Am I the only one not enjoying this expansion?

[DanAlcedo.3281]

Just now, Manasa Devi.7958 said:

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.

You need the griffon for some Poi if you don't want to grind out the Masteries before map completion. 

[Kelly.7019]

8 hours ago, GingeraleDragon.5804 said:

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.

As i h8 story and never pay attention (the least thing i like about the   --lets say old game--) so i don't know if the lore/story of soto fits the reuse of old assets, but i did enjoy seeing how they were remixed. Kinda fun from a DECORATORS perspective. Exactly like how i wanted to be able to decorate the guild halls, but we were never able to. Being able to resize decorations to fit environments that you create. Felt a lot more like I was in ESO, only i'm not the one who decorated these maps. 😞  but it really felt like - Why can't this be possible now. this would have been the good direction to pursue but of course anet / gw2 is not that game. 😞  their game is to drive people away from their game.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Kelly.7019

[GingeraleDragon.5804]

I think I should clarify that I'm not talking about the new daily system. I don't think it's perfect as is right now, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Being able to at least cater to how you play is nice, and the rewards are more premium. I would like to think of it more like a shop than a battle pass, but I understand the frustrations. I would hope that instead of the rewards going away forever that they cycle out, but I can only hope.

I'm strictly talking about the story/gameplay here. Everyone got the Wizard's Vault, like it or not, but those of us who paid $25+ got the actual new content.

If you like it, more power to you, but what I've been presented with so far just makes me sad and disappointed. It's like watching someone learn from their mistakes only to fumble right as they hit their stride.

Just not a fan of having been playing this game for 4 years, getting acclimated with the world, only to have new meaningless terms and reasons shoved into my face and treated like I'm brand new to this whole thing just because we're dealing with yet another secret society.

[Futa.4375]

You are not the only one, for the first time I don't even want to log in.

It made me realise how this game was still holding only because of the base game and the first two expansions/living world. The talents are long gone. I wish I could refund this one.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Futa.4375

[oZZie.4762]

They're treating this expansion as a marathon, which is counterintuitive to how players want to experience an expac IMO. People want to be immersed into all the new shiny things when they purchase and jump into a new land. Not have a few new things with the promise of more to come (TBD, probably, eventually).

[Black Canary.4238]

5 hours ago, XCLASSGAMING.9830 said:

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

But but this wasn't like other MMOS, gw2 was better and somehow different, now they've ruined it with this expansion, they've put gw2 in the same bin as other MMOS.. sad!

[Cephorin.3902]

No, you are not the only one.

I played last night and completely lost interest in it. The changes are thoughtless and unfinished. The new map is cool... but it still feels like copy pasta. I am really disappointed.

GW2 has always been innovative and different. Unfortunately, this seems to me very much like wanting to make money with minimal effort.

I'll leave it alone for now. Maybe sometime in the next few months.

[davemclean.5138]

As a veteran player of GW1 and GW2, I found the game has been slowly declining in interesting content for a while. GW1 is amazing and will probably never be surpassed by any game. GW2 at launch was good as well, lots of content, better graphics. HoT added new specs which changed gameplay, added raids. PoF added the best mounts in any game, more specs and more raids. Then came EoD which added more specs, and fishing. After I finished EoD story i stopped playing and was excited for a new expansion as I was for all new expansion/GW2 content. With SotO i dont see much substance to it, I get to use any weapon now which is okay i guess. But what else does it have to keep people interested over time.

I dont care that i had full legendary runes and armor and weapons and sigils, and my builds have changed, not raiding anymore since no new raids. Open world you can run around with any build. I will play through the story of SotO just because it is new GW content and hope to enjoy it. At least it was cheap right. Then uninstall GW2 because no need to login anymore, no reward for that. Not bitter and have enjoyed GW2, just not interested anymore.

Back to playing GW1 until someone can create GW3 or a better MMO.

[cdsmith.1072]

Personally, I despise the floating rocks BS. Friend of mine asked how the expansion was. I told him about the floating rocks and he immediately said, "F that!" so I'm not the only one. Then I told him about the changes to dailies. The language turned explicit after that. Neither he nor his wife are going to buy the expansion now. Both have been around since GW1.

[WeightTrainer.3219]

9 hours ago, GingeraleDragon.5804 said:

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.

For anyone who does not like the latest expansion(s) the best thing they can do to make sure Arenanet knows this is not the forums. It is to not purchase the expansion. When the bottom line gets affected businesses start pay attention. I learned this with EoD. I don't plan on making any type of purchase from Arenanet until they start listening to the community.

Edited August 23, 2023 by WeightTrainer.3219

[Stralgarr.7561]

I ragequit after an hour because of how awful the Skyscale is. Literally never been more angry playing this game than I was trying to use that piece of kitten mount to do map completion on the first map.

Yet another map where if you don't grind out the masteries, it's a maddening slog. Reminds me of HoT, but somehow worse.

The EoD maps were so pleasant to do map completion in. No stupid masteries to grind out and no having to use the Skyscale.

Edited August 23, 2023 by Stralgarr.7561

[Zzik.5873]

7 hours ago, Manasa Devi.7958 said:

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.

Raptor is kinda fun on certain part of the map, griffon is also a joy to fly in this map like omg.

[Zzik.5873]

3 hours ago, Black Canary.4238 said:

But but this wasn't like other MMOS, gw2 was better and somehow different, now they've ruined it with this expansion, they've put gw2 in the same bin as other MMOS.. sad!

How?

[duskpoo.1824]

I've enjoyed playing it so far.  The story held my interest far better than the never-ending dragon drama.  The daily login going away is fine with me since I don't log in daily.  I like the prizes on the new system and the ability to choose what I want instead of being fed a bunch of stuff i don't want every time i log in.  The ending was nice, I like where we are going with this story, about to get dark and creepy.  My only gripe is the dialogue in story kept referring to my character as "they".  That came of REALLY lazy to me, and annoying as hell.  Seriously if i get called "they" one more time i will throat punch the nearest npc.  Also, not gonna lie, i see a lot of inspiration from the game Rift.  Anyone remember that game?

[AresGuildwars.6372]

4 hours ago, davemclean.5138 said:

As a veteran player of GW1 and GW2, I found the game has been slowly declining in interesting content for a while. GW1 is amazing and will probably never be surpassed by any game. [...]

Back to playing GW1 until someone can create GW3 or a better MMO.

Soto who?

Wayfarer's Reverie starts on friday as well! 

[pallas.8150]

I'm not done playing yet (I'm on chapter 7), but I actually REALLY am enjoying it. I like the new villains, the maps, and especially the new characters.

I really, really disliked Taimi running the show during PoF and so much of some Living World chapters. I also really didn't like/ enjoy most of the 'friends' the Commander has... so not having to lean on them and exploring a new situation where YOU have to figure things out is superb.

Also. a big THANK YOU for not putting real world politics into the game and just making it fun. I thought some of the 'wokeness' of End of Dragons' writing was super cringe, and I'm not even a right winger.

 

 

 

Edited August 23, 2023 by pallas.8150

[Aizenath.8310]

I logged in to do dailies with my gf and then start playing the expansion together. Lo and behold, the dailies we all done for the last many years, gone, replaced by new stuff attached mainly to paid content. I have all the paid content, my gf doesn't so I was genuinely sad that we couldn't do the dailies. I looked at the new wizard tower dailies and did one daily, one that I didn't have to interact with other players, which I thought was the whole point of the game. I feel like I pre-ordered an expansion and someone stole the game I love and swapped it for something else. The whole new direction of the game feels off, like they are starting to care more about money than the players, I really hope that is not the case.

[Gorem.8104]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:47 PM, GingeraleDragon.5804 said:

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.

I miss being the pact commander, in charge of armies and life or death choices, good times, good writing staff we used to have, I love the games story (though LW3 was still weird) PoF was Freaking amazing and LW4 delivered, IBS could have been good if it led to anywhere and then.... Yeah, we basically a tourist that is now an accountant doing papers at a desk as we sit and read a story. RIP Blish, you were the last well written character death. 

Its high time to quit again, i've quit GW2 for six years before and came back and picked up right where I left off, but with Anet's new design choice, that's not possible anymore. I may Return to do another story run from start to LW4 finish but the game will never be as good as it could have been, which is the true shame. They could have made this game one of the greatest of all time, but Anet by choice has made it not. 

[elrin.4750]

Not a fan too.

Skyscale was great everywhere,  but not on this new maps since navigation in general is a pain.

PoF is the only real expansion Anet made, and the best in terms of price to content ratio. I know SotO is not done, but this should be a $10 expansion.

[meerfunkuhtron.9725]

On 8/23/2023 at 7:12 AM, GingeraleDragon.5804 said:

I think I should clarify that I'm not talking about the new daily system. I don't think it's perfect as is right now, but I think it's a step in the right direction. Being able to at least cater to how you play is nice, and the rewards are more premium. I would like to think of it more like a shop than a battle pass, but I understand the frustrations. I would hope that instead of the rewards going away forever that they cycle out, but I can only hope.

I'm strictly talking about the story/gameplay here. Everyone got the Wizard's Vault, like it or not, but those of us who paid $25+ got the actual new content.

If you like it, more power to you, but what I've been presented with so far just makes me sad and disappointed. It's like watching someone learn from their mistakes only to fumble right as they hit their stride.

Just not a fan of having been playing this game for 4 years, getting acclimated with the world, only to have new meaningless terms and reasons shoved into my face and treated like I'm brand new to this whole thing just because we're dealing with yet another secret society.

In terms of gameplay, my main issue is everything just seems a bit messy. I think it's because the zones are small but filled with activities. I don't mind having a lot of things to do on a map, but I do mind constantly being yelled at or, even if I turned the dialogue volume all the way down, I'm still getting consistent pop-ups. "You found a ley line!" Yes, I get it, learn the mastery. "Wayfinder! Help me with this..." almost every five steps I take. There doesn't seem to be enough of a breathing room for me to just take in the surroundings, explore, and do things at my own pace without some random dialogue popping up. Everything just feels so urgent, and the leisurely way of playing and exploring seems to have been lost on this one. (On a side note but connected to this, I know that a lot of people hated the renown hearts, but I feel like this is part of what those hearts achieved... you can have a zone filled with activities, but players do not have to hear anything about them or interact with them at all if they chose not to. Having static quests that you had to start on your own coupled with dynamic events made the maps and activities within them more flexible to fit people's varying playstyles, IMO.)

Connecting this complaint to the stories, one of my main issues too is how often I would trigger dialogues that don't make sense for my character at all because she hasn't gotten to that portion of the story. I'd understand if the mistake is just on my end and I'm flying into maps I'm not supposed to, but the game literally tells me to wander around to close rifts before I could continue the story, which then leads me into accidentally triggering things I probably wasn't supposed to hear until much later. The set up for this doesn't make sense.

I do find the story interesting so far. It's not the best story I've encountered here, but it's better than the previous ones for me (the PoF and EoD storylines just weren't my cup of tea). I don't mind the skyscale much either, but I also feel like people would feel much better about it if it wasn't such a big focus in this expansion. If there was something absolutely new for people to try or sink their teeth into (perhaps if we had a more fleshed out map that went along with the ones we currently have, or if we were introduced to completely new mechanics while still having the new flight training stuff in addition to all that), then it wouldn't feel so off. 

Idk. Since they're trying a new formula, I'm willing to give them some time and I'll have to see how things go after they've released further installments. I enjoy the activities enough, just definitely not how they're laid out. I hope in the next patches, they'll release maps that aren't so darn loud like I'm entering a bad webpage without an ad blocker so there's windows popping up and all the videos are autoplaying.

 

[meerfunkuhtron.9725]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:52 PM, duskpoo.1824 said:

I've enjoyed playing it so far.  The story held my interest far better than the never-ending dragon drama.  The daily login going away is fine with me since I don't log in daily.  I like the prizes on the new system and the ability to choose what I want instead of being fed a bunch of stuff i don't want every time i log in.  The ending was nice, I like where we are going with this story, about to get dark and creepy.  My only gripe is the dialogue in story kept referring to my character as "they".  That came of REALLY lazy to me, and annoying as hell.  Seriously if i get called "they" one more time i will throat punch the nearest npc.  Also, not gonna lie, i see a lot of inspiration from the game Rift.  Anyone remember that game?

Rift was fun when it was busy 🙂 And I feel like if Anet were to borrow ideas from that game, I wish they'd take a page out of its housing. Since that game actually had proper housing. I do think GW2 has had similar mechanics to these rifts even back then, just not to this extent I guess.

[rrusse.7058]

I was actually the opposite.

I had an odd sinking feeling leading up to the launch. Had my reservations before. Watched some of the trailers. Saw some interesting stuff, some of it good, some no so great.

Then I played it and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised and this expansion has revitalized my interest and desire to play.

Everything besides relics looks and feels great and I can't wait to play some more.

[Okhu.7948]

Opposite for me. I am greatly enjoying all the complaining though (very amusing). I only have a few problems but they'll either be fixed or changed down the pipeline and they're pretty minor.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Okhu.7948

[Teknomancer.4895]

On 8/23/2023 at 7:48 AM, Tonny.4952 said:

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). 

[snip]

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.

Oh don't worry, you won't find an egg in the new zone either, so it's still the same!  /snark

Seriously, I think the abandoned nests are coded wrong. They should be like resource nodes, where after YOU interact with it it shows a different graphic to indicate you've already used it, but it remains available for the next player to use. In this case the nest seems to just vanish after ANYONE interacts with it. Then you end up trying and mostly failing to get around on the almost-useless one they give you to hit the known nest spawn locations, and not a single one exists because you didn't get there soon enough.

It seems very much like it's "first come first served" but if you show up at a known nest spawn location a few seconds after another player got there, well too bad, no nest for you! And if you do find a nest, apparently the drop rate is so low that you might as well not even bother. Then you have the bug reports from people who (somehow) completed the collection and their reward was for the skyscale to be taken away, so you might be kittened either way! I'm starting to think that the original method would be easier than this allegedly "streamlined" version.

Searching abandoned nests for a collection starter item should not be a competitive activity, but it apparently is. But hey, there's hope...I'm already seeing "there are few players remaining on this map" prompts less than a week after the expac dropped. At this rate, the new maps will be abandoned by October, then there shouldn't be as much competition for nest spawns.

[Stelawrat.6589]

On 8/23/2023 at 6:05 PM, AresGuildwars.6372 said:

Soto who?

Wayfarer's Reverie starts on friday as well! 

@AresGuildwars.6372 I haven't played GW for many years. Do you know if, while playing through Wayfarer's Reverie, I can earn reward points to use to finish off my Heritage armour?