Re-adding the missing bits(?)

[Dolce Luce.6529]

So, last year saw the implementation of (most of) LW S1 in five episodes. The devs brought back old story instances, achievement categories and even some novelties (Selfless and Thoughtless potions in the Battle for Lion's Arch release). As someone who's played Guild Wars (1 and) 2 since the very beginning, it felt really satisfying to be able to play (most of) the entire story and be able to get some 'special' items missing from my Novelties tab. This had me thinking: what bits from way-back-when are still 'missing' and would be great to be re-implemented? I tried to get create an overview, constisting of story, achievements, items and a specific list for the Novelty sections of the wardrobe. I've also included options (suggestions?) to reinstate these 'missing bits'. 

 

1) Story content & achievements

- Secret of Southsun [achievement category] --> could be put in the Side Stories tab of the achievement section; gets us up to speed with the origin story of Canach

    - Canach's Lair [story instance]; currently in game, accessible through the Scrying Pool in Eye of the North (with the Visions of the Past release)

    - Canach's Lair [explorable instance]

- Cutthroat Politics: a very thin story chapter, might not be 'worth it' to implement, apart from one feature: Candidate Trials [activity]

    - suggestion: via the Candidate Trials you can acquire a currency to buy two missing novelties:

        - Ellen Kiel Representation Button (rare) [novelty]

        - Even Gnashblade Representation Button (rare) [novelty]

    - suggestion: the Candidate Trials could be added as part of the Festival of the Four Winds, making it a time-gated activity and something extra to 'grind' during the summer festival

- Queen's Jubilee: mostly reimplemented with both the Festival of the Four Winds and LW S1 episode 3 (Clockwork Chaos)

    - Beacons of Kryta [activity] / Luminary of Kryta [achievement]; which rewards the Flames of Kryta [novelty]

    - suggestion: add this activity + achievement + novelty item as part of the Festival of the Four Winds as an extra bit for the summer festival

 

2) Unobtainable Novelty items

- Boxing Gloves [novelty]: Gem Store item that hasn't been on the store since 2013, yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; these could be put back on the sales roster again

- Guild Kite [novelty]: obtainably via the Guild Kite Maker, that has been removed with the release of Heart of Thorns (2015), yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; the Kite Maker could be put back in game, as part of the Guild Hall

- Seize the Awkward Potion [novelty]: was a promotion in the Gem Store, only available twice in 2020, yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; could be put on the 'sales' roster (though it was free) once a year

 

3) Novelties in the Wardrobe

There are several gizmos that seem to be novelties, yet they can't be added to the Novelty tab in the Wardrobe. Perhaps the following items could be added to the Wardrobe:

- Music boxes:

    - Zephyrites Music Box [novelty] (part of the legendary Minstrel Collection)

    - Path of Fire Music Boxes:

        - Khadiri's Music Box [novelty]

        - Tinari's Music Box [novelty]

        - Ghiwaine's Music [novelty]

        - Hafez's Music Box [novelty]

        - Nightingale's Music Box [novelty]

- Endless Underwater Tonics from End of Dragons:

        - Endless Koi Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Shark Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Dolphin Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Hermit Crab Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Thundershrimp Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Cave Crab Tonic [novelty]

 

4) Minis that are in the Wardrobe but not in game: there are a few minis that ar visible in the Wardrobe, but are unobtainable in game as of yet. This might get 'fixed' as until recently there were six End of Dragons mini's that were unobtainable, but with the last release three were implemented (the three Void minis). This might mean that the other three will be implemented with the next (not) living world release. These 'missing' minis are:

- Mini Kirin [miniature]

- Mini Siege Turtle Hatchling [miniature]

- Mini Corrupted Jade Behemoth [miniature]

 

In conclusion: this would be my 'wish list' (as a 'completionist') for implementation in the game, perhaps as part of one (or several) QoL-update(s). All of it would be old / existing content, comparable (at least in my mind) to the QoL-updates and implementation of LW S1 we got last year. I honestly have no idea how much time or resources the implementation would take, but it would make me really happy to be able to get these things 'done', going forward into the next Age of Guild Wars, with new content and new horizons to explore...

Curious about your thoughts on any or all of the things mentioned here 🙂

[Randulf.7614]

I believe theyve acknowledged the story side of things. It’s not off the table, but not a priority either.

Ill be surprised if they ever add the missing bits though. They kind of had one shot and given how much it seems to have taken out of their resources to deliver what they did, I think it’s best to just move on with new content and leave Ancient Karka/Southson in the past 

Except the Halloween story. There’s no excuses for that to still be missing

[Dolce Luce.6529]

Well I was actually leaving the special Lost Shores event (where Southsun Cove was introduced) and the Karka attack on Lion's Arch out, because that indeed might take op too many resources (for too little content). My suggestion would be to introduce the LW story chapters 'The Secret of Southsun' and 'Last Stand at Southsun' (combined in the achievement category 'Secret of Southsun'). This would be similar to how they reimplemented the other LW S1 chapters (plus: part of it is already in game).

[Randulf.7614]

There would even less point doing the two Southson stories and not doing lost shores. That’s further cherry picking. Id like everything back too, but I’m certain that ship has sailed. They did a reasonable job of bringing ls1 back, but it’s been at a greater cost than expected. I think it’s time to move on

[Dolce Luce.6529]

I do agree on the 'cherry picking' argument. The idea behind my post was to see which elements (i.e. missing items and achievements) could be reimplemented with as minimum of an effort as possible (as far as we can determine that as 'outsiders'). My assumptions were that:

- story instances could be brought back as this was done for LW S1

- festivals (specifically Festival of the Four Winds) could be updated with small activities, as there have been additions to the festivals in previous years (instanced and open world)

- the wardrobe could be expanded for items similar to the ones already in the wardrobe (certain types of novelties)

 

In the ideal situation they would release an integrated chapter (or perhaps two separate chapters) of Lost Shores + The Secret of Southsun + Last Stand at Southsun + Cutthroat Politics, as this is the connected story of Canach, Ellen Kiel and Evon Gnashblade. This would require a significant amount of rework though, as Lost Shores was a one time open world event chain and Cutthroat Politics was fully embedded within the original Festival of the Four Winds (pre rework). As you say, this seems to be a ship that has definitely set sail in that version, otherwise it would have been implemented as perhaps chapter 2 of LW S1 or as part of the current chapter 2 or 3... ah but one can hope 😉 

 

Perhaps we'll get Super Adventure Box World 3 and 4 then, as one of the other 'loose threads' from way back when... (again: copium 😛 )

[kharmin.7683]

You assume that bringing back LWS1 was a minimum of effort?

[Randulf.7614]

38 minutes ago, Dolce Luce.6529 said:

I do agree on the 'cherry picking' argument. The idea behind my post was to see which elements (i.e. missing items and achievements) could be reimplemented with as minimum of an effort as possible (as far as we can determine that as 'outsiders'). My assumptions were that:

- story instances could be brought back as this was done for LW S1

- festivals (specifically Festival of the Four Winds) could be updated with small activities, as there have been additions to the festivals in previous years (instanced and open world)

- the wardrobe could be expanded for items similar to the ones already in the wardrobe (certain types of novelties)

 

In the ideal situation they would release an integrated chapter (or perhaps two separate chapters) of Lost Shores + The Secret of Southsun + Last Stand at Southsun + Cutthroat Politics, as this is the connected story of Canach, Ellen Kiel and Evon Gnashblade. This would require a significant amount of rework though, as Lost Shores was a one time open world event chain and Cutthroat Politics was fully embedded within the original Festival of the Four Winds (pre rework). As you say, this seems to be a ship that has definitely set sail in that version, otherwise it would have been implemented as perhaps chapter 2 of LW S1 or as part of the current chapter 2 or 3... ah but one can hope 😉 

 

Perhaps we'll get Super Adventure Box World 3 and 4 then, as one of the other 'loose threads' from way back when... (again: copium 😛 )

It could be fitted in before the rest of LS1 as it’s own thing. Lost Shores can be done as a strike instance like the other ls1 bits. The vote can be a solo story instance. Where to add it isn’t an issue. It’s whether it’s worth it. I’m not sure it is at other expenses, although again I’d be happy to see it

 

Edited March 27, 2023 by Randulf.7614

[Dolce Luce.6529]

Not at all, by no means reimplementing LW S1 the way they did was a minimum effort and I (again) would like to compliment the team for taking the time and resources and doing this at all(!)

My point was that after having done it, have an idea of how much time / effort the reimplementation of certain 'bits' takes (in their old form) and how much time a rework of certin 'bits' would take. For example: I can imagine that the Old Lion's Court Strike Mission for example was more work than brining back either the Molten Facility or Aetherblade Hideout in LA. It would therefore (and this is assumption) be more work to 'rework' the Lost Shores LA Attack' into a strike mission than to reimplement the Canach's Lair explorable instance (where you fight Subdirector Null) or the Candidate Trials in Labytinthine Cliffs (during Festival of the Four Winds).

So no, no assumptions about the actual amount of effort, only about relative effort (and not taking into account the size of the team and other aspects of the game that are being worked on, like completely new content, moving forward)...

[TheNecrosanct.4028]

As much as I would like to see missing bits reincorporated, I too think that ship has sailed. As it is, I'm fairly content with the rerelease of LWS1. The only mistake they made is the introduction of Canach. Outside of Canach's Lair there is no backstory on him in the game, and that instance only covers a small part of his backstory. So in my opinion, with their reasoning that without LWS1 we get no explanation where certain characters come from, they botched it with Canach because there's still very little explanation on him. That's the only thing I would really like to see added back into the game: his full backstory. The Lost Shores would be nice, but we're not missing anything essential to the complete story without that chapter.

[LSD.4673]

Considering Canach is one of the better known and liked characters, and considering how pointless of a place Southsun is, it's really silly to have not implemented that part of the story. 

 

Southsun's a kind of cool map. There's just no reason to ever set foot there besides Karka Queen for WB trains.

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

Not having the introduction to Canach back defeats the whole point of readding LW1. That confusion and missed content feeling from going from Personal Story to LW2 is still there. Who is this Canach character and why is that content not back in the game?

 

Guess he's not important to the story despite being in some of the best character written content in the game.

[Dolce Luce.6529]

On 3/26/2023 at 2:00 PM, Dolce Luce.6529 said:

So, last year saw the implementation of (most of) LW S1 in five episodes. The devs brought back old story instances, achievement categories and even some novelties (Selfless and Thoughtless potions in the Battle for Lion's Arch release). As someone who's played Guild Wars (1 and) 2 since the very beginning, it felt really satisfying to be able to play (most of) the entire story and be able to get some 'special' items missing from my Novelties tab. This had me thinking: what bits from way-back-when are still 'missing' and would be great to be re-implemented? I tried to get create an overview, constisting of story, achievements, items and a specific list for the Novelty sections of the wardrobe. I've also included options (suggestions?) to reinstate these 'missing bits'. 

 

1) Story content & achievements

- Secret of Southsun [achievement category] --> could be put in the Side Stories tab of the achievement section; gets us up to speed with the origin story of Canach

    - Canach's Lair [story instance]; currently in game, accessible through the Scrying Pool in Eye of the North (with the Visions of the Past release)

    - Canach's Lair [explorable instance]

- Cutthroat Politics: a very thin story chapter, might not be 'worth it' to implement, apart from one feature: Candidate Trials [activity]

    - suggestion: via the Candidate Trials you can acquire a currency to buy two missing novelties:

        - Ellen Kiel Representation Button (rare) [novelty]

        - Even Gnashblade Representation Button (rare) [novelty]

    - suggestion: the Candidate Trials could be added as part of the Festival of the Four Winds, making it a time-gated activity and something extra to 'grind' during the summer festival

- Queen's Jubilee: mostly reimplemented with both the Festival of the Four Winds and LW S1 episode 3 (Clockwork Chaos)

    - Beacons of Kryta [activity] / Luminary of Kryta [achievement]; which rewards the Flames of Kryta [novelty]

    - suggestion: add this activity + achievement + novelty item as part of the Festival of the Four Winds as an extra bit for the summer festival

 

2) Unobtainable Novelty items

- Boxing Gloves [novelty]: Gem Store item that hasn't been on the store since 2013, yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; these could be put back on the sales roster again

- Guild Kite [novelty]: obtainably via the Guild Kite Maker, that has been removed with the release of Heart of Thorns (2015), yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; the Kite Maker could be put back in game, as part of the Guild Hall

- Seize the Awkward Potion [novelty]: was a promotion in the Gem Store, only available twice in 2020, yet is in the Novelty section of the Wardrobe; could be put on the 'sales' roster (though it was free) once a year

 

3) Novelties in the Wardrobe

There are several gizmos that seem to be novelties, yet they can't be added to the Novelty tab in the Wardrobe. Perhaps the following items could be added to the Wardrobe:

- Music boxes:

    - Zephyrites Music Box [novelty] (part of the legendary Minstrel Collection)

    - Path of Fire Music Boxes:

        - Khadiri's Music Box [novelty]

        - Tinari's Music Box [novelty]

        - Ghiwaine's Music [novelty]

        - Hafez's Music Box [novelty]

        - Nightingale's Music Box [novelty]

- Endless Underwater Tonics from End of Dragons:

        - Endless Koi Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Shark Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Dolphin Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Hermit Crab Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Thundershrimp Tonic [novelty]

        - Endless Cave Crab Tonic [novelty]

 

4) Minis that are in the Wardrobe but not in game: there are a few minis that ar visible in the Wardrobe, but are unobtainable in game as of yet. This might get 'fixed' as until recently there were six End of Dragons mini's that were unobtainable, but with the last release three were implemented (the three Void minis). This might mean that the other three will be implemented with the next (not) living world release. These 'missing' minis are:

- Mini Kirin [miniature]

- Mini Siege Turtle Hatchling [miniature]

- Mini Corrupted Jade Behemoth [miniature]

 

In conclusion: this would be my 'wish list' (as a 'completionist') for implementation in the game, perhaps as part of one (or several) QoL-update(s). All of it would be old / existing content, comparable (at least in my mind) to the QoL-updates and implementation of LW S1 we got last year. I honestly have no idea how much time or resources the implementation would take, but it would make me really happy to be able to get these things 'done', going forward into the next Age of Guild Wars, with new content and new horizons to explore...

Curious about your thoughts on any or all of the things mentioned here 🙂

A few months later and a thank you seems to be in order! Points 3 and 4 have been adressed in the more recent updates:

3) The Endless Underwater Tonics from End of Dragons can now be added to the wardrobe! (thank you!)

4) The three unobtainable miniatures have been removed from the miniature preview in the Wardrobe, so they are no longer 'missing' (still hoping for them to be added in the future, but at least they are not an 'oversight' anymore).

All in all this gives me good hopes that the other items on the list might get tackled in the (near?) future as well... 🙂 

For now: a large thank you to the developers!