Personal Housing, A New Raid, A New Weapon, and More: Janthir Wilds launches August 20! [Merged]

[Efar.8153]

umm.. my brain doesnt accept changes very well :)) but at the same time loves the ideea of housing.

So, regarding the housing, can we change the structure in time? I love the rata sum vibes from my home instance, or divinity's reach ones or the char ones.

By structure i mean walls, rooftop, etc. - i mean, i want my chars to feel like home ^^ - maybe other ppl feel the same?

 

[AliamRationem.5172]

You had me at raids.  Thanks for making this content a priority again.  Pre-purchased the ultimate package.

 

[BntyHntr.5761]

12 hours ago, Nemo.6295 said:

Spear looks nice and the areas, I like that boreal tundra stuff. But the housing? I mean we had perfectly nice places in cities for players, why put it in the middle of nowhere? 

Okay but like, THEY SAID IT WOULD BE CUSTOMIZABLE!!! AGHHHH I'm super excited for the housing update part. Perhaps the nodes we've all spent so much time and money on will receive some boost to their gathering values as well! I've been saying for a long time the home instance was an underutilized space!

And knowing how the home instance portal stone already works I'm sure there will be a similar teleportation mechanic so being "in the middle of nowhere" won't make a difference.

I wonder if there will be a new selection of nodes added as well? ; maybe even to complement the last few expansions so we can farm these new resources each day as well.

More than anything I am excited at the prospect that our nodes might receive some boost from the new mastery line; Presently, to turn a profit takes a lot of time (years in some/most cases).

The spear could be awesome but it all depends on the skills that become available for each class. (JK IM AN ENGINEER ILL TAKE ANYTHING) 

The warclaw I also have mixed feelings about... It's one of the slowest mounts, and I'm not sure exactly what they plan on adding to it. We have defiance break, healing, flying, various other combat abilities (turtle and skyscale), evasion, water transversal (above and below), and speed (roller beetle and griffon) between all our mounts thusfar for PVE. Additional combat skills for WvW would be nice, but I'm skeptical of what they could add that would make me choose the warclaw in PvE over all my other viable options.

And finally, a new raid. The try hards of Guild Wars must be happy. I prefer the nicer/more helpful side of our community so I won't be partaking in that LMAO

Edited June 5 by BntyHntr.5761

[BluJasmine.2190]

6 hours ago, RedNuii.5680 said:

Pretty sure you will need to do a collection to use the war claw in pve. I saw some pictures of a baby war claw so it looks like it’ll be like when we raised the little beetle or turtle to become the mount

You can use the warclaw in pve NOW. It was added to pve awhile ago. The reason why you rarely see one in pve is because compared to the other mounts, it offers nothing extra or better than any of the other pve mounts. Hopefully the new mastery will address this, much like how we got new viable skills for the skyscale in SotO. 

[andreiblue.8231]

8 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

Like we said in this morning's news post, we're going to have much more info coming about Janthir Wilds. I don't want to spoil all of that but I can give you a few quick answers to questions I've seen here and there:

• Your current home instances are not going away when Homesteads arrive on August 20.
• Homesteads will have a separate crafting profession from Guild Scribing. 
• We are not planning to add new strike missions in addition to the raid with Janthir Wilds.

 We have a lot more to share with you between now and Janthir Wilds launch. Stay tuned!

Does this mean that SotO strikes will continue to have separate currency from the other strikes and remain the only source of MC?

[Exallia.1349]

With the return of Raids could we please get the unique attribute removed from Coalescence? So we can craft a 2nd one similar to Conflux?

God I hate WvW, sorry folks.

[Skie.8904]

Honestly, why not shifting Trident as well, so you can mix spear and trident on land between professions, and keep the design of one being more melee and one being more magic.

[keramatzmode.1906]

Homestead feature I hope is in the game.
I wish we can have a "share code", or a system to allow random players, not in friendlist or guild (except blocked) players into my home. By having our own custom, decked out housing, sharing our creation out there is the obvious goal and inviting people is part of the fun. This allows the housing system to flourish as a community.
This was lacking in other games, and you had to rely on external systems or LFG to visit other people's home. 
I wish we can just share our codes, like an "address" so we can RP as a bartender or coffee shop to others. It's part of the fun.

[luigiormario.7305]

9 hours ago, BrotherBelial.3094 said:

The cost is not the issue, it's the fact that the quality of the product has gone downhill, the fact we do not have a finished product, and have what was advertised and selling points at launch are issues. It took 6 months after launch to get an advertised feature, and a story so bad I can only remember 3 characters names and having to "kill ten rats" in between story steps to drag it out so you don't finish the incredibly short story in probably less than 2 hours.

You were seemingly saying the cost was the issue in your earlier comments where you were highlighting the quantity rather than quality using words such as 'poor' and 'value'. Or is your point moreso that you believe quality can't be achieved with less quantity? 

10 hours ago, BrotherBelial.3094 said:

Well, I guess I'm not buying it then. They are charging us for Living world now and just calling it an expansion. The expansions were good value before, having a full story at launch then with a story to bridge to the next. now it's a poor man's WoW release model.

One thing I think Anet have done really well is the communication as to when main features are coming in these expansions, they gave a full roadmap for SOTO and have already stressed in this reveal the things that will be coming in future quarterly releases (as opposed to launch). Not buying it at all is understandable in itself, or indeed waiting for your ideal feature to release before purchasing. I think complaining about not having all 'selling points' at launch is a stretch however, considering their transparency on this thus far. 

[DoctorOverlord.8620]

I had forgotten the next expansion was only a couple of months away, I do like this new release plan ArenaNet is following.   There are some really interesting-sounding features in this one, and given the crazy things we've seen people do in Guild Halls, I'm looking forward to seeing what players end up making in their homesteads!  

[Zeike.7469]

Isles of Janthir was always something I'd speculate about with my friends in my early teens when playing Guild Wars 1. The fact we're seeing a very Icelandic like environment makes me really interested. I get Ice brood saga vibes from some of it, like that dark, corrupted, cursed feel we got in the early days. 

Player Housing - I love the concept of player housing. Its a fickle thing to get right. There needs to be enough engagement that players can enjoy being in their own home, however not exclude themselves from other players. We've seen this in other games where it can lead to people excluding themselves when they don't want to. Being able to visit other houses, and admire players decorating skills would be something I'd love to see. 

Couple of hopes I have for player housing:

- House/Farmstead skins - Would love a Charr themed house. Or houses that represent 
- Restoration progression - Slowly progressing to unlock new areas of my house, not just with Masteries but farming specific materials in order to restore/extend your plot.
- Displays - Being able to display mounts, armour sets/weapons, trophies from world bosses like a crystal spike from the Shatterer. 

Spears - Not really got any reservations on this, the idea of a new weapon I'm all for it. I was keen on a new Elite Spec, but I totally understand that to be able to balance practically another new profession is a nightmare. Would be interesting to see how it plays out, but new weapons is a win. 

Warclaws - Such a good shout to bring this back with some PvE aspects. I'm curious to see what mount features we'll have for them. More aspects on Warclaw in WvW, I'm all for it.

Raids - One of the biggest regrets for me that I've never been able to do is raids, I'm a super casual player, I enjoy hopping on for a couple hours here or there, and whilst I have some legendary gear, and ascended for the rest I don't have enough experience. Raids were well loved back in the day, and even now. I love the idea of them adding extreme challenge modes for players who love this aspect of the game.  

Overall, not seen enough yet to make a conclusion on the expansion. However I'm keen to see what we'll get up to in the Isles, and excited to see where this will take us. Bring on August 20th. 

[HotDelirium.7984]

8 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

I can confirm that we are not gonna be doing that. 😛 

Are you able to confirm possible new pets for ranger similar to SOTO? Most likely huh since every expansion has so far xD

[Warrior.9487]

The Hype is real ❤️

[Doctor.5068]

Anet is going to make bank with gemstore exclusive decorations for the homestead on top of letting us earn them as rewards/loot or crafting. 

[LichOverlord.6329]

I have never been more excited for an expansion as I am for this one!

Land spears, proper housing, and Wing 8 are all things that I've desperately wanted to see in-game for years - add to that the ability to finally use my beloved Warclaw (which, of course, proudly bears my guild emblem and is dyed in my guild standard's colors 😁) in PvE is just the icing on the cake!

You all are absolutely killing it @Rubi Bayer.8493 - please let the team know that they're doing amazing work, and that myself and all of my guild members eagerly await the new adventures you all have in store for us!!! 💕

[Nuldric.1239]

9 hours ago, Linken.6345 said:

Well to be fair we do not know if every class will use it as a 2her.

Some might only get main hand spear or off hand spear, some can get both and some can use it in a 2h way.

Sorry, but you can dream. They said it'll be interchangable between land and aquatic slot, so it'll use same item stats and the stats are same as for 2h weapon...additionally, have you seen in trailer someone with a spear and an offhand? There sure will be some 1h throw animation, but weapon will be 2h.

[Zok.4956]

9 hours ago, Rubi Bayer.8493 said:

I can confirm that we are not gonna be doing that. 😛 

Certainly not now. But after JW the next expansion will come, so there will be another chance to do so. 😛 😇

[Nuldric.1239]

3 hours ago, BntyHntr.5761 said:

The warclaw I also have mixed feelings about... It's one of the slowest mounts, and I'm not sure exactly what they plan on adding to it. We have defiance break, healing, flying, various other combat abilities (turtle and skyscale), evasion, water transversal (above and below), and speed (roller beetle and griffon) between all our mounts thusfar for PVE. Additional combat skills for WvW would be nice, but I'm skeptical of what they could add that would make me choose the warclaw in PvE over all my other viable options.

I think, they'll make warclaw a combat mount, using a spear as a weapon, throwing it at and poking enemies while still mounted, maybe adjust it's hp pool, speed and add a mild cc or knockback to rush through enemy lines. I can imagine warclaw cavalry already 🤣.

Edited June 5 by Nuldric.1239

[Futa.4375]

Spoiler

Ikea is ours, titans! OURS!

 

[Zok.4956]

9 hours ago, vrauns.3215 said:

not true, they said they are smaller expansions at a reduced price, the way it was before wasn't a good model when we got the whole story at launch and than waiting 2 to 3 years for another expac and nothing to do, the new way is much better.

"it wasn't a good model" - If the model had been bad in general, they wouldn't have done three expansions with it - so it was good for many years.

Good for you if you liked the little bits and pieces of SotO. For me it was far too little and I would always prefer a "real" expansion like HoT or PoF to the mini model of SotO - I would even be willing to pay significantly more for it.

If I want to eat a pizza, I don't want to be sold half a pizza with the promise that I'll only get the other half a few months later.

It is not yet clear whether the “lessons learned” will really lead to JW becoming a significantly better (mini) expansion than SotO.

[Nash.2681]

20 minutes ago, Zok.4956 said:

"it wasn't a good model" - If the model had been bad in general, they wouldn't have done three expansions with it - so it was good for many years.

Good for you if you liked the little bits and pieces of SotO. For me it was far too little and I would always prefer a "real" expansion like HoT or PoF to the mini model of SotO - I would even be willing to pay significantly more for it.

If I want to eat a pizza, I don't want to be sold half a pizza with the promise that I'll only get the other half a few months later.

It is not yet clear whether the “lessons learned” will really lead to JW becoming a significantly better (mini) expansion than SotO.

I can relate to this post. While I couldn't care less about housing and was happy, GW2 didn't go for it like pretty much every MMO does, it was a bit forseeable since we already got fishing with EoD. I just hope the implementation pleases the target audience more than it did with fishing. On the other hand I'm happy about them revitalizing raids and am crossing fingers for it.

But what really bugs me is this: SotO + JW together seem to have the amount of content and features I'd expect from a "real" expansion that doesn't come in bits (and for a slightly cheaper overall price). I'd rather have a full expansion every 2-3 years than this bite-sized mini updates.

[kurosy.1384]

I'm SO hyped by this expansion!! All features revealed till now are stuff i was really looking foreward! Can't wait to know more! The maps look wonderful already and i'm excited for times to come!

Just addressing some points made by people in previous posts:
-i do feel that housing and home instance is redundant, i was expecting a rework of the latter. My guess is that housing is bound to this expansion while home instance is a core feature and thus the two things must stay separated. But i really hope they'll find a way to link em toghether in game for JW owners. Like a portal into the home instance and/or a way to pick homesteads in the theme of home instances and/or guild halls. Imagine having lots scattered through tyria (including old expansions) that the commander could acquire to move their home there! My speculation is that homestead will be launched with few jantir location choices but it will be expanded with time.  It's a JW feature but i strongly hope it won't feel limited to this expansion only but will become instead another great way to experience and live Tyria, similar to how fishing was added everywhere (but cooler than fishing :P)

-regarding the new crafting discipline for homestead, my guess here is that this crafting thing will be different from the previous ones: it will be bound to the mastery line, so account wide and will have specific stations placed/placeable in homestead, home instance, guild hall (like the bot station), hubs, cities etc

-Guys, it's fine to be skeptical and wanting to buy after the release or even after the updates, i get it. I also was disappointed by some stuff in soto. But some people need to wake up and stop complaining about "they give us living world level content and expect us to pay". That was not sustainable business. You either have a healthy game releasing monetized content or you have an unsustainable, failed game (even if it was good). Do you realize that a lot of people rely on this game for their livings?  Please stop and think a bit realistically and stop expecting a studio to go after your whims because they used to do it that way once. 25$ might be a lot for someone, it's determined by localization and i totally respect that. But compared to other games monetization, it's a very reasonable cost. It's like paying 2$ per month subscription without the urge to play everyday because you're wasting money if you don't do it. Do you feel like not spending 25$ for such an expansion formula? Totally legit. But is the expansion worth 25$? Is soto worth 25$? Heck yes, it's a whole studio year of work! Did you see the endless end screen? At least respect people's work.

[Fang.2137]

Overall, I like the announcement and I hope that the expansion will be nice, but I have a few doubts. 

I have a bad feeling about Warclaw. In press kit (you can see here -> https://zebrapartners.net/janthirwilds/) there is a mention - "New and improved Warclaw... using its unique double-jump ability to navigate tough terrain". Why do we need to jump when we have flying mounts? And now a description of the maps from the same document - "New maps...  tempestuous Janthir Syntri". I hope that "tempestuous" does not mean that we will not be able to use flying mounts due to the weather.

I remember when the home instance was advertised at the premiere, we know what came out of it. Someone will tell me that a lot has changed since then, let me remind you that ArenaNet has already attempted to add locations that we will expand, such as Sun's Refuge or Arborstone (the trailers promised something more than what we finally got) and I am afraid that this will be a similar case. Of course, it will be more extensive than the examples provided, but not as much as people expect.

It's very nice that there will be a new raid and that it will be in two versions. They could also work on old raids to make them accessible to less experienced players. I don't understand why they won't copy the great solution from Fractals. They could give 15 levels, 1-4 are easier, exactly like in "Emboldened Mode", 5 are normal levels, 6-9 are correspondingly more difficult, 10 are CM and 11-15 are even more difficult. Of course, the higher the level, the better the drop. It's even possible that below 5 some things simply won't drop, so players who have done raids before don't feel cheated.

As for the new pvp, I would like it to be something similar to the one from the first one - https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Competitive_Mission

Edited June 5 by Fang.2137

[Kuldor.9682]

I'm not often on the forum, but I really have to say the new expansion model is killing the game for me.

Paying upfront for a product that I'm being told is not finished just feels wrong to me, and thus, I won't do it again, you got me with SoTO, never again, I won't stick for half a year doing nothing just to see the story end.

I really don't care about housing in any MMO, so that's whatever, hope it pleases the crowd that does.

Spear is... ok? I mean, new weapon, so that's great, but I can't help feeling using one of the aquatic weapons is one of the laziest approaches they can take to add a new weapon, even when I'm aware skills will be different.

I get the "smaller expansions at a reduced price", but if the idea is to have a new expansion each year, you are effectively asking me for more money than before, and making the game even harder to get into for new players.

Guess I'll see how this expansion goes from afar and decide if I want to play it at all when it's finished, I'll be busy somewhere else when it releases anyway.

[Ashantara.8731]

13 hours ago, Super Hayes.6890 said:

The new war claw skin preview video had idle animations that very much reminded me of a horse. Are we getting horses via skins for the war claw with this expansion???

I sure hope they do! A proper Horse skin pack is long overdue. 👍

Related links: https://i.imgur.com/niczBVr.jpg , https://i.imgur.com/nUsVQ83.jpg