PseudoNewb.5468

I think Aurene will give up the mantle of elder dragon at the least. If that means she will die I don't know. A credible in game source, and now the name of the next expansion suggests that there will be no elder dragons in the end.

> @"Svennis.3852" said: >The dialogue in the DRM indicates the perverseness we view Jormag’s perspective with in this manner, and we’ll be fighting their forces to prevent their “protective” measures from now on. The way Jormag is thinking, this perverse logic. It make me assume that Jormag is severely afflicted with torment just like Kralkatorric was. It seems to have manifested itself differently, making it harder to identify, but it really seems like it is there.

> @"Svennis.3852" said: > An accelerated story is to be expected, but I did not anticipate Jormag becoming hostile toward us this soon. I figured the ruse of a 'truce' would be drawn out till chapter 3 or 4, but I suppose we don't have that kind of time. This chapter is titled "Power". Which is sorta Jormag's thing and means of persuasion so far. From that reasoning, I though it was kind of obvious that this chapter would focus on Jormag. Jormag is not friendly, and Jormag's power, has only one use, to crush and convert mortals. So getting assaulted by it seems most likely. The next chapter is "Balance" which is definitely something related to Aurene. I don't think we will fight Aurene, that would be a bit odd, but the Commander's patience with Aurenes aloofness is wearing thing, so some kind of reckoning might occur there. So we will have a chapter on Primordus, Jormag, and Aurene. The final chapter is "Judgement" and should be the finale... but with EOD, I suspect it will be more or less a plot bridge to Cantha (waves to season 2 final episode). Then there is the last known (unknown) dragon. Going into EOD I would expect all the dragons to have been introduced before being sent off into obsolescence, so I suspect the chapter might finally pull back the curtain on that thing... Raveling that thing might just make all these DRMs worth it. > @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said: > I'm not sure this is Jormag. The leader seems to be a non-corrupted Son of Svanir, so he's acting independently. The icebrood norn are established as pretty much mindless, so it following another of power makes sense. Jormag is largely in the "does not care" / apathetic area when it comes to killing individuals and cares more about preserving the world itself, so it probably doesn't care how the free willed followers do things so long as the end goal is met. > Can the Son's of Svanir summon a cold blast that completely freezes the area and create free standing ice structures. All without at least the blessing of Jormag? The trailer shows Mantle's Breach and large parts of Lake Doric completely frozen over. Also Divinity's Reach defenses are active in the map too. Jormag seems to have begun assaulting the rest of Tyria bringing worse than Shiverpeaks weather down the mountains and across the region. Freezing Divinity's Reach is hostile regardless of how much Jormag says it wants to be nice.

Honestly, I think they probably went through preliminary QA for their next build, determined that MAC client breaks, determined they could not fix it, and have no other contingencies for the next release. So the result is, the next release will not have a MAC build. Since you can't login with an old build, the last MAC build will cease working.

> @"Blude.6812" said: > > @"Mike Ditka.2531" said: > > Thanks for the replies. I wouldn't say I lost interest after 18 months at all. I would've loved to keep playing everyday but i enlisted so, life happens, oh well,. The thing is, for new or returning players, nowhere does it say that after paying $30-$80 for the expansions you're still unable to play many parts of the story. As a matter of fact it says Icebrood Saga is included, which as you just stated is clearly not the case, it just gives you access. Anyways, it's a real bummer for me especially since i'm one of those people who is really into the story and achievements. Lastly, i'm not sure if this is true, but a guildmate said that the least amount of money ArenaNet made in a year was a tad under $50 million usd, it would just be nice to let their customers know that even after buying the expansions you still arent able to access 2 dozen episodes. Merry Christmas :) > > Very few people are unaware of how the episode acquisition works. They (anet)have been very straight foward. Also , this has been discussed here more than once as the search feature will show. And the games wiki also helps. I can understand the frustration of a new player joining the game for the 1st time, but that is the way always has been for the episodes. Only people who have obtained an expansions and most of the seasons are aware of how episode acquisition works. But, it is not those people who need to be informed about how to buy the expansions now. Nearly all of the people now buying the expansions will be new players who are unaware of how the seasons have been given out. For new players the messaging is quite poor on what they get and what content they need to obtain with gems.

> @"Konig Des Todes.2086" said: > > @"Psientist.6437" said: > > I like the way Echovald forest looks. The bubbles are...well, they exist. Could the bubbles in or coming from the Jade Sea? They look like bubbles underwater or in a thick medium, they aren't round. There could be some kind of substance filling the atmosphere. The prismatic effect may just be a way to make the bubbles stand out though. The new person has a royal bearing and is densely surrounded by whatever medium the bubbles are in. Perhaps there is some connection between Canthan royalty and the DSD. > > As to the origin of the bubbles being the Jade Sea - I am doubtful, because these show up in Shing Jea concept art as well as "high in the air" stuff. Makes more sense that this is more of a vision's effects - like how the visions granted by Aurene have a crystallizing effect on the borders of the screen: I guess, then, if these are concepts for a vision, then this wouldn't be Aurene's vision, as her effect would be crystals. So, I guess one can ask, what kind of entity would have a vision distorted by bubbles? Come to think of it, the EoD teaser video has a lot of vision like distortion too. But it has neither bubbles or crystalline effects. It has blue/white flame effects instead. If these represent different dragons/minions sharing visions, then it seems that they are getting quite chatty.

Also the description indicates you need to spend the currency to provide progress... I am at the moment hoarding like 30 of them, so maybe it isn't progressing because people aren't spending it.

He was originally voiced to be awkward and unsure. Being a firstborn sylvari, he also never learned to socialize like other mortals do and does not express his emotions with his voice. He is a bookworm and not actually very comfortable with going out into the field, however, he is guided by the sylvari's wild hunt to do these things. Basically his voice matches his backstory just fine. People just don't like that he is an awkward character. And stealing glory. He never does that. He becomes the pact marshal and that is pretty much it. And he didn't even become pact marshal out of popularity. He is appointed that position exactly because he seems so aloof. He is neutral, so he brought the least complaints from the three orders. Some players are just paranoid.

You need to ensure you have gone through all of the '[Confer with Bangar](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bangar_Ruinbringer#During_the_Confer_with_Bangar_achievement)' dialog. The "Jormag's Enemy" section heavily hint's that whatever was done to waken Jormag, had the same effect on Primordus. Basically Jormag and Primordus are inextricably linked in some way.

The chat with Caithe and Ryland in the Brisband wildlands makes me seriously doubt assumptions on if the commander is a 'true' champion of Aurene. I don't get it. Ryland, trying to compare himself and the commander... Ryland is being dumb. And, for that matter Jormag is being a bit dumb too (in talking about having a mortal champion like Aurene's). Aurene's and the commander's relationship is nothing like Jormag's and Ryland's. Aurene hasn't transformed or greatly empowered the commander with her domains of magic. Besides some small mount boons, Aurene's only influence, now, is a boon granting the commander the latest mastery track. The boon itself less about directly giving the commander more power, and more about allowing the commander to recycle collected magics into other boons. Caithe being there emphasizes this difference even more. Caithe isn't the 'champion' but she has been imbued with enough of Aurene's healing and crystal magic to be transformed. She is more like Ryland than the commander right now. So the regular old commander being compared with the other two, kind of emphasizes that the commander isn't really a normal champion. > @"RyuDragnier.9476" said: > > @"Jack Swiftclaw.9076" said: > > Roland and Caithe: this interaction brought up the idea of Champions. What it means means for us and them to be a Champion of a dragon. I think they these interactions we are seeing that the dragon that has a mortal champion is more powerful. I don't think we are done yet understanding who we are to Aurene. > This brings up something that I've wondered for a while...why did Aurene give Caithe her power and not us? It doesn't make sense considering the deep bond we have. Unless she couldn't or wouldn't for a reason. Considering she can see into the future, it's possible that she foresaw something that could only be done if we were not given her powers directly like Caithe. You know... Jormag Compares it's ice with Aurene's crystals. It seems that Jormag and Aurene are similarly forces of order. Aurene is called the prismatic dragon, but, her most upfront domains seems to focused on healing and crystals while Jormag focuses on persuasion (or control) and ice. Both are forces that can bring and maintain order. While Primordu's, fire and 'conflagration' (destruction?) are notably chaotic. And the commander, is also a chaotic force. Everything done so far has been about dismantling ancient mechanisms of the world. Also, remember, the _infallible_ Joko's speech to the commander (Praise Joko!)... He may be egotistical to irrational ends, but that speech has a lot of truth to it. The commander saved a lot of mortals, and could be using any manner of magic (depending on class). But the consequences of the commander's actions destroying a lot of powerful ancient forces are quite chaotic. Joko's accusations are actually backed up. Maybe I just love that cutscene too much, but I want to believe (in Joko). I think the key to Aurene and the commander's relationship is that they represent opposite forces. Aurene is a force of order to the world. However, in being the prismatic dragon (something that can hold all forms of magic), Aurene also recognizes the need for chaos. Kralkatorric's death was was what allowed her to Ascend in the first place. The commander led Kralk's destruction freeing up his magic so Aurene could evolve it into a new form. Giving the commander her form of magic is beside the point. The commander isn't an extension of Aurene's power, but a counterpoint to it. Even the new boon Aurene gave the commander doesn't power itself. It isn't remotely tied to healing, and may instead be tied to the new 'prismatic' aspects of magic. This boon transforms magic, released by other minions, into something useful for the commander. It feeds of the commander destroying those minions. But the commander is no elder dragon. Aurenes powers could vastly overwhelm anything the commander can do. Perhaps Aurene is standing back, because she needs the commander's chaotic tendencies to do more work. And, theoretically, Aurene's true opposite is the deep sea dragon. Which no one seems to know anything about. So, I wonder, if the commander is just a test run for Aurene to cooperate with the deep sea dragon. Maybe the commander is like the DSD lite. Aurene practicing her own magic in amounts measured against commander's effects. When the DSD dragon arrives Aurene's real work can begin. > @"RyuDragnier.9476" said: >Well, that, or...the Commander is already the champion of the EDs "mother", which leads to a theory that Tyria itself is an ED. Though that theory could hold water as to why "the balance" doesn't exist. It may just be that too much energy going off would wake "mother" and just lead to destruction from her moving around, leading to the EDs mere existence being to regulate the magical energy so she doesn't wake up. Which would also explain why the Human Gods left, it would be something that would make their mere presence there a serious threat to everything that exists on Tyria. But... if we are going to go really far into the deep end of theories. I agree that the commander isn't a true (or normal) champion of Aurene. They are more opposites. If anything, the commander is an unwitting champion to the deep sea dragon. Powered by whatever the opposite of Aurene is, the commander destroyed a lot of things. Elder dragons, gods, the commander even defeated death. Something powerful is watching over the commander.

> @"KryTiKaL.3125" said: > I apologize for the sarcasm, but companies like NCSoft tend to follow patterns, especially when it comes to the optics around these things. I'm not trying to be a doomsayer, even if it very much sounds like it, but I mean...c'mon...you don't layoff 143 employees by saying "part of a larger organizational restructuring within NCSoft in the West" when ANet is quite literally the only NCSoft subsidiary in the West, yet things are apparently "going well" internally over there with handling this game. 'NCSoft West' is a subsidiary on its own, and it is the parent of Arena Net and... well it seems to be somewhat of a relic as it is true that most of it's other studio's have closed. Who knows what it's current role is in the organization, but there is info about another mobile game studio (before the restructuring anyways), and lately they have worked on distribution for a Harmonix game. In the past it was said that Anet in-housed its marketing and publishing work (for whatever that was worth), which is kind of silly, since that meant their parent (NCSoft West) had nothing to do... and considering that they where once a multi studio organization, but now, really only have one product to manage, perhaps the restructuring was simply a long overdue adjustment. Of course nobody really knows what the financials are. GW2 does make revenue, and NCSoft publishes statistics on it, but they don't publish cost breakdowns across the organization so we don't know how much cash NC Soft West vs Arena Net where burning and what they where spending it on.

> @"Randulf.7614" said: > Phlunt also mentions that Primordus could have "changed" to accomodate Zhaitans and Mordys magic whilst it slept. I wonder if that is a hint to another model change DIdn't he say either Primodus was able to purge Zhaitan and Mordy's magic or accommodate it? I personally thing the purging theory is more sound. That is because we had also swapped magic between Jormag and Priomorus previously. Although swapping those two did seem especially detrimental. So it could be that Primordus is awake now because the foreign magics have been purged, including swapping Jormag's and Promordu's magic back. This also makes me wonder what Ryland actually did with the spirits of the wild to wake Jormag. Did Jormag consume parts of their magic. Or are the spirits of the wild a conduit to a certain kind of ley line that helps the dragons swap magic back. Omadds machine swapped the dragons magic in the 'wrong' way putting Jormag and Primodus to sleep, so can the spirits do the opposite, and is that why Jormag's and Primodu's awakening are coincidental? If the spirits are actually stewards of dragon magic in some way, maybe that is why Braham, who has been blsed by them, is able to sense the dragon minions. Although if this is the case, where did Zhaitan's and Mordremoth's magic go? Maybe the Pale tree is somehow pulling Mordremoth's magic back. If the Pale tree is doing something, I wonder if Laranthir is helping (I just see no other reason for him to be abdicating his duties to the Vigil). Zhaitan's magic, who knows where it is going. The ley lines crisscross the world. Well at least Aurene still believes in the balance. And although her way of maintaining it by staying out of the way is a bit dissapointing. But... this seems to be a pretty common thing in Guild Wars lore. The commander asked Kormir for some kind of blessings to help against Balthazar, and got nothing. Kormir asked the other gods for blessing to take on Abaddon, but was only told she already had everything she needed... Perhaps it is just a recurring issue with writing needing to buss away the all powerful entities, but perhaps the excuse of 'balance' can be made a compelling reason for powerful beings to step back. Another interesting note. The second in the new mastery line lets you get a boon based on the last dragon champion killed and use that boon in the next response mission. Currently every response mission is a Primordus response mission, and you always get a Primordus based boon. It makes me wonder though, does the last champion killed matter if it is always going to be a Primordus champion? The language is neutral on the description... oh and uhh.. the wiki has all of the mastery descriptions already... and uhm... it seems quite spoilerish.