Live Now: Through the Veil, first major update for SotO

[WaifuJanna.9108]

I love the new update, things i didn't expected, and i am positive surprised:

• Big Map ( i though it would be like dry top )
• New Meta event
• Nice atmosphere/graphics
• Mob Density is huge, i did an escort quest and had the feeling i was in Halloween lab, so many monsters 😮

Things i am missing from the new map:

• Renown Hearts 😞 what happend to them, anet doesnt like those anymore?
• Jumping puzzle

Edited November 8, 2023 by WaifuJanna.9108

[Kranlor Greyhelm.8417]

Well, I wanted the answer to whether I would open my wallet for ANET again, after stopping spending money on the game after the lackluster initial launch of this "expansion". I certainly got it, and it's a resounding "no".

This is what we waited three months for? A progression of the story that barely hits an hour and consists of mainly talking and walking around, with occasionally killing kryptis. A map that is dull and not that large? A meta that has a final boss that looks like someone said "take a chunk out of the junkyard boss, reskin it and make it simpler. That'll keep them quiet for a bit".

Then we need to talk about the WV. It was literally telling us that the weeklies would run out yesterday. So I, like many others, did them ahead of the patch, only to discover that the patch did NOT reset weeklies, and I was locked out of a good chunk of my headstart on the new purchases. At which point I checked the specials, and realised that rather than the 4, for between 3 and 5 hundred each, we had 2 for a total of 400. Presumably they've done this to offset the 1300 carried over? Which makes the carry over pretty bloody pointless. You could have cleared it and just given us the regular 4 specials.

Unless of course the specials have been nerfed, because we were getting through the available items too quickly? We won't know that until the next set of specials drops, because god forbid ANET actually tell us what they're doing.

All in all, pretty pathetic. If this is what passes for content moving forward, it might be time to wave goodbye for a while.

[Fomivee.3065]

Who's VA of Irja?

[Farohna.6247]

4 hours ago, WaifuJanna.9108 said:

I love the new update, things i didn't expected, and i am positive surprised:

• Big Map ( i though it would be like dry top )
• New Meta event
• Nice atmosphere/graphics
• Mob Density is huge, i did an escort quest and had the feeling i was in Halloween lab, so many monsters 😮

Things i am missing from the new map:

• Renown Hearts 😞 what happend to them, anet doesnt like those anymore?
• Jumping puzzle

I like these too!  Plenty of events, plenty of mobs, only complaint would be the bugged final chest from the meta but I know that will be fixed.   

I really like the muted color palette with the rich tones for the plants....it's rather subtle and not as dreary as I expected.  

[Tazmin.4965]

I have to say, I agree with a lot of people, the story update is very very meh. Lot of talking, not much going on at all and done in an hour or so.

I mean you expect players to fork out money every year, going forward to be bored witless for nine months out of 12, if the majority of the update is gonna be in the first quarter with just drabs between. Think I'll just wait and buy em all on discount if that's the case.

Very very disappointed, GW2 is still very much lacking on story compared to GW1 and from earlier releases. 

[Luthan.5236]

Only did the first story chapter so far. Liked the new map and atmosphere. I have not tried the later story steps + convergences yet since I have been stuck with doing the map achievements. Enjoyed that - despite having a achievement for all the events - I could do already most stuff. Even the shrine guardians. I love the diving goggles lol. Best part of GW2. 😄

Only thing I found a bit tedious was the southwest escort. (Nice that in the achievement tracking the events ... we got the 2 big chaings with x of 3 and x of 4 but that one leads to a wanderer should have added the x of 2 there for both events.) Literally just a few steps and then tons of mobs. (But that maybe also cause of upscaling.) Took a bit long.

The meta is good - that it can be restarted regularly. But it might get tedious/boring to transport the flames to the north beacon. The amound should be lowered maybe. This might get people to later wait out this part (hoping for other to do it ... therefore making it even progress slower).

That the stuff does not seem to be much (easy to finish most) while also this season being longer (instead of 77 days like ... 112 days or so - according to the special rewards tab in the vault) is okay for me. I also have a few minor things left from the previous release and it can be used for pre-farming stuff for legendary armor as well. This way we get the playerbase a bit more to stay closer in progress. When you have the smaller releases instead of the full thing at once and then the next full thing next year.

I also liked that the wault acclaim carried over + the dailies/weeklies did not reset. (Cashed mine in first since I thought it would reset. Next time I'll do them at monday but not accepting the chests waiting for the season change to also tak the stuff from the not gathered chasts additionally to my 1300 in the wallet.) Only bad thing ... again a reset on the weeklies (and change) for the rift hunter stuff. Hopefully with them being finalized (all achievements available now) we won't get this anymore ... and soon the ones that have not been in rotation. 3 that already were in did not even appear yet.

Peitha is great. (I just hope she won't turn out to be the evil mastermind that just wants to take over after killing Eparch.) I liked Peitha and Isgarren. Felt fun to see them interact. (Not as fun as Anise and Canach though - my favorite couple. :D) Arina ... also nice. Didn't even remember her visually. (I think she had more armor on the head/face in the previous story steps. At least the wiki has a pic with more armor there.) Liking the char design.

 

Edit: The special rewards tab is probably intended as kind of a "filler"? We have only 2 now but there surely will be more later. But the 2 have lower amounts of astral acclaim. With the season running much longer and the rewards basically being the same (generic stuff the same - some stuff replaced, especially the cosmetics - but similar cost in total) we have a lot more weekly big chests to obtain. (Which basically counter a few of the missing bit 400-500 special tab tasks in the vault.)

I would have loved to see there permanent stuff. Might be too much at once though. If in the future a lot of stuff would have gathered up should they have kept the previous once available. (Adding directly to achivements seems to work though - like they did in the fractal rush. They imo should do this for one or another permanent achievement maybe. Turning the special ones more in kind of a slow-grinder ... like a weekly but slower. Do the meta several times. Something like that. And the one-time stuff adding to the achievements.)

Edited November 9, 2023 by Luthan.5236

[Jaken.6801]

The update is more disapointing for me. Mostly because that's basically it for three months and if the others are the same, than it's not a good direction.

However, let's start with the good.

• The map design is nice, i like the aesthetics and direction they went there.
• The new meta is fun, but easily broken if you know what to do
• some suprising rewards, though that one weaponset with the eyes feels kinda random, as it's not fitting anything in the new area.
• QoL stuff. Bascially everything that is not neccessary bound to the release, is great.

That's unfortunatly it, for me.

Now to the bad.

• It's way too short and the set up for the immediate conflict is very badly presented and delivered. We get a premise, but as soon we are there, we get nothing.
• The map is way too small, even if it's revealed in three parts. This is not the level we are usually getting.
• The map is too harmless. For something titled demon realm (even though there is the *it's not what you expected* line), it should still be dangerous. Magguma is way more dangerous to walk around than this place.
• The map makes not a lot of sense in this part of the story. A little camp is suppsedly a frontline for a siege, that we just get thrown into. It does nothing in term of immersion. it's like we are thrown into dragons stand, without any buildup. Where are Peithas people? Who are her people? How is the geography of this place? Why are we attacking here? What are we defending? Etc. We get *here are your people, now go attack that guy over there*. it's flimsy, it's not immersive, it's not even the bare minimum for a story like that.
• New armor set is okay, but again the same for all weightclasses. Disapointing.
• No enemy variety. We fight the same stuff, we fought before, or at least the new stuff doesn't stand out. After the big guy in Amnitas, it is kinda underwehlming.

Overall the update is a stepdown from the parts before on almost every level. This doesn't bode well. This map is the last for this storyline and it's not delivering. I went in loving the scenery, then getting hit with the realization that there it's just windowdressing for the big meta, we get the next few months. This is kinda sad

[Gazrul.3086]

I'm absolutely digging this patch. The map is, like, totally rad. And the demons are real bros now too, I'm totally in the zone right now with everything. Can't wait to see the rest of the map and the story when they're out. 

 

The only thing I think is a bit meh is that the masteries are all related to the convergences. Nothing that's useful in the open world, which is a bit of a bummer y'know? Hopefully the next update will give us more open world masteries.

[Ashantara.8731]

On 11/7/2023 at 11:00 PM, luigiormario.7305 said:

Let's not forget that by the end of these quarterly updates this map will be much bigger and the story will, in total length, be comparable to the previous expansions.

After seeing how short Update 1 was, I seriously doubt that.

[pallas.8150]

New armor set is a hard 'meh' for me.

The update came and went very fast - I explored the new map to completion in like 20 minutes, if that.

[duskpoo.1824]

My problem is it's all starting to get redundant.  I'm starting to get bored and looking for something new.  I love guild wars, love pvp, but i don't want to log in and do the same thing over and over and over, and pvp is a dumpster fire atm.

[Skeith.8936]

So far, I like the new story and new map!!

But one thing I wanted to bring up that for me seemed out of place is that if the new map is in the demon world, why is it part of the overworld of main Tyria? I know it's a small new map and eventually will grow with new updates and the story continues. But to me it should have its own map layout (not sure how to call it).  For example, WVW has its map layout, and the Mad Kings realm has its own map layout. They are not part of the main Tyria map because they are not located on main Tyria.
I guess it's for convenience to TP back and forth more easily.

[Ashantara.8731]

Quick Feedback on "Through the Veil"

• Story: way too short, unspectacular
• Map: very atmospheric sound and visual design
• Meta: proper length, therefore enjoyable to do daily
• Convergences: definitely more fun than Rift Hunting, but rewards could be better
• New Relics: didn't sweep me off my feet
• Wurm's Enrichment: meh, a bad copy of the Otter's Blessing
• Cosmic Observatory CM: way too easy, lacking special Achievements and title, disappointing
• Fishing: more holes (yay!), but clearly too sensitive enemy aggro in the vicinity
• Legendary Armor: missing update in Lyhr's vendor list on "Undiscovered Item"
• Wizard's Vault: unfortunately, the seasonal update contains little of interest to me

Overall rating: 4/10

Edited November 15, 2023 by Ashantara.8731

[Kelly.7019]

On 11/7/2023 at 6:29 PM, Jonathan.8905 said:

My problem is how do I get my alts to the new map without using teleport to friend, assuming that method works.  I have not found a portal stone nor does completing the story "unlock" a portal into Nayos in the Wizard's Tower.  Also, where are the survivors you are supposed to talk to in the last instance?  Why can I start the story at the new ones on characters that have not progressed in the SoTo story at all?  Very buggy release.

i miss being able to just walk into new maps from other ones

[Kelly.7019]

On 11/9/2023 at 7:07 AM, Jaken.6801 said:

The update is more disapointing for me. Mostly because that's basically it for three months and if the others are the same, than it's not a good direction.

However, let's start with the good.

• The map design is nice, i like the aesthetics and direction they went there.
• The new meta is fun, but easily broken if you know what to do
• some suprising rewards, though that one weaponset with the eyes feels kinda random, as it's not fitting anything in the new area.
• QoL stuff. Bascially everything that is not neccessary bound to the release, is great.

That's unfortunatly it, for me.

Now to the bad.

• It's way too short and the set up for the immediate conflict is very badly presented and delivered. We get a premise, but as soon we are there, we get nothing.
• The map is way too small, even if it's revealed in three parts. This is not the level we are usually getting.
• The map is too harmless. For something titled demon realm (even though there is the *it's not what you expected* line), it should still be dangerous. Magguma is way more dangerous to walk around than this place.
• The map makes not a lot of sense in this part of the story. A little camp is suppsedly a frontline for a siege, that we just get thrown into. It does nothing in term of immersion. it's like we are thrown into dragons stand, without any buildup. Where are Peithas people? Who are her people? How is the geography of this place? Why are we attacking here? What are we defending? Etc. We get *here are your people, now go attack that guy over there*. it's flimsy, it's not immersive, it's not even the bare minimum for a story like that.
• New armor set is okay, but again the same for all weightclasses. Disapointing.
• No enemy variety. We fight the same stuff, we fought before, or at least the new stuff doesn't stand out. After the big guy in Amnitas, it is kinda underwehlming.

Overall the update is a stepdown from the parts before on almost every level. This doesn't bode well. This map is the last for this storyline and it's not delivering. I went in loving the scenery, then getting hit with the realization that there it's just windowdressing for the big meta, we get the next few months. This is kinda sad

You know what might be fun and solos would h8 having to roam a map with a group or be at risk of getting killed by the mobs. 😄 sorta like zergs in wvw or that section of the vabbi map where the ground hates you! I still say monsters that surpirse attack you might be fun. 😄 especially if yer swimming out alone in the ocean by yer self.

[Kelly.7019]

• Story: length fine but yea unspectacular - 0.5
• Map: cool look, but way too tiny -  0.5
• Meta: feels boring - 0
• Convergences: more fun than Rift Hunting, but rewards could be better - 1
• New Relics: didn't notice, don't care much though they don't seem to do much- 0
• Wurm's Enrichment: fun! isn't a hidden cheevo and much easier to obtain then Otter's Blessing - 1
• Cosmic Observatory CM: didn't bother, don't care - 0
• Fishing: haven't bothered, don't care, you ruined fishing - 0
• Legendary Armor: 3rd map currency grind -meh- begins now - 0
• Wizard's Vault: barely anything new. 1-2 new thing i think. meh - 0
• Decorations - there are new decoration items, but zero decs as rewards. massive grind for account bound map mats to craft decorations and u need on avg (2-5) sometimes more. 1 wall u need (20), what are you going to do with only 1 wall? (for ref i only have 35 map meta chests from amnytas. that means it will take me several months just to make a few decorations after i save what i need for legendaries. 😠  - 0   | p.s. i don't decorate with a few things. i fill the hall!

3/11 = bad

Edited November 12, 2023 by Kelly.7019

[luigiormario.7305]

On 11/12/2023 at 4:24 AM, Ashantara.8731 said:

After seeing how short Update 1 was, I seriously doubt that.

If you are also counting the living world seasons/icebrood saga with their corresponding expansion then yes it will fall short (but it's on a much quicker rotation of roughly a year).

 

In comparison to just expansions, SOTO already has as many chapters as Path of Fire (13), only need two to match EOD's 15 and three to catch HOT with 16 total chapters. Even though the previous expansions chapters can be considered more 'beefy', they would have to release next to nothing (less than this update) with the next two releases to fall short of a comparable story length. On current pace of getting three chapters per update the total length will be 19 chapters. 

[Balsa.3951]

just played thru already forgot what the story was..

map is first wow than fast boring 

kill kill kill run kill more repeat

we reach the bottom of creativity

[Corvolupo.5708]

Story Is too short but not that bad.

I Like the map, design-wise.

Same enemies everywhere, not good.

Meta Is Alright but too Easy especially if you own a griffon.

New skins are not my Cup of tea.

6.5/10 ok

 

[Shuitzu.2946]

Convergences need to be re-enterable if you get kicked during them. Imagine if you open the instance and get kicked and 0 reward for spending the key. 
I got a dc during a public one this morning and not being able to re-enter and therefore fully wasting 20 minutes felt horrible. 

Also since shortly before the update Rifts outside of Soto maps have been hit by diminishing returns (you got 0 rewards after the fifth rift) and now seem to be behaving very weird, as in every fifth rift doesnt give a reward, but then sometimes diminishing returns, sometimes no rewards. (For search ref: BUG RIFT)

Other than that I like the map, story and achievements n stuff! Would appreciate some more communication about the legy relic, cause I'm hyped about that, but I am pretty happy with the update :)

 

Edited November 14, 2023 by Shuitzu.2946
Added search tag

[illuminati.8453]

Not a fan of the phone-it-in development effort.  Somebody in the thread mentioned, 'where are the hearts?'  Those take testing which they just don't have the time or energy or desire to do.   They are distilling the maps down to generic events and metas, anything a small team of 5 to 10 developers can do. 

But hey, we do get a 'free' legendary every update so that's something.  They are so transparent with this tactic.  I used to love this game and company, but I just can't see myself doing another xpac like this current one. 

[Blur.3465]

Hey everyone!

One thing that really started to bother me lately is that each time we get a new map, the NPCs just won't stop talking when meta starts to approach.
I get that there should be an indication that a meta is about to start, but constantly hearing NPCs talking to me through the comm device is ughhh...
And not just that, even regular events now have NPCs talking to you with a gigantic chatbox which obscures -a lot-.

Voice/sound through comm device is also annoying and it just kills the immersion, for me at least.

The new map is great -- the vibe is good, it gives me Realm of Torment feels...but the constant chatter really kills it.
The mystery is not there when there's a bunch of NPCs swarming everything and everyone, constant communication via comm device and it just feels shallow and like some random battlefield rather than a strange dark realm.
I guess I was expecting a dark approach here -- where we enter a different realm and feel exposed, alone and endangered. I want to feel that sense of mystery and danger. Gosh I was hyped for Nayos, because I was expecting a deep, dark approach to game, like Realm of Torment...but instead we once more are charging ahead towards a certain victory where Kryptis and all the generals feel powerless and there's 0 sense of danger and fear.

SotO is a step in the right direction when it comes to storytelling, but I really feel it could do a lot more when it comes to atmosphere and immersion.

[Tanek.5983]

It started a little in EoD, especially Echovald Forest where the NPC chatter during events could get overwhelming. I have friends who were doing the story and could not tell what was part of their story chapter and what was zone events.

SotO ramped this up to where the meta just overwhelms anything else going on. At the very least, I could hope that when someone is activly listening to story dialogue, the meta chatter is shoved to the background or cut out entirely.

If they were going to saddle us with a new communication device that takes up an inventory slot, they should have had Taimi give it different channels we can turn on and off. (Which I just thought of now, but that would actually be pretty great.)

[Obfuscate.6430]

The dialogue in my ear when I am trying to do an unrelated event on the other side of the map is supremely annoying and I don't know what the purpose of it is. Did people once complain they had no way of knowing when a meta was happening? Maybe just a little announcement across the top of the screen would be good enough? 

It's extremely irritating and it's lowered my desire to play in the content that contains it. As if being festooned with rambling monologues in the recent story steps themselves weren't bad enough.

[ursahydroxide.1862]

I loved SoTO on release. Absolutely adored it. I had every faith that this team would continue to deliver even with the new business model. But if this is seriously the quality of the updates we're getting for it then I have wasted not only my money but also all of the investment I had in the original premise. I was so excited for the potential this had but this was sloppy, rushed, not worth a three month wait, not worth the 45 minutes it took to play. This is coming from someone who has gotten up at insane hours of the morning to play every new story release since no quarter, (except for this one because I didn't have my computer), and never once regretted it. Story patches usually make my entire week. This was just bad. It's not just the length (though that is disappointing. I've done the maths we're not getting less story more often we're getting less story less often.) but it isn't even well executed like WLB and WLW were. Replacing entire story steps with "go complete events" constantly is lazy repetitive and boring, the sections of living world 3 and 4 episodes that utilized that whole "go run around our cool new map!!" technique were directed, they gave you specific goals and that felt purposeful.  Also this chapter is just saying that there are emotional impacts instead of creating them, which is insane to me because this game's narrative team has consistently gone above and beyond on that front.

I wasn't sure about it when you said anet was shelving the living world format. This confirms the worst outcome of that. I hope that this isn't going to keep happening. I'm not sure I trust that it won't at the moment.

Edited November 15, 2023 by ursahydroxide.1862