ArenaNet Staff Rubi Bayer.8493 Posted November 21, 2019 ArenaNet Staff Posted November 21, 2019 Hello all, I'm getting ready for tomorrow's episode of Guild Chat and we'll be taking some of your questions about the episode, so drop them here. One quick note to save you and me some time: It's helpful if you keep your question brief and to the point. Think "the length of a tweet". Questions are put on a monitor for the dev guests and that monitor has limited space. Anything longer than a sentence or two doesn't fit on the monitor and I have to trim it down anyway before the dev guests ever see it. Tomorrow's show has six dev guests, to give you an overview of who will be on to answer questions:Clay Kisko, Game Designer & Team LeadTom Abernathy, Narrative DirectorJoseph Clark, Sound DesignerChelsey Shuder, Cinematic Team LeadJessica Lewis, Cinematic ArtistChris Burgess, Sound DesignerWith that said, ask away! I'll grab as many questions as I can early tomorrow morning.
Randulf.7614 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Was this being probably the shortest LW story a deliberate design decision? Is this how short all stories will be going forward? Why is there so much visual noise at the meta given our feedback for less clutter on the screen?Less important question than the above two:Can we get some context for the Strike Missions going forward. Loved the fight, but was very random set up
Kelian Ravenwood.4130 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 First, love the episode, especially the tone and meta!Questions:1.) This episode was rather short; should we expect this length going forward?2.) Though the frost looks great, it makes the action difficult to see; was this considered with the mechanic and intentional?3.) Is Karma expected to be the new currency (replacing currency like Unbound and Volatile Magic)?4.) Males in the keep are turned by Jormag, female characters in story tempted... the dragons have genders?5.) Will Strike Missions continue to advance towards Raid-level content or will they remain entry-level?Thx for the opportunity and the fun episode!
Turkeyspit.3965 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Will there be any more Legendary Weapons introduced to the game? I don't need to know a 'when', just an answer as to is that part of ANET's vision going forward.And to echo what @Randulf.7614 asked: is the design going forward to be shorter episodes but more frequent releases?Please, don't worry about spoiling us; I don't know how many players actually like getting 'surprised', but I'm also fairly certain that even if this is some hidden philosophy, many of us may not be around to see it, so best announce your intentions to us now.I've logged in / played this game daily since Feb 2018 (3,566hrs played), but have only logged in 3 times over the past two weeks, and haven't even visited the new map yet. The ball is in your court while my Steam library is updating.
Falconwing.8105 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 I'm curious about the lack of Boneskinner involvement in the story. The impression I got from the trailers and the PAX presentation was that the Boneskinner was a story boss and a part of the story's narrative. Was this just a misunderstanding on our part or can we expect more Boneskinner stuff later in the Saga?
Ashantara.8731 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 First of, I love this episode in every aspect. Probably the best quality of content to date. <3Question: Will the map be expanded with future releases, like the Darkrime Delves or the eerie forest, for instance?
AgentMoore.9453 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Will the achievements for flying a Skyscale through the magic/karma paths return to the game? Will achievements be added for the paths in Bjora Marches?
hugo.4705 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Monitor/clear version:Q1: Why the whispers (Jormag) have a female voice? Does Jormag use a voice of the opposite sex of the target to be more seducing? If the voice is always feminine, should it means Jormag consider itself female?Q2: Boneskinner is stated to be a Jormag minion during the escort, so why it doesn't assault the keep? Why not more of them/ longer appearance in the episode? btw its combat music/theme is awesomeQ3: Why killing Almora instead of Jhavi, a Warmaster instead of Necromancer?Q4: Does Jormag minions conserve free will? Long version:! Q1: Why the whispers (Jormag) have a female voice? Does Jormag use a voice of the opposite sex of the target to be more seducing? So Marjory hear a men? If the voice is always feminine, should it means Jormag consider itself female?!! (It would make sense if it consider itself this way to have a female avatar to lead its army; and so kidnapping Almora soulkeeper and Jhavi Jorasdottir. Jormag killed Almora because it was almost sure to convert Jhavi? A norn is better to lead norns? )!! Q2: Boneskinner is stated to be a Jormag minion during the escort, so why it doesn't assault the keep? Why not more of them? It definitely lack an important place in the story, after all the trailers and mention of it, I expected a big thing.!! (His behavior was great during the escort, just appearing and disappearing, tracking you. Why reducing it during the fight to a simple static easy killable monster? That only teleport centimeters away? Illusions and intense fog could have been a better path for a fight. Also being part of meta.)!! Q3: Why killing Almora instead of Jhavi? What logic in killing a Warmaster instead of a Necromancer?!! Q4: Does Jormag minions conserve free will? Seems to be different stages: Fraetir is just a puppet but Sons of Svanir seems to be "free". Icebrood don't speak that much too.!! Why scarifying Almorra, it doesn't make any sense, if I was Jormag, whar's the matter? You have a necromancer and a warmaster, you are leading an Army, it would be way far more strategical to turn an old friend of your enemy (Almorra) against him, corrupted, would be more hurtful. Or even simply keeping it as general!! What make it really incoherent is that apparently Almorra was possessed by Jormag to speaks through the coms, but she doesn't have any ice shards on her!!!!! Whereas Fraetir had some. Jormag needs to corrupt the body, putting ice in it, just like any dragons, an untouched body can't speak.! Darkrealm Delve sound like a name of a giant Area.... And here, there is nothing to explore just rumbles.
Falconwing.8105 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Second Question: why can you not use mounts in Darkrime Delves? why is that the only spot on the map where mounts are forbidden?
SlateSloan.3654 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Has the work on the episode been finished like intended? Why is every event and collection leaving the question "and now thats it?" Why hype the episode with trailers and stage event when theres so little content at all? Has a Jumping Puzzle been forgotten to patch into the episode?
misterman.1530 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 I loved the creepiness of Jormag possessing the last guy (can't remember his name) - and the Hunger achievement, though I hate the run and fetch nature, was good too. I expected the guy to somehow go all nasty after we finished feeding him.Q: What was the point of the Essences Mastery? Mobs are being melted without them. Is there more to them in the future?
Virdo.1540 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Will there be new Specialisations in the new Dlc, like in the other 2 before?
tieffenove.6407 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 When will Wintersday start?Will there be any new activities for Wintersday?
Acheron.4731 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Is there going to be any expansion like content?
Tammuz.7361 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 ETA on CoR pathing bug that was introduced in October fix?
Biermeister.4678 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Are saga chapter's going to come out at a quicker rate than living story chapter's
Taylor.5780 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Q1. Will there be another expansion?This update felt super anaemic.
Matt H.6142 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Are the fallen and abhorrent mobs minions of Jormag? How are they different from each other and Icebrood?Explain the bone skinner. It is a person who ate flesh, who transforms into its victim, who is a minion of Jormag?
FrigginPaco.4178 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Is there a way to address Boss scaling in Open World? Have you considered adding an enrage effect like Aestus & Ignis from Draconis Mons when crowds are too big? Boneskinner goes down fast and isn't as threatening as I thought it'd be :(
FrigginPaco.4178 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 @"hugo.4705" said:Monitor/clear version:Q1: Why the whispers (Jormag) have a female voice? Does Jormag use a voice of the opposite sex of the target to be more seducing? If the voice is always feminine, should it means Jormag consider itself female?Q2: Boneskinner is stated to be a Jormag minion during the escort, so why it doesn't assault the keep? Why not more of them/ longer appearance in the episode? Q3: Why killing Almora instead of Jhavi, a Warmaster instead of Necromancer?Q4: Does Jormag minions conserve free will? Long version:! Q1: Why the whispers (Jormag) have a female voice? Does Jormag use a voice of the opposite sex of the target to be more seducing? So Marjory hear a men? If the voice is always feminine, should it means Jormag consider itself female?!! (It would make sense if it consider itself this way to have a female avatar to lead its army; and so kidnapping Almora soulkeeper and Jhavi Jorasdottir. Jormag killed Almora because it was almost sure to convert Jhavi? A norn is better to lead norns? )!! Q2: Boneskinner is stated to be a Jormag minion during the escort, so why it doesn't assault the keep? Why not more of them? It definitely lack an important place in the story, after all the trailers and mention of it, I expected a big thing.!! (His behavior was great during the escort, just appearing and disappearing, tracking you. Why reducing it during the fight to a simple static easy killable monster? That only teleport centimeters away? Illusions and intense fog could have been a better path for a fight. Also being part of meta.)!! Q3: Why killing Almora instead of Jhavi? What logic in killing a Warmaster instead of a Necromancer?!! Q4: Does Jormag minions conserve free will? Seems to be different stages: Fraetir is just a puppet but Sons of Svanir seems to be "free". Icebrood don't speak that much too.!! Why scarifying Almorra, it doesn't make any sense, if I was Jormag, whar's the matter? You have a necromancer and a warmaster, you are leading an Army, it would be way far more strategical to turn an old friend of your enemy (Almorra) against him, corrupted, would be more hurtful. Or even simply keeping it as general!! What make it really incoherent is that apparently Almorra was possessed by Jormag to speaks through the coms, but she doesn't have any ice shards on her!!!!! Whereas Fraetir had some. Jormag needs to corrupt the body, putting ice in it, just like any dragons, an untouched body can't speak.! Darkrealm Delve sound like a name of a giant Area.... And here, there is nothing to explore just rumbles.Q4: Iirc, the "leaders" of The Svanir are the ones who keep the most personality/intellect. This is addressed partially in Season 3 in BItterfrost for the heart where you pose as a Svanir. However, I do wanna know what they say on this point as well!
reikken.4961 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 This new episode introduced a new set of masteries usually reserved for new expansions. Can we also expect a new set of elite specs?
Hibiskus.8294 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 1: With new mounts and masterys added to the game, will you make the combat feeling faster and fluid? (Casting attacks while moving, faster Auto attacks for weapons that feel slow)? Make close Combats 3rd Auto attack reduce the cd from the heal, maybe? Some sort of more Risk = more reward? Make conditions less painful, the dmg stays the same but instead of giving us the full dmg in 1-2 seconds stretch the time so that the Overall dmg stays the same but you have more time to react….you know…. cleanse skills and healing skills have sometimes high cds and the hot and pof Monsters hand them out like candy at Halloween.... it is sour not sweet...2: Will you make some more hairstyles / cultural Outfits like wedding attire/ cook? Since the races traveling the Maps they could discover more ways to makeinteresting things....also it seems totally possible for me that there are cultural Dragon champ Outfits, since the races probally dont wear the same armor when they get corupted…3: Tequatl seems the only Dragon champ that got a miniature that can also swim….do you plan to add miniatures of the older Dragon champs ? (also: why can the festive aurene mini not swim?)… also teqautl and aurene are the only ones that got weapons assigned to them (weapons of the sunless/ weapons of the scion)… can the other Dragon Champs please also get their own ascended versions (with the same model, but other Colours)?4: new elite specs? Like wielding 2 torches / shields?5: is there a possible way in the future ( since we have the mists) that we get the chance to become one of the corupted Champs at will? With caithe that willingy branded through aurene we could also later choose one Dragon? (since aurene did not brand us)… it could affect the way the elite specs work (and maybe the normal specs?)6: Is Joko really dead…? Like dead and rotten? He was such an interesting character… i still hope we can see him again?(mists?)...
Pifil.5193 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 I feel that this episode was the shortest, lightest one, yet. Is this what we can expect future saga releases to be? What do you feel is the draw of strike missions? How do you plan to incentivise people to run them?
Jackson.9307 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Going forward, are the Saga episodes going to be as short as episode 1, or are you still testing the waters? With updrafts and mushrooms making a return, will we start seeing more verticality in map design as the Far Shiverpeaks continue to expand? As the saga expands, will we see more new open world enemies with new mechanics and move-sets such as HoT and PoF enemies? The Hunger Achievement was fully voiced and felt like a side quest than a collection with more rewards too, which was great! Will we be seeing more of that? How are you planning to build on top of the essence manipulation mastery to make it feel more impactful? (E.g. mushrooms weren't necessary in Verdant Brink, but if learned made traversal A LOT easier) Are we going to have more weather impeding mechanics as new parts of the map open up to add to that survival element when traversing? It was nice to see a lot of good looking skins (weapons, helm, backpack) released with the map. Is this going to be consistent? Jumping puzzles...? :) Are we going to have more events that change the area of the map by making it more/less hospitable depending on failure/success of said event?
ZeftheWicked.3076 Posted November 21, 2019 Posted November 21, 2019 Prologue and episode 1 were just two months apart. Is this Saga's planned candence or just "happened here and now" thing? Did they guy doing the ending cutscene (convo with Jormag) get a raise? He should! Will restored boreal weapons evolve with Saga episodes and will they go to legendary tier?
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