Someone sell me on this new expansion

[Razor.6392]

Yes, I 've read the overview post a few weeks ago, mostly skimmed through it, and based on the perspective from a day 1 gw2 headstart player, this is what I know so far:

1. New story: Now that the dragons are dead, we focusing on side stories, this time starring Zojja.
2. Wizard tower (I thought that was located in base tyria?) or something is the main focus.
3. There's a new UI icon for this tower next to the trading post and all of that stuff, most of the rewards are locked for non SotO owners.
4. New maps, not sure how many.
5. Relic system to help diversify armor runes (so far seems to be doing the exact opposite).
6. Daily system destroyed.
7. No new specializations because ANet's creativity has reached its limit (paraphrasing what that post said). Instead they're going to remove the weapon exclusivity for existing specs.
8. No new mounts (correct me if I'm wrong).
9. No new pvp or wvw content.
10. No completely new system (HoT had gliding, PoF had mounts and even though EoD had garbage fishing, it was something at least).
11. BONUS! Goes without saying but no new classes, races or anything of the sort.

What exactly is worth $25 in all of this? Isn't it just standard living world + relics and other changes nobody asked for?

I already skipped EoD because it didn't deserve to be called an expansion (mainly due to lacking in #9 and #10), why is this $25? Do your best effort in convincing me to buy it!

Edited August 25, 2023 by Razor.6392

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

I can't.  I have a sense of morality.  

[Chyro.1462]

Why are you asking people to 'sell it to you' when you already seem determined to not like what it offers?

There's always other games if this one doesn't offer anything you like. I'm getting a lot of gameplay and enjoyment out of the 25$ I spent on this expac, and looking forward to the next content patches that are also included in the price.

[Mortime.1359]

Yeah I've been lurking around ever since they announced this expansion and even watched plenty of streams after it came out to see if it was worth getting. Honestly not seen anything to spark my interest in it. Will probably get it if it goes on sale or something.

[Razor.6392]

48 minutes ago, Chyro.1462 said:

Why are you asking people to 'sell it to you' when you already seem determined to not like what it offers?

There's always other games if this one doesn't offer anything you like. I'm getting a lot of gameplay and enjoyment out of the 25$ I spent on this expac, and looking forward to the next content patches that are also included in the price.

Maybe there's something that I missed? So far nothing seems outside of what we've come to expect from free content previously delivered.

[Taclism.2406]

check back in 6 months once its "feature" complete & rebalanced

[Freya.9075]

The ability to mount in combat (avoiding trash mobs I don't want to fight), zooming around on ley lines with mounts and use updraft is fun. And a certain strange voice are some of the parts making this expansion worth it to me. There are other things as well ofc, but this is what came to mind at first. The story is actually really interesting and the maps are good.

However, it depends on what you like. There is no way for anyone to "sell" you this expansion as opinions and taste in gameplay is individual. It's a decision you alone have to make.

[Finse.8526]

If you need other people to convince you to buy something, you should probably not buy it. The expansion will always be there in the future should you ever change your mind.

 

Regarding the "worth" for its $25 price, this is hard to say. Not only does it depend on how you personally value the new content, it's also difficult to judge the expansion in its current "incomplete" form; parts of the expansion will be released in future follow-up patches. I also think that while it's expected that players are going compare these mini-style expansions with the old Living World episodes, it's important to realize how insanely good of a deal we've gotten with the previous system of just receiving all the content for free - it might simply not have been sustainable for Anet that way.

For what it's worth, I personally enjoy the expansion so far. It might all be recency bias, but I quite enjoy the story now that it's not about dragons. The new maps are nice, too; I prefer them over most of the EoD ones. I haven't really dabbled in the new masteries too much, but so far I doubt I'll be using the rift mastery stuff very much after getting the relevant loot from those. It does feel really good to catch an updraft with the griffon/skyscale. Obviously not every map outside of SotO has those, but these masteries feel like a great QoL upgrade in the maps that do.

Finally, I'm not entirely a fan of the new daily quest and relic systems, but those are changes to the core game and you get those whether you buy SotO or not.

 

In short, only you can judge for yourself whether you think this xpac is worth it. If you're on the fence you can always wait for the follow-up patches to see what the complete package looks like. Hope this has been of some help!

 

 

[leila.7962]

It's hard to sell it to someone else when I want a refund myself... This expansion came with so many down sides ~_~ But there are nice things actually.. 

• Very datailed and interesting maps to vist and explore
• Stronger enemies with very cool and interesting skills that actually feel like they were designed for the 2023's players and not the 2012 ones
• Most relics suck yea, but there are a few that are actually pretty good! I really liked the Wizard's Tower and Warrio'rs relics
• The new story is quite refreshing, considering all we did for the last years was to kill one dragon after the other in a somewhat predictable way
• The metas explore your mounts use, instead of just focusing on killing things
• The Wizard's Vault was a controversial change, but it still offers a good amount of rewards for those that actually plays the game (sorry alt account owners.. you guys had to go)

It was a very sloppy and bugged start but they have 9 months to fix it and make it worth our money.. 

[Luthan.5236]

So far I can say: If you like the new login rewards (though they are available) - it is nice. Best feature at the moment. Weaponmaster training is okay. Story is okay. The new maps don't look that bad. (Though having to use the skyscale a lot is a bit annoying.)

The rift stuff is boring/annoying. The typical "do it once to get the achievements finished and then never do it again" stuff. Not really any worse than other expansions. Story and map seems better so far - to the point I have played. (Have not finished the story yet.) But also not super interesting. (Story has never been the strength of GW2 - more the setting and maps and exploration.)

Gameplay wise ... I'd say it does not offer a lot. The small event chains tied to each islands in the first map - seem not bad. That is more part of the plot/exploration though. (The open world parts of the story/setting always seemed more interesting to me.)

Rifts are really annoying though. They block certain story steps with a "fly around to find a rift and then do it and do a few more until you can progress" ... which is annoying. No other story had that annoying blockers so far. (The rift scan skill seems bugged to me does not always show the red event circle immediately on the map and sometimes I really only have the visible effect on the screen and need to fly ... and fly ... and fly .... so biring.)

Relics seem interesting though. There seems to be stuff tied to the expansion (where you need to buy it) - that can be interesting. Expansion-only relics and the weapon master if further explored. Need to experiment more with this but with an engineer main I am locked to 1 weapon set (no in-combat swap so far) and probably switching to the new weapon they plan to introduce in a further update. Then not in need of the weaponmaster thing. (New weapons afaik available to everyone.)

[Gendalfs.7521]

5 hours ago, Freya.9075 said:

The ability to mount in combat (avoiding trash mobs I don't want to fight)

That one hooked me on this expansion as real qol improvement, unfortunately its a separate skill on 3(?) min cooldown 😞

And other skyscale masteries for those who have original one also are underwhelming tbh.

[Dante.1508]

No.. Don't waste your money.

[LilBiM.3581]

I just want some relics for my Engineer so I can play the game again like I was pre-anyOfThisHappening. I'm waiting for something meaningful so that I can sell it to myself to begin with.

[Jianyu.7065]

Who are you?

[Razor.6392]

2 hours ago, Jianyu.7065 said:

Who are you?

I am a gw2 player, just like you! 

[Gibson.4036]

Not going to try and convince you, but a few corrections on "what you know so far":

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

 

1. New story: Now that the dragons are dead, we focusing on side stories, this time starring Zojja.

Side story? Not sure how you'd define that. The world is under threat from a big bad again. Just not a dragon this time.

I haven't played very far in, but I wouldn't call Zojja the star. She's featured, but she gives you the magic thingamajiggy right from the start, and NPCs are super focused on you, the PC.

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

2. Wizard tower (I thought that was located in base tyria?) or something is the main focus.

Wizard tower is more like the inciting incident. It's more, "what's been behind the Wizard's Tower this whole time?"

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

4. New maps, not sure how many.

2 maps, 1 hub, 1 more map to come in three parts over the next 9 months.

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

6. Daily system destroyed.

So far, for a casual player like me who plays 2-3 times a week, mostly OW PvE, this system is more rewarding. It remains to be seen what the rotation will hold, and it'd be nice to have some choice in the dailies, but with my toe-dip in, I like it.

Some have very legitimate issues. I expect some are dealing with novelty-shock and will soon adjust and appreciate it. Clearly, YMMV

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

8. No new mounts (correct me if I'm wrong).

You're not wrong, but updraft is a pretty revolutionary change to skyscale and griffon. Something I've been hoping for over quite a while. Maps are also great for griffon, if you are an enjoyer who wished there were more areas uniquely suited to the best mount in the game.

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

What exactly is worth $25 in all of this? Isn't it just standard living world + relics and other changes nobody asked for?

Well, I paid $29 bucks a year and a half ago, and haven't had to play anything since. I enjoyed playing last year. I'll admit things did start to feel a little dry first half this year. Now I've put down $25 and have some story to play, new zones to explore, and some rewards to work toward. It looks like I won't need to pay for GW2 again until some time next year, for the next mini-expac.

Even if I only get 2 months enjoyment out of SotO, that's less that I'd pay for a sub in other MMOs, and that doesn't include what I would have had to pay for their most recent expansion.

So, I call it worth it.

19 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

Do your best effort in convincing me to buy it!

That's really a waste of anyone's time. Only you can decide. But hopefully some of my clarifications will help you.

Edited August 25, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[Ganogati.8963]

Weaponmaster alone made it worthwhile for me. The idea of a machinist with a 2h hammer or an weaver with both a hammer or sword and warhorn combo pretty much made this purchase a guarantee in my books.

[Jianyu.7065]

5 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

I am a gw2 player, just like you! 

Gotcha. Just checking. Wasn't sure...

[Randulf.7614]

I'm having fun in the maps and story. Easily been worth £25 for that alone. Features are mostly poor, but I always getting it for the content and having more place for my griffon to zoom around in

[XenesisII.1540]

10 hours ago, leila.7962 said:

(sorry alt account owners.. you guys had to go)

Kinda funny cause someone brought up how gw2 was doing well with 15mil monthly logins the other day, I wonder how many of those were alt accounts now. 🤭

[Sobx.1758]

9 hours ago, Gendalfs.7521 said:

That one hooked me on this expansion as real qol improvement, unfortunately its a separate skill on 3(?) min cooldown 😞

3m cd and -following wiki here- only works in Amnytas and Skywatch Archipelago.

And thank the six it has these limitations.

[Sjentra.3409]

2 hours ago, Sobx.1758 said:

3m cd and -following wiki here- only works in Amnytas and Skywatch Archipelago.

And thank the six it has these limitations.

NGL; That sounds like garbo; not even worth hotkeying. 

[Peregrine Falcon.5496]

21 hours ago, Razor.6392 said:

Yes, I 've read the overview post a few weeks ago, mostly skimmed through it, and based on the perspective from a day 1 gw2 headstart player, this is what I know so far:

1. New story: Now that the dragons are dead, we focusing on side stories, this time starring Zojja.
2. Wizard tower (I thought that was located in base tyria?) or something is the main focus.
3. There's a new UI icon for this tower next to the trading post and all of that stuff, most of the rewards are locked for non SotO owners.
4. New maps, not sure how many.
5. Relic system to help diversify armor runes (so far seems to be doing the exact opposite).
6. Daily system destroyed.
7. No new specializations because ANet's creativity has reached its limit (paraphrasing what that post said). Instead they're going to remove the weapon exclusivity for existing specs.
8. No new mounts (correct me if I'm wrong).
9. No new pvp or wvw content.
10. No completely new system (HoT had gliding, PoF had mounts and even though EoD had garbage fishing, it was something at least).
11. BONUS! Goes without saying but no new classes, races or anything of the sort.

What exactly is worth $25 in all of this? Isn't it just standard living world + relics and other changes nobody asked for?

I already skipped EoD because it didn't deserve to be called an expansion (mainly due to lacking in #9 and #10), why is this $25? Do your best effort in convincing me to buy it!

1. Not entirely correct. Yes, we get to see Zojja again, but there's another important emergency and another chance to save the world. It's not just side missions.
2. Correct.
3. Correct. Although I wasn't aware that most of the rewards were locked for non-SotO owners. Sounds like another reason to buy SotO.
4. Three.
5. Correct.
6. I would argue that it's been changed, not destroyed.
7. No new specializations, although I disagree with your insulting attribution of ArenaNet's motivations.
8. Correct.
9. Correct.
10. Incorrect. The Wizard's Vault is an entirely new system.
11. Bonus! Also correct.

I spent more than $25 at lunch today. I'd say if $25 is an issue for you then you shouldn't buy SotO, instead you should look for a better paying job.

[Cuks.8241]

Maps and events seem good. 

I actually like the story. And its often a drag for me. 

Relics are good concept but we need more interesting ones. 

Vault has very good rewards but the limited number of dailies is a complete miss (which is not really expansion content) . But if they just increase the number of available quests substantially it will be good. Just deleting some of them wouldnt hurt (dollies, JP in wvw category). 

[BlueJin.4127]

I’m waiting to see the open world legendary armors implementation myself. Though if the leak is accurate, it’s not very encouraging. I don’t think I have totaled 1500 exotic essences of luck in 5 years of playing. Around 4000 ectoes is also way too many per set, though I suppose I can buy some. My biggest concern is how repetitive it will be. I don’t have SotO so I don’t know what rifts are like, but if they’re as repetitive as PoF bounties and I need to do hundreds of them per legendary set… Hopefully, rifts are either not repetitive, or rifts are not the only sources of obtaining required items.

 

BTW, are there any gameplay videos of rifts from start to finish? I tried searching “gw2 rift gameplay” on youtube, but I only got back previews, tutorials, etc. I want to see full gameplay to see what they’re like.

Edited August 26, 2023 by BlueJin.4127