New Istan Reward Track Has to be Unlocked

[Jwake.7013]

Hopped into WvW and started playing some. Finished the track I was on and figured since the new map came out I'd do the new track for it. However it seems it's locked behind doing the full story. My question is why? Isn't the point to the pve reward tracks so we can earn them instead or along side doing the content, and now I have to finish it before I can even start the track? Seems pretty redundant imo.

 

What's everyone's else take on this? Haven't really seen any talk about this in game so maybe it's not that big a deal and people are fine with it?

[Sovereign.1093]

i dont know. i try to do atleast one part of this per week. as fo rewards, i just ignore it by letting it randomly play out.

[Dawdler.8521]

That is how the tracks have worked since the release of skirmish tracks. You unlock stuff (dungeons, zone specific, etc) by finishing that content on at least one character. Its not always the full content (dungeons are only story mode, doric as an example was the first instance or something), but still, it get unlocked. There is some tracks that rotate every week which you dont need unlocked.

 

So yeah I am guessing people are fine with it.

[Strider Pj.2193]

> @Dawdler.8521 said:

> That is how the tracks have worked since the release of skirmish tracks. You unlock stuff (dungeons, zone specific, etc) by finishing that content on at least one character. Its not always the full content (dungeons are only story mode, doric as an example was the first instance or something), but still, it get unlocked. There is some tracks that rotate every week which you dont need unlocked.

>

> So yeah I am guessing people are fine with it.

 

This^^.

 

Not a hard price to pay. Considering I unlocked and maxed my elite specs on my 5 toons I WvW with, without doing PoF.... just with proofs I received from reward tracks.

[DemonSeed.3528]

I been doing the map to unlock it but I'm a bit stuck without the bunny mount and glider on my other account (don't have the bunny on this one either) so I'm still trying to figure out how to get it done once and for all to unlock the track. It's a big hassle though compared to any previous ways to unlock tracks if anyone was wondering.

[Jeknar.6184]

> @Jwake.7013 said:

> Hopped into WvW and started playing some. Finished the track I was on and figured since the new map came out I'd do the new track for it. However it seems it's locked behind doing the full story. My question is why? Isn't the point to the pve reward tracks so we can earn them instead or along side doing the content, and now I have to finish it before I can even start the track? Seems pretty redundant imo.

>

> What's everyone's else take on this? Haven't really seen any talk about this in game so maybe it's not that big a deal and people are fine with it?

 

Every Living Story Reward track is locked behind Living Story Content (Except Dry Top and Silverwastes). This isn't new.

[Vavume.8065]

Working as intended.

[Malerian.8435]

I mean it took me like a an hour to do the whole LS. It was super easy. Then again so is like 99% of PvE lol

[Jski.6180]

Unlike the other LS reward tracks it takes you to completing the full LS eps. To do this you need to have a mesmer friend port you to 3 places OR you grind out mounts pve content. Why put major pve walls just to get the ability to get new wvw rewards is beyond me but anet seems to be choosing that path.

 

If you just wvw its not worth grinding out the mounts that can take days.

[Dawdler.8521]

> @Jski.6180 said:

> Unlike the other LS reward tracks it takes you to completing the full LS eps. To do this you need to have a mesmer friend port you to 3 places OR you grind out mounts pve content. Why put major pve walls just to get the ability to get new wvw rewards is beyond me but anet seems to be choosing that path.

>

> If you just wvw its not worth grinding out the mounts that can take days.

Grind out mounts what lol. PoF has been released for more than "days". LS4 is a continuation of PoF, of course it's gonna need PoF things. If you dont think it's worth to have them, why do you consider the reward track having any value? There's plenty of WvW tracks. Do them instead.

 

[Jski.6180]

> @Dawdler.8521 said:

> > @Jski.6180 said:

> > Unlike the other LS reward tracks it takes you to completing the full LS eps. To do this you need to have a mesmer friend port you to 3 places OR you grind out mounts pve content. Why put major pve walls just to get the ability to get new wvw rewards is beyond me but anet seems to be choosing that path.

> >

> > If you just wvw its not worth grinding out the mounts that can take days.

> Grind out mounts what lol. PoF has been released for more than "days". LS4 is a continuation of PoF, of course it's gonna need PoF things. If you dont think it's worth to have them, why do you consider the reward track having any value? There's plenty of WvW tracks. Do them instead.

>

 

The other reward tracks where something you could get for effectually getting into the new map and that was it. No need to progress any more then that. This is comply new to make wvw players do the full story to get a reward track. In effect forces wvw player to do pve content to be able to get rewards in wvw. This has nothing to do with what reward track is better then others because at one point there will be a new reward track that has items that wvw players will want and if this go by the way side the wvw player base MUST have to play pve to unlock wvw content. That a real problem.

[Ubi.4136]

They have been gated for a long time. Some, behind completing a story step. Others, behind map completion, or completing the previous reward track. This is nothing new, and I don't see a problem with it. Yes, I spend 95% of my game time in wvw. Yes, I have the story done. Yes, I have already completed the new reward track.

[X T D.6458]

I think some of you are missing the OP's point. You have to complete the ENTIRE story episode to unlock this reward track. With the other living world reward tracks, you could unlock them by doing a few parts.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

The original post is a bit misleading.

* Expansion reward tracks are the only "additional" tracks that don't require any PvE at all, for unlocking.

* Every one of the six LS3 tracks requires completing part of the corresponding story. One requires only one mission, three require two missions, one requires four, and one requires five. Each of these requires the local mastery and some amount of the expansion's masteries.

 

i.e. The _Domain of Vabbi Reward Track_ requirement is only slightly more onerous than the precedent set by LS3 reward tracks.

 

Personally, I'd prefer to see the unlock requirement limited to reaching the new zone or defeating the first boss. But that's a preference, inconsistent with what ANet has offered us so far.

 

tl;dr new reward track unlock is consistent with past LS reward tracks

 

****

#### Data

 

##### HoT Reward Tracks

**Four tracks**, three one-time only; one repeatable. No PvE required.

 

* Verdant Brink: unlocked with purchase of HoT (non-repeatable)

* Auric Basin, unlocked by completion of VB track (non-repeatable)

* Tangled Depths, unlocked by completion of AB track (non-repeatable)

* Heart of Maguuma, unlocked by completing TD (repeatable)

 

##### LS3 Reward Tracks

**Six repeatable tracks:** only one is unlocked with the first mission of the episode.

 

* B-Fen reward track unlocked by LS3.1–4, i.e. Living World Season 3, Chapter/Episode 1, fourth mission

* E-Bay unlocked by LS3.2–5

* Bitterfrost, by LS3.3–2

* Lake Doric, by LS3.4–1

* Draconis Mons, by LS3.5–2

* Siren's Landing, by LS3.6–2

 

##### PoF Reward Tracks

**Two tracks**, nearly identical, no PvE required.

 

* Crystal Desert, non repeatable, unlocked with purchase of PoF.

* Crystal Desert, repeatable. Unlocked by completing the no-repeat version. (rewards fewer clovers, contracts, but is otherwise identical)

 

##### LS4 Reward Tracks

**One track (so far)**

 

* Domain of Istan, unlocked by LS4.1–6

[Jwake.7013]

Thank you for the responses all and the info. I guess I was miss remembering about the reward tracks being unlocked from the start or at least after the first instance for all of LWS03. It does seem a bit redundant to me still on how you have to complete the full episode to be able to use the track, but if it's not an issue for most then I can accept it better.