You have GOT to be kidding me with this (an EoD rant / review)

[itspomf.9523]

First, praise where praise is due:  the first third or so of End of Dragons is actually pretty great.  It had me even questioning all the people who were slamming it for months, and I honestly had a lot of fun working through Seitung and getting my skiff.  Even those early-ish scenes with Detective Rama or Mai Trin (the noodles and her apartment come to mind) were hilarious and had me smiling, which this game hasn't done since Grothmar Valley first went live.  The writing was thoroughly enjoyable and I had a pleasant time just anticipating all the things to come.  So ... well done.  Those parts were honestly worth it.

Unfortunately, that's all the praise I have, let alone can give, and I find that a shame. 

Almost immediately after meeting our dear friend Bubbles, everything went downhill.  Arborstone, Echovald, and everything after were a miserable slog, and I could see no reason for a second Eye of the North when I had to already go there to even start the story.  By the time I got to its end, however, all I could see were squandered opportunities to explore the deep cultural and socioeconomic rift that was tearing Cantha apart -- let alone the environmental impact of unregulated technological progress -- as meanwhile I scrambled after a heat therapy patch to alleviate the massive amounts of incongruous emotional whiplash from the cast.

Then I got to Dragon's End.

After 5 repeat attempts to find an active map doing the meta (and watching one fail mere minutes after I arrived -- to say nothing of the half-hour wait for it to even begin), I said there wasn't any point to even trying it (as I don't want the stupid turtle), and I just went right into the final fight, one last pointless achievement and my experiences be damned.

I wish I hadn't.  I really, really wish I hadn't.

I have never played something so completely awful in all my decades of gaming.  This was even worse than the completely lackluster and tedious ending to Control.  I thought the Ankka fight was terrible, but ... wow, you really outdid yourselves for garbage encounter design.

Spoilers for Guild Wars 2:  End of Dragons story begin below.

No one likes a forced death for purposes of story.  Particularly not when it's just a hollow plot device for an equally paper-thin "god mode."

If that is the true power of Aurene, I'm either the worst player in this game's history or "inevitable" was a duly applicable word for the absolute train-wreck I just experienced.  Perhaps it would be best if the Void had consumed Tyria.

I can't know, however, because after my fourth senseless death from something one-shotting me down after having made it this far, and scarcely being able to even visually tell what was going on, I gave up -- something I haven't done since before Victory or Death stopped requiring completion of the dungeon.  But unlike Arah, I don't see myself ever going back for closure.  Here there will be no victory, only death, because I don't want closure.  I just want to forget how truly bad of an experience this has been.

And a part me honestly regrets how much this feeling has tinged my view of the entire expansion and sullied what parts of it were genuinely good.

Yet worse?  Worse is knowing that one single pointless encounter, out of everything in this unfortunately half-baked expansion, one single myopic decision, has permanently hamstrung the core traits of most every profession because the player truly would have been an unkillable force of light and goodness (and maybe just a little commanderly smarm) during that fight otherwise, thanks to this very power-up.

I can only say I feel ineffable consternation and incredulity that anyone could have thought this was a good idea.

I say this from the bottom of my heart, and as a fan of the franchise since finding a copy of Guild Wars Prophecies on a Toys'R'Us shelf and falling in love, but End of Dragons truly deserves all the criticism it has received.

[Vyr.9387]

35 minutes ago, itspomf.9523 said:

...
Spoilers for Guild Wars 2:  End of Dragons story begin below.

No one likes a forced death for purposes of story.  Particularly not when it's just a hollow plot device for an equally paper-thin "god mode."

If that is the true power of Aurene, I'm either the worst player in this game's history or "inevitable" was a duly applicable word for the absolute train-wreck I just experienced.  Perhaps it would be best if the Void had consumed Tyria.
...

I'm sorry, got a little lost here.
You disliked being thrown into a god mode, but then You also disliked that the fight was too hard?

[Silent.6137]

2 hours ago, itspomf.9523 said:

Arborstone, Echovald, and everything after were a miserable slog, and I could see no reason for a second Eye of the North when I had to already go there to even start the story.  By the time I got to its end, however, all I could see were squandered opportunities to explore the deep cultural and socioeconomic rift that was tearing Cantha apart -- let alone the environmental impact of unregulated technological progress -- as meanwhile I scrambled after a heat therapy patch to alleviate the massive amounts of incongruous emotional whiplash from the cast.

Then I got to Dragon's End.

After 5 repeat attempts to find an active map doing the meta (and watching one fail mere minutes after I arrived -- to say nothing of the half-hour wait for it to even begin), I said there wasn't any point to even trying it (as I don't want the stupid turtle), and I just went right into the final fight, one last pointless achievement and my experiences be damned.

Trying to understand the rant and failing miserablty.

How does having Arborstone makes it bad? All it does is give you fast, cheaper and easy access to EoD maps. It doesn't take anything away from EotN. It has services that EotN doesn't. Why is Echovald bad? It's easy to navigate if you follow the roads. The events are no worse than any others. You tried to join a meta at DE by just going to the map? You stated that you were even "questioning all the people who were slamming it for months". So apparently, you must know it takes a little bit of preparation to succeed. 

"...after my fourth senseless death from something one-shotting me down"  At the meta? Really? Unless you stayed in the AoE during the Bite sequence or did not hide from the Waves, there's really nothing that can kill you in 1 shot. You do realized that staying in AoE fields is bad, right? And not knowing the mechanics of the fights, regardless of what event/fight it is, is never a good thing?

With your decades of gaming, fight mechanics should not be a stranger to you.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Silent.6137

[Jukhy.2431]

Is this another DE meta bad post? Completing the EoD story does not require you to do the meta - these are two very different Soo-Won fights.
You can also buy the turtle egg now from a vendor called Peddler for 200 Writs of Dragon's End.

7 hours ago, itspomf.9523 said:

No one likes a forced death for purposes of story.  Particularly not when it's just a hollow plot device for an equally paper-thin "god mode."

You cannot possibly know this. Personal opinions are not the universal truth. To me this part felt just fine and I kinda enjoyed the "god mode".

7 hours ago, itspomf.9523 said:

I can't know, however, because after my fourth senseless death from something one-shotting me down after having made it this far, and scarcely being able to even visually tell what was going on, I gave up

Why weren't you able to tell what was going on? I was able to see clearly enough and I didn't die at all in the end fight. To me it actually felt like the "god mode" was bit too strong. Or are you talking about the Soo-Won meta fight here?

I'll admit that story wise the ending convo could have been better but in the end (of dragons) I still enjoyed most of the story.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Jukhy.2431

[Khisanth.2948]

5 hours ago, Silent.6137 said:

At the meta? Really? Unless you stayed in the AoE during the Bite sequence or did not hide from the Waves, there's really nothing that can kill you in 1 shot. You do realized that staying in AoE fields is bad, right?

There is one other attack. I think it is the one that creates the waves that you jump over for an achievement. Pretty sure it is unblocakble as well.

[Linken.6345]

40 minutes ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

There is one other attack. I think it is the one that creates the waves that you jump over for an achievement. Pretty sure it is unblocakble as well.

That one have a clear indication to stand behind crystals with arrows showing what way the wave will hit tho.

[Silent.6137]

45 minutes ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

There is one other attack. I think it is the one that creates the waves that you jump over for an achievement. Pretty sure it is unblocakble as well.

Right. The Tsunami Slam that's telegraphed by the circle AoE. You will be downed instantly if inside the AoE. The waves can be jumped over.

The only one that will cause instant death is the Crystal Phase Tsunami. Most of the other attacks can't be blocked and will downed you instantly but are survivable.

5 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

That one have a clear indication to stand behind crystals with arrows showing what way the wave will hit tho.

No, that is Tsunami Dodger where you hide behind the crystal. This is Shock-wave Jumper from the Tsunami Slam.

 

Edited December 4, 2022 by Silent.6137

[Einsof.1457]

What's your build? 

[Gehenna.3625]

5 hours ago, Einsof.1457 said:

What's your build? 

138212 - at least that's what the log-in screen says.

[Trejgon.9367]

I could guess that for last story instance, in some builds the moment where you are supposed to be overwhelmed may feel arbitrary (mine was not, I kinda screwed up and ended downed during that part xD) but I am failing to see the bit of "paper thin god mode". the only time I "died" during the aurene merge phase was when I accidentally have shot off myself out of the platform. Otherwise I was completely enjoying OST fueled nostalgia trip of that particular, imo wonderfull spectacle.

No idea what OP is refering to with hamstrunging the core traits of every profession either.

[Sobx.1758]

18 hours ago, itspomf.9523 said:

I'm either the worst player in this game's history

You might not be "the worst player in this game's history", but if you had such an issue with completing this story then you definitely lack in some areas.

[Hotride.2187]

Well it has received a lot of patches since release.

Dunno about the story, from my POV it was meh; I did it twice and didn't really listen to any of the crap. Had to watch a lot of stuff on the side since it just drags on and on with dialogs and weird ingame cutscenes.

But the open world is solid at this point, the new specs got a lot of attention since release. The start was definitely less than half baked, but at this point the expansion is OK for me.

[Khisanth.2948]

1 hour ago, Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

I could guess that for last story instance, in some builds the moment where you are supposed to be overwhelmed may feel arbitrary (mine was not, I kinda screwed up and ended downed during that part xD) but I am failing to see the bit of "paper thin god mode". the only time I "died" during the aurene merge phase was when I accidentally have shot off myself out of the platform. Otherwise I was completely enjoying OST fueled nostalgia trip of that particular, imo wonderfull spectacle.

No idea what OP is refering to with hamstrunging the core traits of every profession either.

Hmm that was definitely a forgettable fight. Can't remember anything about it. If I were to go do it again it will be like doing it for the first time. That is quite different from core/HoT/PoF for me. Not saying core/HoT/PoF's ending was great but at least I remember it.

[Naxx.6203]

Sorry but it seems that you are in fact a bad player (mechanicaly).

[Silent.6137]

I suspect this is more of an attempt to be a reviewer by Op than it is an actual dissatisfaction with EoD. Starting with the title which was designed to promote views, to the often flowery words and hyperboles. It is more of a first impression than an actual knowledge of the story/map/events. There is no attempts to explain exactly how most of the various issues are lacking.  Or what OP actually did. All it did was paragraphs of words without saying much at all.

Another thread by the OP: Unsurprisingly, the cost of End of Dragons Legendaries and Power Cores is NOT the raw materials, which imo is also somewhat lacking. More of the same and doesn't even bother to reply or defend.

Edited December 4, 2022 by Silent.6137

[Zera.9435]

 I feel like 99% of the game's 'problems' would be rectified if I were just given permanent Aurene Mode. Just me, though. Screw all of you.

[Cyninja.2954]

On 12/4/2022 at 1:30 AM, itspomf.9523 said:

I can't know, however, because after my fourth senseless death from something one-shotting me down after having made it this far, and scarcely being able to even visually tell what was going on, I gave up -- something I haven't done since before Victory or Death stopped requiring completion of the dungeon.  But unlike Arah, I don't see myself ever going back for closure.  Here there will be no victory, only death, because I don't want closure.  I just want to forget how truly bad of an experience this has been.

Roll a mechanist. You seem to need it.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Cyninja.2954

[Ashen.2907]

I found the final meta to be fun, but insufficiently rewarding for the time compared to other content I enjoy so I do it rarely.

My only disagreement of any significance with the OP is that I found the early portions of the expansion to be just as bad, if not worse, than the latter. The OP seems to have found EoD to start well and then go downhill while I found it to be awful from the beginning with some OK moments scattered throughout.

[Hindenburg.3415]

My biggest problem with EoD is that no one is doing the metas.

I wasn't able to find live Dragon's End map yet.

Like isn't this supposed to be the latest expansion ? What the hell ?

Hot metas are packed even at 3 am.

 

[DexterousGecko.6328]

53 minutes ago, Hindenburg.3415 said:

My biggest problem with EoD is that no one is doing the metas.

I wasn't able to find live Dragon's End map yet.

Like isn't this supposed to be the latest expansion ? What the hell ?

Hot metas are packed even at 3 am.

 

according to the forum, i thought EoD metas were constantly going, and no one ever failed one. What you're saying doesn't make sense.

[Zebulous.2934]

Well, several months ago people who got their turtle swore off running EoD metas all together. 
Never Again! seemed to be the sentiment.  Even with all of the improvements and bug fixes to those metas, I suppose those folks just don't see a reason to change their minds.
From what I read there were too many failure points and too much waiting before hand.  If you are a blue collar worker and/or have children you don't have that many hours to spend on gaming.  Then to spend your limited playtime waiting and then losing through no fault of your own.  Naw, I don't blame them.
Then there were the regular guys just exploring and doing normal quests and suddenly the whole map starts insisting that they leave because they need competent bodies for the meta.   
The funniest part were the extortionists who held maps hostage, "pay us gold to leave the map, or we will ruin this meta."  
Too many  veteran players have bad memories centered around the EoD meta.  Even if is is just bitterness and stubbornness, what can be done?
 

[Hindenburg.3415]

I feel like I was scammed tbh.

I bought the expansion and can't even experience the content.  Because apparently having 10-15 people doing final meta of latest expansion in the game with allegedly millions of monthly players is too much to ask.

[Silent.6137]

3 minutes ago, Hindenburg.3415 said:

I feel like I was scammed tbh.

I bought the expansion and can't even experience the content.  Because apparently having 10-15 people doing final meta of latest expansion in the game with allegedly millions of monthly players is too much to ask.

Try looking in LFG. Any organized squads fills up very fast. Many of us do it almost daily. There are Discord squads as well such as OTC that do quite a few runs daily for both Eu and NA servers.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Silent.6137

[TOAD.4718]

21 hours ago, patton the great.7126 said:

All I got from thIs was bla blah big words blah blah Star wars episode 8 was great because it had nothing in it star wars fans actually wanted. Star wars fans need to let go of the past and accept kathleen Kennedy occupation of our once glorious fantasy...blah blah snobby writing end rAnT. Or atleast this was my certain point of view!

 

EoD was Amazing, get over it. LEAVE ANET ALONE!

….. Wow

[Cyninja.2954]

1 hour ago, Hindenburg.3415 said:

I feel like I was scammed tbh.

I bought the expansion and can't even experience the content.  Because apparently having 10-15 people doing final meta of latest expansion in the game with allegedly millions of monthly players is too much to ask.

As someone who has by now crafted over 20 gen3 legendaries, the last one 1.5 weeks ago, which requires a significant amount of EoD meta farming. You are talking nonsense.

Not only that but the trade of gen3 legendaries on the TP is pretty active atm, which means other players too are running EoD metas consistently.

Please make yourself aware of how to use this games LFG system because you seem unaware of how to find active maps.

EDIT:

of note, I am on EU. Things might differ on US but here on EU, EoD is pretty healthy. That said the TP does encompass both regions so activity there is likely fed by both regions and that, as mentioned, does not indicate that EoD is empty.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Cyninja.2954