To all those that worked on "Living Season 4".

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

Yeah I know, we are only supposed to be negative here, well tough :P

That said, LS4 is amazing. I have been through a roller coaster of emotions (won't lie, I got upset at some of the mechanics, but that was a minor hiccup). I am now running a Mirage/Mesmer w/ascended weapons, and trinkets, backpiece. DS armor. (I was running chrono but soon saw the flaw in my thinking), and just reached "War Eternal" only needing help once. Well twice but power flipped causing me to go back to a checkpoint, and friend had to go. But I went back in solo and finished (Final battle against Joko). The new areas are amazing looking, and the story is top notch. I'm 60. I've played RPG's longer than some here have been alive (Since text adventures where the vogue). gasp And the revelations, and occurrences (trying not to give spoilers) were unexpected, and pulled at the heart strings. I'm a GW1 vet, played from launch there also. THK, Deldrimor, FOE, UW, and other places.. Oh man, I was grinning so big, and the little dialogue references to GW1 were much appreciated. Can't say enough how much I enjoyed all of that.

I've no idea how it will end up, and that is really great. I normally figure things out and it can ruin the fun. The twists and turns here really show you all put in the wrench time. I don't think I've been this impressed except one other time, the attack on Lions Arch (excluding expansions). That blew me away. Can't say enough about that either. FWIW, thank you, and please keep content like this coming whenever possible. I would happily wait longer than normal for content of this caliber. Honestly LS4 could have been a paid expansion, (glad it wasn't just sayin :) ).

./sword_salute

[Susy.7529]

Agreed, except Kourna, I hated that map, achis, everything but story.Loved other maps, especially Sandswept Isles, my favourite map in all GW2 for its landscape.

[Hashberry.4510]

To each their own I guess.

[Igrenon.9421]

Praise Joko! :D

[Etria.3642]

Praise Joko!

[wrathmagik.3518]

They really overdid the branded lightning on the maps. Killed most of the fun for me.

LS4 maps= zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap! zap!

[Hesacon.8735]

@Susy.7529 said:Agreed, except Kourna, I hated that map, achis, everything but story.Loved other maps, especially Sandswept Isles, my favourite map in all GW2 for its landscape.

Kourna instance maps were great, the entire map was a battlefield during an instance. The final battle was also amazing.

So the story instance maps were great, even if the map itself was lackluster and lacks reasons to go back.

For me Istan was the best because of the Astralaria. The Easter egg in the library was great as I crafted the legendary axe. I really appreciate that attention to detail and finally getting proper weapons to pair with my axe Astralaria.

[otto.5684]

I liked some of LWS4 maps. Definitely better than PoF maps. The story though was the lowest In GW2 for me. At least it picked up in the last 3 episodes.

If I put things in order for me: Core Tyria > LWS3 > HoT >>>>>>>>>> LWS4 > PoF > LWS2. Considering that the older content was better, considerably better, much of LWS4 should not be repeated. In fact, I cannot think of one aspect of LWS4 that was not done somewhere else better.

Hopefully LWS5 is better.

[Randulf.7614]

For me it was one of worst rpg story experiences that I can remembe. Its downhill struggle from ep3 to the frankly awful final sequence is unfortunate to watch - poss due to poor resource management, but the guild chat was telling in that Joko's death, Aurene's death and Aurene's resurrection were not planned, but decided on at each episode's design for coolness. It seems to be the drawback of the episodic content - the confined to making set piece moments and not a consistent, flowing story

However, the maps are mostly excellent (Kourna and the pointless Thunderhead ones aside). The map artists and map storytellers shone, the sound artists shone, the VA was much improved and the new mounts were fun. Story aside, there was a lot of fun to be had and if it wasn't for the dreadful narrative, it would would have been the top arc.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Evon Skyfyre.9673 said:The new areas are amazing looking, and the story is top notch. I'm 60. I've played RPG's longer than some here have been alive (Since text adventures where the vogue). gasp And the revelations, and occurrences (trying not to give spoilers) were unexpected, and pulled at the heart strings. I'm a GW1 vet, played from launch there also.

Ditto. I am 40+, too, and a RPG (pen & paper) and GW1 vet. And I agree with your analysis. Season 4 offered the best LW content so far. Compared to previous content, there was little I had to criticize (mostly about Ep. 5, and no, not because of what happened at the end but about presentation and story mission content).

Overall, I was in awe as well, especially about Joko and about Ep. 6. That was truly amazing stuff there story-wise, and most maps (esp. Jahai and Dragonfall <3) are stunningly well done.

Thank you for your post. :) That was a nice dose of positivity. ;)

[Grim West.3194]

I really enjoyed Season 4 story and maps. Same thing with Season 3. Such a huge improvement over the story that comes with the Core game.

GW1's story was great. So it was huge let down when GW2 first came out the story was so bad. But they improved so much since then.

I probably shouldn't say story but the delivery. How you tell a story is just as important as the story itself. And the way they delivered the story for the core game is abysmal. Kudo's to them for getting it right since then.

[Perisemiotics.4579]

Kourna feels like a lot of space wasted, the Ntouka Pond could have one event or two. I know they meant it in part for the beetle but still, the spatial configuration of that map feels odd. I do like that Choya ritual with the dance event and the Asura making out their language, lol.

Istan has the Amala fight that is very dramatic and ties up nicely to the fractal where we see how she became what she is; the meteor event is maybe my favorite in the whole game - I like these unique events with unique skills/tools/mechanics, like the Siren of Orr and Koda's Flame.

Jahai was really polished with the achievements, collections and Sun's Refuge but Dragonfall has the best map design and event mechanics for sure. Everything is well sectioned and yet everything is inter-connected; the idea of having the dragon's body physically present as part of the map (along with his clipped wing) was brilliant; the Skycale rentals and the moving ship are a nice touch.

[Lynnanine.1652]

Agreed, I have really enjoyed this season. :)

[Bobzitto.8571]

MMOs have the distinct disadvantage of having an awful time trying to create the sense of protagonism that you see in single player RPGs. Because they have to maintain the massive multiplayer aspect of it, our characters end up going with the flow rather than being decision makers (Small decisions feel superfluous and big decisions lead to different outcomes and that would be a pain to develop. Only MMO that I can think of that scratched the surface on that was SWTOR).

With that in mind, I did like the way the story played out. Yet another missed opportunity for an epic dragon fight finale, but we can't have everything. I'd love to see the whole thing go down a notch or two, and into the more mundane aspects of the world. From the world-saving, dragon-killing, god-murdering character we've become (Yeah, we've had help. You keep telling yourself that) to a person having to deal with cutthroat politics and whatnot.

As for the zones, I thought they were really well crafted. I had a lot of fun navigating them, and there was always something to look for in each zone. Some secret, some collection, etc. The one I dislike a bit is Dragonfall when it comes to the design, mostly because I would have loved to see the three zones in it intertwine more and not be so compartmentalized.

[Hashberry.4510]

Story is a weak point in this game; the rest was well done.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

I thought it was all great, especially 'A Bug In The System" which remains my favorite map and story chapter to date. The only complaint I would have about all of LS4, is that Aurene's resurrection came too fast and easy, I hope they consider revising that.

My wish for LS5 is that we stop just going to new places and make some return to Central Tyria. There's at least four or five areas of the map there that are still open, including the area around the Orr/Shiverpeaks Bloodstone. I would like them to return to filling in the map that we already have instead of trying to expand rapidly into the entire planet, because as we've seen with PoF/LS4, it creates a situation in which we see too much of the same landscape for too long a period of time, and I don't think that's healthy for the game's diversity.

Unexplored areas in Central Tyria:

• Between Tangled Depths and Metrica Province
• Between Rata Sum and The Grove
• The Tengu city and unimplemented starter map, east of Caledon Forest
• Between Sparkfly Fen and Timberline Falls (the Bloodstone is here)
• Between Dredgehaunt Cliffs and Fields of Ruin
• There's at least room for one more map in the Ring of Fire islands

---

Most of the people who think the story is bad seem to just be negative people. In all my years on these forums I have rarely seen anything praised, just complaint after complaint after complaint about every single aspect of the game, and no matter how it is done, its usually the same people complaining about it , it seems just for the sake of negativity.

Go out and breathe some fresh air. Drink some water. Get some sleep. Seriously.

[Derdzvero.7051]

LWS4 started great... until Anet decided to become Marvel and messed up with Joko&Aurene.

Question to Anet: when you are walking around Elona/Fractals/with Marjory, or simply playing a Necromancer, don't you feel some inconsistency? Any.. weird feeling, that something doesn't fit?P.S. same happened with Silvary - turning 1/5 of Tyria population into mobs, without follow up, is not a story telling that deserves credit. Not in 2019.

[LucianDK.8615]

Good riddance to Joko, he had far too much time in the spotlight. But yeah, Aurene I can agree on, what a poor cliffhanger they left us with.

[hugo.4705]

@"Randulf.7614" said:For me it was one of worst rpg story experiences that I can remember - its downhill struggle from ep3 is unfortunate to watch - poss due to poor resource management, but the guild chat was telling in that Joko's death, Aurene's death and Aurene's resurrection were not planned, but decided on at each episode's design for coolness. It seems to be the drawback of the episodic content - the confined to making set piece moments and not a consistent, flowing story.

However, the maps are mostly excellent (Kourna and the pointless Thunderhead ones aside). The map artists and map storytellers shone, the sound artists shone, the VA was much improved and the new mounts were fun. Story aside, there was a lot of fun to be had and if it wasn't for the dreadful narrative, it would would have been the top arc.

I perfectly agree with Randulf. I was very fan of episode 1 and 2 maps, but after I feel them boring, unfinished, just like the whole story has been remade at the end of e2. About the beauty of the maps, here nothing to say, really cool apart kourna and thunderhead for me.

I know I enjoyed more ls3 maps like mons draconis, ember bay and siren's landing.They were in the continuity of core maps: maguuma and orr.... Joko's death was a terrible mistake for me, seeing how bad kralk end is, I mean, really? Feelings? Kralk eat aurene, killed her the end, I don't approve playing with death I know like I'm in game of thrones... what's next jormag zombies? Can't explain the story after e2: heya I'm snaff without zojia, useless sun refuge, killing blish and joko because hey why not, to end it exploring kralky belly....Through the aerial fight was great, but hey kinda short.

What I see is that they are several feedbacks about the maps still not corrected or whatever: the awful stairs of the astralarium, empty inquest chests and invisible assets collision errors, less currency nodes in kourna and jahai, the awful purple room preventing from map completion thunderhead peak, oakheart not working on airship plus taimi and sayida can't talk. To only say a few.

That why I prefer expansions, the story is fluid, less obvious bugs and maps are bigger full of everything from pois to ambient dialogues. Also for expansions they have more time, it's polished they do what they want to. Ls is a bad format it feels like they throw thorns in their feet: when you need 4 months to do an ls map, take 4 months! Don't rush it into 3 months! Personally, I'm ready to wait if It allows them to make it how they want to make it, when you hear about cut contents v1 is always better...

Here in ls, the transition was perfect at the start of e1 and e2. But after was totally stupid fitting anything possible starting with the primeval dinasty, why helping us? They hate us and aren't affected by the plague. Olmakhan same, only affected by inquest so no reasons. Should have been only the pact. Now relook at e3: pact vs all awakened, not same balance. It's clear that episodes stories aren't even tied together: e4 end we lost several pact members let's say around 50~ and start of e5 we aren't even counting the deaths, sending regards or healing the wounded. You're dead? Welp that's good you engaged for that.I don't even remember of "radiance"..

We can't continue accumulating plot/lore holes if even episode teams don't even know welp..... "minions corrupted by a dragon can't be corrupted by another" subject alpha, beta and death-branded creatures destroy that theory even vine-touched destroyers in ember bay.

[Urud.4925]

Thanks for opening a feedback thread about LW4, ArenaNet deserves some credit also from their last effort.Maybe it was for the long wait, or because I've read the interesting Requiem stories first, but this episode was also very touching, despite I already suspected Aurene's fate. A bit less surprising than the previous episodes, but still full of emotions. So a big thank you and congratulations to the team. I hope many of us listened to the additional dialogues (like when you contact Taimi who's having "fun" with cannons or when Braham thinks about letting grow again the hair). Speaking of Braham, he's now my best pal. And also a superhumannorn warrior, considering that he shielded alone a direct blow of Kralkatorrik.

The maps are also good, despite I found too many farming achievements in the last 3 episodes. I don't like when I need a lot of gold to complete the achievements, but I liked for example the weapon collection/tales in Thunderhead Peaks (both the quests and the choice to add only the exotic version to the collection, not the ascended). The maps are also creative and well designed (but I preferred them before they added those smoke/branded effects near the 2 metas in thunderhead for example. Those are points where there are a lot of people, so this increases even more the lag. But my fault for having a bad PC).

Maybe because it's still fresh, but overall I think that I liked LW4 more than PoF (which also had a very interesting story). LW4 brought us also very appreciated QoL improvements, like the novelty tab, the unidentified gear loot, and last one that allows us to farm trinkets in any LW map we like (and not only Bitterfrost). Keep rolling! Thank you :)

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

Note: Lots of great replies, I am hesitant to read them entirely, as I have NOT completed "WAR ETERNAL" so I will wait til I do to read and comment : )

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

Okay, finished... Oh my, what an ending. I was hitting insert instead or print screen so no screens lol gonna have to run the last bit again soon :)

Okay, time to process. But wow... just WOW..

[Cerioth.7062]

LWS4 as a whole was a great journey. The atmosphere of the maps were pretty much spot on, and I enjoyed the stories.

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

 

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