Reincarnatie.7254

Good news, everyone~ with the Canthan-expansion, there will probably be an addition of East-Asian faces (like with the addition of African-faces that came with the PoF).

 

<--- Official Sunqua Peak Fractal teaser.

Tenguuuu~!!!

 

The only reason to buy any more character slots--for me, anyway--is for a new race! Three more soldiers for the FashionWars!!

 

Even though we're going to Cantha (another human-lore land), I'm excited for playable-Tengu because the Dominion of Winds has been locked off FOR SO LONG (and ANet's feather-game has improved so much T_T).

 

We'll probably also run in to more Tengu in the Woodland Cascades when the Charr take us there for the next part of the Saga.

I hope I'm done making Xiuquatl by then...

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> While I don’t agree with the issues you listed being the only ones, I will agree that the issues you listed above are clearly problematic and drove many away.

>

> I do love the ‘can’t keep these players happy’ crowd.. For the first three years it cost more to play WvW than you got in rewards. People still played it. Despite the lag, despite the balance issues, despite the exploits into keeps that went unaddressed (and to this day many still are)

>

> Those that play it, love it. And, while some that play GW 2 view it as repetitive, for many of us that enjoy WvW, it is the opposite of repetitive. The encounters change, tactics for fights change.

>

> Then HoT hit and all of the guild upgrades that WvW had worked to attain were locked behind a paywall and grind to get back,. Along with the overpowered elite specs, it began some of the large exodus.

>

> DBL... it’s initial installation was.. tragic, but it mostly was fixed. After 6-8 months.

>

> We now can break even and make a little in rewards, which for many is fine. Improving those would be great as long as it doesn’t incentivize winning as the OP pointed out created many of the population balance issues.

>

> Which.... brings up the frustration many have now: Alliances. It was intended to be the closest fix to population issues. The initial presentation of what was coming actually brought people back. Then the first update about 5 months later about the work that had been accomplished was extremely encouraging. The second update was ‘we are still working, it’s still a priority..’. No actual update as to the actual progress. That was almost 12 months ago.

>

> The last ‘update’ said exactly the same thing. ‘It’s a priority. No new info’

>

> So, having seen fixes pop in within a month or two in PvE maps, exploits on PvE maps leading to changes within 2 months, and Changes to classes and problems happen when they ‘break’ PvE (see ghost thief nerf after soloing a raid boss), many players have said ‘I’m done’

>

> Honestly? If they don’t want to have WvW (despite it being one of the three main modes initially advertised) then cut your losses and move on.

>

 

As a PvE'r, thanks for your input; it's exactly what my WvW-friend would have said and I don't think I could've put it better myself.

 

I think it'd be pretty simple to keep the competitive modes happy by just having dedicated teams for those modes (if they do, sorry, but WvW and PvP just seem like side-projects, now), balancing and building new things.

 

I think it's a sad thing to lose the competitive communities 'cause they bring in/retain a lot of players, too. PvP Shoutcasts are pretty exciting to watch, and matches really highlight the skills of each class/specialisation (and the person playing them). WvW is much more accessible for casuals and PvE-minded players, too, and can become a way for guilds to galvanise members rather than just wild-goose chase missions or even as a stepping stone towards sPvP. A lot of PvE'rs can get bored of farming for gold, achievement-hunting, or running dungeons/fractals day-in-and-day-out; I think we should still have WvW and PvP as viable options rather than just doing story and getting too deep into FashionWars. :lol:

I'm just here as a humble PvE'r worrying about Anet's sole focus on PvE--weird, I know, but know that I do love all the PvE content being put out. Prologue: Bound by Blood was more than I expected for a "prologue" but still won and done in one day. Loved the story and everything--the map was particularly gorgeous--but having two friends quit the game because their game modes are getting near sub-zero attention SUCKS. I worked so hard to get them to play and it was good to see them find WvW and PvP to hold their attention after they graduated from regular PvE content.

 

And having three people have three different focuses on the game wasn't terrible! We all encouraged each other to break through our silos and I started to enjoy WvW and PvP a lot more with their encouragement. Conversely, I helped them reconnect with PvE content, dragging them along for any number of things like JPs, farming, and mount-acquisition. We'd play together in the varied ways GW2 allowed us to do so, and it was good. We could also play our own game-modes separate from one another, too, and that was also good (though, the game seems a bit too geared towards solo-players and you lose a bit of the community-building aspect of MMOs).

 

Of course, many PvE players bemoan the toxicity of the competitive modes--and it's definitely there--but PvE content isn't free of elitists, nor are they free of trolls roaming about in chat. BUT, the game is designed in a way where the trolls can't do MUCH in PvE--which is a very good thing.

~~Though, in the game I played before GW2 (Rohan: Blood Feud), the community was based around the traditional "holy trinity" of party-grinding: the tank, the healer, and the DPS (also, an archer for pulling mobs to the party to reduce need for movement). The community was drawn together through this grind because of the presence of PK'ing and the ability to grief other players by destroying their progress (dying meant losing % of XP and items/equipment). Guilds grew around the concept of providing protection from either rogue players or guilds built on killing other players. Guilds also were able to compete in GvGvG to compete for control of cities and even gain taxation rights. I remember, at one point, a guild called the Imperials came to power and dominated many of the cities, raising taxes to the maximum 10% and many of the other guilds banding together to take down the tyrannical PK-guild. It was fun, but it was built on the concept of pay-to-win and that wasn't so fun. The grind was disgusting, the trolls got too annoying (though, protecting guildies from them and hunting down these serial-killers/bandits was fun), and the boredom of playing only one class was palpable.~~

The problem with PvP, as my friend stated, was that you never knew which classes would be ascendant after a balance patch and the problem was that any classes would become ascendant was anathema to the concept of "balance". Playing that game-mode became a joke and you could never have a favourite class because once balance shifted, you had to play "the meta" instead of just playing the game as it was meant to be played. Hackers and trolls were also a big problem, where trolls would just throw the game and fiddle around in the home-base, hackers would phase through walls and do impossible damage. They would even dare people to report them because they wouldn't be banned for terrorising PvP--possibly because there are so many people who cry wolf and some evidence was difficult to discern via screenshot.

 

The problem with WvW was attrition. I remember playing, early on, and salted-trolls driving our commanders to other servers. Once we lost able commanders, players wanted to go where the winning was--where the rewards were. After the servers/worlds started emptying out, Anet started linking servers for WvW and in conjunction with the PvE mega-server system. The mega-server system was great! Having a friend on another server sucked because you couldn't play together just because they selected another server or your server was full. It was arbitrary and ridiculous. However, that remains WvW's problem: server-hopping and mis-matched matches that were entirely predictable and stale. WvW ran 24/7 and that was great for convenience of casual players who rarely ever touch the game-mode, but not really sustainable. In Rohan: Blood Feud, the GvGs for capturing cities were on specific days at specific times--a bit inconvenient if it didn't line up with your life-schedule, but a bit more manageable than 24/7. Hopefully, the Alliance-system comes soon with other QoL improvements and can align with the PvE megaservers to create a more sensical community (Ex. I'm in two PvX guilds and neither of them are on my server so most of us can't WvW with each other).

 

Right now, PvE is getting the most attention (Raids, Fractals, new maps, new story, etc.) and it probably always will, but the other modes are just withering away. I know it's difficult to satisfy everyone, but even I can see that the PvP Shoutcaster program is a ghost-town when however many years ago it had this exiciting e-sports potential that even WoodenPotatoes was getting into with Grouch and that collaboration was really fun to watch on Twitch. The bridging between PvE and sPvP was great to see! But with the recent departure of another Shoutcaster (Jawgeous), it looks to be a scary time for PvP as a viable game-type--which sucks. I always hated PvP because of the toxicity and competitiveness, but I enjoyed playing with my friends and not taking it TOO seriously made it fun. Also: WvW was a really good bridge for me to get more into sPvP because it paired PvE blobbing with Person vs. Person which made it a lot more unpredictable than Person vs. NPC.

 

My hope is that Anet will be able to revive PvP and WvW and that the communities will be less divided between one another and with PvE. Collecting skins and achievements gets a little stale and I value the ability to jump into PvP or WvW as much as I value jumping into Dungeons/Fractals.

I hear a lot of people wanting the under-water mounts (incl. myself), but it seems like Anet has tried to reconcile the speed difference with swim-speed infusions.

 

Maybe for the Selbub expac? :anguished:

^^Same!

I've always pronounced it as "KAL-uh-DAWN" forest. Definitely influenced by a nearby road called "KAL-uh-DOH-nee-uh".

 

"KAL-uh-DIN" sounds so posh :lol:

The Dragon Bash Fireworks are souldbound and I find it a ridiculous thing to be soulbound. At least make it Account-Bound. :expressionless:

If the Charr High Legions (Blood, Iron, Ash, and Flame) went to war against the last human nation in Tyria (the continent), then the Elder Dragons must be a non-issue, now. And even then, only rising tensions over some issue could ignite a war between the two polities.

 

Let's say, perhaps, that tensions in Ascalon erupted into armed conflict between the nationalists on both sides. Queen Jennah and Imperator Smodur would try to ameliorate the situation, emboldening both the Ebonhawke Separatists and the charr Renegades due to perceived "racial betrayal". Kryta's crackdown on Ascalonian riots in both Ebonhawke, Rurikton, and Ascalon Settlement would show the charr Renegades that they could do whatever they wanted. However, Imperator Smodur would be under pressure from Queen Jennah to weed out charr renegade elements in Ascalon. Smodur would have the authority to do so, as Ascalon is traditionally the Iron Legion homeland. Unfortunately for peace, with the Elder Dragons gone and the Claw of the Khan-Ur, there would be no reason for the Ash Legion to support the peace treaty any longer and Imperator Malice Swordshadow would side with Imperator Bangar on the subject of reclaiming Southern Ascalon for the charr High Legions.

 

Below are two scenarios of how either situation could result in war between Kryta and the four charr High Legions:

 

1. If he does begin curbing Renegade activities, the Ebonhawke Separatists will spread propaganda through the Asura Gate into Divinity's Reach, Lion's Arch, and even Amnoon of a possibility of restoring Ascalon. Remnants of the White Mantle and bandits will join the Separatists in an attempt undermine Queen Jennah's peace with the charr and try to incite more violence with the Renegades. With support from the freed cities of Elona, Ebonhawke could destroy the Asura Gate from Divinity's Reach and declare sovereignty from the Kingdom of Kryta as a restored Ascalonian state, the Ascalonian Republic. The High Legions would see this as a prime opportunity to lay siege to Ebonhawke, as intel from Divinity's Reach would let them know about the sabotaged Asura-gate in Rurikton. However, a reluctant Smodur may take a page from Ash Legion handbooks and secretly use Iron Legion and sympathetic elements in the other legions (like Rytlock or Almorra of the Blood Legion) to stall an advance on southern Ascalon and Ebonhawke. The Free-Cities of Elona would aid their neighbours to the north through the Desert Gate.

* a) Kryta, still dealing with the centaur war-herds to the north, would acknowledge Ebonhawke's (and by extension, Ascalon's) secession from Kryta and free up resources to put towards pushing back centaur raids in Queensdale and elsewhere in her dominion. In Elona, support for the new republic would begin to wane as the war with the charr waged on and Lion's Arch's merchants gained from increased exports to the Black Citadel. Kryta also gained through tarriffs imposed on goods passing through Gendarran Fields, as the Black Citadel shut-down operation of their Asura-gate to and from Lion's Arch for security purposes. The merchant's of Lion's Arch would consider using the Asura-gate to Hoelbrak, but the Asuran gate-fees and Hoelbrak's tariffs alone would make the venture unpalatably unprofitable. Using the trade route through Lornar's Pass, though incurring Hoelbrak's lower taxes, would be treacherous and the insurance premiums on those trade caravans would be as steep as the cliff-roads they would be forced to traverse.

* b) If, then spurred on by her own people into action, Queen Jennah then had Kryta come to the aid of Ascalon and Elona--we would have our Second Human-Charr War. Through Kessex Hills, the Krytan Army would board warships in the Port of Garrenhof as Lion's Arch's Captain's Council would refuse so as to remain a neutral port of trade. Charr submarines would clash with Pact submarines on loan to Kryta from the Pact. Pact Marshal Logan Thackeray would be stripped of his title and put on trial at a military tribunal as a result of protest from both General Almorra Soulkeeper and Preceptor Halvora Snapdagger in regards to Pact resources being used in a geopolitical conflict. The Master of Whispers would manipulate internal Pact politics enough to get Logan Thackeray off with an extradition to Kryta. With Logan Thackeray's pending extradition to Kryta being delayed, the return of Pact submarines, and sea-routes to Elona prowled by charr submarines, the Krytan reinforcements would be slow to arrive in Ascalon, unless they disembarked and hoofed it through the Shiverpeaks and paid a head-tax/bribe to pass through Norn lands. Or, if the Krytan fleet successfully evaded the charr submarines and made it through the Scavenger's Causeway, the allied Port City of Amnoon awaited their arrival. Kryta would then march north up to the Desert Gate and reinforce the Ascalonian position at Ebonhawke. The war would reach a stalemate, then and there (until others began joining in on the war or a treaty was signed).

2. If he doesn't and, instead, sides with the other High Legions: Queen Jennah will be forced to answer a charr invasion of Ebonhawke or lose the confidence of her people--first, and foremost, the Ascalonians of Ebonhawke, Rurikton, and Ascalon Settlement. Humans of Elonan and Canthan descent would probably not view such a response in a positive light, either. The Free-Cities of Elona would probably see the Krytan-Queen's response as a sign of weakness, as well.

* a) Queen Jennah aids Ascalon. The gates of Ebonhawke would shut tight and Kryta would supply the garrison with enough resources through the Rurikton Asura-gate to withstand a charr siege, indefinitely. The Krytan Army could--with Knut Whitebear's permission, of course--march through the Shiverpeaks from Gendarran Fields, through Snowden Drifts and Wayfarer Foothills, to the Iron Legion's doorstep: Diessa Plateau. There, they could launch an assault on the Black Citadel and cut off the supply route. The High Legions would have to fall back to defend the Black Citadel and the Ascalonians and Elonans could then push north from Ebonhawke, from the Fields of Ruin, to the Blazeridge Steppes and the Plains of Ashford. From there, they could besiege the Black Citadel or join the Krytan forces on the Diessa front. The other races and factions would have little reason to intervene on the side of the charr High Legions, nor the side of the human nations. However, with the Black Citadel under siege, it is with hope that the charr High Legions would sue for peace--but not outright surrender. A treaty would probably be signed to cede southern Ascalon--perhaps, everything south of the shattered wall in the Blazeridge Steppes and the Plains of Ashford--except for the Black Citadel (or, they could keep the Plains of Ashford and the ruins of Rin).

* b) If she did instead decide to avoid conflict and called a truce for new treaty terms in order to save the lives of both Krytan soldiers and civilians of all human nations, she would cede Ebonhawke and the lands of southern Ascalon (the Fields of Ruin) to the charr High Legions. This would be met with oppositional uproar and would have basically the same result as scenario 1a. However, acting quickly--now that she basically has the Ministry on-side--Queen Jennah would force the relocation of all Ascalonians living in Ebonhawke and southern Ascalon. Separatists and the Ebon Vanguard would revolt and whoever didn't evacuate/relocate to Kryta would escape to Elona through the Desert Gate. Ascalonian refugees would then follow the steps of the Ebon Falcons and flee through Blazeridge Gap and the tunnels leading to the Desert Highlands. After fighting off the oozes, they emerged from the tunnels of Wayment Steep and make their way to High Jump Ranch. There, they are assisted by the descendants of Ascalonians. Some settle here, weary of the months-long trek, while others continue on to Makali Outpost, Kweli Village, the grand Temple of Kormir, and Amnoon--forming ethnic enclaves along the way. Wade Samuelsson and other Commanders of the Ebon Vanguard create a government-in-exile called the Republic of Ascalon to work for the return of Ebonhawke and southern Ascalon, with the ultimate goal of reclaiming all of Ascalon in the name of a sovereign republic. Ebonhawke is now a ghost-town--deserted. However, Queen Jennah keeps the gates shut until the new treaty is signed and works to keep the architecture of Ebonhawke preserved. The Imperators of Blood and Flame are annoyed, but agree to the terms as these are lands are under Iron Legion's jurisdiction, anyway. There would be peace, for a time--until each Imperator drew up designs for the rest of Kryta in separate attempts to gain enough clout to claim the title of the Khan-Ur. But maybe one of them would first clear out the ogres from the Blazeridges to gain the title of Khan-Ur before declaring war on Kryta or Elona.

3. Smodur, Malice, Rytlock or even Bottica claims the Claw of the Khan-Ur and unites the High Legions to forge peace with the humans. If either Smodur, Malice, or Rytlock become Khan-Ur, the Flame Legion would be pretty much be demolished. If Boticca became Khan-Ur, the Flame Legion will change greatly--none of that sexism and the High Legions would once again accept spellcasting on the battlefield. Not sure what "great act" any of the four would have to do to gain the loyalty of the four high Legions, though. The last (and, so far, only) Khan-Ur was from the Gold/Flame Legion and he conquered what is now known as the Blood Legion homelands and then Ascalon before it was called that or the "Iron Legion homelands".

 

#Now for the different factions:

* Krait = neither; too preoccupied with enslaving and sacrificing.

* Harpies = neither; the matriarch's are too preoccupied.

* Choya = neither; unable to communicate in New Krytan and, like the grawl, are too tribal.

* Centaur Alliance = broken by the Krytan-Iron Legion Alliance. Modniir, Tamini, and Harathi are now separate tribes. The Modniir scattered back into Far-Shiverpeaks and the Harathi into the Woodland Cascades and Northern Maguuma. The Tamini have returned to their nomadic roots and joined the peaceful Maguuma tribe who are descended from the Harathi.

* Giant = neither; very few left.

* Jotun = neither; their society is too fractured and culture too fragmented.

* Ettin = neither; too tribal.

* Trolls = neither; not interested and are tribal.

* Ogres = neither--generational grudges remain in most kraals against the charr and humans of Ascalon who took their ancestral lands from them.

* Grawl = neither; would have to be recruited on a tribe-by-tribe basis.

* Skritt = neither; too disorganised and confused when they scatter outside their Scratch.

* Hylek Blue-Green-Yellow-Red = neither; still rebuilding after the Fall of Zhaitan.

* Hylek Itzel-Nuhoch = neither; too far to the west, relatively peaceful, and still rebuilding after the Fall of Mordremoth.

* Hylek Coztic = neither; dislike outsiders.

* Hylek Heket = neither; still rebuilding after the Fall of Joko.

* Quaggan = neither; pacifists rebuilding in the north with the Kodan after the Fall of Jormag and in the southern ocean after the Fall of Steebubbles.

* Kodan = neither; still rebuilding with the Quaggan after the Fall of Jormag.

* Tengu = neither; still behind their walls after the Fall of Primordus and rebuilding in the Maguuma Jungle after the Fall of Mordremoth.

* Largos = neither or both, as assassins.

* Dwarves = neither.

* Forgotten = if any are left, they would join the humans in honour of the the Human Gods.

* Djinn = neither.

* Dredge = neither; but would probably use the aftermath of the Second Human-Charr War as a pretext to invade the surface world--perhaps the Asura have similar designs.

* Norn = neither or both. Only would join for glorious battles as mercenaries.

* Sylvari Dreamers = neither or both. Like the norn, would join either side for the experience as mercenaries.

* Sylvari Soundless = neither. Want nothing to do with the Dream or Nightmare, or non-Sylvari--especially after the Mordremoth fiasco and its wake of anti-sylvari sentiment.

* Sylvari Courtiers = neither or both (as mercenaries). Whichever spreads more bad feels into the Dream of Dreams. Not sure if Duchess Chrysanthea becomes the court's Grand Duchess after HoT or if she thinks differently from Cadeyrn and Faolain.

* Asuran Collegiate = neither, but profits off the war (Asura-gate usage-fees, weapons-trading, etc.).

* Asuran Inquest = neither, maybe helping the bandits/White Mantle in Ascalon, but also profiting off the bloodshed.

* Captain's Council of Lion's Arch = neither; war is good for profiteering if you aren't involved.

* Asuran Consortium = neither; like the three above, will profit off of the Human-Charr conflict.

* Aetherblades = neither, or both--whoever pays the most.

* Assorted Tyrian Pirates = neither, or both.

* Corsairs = neither, or hoping Elona hires them as privateers/mercenaries.

* Toxic Alliance = neither.

* Molten Alliance = neither, or charr High Legions depending on what the High Legions can offer the Moletariat.

> @"Adenin.5973" said:> > @"kharmin.7683" said:> > > @"Adenin.5973" said:> > > I hope we immediately get a real wyvern skin with this.> > > > Wyverns aren't the same body type as dragons (and some could argue griffons are different than those two).> > > > > > Yeah, I know. I saw it too after looking again at it. A bit of a bummer, makes this the 3rd mount with the griffon skeleton....I agree. I was pretty disappointed to see the six limbs on the new mount because I had originally thought it was just going to be another griffon re-skin. If it were a wyvern body-type, we could get flying bipedal tetrapods..!

If we had wyverns, I think a great premium mount would have been a phoenix because vestigial claws on ducks and cassowaries--not to mention hoatzin chicks and archaeopteryx--are cool. Alulas (bird "thumbs") are a wonderful thing :love:

http://www.birdwatchersgeneralstore.com/Hoatzin.jpg

Enter: _Jinguofortis perplexus_, the toothed bird that clawed its way through the early Cretaceous 147 MYA:

(Illustration: Chung-Tat Cheung/PNAS, via Smithsonian Institute).Convergent evolution of flight is fascinating--from insects and reptiles (pterosaurs), to dinosaurs (birds) and mammals (bats).

http://www.macmillanhighered.com/BrainHoney/Resource/6716/digital_first_content/trunk/test/hillis2e/asset/img_ch14/c14_fig20.jpg

TL;DRIf it were a wyvern, we could get a phoenix skin :disappointed:

> @"ROMANG.1903" said:

> > @"sorudo.9054" said:

> > if you want to satisfy everyone, here is an idea for a skin:

> > 

> >

>

> What is this Nope you have unleashed upon this innocent page?

 

I'm lovin' the giant flying Nope..! Who's the artist, @"sorudo.9054" ??

 

I'd actually really love to have giant Lucas-the-Spiders jumping all over the place at least as a Springer re-skin :lol:

There's a hidden achievement you can get by finding pages throughout WvW that elucidate some questions on the origins of the Warclaw.

 

Here's the link to the GW2 Wiki: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Warclaw

Error code: 7:11:3:191:101

 

Got d/c'd and now I'm unable to load onto any toons.

I can log in now, but LFG isn't working, still. :anguished:

I'm able to log-in now, but LFG doesn't seem to be working... and this pop up with the error code (Code=42:0:9001:4414:101) keeps popping up with the same text about connection issues.

I have the same error, too! It just happened..

 

I logged in fine at first, and then I couldn't access my guild info.. then I tried relogging and now I can't even log back in.

 

Build: 90556

Error Code: 42:0:9001:4414

Honestly, this whole situation is very upsetting.

 

Two narrative developers were fired and one of which worked there for over a decade.

 

Price's overreaction to Deroir was poor on her part, but it does not lessen the fact that women still do experience inequalities in the workplace. In this particular instance, though, she picked the wrong battle--IMHO, she was the sole belligerent in it until the troll hordes descended upon the battlefield to slay what principled combatants were left. If this was the Battle of the Five Armies: she was Thorin, Peter as Tauriel; the moderate commentators: Dain, Bard and Thranduil; and the trolls: Azog (and the other orcs and goblins), while Kate Welch and Angel McCoy would be Gandalf/Legolas in this situation.

 

However, as for the reason for her outburst, I do understand that these microaggressions build up over time--I've experience it before--I've snapped at people before over something I would normally ignore as passing flatulence. Unfortunately, these things psycho-accumulate, much like bioaccumulation occurs with physical toxins. A single raindrop is but a passing sensation, a light drizzle is a minor annoyance, but a torrential downpour from a months-long monsoon can flood your very foundations and leave you feeling cold, irritable, insecure, and stressed beyond compare. Even if it just drizzled for a year, life would be miserable in such a damp, humid, mold-infested environment--I can't blame her for snapping, but what happened afterwards is the bed that she made. You reap what you sow and if you sow seeds of fire and brimstone, your field will only yield ashes.

 

She could've handled the situation with more tact--if Deroir or MMOinks were less polite and derogatory to her sex, then maybe her reaction would have been more warranted than it was. In this particular instance, there were no signs of sexism, in and of itself. Inherently, Deroir's comments were devoid of the wolves decried in her pasture. His comment may not have been relevant or warranted, but it was also not the kindling for the wildfire that ignited afterwards in her responses--the fuel for that was already there from her past interactions/experiences that we are not able to fully understand as those who are not living her life or even part of her life in any significant way as individuals: we are simply idle on-lookers, and by-standers to a brief moment in her life.

 

As for Peter Fries, it does somewhat feel that his firing was a tad unjust for he was just defending a fellow colleague from the trolls who sought carnage for all. Of course he enabled her a little, but what friends don't? We've all jumped to a friend's defense without knowing the full story--but we've also jumped to a friend's defense because we know more of the story than whoever they're arguing with. I don't believe his misconduct was of the gravity of Price's--he did not attack the community with as much reckless abandon (but if he did use offensive language that was unbecoming of a representative of the company, I would like to see a comparative to Price's).

 

This entire incident has me wondering about some of the other departures from ArenaNet (ex. Kate Welch and Colin Johanson) and has me questioning Mike O'Brien's corporate management-styles a little.

#So preeeetttyyyy :love:

--the watercolours, the glistening eyes! It's oozing with sylvari essence!

@"KogaWolfe.1058"

Interesting thought.. Perish the thought that the Pale Tree would die, but if she were to pass, it would be cool if she were able to give birth to her own Avatar to live on as a mortal sylvari. More so, she could lead a pilgrimage to find her sister/brother tree from all the knowledge in the Dream of Dreams (though, not sure if she'd be able to keep it all as a mortal sylvari) to make sure the sylvari species/race can continue with help from the Itzel and Maguuma centaurs, hindrance from the Followers of Zintl, and competition from the Nightmare Court as they try to transport Ventari's Tablet from the shriveled up Grove.

 

I wonder how they'd all feel as Soundless.. would the Nightmare Court lose their purpose, or would they just find another justification for their heinous misdeeds? How would conservative sylvari deal with this loss of identity and mystical connection? How would Soundless communities, once looked on as an oddity by mainstream sylvari society and now reviled as a faction as harmful as the Nightmare Court (post-Modremoth), react to such an event of heavy irony?

Sense of relief and freedom from the Pale Tree's/Dream's call to action as well as Mordremoth's/Nightmare's, for sure.

Very interesting thoughts..

 

I never really thought about the relationships between the remnants of Ascalon and the last human nation, Kryta. The human Separatists in Ascalon make it pretty clear their position on Queen Jennah, though, but not on Kryta as a whole. Thinking about Ascalon Settlement in Kessex Hills just north of Lion's Arch is a product of Rurik's evacuation/exodus/government-in-exile effort known as the Ascalonian migration, their attitudes must be at least a bit more softer towards Kryta (but probably have aspirations of autonomy like the Free City of Lion's Arch to their south).

> @"Tamias.7059" said:

> * Fate of Evennia

> * Balthazar and Menzies' Eternal Battle

> * E

> * Malyck

> * Dredge revolution

> * Flame Legion post the death of Gaheron Baelfire

> * Bahltek

> * Xun Rao (in fairness I don't think this one was forgotten/abandoned so much as intentionally left vague)

> * Nightmare Court and Mordremoth

> * Early hints that the Arcane Council were plotting to dominate Tyria

> * Mysterious abandoned civilisation in the Tarnished Coast

> * What happened to the Margonites after Mallyx the Unyielding was killed?

> * Centaur War

> * Tengu isolationism

> * How have the Sons of Svanir been affected by everything going on with Elder Dragons and the balance of magic?

> * Remember when "becoming the bear" was almost the defining feature of the norn?

> * Krait orb and Sayeh al' Rajihd (hopefully this one will be coming back eventually)

> * Magdaer

> * Mai Trin

> * The Consortium

> * Fate of the Pale Tree

> * Lord Odran/Mists portal in Drascir

> * Zojja

>

> Probably many more, too. The storytelling has been more focussed lately but I think ANet is still spinning too many plates (e.g. Olmakhan - they're cool and all but is now really time to expand the lore rather than deepen it?). There's a real habit of starting up a story, getting players intrigued, and then losing interest in telling that story and moving on.

>

> HoT is the perfect example of this. You have lots of sylvari storylines, like Malyck, Faolain and Caithe, the Nightmare Court, and so on for which HoT was the best and only opportunity to tie up. ANet had worked hard on these stories and invested in them narratively since release. But they all got sidelined or wrapped up hastily in favour of some totally new stuff about Glint's egg, Exalted, and a lost asuran city. Whether it was because of lack or focus or project mismanagement or whatever, I sincerely doubt we'll see a satisfying resolution to any of those stories now. It was a waste of all that previous effort and a bit of a tragedy.

>

> Another good example is Lazarus. That's a story that has tendrils all the way into Prophecies. It kicked off in Eye of the North after [fan outcry](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Mursaat_Rally), we were assured by @"LinseyMurdock.4165" that there were some ["really cool plans"](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User_talk:Linsey_Murdock/Lore1#Asura_and_Mursaat) that just...never materialised. In the end we got some confusing secret identity storyline where Lazarus was actually Balthazar and then Lazarus got hastily killed off in a LW episode that screamed "we've got the rest of the story mapped out and this was the only place we could squeeze this in".

 

I cry inside about all of these because some of these I wasn't even aware of (ex. Xun Rao, Balhtek, Lord Odran/Drascir, etc.). :scream:

I cry especially about all the LWS1 stuff like Mai Trin and The Consortium, as well as HoT and vanilla GW2 stuff (Malyck, Pale Tree, Nghtmare Court, E, Dredge Revolution, Flame Legion/Gaheron, Arcane Council world domination/Inquest links, Alcazia Tangle, Tengu restoration/end of isolationism, shape-shifting norn, Toxic Allliance, etc.).

So the Human Gods are an invasive species and the Elder Dragons were Tyria's keystone species regulating the world's ecology of magic.. Interesting!

I'd much prefer a moa mount as they are present in Tyria--especially the Green Moa. The added bonus is that rangers can have many moas as pets and mounting/dismounting is less jarring.

 

I agree with @"Oldirtbeard.9834" and @"Random Object.1298". Horses have been extinct for centuries and riding them would be like riding centaurs. I'm sure none of the war-mongering or peaceful tribes would much appreciate it. Humans have enough things catered towards them (ex. armour, hairtyles) for them to get racial mounts, too. :sweat:

@"MatthewMedina.5419"

#PLEASE

 

My four sylvari have been wandering the dense Maguuma heartlands and studying the Itzel language to learn more about what could have happened to our lost kinfolk. Many cycles have passed sitting before Ameyalli's shrine positing its similarities to sylvan trees--the lights hanging off it like pods of the Pale Tree, waiting to sprout an anemochory structure and allow the winds of fate to carry the soon-to-awaken sylvari into the world of Tyria.

 

In other news, that painterly blob between Metrica Province and The Tangled Depths looks like the perfect location for "Ameyalli", the Pale Tree's sibling and Malyck's bower/town. :grimace:

I wonder if we're going to the Blood Legion Homelands soon to delve deeper into charr lore and contemporary occurrences as the cogs of the Eternal Alchemy spin on and elder dragons move about in the world.

 

P.s. Also love the Olmakhan. I wondered if one of her descendants could be a candidate for the Khan'ur.

I am also very sad for the Mother Tree, but her Avatar is just her manifestation of her true, arboreal corpus, form. The Menders of the Bower and the Grove should be working tirelessly to mend her boughs and her roots, binding branches like a human wound use a splint for broken flesh-limbs.

 

There are a number of sylvari arcs left flailing in the wind that I feel many of us would like fastened and broadened (ex. Malyck and his sylvari subculture, their tree/Ameyalli, Itzel and Maguuma centaur reverence of sylvan trees, wide-spread mourning for Firstborn/Pact Marshall Trahearne who cleansed Orr, how the sylvari of Caledon Forest are dealing with the Pale Trees incapacitation, etc.).