Feedback: Whisper in the Dark

[Yasi.9065]

Im seeing a lot of complaints that the story (and overall content) are not enough content.

In the past, I probably would have agreed with this, but since quite some time Ive embraced the way of GW2 and only play the game a few hours per week, on the side so to speak. I can agree, that if I played GW2 still "fulltime", this episode would have been rated quite a bit lower for me as well. The way too easy openworld part of the release would have more impact on my enjoyment.As well as the missing difficulty settings for strikemissions. Especially because this time we got a fully on its own developed strikemission, not "just" a re-used story bossevent. For me, that points towards raids and fractals being either neglected or completely given up on in favor of strikemissions, considering that Anet didnt hire extra devs for that kind of content. At least that I know of :)

So, I can somewhat understand the negative responses. However, I want to point out, that we got a few new features this episode (love the self-opening doors and jormag's chilly whispers ;p), so overall I wouldnt call this episode an example of anets supposed decline. Its just a bit less flashy compared to Grothmar Valley, and it lacks a challenge for veterans.

[Bast.7253]

@"Palador.2170" said:Well, the story has some good and bad points for me. I'll get back to that.

As for the map itself? I can sum up my thoughts on it in two words: "Why bother?"

I've not been given enough lore or reason to care about fighting slightly different looking icebrood/svanir or anything else on this map. And why bother leveling up 3 different masteries so I can get full rewards when I can just go to ANY OTHER MAP and get full rewards right now? And that's ignoring the fact that I might power up buff A only to find myself trying to unlock a chest that needs buff B?

Speaking of rewards, the new weapons are pretty enough, but kinda ... generic? There's a ton of other weapons in the game that look just as good, if not better. They don't stand out in any way at all, really. Very much not worth dealing with this map to try and make them. Oh, and that home node? This is the THIRD TIME for this bug to show up, guys!

Now, for the story... Well, it wasn't bad. It had some good moments. It had some bad ones too, though. I have NO problems with Braham having issues with the voices in his head, but the others? I'm not saying they needed to be immune, but they didn't really offer up much resistance at all, even though they knew they were being messed with. Also, if this is how Jormag operates, then why didn't Braham get hit by it before, when his guild was closing in on Jormag directly? And as others have said, it was too short. It raised some questions, but gave us nothing. No answers, and not enough of any lore or anything to sink our teeth into (so to speak). Easily dismissed and forgotten.

Your point about the map is a great one and one that kept coming up for me. We have all these "fallen" and "aberrant" mobs, but they seem to just be plucked into the map for the sake of giving this mastery some semblance of a purpose? Like, where did they come from? Why are they here? Why are we killing them? Then we have the boneskinner just appear in the map, with no tie in to the story.

I was expecting the smaller map, and to be honest the size of the map still feels pretty decent to me. But what I wasn't expecting was a short point a to point b story that was essentially just a 30 minute introduction to the mastery. It feels like this whole episode exists solely to focus on the mastery and I didn't even bother to upgrade my ranks. I thought the whole purpose of splitting the maps in half was to give more emphasis on the story without having a nearly vacant map with nothing to do in it? But here it feels like we have an even shorter story and a map that hasn't been given any real context. There just doesn't seem to be any context or substance to any of this episode. It's literally just an entire episode and story made to shove this mastery system in your face. The mastery system that again, feels extremely lackluster.

I attempted the strike mission in public and found it pretty difficult, but we didn't have any people healing and it's a public setting. I'm not sure how much of a difference having the second mastery rank would have mattered with it because it seemed like it was more a coordination issue than anything else. A lot harder than the first one, and perhaps a bit overtuned for the public version... but I'm guessing this is the replacement for raids and fractals. For what though? A champ bag? Some unidentified greens and a map currency you'll need 100 of to make some weapon skin you'll probably never use just for the achievement points?

Really though, I like the tone, but the story portion of it made this entire episode feel more like a prologue than the actual prologue. I guess if these kinds of episodes were coming on a monthly basis, I could understand, but wow. Some great map design as usual, toss in a short story segment and instance, then plop in some random champ events in the middle of nowhere, bam - episode ready.

I hope the story moving forward is a little more in depth, because the people really hankering for norn lore or hopefully even jotun lore at some point are going to be pretty upset if they don't attempt to add more substance to them.

I think I spent like an hour just trying to solve the riddle following the raven spirits. It was extremely vague and I'm not even entirely sure that what I did was necessary or if I could have just walked into the second puzzle. (Burning library.)

But anyway, pro's - cool environment, enjoyed the dark tone and cinematic. Look forward to the continuation of that.

Cons - no real reason to feel invested in this mastery system - a shield that protects me from some unseen frost damage? A beam that I can shoot like every 2 minutes and does dismal damage? Random mobs everywhere with auras that seem to only exist, with no story background, but just to validate the existence of the mastery?

Yeah, I don't know. This feels like it must have been done by the Siren's Landing team in terms of the mastery system. I mean, "character progression" essentially equates to... damage reduction buffs? Lifesteal on crit buffs? So essentially the same thing I can get from eating food that I have to kill 20 mobs to obtain? And an occasional damage beam that I can use?

[whoeverxwins.1279]

I never thought I'd be on the disappointed bandwagon. What story we got, I really liked. But I was done in a few hours, and that with running around doing events and map completion as well. The masteries aren't needed at all. Well, except to open chests, and with the typical lousy loot we get from such things, i don't feel I'd be missing anything if i didn't bother. Please, don't ever make such an itty bitty chapter again. I'm already back to playing my other game.

[Lurana.7506]

@"Weindrasi.3805" said:Pros: What there was of the story was great. They've delivered on the Lovecraftian theme--Jormag is creepy and awesome, and I love that

! "its" voice is so feminine(when it isn't speaking through a dead guy of course... which makes me wonder who it was speaking through in the original trailer).

It was a female voice actress all along, even in the announcement trailer :)

[AzureNightmare.3914]

This is such a hard decision for me. You know those reviews on Steam, that say they like a ton of things about it a game, but since they can only give a thumbs up or a thumbs down its a thumbs down and they go into detail why? That's it for me. I had GW2 at launch, but I quit playing for a few years, so even since I started playing agian in 2018 i'm still not 100% done with all of Living World and the expansions, mostly because I'm that kind of nerd who loves role-playing and making new characters constantly (I know all the lore though) instead of finishing the story, so Icebrood Saga is kind of? The first LW i'm actually doing as they come out, so I've been eagerly awaiting every new episode to get the experience, but since I'm not too experienced with LW episodes and maps feel free to take what I say with a grain of salt. Here's what I feel is the good and the bad though.

• The Good:

The map, while small, is great. It has that perfect feeling of the hopelessness, despair, and even depression winter brings; and it was released with winter around the corner. I have seasonal depression with winter and how it gets so dark and so cold so early, and I feel like it was perfectly represented in Bjora Marches. Its sad. We've stepped foot uncomfortably out of the Shiverpeaks back to the Norns' ancestral homelands, and its ruled by Jormag and his cultists. Its a really depressing place with the son always blocked out and snow, and I really genuinely loved it. I especially love the hopelessness among the Vigil after SPOILEEEEEEEEEEEERS happened, and the constant paranoia that follows with Jormag constantly whispering to everyone; I knew he'd try to kitten with Rytlock, Cre, and Braham, but I was caught off guard by him screwing with Jory too and I especially loved that segment in the caves.

The writing was great. I feel like ever since the Icebrood Saga began the writing has tremendously improved, and I loved the psychological horror that filled the air. The writing was the best part of the episode to me, and being able to kamehameha with the mastery was pretty cool too. And I like games like GW2 for its story, so thats a huge boon to me. I'm part of a Norn RP guild and I absolutely loved this, I've already thought a lot about what Jormag is whispering to all my characters and I can't wait for us to get further in and caught up so we can RP in the map. Even Braham, who I've disliked (a shared sentiment by many) in the past is starting to grow on me; and this is the chance to write him into a likable character.

And its also unfortunate when I say that's what I enjoy the most out of this map, because that is... not good.

• Nitpicking/Personal gripes:

YOU TEASED US SO MUCH WITH THE BONESKINNER AND HE WAS NOTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING

Jokes aside though, the Boneskinner was really disappointing. Its one thing that he wasn't prominent in the story itself, focusing on the Sons of Svanir was fine, but at the end of the day? It was just another Champion boss. I remember when it said it was going to eat people I was thinking maybe there'd be a mechanic where it ate players and insta killed them, but no it was just these NPCs I don't care about. Now I loved the woods area in general, but it is incredibly disappointing after being hyped up the Boneskinner is just a Champion you can easily miss. I would have been in favor of it being a Legendary and the final boss of the meta event of the map (more on that below), but that was disappointing. Not enough to seriously deduct points if I was rating it formally, but I don't think I was the only one who felt this way about it. If anything the Endless Boneskinner Tonic just feels like, way more exciting than the actual thing. Being able to turn into a Boneskinner and let people pretend to pet you sounds funner than the actual boss. Now, I DO like the associated quest where the Vigil is getting freaked out bc they're being watched due to my love for the horror themes in this episode, but still. Now, I get the Boneskinner will be the focus of a strike mission, but that's a rotating thing that not every player is gonna be interested in.

The lore is weird and you didn't explain what the Fallen is, and I was debating if I want this to be a big thing. When I saw "corrupted bear shaman" in the distance I assumed they were like, Icebrood shamans who used to revere the Spirits but fell to Jormag's influence and are stuck in their forms, like Svanir was. But they're just kind of there? And they're like... on fire. They look like Destroyers. Is there some kind of lore to them? Are they resisting Jormag with fire magic but are also hostile to anything that isn't them? Hopefully we'll find out in a few months.

• The Bad:

And I'm really sad this is gonna be the longest part, because I did have a LOT of fun playing it, and I probably will again on other characters, followed by never returning to the map.

The first thing I want to talk about is that meta. I hate it. I hate it a lot. The Icebrood Construct WAS kind of cool, but that should have been part of the story (a second half, which I'll go on below) with it attacking the Keep as part of the personal quest. I don't like how intrusive that was to the UI. I really wanted to do the main quest for Whisper in the Dark before doing metas and quests; but that UI thing was SO disruptive and I didn't want to constantly run back to get Raven's protection, I just kind of put my story on hold to finish it. And I didn't even like the last boss. The Icebrood Construct was cool visually and I liked it being chained, but there's nothing I can say other than "big monster walking and we gotta make it stop!" I'm sure Jory's part of the main quest would be unaffected since its in a cave, but the other two segments with Rytlock and Creia and Braham were awful until I decided to just stop. It didn't help that meta took forever to finish either. I hate to say this, I really do, but even The Frozen Maw, aka Baby's First World Boss felt more investing to me despite the worse loot; there's something about the Champion Svanir Shaman Chief summoning his portals and hulking out on you in his Icebrood form that feels... more epic than just an ice kaiju steadily advancing. Also, it doesn't mess up my entire UI, so I can do other stuff, such as the main quest in Wayfaer Foothills without worrying about a debilerating condition from an event I'm not interested in is hindering my process.

The map is really small. This has been said a million times; which means you guys should listen. It didn't need to be HUGE, but like... I don't know. 2-3 more explorable areas with its own events like the woods and cave would've been nice, I think? I think that would've made a huge difference to the map.

And also said a million times, the quest is too short. Even my favorite GW2 streamer, AuroraPeachy, commented that was really short. I thought the Raven Shrine would be like, the halfway point, and then maybe something like stopping the Sons of Svanir from destroying the keep would occur, much like the meta event of the map, maybe ending with a funeral for SPOILEEEEEEEEEEERS, and even Rytlock acknowledging this has become something much, much, much bigger than just pursuing Bangar further. Instead it just... kind of ended? The Freir (or however you spelled it) was a great Legendary boss once you understood the gimmick, don't get me wrong, and I could've been fine with it as the final boss, just not that early. And this isn't just my opinion either; a lot of people are unhappy with how short this quest was. If you released LW episodes like... twice as quickly (which would also affect quality negatively) like every two months it'd be fine; I think everyone excused Bound by Blood being short bc it was a "Prologue" (I think all of us at heart consider it to be the real episode 1 and were disappointed still though by the length), but now? We're in the main meat. Nobody wants to wait 4 months for something THIS short.

And this brings us to the ultimate problem; outside of roleplaying and doing IC stuff on all my other RP characters? I don't... really want to come back to this map. I LOVE the atmosphere and writing around it, but I don't wanna come here to spend hours when I could be doing World Bosses in Core Tyria, map exploration, or the past two maps; which I want to talk about in-length now.

Dragonfall and Grothmar Valley still have lots of people active in those maps; why? Because they're fun and rewarding (although hatched chillis are probably the worst map currency in the game, that's another can of worms for another discussion). Dragonfall has this huge (easily more than twice Bjora Marches) and an incredibly unique and massive meta event in the form of Break the Crystal Dragon; and I have WAY more issues with War Eternal's writing and story than Whisper in the Dark's, but I still want to do Dragonfall much more than Bjora Marches. That meta is so huge, fun, and massive it makes me want to come back to Dragonfall just for it. Hell, it makes me want to do the previous metas and misc quests around the map JUST to get mistborn keys to open those coffers at the end. An incredibly fun meta event spawning multiple Legendaries followed by a horde of Champions to fight each spawning chests after is super fun! And I've not done all of Grothmar Valley's metas, Metal Legion alone is just so fun I have gone back to the map just to do it. Its fun and has massive replay value. And as this game does not revolve around loot, where any character can craft weapon and armor with the highest stats in the game? That's what's most important in the PvE front; fun maps with fun events that entice the player to return to do them again and again. Its not even about getting Ascended trinkets; they're just fun to do, and Dragonfall's metas drop a ton of chests dropping jewels useful for upgrading Exotic amulets and trinkets (for those who don't like grinding or crafting for Ascended armor) and other crafting as well. Grothmar Valley gets you a warhorn that's a kitten microphone and some wicked t-shirts, and some really cool back items for Charr players who are deep into Legion roleplay. Even Siren's Landing which I don't really like (I don't like any Orr map tbh) has two things going for it; the first is that Undead Wyvern epic-level boss, and the second is the option to buy Ascended back items and trinkets with Karma instead of Unbound/Volatile magic.

What does Bjora's March has? I guess the Endless Skinwalker Tonic is cool. And those Ancient Boreal weapon skins look great, especially the Greatsword featured in the trailer since it looks just like an Ultra Greatsword out of Dark Souls (I actually like the Ancient Boreal skin much more than Restored Boreal, looks more... ancient, eroded by the sands of time; which I get it, restored and ancient, but still). But i'm never gonna make them more than once, once I get the skin its transmutation charges from then on out. So what's my incentive to go back to Bjora's March once I have these items, other than roleplaying with my guildmates or to do the quest on new characters after I get to that point? Nothing except a meta with fairly uninspired events, the same Sons of Svanir I was killing back in the Shiverpeaks. I hate to say this, I really do, but even The Frozen Maw, aka Baby's First World Boss felt more investing to me despite the worse loot; there's something about the Champion Svanir Shaman Chief summoning his portals and hulking out on you in his Icebrood form that feels... more epic than just an ice kaiju steadily advancing. Its a TERRIFIC atmospheric map and really great for roleplaying if you're into that, but its not like I'm RPing with my guildmates all the time. Most of the time I'm doing the personal quest and living world on my characters, bounties in Elona maps, and world bosses (bought the World Boss Portal Device just to do them), and various other metas I find fun (usually with challenging final bosses). There's very little intensive for me to return to Bjora's March other than getting that tonic and Boreal weapons. Once I have them, I'll only come back to RP or complete it on new characters. That's it.

• In Conclusion:

I really need to stress the fact I had a lot of fun, except for when the blizzard started and I felt compelled to join what I feel is an unfun meta event. The story was great, the atmosphere was great, the writing was great, and the new masteries are fun. I genuinely enjoyed myself, and I'm sure I'll enjoy doing it again. But its not like Istan (and Elona in general quite frankly, I love the entire region except for the Desolation), Dragonfall, Grothmar Valley, and even Siren's Valley for me. I feel very little reason to return to the map, and that to me is enough I cannot recommend it. It's a map that exists I have some fun on, but other maps are much more fun to do. The replay value in this map largely relies on my RP guilds being active in it, and because on all my characters I want to try to complete the entire story on them if possible.

I certainly hope this short map and story means you're gearing up for Chapter 2 of the Icebrood Saga. We know you will be introducing Drakkar as a new world boss; something I and many GW1 vets have wanted (I still remember when most of us thought Drakkar WAS Jormag). I'm really hoping the short story and map is a sign you guys are going full out to deliver us an epic world boss with an epic map. If not... I think the reception from those even who loved this map and quest will be a lot less warm.

So yeah. That's my personal thoughts. Great story, great writing, great atmosphere, great roleplaying potential, and a cool Endless Tonic and weapon skins; but tragically, very little replay value, which is instrumental to new maps in MMOs, and as far as I'm concerned a downgrade from both Dragonfall and Grothmar Valley as a result. Its like... you guys are almost there; but you still need to put int a little more to get to the finish line.

Regardless, God bless, and especially kudos to the writers.

[finkle.9513]

Are we really allowed to give feed back?Or should the title be renamed "positive only feedback" everything else seems to get removed

[seargent major madness.632]

i have a problém inside the shrine, when i am doing invitation, the game just dosent allow me to pass the moment when i kill thae fraenit

[Randulf.7614]

@"finkle.9513" said:Are we really allowed to give feed back?Or should the title be renamed "positive only feedback" everything else seems to get removed

None of my negative feedback has been removed. And there is a fair amount of it.

[finkle.9513]

Personally I think a story that takes 20mins to complete, is far from ideal

• I am so bored of the same format of game play:mapsmall storyfew eventscollection and achievement

Its just the same over and over again for at least 2 years, just this time with saga's they are smaller

There is absolutely no incentive for me to invent hours into completing collections, repeating events, unlocking achievements... Ive done it all on other maps, I just see it as a massive time sink a method of trying to to retain players in game, but the rewards for these come back to the fundamental issue of the game.. n The time> rewards are depressing, the rewards are useless(a mini) (a chest) pfft, I have no need to craft anything, I have no need for gold, I have no intention of the extremely poor drop chance of chests , I gave that up a long time ago having done Auric basin for 1 year x2 a day. It all boils down to at the end when you have gear you like, when you have done your crafting... what more is there.. its a pointless game after this.

[Westenev.5289]

A very spooky episode - I especially loved the haunted woods, and would have liked to have spent more time in there (either through story, ambient events or doubling its size on the map and making it the focal point of the episode).

Anet's storytelling continues to improve, even if the story is a tad predictable. What I liked most was the members of Dragons Watch actually leading events through the map - Jory's events in particular were quite dramatic and well executed. I also liked the little touches, like the shadows that sometimes appeared on the top of hills. It seems even the commander is losing their marbles.

I loved the blizzard mechanic, similar to how I liked the sandstorm mechanic in Drytop, but the map is designed in such a way that it never really caused any troubles in my exploration. I think it would have been cool if the snowstorms lasted longer, and we had a reason to take shelter. Maybe there could have been events back at the vigil keep while waiting for the snow to die down after a meta event.

If I had any big complaints, it would be that the Meta Event is kind of bland and long. Just camp a hill for xx:xx minutes while endless waves of mobs run to their doom, and then kill a giant health sack. The fire bombs felt cool, but in reality I don't think I was able to hit anything with them.

The episode itself also feels rather short - in an hour or two, I felt I completed the meat of the episode (map exploration, ambient events, story, the rewards I wanted and achievements I actually cared about). I'm not sure there's much reason to return, either.

[hugo.4705]

It's just so bad.... waited something big, stunning, but the map is clearly one of the WORST I've ever seen, sure it isn't as bad as kourna and the unfinished Gandara, but still almost last. The map is blank, when I mean blank, it's very flat, I feel like everything possible was put randomly in that map and mixed no matter if it works or not.

The story is also clearly disappointing, I don't want to play anymore; I feel like I'm watching a very bad TV series where everyone you like will die before the end. Firslty Tybalt (RIP, I still like you) and now a figure of the game, Almora Soulkeeper. What is next, killing leader of whisper and priory? Pff it's just very bad writing, such an awesome character killed as a nobody under rumbles.... I have hate, but not toward Jormag but toward the Writers who decided that. Imho it just deserves complete rerwriting of that part and a rerelease of the episode. You can't end a major character like that. Reminds me of War Eternal, where bunch of Innocents where killed just for fun. (Btw RIP Blish you will stay in my heart too, who was also unfinished, the emitter working and somehow we can't find it? Crappy ending) You've already crossed the line, but I can see it becoming worst with Ryland turning into icebrood killing Crecia. Rytlock kills Ryland and Bangar.The end, Rytlock is blood imperator. Jormag will die eventually in a stupid way too.

In conclusion, It was better before. Grothmar was very nice and put the ladder kinda high. LS4E2 Too. But the different episodes are inconsistent, you can have a very nice episode followed by the worst of the whole universe.

[finkle.9513]

It just sprung to mindThat didnt GW2 use to be challenging, didnt we have to think about the mechanics.. there where mechanics on the final boss, but I just steam rolled it all I had to do was chase him then dps him down... same for the map events.... I remember needing partys to compleat bosses - what happened to co op gaming..I dont feel immersed, challenged or entertained

I read a comment that Gw2 has become like WOW... I guess it really has.. and its so far off the GW model. GW1 was and still is hard..

[jediwolf.8724]

I haven't finished the story yet. But I am enjoying it so far.My biggest problem is I did the meta and the extra champs afterward.There are chests behind the champs that I couldn't open because I haven't trained high enough in the masteries to open them.Basically I feel I did the meta for XP only

[Jimbru.6014]

Compared to the last two maps of LS4, I think it's great. Much better than I expected.

• A reasonably sized map, comparable to LS3 maps. The single waypoint is deceptive as to how big the map actually is.
• Terrain has some challenges without locking you into "paths" or making you feel claustrophobic. Easy enough to get around once you get the Raven mastery, which you will want to do ASAP.
• Mobs aren't overpowered, though I do note the champs are tougher than usual. I think they presume you will have the Essence masteries unlocked, which makes the fights longer if you don't.
• I can see how some thought the story was too short, but I liked how it got to the point and advanced the plot without a lot of extra side trips.
• Dialogue wise, I could have done with a little less whining; in particular, Braham has less personal maturity than a newly awoken Sylvari. BUT it's important to remember throughout all the dialogue on this map that EVERYONE is contending with the voice in their heads picking on their inner demons. I thought the dialogue did a good job of reflecting that. The outbursts between Rytlock and Crecia were particularly shocking at a few points.
• The achievements are much more what I think they should be in EVERY story map. Only a few are tied to the story instances; most are done in the open world. It is reasonably possible to finish the map mastery without having to repeat the story for achieves. The majority are one-time, and the ones that are repeated have a reasonable number of repetitions. None of this "Save Tarir 100 times" or "25 bridge events" crap.
• I was disappointed to not see more of the Boneskinner.
• The Essence masteries at this point are totally "meh" and unnecessary to do anything except open chests for an achievement. The regular map and story are totally doable without them. I AM glad that they're not as complicated as the previews appeared to be; I am slightly disappointed that they're not more substantial in use.

[Despond.2174]

I think people expected too much. It's a LW story. I mean personally the mastery skills for it are so trivial and people just do it so they can have a higher mastery number. It was a nice half a day of playing, got everything done and will probably come back a few times to finish off that metax5 mastery point.

I did enjoy the more dark theme, yes the map was small but if we're going to have gigantic content drenched maps every LW then it's just going to be way too much. If you have mega metas every map then people won't know where to go and most of them will be wasted since we already have a meta for every minute of the hour now lol.

But yeah, I am happy there was something new to do for half a day but I wasn't expecting like an XPAC. It's a good map if you want to try for keys on alts.

[LucianDK.8615]

episode 2 expands this map theyve said. Isnt it pretty much what ppl have demanded? No wholly new map with each episode? as im given to understand, Dry Top in ls2 had this same treatment too.

[Thefarside.2178]

For the incredibly short duration of it, it was fun. The map is tiny and the events are on a very fast timer (which to me is supposed to hide the lack of content) I finished all masteries last night. A handful of achieves left for the mastery achievement and I suspect I will just return to SW and Dragonfall. I do not like the meta at all. Mainly due to the overall "noise" of it.

[Omega.6801]

So I played the story and completed the map twice so far, did a fewachievements along the way and bought what I liked from the vendors. Here's my feedback, I try to keep it spoiler free:

Map: It's not as rich and shiny as the previous one but it fits the dark and moody theme of the story. The map is a bit on the bland side but the forest ruins and the icy part that opens up after the meta have a great eerie feel to it that I enjoy.

Story: A bit on the short side. But I am happy that there's nothing gated by a timed event or crafting. Let's you go through in your own speed. The tone is dark and fits the map, yet because it's short, the feeling of threat and agony isn't really felt enough to make an impact. However, the instances are very atmospheric and fun while they last.

Rewards: Nothing out of the ordinary here, the new weapon set doesn't appeal to me but that's a matter of taste. Will do it anyway because of the achievements. Otherwise the mini/transformation appeal a lot and I'm happy they didn't cost me a fartune. Good to see scended trinkets back, at least one I found so far. Drops from mobs are average, I don't see ppl returning to this map for rewards in the future. To be fair, I haven't mastered the essences so far, maybe there's something to get, I'll see by tomorrow.

Achievemets: The AP grind is a lot less than in Grothmar Valley. On the one hand I like it, because I will be done faster and it's less of a grind, on the other hand I'm not getting as much AP out of the episode as I might want. This is a point of personal preference, so I guess it's to each their own on this one. Having to do the time consuming meta 15 times seems a bit bothersome now but I think over time this will be done as well.

Meta Event: The meta is great but the part where you defend the shrines take a bit too long for me. I think 5mins would have been well enough. Also, killing lootless mobs isn't that great. The boneskinner event is just a hackfest, the mechanics haven't mattered so far for any map I've been to. Maybe this will change over time but I doubt that I wil revisit the map after doing the APs.

Other Events: The smaller events are nothing out of the ordinary either. Gather X, Escort Y, Kill Z, same old, same old. The map doesn't seem to progress with events so it doesn't feel dynamic.

Overall Pros:

• Athmosphere, UI, Sound
• Serious tone in story and map
• Boneskinner design

Overall Cons:

• No Portal tome
• No node, at least not for me.(I know it's a bug)
• Slightly botched release. Delaying the release for three hours because of "last minute tests" then having a)the first instance stall, b)the story prohibiting some players from playing the epilogue and c)the node bug and the missing tome, is depressing.

[Biermeister.4678]

Story not long enough finished first time in about 2 hours of casual play

[Fangoth.3164]

Loved the theme! And totally had great time running everywhere on that map.I was a bit affraid at start that masteries would take a long xp farming session as it is a new line and only available in that map but it ended up to be fast as long as you are helping locals. Took a bit more time to get mastery point but still more than descent.Story wise was fine, long enough for a free release. Loved the introduction of jormag and her (?) sweet voice. Can't wait to continue hunting her.Meta wise: frustrated, loved to participate it, got hyped (yeah lets fight a jormag claw 2.0) but got trolled with the appearence of the construct. Haven't tried the chain yet but it introduce a logic mech to the fight.

But i don't understand why having a trade for LWS4. Its easy to farm them i don't see the point on simplifying it.

Will it remain a karma farm or will it become a new magic later on ? frozen magic?

[Polarfairy.8046]

After finishing the story pretty quickly last night, i'd say less than an hour, I honestly have no desire to log back in and play today. I really enjoyed bound by blood! It was the most I had played guild wars 2 in a while, it got me back into the game, I joined a guild thinking I was here for the long term with this new saga but now.. meh. The story was interesting, I am curious to see where it goes but as far as actual game play it just really didn't feel fun for me. It was all pretty easy, the meta chain was hard to follow but once you got to an event everything died in a few minutes. I was expecting the Boneskinner to be a bigger deal but there was very little build up or real fear factor, just another creepy monster! I really am disappointed, I hope episode 2 is better and that it comes soon.

[Murtos.5342]

30 min of story hidden behind npc paced slow walk sections and mastery locked progression since you need to get the normal raven mastery 2 finished to even be able to complete it extending the time needed to 1-2 hours..... map so short its not even a quarter of a lvl 1 map. Masteries how they are atm uneeded for anything and even though many keep bringing up " didnt you watch guildchat to hear that they will be needed in further episodes?" yeah not gonna watch them talking about stuff i wont even remember in 1-3 years when they bring it out. Welp just mean i wont play at all till next living story release not gonna upgrade/unlock the masteries either as there is no need for them atm.

[Vinceman.4572]

It's astonishing that people have already lowered their own expectations to such an extent and appreciate this episode so much. I can't help myself but compared to Kourna which was kind of a desaster this is worse except the meta. On the other hand Kourna had the beetle with a collection with less grinding while this episode has...essence masteries with no purpose at all except hindering me from looting everything some days earlier. I mean, give Kourna the ice environment and it would be far better than this. In addition the story was excellent and this one was mediocre at best. Holy cow!

[ButcherofMalakir.4067]

Hello. Here is my opinion about the new episode.story:I liked both the theme and the general progresion. Sadly It included both of the nececary "do events" and "you need mastery" requirements but at least the event one felt like a part of the story. I dont likeIf the story is put on hold to do something else and so this way of doing events was well implemented. The mastery gets this episode a slight -. The trials were great and something I havent expected to ever see in guildwars2. 2 options where both are either good or bad. Raven showed us that options are not always black and white (like most of the times in this game) which is great and for this this episode gets a lot of bonus points from me. Cinematic was also good (like that smile  ). Ok episode but great first episode. Map:I dont like the fact that there is only 1 WP and also there are doors where you need to dismount (and maybe get atacked). This lets me down since getting anywhere is tiresom. It would be a huge problem in other maps but this one isnt that big and doesnt have places where you want to get (exept some near wp) so it wasnt that bothering as I expected. Doors are still slightly tiresom so some point reduction there but not as much as I expected when I saw one wp and snow map. Not best map but if there is something I want I wouldnt be that angry that I have to return here.Events: sadly some rewards are locked behind mastery which I dont have which is kinda wierd but I cannot say it is bad until I get the mastery. This system would be better in later stages of the saga since now there are only 2 maps where they can be leveled which makes leveling them a slight chore. One event that I liked was the city defense. Fun but not that long with multiple stages. It evens out the other events for me.Strike:I have to say this is great. Much better then the last one. Actualy some mechanics to deal with and it is possible to die there. I just hope that masteries will not make it easier (or that much easier). If this is how strikes will be from now on then I guess that I could see doing them. Hopefuly those rewards in mastery chests are something and perhaps next strikes will be again at least slightly harder.

For me this was avarage map, ok story, ok events, nothing that interesting to buy (at least nothing I found) but together it is one of the best LS releses. Keep it up Anet

[ruikarikun.9402]

I didn't finish it yet.But I enjoyed it. I want to say thanks for developers :)

I liked "Raven Sanctum" mission, if I'm not wrong it's a part of "The Invitation" quest. I like the voice of the owl xD I was scary when my npc-command dissapier haha. And I like to watch horror movies...Boss fight at the and of "Raven Sanctum" also was interesting to me.

Also I tried meta on map. Map looks very nice. Some interesting mechanics.I don't know yet (or didn't understand correct who is speaking with me and npc) but that women voice which tells us sometimes is EPIC.You fight with mobs, and then get like "Let me help you" or other EPIC haha.Nice work.

And I understand some players who think game is boring while they play it more then 3+ years. Like for real? What did you excpect?

Anyway I like "Whisper in the Dark". This ice theme is better then previous, but it's for me.