Ruadan.9301

This is probably a super minor thing to some, but the EoD main theme does not play for me in the character screen. It's just ambience sounds, the occasional bell ringing, sounds of the sea. I have tried every audio option in the game and even reset everything back to default. Can someone help me out? I want to feel the hype, especially since I cannot go to Cantha for another day or two (waiting for a friend). EDIT: Never mind. I managed to solve the issue myself, it lay with the customizable soundtrack feature I made use of a long time ago.

I wish I could make the writers see this thread, but I am not sure how much it would change at this point. I am getting really frustrated with the amount of unexplained/handwaved things in this story. I shouldn't care this much, but I've been following the game's story for years now and I wish it would respect itself as much as its fans did, because the potential is there. And it makes me really sad. Of course, they still have the time to resolve many of these points, but I really dread that they will not do it. They SHOULD already have started doing so. After this patch, these are the things I struggle with in particular: There is not enough talking about magical fallout in the Icebrood Saga. Either Primordus' death or Jormag's death would mean that yet another Elder Dragon will be dead, but with all that happened in S4, it seemed like we need at least 4 active Elder Dragons in order for Tyria not to collapse. Yeah, that's the main reason why we went to stop Balthazar in the first place!Where has that notion gone? Has Tyria been fully healed by Aurene, to the point where we can just kill dragons as we please? If so, why was this not said? Is Aurene currently taking the roles of multiple Elder Dragons/"orbs", so more dragons can now die because Aurene is now the successor to Mordremoth, Zhaitan AND Kralkatorrik at the same time? If so, why was this not stated? Which leads me to my next point. We know that Aurene is "the first of her kind", a Prismatic Elder Dragon who can absorb all the magic she damn well pleases. Okay, fine. But we were never told how this is possible. How is she the first of her kind? I have my theory for this, but it's just that - a theory. Don't the writers believe they should somehow tell us how Aurene came to be that special? Or what her limits are? Can she replace every last Elder Dragon and take their place? If so, that's a) a pretty cheap way to resolve everything and b) they didn't say so in the game.And now that Aurene is reluctant about even joining in on the whole Primordus vs. Jormag thing, it seems like she herself forgot about the possibility to maybe replace one of them - the necessity even. (See my first point.) Does she just want to let Primordus absorb Jormag, or vice versa? And even if so, what would that even mean, considering that... Jormag and Primordus are each other's weakness. Yes, it was a big thing in Season 3, and no, it's not come up this far in the Icebrood Saga. No one is mentioning it - not Aurene, not the Commander, and not even Taimi, who almost doomed the world upon trying to exploit this weakness, but then figuring out that MORE DRAGONS DYING IS BAD. (See my first point.) Especially without having a replacement! (See my second point.) I was especially dismayed that the story summary of yesterday's patch claims that "we need to find Primordus' weakness", even though we should already_ know _that his weakness is Jormag, and it should cause us to completely re-evaluate what Jormag has been saying to us! And here is my next point. Everyone seems to be underestimating Jormag in favor of making this new plot direction work. Taimi shouldn't be this careless after all she has already witnessed about the Elder Dragons. It's also a bit weird that she references what Primordus did to the Asura with such personal bitterness: She never witnessed any of those events, all she knows is the surface world, and the Asura have a pretty supreme and comfortable position in surface Tyria, especially because of their technological superiority. If anything, she should remember the destruction the OTHER dragons caused within the last decade. Caithe shouldn't be this accepting of Ryland being Icebrood after her experiences fighting the Dragonspawn in the Destiny's Edge novel, and fighting Icebrood at the Honor of the Waves. She should have been at Ryland's throat with her blade, threatening to end him if she doesn't like where the whole thing is going - but she just sort of rolls with it, just as the Asura do. Braham is put in a position where he is suddenly the paranoid one because he still cares about Jormag being manipulative and a liar. Is this really realistic? People are now contemplating that he will become Primordus' champion, but I think that would be a terrible direction and totally destroy the effort that they've put into him as a character in Season 4... Other things that bug me: A piece of dialogue mentions that Primordus adapted to the magics from Mordremoth and Zhaitan. What does that mean, "adapted"? Shouldn't they be at war within him, as they were within Kralkatorrik? Is Primordus now a Prismatic Dragon as well? How does this not go against everything they established in Season 4? The whole thing about Jormag and his "domain of persuasion". Jormag claims he never forcibly corrupts, yet Bangar kind of was given a role he did not want. And how has Jormag aligned his goals with that of the Frost Legion (or their goals with his), when the Frost Legion were technically created to serve Bangar, not Jormag? How are the Frost Legion currently willing soldiers of Jormag/Ryland? I just don't quite understand how all this is supposed to work. I will edit the post if I remember other issues.

Hello everyone, I want to talk story today. If you are invested in the plot, even though we are yet again balls-deep into Elder Dragon business - this is for you. TL; DR at the end. The recent release is stirring up a lot of questions in regard to Jormag and Primordus, the role of Bangar Ruinbringer in Jormag's schemes, and what Jormag may want to propose to the Commander. These are all valid and interesting questions, and as of the Visions release, I am starting to see the potential for some really juicy speculation. We have this much more to include in our analysis. However, today I want to talk about the plot of the last episode, Shadow In The Ice. Because there are some big implications there, too. The story on the surface The story of last episode essentially seemed to center about Braham fulfilling his "destiny of becoming a true Norn", in the sense of developing the ability to finally shapeshift into his Wolf form. Braham sought out to achieve this by absorbing the essence of three spirits of the Wild, who reluctantly granted him their powers even though they are corrupted by Jormag. The finale of the episode saw Braham using these powers against Drakkar and ultimately transforming into his Wolf form to fight off Bangar and Ryland and get his friends to safety. Braham achieved his destiny, and by wolf's blessing he can now shapeshift at will. A happy end, for now. But wasn't there something else? Why Braham is in trouble (and we are, too) The finale of the story had a lot of things happening. And some of you might already have noticed this. However, it took me a second playthrough of the story to catch something that may have been the most crucial moment of the entire episode. More crucial than Drakkar's death, more crucial than fighting Rytlock, and more crucial than everything that happened with Ryland and Bangar. Perhaps more crucial than Jormag's conversation with us. Let me cite this passage of "Voice in the Deep": The Whisper of Jormag: Braham, you earned all three of the Spirits' blessings. Why then do you still fight me as a norn? Braham Eirsson: What...what are you talking about? : Don't listen to it, Braham! Shut it out!The Whisper of Jormag: It was Wolf, wasn't it? Said you could take their power, maybe even become Wolf yourself. Yet here you are. Just a norn.Braham Eirsson: Just...just a norn.Rytlock Brimstone: Commander, you gotta...you gotta kill it! Quick!The Whisper of Jormag: Your whole life you've tried to become Wolf, but never could. Braham, please—let me give you my power. Let me help you.Braham Eirsson: Yeah... Help me...: Braham, concentrate! Braham! Dammit!The Whisper of Jormag: Commander. It's finally time for us to talk.You realize that the Whisper focuses Braham, taunts him, like he did with Crecia and Rytlock who turned against us as a result. Braham does not turn. But something happened in that moment. And I believe that a deal was made.I think the writers were being sly here. Because with such a "lore bomb" as the following conversation between Jormag and the Commander was, we were bound to forget the seconds before.But what if Braham **let Jormag in?**I would like you to recount some of Jormag's whispers. The ones that even we, the Commander, heard during Whisper In The Dark.1: You can't help them.2: You're stronger with me...3: I can show you the way...3: Let me help you...4: Take it.And this one, from before the Drakkar world boss fight:1: Drakkar is only a vessel of my voice. An innocent. Svanir asked for power, and I freely gave it to him.2: I have never in the history of this world given something to one who did not ask*.*This is it. Because Braham did ask him. And in the end, he was able to become the wolf.But Jormag doesn't make gifts. His corruption is based on an exchange, akin to a devil's pact.As Cloudseeker says in "Chasing Ghosts":Cloudseeker: Jormag's truth becomes your truth. If you desire power, Jormag will give it to you. And you give yourself to Jormag.This is the irony of it. We were warned, and we still did not see it coming. Not even Jhavi, Jora's granddaughter, saw it coming. She rooted for Braham, because of her faithfulness to wolf.But the faithfulness to the spirits of the wild may be not just Braham's folly, or Jhavi's, but that of the entire Norn race. I am talking of a really huge lore bomb, akin to the moment where we realized that the Sylvari were actually purified Mordrem. So let's talk Norn history, let's talk Jormag, and let's talk Spirits.**Part 1: A Burden**Deep in the icebrood-infested area of Asgeir's Legacy, we found his journal. A journal that should already have shaken Norn society to its very foundations by now. Except it does not, because, as Asgeir himself notes, the Norn can never know what he did, and I suppose the Commander is keeping his secret, for better or for worse.In short, to those who might not have read A Burden:Asgeir Dragonrender made a deal with Jormag. About a hundred and fifty years ago, Asgeir went to Jormag to slay him in battle and secure safety for his people. The battle must have been epic in proportion, it lasted for days on end, and in the end, Asgeir was losing. But instead of dealing the killing blow, Jormag offered a deal. They both knew that the Norn race would perish if it were to continue fighting Jormag. They both also knew the Norn would never just "exist at Jormag's mercy".So Jormag offered Asgeir a tooth. And Asgeir offered his people a lie. He took them south, along with four Spirits of the Wild, and founded Hoelbrak.The Norn of today exist because Jormag willed it. He could have wiped them out back then. In fact, he probably could have wiped them out until he was weakened by Taimi's machine. It is my belief that the Icebrood have never actually fought the Norn to the fullest of their potential. Both the Norn and the Svanir/ Icebrood are pieces on a game board, perhaps both of them not really knowing it.Jormag has been giving the Norn a fight they can manage, and he continues to play for time, creating ever more fodder for his army. He doesn't corrupt creatures by force. If he speaks the truth about what he did in history, maybe he never could corrupt creatures by force, he has always had to persuade. So his choice was between a huge pile of dead warriors or an army of willing ones. During those one-hundred and fifty years, the Svanir cult and the Icebrood became the greatest threat to the Norn people. But it is a threat that is meant to occupy. Jormag is keeping the children busy.Why would Jormag do this if he could have wiped out the Norn? Let's keep in mind what Elder Dragons usually do: Elder Dragons ravage civilizations. They kill and corrupt indiscriminately, consuming magic in the process. When they have consumed their fill, they drop back into slumber. Some of them go mad over time because they have consumed too many different magics. But what does Jormag want?**Part 2: What Jormag wants**Jormag's position is somewhat unique. If we go by the lore, Jormag has never, in his last ~250 years of being awake, actively sought to consume vast quantities of magic; at least this is not something we can prove he did. He has not truly carried the fight to the Norn either - they suffered from a blizzard caused by his awakening, they saw their territories being threatened, and they brought the battle him.Despite of all of his history with the Norn, Jormag has been a pretty damn passive Elder Dragon. For all we know, he might be consuming only so much magic as to keep himself sustained - he is in control of his hunger. And from all the Dragons we know, he might be the furthest removed from madness, the exact opposite of Kralkatorrik. He seeks to be in control of the situation at all times.It is my theory that Jormag does, in fact, tire of the Elder Dragon cycle. He does not want to sleep, as that limits his power and his control over the world. So what is his goal? I am not sure.The most obvious answer is: Jormag wants to be at the peak of all things. Instead of just co-existing with other Elder Dragons and laying waste to worlds to sate his hunger, he wants to rule them. Not just Tyria, Jormag wants to spread beyond Tyria. He wants to rule the mists, and other worlds, and gods and dragons, and everything there is.That's why he expands with restraint. That is why he wants a real army, not a heap of mindless thralls. That's why he needs an alliance with Aurene and the Commander.The only real threat to Jormag is Primordus, because they are each other's weakness. If he manages to win over Aurene and the Commander, and take care of Primordus, that's it. The remaining Dragon would be the Deep Sea Dragon. I won't speculate much about Bubbles, because what do we know, really? But it's then one dragon against two, and their armies. Because if Jormag can convince the Commander to join him, Jormag can likely also persuade the Pact... or at least turn one half and make them slaughter the ones that remain.But then, for all we know, Bubbles might have the power to make the oceans flood all of Tyria, and is simply exhibiting restraint the way Jormag is. Time will tell us more about the Deep Sea Dragon.As we now know, Jormag is incredibly interested in having the Commander at his side. He wants this to such an extent, I believe, that he is willing to save the Commander's life. If Braham turned wolf because Jormag granted him this power at the right moment, then Jormag de facto saved the Commander from Bangar.Bangar is way less important to Jormag than the Commander, but he is an opportunity. Jormag still needs to expand his army, especially while he is asleep and thus more vulnerable. The renegade Charr are basically coming to his lair. If the Dragonspawn and Drakkar could already turn people, then coming to Jormag's lair will spell doom for the renegade army. All Jormag needs to do is to tell them that his power is theirs to command.Fortunately, the Commander has more experience with Dragons. He is not making the same mistakes that Bangar is making. But Jormag seems to have an argument to win over the Commander, too. And now he also has Braham.**Part 3. Braham, the Norn, and the Spirits of the Wild**Remember that lore twist I talked about earlier? Well, in a way we already knew that the Norn exist at Jormag's mercy. My theory that the battle between Icebrood and Norn is sort of a farce is a mere extension of that theory. But I would like to extend it even further, by claiming this:**ALL spirits already serve Jormag.**Think of it. We know that, like many Norn, Owl Spirit perished by fighting Jormag. The rest, is said, were taken, corrupted. But we know now that Jormag doesn't take, he makes deals.Jormag's truth becomes your truth. If you desire power, Jormag will give it to you. And you give yourself to Jormag.Braham claimed the power of the corrupted spirits of Ox, Eagle and Wolverine, and they seemed like they were fighting against Jormag's influence in giving him these powers. But Jormag doesn't force - he persuades. By all rights, the spirits should not merely be corrupted, the should be Jormag's willing champions.And if we take this further, what is to say that the remaining spirits like Wolf and Raven are not his servants, too?Because they aided the Norn in coming south? But that's what Jormag wanted.Because they grant their power to Norn as they go to battle with the Icebrood? But that's what Jormag wants.The powers of all the spirits are already at Jormag's command. Three more arguments for this:Svanir's power of becoming the bear was twisted by Jormag, indicating that Jormag commands bear's magic.Jora's power of becoming the bear was taken, possibly by Jormag, indicating the same thing.Wolf instructed Braham to take power from corrupted Spirits of the Wild that serve Jormag. This would have to mean that he also serves or works with Jormag.While in the Raven sanctum, Raven spoke to us, making us think about choices. Right ones, and wrong ones, and how sometimes, both options are bad, but one still must make a choice. This must not necessarily imply that Raven serves Jormag. However, it certainly made the Commander consider his options, which interestingly, if you are playing a human, already has an effect on you after facing the Fraenir in the sanctum:Braham Eirsson: Commander... About what Jormag said. We're not gonna take it seriously, right?(Pause)If human: : Uhm... Right.Conclusion:In the end, this is still just a theory. But if I am correct, a lot of exciting things could happen.- Jormag can further manipulate Braham to an extent where Braham needs to choose Jormag for good or Jormag will deny him the transformation in crucial moment, meaning someone will die- Jormag might twist Braham into a "Nornwolf", essentially Svanir 2.0., since Braham has already taken all the steps that Svanir has taken, which means we will have to fight Braham, and possibly kill him- Likewise, since Braham now bears the power of three more corrupted spirits, he might transition between Nornwolf, Norneagle, Nornox, and Nornwolverine, or he might become a horrifying lovecraftian amalgamation of all four (though I think that's a stretch)- If we want to avoid killing Braham, Jormag might try and make it a condition that we join him to save Braham's life- Should any other Norn decide to help us, for example Jhavi, Jormag can deny them the powers of becoming their spirits, as he once denied Jora, long ago, and might still deny others without them knowing it (they essentially just keep believing the Spirits don't deem them worthy)TL; DR as promised:- Jormag has begun to make Braham into Svanir 2.0., and the evidence is in the story- Jormag wants to break the Elder Dragon cycle so he can stop destroying civilizations that war with him and instead rule everything there is, for which he needs the Commander and Aurene- Jormag commands all the Spirits of the Wild and can deny the Norn their shapeshifting

I want to make three adjustments to my original post, not because I played some more, but because I saw it in WoodenPotatoes' patch overview: 1) Jumping Puzzles: At least Bjora now has one really BIG jumping puzzle! I thought they were all around the same size for some reason, but there is one that is rather massive, and I can't wait to get there and play it. I take back what I said about little parcours, that thing looks huge.2) Masteries: According to Woodenpotatoes, the mastery system is feeling kinda nice right now, and probably even the nicest it has felt since PoF or even HoT release because you a) need a huge number of points (I think around 12-13) and b) the exp requirements also got tuned up a little. That makes me very happy, I had totally forgotten about the new essence mastery tiers. Sorry devs, I was being too rash!3) Something that I glossed over but which is kind of nice and should have been mentioned: Parts of Eastern Bjora got overhauled as well, and there is a reason to go back there and play! These are three more positives for the new patch!

This discussion has been merged.

Hello,After an initial, casual playthrough of the patch, I typed out this feedback to A Shadow In The Ice on reddit, it was meant as a feedback to the team working on that episode. However, it was too long for reddit. So I am posting it here instead. It is addressed at the team, so don't let that irritate you. I'll use this as an opportunity to comment on what I have played, I might edit once I've played the rest (e.g. the western light puzzle or the Drakkar world boss, which was bugged in my map yesterday). I have some positives and some negatives. THE MAP DESIGN: WESTERN BJORA MARCHESThank you, map designers, for finally bringing us into the Shiverpeaks! Yes! I don't want to say that Eastern Bjora had no charm at all -it did have some - but except for Asgeir's Legacy, it felt a little flat and predictable to me, and it made me miss the verticality, the sense of scope that came with the Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire maps. As I climbed up the frozen waterfall in the northern part of the map and looked in all directions, I felt that sense of awe and joy that the boldness of GW2's map designs has repeatedly inspired in me. Now I am truly feeling like I am in the Shiverpeaks. Had we gotten a Shiverpeaks expansion, this is what I would have wanted the maps do be like. I already can't wait for the next thing these designers will put out.SOUNDS AND MUSICStunning, simply stunning. After about a few minutes of playing I put in my headphones and decided to listen very closely, and it just pays off so much. You hear the winds howling, you hear the ice cracking, there is a real sense of dimension to the soundscape that just makes it all so REAL, and at some point, it was like the very wind itself was carrying ominous, unintelligible whispers... I paused a while and listened: creepy! Creepier than Jormag directly whispering into your head, I must say. A job well done.The music is a joy to listen to! I love the emotions the tracks convey. I would describe how well the music fits the map and how on point it is in what it means to express, but I kind of lack the words. I just love what it does, that's that. It's its own dimension of storytelling, for sure. VISUALS: I love the ice in this episode. It looks so beautiful, these deep blues with the cracks running through them. Stunning!Drakkar's shadow looks really ominousI love the scene with the bonfire where things are represented in fire, very nice touchMap design is top notch visually GAMEPLAY AND EVENTS:In regards to the gameplay in the map, well, I would say the events are decently enjoyable as far as events go. There are some minor bugs here and there - the Ox event had some slabs of rock that couldn't be interacted with even though the hand symbol was on them. But overall, they work. However, the three "main events" - I am talking about the shrines - all left me feeling a bit irked in some regard. OX:I really don't like how, when transformed into an Ox and pulling a rock, you can't really fight the Fallen enemies. It's just annoying knowing that, as soon as two or three mobs swarm me, I am basically done for. After all, Ox is about endurance, not about evasion/stealth. Maybe it is supposed to encourage cooperation - some players deal with the mobs and some pull the slabs - but why not give the Oxen a sort of "barrier skill" they can trigger the moment they are attacked on their own, so they can last a little longer, maybe gain the precious seconds they need? Why not make their charge do more damage so they can actually use it to overcome a threat instead of just "poking" at it? I even tried to use the charge skill in a directional sense, because I figured it would be a cool way to quickly bridge some distance between me and the shrine, but that felt wonky, too. I think there is some wasted potential here.EAGLE: I kind of like the idea of this event - the sense of being caught in a whirlpool and having to work with or against the flow in order to get where you want. Unfortunately, I feel like the winds are quite random and you cannot really time anything, you kinda just have to stubbornly try until you succeed? Maybe this is on me for not seeing the patterns or visual cues here yet, but if there aren't any, I think there should be. It would fit the theme of vigilance: Watching out for visual cues and then acting on them like a strategist. And when you really pay attention, you can get through the entire "maze" structure with no problems at all. Maybe that can be done, I'll have to replay it some more. But if not, that's kind of a pity. WOLVERINE:First of all: Playing the mini game in the Boneskinner forest made me a lot more afraid of Boneskinners than the Eastern half of Bjora did. While I wouldn't say Episode 1 made me not care about the Boneskinners - there certainly are some things they did with them that made me feel a little creeped out - this just really nailed it, at least on my first few tries. When you just KNOW that, mechanically, it will be game over once one of these creatures spots you, that just creates a very distinct and powerful sense of excitement and adrenaline when you are trying to avoid them. The boneskinners at the Wolverine shrine genuinely make me be on edge, I feel like prey. It reminds me of the spectral Mordrem wolves in the Silverwastes, and I am glad something is done with this again, because it is just something that works well, gameplay-wise.However, with this event, I haven't even made it to the shrine a single time, and I feel I need to understand the mini game better in order to judge it appropriately. OVERALL:Fortunately, for each of the shrine events, you get event participation for simply trying, but I must say that this almost feels too generous. Especially for the Wolverine event: It's just such an all or nothing kind of event. Either you make it to the shrine or you don't. There is no tangible contribution to the actual goal of the event, and it just feels off to be rewarded. However, given that time was invested one way or the other, it's probably smarter to compensate the players - I see that.To be completely honest, I think the three shrines would have worked better as hearts. You only make progress when you succeed, there is no timer that runs out so you can take time to figure stuff out. However, considering for each of these events, other players can intentionally or unintentionally sabotage you - e.g. pulling Fallen enemies towards a transformed player at the Oxen shrine - maybe it's better that it's not hearts. Or adventures, for that matter. If it could be instanced to you alone, adventures would have been a nice addition. TRIAL SYSTEM:My most positive experience with the new trial system was that of a powerful Svanir champion spawning in Eastern Bjora after - I believe - defeating a bunch of Svanir patrols. We were just three players, none of us at the skill ceiling with our specs, so it felt decently challenging. I haven't paid enough attention to the system yet, but it could work pretty well if done right. OTHER FORMS OF GAMEPLAY:Exploration:Events are not the only type of gameplay, there is also exploration. I feel like that was very rewarding with this map, no complaints here. I have seen some of the secret Raven areas because of other players who opened gates for me, and the areas seemed well done. Doing the Mysterious Labyrinth, I once again felt like I didn't completely understand it at first, which I just really like. Especially with it being Raven themed. Challenge me, game.I was hoping for some more jumping puzzle style content, and I am really glad we are getting it here, though I think I prefer singular lengthy parcours (like the Thunderhead "puzzle") to multiple shorter ones scattered across a map. Nonetheless, I'll be doing them a couple of times!A final touch on exploration: The vistas were well worth getting to in this patch, I particularly enjoyed the one showing the wrecked Kodan Sanctuary.Bosses:There weren't a lot of interesting bossfights in the story, but I liked the one meaningful fight we got: against the Whisper of Jormag. That felt reasonably difficult and exciting for the average player! Why not put in two to four of these per patch? Season 4 did way better on that end, but I feel like the reason is the same reason we aren't currently getting new fractals or raids: There is a certain shortage in resources that are invested towards mechanically challenging content. That is a pity. But I guess it's just how things are at the moment.We DID get a strike mission, which, from what I have heard, actually challenges players more than any previous one. That's a positive in my eyes, but I can't say more just yet. Have yet to play it. MASTERIES:[The mastery system hasn't been exciting or particularly meaningful since HoT. This is my subjective opinion, but I strongly believe in it. Playing this patch once again reminded me, why:1) The EXP required is too little. I play without EXP boosts, just so that masteries actually feel like something I am working towards. With EXP boosts, they would be so much of a breeze, they might as well not be there at all.2) There are too many mastery points/ the masteries require not enough mastery points. While I do enjoy picking them up in the open world via exploration, I feel let down by the fact that these will most certainly be enough for me to actually get the next mastery. It just isn't challenging, demanding or exciting. Gating some mastery points behind specific things like crafting would be so much more worthwhile IF YOU ACTUALLY NEEDED THOSE POINTS.The mastery system as it currently works encourages maximum laziness. You don't have to try new things, even actually work, ever. I am still mad that I have 13 Path of Fire mastery points that I will NEVER, EVER USE, and probably just as many gated behind various collections that I would have worked on more actively if I had been looking forward to the mastery points that came with them. But I will never look forward to those points, because I always will have enough from just exploring the map... whhhhyyyy?!3) There often aren't enough "inconveniences" or "lures" that actually make you want to master a mastery in the first place. You just want to master masteries because it offers a tiny, tiny sense of progression. Path of Fire could have made masteries really big by having it take a lot of time until Raptors could be mastered to jump that extra bit further and unlock secret areas, instead, you basically master everything relevant by just playing the main story.I get why these things are done. I get that some people, maybe even many people out there, just want instant gratification and can't possibly fathom that something they paid for is walled off to them until they actually put in some work. I know people like this myself.But it's holding this system back. ] RAVEN MASTERIES:As far as the Raven masteries go: I think the Raven locks are a joke (you get the mastery without lifting so much as a finger, it's basically just lore flavor), the Raven barriers are kinda decent.The new Raven gates are an interesting idea. I liked seeing these gates out in the wild with no one around to unlock them for me and thinking: I will have a reason to come here again!That's what masteries should do. Give you something to look forward to. And the payoff is there, because there is actual content that opens up to you once you can open these gates.It's still too easy to get, however. Once you have it, you won't feel proud, because it just didn't take a lot of effort. And once every active player has the mastery, the joy of having someone open a gate for you is down the drain, too.I would suggest having daily charges for the Raven gates. You can open one gate a day. One. Or maybe three - maybe. Yes, it's restrictive, but it also makes you want to cooperate with other players! It brings people together. There would be a sense of having to be careful with what you are given. Once more maps introduce Raven gates, there would be trains of people running to various locations and opening gates for the benefit of everyone in their group!Yes, it would, in some ways, be considered timegating. But it would make the mastery ten times more meaningful, is my opinion. I know it's too bold a thing to propose, but I can't help but wonder what that'd have been like. Of course, the rewards behind the gates would have to be appropriately worthwhile as well. Yeah. Not gonna happen... but one can dream, right? STORY:I really, really liked the voice acting in this story. It was so well done. Very immersive, and a lot of distinct voices for characters throughout the map - or so it sounded to me.The actual story was... a mixed bag, in my opinion. Honestly, the trailer made me hope that Wolf was actually Jormag trying to corrupt Braham. That would have been rather dark indeed. That would have raised the stakes for the season. Instead, we got Braham... unlocking his ability to become the Wolf... by absorbing three completely different spirit essences that no Norn, not even Eir (who also COULD BECOME THE WOLF) had access to for the longest time? It just feels off. Wonky. I know the actual purpose of the essences was to be used against Drakkar, but Wolf simply appearing and giving these oddly specific instructions towards becoming "True Norn" was strange. .. it would just have worked better if it was a ruse. If Jormag had been behind it.Besides, we put in the actual work in at the shrines, and Braham just had to backtalk at the mean, corrupted spirits ... I don't know. I get the idea behind it, I get why it supposedly carries a lot of weight, but the execution just didn't feel that exciting. It was even somewhat corny to me. I kinda hope that this marks a sort of "change" in Braham's arc, because, while I enjoy having him around, I am getting a little tired of his "journey to maturity and courage" being such a prevalent theme.Other things I did not quite enjoy: Rytlock and Crecia just popping up in the final instance instead of there being a "little reunion", a "catching up", after everything that happened over the comms. It felt too artificial. Bangar's explanation for why he "now is a Dragon champion and can control Jormag because he killed Drakkar" felt sort of awkward? I just couldn't quite follow that logic, it seems so constructed. It makes him look a bit too stupid. Then again, he probably IS very smart in some ways and very stupid in others. The part where we were pursuing Drakkar through ice tunnels felt artificial, probably because the area seemed to be designed just so that the voice acting would have some space to unfold, and that just kind of... felt super apparent. This is actually more on the gameplay side of things, I guess. I just felt like the tunnel part of the story was slapped together really quickly. Generally, the way the characters behaved throughout the episode seemed artificial at times, tailored to fit where the plot needed them to be. Braham just going places that Jhavi points out as being incredibly dangerous because why not, Bangar and Ryland just suddenly splitting from their army to take care of Drakkar... I don't know.Rytlock and Crecia trying to murder us from one moment to the next, and not properly apologizing for it afterwards. That was off, too. Maybe it was meant to be, but eh.The way our Commander was shot with a super powerful magical bow and somehow survived, when visually the cues were a lot like our pre-dying moments in PoF; then later there not being any proper explanation as to how or why we ended up with Aurene in the Eye of the North. Who healed us and how? Rytlock and Cre carried us, but who knew to bring us to the EotN instead of anywhere else? Did Aurene call out to them? How much time has passed? There was not enough time spent on these questions. Of course, the answers are not that hard to find, but the instance could have provided them. It felt a bit rushed. This is a super personal nitpick, because I know why it's not done... but: I want more opportunities to express something towards Aurene - at least sometimes! I wanna tell her I missed her. I wanna tell her I'm proud of her. I wanna tell her how she's grown. I wanna ask her how she's feeling. I wanna pet her again. Things are just so formal, ugh. :P Things I enjoyed: The initial setup of the map, talking to the Kodan in Still Waters Speaking, felt really immersive. I loved that. I loved that bit with the bonfire embodying things like suffering Kodan etc. That was really cool.I always love these parts where you can ask a handful of questions and the answers are actually long and voice-acted, each. Thanks for bringing that back! The conversations with Rytlock and Crecia over the comms were actually rather well done, you kind of felt like you were losing control of the situation but couldn't do much about it because they were somewhere else entirely. Did I mention the voice acting was great? Events had nice dialogue as well, I loved just listening to event dialogue even when I didn't bother actually doing them. While it felt off how every important character was suddenly at the lake in the end, I really did enjoy what Bangar did and how he means to instrumentalize it. It fits him, and that he would try to kill us (AFTER using our help to kill the Whisper) fits as well. I still don't get why he thinks killing Drakkar makes him a dragon champion, but maybe that is what Jormag told him...? I was thrilled that the Whisper of Jormag was a sort of parasitic creature that emerged from Drakkar's corpse, that was really nice and disgusting. Well done!I like it whenever Jormag actually converses with us, I want it to last even longer... While I already mentioned some gripes with Braham's journey this episode; seeing Braham actually becoming the wolf was very satisfying. I loved how you brought back Aurene into the story in the end, and I really liked what she said about everything, and that additional bit about the scrying pools.Oh, and... YOU ADDED LORE BOOKS! THAT GO BEYOND ONE PAGE OF TEXT AND ARE GENUINELY EXCITING TO READ! YES! USE THAT FORMAT MORE, I WANT MORE! I'VE WANTED THIS FOR SO LONG! REWARDS:The event rewards are nothing worth speaking about, but the actual vendor rewards are really great! As a lore nerd, I am super glad you brought us the Raven Shaman outfitTier III Boreal weapons look really snazzy and I want to get my hands on them The corrupted spirit minis are some really cool minis The new strike mission rewards (I think that's what e.g. the Ice Construct Helmet and Boneskinner staff are?) are nice too!I am really looking forward to earning the /shiver emoteI think the team shipped a pretty good release overall, and there are a lot of things, big and small, that deserve appreciation. It has its flaws, and the absence of fractals and raids is still a bummer, but this episode makes me wanna stay around and play actively for some time, and it makes me look forward to what comes next as well. Thanks for that!

This review is kinda meaningless in terms of objective reviewing. It basically only says: "I don't like a single thing about the living world formula and they didn't reinvent the wheel with this patch so of course I won't bother changing my opinion, but I'll still bother to type it out." That said, I kinda get where you're coming from, though I think you're drenching it in hyperbole. Some people kind of enjoy the living world formula. For me, it's a matter of mood - some maps I really like being on and some I kinda leave after a day, e.g. Kourna or the first half of Bjora Marches. This one I liked, but it's not all sunshine. As to what you said: Geographically, objectively, Western Bjora marches aren't bland. Anet are masters of map design and this map extension is beautiful to look at. I found Eastern Bjora somewhat bland, but not this. The colours are vibrant, the soundscape vivid, and verticality really makes you feel like you are in the mountains. I wanted this feeling and I am glad episode 2 delivers.Gameplay wise, I find this map alright. It has some fun events and some nice surprises like the Boneskinner forest - the rewards could be better though. I am glad they added some mini dungeon/JP content with this patch, the labyrinth etc. Ugly armor designs... eh, what? The more recent two (or actually six) armor sets released with LW4 actually got a huge amount of praise for how badasss they looked. Corsair armor was appreciated too. wtf you on about? (P.S. the current armor is a skin from GW2 launch in 2012, available for players for the first time. It's not THAT great to look at, but it has flavor, and is great for lore fans and rpers. We probably will get a proper, fancy armor set with episode 3 or 4. )Yes, the mastery system is pretty meh as a progression system. At least this recent addition makes me want to master it so I can go through all of the gates. Could be worse. Mastery system was at its best during HoT, though - both more meaningful in terms of applicability, and more rewarding in terms of grinding EXP. It's never felt that good or meaningful again ever since. The story in this episode wasn't mindblowingly amazing, but it wasn't aimless. I noticed a few wonky bits, though. Like it lacked some smoothing out. However, it had some nice moments, especially towards the end. So you really don't like Braham. Well, that sucks for you. I think they did reasonably well with the redemption arc in S4 and I do enjoy having him around, though he's not a personal favorite of mine. Besides, it's a Norn centric storyline, so I think we haven't seen the last of him. I for one would like for Marjory to be more relevant, maybe next episode. And about the rest, some estimates of mine (not backed up, just reasonable assumptions): Yes, we are getting more in this line of content while they are working on another game project. One more year at least, likely more. I'm sure this episode wasn't by any means cheap to make, but a HUGE part of gemstore revenue goes into said other game project. GW2 will never get a truly new direction. They will eventually finish their other project, release it successfully, and if GW2 is still healthy in terms of players, they'll bring back fractals and raids when their schedule can afford it. But that's not a new direction. Even another expac won't be a truly new direction, except for maybe elite spec gameplay. However, most people posting online want these things back, so there is that. GW2 has problems, but it's not dying as a game. For every dedicated raider or PvPer that quit, there are still enough casual players sticking around and roaming the open world. Which is a waste, of course, and it will not end well, but then, there is a balance patch in the works, and a fractal update is due in the next few days. We'll see.

Playing through Heart of Thorns. The sheer boldness and beauty of the map design, damn. Playing through Heart of Thorns (after the nerf, mind you, I haven't experienced release HoT) with my Revenant was one of the most confusing, stunning, exciting and addictive gameplay experiences of my life. Filling the mastery bars actually felt like progression because there were several of them and the game truly made me require them at several occasions - e.g. the poison mastery. Besides, there was a decent grind involved - you could explore and do stuff and go places, and on the side you were happy about every event or skill challenge because they gave you exp. Playing Revenant felt powerful and fun, and I still died plenty of times, so I respected the jungle, which in turn made me feel even more immersed! I did really feel like I was conquering the Maguuma, adventuring, making progress, getting things done. Plenty of other players were there, too - I think it was shortly before or after the release of Out Of The Shadows. It was an MMO experience at its finest, at least to me. Verdant Brink and its meta! The beauty of Tarir! The showers of loot! The intrigue and danger of the Chak tunnels! That damn Balthazar hero challenge! Needless to say, HoT got me hooked to the game for the entire duration of Season 3 - and after that, we got Path of Fire, which had another five vast, beautiful maps... Heart of Thorns is the reason I fell in love with this game.

Read that in Rytlock's voice

I think free flight would quickly become standard, and then, slowly, quite boring. Being airborne is so much better in GW2 because you know you can't have it anytime and anyplace you want. There is a gravity to it. GW2's hallmark is their amazing map design and the terrain of maps is so useful for so many mounts. Once you give players free flight, they skip all that terrain and it becomes quite meaningless. Flying on the griffon is great because you have to be creative with the terrain and you always have to be active in order to stay in the air. This is the best implementation of flying that an MMO has ever done. Maybe slight adjustments could be made, I don't have the Skyscale mount yet; but I don't want unrestricted flight.

That. Basically just that. It is so simple. Thank you.

I am a massive fan of Guild Wars 2. I am also not the sort of player that would just ragequit this game only to prove a point, not without giving you guys a chance to set something right. I loved Path of Fire for the most part, and I am looking forward to the next Living World Seasons, new fractals, other stuff.But I am not pleased with this business decision. I am very disappointed.Most of the community were very much looking forward to mount skins. We totally expected them, we wanted them badly. We were absolutely ready to pay for them. I was waiting for creative mount skins I could throw my money at ever since expansion release. So that is not the issue. The issue IS the RNG.You are offering a wide range of mount skins appealing to a wide range of players with a different taste. Some prefer the flashy ones like Fire Pinion and Starbound. Some prefer the more subtle ones like Canyon Spiketail. But you GUARANTEE none of those skins specifically for the money they invest, unless they invest up to FOUR TIMES THE PRICE OF THE EXPANSION. They want a new jackal skin? Well, chance is they don't get a jackal skin at their first ten tries, but always one of the four other mount skin types. They want a flashy skin? Chance is they get skins like the Ringfin for a couple of rolls straight. They want a very lore-friendly subtle skin? Chance is they get Fire Pinion and Starbound instead, and aren't even happy with that. If they want a specific skin? Well, if they have a bad day, that's 120 bucks for them.Arenanet, this entire matter is not about your players being avaricious. We really wanted those mount skins, and to pay for them, too. And I for one think, the skins you put out there ARE amazing. But when looking at your Adoption Contracts, one problem becomes very apparent. People DON'T want to gamble for ONE or TWO items they really want. And you are probably well aware that only a few completionist fans are really into collecting ALL 30 mount skins.I am one such completionist fan. If there had been no RNG, I would have bought every single skin you would have put out. Maybe not if all of them had been as expensive as the Reforged Warhound, which, in my opinion, deserves to be at 1600 gems, but not more - but at a reasonable price point? Sure. (And I am not a general RNG hater if I support a game; I payed a lot of money for Black Lion Keys, in the full knowledge that I may not get those exclusive chest rewards! I just don't want fangs to bite my hand if I reach out to a company I actually respect. And right now, this feels like that!)But I don't expect the entire playerbase to be like me. I know that some only want specific mount skins and won't touch the other ones at all. And that is a decent attitude to have. That is a NORMAL attitude to have from a customer. And you're basically forcing them to either gamble their gems (in many cases, their hard-earned money!) to get something they want, or to just enjoy their basic one-channel mount. Not that the base mounts are ugly, but that is still bitter. That is still just not okay.GW2 is not a game about prestige in power. It is a game about exploration, activities and cosmetics, about having fun and looking gorgeous while having it. And let's be real here, you have no plan of introducing mount skins that can be earned by playing the game. (Not talking about gold-to-gem conversion here.) That is okay. But then don't make it "gamble or bust". Introduce a nice range of mount skins to the store for a set price before releasing a feature like this. Or better yet, remove this feature entirely. Yes, you will have less profits from those "whales" that somehow have a ton of disposable income and are willing to drop it into your game if they are tempted enough.But you will regain the respect of your playerbase as a whole. And people that respect you are people that support you.It was nice of you to not add duplicates to this system, but you should not walk this path at all. You should not. It scares your players, and it makes them feel bad and bitter about giving you money, if not before spending it, then some time afterwards. What does that mean? It means they might NOT come back and spend more.Put those mount skins in the store as bundles for a cheaper price, and as standalone purchases for a higher price. But don't do the RNG thing for a feature as important as this. Treat the mount skins like the glider skins, maybe make them a little less cheap, but leave it at that. Because you are not seeing a single dime from a lot of players if they can't truly decide what mount skin they want to get for a reasonable price. And what is a company that only respects the rich, the addictive, and the careless, in regards to something as important to the community as mount skins? Is that the sort of company you want to be?I sincerely believe not. Because I still hold you in high regard, but please set this right.Thank you.