Feedback: Whisper in the Dark

[Chichimec.9364]

> @"Weindrasi.3805" said:

> > @"Chichimec.9364" said:

> > Too much character whining,

>

> Yes, because it's a law set in stone that:

> 1. Characters are not allowed to have feelings

> 2. Characters must _always_ behave with perfect maturity--no relationship troubles ever

> 3. And most importantly, characters must NEVER have a mental breakdown after walking into a camp full of the corpses of friends, hallucinating and hearing voices in their heads, and hiking to exhaustion through freezing temperatures. Like, having a mental breakdown in those circumstances is just _dumb_

>

> What you call whining, I call completely reasonable human reactions.

 

@"Weindrasi.3805" , ordinarily I'd be inclined to agree with you. A lot of the macho posturing embodied in phrases like "man up" or "suck it up" can be toxic. There are exceptions though. For me, Braham is just whining and has been for quite a while. That does not a make a character interesting to me, just irritating. As for having a breakdown, it's one thing if that happens when you are on your own. Then you and only you have to deal with the consequences of it. It's another matter entirely if you are in a group who are all being pushed to the point of physical and mental breakdown. In that situation, if you let go, you are endangering not just yourself but also everyone around you. I've been in that situation with people I care about and I've seen them and myself endure, stumbling forward much longer than I thought possible, for each other's sake. That seems like a more real human reaction to me.

[Crashdown.7419]

For me this yet again proves that this is the beginning of the end. We have huge periods of content drought, if we finally get something in lacks in many ways. We did the story in an hour and it didn't make me wanna stay and keep playing the game. I love this game but I hate what anet is doing to it. They need to step up their game and fast or this game will die out even more then it is now. The fact that the player base has never been this low and that even content creators cancel their partnership kinda says it all. But they are not listening. Just look at the patch notes. Half of it is more gem stores items for sale! Don't they realise that if they don't have content players won't come back? If you don't have players how do you expect to sell gem store items? I know some will dissagree but I love this game and hate what is happening to it.

[Weindrasi.3805]

> @"Chichimec.9364" said:

> > @"Weindrasi.3805" said:

> > > @"Chichimec.9364" said:

> > > Too much character whining,

> >

> > Yes, because it's a law set in stone that:

> > 1. Characters are not allowed to have feelings

> > 2. Characters must _always_ behave with perfect maturity--no relationship troubles ever

> > 3. And most importantly, characters must NEVER have a mental breakdown after walking into a camp full of the corpses of friends, hallucinating and hearing voices in their heads, and hiking to exhaustion through freezing temperatures. Like, having a mental breakdown in those circumstances is just _dumb_

> >

> > What you call whining, I call completely reasonable human reactions.

>

> @"Weindrasi.3805" , ordinarily I'd be inclined to agree with you. A lot of the macho posturing embodied in phrases like "man up" or "suck it up" can be toxic. There are exceptions though. For me, Braham is just whining and has been for quite a while. That does not a make a character interesting to me, just irritating. As for having a breakdown, it's one thing if that happens when you are on your own. Then you and only you have to deal with the consequences of it. It's another matter entirely if you are in a group who are all being pushed to the point of physical and mental breakdown. In that situation, if you let go, you are endangering not just yourself but also everyone around you. I've been in that situation with people I care about and I've seen them and myself endure, stumbling forward much longer than I thought possible, for each other's sake. That seems like a more real human reaction to me.

 

Braham's an immature teenager/barely 20-something, so I'm fine with his reactions to stuff--he's a baby compared to the others. However, the complaints against character "whining" don't apply only to him. People are also criticizing Rytlock and Crecia's argument and Marjory's meltdown about Belinda.

[GWMO.4785]

Great 8/10!

 

Story was.. interesting. In a good way. the voices really gave me the chills. I love it. im looking forward to what happens next. Map is identical to Thunderhead Peaks but without branded. Which i also like. Strike mission really did hit the spot for me. i even recorded it: ( [!! Spoiler alert !! ](

"!! Spoiler alert !! ")). The only downside for me is the masteries. Didnt unlock it fully yet. But they kinda feel overrated as we had similar masteries before. So overall great content imo.

[Xhalvia.5029]

This map is great.

I dont understand what the deal is with some people.

 

You can never please everyone I suppose.

 

That being said, would have been nice for a full on expansion but I'm eagerly awaiting the next living world episode.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"Vinceman.4572" said:

> > - Enemies are too weak so the essences are not needed like I assumed before.

>

> A really good point. HoT brought masteries in to be something to aid progression - a sort of metroidvania for mmos. Now they are just a thing to check off rather than needed for meaningful gameplay

 

Apparently no one watched the Guild Chat....you will need them...later on in the story. it was never said they would be needed right off the get go, and if people thought that I have a bridge to sell them.

[Chichimec.9364]

> @"Weindrasi.3805" said:

> Braham's an immature teenager/barely 20-something, so I'm fine with his reactions to stuff--he's a baby compared to the others. However, the complaints against character "whining" don't apply only to him. People are also criticizing Rytlock and Crecia's argument and Marjory's meltdown about Belinda.

 

Although I'm decades past my twenties at this point, I have worked with some solid teens and twenty-somethings that I respect. If I had come across someone as immature as Braham, I would have cut them loose early on, not gone into life and death situations with them. As for Rytlock, Crecia, and Marjory, that's what I was getting at with my second point. Melting down while under fire endangers everyone. Those three are combat vets. They should know that. All of that strikes me as bad writing - a lazy way to insert "drama" and "character depth" into the story. It doesn't work for me. If it works for you, that's fine. We can just agree to disagree.

[Hevoskuuri.3891]

Frigging amazing.

 

I love the Shiverpeaks, but the last snowy map we got (Thunderhead) was too crammed with annoying branded mobs, and felt too action-packed in general. This one however is gorgeous, complete with its eerie snowstorms, forests and the sort of peacefulness when the meta is not going on.

 

The fact that this map had its own currency felt weird, me and most players I know were expecting the hatched chilis to be the 'main' currency for the season. However, as the saga seems to be both norn *and* charr-oriented, I suspect we'll get more use out of those yet. This map's currency is generously available though, so no complaints there.

 

The events are fun, the meta seems pretty good, and I was pleasantly surprised to see some actual challenge in this week's strike mission. It took a few wipes, but my group eventually managed to get gold.

 

The masteries seem... okay? I wasn't really expecting anything too useful game-wide, as the movement and mount masteries are pretty much all done, but at least they'll be consistent as the saga goes on. The masteries aren't too grindy XP-wise and the mastery points are easily available with the insights and a few achievements.

 

The story keeps going strong, too. They threw in a few surprises to keep the writing interesting and obscure; for the first time in a while it's actually impossible to guess where the story is going next.

 

Overall a solid job Anet! This patch should keep me busy for the next month or two, and I can't wait for more!

 

Edit: small minus points for not introducing a Season 5 portal tome though! We have 2 new portal scrolls after all, and the LS3 and 4 tomes have both been included with the second episode of their respective seasons. I mean, technically this was episode 1, but I was expecting it nevertheless.

[Donari.5237]

I certainly had fun doing it with a friend, exploring the map, and starting work on achievements. My RP guild is setting up for northern adventures and there's a lot of springboard here.

 

My current issue is minor but frustrating: There are no bears. My friend and I scoured the map, especially around the Bear Shrine, and we cannot find a bear anywhere. (We tried Arctodus but they didn't count). There's a very hungry Kodan depending on me finding a bear, so ... where are they?

 

Correction: One Arctodus didn't count. I had to kill a couple more before it dropped. The instant drop from previous targets confused me. Slaughter the Arctodus until you find it!

[coso.9173]

ok just finished it:

the good: love the darker tone, the music helps a lot, it's got a lovecraftian feel to it, reminds me of an adventure pack from champions online that started similarly, an abandoned base in the snow, and the creepy vibes. new map is nice, the forest is cool specially. i think the story was interesting. i almost never to the whole story in one go, but i was interested to see where it went. i like the dialogues and how we see how the mind plays are getting to our team mates.

 

the bad: story indeed felt a bit too short. it was around 1 hour and something, if all efforts are going in continuing this saga and LS, they need to be longer. also the map, while nice, doesn't really add much we hadn't seen before. we have lots of maps with snow on it, we had like 6 on core and then 2 more added. the blizzard meta we already saw it before, the forest in the snow part of the map we also had seen it before. the ice peaks and spikes we had also seen them before. visually it didn't really add anything new to the game. I compare it for example the first time we got to HoT, the sight of all the airships destroyed by the vines, on fire, the huge space of it all, it really was something that looked completely different to what we had seen before. for PoF, it wasn't as spectacular, but still it added a desert when we had none. and maps were pretty awesome too, lots of details in the buildings, in the sky graphics too. now we just got some random blurry low res clouds. if you want this saga to feel like a starting point of something new, you need to do it all the way, new character selection screen and music, new assets, new music for the map, and to make it look original and somewhat different. and again, a longer story.

 

I know my "the bad" was longer than "the good" but overall I enjoyed it :)

[Menadena.7482]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> >

> > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

>

> I bought the node as an fyi

 

Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

[Randulf.7614]

> @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> > >

> > > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

> >

> > I bought the node as an fyi

>

> Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

 

Aye. First thing I did was buy after leaving first instance

[Menadena.7482]

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> > > >

> > > > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

> > >

> > > I bought the node as an fyi

> >

> > Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

>

> Aye. First thing I did was buy after leaving first instance

 

Hmm, booting up my other computer to check again. Nope, nothing there that has gold as part of the codt.

 

I seem to remember something like this in S3 (chapter 2 I think). Some people could see the node listed but others could not. It shared ids or something so if you bought the previous chapter's node you would not see it (and I bought the one from the prologue). Off to look through the bug listings.

[Randulf.7614]

> @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> > > > >

> > > > > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

> > > >

> > > > I bought the node as an fyi

> > >

> > > Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

> >

> > Aye. First thing I did was buy after leaving first instance

>

> Hmm, booting up my other computer to check again. Nope, nothing there that has gold as part of the codt.

>

> I seem to remember something like this in S3 (chapter 2 I think). Some people could see the node listed but others could not. It shared ids or something so if you bought the previous chapter's node you would not see it (and I bought the one from the prologue). Off to look through the bug listings.

 

I didn't buy the prologue one yet if that helps

[Aaralyna.3104]

> @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> > > > >

> > > > > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

> > > >

> > > > I bought the node as an fyi

> > >

> > > Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

> >

> > Aye. First thing I did was buy after leaving first instance

>

> Hmm, booting up my other computer to check again. Nope, nothing there that has gold as part of the codt.

>

> I seem to remember something like this in S3 (chapter 2 I think). Some people could see the node listed but others could not. It shared ids or something so if you bought the previous chapter's node you would not see it (and I bought the one from the prologue). Off to look through the bug listings.

 

I didn't see the node either and I checked after finishing story and map completion. I did not buy grothmar valley node but I did drop it in that map so I do have it in my home instance. Your finding of it sharing id is a very solid theory.

[DeadlySynz.3471]

> @"Xhalvia.5029" said:

> This map is great.

> I dont understand what the deal is with some people.

>

> You can never please everyone I suppose.

>

> That being said, would have been nice for a full on expansion but I'm eagerly awaiting the next living world episode.

 

Havn't played it yet myself, but the general consensus here is that it's too short, lacks content, and given the length of time in between the last release, what they delivered was too small. That and a hoard of gem sales to go with the lack of content.

 

My feeling is, they've just released too many maps. They should have stopped at the PoF maps and just went back and buffed older maps and dungeons instead. Probably would have saved them a ton of time, money, and manpower, and likely it would have been better received by the player base as people have been yelling about addressing core maps & dungeons before HoT even came out.

[Xhalvia.5029]

> @"DeadlySynz.3471" said:

> > @"Xhalvia.5029" said:

> > This map is great.

> > I dont understand what the deal is with some people.

> >

> > You can never please everyone I suppose.

> >

> > That being said, would have been nice for a full on expansion but I'm eagerly awaiting the next living world episode.

>

> Havn't played it yet myself, but the general consensus here is that it's too short, lacks content, and given the length of time in between the last release, what they delivered was too small. That and a hoard of gem sales to go with the lack of content.

>

 

Ok I see now. Yeah, perhaps it's a bit too small of a content patch.

Personally I would have liked to have seen more collection achievements, but that's just me.

 

> My feeling is, they've just released too many maps. They should have stopped at the PoF maps and just went back and buffed older maps and dungeons instead. Probably would have saved them a ton of time, money, and manpower, and likely it would have been better received by the player base as people have been yelling about addressing core maps & dungeons before HoT even came out.

 

This is a valid argument and one of the problems most MMOrpgs have.

GW2 combats this in a smart way with dailies that force players into the old maps... but I think it needs a little bit more than just "do 3 out of the list of 4 things to complete dailies" which can be done in about 10 min.

 

Other games and I will use WoW as an example cause I've criticised it enough does not do this and its constant expansion has led to anything that has come before the current content absolutely obsolete.

 

But saying that I do not believe halting any new content is a bad thing.

It's just a matter of balance in the end of the day.

[Knighthonor.4061]

Bosses need to be harder and longer fights. right now they like a Ice version of Fire Elemental Meta...

[Tukaram.8256]

> @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > > @"Menadena.7482" said:

> > > > > I only remembered today was a release when I was flipping through my vids and saw WP mention it. :)

> > > > >

> > > > > The merchant ... ugh. No node for sale. No portal either until you complete the chapter.

> > > >

> > > > I bought the node as an fyi

> > >

> > > Strange, it is not showing up for me. Maybe it is hidden behind an achieve? The kara merchant on the first tab, right?

> >

> > Aye. First thing I did was buy after leaving first instance

>

> Hmm, booting up my other computer to check again. Nope, nothing there that has gold as part of the codt.

>

> I seem to remember something like this in S3 (chapter 2 I think). Some people could see the node listed but others could not. It shared ids or something so if you bought the previous chapter's node you would not see it (and I bought the one from the prologue). Off to look through the bug listings.

 

I did not buy the node in the prologue, as I do not even remember where my home instance is ha ha... but I do see this node for sale, for (I think) 50 gold. I have started the story, but far from finishing it.

[Ayrilana.1396]

I personally don't see what the issue is. They released roughly half of a Living Story episode in half the time. What we're getting is no different than before except it's dished out in smaller pieces more frequently. As long as they continue the two month cadence, we're not really losing anything from before.

[Trevor Boyer.6524]

I've been playing this game for nearly 8 years now, and as of THIS release, I am officially fed up with and done with easter egg hunts. What do I mean by this? Looking for lost coins, finding eggs for skyscale, ect ect ect. I don't know what it was about tonight, but when I was searching for a "boneskinner" for 2 #$%^ing hours to finish the hunger achievement, I just had enough. It was in that moment, I realized how not fun easter egg hunting is. It's like I always hated it, but at this point I just can't do it anymore. I don't care what content they pump up, but it's got to be something other than walking around and waiting for RNG spawns to complete a collection, or traveling around the world to find inconsequential items that are in no way rewarding other than to complete some achievement for a mastery point. They've overdone this type of content to a ridiculous extent. Make me do asuran math equations, make me require going on a 100 enemy kill streak uninterrupted, anything, seriously anything other than easter egg hunts.

 

Cannot stress enough, ffs do something other than easter egg hunts. Am I wrong here? Is no one else tired and just a bit bored at this point, being made to back peddle around looking for random items all the time all the time all the time for every achievement every time every release every time all the time? I'd personally be more interested in finishing achievements if they were more like Crown Pavilion achievements, where you're actually like fighting things and being made to use different build structures to accomplish something. This "Walk around and look for things" is literally the most boring thing possible, that a designer could add into a game that was designed around a combat engine, 9 different classes, and various gear options.

 

Other than that I can say that the story was shorter than expected but w/e. Content was good story was for the length.

 

 

 

 

[Eloc Freidon.5692]

There is a lot that is great in this chapter. Its just that the story is the shortest I've seen in Living Worlds.

[Palador.2170]

Well, the story has some good and bad points for me. I'll get back to that.

 

As for the map itself? I can sum up my thoughts on it in two words: "Why bother?"

 

I've not been given enough lore or reason to care about fighting slightly different looking icebrood/svanir or anything else on this map. And why bother leveling up 3 different masteries so I can get full rewards when I can just go to ANY OTHER MAP and get full rewards right now? And that's ignoring the fact that I might power up buff A only to find myself trying to unlock a chest that needs buff B?

 

Speaking of rewards, the new weapons are pretty enough, but kinda ... generic? There's a ton of other weapons in the game that look just as good, if not better. They don't stand out in any way at all, really. Very much not worth dealing with this map to try and make them. Oh, and that home node? This is the THIRD TIME for this bug to show up, guys!

 

Now, for the story... Well, it wasn't bad. It had some good moments. It had some bad ones too, though. I have NO problems with Braham having issues with the voices in his head, but the others? I'm not saying they needed to be immune, but they didn't really offer up much resistance at all, even though they knew they were being messed with. Also, if this is how Jormag operates, then why didn't Braham get hit by it before, when his guild was closing in on Jormag directly? And as others have said, it was too short. It raised some questions, but gave us nothing. No answers, and not enough of any lore or anything to sink our teeth into (so to speak). Easily dismissed and forgotten.

[Ashantara.8731]

As I wrote on another thread:

 

> Best Living World story and map content released to date. I pray that they keep up this level of quality.

>

> This is the first time I feel like I'm playing an actual RPG (since its early days, that is) and not just some mediocre wannabe clone. They used the full potential here that the story had to offer. All components fit extremely well together: lighting, sound effects, music, dialogue, acting, visual effects (love the ice-covered screen frame), story, events. I truly wanted to explore and discover.

>

> I am about to get to the episode's finale, and for the first time in a long time of this game I'm feeling super excited about it.

 

I am now finished, and I loved every bit of it. This is the intensity of atmosphere that I'd like to see in all future content from now on. <3

[Knighthonor.4061]

I really like the Raven Puzzle part. would be nice if more of these gets added, and they made this easier to repeat other than doing the LW story all over again