Thank you A-net

[Rubedo.8769]

> @"mindcircus.1506" said:

> > @"Rubedo.8769" said:

> > I love this episode, the main problems I see people complain about have already been addressed by the devs earlier, either people didn't watch the dev analysis or just don't care, i'm not sure which. But the complaints about the map size are kind of silly since they said from the start their going to be expanding on the maps rather than introducing whole new ones and content will grow as the maps do. Also people complaining about the smaller scale of the saga episodes was addressed in that with the sagas the episodes would be smaller but would come a lot more frequently than before.

> If we start with the premise that we really got a half-sized release (I feel this is generous) and we will get an expansion to it of roughly the same size in two months that means 4 months for what we used to get in 3.

> This is not "silly". It's not subjective. It's based on developer information every bit as much as your pejoratives.

> > I honestly love this episode and hope they keep up this work. A lot of the complainers i'm starting to think complain just for the sake of complaining.

> Or maybe.... just maybe... the negative feedback is warranted and comes from a rational well thought out place.

> Maybe a veteran who no-lifed this game during it's apex (the end of s3 through PoF to the start of season4) is perfectly reasonable when they say that there's been a general cutting back of what we have seen from this franchise during 2019.

>

> Look at someone's post history before painting people as complainers. You may see that the dissat of many people comes from a pretty rational place.

 

 

 

I’ve been here since the three day head start so nice try on the attempt to make yourself seem veteran status when you’ve only been around since season 3 and PoF. And yes a lot of the complaining is basic whining. People don’t get what they want so they cry on the forums. Nothing more. Oh the episode was shorter than normal. Let’s completely ignore the fact that the devs already addressed that numerous times and kick and scream on the forums in a temper tantrum.

 

Oh the map is small? Let’s once again ignore what was said by the devs so we can throw yet another tantrum on the forums.

 

We are one episode into the saga. It’s too early to say the whole system is trash when we don’t even know how long the saga will be or how their spacing will be.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> So the norn spirits being used by the commander is forgiven?

 

Just like anyone was able to use the human gods to get the Skyscale?

[Thornwolf.9721]

> @"coso.9173" said:

> I really don't get people who are against LS episodes and say they prefer expansions. Even games with expansions have something similar to living world episodes between them. It's not one thing or the other, you can have both.

 

I think it comes down to them actively being against another expansion, period. Its "On the table" But that basically is a "We'll see" and as someone who had parents who'd say that I can tell you its a solid "No". They don't want to disappoint and they don't want to confirm anything because if they say they won't be making more content of that nature (WvW, PvP, Raids, Fractals, E-specs, Classes, races) they will loose people. And they would rather Lie through their teeth and smudge the truth than admit to anything, which is why the "Its on the table but not actively being talked about." Makes people mad, because its a non-committal way of saying "No we have no plans to do this" and most people saw this and left. Our community has taken a hit and the Reddit is less populated as is the game. I've noticed how people I know have left without a word, How so many I used to game with have vanished.

 

A guild mate of mine a steadfast supporter, someone who was a "Shill" or a W-knight was on with me recently. She has always stood by guild wars and has never deviated outside of dabbling in other games. Told me this was a "Dead game", I laughed but let me put this into context for you. We were in our guilds team-speak and were doing some events and farming the new map. Surprisingly we failed a good amount of them because no one was out there, even the meta was close to failing as the construct almost got to the keep. We were conversing over the population and how WvW has felt recently, and how even though we see tons of new players( not a huge amount but decent traffic in old maps) the people we knew and the vast majority of people we used to run into were just M.I.A? She is now playing Destiny 2 more and probably eventually will drop this game, she only really gets on now for Releases and WvW reset. However she has stated numerous times that if they released an expansion, she would be more into the idea of playing more. But to her, someone who has played numerous games of this type over the years as well as myself (Guild wars 1, WaR online, Eso, WoW, Tera, Archeage, Aion and so on.) This feels like maintenance mode.

 

To me it reminds me of Guild wars beyond, the little content updates (Living story) remnants of what im sure would of been the start of utopia. I honestly am not excited for anything at this point because I know what is coming. Maps, Updates to said maps, story and strikes. That's all Im expecting and even the achievements are super easy and don't require much of anything. We've lost our content creators for all our modes just about, with Teapot, WoodenP and the herald being our last bastions and even they have been extremely lax. You might think this is a non-issue but streamers, youtubers and guides all bring people in because it shows the game is healthy and growing which is why WoW honestly probably still is noteworthy. Between the massive expansions, and content dumps and community members making content for the game outside of the game its got a really healthy bloodstream going.

 

WoW's content patches are larger and more sprawling than our expansions, Argus was so much more than PoF and Suramar was another content patch in of itself and while they stumbled with BFA im sure Shadowlands will be a slam-dunk. And meanwhile we are stuck with a saga which is just to seasons of living world wrapped together, with "Expansion level content" of which we have seen nothing and been told "nothing is off the table". The non-committal and lack of responses as well open communication is what is getting to people. And I can understand why people are leaving, Why continue to play when you can get the same level of content at greater value and with more to do elsewhere for less of a headache? Build templates also didn't help at all.....

[Linken.6345]

> @"Zaklex.6308" said:

> > @"Linken.6345" said:

> > So the norn spirits being used by the commander is forgiven?

>

> Just like anyone was able to use the human gods to get the Skyscale?

 

How did we use the human gods to get the skyscale?

 

I mean they left before skyscale was released so cant really use them.

[Murtos.5342]

> @"Rubedo.8769" said:

> I love this episode, the main problems I see people complain about have already been addressed by the devs earlier, either people didn't watch the dev analysis or just don't care, i'm not sure which. But the complaints about the map size are kind of silly since they said from the start their going to be expanding on the maps rather than introducing whole new ones and content will grow as the maps do. Also people complaining about the smaller scale of the saga episodes was addressed in that with the sagas the episodes would be smaller but would come a lot more frequently than before.

>

> I honestly love this episode and hope they keep up this work. A lot of the complainers i'm starting to think complain just for the sake of complaining.

 

some of us see no use in watching dev streams/guild chats about content that we wont get till 1-3 years later so we stopped/never started watching them.

And if there are no digests of the dev streams? not my fault they want us to watch long streams just to get 5-10 min of information.....

[coso.9173]

I think if they're not doing exoa Zions for now it's for a reason. Probably a monetary reason. Expacs probably didn't do so well economically considering the huge amount of work and money they cost, so that's probably why.

[Zaklex.6308]

> @"Linken.6345" said:

> > @"Zaklex.6308" said:

> > > @"Linken.6345" said:

> > > So the norn spirits being used by the commander is forgiven?

> >

> > Just like anyone was able to use the human gods to get the Skyscale?

>

> How did we use the human gods to get the skyscale?

>

> I mean they left before skyscale was released so cant really use them.

 

Dwayna's Directive...that was part of the acquisition of the Skyscale, same thing with Raven, it technically was one of the Spirits that sacrificed itself so the Norn's could escape...though we know differently now.

[zealex.9410]

> @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

> > @"Linken.6345" said:

> > So the norn spirits being used by the commander is forgiven?

>

> Im still not fond of it, I dislike the idea. Im still mad slightly~ BUT the lore about them and Asgeir and "Why" the norn have been unable to channel the spirits as they once had is interesting. I dislike that they are being a mastery~ I was hoping for more norn customization so I wouldn't say all is forgiven, more Im open minded to the future. Hopefully they don't make me change my mind.> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

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

> > > > > @"wrathmagik.3518" said:

> > > > > I think its a great map. It's just to small. Me and GF ran around having a blast and about an hour and a half later we're like.. this is great! But this it? ...

> > > >

> > > > It’s half episode. We won’t get the next half TIL ep2. This is sadly where we have dropped to now.

> > >

> > > I don't like the whole Living world thing, It didn't work back in season one and two and it wont work now. Id rather them take the time to make a full fledged big expansion (Of wow's standard) and just pay the cost to get the content. But Since so many of the community are against it, and perhaps A-net figures they can make more selling the pieces individually (Build templates, Elite specs, perhaps even alliances) they figure this is a better business model for them.

> > >

> > > But I will give them credit, this content is the most engaging and well crafted bit of story/open world content they've made in a while. Season 4 didn't hold me at all and I played it all the way through in one sitting having unlocked the episodes but never playing them. This one has me wanting more and makes me want to see and chew through more, Im even farming strikes (I've never really bothered with raiding after the HoT raids.)

> >

> > I have never liked the LW thing either. S4 was a disjointed mess with an atrocious story that again threw away some amazing potential. PoF had its faults, but the maps were big, beautiful, relevant, rich in lore, rich in map stories, rich in events. Even Core Maps are better than many LW ones to me. Sometimes that richness returns (Sandswept and Jahai), but it seems more and more scarce and we get maps built without that organic feel they used to be so, so good at.

> >

> > The problem with the the LW is partly the structure in having a new map each episode. I get this episode builds on it in ep2 like Sw did, but SW had a vastly stronger foundation. This has too many dead and meaningless areas. The main problem however is the consistency. Sometimes we get a stunning episode (opinions will vary, but I'll call out Bound with Blood, Sandswept, Draconis Mons and the story side of LS4Ep1) and then other times we get...Kourna, Thunderhead or (imo) this episode.

> >

> > 7 years on and it feels very much like they are still trying to find their feet consistently to me. Others however love it and will accept whatever is given no matter the quality. It is difficult for Anet therefore to know what their players want - especially when they are so far removed from the community at this point.

>

> Why would they willingly want to be apart of the community? I don't really see us being the nicest bunch... Especially to the developers.

 

Were the spirits in some regard channeled by the gw1 hero as well? Or are the norm skills not what i recall.

[slashlizard.1369]

I loved this episode. It was surprisingly short, but the story was put together well and made sense and felt right, it did not have unnecessary filler or quests just to eat up time. The map is very fun and I feel that I have already spent more time in Bjoras Marches than I have in any map since Crystal Oasis. I am a WvW player at heart, so that might explain the lack of time spent on pve maps. The map is currently smaller than other Living maps, but the devs had already told us that it would be in 2 parts. In the past we got a full Living episode every 3 months, and I understand the wishes of the player base of trying not to get less. We will get a full Living episode every 4 months now, because due to staffing assignments one full one every 3 months is not currently doable. I loved the scale and size of the achievements, not to long or too fetchy. At this moment I have 3 more visits to the Raven Sanctum and 4 more weapons to craft to obtain the Boneskinner backpiece, and for the time spent, that feels right to me. There are plenty of players on the meta, out of 15 meta runs, only once did the Ice Construct get alarmingly close to the keep, but I was late getting to the map and all the active squads in LFG were full. As far as the Kodan Strike Mission, it is fun and has no wait times. I was in there immediately after I finished the story on the first afternoon and pugged it immediately. The first fight we did not know what their attacks were and we didnt have essences unlocked so it killed us and we tried it again and learned the aoes. The next night, it was primarily guildmates and a few pugs, all but myself new to the fight and we timed out close to winning. Tried again and completed it. The best part for me was, even with the failures, it encourages people to try just so they will get 9 Eitrite Ingots for crafting the Restored Boreal weapons.

[Sir Vincent III.1286]

> @"Gryphon.2875" said:

> > @"Sir Vincent III.1286" said:

>

> > Definitely. That corpse puppeteering is impressive. It's scary enough to scare a necromancer to almost lose her mind.

> >

>

> The only thing scary to my Necromancer about that was the reality that he'd never know how to do it himself.

 

I was talking about Jory.

[Perisemiotics.4579]

> @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

> This will only grow to be more apparent because Raids are probably dead, and fractals are probably dead and will be replaced by Strikes.

I don't want to think that is so because Strikes are part of the map and episode content, and they're very trivial fights even with some mechanics here and there, basically dodge and switch targets - any fractal has more interesting mechanics, narrative and ambience than an empty room with a "random" boss in it.

 

> Id love an Asgeri E-spec for rev... or a Nornbear one...

Asgeir as a rev legend would be awesome!

 

> @"Zaklex.6308" said:

> Dwayna's Directive...that was part of the acquisition of the Skyscale, same thing with Raven, it technically was one of the Spirits that sacrificed itself so the Norn's could escape...though we know differently now.

Raven didn't sacrifice himself iirc... he went on to be one of the major spirits in Hoelbrak.... I think you're mistaking him with Owl?

[Thornwolf.9721]

> @"Perisemiotics.4579" said:

> > @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

> > This will only grow to be more apparent because Raids are probably dead, and fractals are probably dead and will be replaced by Strikes.

> I don't want to think that is so because Strikes are part of the map and episode content, and they're very trivial fights even with some mechanics here and there, basically dodge and switch targets - any fractal has more interesting mechanics, narrative and ambience than an empty room with a "random" boss in it.

>

> > Id love an Asgeri E-spec for rev... or a Nornbear one...

> Asgeir as a rev legend would be awesome!

>

> > @"Zaklex.6308" said:

> > Dwayna's Directive...that was part of the acquisition of the Skyscale, same thing with Raven, it technically was one of the Spirits that sacrificed itself so the Norn's could escape...though we know differently now.

> Raven didn't sacrifice himself iirc... he went on to be one of the major spirits in Hoelbrak.... I think you're mistaking him with Owl?

 

Pretty sure raids are dead boss, they just had a thing where they said there will be no fractal or raid anytime soon. Think it was mentioned by MightyTeapot on the tea-time about this episode You'd have to watch but they mention who they talked too and when , they also said in the same vein that E-specs, hairstyles and cosmetic additions to the appearance change won't be coming either. "Expansion level content"... what a meme at this point...

[Vayne.8563]

> @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

> > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > @"wrathmagik.3518" said:

> > > I think its a great map. It's just to small. Me and GF ran around having a blast and about an hour and a half later we're like.. this is great! But this it? ...

> >

> > It’s half episode. We won’t get the next half TIL ep2. This is sadly where we have dropped to now.

>

> I don't like the whole Living world thing, It didn't work back in season one and two and it wont work now. Id rather them take the time to make a full fledged big expansion (Of wow's standard) and just pay the cost to get the content. But Since so many of the community are against it, and perhaps A-net figures they can make more selling the pieces individually (Build templates, Elite specs, perhaps even alliances) they figure this is a better business model for them.

>

> But I will give them credit, this content is the most engaging and well crafted bit of story/open world content they've made in a while. Season 4 didn't hold me at all and I played it all the way through in one sitting having unlocked the episodes but never playing them. This one has me wanting more and makes me want to see and chew through more, Im even farming strikes (I've never really bothered with raiding after the HoT raids.)

 

The issue is, Anet tried to charge for Heart of Thorns and everyone said it was too expensive. Path of Fire came out at $30, half the price of HoT. People who pay every month probably don't mind paying for expansions. I get the impression people who play this game are less likely to want to pay for content. Which is strange to me, but it seems to be the case.

[Thornwolf.9721]

> @"Vayne.8563" said:

> > @"Thornwolf.9721" said:

> > > @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > > > @"wrathmagik.3518" said:

> > > > I think its a great map. It's just to small. Me and GF ran around having a blast and about an hour and a half later we're like.. this is great! But this it? ...

> > >

> > > It’s half episode. We won’t get the next half TIL ep2. This is sadly where we have dropped to now.

> >

> > I don't like the whole Living world thing, It didn't work back in season one and two and it wont work now. Id rather them take the time to make a full fledged big expansion (Of wow's standard) and just pay the cost to get the content. But Since so many of the community are against it, and perhaps A-net figures they can make more selling the pieces individually (Build templates, Elite specs, perhaps even alliances) they figure this is a better business model for them.

> >

> > But I will give them credit, this content is the most engaging and well crafted bit of story/open world content they've made in a while. Season 4 didn't hold me at all and I played it all the way through in one sitting having unlocked the episodes but never playing them. This one has me wanting more and makes me want to see and chew through more, Im even farming strikes (I've never really bothered with raiding after the HoT raids.)

>

> The issue is, Anet tried to charge for Heart of Thorns and everyone said it was too expensive. Path of Fire came out at $30, half the price of HoT. People who pay every month probably don't mind paying for expansions. I get the impression people who play this game are less likely to want to pay for content. Which is strange to me, but it seems to be the case.

 

Which is why we are in this state. The community at least the very vocal portion has created this, and A-net is doing as instructed because this is the only thing that works. Honestly IF the game comes crashing down it will be just as much our fault, as it will be theirs because everytime they try to make a change or do something differently NO MATTER WHAT IT IS the pushback is huge.