"The Midnight King" Is Now Live!

[Edge.1653]

I feel bad posting this because I love GW2 and the folks that make it but...

ArenaNet, my expectations for this final update were astronomically low and you somehow still managed to disappoint. The final fight feels like a genuine fakeout, and the fact that the missions don't even take us to the third zone (I guess I'm waiting for it to unlock after the other metas now?) is hilariously bad design.

This expansion started out pretty strong but the quality dropped like a rock and continued dropping with the first post-launch update. If this is how the next expansion is shaping up to be I'm not remotely looking forward to it and will probably just wait until it goes on sale if I pick it up.

This was not the expansion y'all pitched us on.

[Lukeers.2053]

Can we get the devs to explain this half baked expac? I'm so done with the marketing lingo that makes the game appealing when the story is not compelling and.... Major update? This? I'm sorry rubi but this is not anything major.

If anet wants to keep players then it must deliver. No raids, 2 strikes. 1 fractal.. really? That's it? I'll wait to buy the next xpac when all updates are out and see what they will deliver before buying.

The quality of content has been declining for years and it shows.

[Assic.2746]

I liked the initial release. The expansion felt dark. In the back of my mind I was wary of Peitha. I thought to myself that she is a demon and is using me to fulfill her goals.

I expected too much I guess. I don't guess. I know for sure it was too much to ask for... to have a quality story telling. 

We befriend the demons?! Really? The story introduced after the initial release should have never happened. I am seriously disappointed.

 

Wizzard's Vault is an amazing feature. New legendary armor and easier access to legendary weapons made some of the crafting materials valuable again. The in-game economy is booming. SotO is not a bad expansion in terms of features. For ma small scope expansion it brought a lot to the table. SotO is a bad expansion in terms of story telling and world building.

 

I wanna say I would rather pay 40$ for a proper expansion but money may not be the issue here. I start to believe that ANet can't tell a good compeling story. Elder Dragons are done and so is the grand idea for the story. Every story feels the same - win with the power of friendship. 

 

[borisslav.9026]

I loved all the QoL that came with SOTO but the "story" felt hot-glued, rushed, predictable, and extremely underwhelming. There were so many missed opportunities for twists and turns, so many plot holes that are even more evident when you replay the whole thing in full, and GW2's least interesting villain to date. I really wanted to be afraid of Eparch, to feel like if I didn't defeat him the world would really end. Instead I got a 3 minute champ fight that I knew was over the moment plot armour wizard showed up. I was honestly hoping Peitha would turn out to be the true villain of the expansion because I didn't trust her from the first moment and her turning on me would have been the first interesting thing to happen in this story.

Honestly, I'm disappointed. I was replaying S3 and S4 on other characters for achievements while I was playing through SOTO and the difference in quality and love put into the storytelling was striking. 

[Raskol.3014]

trying to complete chapter 18 with 7 FPS was the worst videogame experience I ever had in my entire life. no other area is so bad optimized (or demanding) as The Spire of Dreams.

I'm sorry for saying this, I know you guys are artists with your demands and problems etc but it was a terrible experience

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

1 hour ago, borisslav.9026 said:

I loved all the QoL that came with SOTO but the "story" felt hot-glued, rushed, predictable, and extremely underwhelming. There were so many missed opportunities for twists and turns, so many plot holes that are even more evident when you replay the whole thing in full, and GW2's least interesting villain to date. I really wanted to be afraid of Eparch, to feel like if I didn't defeat him the world would really end. Instead I got a 3 minute champ fight that I knew was over the moment plot armour wizard showed up. I was honestly hoping Peitha would turn out to be the true villain of the expansion because I didn't trust her from the first moment and her turning on me would have been the first interesting thing to happen in this story.

Honestly, I'm disappointed. I was replaying S3 and S4 on other characters for achievements while I was playing through SOTO and the difference in quality and love put into the storytelling was striking. 

i do not know what you udnerstand under plot holes, but nothing remained unexplained. unlike FOD which had an unreasonable bone headed commander, a botch ed attempt to make joon neuro divergent and the asinine ankha word view.....
it was straight forward and had no plot holes.

YOu may think of "DEPTH" that was missing and to be honest i do not expect depth from anet at all since HoT. it was a save set up/new beginning after 10 years of doing one over arching story that tossed away plot line like the white mantle and palawa joko. its not the greatest story told by far but its not riddled with plotholes.
any stronger negative take is born from unrealistic high expectations. I bet you expected EoD hype or lw4's having to end on a high note because lay off threatened anet to be closed down possibly.

its a no box sale, mini expansion and it did exactly what i expected it to do.

[ShroomOneUp.6913]

13 minutes ago, Raskol.3014 said:

trying to complete chapter 18 with 7 FPS was the worst videogame experience I ever had in my entire life. no other area is so bad optimized (or demanding) as The Spire of Dreams.

I'm sorry for saying this, I know you guys are artists with your demands and problems etc but it was a terrible experience

i think that is more a hardware issue. 3080s are relatively cheap these days you should get one

[borisslav.9026]

9 minutes ago, ShroomOneUp.6913 said:

i do not know what you udnerstand under plot holes

Yes.

[autumnfrosts.6318]

I know everything being black and dark red in the new area of the map is meant to be atmospheric, but I really can't see anything inside the buildings. I am really struggling just because I can't see what is going on, and I can't navigate through the corridors. Why is it quite so dark? I do not have this issue in any other area of the game...

[Fang.2137]

The title of each expansion had significance. I wondered for a long time what "Secrets of the Obscure" meant, but now I know. The "secret" was how mediocre and recycled this expansion would be, and the "obscure" is what direction the creators want to go with the game's development... Ok, cynicism aside. SotO is definitely the worst thing that happened to GW. Poor story, boring meta, inferior maps and uninteresting characters. To be honest, considering the quality of this expansion and its content, IBS is more worth 25 Euro than SotO and we got it for free. And I mean this quite seriously, if IBS was released as a paid add-on, I would buy it and not complain. However, I will still buy another expansion because, let's face it, we have received a lot of great content for free over the years and I believe that they deserve support for it and not be written off after one failure, but if it turns out that the next expansion is at the same level, it will be my last purchase. Next year the series turns 20 years old and I really wish it would stay with us for a long time and there would be some vision of its development.

[HorusLt.4612]

Strong start, weak middle and mediocre ending
New meta is kinda cool, i liked the bomber pylon event and the meta boss fight, but having to complete the eastern and middle just makes it meh for me.
While the eastern meta is more or less ok, the central one is just pure boredom
A bunch of escort and kill mobs events that take unnecessarily long on a completely gray map, culminating in a bullet sponge wyvern fight. Come on.
I guess they tried to make something like Drizzlewood coast (which is fantastic, peak gw2 open world content imo) but it's just boring, sorry

Like for many others  skyscale masteries and weapon additions were the best part for me, but I'm sitting and asking myself- what's the point of getting the expac if I'm going to use those features in X year old content and the new areas just make me want to be done with achievements asap and never come back to them.
 

[Ancalima.6378]

@Luthan.5236

For "Your Midnight King Says": After Entering the final Chamber where you fight Eparch, there is kind of an ingame cutscene, during which you cannot move. Eparch will tell you and your mates to kneel and after a brief talk he starts to walk down the stairs and says "You will kneel or my generals will force you to kneel". At this point use the /kneel emote. You cannot see the chat window during the cutscene, but typing and sending it works.

For "Eparch Evader": During the final fight, Eparch will start to pull you towards him at 75% of his health. Use skill to get away from him. The achievement triggered for me as I reached the door where I entered the chamber.

 

[HotDelirium.7984]

2 hours ago, Fang.2137 said:

The title of each expansion had significance. I wondered for a long time what "Secrets of the Obscure" meant, but now I know. The "secret" was how mediocre and recycled this expansion would be, and the "obscure" is what direction the creators want to go with the game's development... Ok, cynicism aside. SotO is definitely the worst thing that happened to GW. Poor story, boring meta, inferior maps and uninteresting characters. To be honest, considering the quality of this expansion and its content, IBS is more worth 25 Euro than SotO and we got it for free. And I mean this quite seriously, if IBS was released as a paid add-on, I would buy it and not complain. However, I will still buy another expansion because, let's face it, we have received a lot of great content for free over the years and I believe that they deserve support for it and not be written off after one failure, but if it turns out that the next expansion is at the same level, it will be my last purchase. Next year the series turns 20 years old and I really wish it would stay with us for a long time and there would be some vision of its development.

In terms of quality- it ALL matters. Let's say you graded it like a final term paper in college. Part 1 was 33/33, part 2 was a 33/33 and part 3 was a 0/33. That's a 66. That's a D.

[HotDelirium.7984]

3 hours ago, Fang.2137 said:

The title of each expansion had significance. I wondered for a long time what "Secrets of the Obscure" meant, but now I know. The "secret" was how mediocre and recycled this expansion would be, and the "obscure" is what direction the creators want to go with the game's development... Ok, cynicism aside. SotO is definitely the worst thing that happened to GW. Poor story, boring meta, inferior maps and uninteresting characters. To be honest, considering the quality of this expansion and its content, IBS is more worth 25 Euro than SotO and we got it for free. And I mean this quite seriously, if IBS was released as a paid add-on, I would buy it and not complain. However, I will still buy another expansion because, let's face it, we have received a lot of great content for free over the years and I believe that they deserve support for it and not be written off after one failure, but if it turns out that the next expansion is at the same level, it will be my last purchase. Next year the series turns 20 years old and I really wish it would stay with us for a long time and there would be some vision of its development.

I got this icky feeling that they knew it was gonna be a MEH release and that's why they are releasing the post-launch Learning Moments as a way to save face. Also, barely any devs are celebrating it on twitter nor is there any acknowledgment of any of our feedback or concerns. Swing and a miss. Lovely skins though lol

Edited May 22 by HotDelirium.7984

[HotDelirium.7984]

8 minutes ago, Ancalima.6378 said:

@Luthan.5236

For "Your Midnight King Says": After Entering the final Chamber where you fight Eparch, there is kind of an ingame cutscene, during which you cannot move. Eparch will tell you and your mates to kneel and after a brief talk he starts to walk down the stairs and says "You will kneel or my generals will force you to kneel". At this point use the /kneel emote. You cannot see the chat window during the cutscene, but typing and sending it works.

For "Eparch Evader": During the final fight, Eparch will start to pull you towards him at 75% of his health. Use skill to get away from him. The achievement triggered for me as I reached the door where I entered the chamber.

 

"You cannot see the chat window during the cutscene, but typing and sending it works." Honestly why am I even surprised.

[Edge.1653]

37 minutes ago, Ancalima.6378 said:

@Luthan.5236

For "Your Midnight King Says": After Entering the final Chamber where you fight Eparch, there is kind of an ingame cutscene, during which you cannot move. Eparch will tell you and your mates to kneel and after a brief talk he starts to walk down the stairs and says "You will kneel or my generals will force you to kneel". At this point use the /kneel emote. You cannot see the chat window during the cutscene, but typing and sending it works.

For "Eparch Evader": During the final fight, Eparch will start to pull you towards him at 75% of his health. Use skill to get away from him. The achievement triggered for me as I reached the door where I entered the chamber.

 

Huh...so that's it. I was confused by that and it's super duper intuitive that you have to do an emote during a "cutscene" where you cannot control your character, yep.

How did this make it into the final build without anyone internally pointing out how counterintuitive this is?

[Gaiawolf.8261]

8 minutes ago, Edge.1653 said:

Huh...so that's it. I was confused by that and it's super duper intuitive that you have to do an emote during a "cutscene" where you cannot control your character, yep.

How did this make it into the final build without anyone internally pointing out how counterintuitive this is?

Why do I get the feeling that if this was BG3, players would be like, "Wow, I can't believe the devs knew we would try something like this. They thought of everything. I love this team. ❤️"  😄

[Ashantara.8731]

4 hours ago, autumnfrosts.6318 said:

I know everything being black and dark red in the new area of the map is meant to be atmospheric, but I really can't see anything inside the buildings.

😄 Oh my. Have you tried using a torch or a weapon like Cobalt? Works wonders. 😉 

I like the darkness and dark mood in those areas. The whole map of Inner Nayos should have been like that.

[Edge.1653]

47 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

Why do I get the feeling that if this was BG3, players would be like, "Wow, I can't believe the devs knew we would try something like this. They thought of everything. I love this team. ❤️"  😄

It might make more sense in a game like BG3, but the game has largely never accepted inputs during these sequences so there's no reason for players to assume the can do an emote when they have no control over their characters.

This is bad whataboutism.

[Gaiawolf.8261]

I will link my overall feedback here.

And also add that the forced climax and lackluster nuance to the story drove home the bad ending to a great start.

Additionally, this is the 3rd time almost in a row that the devs used the already bad cliche of trying to raise tension by having us mop the floor with an easy boss, only for him to pull out a trump card that immobilizes the party so a mcguffin can come in and save us. This time it was Isgarren, but they did the same kitten exact thing with Aurene and Balthazar and Joko.

It's been done before. By you. Twice. KNOCK IT OFF! Haven't you learned anything from VLDL? 🙃

 

 

 

 

[Gaiawolf.8261]

5 minutes ago, Edge.1653 said:

It might make more sense in a game like BG3, but the game has largely never accepted inputs during these sequences so there's no reason for players to assume the can do an emote when they have no control over their characters.

This is bad whataboutism.

All true. It was more a comment on the respective communities for both games, their expectations, and their trust in their devs than the content itself.

Edited May 22 by Gaiawolf.8261

[Edge.1653]

54 minutes ago, Gaiawolf.8261 said:

All true. It was more a comment on the respective communities for both games, their expectations, and their trust in their devs than the content itself.

Fair and reasonable, agreed. It's just so sad that over the 20+ years they've been around and the 10+ years they've supported GW2 it feels so hard to have trust/confidence in ArenaNet. It's like they're constantly trying to find their identity as a studio while also constantly trying to figure out a sustainable way to support the game. Which is absolutely wild to me.

[Maryhell.8093]

From coming back this Februrary after only playing original GW2, playing through all the DLC's up to SoTo 2/3. I was really amazed with most of the story and the content that Arena.net have managed to put into this game and keeping it consistently feeling sensical and keeping you excited to see what will be coming next.

The first two part of SoTo felt alright, a bit of rushed perhaps with some missing information in regards to the story. But feeling excited for this last part of the expansion compared to the part "1 and 2" the result was really disappointing.  2 very short acts in the story in a 19 story arc? Not only that but it also feels non-sensical and rushed like crazy. Me and my partner was just waiting for some plot twist after the battle saying "That can't be it?"... That very much was it.

The DLC in a whole is alright, but the way you promoted this and build up for this part felt extremly misleading. This could've been a weekly patch. It could've been added in a "2 parter" rather than trying to drag it out to 3 parts.

Was this rushed just to compete with WoW Cataclysm? Because the timing and the result make it feels like it.

In conclusion, this one part made my mood go from "I'll definitely be getting the next DLC!" to "I might get the next DLC on a sale if the content is interesting."

[Fortunello.9853]

Started the last chapter, let`s see what bring us the end of the expansion in term of conclussion:

-Chat.

-Fill the bar (Again)

-Fight the same enemy (this time called assasins because they bring spears )

-3 rooms (read books if you want some context and lore) kill epach.

-Chat.

Ea we are done, like what???

Edited May 22 by Fortunello.9853

[Edge.1653]

19 minutes ago, Fortunello.9853 said:

Started the last chapter, let`s see what bring us the end of the expansion in term of conclussion:

-Chat.

-Fill the bar (Again)

-Fight the same enemy (this time called assasins because they bring spears )

-3 rooms (read books if you want some context and lore) kill epach.

-Chat.

Ea we are done, like what???

Don't forget: Spend 10 minutes listening to a bunch of characters, many of whom we haven't spent much time with in ages, talk afterwards while the triumphant credits roll. The credit roll takes longer than the actual final story chapter (18).