Feedback: Official Living World Season 4 Episode 3 Feedback [MANY SPOILERS]

[Orion Templar.4589]

I've been having a lot of fun with this episode thus far.

 

Liked:

* Roller Beetle is fun and a nice addition

* Domain of Kourna map is well-designed and has plenty to do

* Meta event is rewarding, quick to learn what to do, and runs on player-driven timer (spare parts) rather than a set time of day

 

Didn't like:

* Access card for treasure room (this should just be automatic as part of completing the event)

* Roller Beetle starting at 0% endurance (maybe start at 50%?)

[Stalkingwolf.6035]

ok i'm done. i have all achievements including FTG. Overall bit boring. i dont use the beetle for anything. to slow, no use outside 3 walls on the new map.

there are still a lot of bugs on the new map and outside the map/game. for example API is still broken as usual after a new map/expansion.

 

maybe i get the Choya dance but thats it.

[Eramonster.2718]

Finally completed the story yesterday. Waited for all the bugs to be fixed to avoid hiccups.

 

**Pros I could think off** :

1. Finally a 3d CG ending instead of 2d narrated drawings :smiley: nice touch on how your character appears as it should be in it.

2. New mount with ways for on how it's to be utilized. Having fun using it after learning how to make sharp turns drifting(back button) and rolling downhill for jump start.

3. Fairly challenging fight for an end boss. (For me at least. Way better than zhaitan & mordrem)

4. The villain dies in the end instead of dragging it on.

5. The whole journey is accompanied with voice acting.

 

**The cons** :

1. Felt the villain(Joko) kinda short-lived. Barely know the guy, as if we just killed the true villain Balthazar and we just conveniently remove his sidekick Joko shortly after; different from how I imagined him or how he's portrayed.

2. Kourna is beautiful to explore, same goes for all LS4 new maps but lacks content to return. The recent Meta events are mindless rally and bash our way through such as Paladawan & Kourna's Lab event.

3. Story getting too attached to human race/culture. Can't help feeling other races such as Norn, Charr, etc cultures are left out as the story progress.

 

**What I hope to be improved or find lacking in game** :

1. A true villain nurtured solely for GW2. Never had one, was hoping Joko to be the one, but alas.

2. Choices in story dialog effects how the story or encounter progress instead of just different dialogs to listen to. Giving players different experience (buff, monsters, npc etc) replay-bility for alts. Eg. Joko have different abilities when another dialogue is triggered etc. Something to talk about and discuss with friends in game about the different choices made.

3. Meta events with more depth and mini bosses with mechanics. Eg. Verdant Brink, Silverwaste etc are fun imo and some incentives if it's done exceptionally well.

[MarySueLlama.8136]

What I don't understand is this: one of the biggest things I remember from Bug in the System was that the plague was particularly destructive towards the Charr test subjects - I think the experiments said something gross about their insides being liquefied or something? Either way, it was bad, and I was like "oh crap, the Charr!" But now in episode 3, the Charr are completely immune to the plague, and a bunch of them are fighting on the front lines. Did I miss something?

[TheBlueBeast.8057]

I'm not going to get too wordy with this since I dipped my toes into ascended crafting and fried my brain. plz excuse typos and stuff im typing this on a phone and autocorrect vexes me

 

**Stuff I enjoyed**:

 

* The beetle. I love this little guy and I only wish the dancing was an emote instead of an idle animation. Petey is very fast and for me was well worth it.

* Still having fun with the map - there's a lot of small details that I enjoy. Like the rats, dancing choya plotting their uprising, ect. I like Kourna but I can see why others might not be too into it.

* Seeing Aurene flyin around was a nice touch. Pls let me pet my daughter and tell her I love her.

* The talking Joko statues everywhere give me strength.

* I enjoyed the story for the most part!

* Gorrik is disgusting. I love him.

* That cutscene was **super** pretty and fun to watch ((with the exception of ghost blob but that wasnt really a big deal to me))

* I...actually really enjoyed the stealth section.... It was the only time I was really able to get into the stealth mission.

 

**Not so great for me**:

 

* Trying to jump around maps to kill a boss that died within 2 minutes of spawning was kind of annoying, but overall i didn't mind the collections for the beetle. Having to wait over an hour just because your game lagged out from all of the people got pretty old fast.

* Although I enjoy/enjoyed Kourna, the map feels underwhelming considering it's supposed to be the stage for this huge fight. For me it just doesn't put out that vibe - the base of operations doesn't feel like a base, it's more of an empty shopping mall, and the enemy fortress is just....so tiny. It's not very imposing or anything. I dunno, I like intimidating structures/ambiance when something dramatic is supposed to be happening. Subjective.

* The story elements in this update were my biggest issues.

* For what a horrible thing the scarab plague is supposed to be they seem to be hilariously easy to deal with. Everyone should just get on raptors and jump on them, throw ghosts at the rest. No Big Deal.

* Joko is a huge pile of wasted potential. He's an old-as-balls lich that's seen a lot of shit, and he's been around since the first game. There's a lot he could contribute to the plot without just being just another disposable throwaway midboss. His fight was underwhelming for how powerful he was supposed to be, and way too easy. He *knew* about aurene, the compact magic-eating dragon, and still fought us in this fukin room with massive open windows? Okay game, sure. After all that build-up, right when the dialog is getting good and the cutscene is going great- Aurene just divebombs in and frankly ruins it. It feels like a cheap way to draw attention back to her.

* Also the fire lasers made me want to die irl a couple of times. Please don't make me jump things with a charr

* Meta is... meh. I was really surprised by how quickly it ended when I played through it.

 

**things I'd like to see in the future**:

 

* So far the story has just been shuffling one antagonist after another, and it's honestly grown incredibly stale. I've had more fun with joko in his brief appearances than any of the other mini-bosses that have sprouted up after mordy. Balthazaar was fun in his own way, but he wasn't engaging enough. Then he died.

* Please just give me a fun nasty antagonist to deal with in between trying to sort out the dragon mess. pls

* _DIALOG OPTIONS_. I miss them, and this would have been a great episode to have them considering how much joko liked to talk. Another major missed opportunity - imagine the banter if your character didn't just rush in with a massive murder boner screaming "im gonna kill u" level retorts every time joko called them stupid ~~ur ruining my immersion~~. They dont have to have a lasting impact on the plot or the instance, but it really helps with replay value and helps it feel like you're not just playing a blank slate. Race/class specific options, ect.

* Being able to use Peteys boost before it's fully charged would be great - like how you can have the griffons flap their wings halfway into the stamina recharge? It would help with getting up hills without wasting an entire boost.

 

I know i sound really negative but I really did enjoy this episode up until the end. The more i thought of it the more it left me feeling like a deflated balloon, it felt like it ended way too quickly and with not much flare. Still, I'm excited for future episodes! Looking forward to seeing where all of this goes. I really like rox's new VA, by the way. It's nice hearing her sound more like a proper charr. I love petey and im still having fun with the content. c:

[GenghisKhan.7842]

There I go:

- First chapter The Trial was super cheap, convinced the jury with just one sentence, meh

- Instance with the arm / stealth - not too bad, even tho personally I prefer to smash things - super cool: it saved progress

- Third mission, the section with the laser was just plainly awful

- That side of the fortress being basically empty of awakened was weird

- Fight with Joko was fun, good mechanics, proper duration and difficulty for me

- The end: while watching the cutscene I was hoping for something more "grand" or creative, that ending felt too cheap, but okay

- I'm fine this side-story with Joko is over, hopefully now we can have again big breadth story focusing on Kralkatorrik rise

- The beetle seems nice, I've unlocked it but haven't felt like grinding events for the mastery xp yet

- Service Medal is a pathetic attempt to let us do old content again (Orr ? Ouch, no thanks)

- Map is beautifully constructed, but a barren land with a short and unrewarding meta-event, I won't be going back to Kourna anytime soon

- The awful launch honestly deserves a special mention

 

[Calixtus.8617]

Very disappointed in this episode.

 

Although there were some golden dialougue moments the episode was for me just wrong. This Lich has been around for centuries yet we turn up sneak in his back door and kill him. Just so anti climatic. (unless of course he does his Joko thing and gets regurgitated by Aurene).

 

Annoyingly also is some of the poor design or thought to what the player will do. Example 1. - after the fight where you protect Canach blowing up the door it was obvious there would be a back way in. I already flew down just as Braham says "Commander" Had to retrace my steps all the way back to the starting position tand walk back through the skirmishes to progress. If I am the commander surely I can ignore a past sulky Norn and find my own way explore my own option?

 

Example 2 - In the previous episode it was just too easy to blink out of the map and it sent you straight back to Desert Highlands. Usually if you go off instance area you get a warning to go back. This happened to me 2 times in the instance when I was blinking past patrols. I should have to look at the mini map to ensure I am not going to port out of the instance when I am immersed in the story trying to be stealthy.

 

Ignoring the first day bugs the Episode just feels too short, too contrived and too linear, too rushed. There were Some nice touches with the dialogue. Also not sure why you have to redo part 1 on the same character to get 2 achieves.

 

oh yes - the amazing find of a skill ring that was just lying around - lame

 

The annoying accidental port to the new map rather than continuing your story - outside the Primeval Tombs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Edelweiss.4261]

I finally found time to do the episode and unlock the mount. I probably have nothing new to say, but here it is.

The choices we were given in Amnoon were actually decent, despite not appearing to change anything. What actually changes is the commander and their relations to their companions. Internal change rather than external change. The only reason it didn't work for me is that I don't really like the commander.

As for the mount, it seems fun so far. I think if you are going to put it behind 3 collections, however. It might be more amenable to players to unlock a portion of the mount per collection. Collection 1 unlocks the mount, collection 2 unlocks Wrecking Ball and Barrier Smash for the player to begin working on, and collection 3 unlocks Big Air. This would make sense as the first two masteries would likely need more than a makeshift/worn-out saddle. Big Air makes sense as something unlockable after getting closer to your mount. As such, collection 3 would really fit with this mastery. Of course, this might lead to other issues(where does a makeshift saddle come from?), but I think this would be a more enjoyable progression.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

ok, I enjoyed the episode. But the map... the map is just horrible. Always the same few events. It is small, it is boring. The collection to get that backpack is just a mind numbing and soul crushing grind that forces you to stay on that horrible map way longer than anyone should.

 

Siren's Landing was fun. Lake Doric was fun. Draconis Mons was fun. Bitterfrost Frontier was fun.

 

This is just a bored out of my mind sloughfest.

 

I just hope the next map will be better - but I am afraid it will be as bad as Istan and Sandswept - you either force yourself to finish the collections or you walk off to ever return. Because: boring.

[Gaile Gray.6029]

Hi there,

 

I'm gathering all this feedback to insert into a report on Episode 3. Please post today if you have additional thoughts.

 

Thanks so much for sharing your input, feedback, and ideas!

[Randulf.7614]

> @"Gaile Gray.6029" said:

> Hi there,

>

> I'm gathering all this feedback to insert into a report on Episode 3. Please post today if you have additional thoughts.

>

> Thanks so much for sharing your input, feedback, and ideas!

 

Less work, more festival Gaile!

[Matt H.6142]

The hearts are very grind-y unless you also participate in an event in the heart region. There’s no joy in the map, as well there shouldn’t themetically, but I’ll spend my time in happier places. I did love the fighting factions around Gandara though. Loved the story, happy with Jokos send off. Need more from Gandara. One hallway isn’t enough.

[RainPumpkin.7253]

> @"Matt H.6142" said:

> The hearts are very grind-y unless you also participate in an event in the heart region. There’s no joy in the map, as well there shouldn’t themetically, but I’ll spend my time in happier places. I did love the fighting factions around Gandara though. Loved the story, happy with Jokos send off. Need more from Gandara. One hallway isn’t enough.

 

the unique heart I feel it's slightly grindy is front line, and even that one is easy if you get many scarab events.

 

[RAZOR.7246]

Overall story was really disappointing both in terms of length and direction. There was a buildup towards joko and now he got killed abruptly so directionwise there's really nothing to indicate where it's going exactly and also another concern I have is whether there'd be enough time to build towards another threat before the end of this season. Marvel vs DC is enough indicator of why this would be important. There isn't much incentive to do the other stuff in the map other than grinding some AP. The meta itself is not really farmable compared to istan so there's really no reason to go back to the map once you're done with w/e you're supposed to do there. Beetle was a nice addition but can't think of many other positives with regards to the release. Deepstone is a really disappointing fractal because it offers no challenge to players yet puts in covoluted mechanics which have no other apparent purpose than to waste everyone's time.

 

Everyone I've spoken to is bored and underwhelmed with the current content not because there's nothing to do, but there's nothing NEW to do. The other issue is being forced off our mains onto other classes which we don't want to play. There was a poll on 1 of the threads the other day which showed that the majority want to play their main and swap onto other classes from time to time to clear specific stuff. I know 11 people from my friends list alone who have left game since the start of this LS episode + the nerfs to everything didn't help. From a point where you could reasonably get onto any class and have some viability in the endgame, be it raids, fracs or wvw or w/e, now we're looking at entire classes being made obsolete. There are other threads where this sentiment is constantly echoed. Personally I don't want to be forced to play something I don't want to play and that I don't enjoy playing just to be able to clear some content and I know a lot of other people feel this way as well.

 

I haven't been farming the past month which would normally lead to my account wealth ranking (which is already ranked near the top) dropping a significant amount yet what I've observed is my ranking increasing by 60-70 places from doing daily fractals and weekly raids alone. This tells me that not only are people leaving but the so-called "top" players are leaving, i.e. those who have invested a significant amount of time into this game. Everyday I log into LA and see people giving away items because they're leaving game. This doesn't look good from a player's perspective. I have to wonder if changes are actually made with the satisfaction of the general population in mind because I know I'm not the only one who feels that my game experience has deteriorated from before.

 

My concerns are not limited to the last LS episode but the overall game direction in general. We're looking at 7 months now from the last raid release when we were promised more regular raids and new content by the devs themselves. Based on what I've observed not just from people I know but on these forums as well, feedback regarding the overall game experience falls on deaf ears. Is this the future of the game where stop gaps like festivals are implemented to keep players occupied for a short while before going into a slump again? From a PvE standpoint, people want fast gold, something meaningful to work towards and reasonably challenging content which they can do with other people which this last LS episode didn't offer at all other than the beetle which only took a few hours tops. The clearest indicator of this is the HoT metas being populated yet comparitively you barely find people in PoF maps. I'd imagine even increasing the gold gain from dungeons to make them reasonably farmable would be something worthwhile to do.

 

Right now I'm not sure if I'd want to continue investing my limited time and hard-earned money into this game further with the way it's currently going.

 

[Vornollo.5182]

My main gripe would be that it's a real shame that you didn't take the extra time to actually make what **you guys wanted to make**, a simple glance at the Moon Fortress will tell that you had some great ideas with it but simply didn't have the proper amount of time to finish it.

 

I know the community will cry out about wanting a new LW Story part and wanting it "now", but if anything has been proven the past few years in the gaming industry in general... It's that Gamers appreciate a developer saying 'Sorry guys, it's not good enough yet, we don't like it yet and we need more time.'

You already took some extra time, but not enough. It's OK. We all prefer quality in the end.

 

On a different note, I really worry about the replayability of this map (*and all LW maps for that matter*), I'm not a PvE-er so I might be wrong about it. Just feels like a shame to see these beautifully crafted maps gather dust.

Is it maybe an idea to get some sort of "map completion" thing for all Living World maps..?

[Mea.5491]

Some thoughts:

I enjoyed the story but it was kind of short.

Joko was hilarious, the final story instance was awesome.

The Beetle collection was fun to complete.

The map layout is kind of boring for my tastes and there are a few annoying PoIs.

[foozlesprite.8051]

> @"Fox Reeveheart.1890" said:

> That final dialogue was utterly fantastic, that is some movie villain tier stuff, fantastic.

>

> I'm sitting there like "HE'S MONOLOGUING! GET HIM!"

> and what do ya know? XD

 

I agree about the monologuing trope being ridiculous, but to be fair, he did actually have you frozen with magic.

[Slayer.3194]

I enjoy the story in the episodes, but best part for me is the final boss fight (like most previous episodes). I enjoy the creative new boss mechanics everytime. :)

[Fraghound.5730]

The story felt rather short compared to others. I don't like that you had to do hearts during the story - it didn't even feel like it was apart of the story and just felt...well it felt like I was grinding through the hearts more then anything else.

 

But other then that, I absolutely love everything! The story, character development, the cutscenes, the map is dang fun to run around and play in. I've spent who knows how long just riding around enjoying the area on my roller beetle - Petey is amazing! The events and meta is quite fun and I'm loving them. Overall fantastic work and I can't wait to see what happens next with the story. c:

 

Oh and one more thing: The new music with Blish (can't remember the name, Blish's Sorrow or something like that?), it's my newest fav in the entire game of my gosh I can't fangirl enough with how much I love it.

[Chasind.3128]

I found this LS4 **very bland**. It reminded me of a rollercoaster, things are building up/ going uphill then the rest is a drop-off and goes downhill.

Sure, we got a new mount. But the story took less than an hour to complete and now you're stuck in a very bland map to do minor events that aren't super rewarding like in the earlier PoF maps.

The epilogue to Joko was funny, but it was odd how everyone just stood around like they were on something or the voice actors not certain how to convey what was going on.

 

Also, the female human voice actor has a very cringe-worthy voice and has has a hard time conveying feelings or something. Also, many of the side comments and "witty" one liners are poorly delivered. It's like watching a cartoon meant for children at times. In the early LS things were very chaotic and there was a sense of urgency that is no longer there. I can't take away anything really from this 1st part of the story, except the mildly interesting asura obsessed with plagues and his brother.

As far as the end result: It only made me want to have a wyvern/ dragon mount and otherwise- no living world story, dramatic event, over dramatic death has yet to top the Scarlet Event when old Lion's Arch was destroyed.

[Plautze.6290]

Yesterday I finally finished the story and what can I say, I liked it overall. The stealth mission caught me by surprise, but a pleasant one. Nice work there!

I like that the story led me to all the hearts as it showed me the multiple layers of this war and all its sides, even if that showing was a little short.

What I needed to get used to but ended up liking is the new closing in on characters when they talk during cut scenes as it shows what the engine is capable of. I never thought that the NPCs had facial emotions, but they do!

The chase through Joko's palace as well as the boss fight was well balanced (apart from that Scarab wall - looked so imposing and dense that I didn't even try to dodge through :cold_sweat: ) and interesting with the whole ring thing, although I found it annoying to manually activate the ring each time... as if wearing it would not be enough and our PC had to rub it every time to make it work. Thanks for **not** putting lasers into the final boss fight! Annoyed me each time the beastmaster was howling for its brood and I was like "Here comes the pai - Argh!!!". But overall, very well balanced boss fights imho.

At first glance, I thought the ending to be a mere "Aurene Ex Machina" (next to being quite gross with all those very realistic munching sounds - if I ever eat a thousand year old, regenerating, immortal mummy-thing, I suppose to emit just those crunchy noises), but what else could have happened? Seeing how Joko literally shrugs off all the punishment he just received through our PC, I felt a certain dread and wondered what could save the day. So, even before first glance, I felt relieve, at first glance I thought this to be a real "Ex Machina" moment and after talking to KA-Braham(!), I wondered what else might have worked but tearing him apart and devouring him? After all, in lots of literature, Power can never be destroyed or created, but simply transformed or shifted. Thus, after spending some thought, I really liked the ending and feel excited to get to know what effects the meal will have on Aurene.

 

P.S.: I really loved the fact the Aurene was fighting beside me at Corsair's Landing. I died several times just admiring her while Joko's hordes pounded, shot and magicked me into the ground. Imho, that just deepens the "Ex Machina" impression as there was no transition between Aurene fighting the Awakened and Aurene having Dinner. Perhaps having her fire an almighty blue-white blast at the bridge after Canach's badassery (so happy he's back, I could almost see the sunglasses on his face when he said "What about them?") to take down an Abomination. In that way, I would have known that Aurene was at least in the vicinity. But as it is, I was all "Why did she even come here? Have the Corsairs run out of Awakened?". On a second thought, I'd say that the bonding between Aurene and the PC has called her to action, but after the last episodes, I wasn't even sure that the bonding was still intact, with Aurene getting more wild and aggressive.

 

All in all, I really liked the Episode! Thanks ANet!

[Aeon.4583]

I was really sad, btw, not to see Logan in this episode. In promo Art to this episode, whos that standing next to Braham?

I really hoped that was Logan, and he is fully recovered. But it's just random Commander :anguished:

 

P.s. also, little word about female human voice actress. She is doing a good job! Her voice act really makes me feel that Character went through death and back. Feels like Character still suffer from that experience.

[Hisui.6893]

I really enjoyed the new episode!

* The 'Forearmed Is Forewarned' instance name is hilarious and Blish is such a cute, sassy character! I found the invisibility part quite challenging but couldn't stop giggling at Blish's "trees don't move" comment.

* The final scene when Joko is giving his speech about how we are the villians was powerful and incredibly well-scripted in my opinoin! I don't often pay very close attention to dialogue but Joko's argument was very compelling.

* However, the 'Dance With the Choya' event and Endless Choya Dance Tonic are my ultimate favourite parts of the new content. I think the music during the event is a perfect combination of comical and thematic! I adore Choya!

 

I heard there were time pressures for Devs with this episode but I feel they did well considering! Keep it up ArenaNet! <3

[Dantert.1803]

Overall I enjoyed the story.

Having said that, I felt that the death of Joko was kind of rushed and the fact that Aurene that starts to feel bad after eating the lich and being completely ignored felt really underwelming...I mean, wasn't the commander his champion or something? Wouldn't make much more sense to go check on her as soon as she feels bad? Isn't Aurene the future of the world?

Also cutting the story like that imo feels cheap, it's not making me want to know what is happening next, but I feel sorry for Aurene and...well I guess I'm going back doing other stuff for 3 months because reasons... It's too much of a long cut in the story for an mmo where you do other stuff in between main story missions.

As all the other living story chapters I hoped that the story would make me travel around more map areas even the old ones instead of sticking to one.

The last cinematic with Joko was badass,I hope they will make more in this style.

 

About the map:

The wall of tendrils makes it harder to navigate but I'm not too mad about it.

What I really don't like is that the events felt kind of boring to me, after playing all of them once I decided to go back to the previous maps.

The fact that we can't explore the city in the map makes me so sad...I would have preferred if the devs would have taken more time to also finish that part.

 

So my feeling about the episode is that it was rushed and meh

[Hevoskuuri.3891]

The story bit was surprising to say the least, I loved it. Joko was a fun fellow, but honestly I think we've had enough of the Awakened / death theme by now. Time to move on!

 

As for the rest of the release, the beetle is an absolute joy hands down. The Kourna map is pretty and has a bunch of stuff to do, but feels a bit hollow overall. Like most people, I'm sad the Gandara fortress wasn't complete (was expecting it to be an epic timer-free farm of some kind full of mobs, or something). That could have really breathed life into the map. The beetle totally makes up for that, though.

 

Overall a solid release once again, good job Anet!