Return to the final meta fight is excessively circuitous

[plasticzaku.5143]

With the entire structure being dark red, I only found the (slight) shortcut side path to the boss room portal via chasing other players. The first time I attempted to join an in-progress meta, I followed the arrows and then spent the entire time running around the building, never got to the boss room. Saw a lot of other players who were also lost on that map, meta failed. After joining a successful meta and seeing how it was supposed to work, I think the portals had been deactivated on my first map. But as a noob, I had no idea the basement was where they should have been or might respawn.

Note: I am not visually impaired and calibrate my monitor, can't imagine trying to play this with any sort of disability or a crappy laptop screen.

[Nodani.6932]

Stupid Meta. Couldnt get back to boss, didnt get the achiv. Never doing this meta again...

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

The time it takes to WP at the colosseum, use the leylines, and climb down the stairs to the portal to get to the boss, is exactly how long the devs want it to take to get back in the fight.

[Futa.4375]

And completely break the flow of battle, thus breaking the already weak immersion in SotO.

[Obfuscate.6430]

It's not so much the time it takes, but the difficulty finding the stairwell to the last floor. It's black and hidden in the shadow so I've kept passing it over and over.

It's bad art direction, unless visually tricking players is by design - then it's poor game design.

The meta is already a trial for those playing during non peak hours. Anything that complicates it further is just more incentive for some people not to play.

[Sobx.1758]

On 7/13/2024 at 1:03 PM, Futa.4375 said:

And completely break the flow of battle, thus breaking the already weak immersion in SotO.

The same way any time you die ingame, it "breaks the glow of the battle". The only solution to that is keeping your hp above 0. Getting back to that meta is easy and reasonably fast -people just don't understand they don't need to take the way they took while escorting npcs during preevents.

22 hours ago, Obfuscate.6430 said:

It's not so much the time it takes, but the difficulty finding the stairwell to the last floor. It's black and hidden in the shadow so I've kept passing it over and over.

Maybe I'd agree with this more if it wasn't for the pre-events that direct you down that exact same staircase.

Edited July 14 by Sobx.1758

[Surelia.2651]

However many new people to the zone there may be attempting the meta, the same issue will just keep happening until they learn it - just like with any other meta.  

Problem is, this meta chain is just not particularly popular.   Once the new expansion releases, I am pretty sure there will be a substantial drop in traffic like always when a new expansion releases, but I don't see the zone recovering after the JW "shine" wears off.  Save for working on obby sets and/or your random achievements, there just isn't a lot of incentive to keep doing Soto content on a regular basis, unlike HoT or Drizzlewood metas which offer way more bang for your buck.

Frankly, I don't see this improving over time but actually getting worse.   Anet could choose to help a bit with the reported issues, but that remains to be seen.   If at minimum they added a shrine so that it's active during the meta only, that might go a long way towards showing players they give a kitten about the problem - something which right now, does not appear to be the case unfortunately.

[starlinvf.1358]

On 5/24/2024 at 3:56 PM, KindredPhoenyx.8976 said:

y'all need a chill pill, eesh. Cringe.

Its not about DPS. OP was talking about the inconvenience of getting back to the boss and y'all derailed it to it being a "sounds like a you problem" argument. Get back on topic; who's ego is bigger isn't the problem here.

And I agree. Getting back to Eparch is a bit of a doozy. Portals need fixing and a clearer path needs to be set for people.

The two are related by order of operations.  Having the awareness to understand basic game mechanics leads to lazy build copying. Thats the threshold for most bosses in open world.  Past that are players who use dodge and can read AOE circles. Past that are people who can perform a rotation or skill combo on purpose.

If by this point thats excluding a majority of players, than may as well port GW2 to mobile; because theres more money there. 

Most fights aren’t asking much.  And if this is considered raid levels of difficult, than theres no point in keeping the game alive.  Make it a mobile game for a phone, and everyone can be happy.   NCSoft makes more money, the game can be easier, and theres incentive for more robust cosmetics. 

[Fipmip.7219]

I think the question is should DLC metas push people to improve their builds? There's something to be said for having metas gradually get harder. it certainly keeps me engaged anyway. I dont think all open world content should be a cakewalk for any build.

I agree eparch meta is the most killy meta I've been in, but with a 4% heal on crit, heal on might gained and my normal heal, i have a good sustain bladesworn that can survive the fight as long as i dont stand in the death puddles, even at 15 FPS.

[Epsilon Indi.2031]

On 5/22/2024 at 12:05 PM, Edge.1653 said:

1) It's far enough away that folks don't want to make the trek and just stay dead.

2) Not everyone has EoD.

3) It's a fresh meta with people learning it, not everyone is a sweatlord bro.

1. You have mounts. Use them.
2. Fair point
3. Play something tankier while learning mechanics, then.  You don't have to be a sweatlord to not stand in fire, bro.

[Myror.7521]

You guys know that you can simply use a leyline to get back to the fight in around 10-20 seconds right? xp. Also you have Personal waypoints^^

[Smurfiness.3714]

There are too many stair turns.