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

[BolkovonHarnfeldt.1372]

Could you change the hints in the Beetle Juice collections? At present two refer to region names on the map and one to a point of interest. After having found the secret stashes hinted at with reference to region names, I assumed the third group hidden around "Palawa's Benevolence" referred to a region name as well. No being sure whether or not I had uncovered the whole map I spend a long time looking until I finally found out that "Palawa's Benevolence" was in fact a POI.

 

EDIT: Worse - one of the stashes that is supposed to be near Palawa's Benevolence is in fact closer to the "Army Landing" POI...

[Jski.6180]

Please stop putting living world story behind pve mount walls.

[DreamySkullz.8203]

I just finished the episode story and I have to say... I LOVED IT! I mean, it did feel a little short and ended abruptly? But I get it considering a lot of resources must have been put into the cutscenes (which I was SO stoked to watch! Please keep it up!). The new zone I feel wasn't as pretty as others, but it's in the heart of Joko's territory so I get it kinda? It's not bad. The laser puzzles I can see people struggling with if they have a particularly large charr or norn character and the Joko fight wasn't particularly difficult and was easy to understand, which personally I appreciate.

 

I haven't gotten the beetle mount yet, and while I don't mind collections (it's easy for me to pull up a guide) I don't particularly like ones that require bounties, especially when the "newness" of the map is gone and not many people go back to do them, it makes things difficult for people who are still behind content-wise.

 

Overall, 8/10. I've certainly been enjoying this season so far and I feel it's a definite step in the right direction.

[hugo.4705]

So, a second update after have unlocked the Beetle and after finishing the story: Some points that need improvement for me:

 

**Beetle Collection**

Can you put an icon on the map for Gorrik and Blish? I was wandering around during 4h to finally found them on a roof...

The collection is quite long but great, it brings player to travel to core tyria maps.

 

**Story**

I waited something else for Joko's end, the part beginning was promising, but at the end of the instance, it just seems to be rushed... We finally explore only the half of Gandara, and he got killed by the dragon... Will not give a Kudo for that... All these scenes with bringing a ton of allies for just "prout'" you are dead joko. I dunno, I seen corpses like myself everywhere in the corridor, so I waited for fighting against awakened clones of myself? Hard time to avoid these lasers with my asura and her frozen effect and her very little jump. And no awakened Inquest within the fortress? He just put them outside for this huh big event(will explain later)? The story is very short and boss are too much overpowered, done it with my weaver, got downed every time and half-armor broken. Very sad about Joko's death, he deserved better... YOU JUST INTRODUCED HIM BEFORE! why killing him? It just remember me the previous episode: Inquest: So we are developing a new generation of golems... We have to build a great place to stock them.... And poof no answer, joko just rekted them in Rata Primus and they don't counter-attack.... PLEASE, respect the lore and stop with story hole! Why the primeval queens agreed instantly about helping us? Before, when we tried to enter, they were all beating us to death....

 

**Map**

This BETA-event is really disappointed... It's just a big event. Like if all effort have been put in the mount and story: Not rewarding at all, No legendary, just a little improvised inquest treasure chamber (It's just a hole inside a house)... Can't find a term to define this map, it's a mix of Istan (By the way I hate this map) and mmh South desolation/ Elon Riverlands. This map is EMPTY, seriously.... Kudo to the guy who designed -Pogahn Bluffs Proving Ground- he actually took the time to make new assets and organize all these lab stuffs. Bitterfly Bayou is great but dunno it likes something is missing, a necromancer? An abandoned house? All other areas are just nothing apart sand, grass, clay or mud. The giant thorn wall is a cool idea. As stated before, Moon fortress is just unexplored... And, again, STOP PUTTING INVISIBLE WALLS everywhere in Gandara the moon fortress! It breaks immersion! The only part of the map, that would be awesome to explore with such a giant potential, the big crescent which attract your eyes when you arrive, you simply RUINED IT! claps claps! Not needed to mention Point Of Interest hidden between event / roller beetle mastery.

 

**Cinematics**

The mind-blown thing of this episode, very well made, great job here!

So I can give the story a 4.5/10 finally, because great effort on cinematic and orchestration. But ABITS Episode 2, is still better for me: 8/10

Global rate for this episode; 4.875 / 10.

 

So, to sum up, would agree with Randulf.

[Aaralyna.3104]

After a couple of days, hereby my feedback on the new living world.

 

**Introduction / putting the patch live**

 

I honestly expected some flaws when the patch became live, because none is flawless due to server load. However, I have never seen it this extreme (similar to when PoF came live). Not only the new content gave connection issues, the whole game did, even locking out any character you have regardless of the zone. I cannot imagine that Anet did not know many would log in for this patch (especially with the bigger playerbase that joined as of last month). This is very disappointing!!

 

**Story**

 

A lot of bugs allover the place. In some parts not well thought about story instance steps. In example: I killed catapults that attacked me, and in next story instance step it asked me to kill those catapults (that didn't exist no more) and thereby broke my whole story as I couldn't progress other than redo. Then we had a lot of "cannot access", missing conversation due to dceds and skipping this upon relog, missing markers and interact buttons as result of same dceds, stalled content,.. The story instance on itself was ok but nothing all too spectacular. I expected more. Altho I loved the last story instance. Storytelling wise I liked the story.

 

**Mount**

 

I love the beetle mount, however, the collection of this was not thought through well. Amber beetle, Spider Queen, Steam mobs, ley line,.... I like that you use old maps for it but this is not the way. Too many players trying to kill the same thing. People are greedy because they want what they want as fast as possible and if someone else doesn't get it because its killed too fast they act like its not their problem. I have seen a few civilised groups that agreed to autoattack only and give everyone a chance but mayority sadly does not. So either place a new mob with high defence/hp, low attack or something for such collections. This way low levels won't die from it and mob in question ain't dead in a split second. The end of the meta for collection gave issue that I attacked the devices but game didn't count them (lag? too many ppl killing?). I wasn't alone on this. This same issue also makes ppl miss out on the "entrance card".

 

**Meta**

 

Disappointing, not rewarding, stand still and poke the last boss till it drops dead. Barely rewards, no xp from mobs/cannons,... This will be a dead meta very soon! A shame for all the time you put in making this.

 

**Map**

 

I like the layout/surroundings. ~~I see crystal nodes that are doing nothing (edit: found out they are there for new mount with a mastery)~~ . Heart npcs are not all on correct spot if you compare location vs map. No exp from mobs/events, no rewards from mobs/events. It will be dead within a week like this, which is a shame and tbh, we paid for content that lasts longer than a week.... Locking poi for mount completion behind a mount collection hunt + mastery is also silly imo.

 

**Rewards from map currency**

 

There is nothing really rewarding... After some mini's and the mount you are pretty much done in the zone. There are not even ascended items to farm for. Really who uses exotic items (once for look but you won't farm it twice for alts or so). The new stat is meh too, there is a better alternative out there already. Lws3 had better rewards!!! Previous maps of LWS4 are much more rewarding and more repeatable to actually run around in, have fun and get some rewards back.

 

**Communication**

 

The communication / visibility of Gaile on forums was a pro. The pace of updates/ info on whats being worked on atm fromout the dev team is a bit missing however. I miss a sort of "these bugs are known and being investigated atm".

 

I probably forget more but this is what all came to my mind.

 

[Archenox.7940]

This episode got delayed because of quality concerns. This tells me that at least someone wasn't feeling comfortable enough by what was being produced. Being late in the release sequence and facing quality issues, the episode had to be acceptable but not necessarily great. The unexpected connectivity issues downgraded this acceptable status but I wouldn't go so far as to deem this episode as unacceptable. Sure, there are good things about this release and I'm not one for having expectations but I got familiar with the quality of previous releases. Regardless of the outcome and my thoughts, effort and dedication was put into this release and I appreciate that.

[Cynder.2509]

Finally managed to complete the story instead of getting disconnected every 5 minutes and my thoughts on it to say it spoiler free: Well, that was unexpected...

(I really liked how the new cutscenes were made and the interaction of the player character)

[Ashantara.8731]

I already posted my praise [here](https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/576013 "here"), but now in the manner of a Pro/Contra list:

 

## Pros:

* **Plot:** Everything made sense, was consistent, was built up dramatically by the book. Best writing this game has seen so far.

* **Dialogue:** On spot. There wasn't a single instance where I felt that my character or their companions were behaving out-of-character. Everything was coherent and perfectly woven into the scene, thus fit the given situation perfectly.

* **Humor:** Finally no annoying "kiddy jokes" but humor that adults can relate to as well. I laughed out loud on several occasions.

* **Cutscenes:** Marvelous cinematography there, especially Joko's final dialogue. It felt like watching a movie - the emotions were perfectly expressed in body language, facial expressions, and through camera angles. Bravo.

* **Missions:** All so well done, I truly enjoyed playing them (also see "Innovation" below).

* **Innovation:** The new stuff that was implemented (trap mechanics, scarab swarms,...) was really sweet, it made everything fun and exciting. It didn't feel forced, wasn't overdone - just the right dose.

* **Voice acting:** Great job all around.

* **Atmosphere:** Finally felt like I was playing an actual classic RPG (especially during the Moon Fortress mission). Thank you so much for that!

* **Dragons Watch:** Finally united and good to go! The final notions at the end felt a bit cheesy, but after putting us through an awful 3rd season, this was long overdue and a nice touch after all.

 

## Cons:

* **Skybox:** The map is well-designed, but the skybox is plain awful. I understand the "gloomy" dark skies above the Moon Fortress, but the rest of the map just feels depressing that way. Leave the ashes in the air, but give the skybox more constrast, especially compared to the barren terrain.

* **Roller Beetle:** Still needs a bit of polishing. The fact that you sometimes have to stand still and wait for the endurance bar to fill is a ridiculously bad designed. Also, give that thing some sort of brake-mechanic so that you can come to a hold quicker while in super speed mode.

* **Gandara:** I wish all of the Moon Fortress was explorable outside of the story mission! Also, _the meta urgently requires an overhaul, it appears incomplete_.

[Blaeys.3102]

First of all, this update - once you get past the bugs - is one of, if not the, best storylines ANet has ever developed. As far as gameplay, there are some decent fights, but the open world stuff - and especially the final boss of the meta on the map - is bland and uninspired.

 

But the biggest issue that needs to be addressed is the Roller Beetle collection. While much of it is fun and encourages gameplay, a few points make it beyond frustrating and painful to do. The worst offender is the beetle event in Silverwastes - a veteran target that spawns about every 15 minutes and then dies within 3-5 seconds. I have talked to too many people who were standing right next to it and never got a hit in when it spawned.

 

This is poorly designed and should be addressed as soon as possible. Either take that requirement out of the collection or make the beetle a champion/spawn more often. Gameplay that requires sitting around in a map with nothing else to do hoping you aren't taking a drink or looking away when the boss spawns is just bad - and even worse, boring - game design.

 

Again, great update as a whole, but some of these seemingly little things can kill the experience.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

well, after I was finally able to play it:

I loved the dialogue.

The cinematics were mighty fine.

The story was... good.

Lots of 'YES!' moments, which is always good.

I enjoyed most of it.

I REALLY loved the end.

 

BUT: I hate the fact, that this episode was made for mesmers and thieves.

 

AND

 

I REALLY hate the fact that this stupid new stat set will make scourges even more OP in wvw. ANET? Nobody thought about that? Giving the perfect set to a class that is horrible broken already?

 

With all the bugs:

 

you talked this up, spending more time on polishing etc. And really.. for all the waiting it feels... lackluster, very short. It might not have been short, but it feels that way. Add all the problems and it is a meh-release despite the fun I had when I was FINALLY able to enjoy it.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Aaralyna.3104" said:

> **Rewards from map currency**

>

> There is nothing really rewarding... After some mini's and the mount you are pretty much done in the zone. **There are not even ascended items to farm for.**

 

**Yes, there are.** Several that can be bought from vendors. Unfortunately, they require Laurels again. :/

 

[Kiza.5630]

Played a bit more on the zone itself rather than story. The map does not play very well unfortunately. From a "put up a tag, put up lfg, let's have some fun" point of view. There is only one bounty board (unless I missed something). The event density is very low. Only a few simple events.

 

The inquest facility event is very underwhelming. Capture 3 points by smashing awakened, kill one inquest and their golem, they don't even have one line of dialog. Loot couple of chests. Gandara even has three bridges leading into it. IMO they should have been used for a classic 3-lane event, those are always fun.

 

No event enemy on the map seems to drop anything, not even give xp. This must be a bug though, because apart from no loot, buying the karmic retribution is completely pointless.

 

Compared to Sandswept Isles this one does have a very low replay value. Basically you can come back to the bounties, the rest feels more like a chore than being fun.

 

The map environment itself is again fantastic. I love what the art / environment / maps team does. They create really beautiful stuff. But I feel this one was released unfinished.

 

And the griffon adventures are again fun. :)

[Blocki.4931]

> @"VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.3618" said:

> well, after I was finally able to play it:

> I loved the dialogue.

> The cinematics were mighty fine.

> The story was... good.

> Lots of 'YES!' moments, which is always good.

> I enjoyed most of it.

> I REALLY loved the end.

>

> BUT: I hate the fact, that this episode was made for mesmers and thieves.

>

 

What did you mean by this? I'm assuming its the puzzles in the last instance?

[Artyport.2084]

Story.

The story was great and I'm so happy to see cut scenes like these finnally added it brings a whole new level of story telling that i think has been missing from gw2

Map.

I do not like this map. The washed out sky the grey floor. The weird way you implemented gandara just seemed rushed and its very sad for lore lovers. the events.. boring.

Mount.

Good job.

New Armor

awesome im so happy you guys are adding this.

Overall it was a good episode in the feature and story department. bad map tho

[Chalice.8701]

Major props to the writing team for this one! Especially for the last instance, Joko's final monologue was really awesome and I was on the edge of my seat and laughed out loud in relief and shock at what happened! Joko's voice actor equally deserves some praise for his delivery!!

As I'm sure others have mentioned, the new map is not very pretty(although seeing Aurene on it sometimes was lovely) and the story was very short, I did expect a lot more content wise, although as I said above, the quality of the storytelling was very good.

[Kraggy.4169]

> @"Blaeys.3102" said:

>Gameplay that requires sitting around in a map with nothing else to do hoping you aren't taking a drink or looking away when the boss spawns is just bad - and even worse, boring - game design.

 

Worst thing for me is the stupid inclusion of the Leyline event, one of the worst world events ever when it comes to predictability so this mount is gated by a frustrating camping of the maps and hope you can get to the event's end before the mob dies .. at least the champ beetle is predictable.

[OtakuModeEngage.8679]

I loved the way Joko died, it makes sense to me, that the only way to kill an eternal being is to consume the magic that makes him eternal... buuuut, it happened too soon. They spent all of PoF building up how evil and strong this guy is while he was imprisoned, just to kill him off in our first combat encounter, only three episodes after he was released. It was rushed, and he feels less threatening because of it.

 

I think it would have been better if he died in episode 5 or 6, after we traded a few blows, maybe had a military loss mixed in with our victories. Fought our way throughout more of unexplored Elona chacing/being chaced by him. Id have liked to see more of his twisted personality, merciless destruction, and cruel manipulation.

 

Joko is a gold mine character for guild wars franchise, one of its pinnacle banners that people associate the series with, there is so much he had to offer, that should have been more thuroughly explored. The death of Joko is a death of a Flag Bearer, such deaths can be the highlight of the game that draws players to it, hitting their sweet spot with a heavy emotional blow, the impact of which resonates with long term fans. Or it can just be wasted, and now an interesting dynamic belovid character is gone, and the game is now that much less interesting without him.

[Arden.7480]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> There will be an official feedback thread eventually, so I am just going to say this: The story missions were **the best content** the devs have ever released for GW2. :+1: Especially the final mission blew my mind - I was finally feeling that I was playing classic RPG content (trapped dungeons, a Ring of Dispel Illusions, excellent dialogue,...).

>

> Also, the humor was just right - not childish, not overdone. I cracked up on several occasions (especially when Aurene feasted on Joko - that was hysterical!).

>

> The movie sequence work - especially the cutscene of Joko's final monologue - was superb, it really got under my skin.

>

> So, in spite of the technical issues that constantly interrupted the excitement of playing this episode, I still have to say WELL DONE to everyone responsible for this episode's content. Please keep up the good work and level of quality in plot and dialogue. You have made this little camper very happy. <3 <3 <3

 

I'm glad you liked it especially after your last week post!

 

I also think the episode was amazing, and the storytelling was very, very good.

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

> @"Blocki.4931" said:

> > @"VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.3618" said:

> > well, after I was finally able to play it:

> > I loved the dialogue.

> > The cinematics were mighty fine.

> > The story was... good.

> > Lots of 'YES!' moments, which is always good.

> > I enjoyed most of it.

> > I REALLY loved the end.

> >

> > BUT: I hate the fact, that this episode was made for mesmers and thieves.

> >

>

> What did you mean by this? I'm assuming its the puzzles in the last instance?

 

there was no puzzle, it was plain old 'if you have a mesmer or thief you can do this laser crap easy and without worry. Everybody else: tough luck. We hate you. Play mesmer or thief'.

[dontlook.1823]

Most memorable to me was the second instance. Using Blish's arm was so much fun! The 3,000 range, zero recharge teleport was too much fun for one person. Something I noticed, was a bridge being gaped between the Crystal Dessert and Tyria. This was hands down my favorite thing. To have our character excitedly wait on people from Tyria was great. It showed cohesiveness between the two worlds. Of course, this was all squandered once we found out what was truly on the boat. But, it allowed for a moment of me thinking, "O amidst all this chaos are we gonna see the people of Tyria get excited about the culture out here in the Crystal dessert?" It was just a pretty cool moment for me and something I really liked to see. So although that moment was brief, I think since things have settled down a bit we can get into some nitty-gritty stuff and not so much hack-and-slash. Nonetheless, I'm excited for what's in store. :+1: :+1:

[Blocki.4931]

I agree with arden

 

And I'm also glad to see your skepticism turn into something positive ;)

[Ayrilana.1396]

Associate the series with him? He had a very minor role in Nightfall that was to the extent of him showing us how to traverse the Wastes.

[OtakuModeEngage.8679]

> @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> Associate the series with him? He had a very minor role in Nightfall that was to the extent of him showing us how to traverse the Wastes.

 

Thats why everyone and their mother fills twitter, reddit, youtube, the forums, and in-game chat with "Praise Joko", he has a short lived roll, but it was an impactful one.

 

At any rate, you dont build up a character as an "Eternal being" have him whipe out armies, surpress countries, and build a vast unchallenged empire... and then have him killed in the first face off. If it were that easy, why hasnt anyone done it before??? Bad story telling.

[Ayrilana.1396]

> @"OtakuModeEngage.8679" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > Associate the series with him? He had a very minor role in Nightfall that was to the extent of him showing us how to traverse the Wastes.

>

> Thats why everyone and their mother fills twitter, reddit, youtube, the forums, and in-game chat with "Praise Joko", he has a short lived roll, but it was an impactful one.

 

Because it was a phrase that we constantly heard everywhere in PoF. Very similar to the “I took an arrow to the knee” in Skyrim. Players took amusement to it and made it a meme.

 

 

[Aaralyna.3104]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Aaralyna.3104" said:

> > **Rewards from map currency**

> >

> > There is nothing really rewarding... After some mini's and the mount you are pretty much done in the zone. **There are not even ascended items to farm for.**

>

> **Yes, there are.** Several that can be bought from vendors. Unfortunately, they require Laurels again. :/

>

 

Well laurel items are purchaseable but why use those when you can get "free ascended versions" elsewhere. You want a map you can farm to get items (think of LwS3). Or some nice ascended items that you can get via achievement or collection (like in previous maps). It adds to the replayability that way :)