Am I the only one not enjoying this expansion?

[GingeraleDragon.5804]

I had a sinking feeling upon logging in today that there really was no leadup to this expansion. No big trailer, no promotional period, no obvious open plot thread in-game. Upon starting the story, I'm given fetch quests on maps I've already been on, only to be treated with a slog of a prologue instance, then patronized as if this weren't a ten-year-old game and we've been doing this sort of stuff for that long. Upon completing the first chapter, I'm thrown into the first map of a new paid expansion that's made up entirely of reused assets from other maps that I've spent countless hours on. I get the context, but as a first impression, it's not a great one.

I began having my doubts with it once I thought about how good End of Dragons was. And my doubts turned out to be just how I felt. I mentally checked out and closed the game when they told me to learn about skyscales. The same skyscales I grinded out PvP and maps for currencies to get, the same skyscales the Commander themself witnessed coming into the world, the same skyscales I've been riding for like a year now.

It's pretty obvious the writing team got fired again, but this one couldn't even be bothered to do more than skim whatever recap they were given. The characters treat the Commander like some new guy, some rookie who hasn't fought like 3 different wars and killed six elder dragons. If this was placed before Heart of Thorns, it would make sense, but it isn't. This doesn't feel like a Guild Wars expansion, this feels like a completely different game, but there's charr in it. I can look over a lot of flaws with the way this game handles keeping players busy, but when you're asking me to grind out a mastery on what is essentially a map that's just maps I've seen before but smaller snippets of them, it feels like a dishonest slap in the face. That's not even bringing up how the expansion isn't even finished yet. I couldn't shake the feeling of "This feels like Metal Gear Survive" while playing before I just logged out.

 

If this is the new standard of quality for expansions, I'm really worried about the future of Guild Wars 2, and if half-baked maps, overly long and fairly boring instanced content, and patronizing and confusing dialogue is what we have to look forward to, I won't be pre-ordering the next expansion.

 

This is just disappointing.

Edited August 23, 2023 by GingeraleDragon.5804

[Mieke.9125]

I am enjoying it very much. I LOVE the whole wizardry theme, the new maps are a lot of fun, the new masteries are cool and I like the wizard vault reward system. I haven’t done the whole story yet, but so far I am having fun with that too.

Some tweaks to the new daily system would be good, but other than that, I love the new expansion.

 

[vares.8457]

Just now, Mieke.9125 said:

I am enjoying it very much. I LOVE the whole wizardry theme, the new maps are a lot of fun, the new masteries are cool and I like the wizard vault reward system. I haven’t done the whole story yet, but so far I am having fun with that too.

Some tweaks to the new daily system would be good, but other than that, I love the new expansion.

 

Yeah me too. So far I am enjoying the expansion. 

[ixon.2496]

This is the Expansion of Soon™ 

Honestly calling it an expansion at all is insulting, Even calling it a "mini" expansion is being generous. 

I get that Anet said they needed to change their pacing for content releases, but the game is seriously going to suffer if this is the level of content they expect to wow players with. 

Bugs and poorly thought out system changes aside, the idea of waiting a full year for this to feel complete just sucks. Being drip fed bits and pieces of an expansion over a year till the next one comes around.

I'd rather pay full current gen prices for an expansion and get a complete package rather than the promise of the rest to come.

But then again, Anet does own the trademark for Soon™, just ask WvW.

 

[DanAlcedo.3281]

I have mixed feelings about it. 

I feel like I lost more then I gained. 

I'm at work currently and seriously debate if I even wanna log in today. 

That never happened before for an Gw2 Patch. 

Not a good sign. 

[Randulf.7614]

I’m enjoying the content side of things. Not the pointless changes or what they herald 

Edited August 23, 2023 by Randulf.7614

[Hattarx.5947]

40 minutes ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

I have mixed feelings about it. 

I feel like I lost more then I gained. 

I'm at work currently and seriously debate if I even wanna log in today. 

That never happened before for an Gw2 Patch. 

Not a good sign. 

It's the same for me, I entered the game today, looked at the screen, my arms fell off and I log off. When it would have been enough to introduce the vault wizard and relics alongside the content that already existed. This expansion takes away content instead of adding imho.

[bluberblasen.9684]

 

WvW only player  here i enjoy that new speed relic on my class 🙂

( i don't enjoy the new condition meta because of the very hard nerf to anti toxin runes  ) 

 

 

 

[Debesyla.7102]

Yes, you are the only one.

[Palador.2170]

I'm up to the point where it expects you to gain the first level in a specific mastery line, and I'm HATING the story.

There is not a single character I've met in this that I've not wanted to drop-kick into the nearest rift or bottomless pit. ESPECIALLY Zojja. (Newsflash Zojja, Logan never fully healed either, but he didn't wander off to whine about it and leave friends wondering if he's even alive any more.)

Oh, and look! A monster that feeds on feelings! Gee, it's not like we've not seen THAT recently. And things coming from rifts? Yeah, been there and done that one, too.

There's more I could say, but it would become spoilers. I just... WHY is the Commander LISTENING to these people? There is a threat, ignore these self-important idiots and deal with it like you usually do.. <Kitten> their secrets.

Add on everything else they've made a mess of, and this expansion is ... Okay, I'll see it through for now, and give it the year. But as things stand now, I'm more likely to pick up a new game than I am the next expansion.

[Naxos.2503]

You're not, but apparently voicing criticism and expecting some sort of answer from the devs is a high crime of treason and punished by ostracism and ridicule. I'll take my chances and weather out this situation onto other games. I was hoping to see a statement before I do, but I suppose this is fine regardless. I hope the story's okay for everyone that's playing through, in most releases story was generally decent and interesting, so here's hoping the only thing they fumbled was the system.

[Ylthan.1693]

You're not alone honestly if i could get a refund on this one i would.

[studark.5917]

No, you're not. they seem to be making things more tedious. I'm not finding this fun at all. As a person here since beta, every expansion gets worse. Finding rifts & having to constantly click on scan to get there only to find out it's over, rinse and repeat. IS IT ASKING TO MUCH TO LEAVE SCAN ON THE WHOLE TIME? I'm glad some find this enjoyable. Maybe I've just outgrown this game. I really wish they'd go back to the base game formula. Chasing things around the map is not that fun.

[Tonny.4952]

I like the new location but i'm disappointed by the way game is going. There is a game called Rift and Anet basically ripped off main mechanics from it regarding the rift closing. I felt like playing "that other game" all the time yesterday when i was closing rifts.

Then there are mages "from Gryffindor" and buildings that looks like a copy of Hogwarts. Really?!

I was expecting new content but new map seems like a "trial version" of all the zones. It's really disappointing that game designers decided just to reuse existing zones instead of creating something new and unique.

New masteries feel far fetched as well. I was able to get 100% map completion with a "stock" Skyscale. So I don't see why someone should care unlocking them a part from some extra convenience. Ability to open arcane chests - same FU from the designers like in EoD where you also needed to unlock it "just because". Rather weak.

I liked the fact that even if you had a Skyscale you would still be able to raise it (i haven't found an egg yet). But why exactly now everyone "gets Skyscale for free"!??? It was the whole point of the mount to be an ultimate endgame thing. Original Skyscale quest chain was one if the best quest in the whole game, imho. You actually had to work for it, you suffered for it, you raised it. That's why acquiring your Skyscale was a really emotional thing because you have been through all this trouble to get and raise it. New zone is unplayable without one. That's why it's rather strange decision to simplify acquisition process of Skyscale instead of making it available in new location as a hire but you still need to do the proper unlock sequence. Not to mention all the people who already wasted time and money on unlocking one.

There were several bugs that stopped progression. I was able to go around them but it took some time and caused a lot of frustration. LA was fuming yesterday due to that.

Change to daily system is a HUGE letdown. It's the main disappointment for me (so far). There are plenty threads about it already on the forum.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Tonny.4952
correct name of the expansion

[Black Canary.4238]

Huh, where to start? When I first logged in yesterday and checked the relics it was like a truck hit me! Lost every motivation to play the game! This doesn't feel like guild wars anymore, my thought is that this game is going down the sinkhole like gw1 did. They ruined it with this expansion, not even worth the money paid, well I know better not to purchase next one now. HoT and PoF imho were the best expansions with Living world seasons linked with them, best money ever spent. Now EoD and This secret thing are ridiculous, not even a shadow of first 2 expansions, not to mention eod had 5 maps for 30$, while first 2 had way more maps for the bucks spent.... I'm guessing this one will have 4 maps considering the amount of $$$... For new players this may seem nice and fun , BUT no amount of pretty map and graphics cannot change what they did to gameplay overall... feels like masked the problem with this expansion with a pretty map... very poor ... But what to expect when interns designed this... SHAME SHAME SHAME! Letting go of professional team Anet once had and downgrading to interns with no experience with actual player data base is shameful to say at least... 

[Lincolnbeard.1735]

The vault is a mess, who the kitten had the idea of "escort 10 dolyaks" and "defend 10 times" for the weekly? You've to pray the gods of rng for the dailies/weeklies now. So stupid...
The relics are absurd, as a power mesmer main, there's nothing in there good, ended up picking the vigor on dodge.
The story is well...the commander saved Tyria several times but somehow this shits are rude and keeping secrets that threatens Tyria.
There's not(until now) any explanation about the mursaat, why is he friend and so on.
The rifts are obnoxious, like 10-20sec stuck in an animation to close a rift?
The new map is nothing special. And crippling your own game so you can uncripple it later with masteries is idiotic.

Until now there's nothing worth 25€.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Lincolnbeard.1735

[Zzik.5873]

I dont get why people are mad. So far on my side, this expansion as been amazing! I really enjoy the first map, its such an original concept! Even lore wise, I have the feeling the world of gw2 is now 100x bigger and mysterious than it use to be! I loce the vibe, I love the visual! The new enemy are a lot of fun to fight! The new daily system is way better than what we use to have! Loving it so far!

My only issue is... they... they took away my golem!?!?! NoooOooOooooo...

[Hattarx.5947]

Imho the new map is clearly inspired by the one from Edge of the Mist ( ot ... Edge of the Mist completely overlooked). And also the first thing I thought was that its structure refers a lot to the Fortnite season 4 trailer event. So I don't find it very original.

[XCLASSGAMING.9830]

3 hours ago, ixon.2496 said:

This is the Expansion of Soon™ 

 

 

You...you do know how other expansions in other games work, right? This is very normal standard for majority of other MMOs. 

[Agathon.6578]

I dont like it that i have to play to get the rewards. 

Like seriously they force me to actually login and play to get my dailies. 
 

[Biziut.3594]

Yeah, kinda disappointed too. It's very okaish, and I say it generously. From the things that I didn't saw anyone mention, I also do not like...

- Mobs, that are, just like map features, reused from other maps. I do not think I saw a single mob that uses a new skeleton, only the mesh is diffrent. Even the first big bad, this demon Cerus, is just a Deimos with his chest hands deleted and two spiky things on back added.

- Dialouge no longer acknowledge your gender, now when anyone talks about you in 3rd person, you are no longer he/she. You are them. Yeah two dialogues for genders, so hard to do.

- Last little detail that pains me the most, the new skyscale fireball attack. I think I was most hyped for this one. This skill do not have any animation, your skyscale just sits in the air doing it's usual idle, not even bothering to open his jaw and actually breath this fireball out. It just appears out of nowhere and this is it. And we have 2023...

On the brighter side, I like some skins, altho this is pretty subjective matter, new daily system looks to be a nice thing, with rewards being skins, emotes, charges. Other than that, well I can't think of any more positives, so this should speak for itself. Would say that it is good to see Zojja, but it's just not Her. All whiny and defeated and submissive to this other wizards. She was a Boss a** kitten, in base game, and now I do not recall hearing any good line from Her.

Well, thats my three pennies. You are not alone mate. I certainly won't buy an upgraded edition of next expansion and will definitly think twice before I preorder it... if I will even buy it that is. 

[Hattarx.5947]

Permanent

• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/0/0f/Daily_Strike_Mission.png/20px-Daily_Strike_Mission.png Daily Strike Mission
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/3/38/Daily_Fractals.png/20px-Daily_Fractals.png Daily Fractals
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/5/54/Cantha.png/20px-Cantha.png Daily End of Dragons
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/0/03/Champions.png/20px-Champions.png Daily Icebrood Saga
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/7/77/Daybreak.png/20px-Daybreak.png Daily Living World Season 4
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/f/f2/Flashpoint.png/20px-Flashpoint.png Daily Living World Season 3
• https://wiki.guildwars2.com/images/thumb/1/1c/Sunken_Treasure_Hunter.png/20px-Sunken_Treasure_Hunter.png Daily Sunken Treasure Hunter

Just add the one from the Wizard Vault as a new daily and keep the old daily and no one would have had anything to say

[TSCavalier.8053]

I suppose it's all perspective.

For those who haven't gotten to play with a skyscale before, there's a lot of newness to this expansion... being able to fly around in a GW2 map is a really fun experience.

For people like me (who have had a skyscale for a while) that newness isn there, but the initial map is pretty darn cool. Being a GW1 and GW2 player throughout the expansions and living world, there's a good dose of nostalgia for a lot of the areas. And the map overall gives me the Verdant Brink feel of lots of exploration and nooks and crannies to see.

I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

I like that the map is "rich" with things to do, also. I can log in and there's always something just right over there to partake in.

And having only one account, I never farmed login dailies or anything like that, and the new currency is more compelling to me now because you can play to earn things like new mount skins and such. Previously the login rewards just got "thrown onto the pile". I would rather be able to choose what I want.

Overall, this is a win in my book.

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

Personally, the Rune/Relic system was done poorly. The Wizard's Vault is okay at best. They should allow you to see the options available for the week before making your choices. Some of the items in the vault look to me to cost too much. Weapon Mastery already is a slap in the face to warrior players.

I'm not going to doom say here, but if SoTo ended up breaking Anet I wouldn't be surprised. We'll have to see how the quarterly patches turn out.

[Manasa Devi.7958]

I'm not particularly fond of the first new map. It seems to be all skyscale all the time except for a bit of combat here and there. I've only got it to 50-ish % completion and I wonder if there's any place where one of the other mounts would be useful.

Maybe it'll grow on me.