Now that you've really got to experience EoD, what are your thoughts?

[Mortime.1359]

My thoughts are that I only log in for dailies and login reward right now. Haven't been to any EoD zone for over a month now.

[aspirine.6852]

Hardly play it. For me there is nothing to do there and also i almost never see anyone on the maps. Kinda feels like i wasted my money there.

[Sylvari.2953]

Elite specs are quite underwhelming, ugly armor/fashion, decent story, Cantha's new design is disappointing because of too much jade tech (not my cup of tea).

Jade Bot is a good idea but annoying execution, the Turtle mount is meh, I don't care much about skiffs because I prefer my Skimmer and I have zero interest in fishing.

Map completion is fairly enjoyable (except for Echovald, I want to set the whole thing on fire), meta events are meh (nothing beats HoT metas) and I still dislike strike missions.

EoD gets a 5/10 from me. I got a few dozen hours of fun out of it but at this point the only thing that would keep me around for a longer time is player housing.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Mea.5491
formatting

[Westenev.5289]

I am an anime protagonist.

 

The only thing that could make this expansion better is duel wielded greatswords. Make it happen, Anet.

[Mahou.3924]

4 hours ago, Heretic.6928 said:

We have a saying in Farsi which roughly says "That cow that gave 9 gallons of milk". The story is, that there was this cow that could be milked for 9 gallons every day, except that at the very end, it would kick the bucket of milk and splash it all over the floor.

 

It's the story of gw2: you can buy all the expansions and it is great, until the devs take a crap on the final "ultimate meta" and then double down and sit on it too. I boycotted spending any money on this. At least my own money is not used to disrespect my time.

I love how you say "boycott" as if you did something monumentally important. You didn't boycott anything. You just decided to not buy it due to personal preference.

[Zeph.5927]

1. Maps are generally pretty to look at and do their job for the most part. Although Echovald was a letdown in my opinion.

 

2. The elite specs leave a lot to be desired. Most feel rushed and half baked. Several professions are better off sticking with their HoT or PoF elite specs.

 

3. The new masteries feel soulless and pointless. You know Anet was scraping the bottom of the barrel when an entire mastery line is dedicated to unlocking this expansion’s merchant and crafting hub. And another one focused around……fishing.

 

4. The Dragon’s End meta is still a complete mess and should have been completely redesigned from the ground up. And this is coming from someone who has beat it more than once and got the turtle mastery fully leveled up.

 

5. The story was good for the first half to two thirds of it, then it quickly dropped off a cliff and was super rushed in order to just wrap up the Elder Dragons storyline. In the end, it left me very unsatisfied with how it was handled.

 

6. The huge and unnecessary nerf to self sustain at the launch of the expansion was completely unjustified and is just a classic example of Anet not knowing their kitten from a hole in the ground.

 

Overall, not a terrible expansion, but still worse in a lot of ways compared to the prior two.

Edited April 12, 2022 by Zeph.5927

[Gunther Clone C.6742]

There are so many "lore" achievements that I've really been enjoying. "Looking Back" and "A Guardian Once More" to name a couple. Restoring Arborstone to make it feel more lived in, it's all been really enjoyable to find out what's happened over the last hundred+ years.

[Aaricia.9758]

At the beginning, I was blown away by the beauty of the maps and the impressive leaps ANet made in the cutscenes (facial expressions and voice acting were top shelf)---but the more I played it the less I liked it. Having real world issues seeping into the game world is a big ol' nope for me and the increase in the use of profanities in both the story dialogue and NPCs in the world was also a no-go for me. I've been playing Guild Wars since 2005, so it's been interesting to watch how the game went from telling a story about Tyria to virtue signaling on real world issues. Good lore is something I'm willing to pay for---Cosmopolitan/US Weekly/People magazine articles are not things I'm willing to pay for---so if the next expansion takes more pages from those magazines to add to their plot then I won't be buying it. 

Art, music, voice acting is fantastic.
Story, lore, new characters, and everything else is meh.
I give it 2/5.

[HonesltlyX.7164]

Overall I think the expansion is below average. Most of the issues in the expac is exacerbated by the over-arcing issues of the game as whole.

 

Rewards in EOD suck. Its not the expac's fault (mostly) but this has been an issue in the game as a whole for a while now. The rewards earned in EOD content is the same as any of the previous expansions. We continue to get T6 mats and junk that we already have more than enough of. We don't get anything great for completing strikes or open world content as of right now. As a matter of fact, if you are not working on the Aurene Legendary you'd just be wasting your time with EOD content.

 

Masteries are basically useless. I don't care about fishing, skimmers are better than skiffs, and turtles aren't all that great unless you don't have the other mounts from PoF. I still haven't gotten my turtle and I honestly don't care too. This means 3/5 of the masteries are basically useless to me. Jade Bot and Arborstone are nice additions. Overall, nothing really game changing there.

 

E-Specs. They are fun, but nothing meta-breaking so far in PvE. I can't speak for PvP. Sadly enough some Meta bosses like in Echovald and Dragons End is punishing for melee specs.

 

Scenery. Amazing as we have always come to expect from Arena Net. My only complaint is that New Kaineng City is difficult to navigate. I wish we had icons for jade teleporters and zip lines on the map to help navigate the map. But overall, great level design as always.

 

PvE. Fun the first-time around, but once you got your initial rewards there is zero-incentive to return.

 

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

Story. I didn't like it. Arena Net has never been good with stories and this is no different. I didn't care about Mai Trin returning. The game tried to make me sympathize with her, but it just doesn't work. Her redemption story was far too short and felt forced. Ankka could've been fleshed out more. All we knew is that she and Gorrik had a thing and she has a expedite the end of the world complex. Not much else. Again her story was far too short. Soo Won. We meet her for a short period of time before killing her. Again short. See a pattern here? The story was rushed, we never got to see more to these characters. In addition real-world issues being imbedded into the game is another negative. ANET is progressive in their approach to their game development and that's fine, but I don't like cultural or political values (from both sides of the aisles) being thrusted upon me in the story. It makes the story feel less immersive as a whole.

 

Overall, it's fun and looks nice. But those are the only redeeming qualities. Once I get my legendary I probably wouldn't return to this content.

Edited April 16, 2022 by HonesltlyX.7164
Grammar corrections.

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

Needs more content and fine-tuning of certain aspects, but overall there are moments of brilliance mixed in with a fairly decent package.

If anything, it has laid the foundation for something great.

Edited April 12, 2022 by NorthernRedStar.3054

[ruralrouteroyalty.7294]

On 4/12/2022 at 12:46 AM, Mortime.1359 said:

My thoughts are that I only log in for dailies and login reward right now. Haven't been to any EoD zone for over a month now.

On 4/12/2022 at 1:11 AM, aspirine.6852 said:

Hardly play it. For me there is nothing to do there and also i almost never see anyone on the maps. Kinda feels like i wasted my money there.

On 4/12/2022 at 9:21 AM, Aaricia.9758 said:

Good lore is something I'm willing to pay for---Cosmopolitan/US Weekly/People magazine articles are not things I'm willing to pay for---so if the next expansion takes more pages from those magazines to add to their plot then I won't be buying it. 

On 4/12/2022 at 5:05 PM, HonesltlyX.7164 said:

Overall I think the expansion is below average. Most of the issues in the expac is exacerbated by the over-arcing issues of the game as whole.

On 4/12/2022 at 5:20 PM, Ken Yuudachi.9807 said:

I never go back and play the map events again after finishing the new tracks. I save the currencies in EoD  to exchange the legendary material because I don't want to play the new maps anymore. Not even one more time.

On 4/10/2022 at 9:36 AM, Hashberry.4510 said:

Its amazingly poor

On 4/10/2022 at 9:18 PM, Shining One.1635 said:

While I don't hate it, it is the worst release for me.

On 4/10/2022 at 4:58 PM, Ninanthe.8524 said:

4/10

On 4/11/2022 at 12:09 AM, AliamRationem.5172 said:

No replay value.  Poor rewards.  But it lacks the game-changing features in the mastery system that PoF brought as one of its greatest strengths.

On 4/11/2022 at 10:30 AM, vanfrano.1325 said:

Quite underwhelmed, I took my time but I can't say I've enjoyed this expansion and it's the first expansion of this game I didn't enjoy.

On 4/12/2022 at 12:42 AM, Sena.2761 said:

It's okay, but I don't recommend it to anyone not already playing GW2

 

Quoted everything and everyone I agreed with about this expansion. It didn't hit the mark and because of the real world political creep into the game, I've decided that I won't be pre-ordering the next expansion. If the next xpac isn't back to just spinning an interesting story about Tyria without real world hot topics, then I'll just uninstall the game entirely. Until the next xpac drops, I've resolved not to purchase anything from the gem store until I see where the game direction is going. Just my opinion though.

 

[AgentMoore.9453]

17 minutes ago, standardFoe.2983 said:

Seriously

I was issued an account warning for responding to what you brought up and both of our posts on this subject were deleted. Because of this, I will not continue to talk about it here, and you might consider doing the same.

Suffice it to say, I did not enjoy EoD's story. I felt alienated by the way they wrote it, and I believe the expansion needed more development time before being released.

[Hollowhisper.1093]

Q: Now that you've really got to experience EoD, what are your thoughts?

A: Let's go back to to Tyria and the Desert and leave these crazy xenophobes alone.

 

[Sjentra.3409]

Abandoned. Only reason i go back is because arberstone has a bank and i'm too cheap to spend 50 gold to add one to eye of the north.

 

The maps are completely empty; I've never been able to finish the Zen Daijun Temple puzzle because of the 3 champions

[Randulf.7614]

I’ve almost abandoned it. It’s not rubbish, but it is below where I expected them to be considering there doesn’t appear to be any lessons learnt from the previous expansions except a longer story arc or any pay off for them ditching IBS for it. The metas (excl Jade sea which I haven’t reached) are well below the quality of HoT and the map roaming feels less rewarding than PoF

The maps are pretty, but devoid of content and lack the quality of design from the earlier days of the game. The map storytelling isn’t as good either and a lot of that is down to less events and a lack of interactivity with the maps in general.

Ill probably finish it off for completion it’s sake then pop back every now again to do older, fuller content. I think EoD has ended any regular association with in game. It’s just seems to be leaving more and more on the chopping board with every major release.

I will say though, that boats have exceeded my expectations and I’ve had little issue with fishing. It just seems to have slumped after leaving Shing Jea and realising both Kaineng and Echovald have so far offered little depth.

I would like to see a bit content pass of events, bounties, adventures, races etc, but I’ve seen no acknowledgement of this being an issue from Anet, so I’m guessing they are happy with it as it is. 

[Dami.5046]

Was going to write a detailed review, but I can't see the point. I don't like the way this game is heading, I want Guildwars, not an expansion to Hello Kitty Online. 

I don't think they wanted to go back to Cantha and it really really shows. 

[Shadowmoon.7986]

Unfortunately eod feels like it has no end game outside DE. The ez mode strikes are unrewarding and 3 of the 4 meta are just boring. The serious lack of collections make playing the region unenjoyable. Hot had 2 weapon collections and two armor collections with the 9 class weapons. Pof had 3 armors and two weapon sets which each had their own unique pathway.  Eod has only 1 armor, which can be earned multiple ways. 

[neighto.7386]

EoD has actually succeeded in getting me to play the game less..... its just constant annoyance after annoyance.  

 

The lack of events/buggy events make replay of most of the maps a chore.  They are well designed, but empty of people and events.   Really feel like they were only half done at time of release....   

 

 DE meta is still a mess unless you join a hardcore speed clear type guild.   I have little will to return to it as I have failed it so many times I just don't care anymore,  Hiding achievements behind its success is just down right stupid.   The other metas are just ok.... Far too much visual clutter to see whats going on, making my game turn into a slide show half the time and the rewards just aren't worth the time nor effort.

 

I don't enjoy strikes so I cant really comment on,  its content I actively avoid as its not my cup of tea.  Didn't enjoy being forced to do one for the turtle mount (which you cant use in strikes so it seemed odd to HAVE to do one to get it)

 

The elite specs are really hit or miss... I enjoy Harbringer, Mechanist and Vindicator the most... the others don't really compete with the previous specs for my play style.

 

Jade bot is pretty much a gold sink.... really feel they  made this just so we would clear out random items from the TP to salvage for stupid research notes (WTF CAN'T YOU SALVAGE A FULL STACK???? this is one of those annoyances that shouldn't even be an issue)

 

All in all, I honestly feel like we are STILL beta testing it...  its also left me with a huge sense of buyers remorse for pre-ordering it.    I will NOT be pre-purchasing anything from ANET in the future... which is a shame since I have been a huge fan of the game since GW1 days.    Its going to take a lot for me to open my wallet to this company going forward.... that's how much I enjoyed it

 

That said, I actually enjoyed the fishing for the most part (some of the  drop rates seriously need to be looked at)  Funny, because I wasn't really all that interested in fishing when it was announced, and yet its the only part of EoD I found myself not cursing too much  at.

Edited April 15, 2022 by neighto.7386
typo

[ShakingMonkey.1743]

The specs :

They are a bit disappoiting and feel a bit uninspired. They should offer more, and move Firebrand out of the meta a lot more. Firebrand should be nerfed to hell. Untamed is a joke. My main is a ranger and I barely play it anymore because of untamed. Sure there is soulbeast too, but all I can think about is how Anet did us dirty with untamed and then stopped communicating or updating it. Sometimes I just feel like I want to quit the game because of untamed.

The maps : 
They are great. The HP works well, the exploration is very well made. My least favorite one is New Kaineng, it just seems so flat and really not like in the trailer. New Seitung is the best one. Really well made. I really like Echovald Wilds as well. Both are some of my favorites maps. 

 

The meta : 

They are disappoiting. They don't give enough rewards imo, and have little replayability compared to HOT ones. The first one does an ok job. It's good. The one in new kaineng is very very bad. In echovald wilds, it's a bit boring given that the world boss is just golem MK II copy. I would have liked more inspiration from the kurzick, or the gangs, anything but the junkyard boss doesn't really fit there. 
However I love the last meta. It is very fun, and the fact that it is challenging and fails without an organized group is a breeze of fresh air. I love it. What I don't like about it is that I have to be there 1 hour before to get all the rewards. 

 

The story :

It's ok. Glad dragon story arc is over. The epilogue was a bit cringe though. Except for the detective friends, I hope we'll be part of them in new seasons.

 

Masteries :

They are ok, but nothing incredible. I wish they would be more useful outside of EOD.

 

 

The new ranger pets are not convincing. They'd require a buff to replace the ones in the meta. The turtle is fun though.

 

Overall I think it's a good expansion. Some stuff are really great, some others are a bit disappoiting. However it's worst weakness is I feel like there is little incentive to play its content compared to POF and HOT. 

 

[Mickey.4207]

Very below average. For me POF was the best expansion. EOD is too crafting dependent. I miss Verdant Brink and living story 3 types of maps where you could get stat selectable Armor and ascended accessories from merchants. The rewards from EOD events is just bad. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Mickey.4207

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

The maps look great, they are great to navigate and play well, except Kaineng, which is too much on looks to the detriment of enjoyment. 
Atleast they are not PoF maps where endless sand is interrupted by a hole in the sand, or sulfur/brand.

The story is interesting, above the level of PoF in my eyes even though the the dragon cycle story was getting boring.

The masteries are.. eh, I wasn't too interested in Skiffs or fishing, I only go to Arborstone once a week for Summoning Stones and a Strike FC. The turtle is good for screwing around from time to time. I actually used the Personal Waypoint outside DE once, so.. yeah. Not really that successful for me.

The rewards in Cantha are.. well there's quantity, but the quality is lacking. The metas are fairly boring on top of being rather unrewarding.

Strikes were fun week one, but they aren't really rewarding, I get more gold for my effort in Raids than in Strikes, I'd even say WvW's better for rewards.

[Dawnbreaker.4901]

It's just kinda "ehhhhh" to me.

 

It's nice to experience the sights and sounds, but this expansion hasn't kept me interested for long - I arrived at Arborstone and promptly stopped. Seitung Province is pretty. New Kaineng is extremely hollow and lifeless for a sprawling city.

 

Harbinger is my favorite specialization so far. I've tried Virtuoso, but it doesn't feel like a Mesmer to me. Mechanist appeals to the tokusatsu fan in me. I don't have much interest in the others.

 

I have complete, utter disdain for HoT. I have zero desire to finish Icebrood Saga. So far, I'm not chomping at the bit to finish EoD. I really enjoyed Path of Fire - Nightfall is my favorite section of GW1. Being able to experience those areas of the world in GW2 was nice. I hope they're done milking nostalgia because I want to go somewhere we haven't been before.

 

I'm sure I'll finish EoD eventually, but it's not high on my priority list. 

[Kaliwenda.3428]

I really like it!  I love the maps, they're all so different in style and environment.  I have a lot of collections to work on and those are things I can do at my own pace.

I only need to do the strike to unlock my turtle, and I'm hoping to get that done over the weekend.  Then I can take my time getting the rest of the mastery points and XP that I need to fully unlock it.

Overall I'm very happy with this expansion.

[gaelicvixen.6401]

My grandmum taught me to expect the worst, because she believed it was better to be pleasantly surprised every now and then rather than constantly disappointed, so while I was not disappointed in EoD, I was annoyed by certain things.

Aetherblades. Shing Jea would've been lovely if not for them. I didn't find them interesting when they first appeared, and I still don't. I find their ships to be eyesores and I'm honestly puzzled by their numbers. Are they actually a cult? Do Aetherblades only marry other Aetherblades, then indoctrinate their offspring? Is this why they keep proliferating? And why do some of them say, "Tick tock" when they die? I have questions, ANet. 

New Kaineng City. Just as irritating to navigate as the original, now in cornea-searing green instead of destitute-brown!  I've seen the overall aesthetic compared to Blade Runner, and I can't really argue with that but as someone who loves Blade Runner and puts this map off for as long as possible because I don't enjoy having a migraine, I have to wonder if someone at ANet hates Blade Runner and wants you to hate it, too. Maybe they got tired of hearing Roy's final soliloquy being quoted all over the internet, I don't know. What I am certain of, though, is that they ought to have given us an achievement for destroying the devices where the obnoxious holograms pop up,  like the speakers in Drizzlewood. 

The Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea. Oy vey. Factions was my favourite GW expac, and the Echovald Forest was my favourite part of Cantha. I also used to like the colour green and tengu, and then I hit these maps in EoD. Yes, I said it. I'm over the tengu. Seriously, we're up to our eyeballs in guano tengu, despite all but one maybe two communities of them being forced out of Cantha, yet there's nothing but ruins, ghosts, those accursed turtles and one very iconic WMD left of the Kurzicks and Luxons. Oh sure, there are some NPCs with enviable tattoos reminiscent of Kurzick and Luxon facial markings - coming to the gemstore when? - but instead of building a Rebellion or even a Resistance, or forming enclaves where they protect what's left of their cultures, they've teamed up with some outcast birb - even the tengu are sick of themselves smh - and joined gangs. And lost their shoes in the process, a good number of them. All that pollution being dumped in the forest, and half the Speakers are running around barefoot. Meanwhile, things that ought to be running around the forest - mantis, gaki, oni, undergrowths, and dragon mosses - are conspicuously absent, seemingly replaced by the new sun bears and vampire bambi fanged deer. And of course, the gangs, that ought to have been purged back when the Ministry of Purity was goosestepping across Cantha. Aside from the whole lack of mob diversity thing, the absence of any oni, creeping carp, and/or scuttle fish in the Jade Sea, for instance, means that we missed out on them going absolutely ham on the Void minions like they did with the Outcasts back in the day. That's the kind of turf war I want to see, ANet. 

Now, there were some highlights I feel are worth mentioning. Soybeans. I can make tofu! The placement of Danika zu Heltzer and Erys Vasburg's graves. Brutus and Sheena, her Rot Wallows, are in front of her, and at her back is the man who would shout "My life for hers!" in battle if you had him with her in your party. They are together in death and that is beautiful. Lukas Vasburg's ghost. Neither death nor 200+ can change the bald, Kurzick Gaston and that is comforting. Zei Ri's descendant. Zei Ri was the hottest companion after Razah and I'm happy to know he got lucky at least once. The new legendaries. They actually look really cool! 

And finally, have I engaged in whimsical exaggeration for the sake of humour? Absolutely. I don't regret buying the expac. I'm still in the EoD maps - well, most of them - still schlepping through the collections and achievements, still trying to find a Jade Sea meta map that doesn't fail so I can finish the Zunraa collection, still being annoyed by silly things that would probably upset me if I thought there was malice behind them. I know there isn't, though, because GW2 devs have always been quite candid about how little they know, care, or can be bothered to research most anything that comes from GW. And since I feel the same way about the story they're telling in GW2, and reflexively slap the spacebar like I'm in a flashpoint cutscene for the hundredth time, I can't really complain too much. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by gaelicvixen.6401
Wild spacing issues

[Dante.1508]

Specter, Virtuoso and Mechanist are amazingly fun and feel perfect.

The rest are atrocious.. Untamed is so horrendous.