ArenaNet Staff Fire Attunement.9835 Posted July 14, 2020 ArenaNet Staff Share Posted July 14, 2020 The fourth episode of The Icebrood Saga arrives on July 28. Visit the release page for all the details! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donutdude.9582 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I'm excited. The map looks beautiful! I cannot wait until the VO is added to compliment it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randulf.7614 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 This is the final call for boarding. Please mind your step as you board the Hype Train!CHOO CHOO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugo.4705 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I had a chuckle because sometimes ago, after Whisper in the dark I said: "Lol where are we going to, the ice fortress?"'Frost citadel'... Close enough! :wink: "Enhanced Shiver emote" Sorry; but LOL.I'm looking forward the boneskinners weapons.Finally, happy to see that bangar isn't Icebrooded "yet".Map seems nice and not only ice ice ice. Will see.I started wondering when we will see claw of Jormag, because several lieutenants like it were flying over bjora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firedragon.8953 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Better than moot loot! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raknar.4735 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Lookin' good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArenaNet Staff Fire Attunement.9835 Posted July 14, 2020 Author ArenaNet Staff Share Posted July 14, 2020 @Randulf.7614 said:This is the final call for boarding. Please mind your step as you board the Hype Train!CHOO CHOO!Please don't slip on the ice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witch of Doom.5739 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I want a Medizooka in real life. Looks awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zealex.9410 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 No strike this time around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeyspit.3965 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 The upgraded Stormcaller weapons look nice, and are about what I was expecting them to look like: a bit flashy but not too over the top. Now let's see how expensive the material requirements will be.And upgraded Shiver emote. Does that mean you need the original Shiver emote? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hugo.4705 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 /shiver and /ultrashiver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smoosh.2718 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Story voiced or not voiced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anninke.7469 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @Fire Attunement.9835 said:@"Randulf.7614" said:This is the final call for boarding. Please mind your step as you board the Hype Train!CHOO CHOO!Please don't slip on the ice."Swift and stea... Ouch!!!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adzekul.3104 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Season 5 has been so predictable and boring so far. Please have your writers come up with a plot that is more engaging and immersive than "the slow build-up towards the inevitable fight with, and potential death of Jormag". It's just too predictable. If the voice acting continues to be unavailable, your writers need to outdo themselves by crafting a truly amazing and immersive story. So far in Season 5 this is not happening, and none of it compares to the Season 4 story with the emotional and immersive twists and turns around Joko and Aurene.Amazing map design cannot carry episodes anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fueki.4753 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Now that you introduce a second shiver emote, can we finally have the first one (and the play dead emote) on rewards tracks for PvP and WvW?Also, Bangar seems to have serious back problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Excursion.9752 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 After seeing the new Frost Legion Infusion it somewhat made me angry about my Celestial Infusion. Why does the new infusion so closely resemble the other? The FLI is vibrant while the Celestial looks like a fuzzy mess compared. Any chance the Celestial will get an upgrade so that it does not look like someone had 50 x 50 px image and stretched it to make a skin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Witch of Doom.5739 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @"Fire Attunement.9835" said:Please don't slip on the ice."Watch out for the icy patch!" -- A Muppet Family Christmas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkeyspit.3965 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @"Excursion.9752" said:After seeing the new Frost Legion Infusion it somewhat made me angry about my Celestial Infusion. Why does the new infusion so closely resemble the other? The FLI is vibrant while the Celestial looks like a fuzzy mess compared. Any chance the Celestial will get an upgrade so that it does not look like someone had 50 x 50 px image and stretched it to make a skin?They should just rename it the Naʼvi Infusion to help manage people's expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sajuuk Khar.1509 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @"Adzekul.3104" said:and none of it compares to the Season 4 story with the emotional and immersive twists and turns around Joko and Aurene.Nothing about Aurene or Joko in LWS4 was a "twist" or "turn". Who would have guessed that we beat the badguy, and stop him from unleashing a plague, and that Aurene would die, after they made a big deal about her having a vision about dying, or that she would really be alive after munching on the undead lich(something even Ogden pointed out was part of the prophecy) and after having Sylvari clearly show us that dragon magic doesn't protect one from awakening magic.Everything that happened in LWS4 was plainly foreshadowed and set up, and people saw it coming from a mile away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazer.2157 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @Sajuuk Khar.1509 said:@"Adzekul.3104" said:and none of it compares to the Season 4 story with the emotional and immersive twists and turns around Joko and Aurene.Nothing about Aurene or Joko in LWS4 was a "twist" or "turn". Who would have guessed that we beat the badguy, and stop him from unleashing a plague, and that Aurene would die, after they made a big deal about her having a vision about dying, or that she would really be alive after munching on the undead lich(something even Ogden pointed out was part of the prophecy) and after having Sylvari clearly show us that dragon magic doesn't protect one from awakening magic.Everything that happened in LWS4 was plainly foreshadowed and set up, and people saw it coming from a mile away.Joko was well written as an antagonist. He had personality. The whole thing with the living giving their dead to Joko was intriguing. Then there are the little things; the map has a huge pit of bones which further adds to the whole undead atmosphere, the Joko statues with their sarcasm, the ruthlessness of Joko which was portrayed in the story. The story might have been predictable, but it was way better than the one in icebrood saga. The last living story episode was dreadful. Tbh there was barely any story. We fought in a civil war we really didn't care about, there was no character development of Ryland, Bangar or any of the Charr leaders, we still know nothing about Jormag. Aurene might as well be dead because she does not seem to matter at all in the story. I can go on and on. Apart from the story, the current maps have no background to them. These were regions that were left behind by the Norn. Yet there are no secrets or tales about their battles, no hints about what happened to the Jotun. I did however enjoy the episode where they released the visions of the past. Both the instances were very well done and I genuinely felt part of a warband. However the story in drizzlewood coast was painful to go through. What we need is a dungeon or visions where we can explore the history of the place and connect with characters such as Jora or even new ones! Show us the cunning of Jormag, show us what the Norn went through, let us play as Kodan who had to defend their villages from the Svanir. They even added bosses in Strike missions but then again these bosses barely have any background to them. Visions are a good way to give some backstory to them. It is all a missed opportunity. I think they should spend less time on making the maps larger and more time on instanced content which will add to the story. I only hope the new fractal they are adding will expand on the current saga and add to its lore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sajuuk Khar.1509 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @"Tazer.2157" said:Joko was well written as an antagonist. He had personality. The whole thing with the living giving their dead to Joko was intriguing. Then there are the little things; the map has a huge pit of bones which further adds to the whole undead atmosphere, the Joko statues with their sarcasm, the ruthlessness of Joko which was portrayed in the story. The story might have been predictable, but it was way better than the one in icebrood saga. The last living story episode was dreadful. Tbh there was barely any story. We fought in a civil war we really didn't care about, there was no character development of Ryland, Bangar or any of the Charr leaders, we still know nothing about Jormag. Aurene might as well be dead because she does not seem to matter at all in the story. I can go on and on. Apart from the story, the current maps have no background to them. These were regions that were left behind by the Norn. Yet there are no secrets or tales about their battles, no hints about what happened to the Jotun. I did however enjoy the episode where they released the visions of the past. Both the instances were very well done and I genuinely felt part of a warband. However the story in drizzlewood coast was painful to go through. What we need is a dungeon or visions where we can explore the history of the place and connect with characters such as Jora or even new ones! Show us the cunning of Jormag, show us what the Norn went through, let us play as Kodan who had to defend their villages from the Svanir. They even added bosses in Strike missions but then again these bosses barely have any background to them. Visions are a good way to give some backstory to them. It is all a missed opportunity. I think they should spend less time on making the maps larger and more time on instanced content which will add to the story. I only hope the new fractal they are adding will expand on the current saga and add to its lore.I would have to disagree. Joko was, in LWS4, the same as he was in Guild Wars 1, a clown. Everything shown about him was some silly, over the top, non-functional, Saturday morning cartoon villain stuff. He was a generic badguy, who acted like a generic badguy, and even admits he was a generic badguy in the same cutscene he dies in. He is, literally, the exact opposite of a well written antagonist. The Bangar story is far more interesting because Bangar isn't a clown like Joko was. He acts like a competent leader. But not only that, Bangar doesn't see himself as the badguy. He honestly thinks he is doing what is needed to protect his people, instead of just doing it for more power, or because he simply enjoys killing people, like Joko does. He may be completely wrong, and misguided, but the fact he actually believes hes doing whats right gives his story far more nuance and depth then Joko ever had. Making Bangar far better written then Joko by miles. And his killing of Almorra, and the genocide of the Drizzlewood communities, comes off as far more actual brutality then anything Joko ever did.The last episode "No Quarter", is honestly one of my favorite because it shows the Charr having to deal with how fundamentally broken their society is, and how self destructive their war based nature can be. Its actual development for the species rather then just "Joko does generic evil thing that doesn't matter". Anyone who cares about the Charr would care about whats happening. Not only that, but claims of no character development for any of the Charr leaders is wrong, the fact that the Smodur debate is still ongoing shows there was. This sort of hard brutality or war is something I wish Anet had done more often in the past.AlsoWe are just now reaching the halfway point of the story. Why would we know anything substantial about Jormag at this point? That's second half material.Aurene has no reason to get involved in the Charr Civil War, and every reason to NOT get involved given that Bangar's whole message is "They are going to use Aurene against us, so we need an Elder Dragon of our own". Not to mention possibly putting herself in Jormag's sights. An Elder Dragon vs Elder Dragon fight wouldn't turn out any better for the world then a god vs god battle would, and we already saw the results of that(the Crystal Sea getting nuked into the Crystal Desert)I'm not sure what you mean about no secrets in the areas the Norn left behind. Episode 1 in particular had a pretty big revelation about Asgeir, his fight with Jormag, and the proceeding Norn exodus that completely changes everything we thought happened. Not to mention Episode 2's revelation that the Lost Spirits of the Wild were still alive, and under Jormag's corruption, and our freeing of them. And stuff like begin able to go through Raven's tests to show us more on the mentality of Raven and the such. Everything you talked about is stuff the game has already done in these maps. Honestly, it just seems like you ran through them, and didn't pay much attention to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donari.5237 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Is that the first combat adventure? (Third one with the trailer, with the bear). I'm not counting the asura suit chak shoot'em'up or the SCAR chak murder adventure, those aren't direct combat using character abilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sajuuk Khar.1509 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @Tazer.2157 said:Show us the cunning of Jormag,I would argue this whole story has been nothing but that.Unlike the other Elder Dragons thus far, who have generally come at us using almost exclusivity brute force methods, Jormag has taken the exact opposite approach throughout this story. Its been manipulating everyone in the Far Shiverpeaks into destroying themselves, be it by making the Vigil garrison at Jora's Keep turn on each other, or by using the whispers to lure the Kodan out to their doom one by one, or even everything its done with Bangar, manipulating his fear of the other races to cause him to create a big civil war, which has caused the Charr to implode on themselves.Jormag has managed to systemically annihilate any sort of organized resistance in the far north, without even having to really lift a finger. Whereas the other Elder Dragons have failed to achieve a similar level of success, even with the use of much larger forces. Not to mention the revelation that Jormag was able to completely play Asgeir into giving up the fight, when he most likely could have won.Jormag's cunning has been prevalent throughout the narrative. Its pretty much the basis of the narrative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazer.2157 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 @"Sajuuk Khar.1509" said:Joko was, in LWS4, the same as he was in Guild Wars 1, a clown. Everything shown about him was some silly, over the top, non-functional, Saturday morning cartoon villain stuff. He was a generic badguy, who acted like a generic badguy, and even admits he was a generic badguy in the same cutscene he dies in. He is, literally, the exact opposite of a well written antagonist. The Bangar story is far more interesting because Bangar isn't a clown like Joko was. He acts like a competent leader. But not only that, Bangar doesn't see himself as the badguy. He honestly thinks he is doing what is needed to protect his people, instead of just doing it for more power, or because he simply enjoys killing people like Joko does. I don't have a problem with Bangar. My problem is with the story of the icebrood saga. The last episode "No Quarter", is honestly one of my favorite because it shows the Charr having to deal with how fundamentally broken their society is, and how self destructive their war based nature can be. Its actual development for the species rather then just "Joko does generic evil thing that doesn't matter". Anyone who cares about the Charr would care about whats happening. Not only that, but claims of no character development for any of the Charr leaders is wrong, the fact that the Smodur debate is still ongoing shows there was. This sort of hard brutality or war is something I wish Anet had done more often in the past.Oh really? Were the Charr on the verge of extinction before this episode? All of a sudden the Charr who are one of the strongest races in GW2 is under imminent danger of their society collapsing? Give me a break. The Charr strive on conflict. It makes them stronger not weaker. To us humans, that way of life might seem self destructive. But the Charr are not humans and they even beat back the humans for their land. And yea way to save the Charr by killing all of them and using their claws as crafting materials. I guess we are really helping the Charr survive :/.Also regarding Smodur, the debate is ongoing because of the way they wrote Smodur. He is immediately antagonized and it is so obvious that the writers want him to be disliked. In fact the commander openly has lines that criticize Smodur. We are not even given the option to choose whether to side with him or not. If anyone is committing genocide, its the commander who had no business in Charr society and yet massacred hordes of Charr. This episode does not show the "hard brutality" of war. In war we do what we must to survive. The bombing of the scientists by Smodur and his heavy handed approach is justified in war. For example, there could have been consequences if we allowed the scientists to live such as they might have bombed one of our bases inflicting heavy casualties. Or consequences if we have allowed the deserters to live (it could embolden more to join the dominion). But the episode does not do that. Instead the episode continues to antagonize him. Crecia's decisions on the other hand are not criticized and she faces no consequences for them. We are just now reaching the halfway point of the story. Why would we know anything substantial about Jormag at this point? That's second half material.How many months has it been since the saga started? Why would we even think that Jormag is a threat when the episode has not shown him to be one? At least with Zaitan we had undead hordes invade Tyria. With Kralk, we had the threat of Balthazar and kralk himself. But is Jormag really even a threat? Nothing indicates he is one or that he is even powerful to be a threat. Aurene has no reason to get involved in the Charr Civil War, and every reason to NOT get involved given that Bangar's whole message is "They are going to use Aurene against us, so we need an Elder Dragon of our own". Not to mention possibly putting herself in Jormag's sights. An Elder Dragon vs Elder Dragon fight wouldn't turn out any better for the world then a god vs god battle would, and we already saw the results of that(the Crystal Sea getting nuked into the Crystal Desert)Forget Bangar and the Charr, Aurene has been missing for everything else. Btw wasn't our main objective to catch up with Bangar? Why isn't Aurene helping with that? Why isn't Aurene telling us something about Jormag? I'm not sure what you mean about no secrets in the areas the Norn left behind. Episode 1 in particular had a pretty big revelation about Asgeir, his fight with Jormag, and the proceeding Norn exodus that completely changes everything we thought happened. Not to mention the revelation that the Lost Spirits of the Wild were still alive, and under Jormag's corruption, and our freeing of them.Are you talking about a Journal? I am talking about actual in game missions that show us what happened. With Visions of the past, we should be able to play as the Norn who fight alongside the spirits and then perish. This would actually showcase Jormag's strength and cunning. What we have right now is a story which we end in 2 hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobber.6348 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Did they just sell us half a map for an episode and the other half for another episode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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