The Southsun Story

[blastingmnktpoo.9637]

The patches for Secret of Southsun aren't included in the LWS1 story patches. They have nothing to do with scarlet and are comparably weak to the other patches, but we do meet Canach there. Most of the content was open world and can still be done. It is mostly just world building dialog and getting insight into the consortium (which was mostly dropped as an important story point) and learning about Canachs roots and how he ended up serving Anise. I would overall say that this is not that important and the story without it is cohesive. Southsun as a map was not one of the best that Anet ever made and new players really aren't missing out so I wouldn't expect this to be a priority.

[Randulf.7614]

I always though the consortium had potential as a storyline, but I guess they felt otherwise

[OtakuModeEngage.8679]

5 hours ago, blastingmnktpoo.9637 said:

The patches for Secret of Southsun aren't included in the LWS1 story patches. They have nothing to do with scarlet and are comparably weak to the other patches, but we do meet Canach there. Most of the content was open world and can still be done. It is mostly just world building dialog and getting insight into the consortium (which was mostly dropped as an important story point) and learning about Canachs roots and how he ended up serving Anise. I would overall say that this is not that important and the story without it is cohesive. Southsun as a map was not one of the best that Anet ever made and new players really aren't missing out so I wouldn't expect this to be a priority.

I disagree. While it is not part of the scarlet story arc, it is a vital part of the Canach character arc, and should not be left out. I'm fine with them passing it temporarily howevr, as some devs have hinted revisiting it in the future.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

I'm a bit confused, did blastingmnktpoo start this thread just to disagree with the idea of bringing Southsun plot back?

16 hours ago, blastingmnktpoo.9637 said:

Most of the content was open world and can still be done.

This is objectively false.

1. Almost nothing from The Lost Shores remains in-game - just the base Southsun map itself, and six events (not counting later-added generic "kill the champion" events for retained champions):
   1. Bring karka eggs to Owain
   2. Help Advisor Zakk repair his golem and reclaim his training area
   3. Help Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv plant explosives in karka nests
   4. Kill the reef shark in Sawtooth Bay
   5. Kill the reef drake broodmother threatening the Lionguard
   6. Patrol with the Lionguard to secure the road (a super rare event that only spawns with significant player count in area)
2. Meanwhile, a very lengthy story, and six non-story events are missing:
   1. Prelude, Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3
   2. Drive the invading karka out of Morgan's Spiral
   3. Drive the karka out of Garenhoff's harbor
   4. Rescue Pastkeeper Saballa from the krait in Stormwreck Deeps
   5. Assist Fahd al'Eshadhi in eliminating krait patrols
   6. Catch and defeat the skritt thief
   7. Help find missing Consortium property in ruined camp and skelk nests, and kill local reef skelk
3. From Secret of Southsun / Last Stand at Southsun, aside from the main story, we have ten missing events (documented on wiki, with so little time there might have been some missed):
   1. Defeat the riot-instigating settler
   2. Defend the settlement from crazed wildlife (Kiel's Outpost)
   3. Defend the settlement from rampaging, crazed wildlife (Driftglass Springs)
   4. Defend the settlement from the crazed creatures' attack
   5. Defend the targeted victim of the angry mob
   6. Help Laelia return to her settlement
   7. Help Mikla return to her settlement
   8. Help Nattus return to his settlement
   9. Help Skeggi return to his settlement
   10. Quell the skirmishing between dissenting factions
4. And of these, the only things that remained... was the Karka Queen meta of five events.
5. This is far from "most of the content". It's barely half of The Lost Shore and practically none of Secret of Southsun. And this is just talking about the main story and dynamic events - not touching ambient dialogue or the settler vs consortium map mechanics.

16 hours ago, blastingmnktpoo.9637 said:

It is mostly just world building dialog and getting insight into the consortium (which was mostly dropped as an important story point) and learning about Canachs roots and how he ended up serving Anise. I would overall say that this is not that important and the story without it is cohesive.

This is highly subjective, but given that Canach is one of the most favored favorites among the community, not giving him a proper introduction is pretty poor action.

16 hours ago, blastingmnktpoo.9637 said:

Southsun as a map was not one of the best that Anet ever made and new players really aren't missing out so I wouldn't expect this to be a priority.

The main reason why Southsun is not a good map is because it's so empty.
The main reason why Southsun is so empty is because the content was removed as part of the "living world" idea.
Bringing back the Secret of Southsun events / map mechanics won't make it into the top 10 maps, but it'll be far superior than its current form, even without the main plot re-added.

Edited November 9, 2022 by Konig Des Todes.2086
Formatting

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

15 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

I always though the consortium had potential as a storyline, but I guess they felt otherwise

Now that we're done with the Elder Dragons, I hope they return to the theme of the most interesting plots of the past ten years.
Bangar. Joko. Forsaken Thicket/Bastion of the Penitent. Mai Trin. E.
I feel ANet's storytelling actually excels when they tackle down-to-earth villains and the realm of politics.

So long as it isn't Party Politics or secret police college frat hazing.

But I want the next plot to be something a lot more personal, not more gods and world ending threats.

[Dark Red Killian.3946]

I noticed during the evacuation of Lion’s arch that Canach is prisoner in the jail cells of fort marriner. This is the first introduction of him in the LWS1 revamp. Can we please remove Canach’s story mission from EOTN and have it playable through Season 1, either patch it in somewhere with a letter asking for help, or make an intermediate episode that is optional and isn’t a blown out episode. I always wanted to be story led to southsun since it is a living world map. Maybe even introduce a portal scroll like other LW episodes.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

9 hours ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

I noticed during the evacuation of Lion’s arch that Canach is prisoner in the jail cells of fort marriner. This is the first introduction of him in the LWS1 revamp.

Second, actually. Though they really should have added the little starburst above him, you can find him in Fort Marriner during the Aetherblade attack.

Sadly, they didn't bring back any of his voiced lines during that interaction. Still, the text dialogue has quite a bit that explains him and his motives, and name-drops us meeting him at Southsun Cove.

They also didn't bother to include his cameo in Escape from Lion's Arch.

9 hours ago, Dark Red Killian.3946 said:

Can we please remove Canach’s story mission from EOTN and have it playable through Season 1, either patch it in somewhere with a letter asking for help, or make an intermediate episode that is optional and isn’t a blown out episode.

I think that if they put in some effort here, they should just bring back the entirety of The Lost Shores, Secret of Southsun, and Cutthroat Politics as a prologue + intermissions.