't see her actually name Frostbite before this.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

3 hours ago, Zola.6197 said:

Did the dialogue between Braham and Ottilia make it into the patch? He did specify that she wasn’t interested in the celebration at the end, but I don’t think they included the scene itself anywhere.

 

Or was that a blog post?

It did not make it into the patch, even worse, they completely retconned Ottilia's character, and in a manner that feels very weird to do - goes from being Braham's crush that ends up too naive for her own good (dumps Braham in favor of a merchant after making him hunt rabbits because he's "not worldly enough" for her), into... an ex-crush-instant-reject on better than good terms who helped Braham work through his mother issues that he still talks about in both this release and Season 2...

It's a very weird choice to do, in a single line of dialogue.

Quote

PC: So...who's Ottilia?

Braham: Ottilia? That conversation might require some ale. Ottilia is amazing... She's beautiful, and... not interested. But she helped me work through some angst about my family. My mom. I owe her.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Battle_for_Cragstead#Cragstead

 

The original line was this, for reference:

Quote

 

PC: So...who's Ottilia?

Braham: Ottilia? Who's Ottilia? Well, she lives in Cragstead, and she's... kind of beautiful. I mean sweet. She's nice. Okay?

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Braham_-_Retake_Cragstead#Dialogue

 

Not only disappointing they didn't bring back the epilogue stuff, but just as weird that they decided "nah, it didn't happen that way".

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

2 hours ago, Dreggon.6598 said:

I noticed in mails sent to the PC by Braham he refers to himself as "Braham Eirsson". I think this should be changed to just "Braham" because at this point in the story I'm pretty sure he doesn't consider himself Eir's son. I know in a literal sense he is, but his dialogue strikes me as trying to avoid being in her shadow, and while he does introduce himself to Rytlock as Eir's son it's more an attempt to get Rytlock to help him rather than trying to steal her glory/name for himself.

 

Also noticed Rox calls Frostbite by its name in Molten Furnace, but we don't see her actually name Frostbite before this.

Braham does consider himself Eir's son. He hates her, but doesn't reject their familial ties. In the original launches, he was always going by as Braham Eirsson. As for Rox and Frostbite - that was always an off-screen naming AFAIK. Originally about a month took place between that instance's release and the Molten Facility dungeon / Molten Furnace story instance.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[eduardo.1436]

So no southsun means no Ellen Kiel, Canach, Job-o-Tron or Consortium....... it's impossible to cut them out of the story entirely right?

After all Ellen reappears in Dragon Bash during the murder of Theo Ashford and her Council Election and Battle of LA (partnered with Heal-o-Tron).

Job-o-Tron becomes Hobo-tron in the Jubilee celebration and is captured by Scarlet, accepts donations during Wintersday as Ho-ho-Tron and helps out during battle of LA as Heal-o-Tron.

Canach hmmm was almost all Southsun Cove and a refugee when Scarlet bombed the city. And Consortium obviously are exclusively to Southsun Cove, the end of this remaster mentions them.

Also what about Evon? If the Council election is cut he is only relevant in a part of Escape from LA

That's cutting like a third of the story and ignoring 4 important S1 characters

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

12 minutes ago, eduardo.1436 said:

So no southsun means no Ellen Kiel, Canach, Job-o-Tron or Consortium....... it's impossible to cut them out of the story entirely right?

After all Ellen reappears in Dragon Bash during the murder of Theo Ashford and her Council Election and Battle of LA (partnered with Heal-o-Tron).

Job-o-Tron becomes Hobo-tron in the Jubilee celebration and is captured by Scarlet, accepts donations during Wintersday as Ho-ho-Tron and helps out during battle of LA as Heal-o-Tron.

Canach hmmm was almost all Southsun Cove and a refugee when Scarlet bombed the city. And Consortium obviously are exclusively to Southsun Cove, the end of this remaster mentions them.

Also what about Evon? If the Council election is cut he is only relevant in a part of Escape from LA

That's cutting like a third of the story and ignoring 4 important S1 characters

The Consortium only plays a role in the story that focuses only on Kiel rather than Scarlet in some form, so it actually is possible for them to be cut out of the story entirely if they cut out the election arc that happens after Sky Pirates, which I fear they'll do. The interview mentioned that the Southsun arc was one of the cut arcs besides festivals... And cutting out both the Southsun and election arc means matching (more or less) the Remembering Scarlet's War recap cinematic - the stuff that focuses only on Scarlet Briar's story.

And even for the story chapters that do come back, as Flame and Frost has shown, they're not beyond cutting out portions of the releases even if they're equal to portions being kept - all the Wayfarer events and NPCs didn't return, nor did the LA refugee camp (despite being in a part of the map untouched by the reconstruction - the NPCs tied to the Lost and Found achievement were moved to BC/Hoelbrak it seems), and it seems (haven't been able to confirm) the celebration NPCs in Black Citadel were also cut.

 

So I can easily see them cutting out Kiel's and O-Tron's southern metas in Battle for Lion's Arch. I can also see them cutting out all of Escape from Lion's Arch but the opening cinematic...

Which means if so Kiel's only involvement will be during Dragon Bash + Sky Pirates of Tyria (and a namedrop during Edge of the Mists story). O-Tron only involved in Queen's Jubilee+Clockwork Chaos. And Canach only present in Edge of the Mists' passing by (if they don't cut him from there too).

 

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if they cut out the Tower of Nightmares zone, the Nightmare Chambers, the open world dialogue during ToN, the Braham/Taimi dialogue in Edge of the Mists (which greatly develops their characters), and even A Moment of Peace instance from Origins of Madness (which is actually our proper introduction to Taimi outside of Twisted Marionette) since it references Tequatl Rising, Twisted Marionette, and Triple Trouble which no doubt either won't be story brought back, or won't be story instances...

Maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic now, but after seeing how much was cut out that doesn't really feel needed to be cut, I can't help it. Maybe Episode 2 will cut less and it'll bring my hopes back up for the rest.

Edited April 21, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[eduardo.1436]

6 minutes ago, Konig Des Todes.2086 said:

The Consortium only plays a role in the story that focuses only on Kiel rather than Scarlet in some form, so it actually is possible for them to be cut out of the story entirely if they cut out the election arc that happens after Sky Pirates, which I fear they'll do. The interview mentioned that the Southsun arc was one of the cut arcs besides festivals... And cutting out both the Southsun and election arc means matching (more or less) the Remembering Scarlet's War recap cinematic - the stuff that focuses only on Scarlet Briar's story.

And even for the story chapters that do come back, as Flame and Frost has shown, they're not beyond cutting out portions of the releases even if they're equal to portions being kept - all the Wayfarer events and NPCs didn't return, nor did the LA refugee camp (despite being in a part of the map untouched by the reconstruction - the NPCs tied to the Lost and Found achievement were moved to BC/Hoelbrak it seems), and it seems (haven't been able to confirm) the celebration NPCs in Black Citadel were also cut.

 

So I can easily see them cutting out Kiel's and O-Tron's southern metas in Battle for Lion's Arch. I can also see them cutting out all of Escape from Lion's Arch but the opening cinematic...

Which means if so Kiel's only involvement will be during Dragon Bash + Sky Pirates of Tyria (and a namedrop during Edge of the Mists story). O-Tron only involved in Queen's Jubilee+Clockwork Chaos. And Canach only present in Edge of the Mists' passing by (if they don't cut him from there too).

 

I wouldn't be surprised at this point if they cut out the Tower of Nightmares zone, the Nightmare Chambers, the open world dialogue during ToN, the Braham/Taimi dialogue in Edge of the Mists (which greatly develops their characters), and even A Moment of Peace instance from Origins of Madness (which is actually our proper introduction to Taimi outside of Twisted Marionette) since it references Tequatl Rising, Twisted Marionette, and Triple Trouble which no doubt either won't be story brought back, or won't be story instances...

Maybe I'm just being overly pessimistic now, but after seeing how much was cut out that doesn't really feel needed to be cut, I can't help it. Maybe Episode 2 will cut less and it'll bring my hopes back up for the rest.

 

I'll be honest, I hope so too you are being overly pessimistic XD. My hope is they introduce Kiel as an investigator sadly not referencing Southsun shenanigans, then in "Escape of LA" her and Evon get extra dialogue referencing the election.

Hobo-Tron will most likely get phased in before entering the Pavillion instance and mentions his previous occupation.

With that both can be easily added to the final episode. Besides the main gimmick is defeating Scarlet's forces and then destroy 3 massive Watchknights at the same time. Braham and Rox (and frostbite), Marjory and Kasmeer, and Ellen and Heal-o-Tron battle one Watchknight each.