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What is your opinion on IceBrood Saga


vier.1327

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> @"InsaneQR.7412" said:

> Tbh the story is good and the first few maps have a lot to do.

>

> Overall i am not fan of the champion releases but i do like DRM more than i liked strike missions. The ability to do stuff solo but also in groups without making stuff to easy is kinda nice.

>

> Overall i am luke warm on the whole shtick but i dont hate it.

 

Agree on this summary. Overall the storyline is interesting, a little predictable, if not especially well executed to many players. Highly enjoy some of the maps. DRM aren't the worst thing, just feel like filler until the expansion, which is hopefully where the focus is at the moment.

I like the use of old maps but would prefer it to be a more dynamic, open world event where everyone could jump in. I love solo content, and grouping is fine, but makes it feel less urgent.

The best content in the game? No. Is it free, yep. Is it something to do? Yep. Just sit back and relax peeps, everything doesn't have to be a timeless masterpiece.

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> @"Danikat.8537" said:

> As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

Are they?

I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

This was the play by Anet,

Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

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> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> Are they?

> I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> This was the play by Anet,

> Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

 

Quite so. They hinted at the Champions releases being this way as far back as Feb 2020. We simply do not know if there was a change of direction and if there was, when that happened. It's possible Champions wasn't meant to be the end of the Saga and much more was planned of course. With the Game Director leaving and seemingly never replaced, I suspect some change may have happened around the time of the presentation, but it's clear a lot of this was always going to happen expac or no expac

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Got to give it a 5 sadly. It started not too bad, was enjoying it, although issues in pvp and wvw were slowly isolating my enjoyment to just living world. Finally, it was bad enough for me to quit playing, for about 3 months now. Although, I called this game home for 8+ years, so I'm still keeping up with it. I'm honestly feeling a bit more optimistic for some reason, but from a narration perspective, the story has gone off the rails. Hopefully they can get off 'the 100' binge they seem to be on lately.

 

Still, given the cost of the game, it's not terrible, I really just miss the quality of releases we saw for most of the games life. They used to catch a lot of the little details that made the world feel alive, but these days, even the big things seem to make no sense and pull you out of immersion.

 

I'll be honest, the writing issues have been getting worse and worse (although it's only part of what is making these releases feel mediocre). Going all the way back to Kralk, the story started veering off. I feel the writers have put themselves into a corner, with this rapid dragon execution business, that makes your character feel like a God incarnate, only to take that away whenever the writers need it.

 

The story these days feels inconsistent, that's probably the best way to put it. It really reminds me of watching the show 'the 100'.

 

Still, I won't be only negative here, I haven't tried the latest chapter yet, and from a system's perspective, they did some good this release it seems. And if they can get pvp or wvw into a fun state again (not sure myself, but will try today), I don't mind odd narration in the living world, since I've got other things to do in the game.

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I really like the first few episodes.

To me, Prologue was one of the best episodes out of all the other living world seasons.

The Vision's of the Past update also comes in second for me.

I am quite disappointed with the Champions releases, I dislike all the new weapon sets as well as most of the DRMs.

 

I just want new weapon and armor sets that are more plain and realistic looking, compared to overly flashy.

It would have been nice if they could have finished off and released the Wolf and Snow Leopard Shaman armor sets.

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As others have said, prologue and the initial episodes were alright, even better once i had a chance to get into them properly. Champions? No. If this keeps going downhill at this rate i'm going to assume all the talent has left or else hope that they are all working on the expansion. At this point i am basically doing dailies and minimum on Champions and that is sad this soon after a release.

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The worst thing that has happened to guild wars since scarlet.

We clearly feel that the great talents of the arena team have left the game since the beginning of living story 4, I don't feel anymore the soul of the game at all in terms of story and content. What they dared to do with the dwarves in the last update was inconceivable.

 

I'm a little afraid of what they are going to do in cantha ..

 

2/10 (for the good prologue)

 

> @"vier.1327" said:

 

> I do not know what happened to the game direction, maybe Covid-19 or focusing too much on End of Dragons. But this season has been the worst that I have played ( playing since the beginning of Ls2)

 

Lots of important people have left arena team for 2 years(the good writers, devs that took care of the raids ...)the loss of quality in the game mainly comes from there, we pay the consequences

 

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> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> Are they?

> I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> This was the play by Anet,

> Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

 

So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

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> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> > Are they?

> > I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> > Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> > And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> > These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> > The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> > I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> > To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> > This was the play by Anet,

> > Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

>

> So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

 

They are I have done the first 3 solo, and judging by the two I ran yesterday they seem to be in line with the previous released ones this release as well.

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> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> Such a drag i haven't even completed half of it. Sure i unlocked them, but haven't bothered to partake. Story can't be salvaged anymore. Yeah, i still despise aurene. Drizzlewood was when i stopped bothering. UGH!

 

Yeah. Drizzlewood was when I bailed out. The prologue was awesome, Bjora was boring, Drizzlewood fizzled out completely. I have not bothered to see what came after.

Would anyone say I missed anything fun?

 

 

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> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> > Are they?

> > I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> > Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> > And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> > These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> > The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> > I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> > To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> > This was the play by Anet,

> > Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

>

> So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

Of course they are.

But to say that content must be soloable to exist in an MMO is among the more misguided comments someone could make.

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I have mostly liked Icebrood Saga. It started really strong, had some great writing, and I really liked the characters. For what it’s worth, I also like the stories and dialogue in the DRMs. It is hard to listen/easy to miss important lines in the middle of battle, but that’s not exclusive to DRMs really.

 

The biggest shame imo is feeling like the story was intended to be much fuller and fleshed out. Whatever the reason, that is disappointing for a story that had so much potential.

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There are interesting ideas and news: we are not the only champion anymore (although I still don't like Steelcatcher), Aurene is not the only reasonable dragon, Braham became the best character of the saga (I didn't think that it was possible to say something similar), but yeah, it seems a bit rushed to the end. Understandable, since many players are anxious to see the next expansion, so I find a "smart" idea from ArenaNet to give us short stories, with farming achievements and relatively easy content to develop while they work on the big one (don't say "if it's so easy, why don't you do it?"; easier compared to the previous living world's chapters ;P ).

I'm glad that DRM can also be solo'ed, although I find the difficulty of the last ones still inconsistent (today they nerfed Lake Doric that was already the easiest one, together with Snowden D), but I'm pretty sure they are monitoring how many failures we have right now :) The new DRM CM seem definitely more challenging than the previous ones, idk if intended, like for the strike missions.

 

Btw, the Seraphs in Lake Doric still tell me "may Balthazar strengthen you". Shouldn't we give them the news, at some point? "You see, dear, idk how to say it... yeah, it was me, sorry."

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A rating of "hot mess."

 

I wasn't a huge fan of Bjora but loved the aesthetics of the second half and the entire Drizzlewood map even if the second half felt like it was pointless outside of the meta and should have just been released as one full map.

 

Other big qualms, the story. It just hasn't been that interesting to me because it's just been Charr banter and politics for the majority with a few snippets of Jormag and Spirit lore. When I found out we were going North I was really hoping it would be a deep dive into Norn lore, the spirits, Jotun, the origin of the Eye of The North and perhaps some lost surviving Seer somewhere.

 

Instead we get whiny furry Braham (Ryland) and "RAWR ME CHARR, CHARR GO WAR, CHARR HAVE HONOR) blah blah blah.

 

Then, obviously, at some point someone decided to push out a Cantha expansion and the entire plan for the Icebrood release changed/got scrapped and they went with these Dragon Response Missions as filler to push out whatever they could while shifting the entire live team over to the expansion. I thought they still had 150+ people at the studio and figured that would be enough to keep the live game going plus your average story content for living world, but apparently not whether that's due to how last minute it was all decided or because they've yet again silently shifted a large portion of the studio to some unannounced project that will get canned at some point who knows.

 

Definitely hoping after this expansion is released they're able to find their bearings again, because it feels like it's just been chaos for the past few years. I can't imagine what it must feel like as a lower level developer at the studio right now

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Season 4 had Rollerbeetles and Skyscales and some pretty nifty Mount Masteries and that alone makes it 10x better then Icebrood Saga.

 

The Masteries of the Icebrood saga are the biggest disappointment, the maps are ok-ish, I do kinda like Drizzlewood though doing the whole thing is quit a slog. The story is about Charrs and Brahm, nuff said (Do not like either). Also the game is suffering from Loot-fatigue. Mats, more mats, and then currencies(that you need a billion of) that buys you yet another ho-hum weaponset. Grindy and boring. And did we really need another Hub?

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If you look at the website glassdoor and the reviews of the company you can see that those issues are what led to this end product. Disorganisation of the vision is what will lead to a fractured release. That plus the lay offs plus the pandemic and they are just playing catch up and doing there best right now. They really need a confident and inteligent game director.

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> Then, obviously, at some point someone decided to push out a Cantha expansion and the entire plan for the Icebrood release changed/got scrapped and they went with these Dragon Response Missions as filler to push out whatever they could while shifting the entire live team over to the expansion. I thought they still had 150+ people at the studio and figured that would be enough to keep the live game going plus your average story content for living world, but apparently not whether that's due to how last minute it was all decided or because they've yet again silently shifted a large portion of the studio to some unannounced project that will get canned at some point who knows.

>

> Definitely hoping after this expansion is released they're able to find their bearings again, because it feels like it's just been chaos for the past few years. I can't imagine what it must feel like as a lower level developer at the studio right now

 

Let's be honest, they probably told us about Cantha this early on because projections of this season were fairly low and would be even worse if nothing short of amazing ( the most requested area) was announcedto instill massive amounts of hope and excitment.

 

 

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> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> > > Are they?

> > > I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> > > Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> > > And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> > > These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> > > The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> > > I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > > > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> > > To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> > > This was the play by Anet,

> > > Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

> >

> > So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

> Of course they are.

> But to say that content must be soloable to exist in an MMO is among the more misguided comments someone could make.

 

From how things are designed in GW2, anet agrees with me. Want to twist my arm in an attemt to make me join your grouping thing? I'll just bail insted.

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> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> > > > Are they?

> > > > I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> > > > Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> > > > And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> > > > These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> > > > The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> > > > I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > > > > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> > > > To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> > > > This was the play by Anet,

> > > > Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

> > >

> > > So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

> > Of course they are.

> > But to say that content must be soloable to exist in an MMO is among the more misguided comments someone could make.

>

> From how things are designed in GW2, anet agrees with me. Want to twist my arm in an attemt to make me join your grouping thing? I'll just bail insted.

There is plenty of content in this game that cannot be solo'ed.

How is this Anet "agreeing with you"?

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> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > > > @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > > > > > @"Danikat.8537" said:

> > > > > > As other people have said I think it's a shame they're so obviously rushing it because of the complaints about not having another expansion after season 4.

> > > > > Are they?

> > > > > I mean when IBS was originally presented to us wasn't it that the last several parts would be with the developers trying to incorporate the aspects they most liked about s1 into the story? or maybe it was a puff peice for an MMO site where this was mentioned. How they wanted to change the story telling near the end to do this.

> > > > > Isn't that exactly what they are doing now? Giving us these instances where places we know are under attack/change?

> > > > > And if indeed that was the plan all along, then how is it rushed?

> > > > > These DRMs have clearly been the plan from the beginning. To transition the game towards a place where they can tell the stories they want without worrying about the headaches that the development approach to s1 created. In a way that makes them repeatable and relevant as group content.

> > > > > The problem isnt that they have rushed the end of Icebrood, the problem is that they are spreading it out too thin. What should have been 4 months of content updates now becomes 6-8 while they continue work on the expansion.

> > > > > I don't think this was rushed. I think it was the plan all along, but that the DRMs would release weekly or biweekly.

> > > > > > I like what we are getting, but I will forever wonder what we could have had and how much more interesting it could have been if only people had been willing to give them a chance instead of endlessly going on about the game dying because they didn't have to pay for it.

> > > > > To blame the portion of the playerbase is a little puzzling.

> > > > > This was the play by Anet,

> > > > > Don't be surprised if a lot of your End of Dragons story is told in a similar way.

> > > >

> > > > So, are DRM possible to complete solo? Because if the answer is "no" they might as well not exist. If that is what the future holds, then that's bad.

> > > Of course they are.

> > > But to say that content must be soloable to exist in an MMO is among the more misguided comments someone could make.

> >

> > From how things are designed in GW2, anet agrees with me. Want to twist my arm in an attemt to make me join your grouping thing? I'll just bail insted.

> There is plenty of content in this game that cannot be solo'ed.

> How is this Anet "agreeing with you"?

 

The fact that i'm not forced to participate in any of the forced grouping things. They have the group thing for people who like that, and things that don't require grouping for people like me. What, is EVERYTHING supposed to be for everyone? That's not how reality works.

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Let's just say, it's the first LS, that I haven't even finished previous parts when the new parts came out... I loathe that forced playing together. I like to play with others, but not when I MUST play with others to finish my story. Right now, I'm at the point where I might not even buy any upcoming expansion, if this is the way ANet is moving.

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