-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Guild Wars 2 - Heart of Thorns |OT| Welcome to the Jungle...
- Thread starter Retro
- Start date
- Status
human onion
Banned
For being a fiery volcano map, it's pretty chill. I like it.
Which one? If it the one on top of the center volcano, there is one of the those Thermal Tubes that takes you there from on top of the Furnace Chamber where the Molten Dominator is at. When it gets defeated a bunch of updrafts spawn that can take you to the top.
human onion
Banned
Mist convergence instability is hilarious.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
so it's easier to get?
It's basically another version of the same grind without all the lore/context which strips it of the fun part.
The starting recipe is also weirdly ctalogued at the vendor, anyone who doesn't follow the game closely or that wasn't around for this release will most likely not even find it.
Nemesis121
Member
New Content dead OT, guessing many people left for FF14 or WoW or something else...
Spehornoob
Member
The tepid reception to Heart of Thorns and the content drought after it seems to have driven some people away, which is too bad because now that we're getting content, it's turning out pretty well. I absolutely love how much they're expanding the open world, attempting to do a map for each Living World release.
This may be a controversial opinion, but I think Mike O'Brien taking over might be really good for the game overall. The devs seem pretty focused compared to before and during HoT's release.
I do really like how the game is progressing right now so I would agree. And the devs doing stuff like these AMAs after releases is a great idea. Things seem more open and talked about.
The broader community seems pretty excited and there's no lack of people about. Hopefully GAF can rekindle some of our former magic sometime soon.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
dat toothless
also why are people saying fused weapons are coming back
UltimateIke
Member
Fused Weapons already came back. They're 4 tickets each.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
sadffasfgasf
I only have 2
I only have 2
Even when I play actively, I don't use GAF for this, I have a guild forum and in-game chat.
Haha, I doubt that. Not much overlap, even if both of those games do supposedly have their charms these days.
Bad timing for me with this episode as there was also a full Destiny expansion released yesterday. But I'm looking forward to checking out Ember Bay tonight.
While the content drought hurt the playerbase considerably, I do feel that the LS3 content so far has been pretty high-quality overall, and I should mention that I think I did myself a solid by playing through the HoT story very slowly so that I could roll right on into the ongoing story when it came out. However, a release cadence of one episode every 2-3 months (as mentioned in the AMA) is a bit of a tough sell, even with the implication of regular permanent new maps.
For one thing, a month of ambiguity in that cadence is quite a lot... not even knowing when the next episode will "air" puts a damper on the strong TV season analogue that worked very well for LS1 and 2. Furthermore, even the short end at 2 months is a bit long to maintain that sine wave of activity the previous seasons handled wonderfully. Even if there wasn't much to hold your interest during a given release, the next thing was always right around the corner, so even if you dropped off everything was still pretty fresh in mind. 2 months, let alone 3, on the other hand is enough time to lose interest and forget that there's a reason to come back. It's a far cry from what now seem like the halcyon days of a regular, two-week-on-the-dot release cadence- with some of those episodes, even if there were misfires, being quite high-quality themselves.
It's disappointing in that after a full-fledged revenue-generating expansion, an F2P transition and new market launches, the live team is still unable to hit a regular release schedule even half as ambitious as that was back in the day. I loved it so much, and as good as the new stuff has legitimately been, it stings more than ever now that highlights like the Tower of Nightmares and Bazaar of the Four Winds are gone for good.
Outside of the Living World, the biggest mistake is still that ArenaNet has never doubled-down on regularly adding bread-and-butter content in the form of Guild Missions, Fractals, and Dynamic Events... despite multiple mechanical and reward changes to all three. Even if additional full dungeons was always a pipe dream, the fact that these wide-open platforms for expansion were never expanded more than one patch apiece is eternally baffling to me.
Still, I have no trouble enjoying what the game does offer me and it does have plenty of time left in its lifecycle to improve from here.
Eh, the LS3 chapters have been better than LS2 so far, with a lot of new content dropping each update. So far we had new maps with each chapter, and Anet has mentioned in the AMA that this will continue for the rest of the season. I don't mind them taking a bit longer so that they can bring us what we have now, and I think it's a good pace so far.
Maybe it'll all look more sensible when a full season is out under this new pace. How they settle into a rhythm does make a big difference; 2 months means something new every other month, but 3 means just one per quarter, and any breaks in that cadence if a holiday isn't in the timeframe might start to feel like a drought again quickly. But I do think it's good for them to take their time and aim for consistent quality and big permanent additions if doing it this way; at least someone taking a more substantial break will come back to a massive amount of explorable content.
Nemesis121
Member
Area with the Sloth Queen and Jade armors have some horrible performance issues, i go from 60 solid FPS into my 40's..
Squall ASF
Member
I look forward to checking out the new content, should be able to tonight. It is a bummer having to wait so long in-between each update but getting a new zone each time goes a long way and the quality of the content is what matters to me most of all. I skipped Season 2 initially because Season 1 was so lackluster to me outside of a few specific updates. Season 3 had a nice start and from what I read in here, this second episode continues with quality so that makes me happy. All the more so when the story has an element of mystery to it that has me looking forward to seeing what the next development will be.
Plus, we're back in the Ring of Fire! Wooooo! The funny thing is it wasn't a particular highlight for me in GW1 but just that it's a place of significance from GW1 makes it cool and nostalgic for me. I'm sure the zone(s) will be much cooler in this game with the new art style and game play changes. Especially with the edition of gliding, it makes exploring anywhere fun ;p
Plus, we're back in the Ring of Fire! Wooooo! The funny thing is it wasn't a particular highlight for me in GW1 but just that it's a place of significance from GW1 makes it cool and nostalgic for me. I'm sure the zone(s) will be much cooler in this game with the new art style and game play changes. Especially with the edition of gliding, it makes exploring anywhere fun ;p
Latest bit of story missions didn't take too long to complete but the last chapter is pretty hype.
Not sure how I feel about the Ring of Fire zone. It's pretty drab and mobs are everywhere; it'll probably grow on me.
And did Taimi's character model get bigger or is it just me? Maybe adventuring has helped her fight her sickness.
Not sure how I feel about the Ring of Fire zone. It's pretty drab and mobs are everywhere; it'll probably grow on me.
And did Taimi's character model get bigger or is it just me? Maybe adventuring has helped her fight her sickness.
human onion
Banned
If this is really, actually, totally the pace of release we can expect at least until the next expansion, then I'll be happy. People won't necessarily come back again though. It's miles better than what happened with legendaries, where they underestimated the work that would go into the collections.
UltimateIke
Member
I finished crafting the new mace! I think it looks pretty good with Astralaria.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
The jade armor mobs are annoying than hard. The fact that they have a mandatory invincibility phase really is aggravating.
Nemesis121
Member
Nice but that thing looks ugly, Moot for life..
Vigilant Walrus
Member
Nice Mace UItimate. Damn. I love the Hilt. It looks very detailed!
@ I just finished the episode. That was very impressive. It's crazy how good they are getting. The writing in the first dialogue exchange between Taimi and Rytlock had me literally laughing out loud 4-5 times.
The dialogue is tighter, and the set pieces are a lot more interesting. Look how much more effective the storytelling is.
The amount of story they told in this episode equals what was covered in almost half of Season 1 because it was just slow.
So I can only applaud them for really giving us better storytelling, better voice acting and better writing and better cut scenes.
Regarding Dragons
Regarding the Egg
/ Things I'd like to see:
< I like the aesthetics of the new map, but I find it difficult to navigate and jump around. the new Mobs are really annoying haha. I hope they will tune them so it is a bit easier to escape and instead concentrate difficulty around events so its easier for players to get to the events.
I worry that players will find the mobs to annoying to deal with over the long term. LS maps are exclusive to people to have living story meaning there is no access for a bunch of players and that could mean they have reduced amount of players.
Ember Bay, like the others wont really work if there is not a steady stream of players.
< I think repeatable hearts is an interesting idea but not the correct approach for GW2.
< I am doing the living story on my main, and it is cumbersome that I cannot access the new areas without doing the story on all my other characters. Specifically I want to play a druid in the new map and just around healing and being support, but I do not wish to do story on these characters. I'd like if a basic waypoint in every new zone was unlocked for every lvl 80 character you had after your first one had gone through. My other lvl 80 characters dont even have access to dry top or silverwaste! Its a lot of story to cover.
< I'd like to see the next areas of the fire isle chain take more of an extreme vertical space. Ember Bay is quite flat and while I like the lack of bloodstone and dry top style navigation skills I'd like to just have more gliding.
I'd also like to see the volcanic landscape evolve into something that is more akin to a Polynesien volcano island like;
Adding more of a tropical vibrance into the volcanic lava making it look cozy-yet extremely dangerous!
< I think The Carnival weapons being introduced in this manner was a very good idea. Buy a weapon for a flat 50-150 gold, or play the events and get a discount. I also think mini's and the new molten skull backpack are cool.
< I think its time to integrate Living Story better into the LFG-finder. I think the finder should allow you to search for a party by episode so you can look specifically for a party to do achievements and completion.
I also think there should be a bronze, silver, gold application to the living story releases. I find getting the achievements by myself in the releases and the episodes in HoT (aswell as Season 2) to be frustrating and its also frustrating to find players to do them.
< If its too much to do entire armorsets like with Silverwaste, what about just a really cool helmet or pants skins? I'd rather have a specific armor piece that looks good on all the races than mediocre armor sets that looks kinda iffy on everyone!
< Between all the Living Story releases map there needs to be a better way of currency conversion. I'm still stuck with currencies from drytop and silverwaste, and my bags and bank just keeps being hoarded as they keep adding more and more currencies. We need a way to convert things in a better manner.
< I'm not sold on "rotten" Destroyers. I understand the logical reason for making them green (giving that some metal and stone alloys can burn green) but they come off as cheap reskinned Destroyers sponsored by Monster Energy Drink. But look- Destroyers are not enemies I've ever been a fan of in GW2.
< I really loved Dragons Stand from HoT. I'd like to see another map like that with an epic meta, but just make it so that there is a lot of alternative events also going on so you got stuff to do during the downtime. And I'd also think there should be some alternative but related smaller events that benefit towards the overall goal but lets you explore off the beaten path while the meta is going on. Sort of like- you dont feel like doing the big meta, so you go explore events that can be done by smaller amounts of players but these events help the meta in other ways, making you not be a "wasted" asset in the map.
The really cool thing (like with silverwaste) is when the map spreads out players well and forces them to coordinate an attack.
< GW2 needs a complete overhaul with its water engine and water physics. I actually really enjoy underwater combat in small doses I engaged in with Ember Bay. Its excellent in small doses and when combined with the other forms of gameplay.
@ I just finished the episode. That was very impressive. It's crazy how good they are getting. The writing in the first dialogue exchange between Taimi and Rytlock had me literally laughing out loud 4-5 times.
The dialogue is tighter, and the set pieces are a lot more interesting. Look how much more effective the storytelling is.
The amount of story they told in this episode equals what was covered in almost half of Season 1 because it was just slow.
So I can only applaud them for really giving us better storytelling, better voice acting and better writing and better cut scenes.
Regarding Dragons
Are they setting up Jormag and Primordous attacking at once? I really like the idea that when every time a dragon dies the others get the ability of a previous dragon. It would be cool if we could deal with both Jormag and Primordus in this living world release. Setting up the 5th dragon for the expansion as having the unique abilities of all the four previous dragons. Bubbles would be the ultimate Shounen dragon.
Regarding the Egg
How to Train Your Glintish Dragon. Is Aurene a reference to anything?
/ Things I'd like to see:
< I like the aesthetics of the new map, but I find it difficult to navigate and jump around. the new Mobs are really annoying haha. I hope they will tune them so it is a bit easier to escape and instead concentrate difficulty around events so its easier for players to get to the events.
I worry that players will find the mobs to annoying to deal with over the long term. LS maps are exclusive to people to have living story meaning there is no access for a bunch of players and that could mean they have reduced amount of players.
Ember Bay, like the others wont really work if there is not a steady stream of players.
< I think repeatable hearts is an interesting idea but not the correct approach for GW2.
< I am doing the living story on my main, and it is cumbersome that I cannot access the new areas without doing the story on all my other characters. Specifically I want to play a druid in the new map and just around healing and being support, but I do not wish to do story on these characters. I'd like if a basic waypoint in every new zone was unlocked for every lvl 80 character you had after your first one had gone through. My other lvl 80 characters dont even have access to dry top or silverwaste! Its a lot of story to cover.
< I'd like to see the next areas of the fire isle chain take more of an extreme vertical space. Ember Bay is quite flat and while I like the lack of bloodstone and dry top style navigation skills I'd like to just have more gliding.
I'd also like to see the volcanic landscape evolve into something that is more akin to a Polynesien volcano island like;
Adding more of a tropical vibrance into the volcanic lava making it look cozy-yet extremely dangerous!
< I think The Carnival weapons being introduced in this manner was a very good idea. Buy a weapon for a flat 50-150 gold, or play the events and get a discount. I also think mini's and the new molten skull backpack are cool.
< I think its time to integrate Living Story better into the LFG-finder. I think the finder should allow you to search for a party by episode so you can look specifically for a party to do achievements and completion.
I also think there should be a bronze, silver, gold application to the living story releases. I find getting the achievements by myself in the releases and the episodes in HoT (aswell as Season 2) to be frustrating and its also frustrating to find players to do them.
< If its too much to do entire armorsets like with Silverwaste, what about just a really cool helmet or pants skins? I'd rather have a specific armor piece that looks good on all the races than mediocre armor sets that looks kinda iffy on everyone!
< Between all the Living Story releases map there needs to be a better way of currency conversion. I'm still stuck with currencies from drytop and silverwaste, and my bags and bank just keeps being hoarded as they keep adding more and more currencies. We need a way to convert things in a better manner.
< I'm not sold on "rotten" Destroyers. I understand the logical reason for making them green (giving that some metal and stone alloys can burn green) but they come off as cheap reskinned Destroyers sponsored by Monster Energy Drink. But look- Destroyers are not enemies I've ever been a fan of in GW2.
< I really loved Dragons Stand from HoT. I'd like to see another map like that with an epic meta, but just make it so that there is a lot of alternative events also going on so you got stuff to do during the downtime. And I'd also think there should be some alternative but related smaller events that benefit towards the overall goal but lets you explore off the beaten path while the meta is going on. Sort of like- you dont feel like doing the big meta, so you go explore events that can be done by smaller amounts of players but these events help the meta in other ways, making you not be a "wasted" asset in the map.
The really cool thing (like with silverwaste) is when the map spreads out players well and forces them to coordinate an attack.
< GW2 needs a complete overhaul with its water engine and water physics. I actually really enjoy underwater combat in small doses I engaged in with Ember Bay. Its excellent in small doses and when combined with the other forms of gameplay.
Nemesis121
Member
We need GW3, DX12, damn game is dx9 and not optimized for quadcore...
There's a teleport item available from one of the ember bay NPC's that you can use for other characters to get them there.
Nice! Didn't notice that. Thanks
Larson Conway
Member
Help needed. A friend of mine have identical story progression, but on Level 70, I seem to have skipped four quests whereas he went on to the next one in chronology. I read in the official forum that ANet removed parts of the "My Greatest Fear" storyline, but they supposedly have since restored those. But it appears a bug caused me to skip the restored story quests, while my friend can access them. How can I remedy this? I really want to play this part of the storyline.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
what is this
The very last achievement here.
That easy way is now gone cause the apple gets destroyed if you drop it.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Ahh rats.
Looks like so much achievements to do, but I feel like doing them later.
Looks like so much achievements to do, but I feel like doing them later.
Nemesis121
Member
Tokens one, get it out of the way now...quite a number of them attached to the actual story...I am already at 20/26... and I am going to repeat last story mission for new helm skin..
So I saw the defeat of Sabetha earlier (and thus completed a wing fully now), along with checking out the quite confusing twisted castle, and a little peek at Xera.
Last time I fought Sabetha, I felt pretty shitty, but this time I was able to actually not dodge/move into the fire wall, throw bombs according, and move around all the debris successfully this time.
Sabetha is loads of fun, and probably will end up being my favorite from the raid unless Xera and Matthias blows me away or such (also her music is the one that gets in my head the most out of these encounters heh).
Having been through most of the raid now, it definitely continues to be a joy, with the bandit trio the only major encounter that feels quite bleh really.
Last time I fought Sabetha, I felt pretty shitty, but this time I was able to actually not dodge/move into the fire wall, throw bombs according, and move around all the debris successfully this time.
Sabetha is loads of fun, and probably will end up being my favorite from the raid unless Xera and Matthias blows me away or such (also her music is the one that gets in my head the most out of these encounters heh).Having been through most of the raid now, it definitely continues to be a joy, with the bandit trio the only major encounter that feels quite bleh really.
Question: For someone that recently came back, how's the fun factor of the Revenant class? I'd really like an alt (main is a ranger) that's a tank / healer. I miss the good old sword and board / paladin archetype. Guardian was perfect but now changing the whole play style to a bow based user? Ugh... Not what I wanted. Hoping Revenant or Berserker can fill that void. Maybe even Chronomancer. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Vigilant Walrus
Member
I really like Warrior and Guardian Sword/Shield.
I like Revernant Sword/Shield and Chronomancer Sword/Shield too, but I feel that they don't have the mobility of War and Guardian.
You don't have to be a Berserker or a Dragon Hunter for Warrior and Guardian to be viable. There are many competitive builds and ways to spec a character that does not use the elite specializations, so you don't have to be tied to the Dragon Hunter or its bow.
Revernant is a really interesting and unique class. It's one of the most unique and "fresh" classes I've seen in a long time in any game. You really have to try it out for yourself to really get a feel for it if it meets your criteria. What you could do is make a new character, do the tutotrial area, and pop into the PvP lobby and do some practice on dummies to get a feel for how the Sword and Shield skill feels like. It might give you an idea of it has the visage of the sword'n broad fantasy you're looking for.
Unfortunately I cannot comment on Chronomancer.
DrAg0nBoY
Member
I fricking hate the platforming in GW2. I don't know, it could be just me, but the platforming is just not as precise as I would want it. Couple that with me playing it on a laptop and a charr main and it gets frustrating as hell.
Got my JP achievement only because I joined a squad that carried me the whole way through it.
Got my JP achievement only because I joined a squad that carried me the whole way through it.
UltimateIke
Member
As far as I know, if you have been advanced past those quests, there is no way to go back and play them. I had the same issue come up with one of my characters.
appletoasty
Member
The convergence instability is hilarious. I love all the fractal changes they made. I hear Toxic Trails is hell but luckily you can ignore it and pick a different level...
Yeah... charr are big and clunky, jumping puzzles are hard for them. You can use the Princess Doll Tonic if you care enough. Playing a smaller model makes it feel a lot better since the movespeed is the same. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Princess_Doll_Tonic
Yeah, the old content's still good.
Yeah... charr are big and clunky, jumping puzzles are hard for them. You can use the Princess Doll Tonic if you care enough. Playing a smaller model makes it feel a lot better since the movespeed is the same. https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Princess_Doll_Tonic
Yeah, the old content's still good.
Nice. That's good that I don't have to be a Dragon Hunter. I'll likely stick out Guardian but I think I might still try Revenant as well. Thanks for the input!
Squall ASF
Member
It depends on what you want to do. The original content is still great and they've made a TON of quality of life improvements. So, it just depends on what you want to do in the game. The new zones and the Living World seasons are tied to owning the expansion. The new class, Revenant is also tied to it. You can still do the majority of the zones, the second season of Living Story (if you didn't log in as they released you'll have to pay for the missions though), the personal story for your character, all the dungeons, all the fractals, PvP, WvW. So really you can do the majority of content but if you did it all and are looking to do new content, you'll need HoT. Oh, you'll also need HoT to try the new professions of each class which are admittedly pretty great and probably the best part of the expansion. If you're content with the base build of the classes, you don't need it.
No, I hate it too. I like the idea of it, but in the end, outside stints of sPvP, the game often feels like jumping was put in as an extra bullet point to add "fun" minigames.
Boss Doggie
all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I don't mind jumping puzzles but some of them, especially the new one from the new map, is an exercise in frustration requiring precise jumping
- Status