| 5th Anniversary Give-Away Posted: 03 May 2017 10:55 AM PDT Hello everybody! It's been 5 years today since I've created that_shaman on reddit and to celebrate I'm giving away 5 Kasmeer's Regal Outfits! Make sure you read the rules before entering but the basic gist of it is that you need to use an API key and can only enter once per account. Enjoy! submitted by /u/that_shaman [link] [comments] |
| [Spoiler] New Guild Decoration - An example of a well designed reward Posted: 03 May 2017 10:09 AM PDT The new guild decoration, Oakheart's Essence, is purchasable for 5000 Unbound Magic, and 25 Fire Orchid Blossoms. This decoration is a very good reward for multiple reasons: - It's repeatable - it may be purchased multiple times
- It's dynamic - It's not just a static decoration for visuals, it actually allows you to use Oakheart's Reach. This brings great utility to guild halls.
- It's gated - Its use in guild halls is locked behind the new mastery, and will inspire guild members (in the future) to purchase Season 3, for the mastery, likely just to use it in their Guild Halls.
Thank you Anet! Swell choice in this decoration! submitted by /u/SergeAzel [link] [comments] |
| Flashpoint Reddit AMA Summary Posted: 03 May 2017 05:50 AM PDT Hey. I noticed this hasn't been done yet so I took the liberty of summarising the recent developer AMA we had here on Reddit for Living Story Season 3 Episode 5: Flashpoint. Enjoy! Living Story & Expansion Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet 1 Living Story Season 3 is 6 episodes long, with the expansion planned afterwards. They will roughly follow the 2~3 months release cadence of Living Story episodes for the new expansion, with some leeway. Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet 2 - The expansion will be announced after Living Story Season 3 episode 6.
Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet 3 - Mike O'Brien urges people to be careful with spoilers/leaks and help spread the word for the game.
Open World Anet-TylerB 1 - It is unlikely, but not impossible, for us to see the new Oakheart Essence mastery in other maps.
Anet_Melina - Josh Foreman designed Draconis Mons' jumping puzzle.
Anet-TylerB 2 - Tyler Bearce implemented checkpoints in the new jumping puzzle and the new mastery.
anet_charliee - They prefer to implement verticality in open world maps when it comes paired with masteries that can make use of that verticality.
Legendary Gear PaulElla 1 Hovering backpieces are there to remove clipping. Tail-clipping on legendary medium armour will be corrected. Dyeing issues on heavy legendary armour will be looked into. PaulElla 2 Ears/horns and fully-enclosed headpieces will always cause issues with each in the future due to the level of customisation players are given on the location of their ears/horns. The only method of properly circumventing this is having the tech to determine the ear/horn location/size/shape and adjust the headpiece accordingly. PaulElla 3 - There are no plans to release another set of legendary armour in the future. They think one set is sufficient.
Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet PaulElla 4 - The original intention was to have sigil swapping on legendary weapons too, but, due to economy-related reasons, they're holding that off while they investigate potential risks.
PaulElla 5 - Juggernaut's armour-coating effect not working with legendary armour is a bug.
PaulElla 6 - They are going to look into allowing players to automatically unlock Experimental Envoy Armour skins of a certain weight if they obtain the Refined Envoy Armour skins of that weight.
Raids anet_ianim Anet_AndrewM Fractals Anet_Ben 1 - They'll look into Fractal Avengers' possibly bugged stomping.
Anet_Ben 2 The Anguished Tear of Alba potion was intended to be a temporary way to play in higher scales, not a permanent boost. Therefore, there are no plans for an endless version of the potion. Skills & Balance anet_ianim 1 - There are no plans to disable racial skills in any areas of the game where they are currently enabled.
anet_ianim 2 - Take Root will see some adjustments in the near future.
PvP & WvW ANet_Grant WvW Skirmishes may have rewards integrated with them. Rewards, including ascended gear rewards, are WvW team's priority. ANET_BenP 1 - WvW changes will be implemented sometime this year.
ANET_BenP 2 - They are developing a system for competitive PvP modes inspired by Guild Wars 1's automated tournaments.
ANET_BenP 3 There is an ongoing sigil update for PvP. There are plans to reinforce group sPvP. Other things are in the works that they can't give hints about. Client Development & Technical Issues ArenaJon - Mac Client is in alpha testing. It's coming soon.
anet_ester - An upcoming hotfix will fix issues with lighting.
Anet_AndrewM - Koda's Blessing will be removed as a requirement for the story journal's Living Story Season 3 Episode 3 achievement icon.
Lore GaileGray - Xera can choose her own hair colour.
Anet_AndrewM - Envoy armour is called in this way because the player channels the power of the envoys by creating the armour.
anet_ianim LinseyMurdock LinkHughes 1 angelmccoy anet_charliee LinkHughes 2 Miscellaneous ANET_Laevateinn 1 Laevateinn is currently doing sidework on advanced interaction with in-game cats. They are hesitant to add an achievement for collecting home instance cats, since they don't want to put off achievement hunters who don't want cats running around their home. ANET_Laevateinn 2 - Introducing dogs to counter the Tyria cat invasion is a hot topic in ArenaNet HQ.
Anet_AndrewM Home instance node locations are specifically chosen to avoid overlapping and out-of-place locations. They are looking at potentially adding stat-swapping functionality (for a price of unbound magic, similar to Blood Rubies) to other Living World maps. GaileGray - They will look into adding the Turai Ossa and Mushroom Stomper minis in the game or gemstore.
Behind the Scenes GaileGray - A good number of developers have played Guild Wars 1, along with a handful that developed it.
[multiple] - Several developers talk about their inspiration behind developing MMORPGs.
Mike-OBrien-ArenaNet - The developers, whom Mike congratulates, had a tough time getting the episode right and even went back to the studio to re-record and re-implement a scene.
Anet-TylerB 1 - The new map, Draconis Mons, ended up much bigger than they originally envisioned.
Anet-TylerB 2 - The name of the new map was originally Mantlerock Scald, but they eventually renamed it Draconis Mons, inspired by the largest volcano on Mars, Olympus Mons.
Anet-TylerB 3 The new mastery underwent various iterations. The first was a timed buff with unlimited charges. The second was a single charge with unlimited duration. They also tried a distance-based metric where you could fire a hook whenever you were near an Oakheart's Essence. Another hurdle was making character animations look smooth and polished. For instance, firing the hook while gliding used to mess with the glider's orientation. ANet_Rahlek - Testing on the new map took around 200 hours (double the usual amount).
ChrisCleary - Chris Cleary talks about his job in game security.
submitted by /u/StepW [link] [comments] |
| [Spoiler] Flashpoint as an Exemplar of GW2's Problem with Exposition Posted: 03 May 2017 12:46 PM PDT Exposition refers to including important background information into a story, and it's one of the more of the more critical aspects of good storytelling. Think about some of your favorite and least favorite movies, and chances are the former will have good exposition while the latter won't. As a general rule, well done exposition shows as much as possible and explains as little as possible. Showing background information is usually better than mentioning it in dialogue, and mentioning information naturally and unobtrusively in dialogue is almost always better than directly explaining it. GW2 has generally had a problem with exposition since the beginning, but they've come a long way. Remember that at launch, all of the storytelling was done with two characters swaying back and forth in front of a static backdrop and talking. Almost all of the exposition was in very direct dialogue. A huge improvement was the introduction of fully animated cutscenes (imagine trying to feature Eir's death in a launch style cutscene!), and even better was HoT's addition of dynamic story dialogue outside of cutscenes. Nevertheless, the game still often doesn't do exposition very well. In particular, there are two problems: 1) Too much of the exposition is still in fairly direct dialogue. This is a lesser problem. 2) The storytelling often doesn't leave sufficient room/time for the necessary exposition. What is present is often hidden behind optional dialogue. This is the bigger problem. Consider Flashpoint, in which the player character fights one of the gods and wins. This is something that really shouldn't be possible. Balthazar should instantly kill everyone present and do whatever he wants, but he doesn't. In fact, he has needed to hire mortal mercenaries to do his bidding. Now if you pay very close attention and participate in optional dialogue, you'll see that this is acknowledged and that a hint is given that in some way Balthazar isn't as powerful as he should be. The problem is that the story plays out without making this at all clear. There is one line uttered by Balthazar in the middle of one of the instances that suggests that he may have lost some of his power, but it's easily missed, a bit too ambiguous, and ultimately just too far along into the course of the story so that by the time it's been said, you've already been fighting a god with far too much ease and saying to yourself, "gee, this doesn't feel right. This god is underwhelming." In fact, I found myself wondering before the fight even really got started, "why on earth is my character going to attempt to fight a god? It doesn't make any sense." If you participate in optional dialogue with Marjory after the first instance, she and the player character will do something very, very important that also hurts the story for it's absence: they'll acknowledge these things, and speculate on why Balthazar is so weak. This acknowledgment by the characters of the big elephant in the room is an incredibly important thing, and the story really needs it earlier and more explicitly. And so what Flashpoint really needs is a "why does God need a starship?" moment. In Star Trek V (not the best of films, but good on this point), the crew encounter a being they believe to be God. At a certain point, it starts to look like things aren't quite right, and so Kirk asks a question that never really even gets an answer, but it serves the critical role of having the characters acknowledge that things seem not right. This is desperately needed in Flashpoint. Somebody needs to say something to suggest that, "hey, we realize that Balthazar isn't quite what he ought to be here." Instead, the fight carries on and you're left with the impression that perhaps they think this IS how he's supposed to be. It just really hurts the experience. Overall, I think Flashpoint and all of GW2's recent storytelling has been pretty good. The plots have been interesting, the mysteries have been compelling, and the events seem - for the most part - believable. The problem is that the stories are also rushed just that extra little bit that there's just not enough background laid out, and it makes them seem much shorter and much more underwhelming than they otherwise should. submitted by /u/lazerlike42 [link] [comments] |
| Spoiler!! Flashpoint Inspired Art. Posted: 03 May 2017 03:20 PM PDT |
| Rock Collector Achievement Guide (15 AP/Rock Star Title) Posted: 03 May 2017 02:27 PM PDT |
| Props on [SPOILER]'s voice. Posted: 03 May 2017 02:15 PM PDT I was so happy to see M.O.X in the new episode, but his voice lines and the reverb/echo after certain word's really made him even cooler. He's the first golem in GW2 that had such an interesting/different voice that I cam recall! submitted by /u/MicahLacroix [link] [comments] |
| Ten out of ten dive Posted: 03 May 2017 04:10 AM PDT |
| Ultimate Firestone Fragment TACO Guide Posted: 03 May 2017 03:56 PM PDT Ultimate guide to firestone shards Are you tired of constantly being lost, wasting countless hours trying to figure out how to find the next collection piece? You won't be tired anymore, i present you, the ultimate firestone shard guide thats made in TACO overlay. If you don't have TACO already, you can download it formHere Once that is done, you just download my custom markers that can be found Here Download button is in the top right corner. One you have downloaded my custom markers, extract my custom marker folder, open it. And just copy POIs folder into TACO folder, and you are good to go. Here are some screens of how they look: 1 2 3 4 5 Some tips to reduce backtracking A lot of markers splinter off into many directions on the way, so don't worry if you don't see the number you are looking for. When you go after marker 16, follow it all the way through markers 15, 17, from 17 you go to 14, quickbacktrack to where 17 was, then you go to 19 and from 19 you will go to 13. This will save you a lot of waypointing around. When you go after marker 34 and get it, follow marker 35. Grab the essence. Now you have few choices, you can either go grab stone 36, and use grapple to get back up here. Or keep following after 35. When you see marker 38, follow it, grab the stone. Go back to get the new vine, grapple above the door , folow marker 35. One you get the stone , right next to it you can find stone 39, from stone 39, follow the markers to stone 42. Once you grab 42, just follow the ledge to the updraft to get back to the 35 and go back to the door and get stone 37. When you are going after stone 41, after you get it follow the markers to stone 40, which will be followed by stone 46 , then you can climb the arch to get to stone 47, but here i recommend to go and get 48 first, it will be a bit of a backtrack but, it's much easier to get back from there. Once you get 48, go grab 47. After 47 you can glide to grab 45. A lot of the markers splinter after first thermal tube from heathen waypoint, and then after 2nd thermal tube. Marker 58 will take you all the way to the markers 57,59 and 60 Stone 26 is currenty bugged. Happy Hunting submitted by /u/__Gemini__ [link] [comments] |
| [Spoiler] A detail from Flashpoint I'd love to see more... Posted: 03 May 2017 02:57 AM PDT Going down to the Rata Sum Docks and embarking on a submarine trip to Draconis Mons was a really cool feeling, tied in with the short cut scenes and makes the world of Tyria feel much bigger in travel distance. The dialogue about us submerging to the depths to get inside the volcano was a nice touch for immersion and seeing animated submarines pull up on the shore with soldiers running out is something I'd like to see much more in other areas of the game. I know there are other cases in which we see something like this but I think it's a bit infrequent. An example is why not have ships dock in and out of Lions Arch? All in all great job A-Net! submitted by /u/MapleAce [link] [comments] |
| Grading the Top 5 WvW priorities outlined by ANET 14 months ago. Posted: 03 May 2017 09:34 AM PDT 14 Months ago there was an AMA that outlined the top 5 priorities for WvW. For those who don't remember this was after we were promised that WvW would be the GAME's Top focus after HOT release was a WvW flop. The list was (in order) 1) Stability & skill balance 2) Fix or revert DBL 3) Rewards 4) Population Balance 5) Scoring I have graded their accomplishments (or lack there of) over the last 14 moths and I wold Like to start the conversation of how others feel they have done too. I would like to start off disclaimer and say I haven't played much WvW in over a month because its a Sad, Boring place to be right now and was even more discouraged after literal NOTHING from this patch or anytime soon. 1) Stability & skill balance - F Ignoring for the time the Trapper Theif debacle that should have NEVER come into WvW, it is well past time that Skills act different in WvW as a whole. I know that some have started to but the entire game mode needs to be split out. The only way you can balance this game mode effectivly is if everything is split out and there is a dedicated person/team. Currently it feels a lot like to me, it is Zerg vs Zerg and Numbers matter more then skill/build. With conditions and stability in their current state, it is virtually impossible for a small group to win vs a large group as they are either running so much stability and cleanse there isn't enough DPS to do any damage and the amount of conditions a large zerg can drop is devastating to a small group without a ton of Dedicate cleanse/stability. 2) Fix or revert DBL - B+ This is probably a big personal preference for most players, I happen to like that there is a little diversity vs having just 3x Apline maps and removing the PVE event from DBL was a big improvement but after that, the only Map related changes we've seen since then was Cannon blue prints (wtf was that). 3) Rewards - C+ Reward tracks were a great start. I still think there is some tweaking to do the prevent AFK while still rewarding the Active player but the added loot is a nice add. The slap in the face is watching other Game modes have Legendary and Ascended gear added while once again, WvW is the stepchild in the corner that "may or may-not have a way to obtain ascended gear in the sometime nearish possible future" vague answer. Also, Having that Mystforge Weapon Vendor sitting in WvW taunting us... really, comon! 4) Population Balance - D Combining servers did help a lot at the beginning to help fill all the maps (which is healthy for the game) but lack of foresight, monitoring and practicality has caused this system to get way out of wack. It feels a lot of times like the server linking isn't done with much attention to detail and although at reset the maps may all be full, 1 hour after reset 2 of the 3 servers are empty while the 3rd one rolls over everyone the rest of the week. There is Nothing that prevents bandwagon other then gem costs but ANET likes selling Gems so this seems like a conflict of interest for them to lock server transfers as that would cost them money. 5) Scoring - NA I could honestly care less about scoring. "WINNING" a match-up or a skirmish means so little right now who cares how it is won. Play the game for FUN is much more important and with the deficiencies in Balance of Skills and Population have forced many from the game in recent months. Again, I would like to hear others opinions as maybe I'm missing out on something great of recent. submitted by /u/BoxxerUOP [link] [comments] |
| [PSA] If you've finished the Precursor Collection for the Legendary Armor (2nd) and have spare Legendary Insights, you can craft Ascended Armor very cheap. Posted: 03 May 2017 07:40 AM PDT Hey guys! With the addition of legendary armor in yesterday's patch and the ability to actually craft it, new recipes has also been added. With this recipes you are able to craft additional precursor sets for the legendary armor. This recipe can be unlocked at the equivalent vendors once you have completed the 2nd collection for the legendary armor (and receive your 2nd set of ascended armor). The best thing about these new recipes They are practically the same as the recipe when you craft a regular ascended armor, but instead of the ascended insignia (like zojja for berserker / yassith's for viper) you use an insignia which you can buy from glenna. This insignia only costs 25 Legendary Insights and 5g. To further elaborate the difference this makes, let's do a small calculation. Let's say we want to craft an ascended heavy armor breastplate for the guardian, which requires the Berserker statset. Ingredients: Berserker - Vision Crystal (Craft: 2g)
- Zojja's Berserker Insignia (Craft: 50g)
- Deldrimor Steel Chestplate Padding (Craft: 5g)
- Deldrimor Steel Chestplate Panel (Craft: 20g)
Sum: ~77g Now let's see what the exact same piece costs, if we use Legendary Insights/ the new recipe for it. Envoy Berserker - Vision Crystal (Craft: 2g)
- Envoy Insignia (Gold cost: 5g, 25 Legendary Insights)
- Deldrimor Steel Chestplate Padding (Craft: 5g)
- Deldrimor Steel Chestplate Panel (Craft: 20g)
Sum: ~27g If we don't consider the time and cost effect of the Legendary Insights into the equation that's roughly 1/3 of the original price. For each piece, you will save around 50g. That means if we want to craft a full set, that would be 300g! But wait, there's more! You are also able to select any stat (including HOT-stats like ministrel, trailblazer etc.) without additional costs! For example, crafting an ascended heavy armor ministrel breastplate would cost according to GW2Efficency roughly around 100g. As I mentioned before, the only prerequisite is to have the second collection of the Legendary Armor finished to buy the Insignia. Go ahead and start crafting your cheap armors today! Thanks for reading. Tl:dr: If you've finished the second collection for the Legendary Armor and have some spare Legendary Insights, you can craft ascended armor with any statset (including HOT) very cheap (~1/3 the price). submitted by /u/niigi [link] [comments] |
| [SPOILER][LONG]On Gods: An Analysis of the History and What We Know Posted: 03 May 2017 06:26 PM PDT Hi, folks. I wanted to talk - in light of recent events - on what we actually know and don't know about the "Six" human gods, and their history, personality, and behavior. I feel that to do so will give us better perspective on current events, and how they actually seem to fit rather well into the lore that has already been established. On Sources
In order to determine what we know, it's important to note how we know it. In the same way as if we were diving into the history of a real civilization, we must distinguish between sources which are valuable and reliable, and those which are less helpful. So, what sources do we actually have about the deities?
First, we should know that direct observation is always preferable to any other kind of second-hand source. Only through direct observation can we establish truth that can be relied on. As players, until relatively recently we have only had direct observation of three figures we would classify as 'Gods': Abaddon, Dhuum, and Kormir. Otherwise, all of our information has been written by someone else, and these sources by their nature have different purposes for their construction. However, if sources from different parties and interests coincide and corroborate each other, this lends credence to the interpretations they contain. Origins and Timelines
With that established, what information do we have about the origin of the figures referred to as the Six Gods? In this section we will examine the concrete things we know about the Gods in general, followed by an examination of the historiography of the Timeline of the Gods and Humanity. Finally, we'll take a look at the origins of the Gods and their powers in and of themselves. Right off the bat, we can say a couple concrete things through direct observation from this game and the previous game.
* The Gods exist in a real physical sense, and are not purely mythological.
* The Gods are not immortal, and can be killed. They do not seem to age.
* The Gods are incredibly powerful, but not omniscient.
* The power the Gods wield is not consubstantial with them, it exists apart from them. In one sense, the Gods are by their nature hosts for power.
* The power the Gods wield cannot be destroyed, and must have a host. This agrees with theories of magic in-game which state that magic in general can neither be created nor destroyed.
* The Gods have individual personalities, but also undergo some change in their consciousness and understanding, demonstrated by the ascension of the Goddess Kormir.
* The Gods currently present are not the only Gods which have ever been. In fact, a majority of the Gods took over violently from previous hosts: Balthazar is noted as having murdered his father, Grenth usurped the role of Dhuum, Kormir usurped Abaddon, and Abaddon took over from a previous God of Secrets.
There are other things we know from indirect observation and confirmation from multiple sources:
* The Gods departed the world of Tyria in physical form at the 0 AE date in the Mouvelian Calendar.
* The Gods continued to take an active role in the affairs on the world of Tyria after AE.
* The Gods took less of an active role in Tyria following the events of the first Guild Wars, specifically the Eye of the North, at 1078 AE.
* The Gods resided for a time in the human city of Arah.
* The Gods were worshipped by all known human civilizations.
* The Gods interacted physically, and sometimes intimately, with human beings.
* The Gods - but not necessarily humanity - are not native to Tyria. Recorded history exists of time before the arrival of the Gods from 'somewhere else', notably the Mists. Now, a key point which must be discussed when dealing with the Gods is when they arrived on Tyria. There are two schools of thought on this subject. The first accepts accounts of the Gods 'arrival' on Tyria as bringing humanity with them to the planet for the first time. Therefore, the Gods would have had to have arrived some time before 786 BE, the first recorded history of Cantha. Plausibly, they would have had to arrive much further in the past than that, as it is inferred that tribes of humans existed south of Cantha for some time before uniting under the First Dragon Emperor.
There is one key problem with this interpretation, though it is by no means a fatal one. The vast majority of accounts dealing with the arrival of the Gods notes that they arrived in Orr, and specifically at the Artesian Waters on that same continent. It is noted that the Artesian Waters may have held a magic so powerful that it guided Dwayna to Tyria from the Mists "..open[ing] the gate" for the rest of humanity. However, this event is dated repeatedly by Tyrian and Orrian sources at happening at 205 BE. Even if we assume that the 'arrival of humans' to Tyria refers to a later arrival this still leaves an unexplained gap between when humans arrived in Orr the first time with the Gods, left and began recording history at around 786 BE, and then 500 years later arrived back at Orr where the Gods then founded Arah. We might infer that Orrian sources are tainted by a desire to make their home the 'foundation' of human civilization and the first home of the gods.
The other school of thought when dealing with the origins of the Gods and humanity is to take the accounts found in the Orrian scrolls and other Tyrian scrolls containing Orrian bent with a grain of salt. It is clear that the Gods came from somewhere else - we have sources going back to the last rising of the Dragons which never mention the Gods, and in fact the nature of the Gods as hosts for powerful domains of magic leads us to infer that they could not exist in a world with fully woken Elder Dragons.
However, this does not necessarily mean that the Gods first arrived with humanity in tow at Orr or the Artesian Waters, and it does not even mean that the Gods brought all humanity to Tyria. After all, most of the accounts dealing with the time before the arrival of humanity are concerned with world-altering events and struggles - if some small group of primitive humanity lived on Tyria natively on some continent far from Tyria, it would not have been noted by these early Six Lost Races scholars.
But let us accept for the sake of argument the widely believed story that the Gods brought humanity with them wholly to Tyria, and did so at Orr, presaging the founding of Arah at a much later date. Why did the Gods do this? We should note that here we are speaking of Dwayna, Balthazar, Melandru, Lyssa, Dhuum, and Abaddon. Or at least we presume Dhuum was among them as Grenth was not yet born, even though he is explicitly not mentioned in the Orrian History Scrolls as arriving with the others.
The only hint we have to the purpose of the Gods in coming to Tyria is expressed in the Orrian History Scrolls as a notion of Dwayna's: to establish a paradise and lead humanity to peace. It is unclear how much we can take this at face value, but this at the very least implies that the previous home of humanity was NOT peaceful, and decidedly NOT paradise. Although we might argue whether she accomplished her goal, given the fractious nature of human history in greater Tyria, it is still important that we can to some extent infer that the Gods were looking for a new home for humanity, which implies the old home was not sufficient.
What can we say about the origin of the Gods themselves beyond this? It seems significant that the majority of the Gods were at one time not Gods in their current form. Kormir and Grenth were both clearly human - Kormir observably so. We know that Grenth was born human, as we have already noted that the power of the Gods is not consubstantial with them - it exists independently of them, and the power Grenth currently plays host to belonged to Dhuum until he took it by force. Therefore, Grenth as a child of Dwayna and Malchor must have been born 'mortal'.
This nature of the power of the gods as independent of their individual beings and the origin of Kormir and Grenth makes it incredibly tempting to speculate that all of the human Gods were at one time human themselves. It is not even clear that the Gods truly played host to their current powers when they brought humanity to Tyria: there are current technologies on Tyria which access the Mists without powerful "God-level" magic which could have brought humanity to Tyria, and the Canthans do not make great note of the Gods in their own histories until near when the Elonian accounts begin. We might infer therefore that the Gods in fact were human leaders of some kind who only gained God-like powers upon arrival in Tyria, playing host to powerful independent domains of magic which were seeking hosts. However, here we have entered firmly into speculation rather than evidence. Personality and Behavior
The Gods of Tyria are not generally noted for their purely benign and foresighted nature. In fact, if we look at the sources and observational evidence, we can see that the Gods act surprisingly human in their desires, conflicts, and interests.
Here again I must mention that we are often working entirely off of mythological accounts and what we might refer to as 'folk stories'. We have very little observational proof - until very recently, anyway - of the emotional and personal nature of the Gods. However, given the profusion of stories and indirect evidence of the interaction between the Gods, mortals, and other personalities, we can begin to draw rough conclusions.
First we can see that the Gods are capable of action which is beyond the 'scope' of the domain of magic to which they play host. The intimate relations between Dwayna and Malchor, the insistence of Lyssa on living among the people of Ren, and the adoption of one particular tribe of humanity (the Margonites) as the chosen people of Abaddon show that they are capable of action and choices independent from a devotion to their sphere i.e; Melandru is not always planting gardens and making things green 24 hours of the day, and Balthazar is not always encouraging people to battle during his day.
Next, we also note that the Gods relate to each other in different ways, and this relationship is often fractious or violent. Again, the evidence of Balthazar having killed his father, of the Gods declaring war upon Abaddon for trying to maintain free access to magic for humanity, and of Grenth usurping and locking away Dhuum shows that they are capable of coming to different conclusions about 'how' the role of host is best played out.
In fact, I would like to belabour the point a little more on Grenth and Dhuum. To our knowledge, Dhuum's only crime was to have a different opinion on the protocols which should be applied to the domain of magic he carried. He believed in a 'stricter' interpretation of death, in which resurrection and undead were not tolerated. Apparently this was considered enough to make him a tyrant, although I will note that our own world seems to get by just fine playing by these rules. We might infer that given the familial relations of Grenth to Dwayna, the usurpation of Dhuum may have instead been more of a nepotistic power play than true 'justice'.
We also note that the Gods do not inherently get along even when they are fully allied. Lyssa, as already mentioned, attempted to spend all of her time among the common folk of Rin and Orr rather than live with the other Gods. We are told that she shed prodigious "tears" upon being forced to shack up with the other Gods in Arah.
Now, we can infer based on several sources that gazing upon the Gods for a great length of time does cause a human viewer to go blind - as evidenced by the stories of Malchor. However, King Doric is not mentioned as having gone blind, and no other major stories exist which corroborate the blindness account, so even if it is true we can assume it truly is only prolonged exposure which caused this, and even then only when the Gods were at their full strength.
It is notable that in the Orrian History Scrolls, Abaddon is described as being the only one to remember what passed in the Mists. Given that presumably Dwayna, Balthazar, and the other Gods are possessing of perfectly good memories, this leads one to infer that knowledge of the past home of humanity was actively a matter of censure. If the Gods were capable of censoring this information from humanity, to what extent were they capable of hiding other things? To what extent are the false notions of the creation of the bloodstones by the Gods a matter of mythological obscuration, and to what extent are they purposeful propaganda?
In addition, the Gods do not appear to derive any true benefit from worship. They are not 'powered' by worship in any way, as one might believe from other traditional fantasy deities. As their powers exist independently of them, and represent vast spheres of Tyrian magic, there appears to be no connection between the worship of their devotees and the power they are able to actively wield. The Gods also do not seem to need humans as servants, company, or any other form of companion - Arah was reportedly entirely closed off from humans while the Gods dwelled there, and this was the reason for the task set to Malchor. Given the ensuing babymaking, however, we might infer that human companionship is still a desirable thing for the Gods - which they actively denied themselves.
The Gods seem to have been possessing of some limited foresight or other great ability to sense when things are happening which involve them. Capable of appearing to worshippers in myth or granting boons, we cannot fully discount every one of these tales. The magic of the Gods in Guild Wars 1 and the boons granted by their servants at shrines were real enough. However, no great foresight can be inferred based on the war with Abaddon and the mess of magic.
If the Gods were capable of foresight, they would have known the ensuing mess from attempting to release magic from the Seer's bloodstones. They would also have been able to foresee the rebellion of Abaddon at attempting to shut that magic up again. What was the motivation of Abaddon in this action? Did he desire simply to see chaos upon the world? Given his inherent protective nature of the Margonites, it's hard to see this interpretation. Instead, we might infer that based on his domain of the magic of Secrets, he may have had some hidden knowledge of the last rising of the Elder Dragons, and saw the distribution of magic among the races of the world as the best way to eventually fight against their rising again. But again, here we are in the realm of pure speculation. On the Departure of the Gods and Current Events
It is clear from the sources that the Gods departed the World of Tyria at the date recognized in the Mouvelian Calendar. The extent to which they departed, and why, is not clear. First, we have never been told exactly why the Gods departed after the war with Abaddon, though one version of the story states that they were 'confident they had balanced out their gift and circumvented greed' - the gift being the bloodstones which weren't theirs to give. It is difficult to believe that the Gods decided to depart content with their work, given how long they dwelt at Arah without stirring. In addition to the fact that the bloodstones and magic had been extant long before the old Prophecies-era stories tell us, the Gods clearly did enjoy interacting with humanity (some more than others) and were perfectly capable of doing their work while in the physical realm. They had done so for hundreds of years already.
Complicating the matter is the fact that the Gods did not stop interacting with the mortal realm. As evidenced by their continued interaction through servants great and small in the first Guild Wars game, the Gods still had vested interests in Tyria. Not only did they intervene - though not directly - when certain dire events came to pass, they also took a passive constant interest in the well-being of humanity. Humans were still able to pray at shrines and receive blessings from the gods' servants.
Again, the question becomes why the Gods did not interact directly with Tyria past this point. Certain events could have used a strong hand by the Gods - such as the events of the Nightfall campaign. The player and the mortal Kormir do directly beseech the gods at the Temple of the Six in the Realm of Torment… but the Avatar of Lyssa there responds that the gods "are within" the mortals' abilities. The Avatar of Lyssa states that "every thought and achievement was a gift" from the Gods when they dwelt still upon Tyria. I imagine the Charr, Asura, Norn, and other races might find that difficult to believe.
It is clear that this is as best as the Gods can do - they do wish for the terror of the fallen (and unjustly cast down) Abaddon to end. As well they should, since it was their doing which caused the War in the first place. However, they are unable to do more than give their blessing. It is difficult to imagine that the Gods who first defeated Abaddon would find it particularly difficult to not simply do it again, to a less powerful cast-out God this time. That is, it is difficult to imagine if those Gods were still at the same power they were at 0 AE.
So we see the Gods depart Tyria for an unknown reason, interact with the world progressively less as time goes on, and by the time of Nightfall these same Gods have clearly lost some portion of power. This is nothing, however, in comparison to what will come after EotN. Following the events of that expansion and the attempted rise of Primordus, the Gods cease interacting with Tyria entirely. Despite the continued dire circumstances caused by the rise of the Elder Dragons, the Gods are not only absent, but even more absent than during the events of the first Guild Wars. Something clearly caused them to retreat further from Tyria.
Here is where we can start bringing in recent events. Just for the sake of clarity, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS follow. Upon interacting with our fiery friend in S3E5, we directly observe several things. The first is that Balthazar is clearly less powerful than the God portrayed in myth and even in the first Guild Wars. The player character and Marjory comment on this - aghast at the fact that Balthazar was not at all as powerful as they had been led to expect.
In addition, some lines from Balthazar seem to confirm things we have speculated about. He confirms that he is weaker, claiming that 'they' had made him weaker and would soon see him strong. There are two main interpretations we can make on this. The first is that 'they' represents the Elder Dragons. This explanation would seem to make the most sense. As noted by the author of "The Six: Being or Playing God" found in the Durmand Priory, the Gods surely realized upon the attempted rise of Primordus that their own magic would soon be consumed in greater and greater quantities by the Elder Dragons. It is tempting to speculate that the Five Gods after defeating Abaddon may have realized this fact and that this caused their initial Exodus; that their more recent silence has been part of a long retreat from the world starting at Exodus and preceding the rise of the Elder Dragons.
The second interpretation is that 'they' is referencing the other Gods, and that there has been some kind of falling out between Balthazar and the other Five. This, while on the surface recommended by the past fractious nature of the Gods and their various familial infightings, seems unlikely. This would not help to explain the collapse of the Gods' power in recent times, nor their disappearance from worldly affairs.
A hybrid interpretation may be speculated, namely that while it is true that the Elder Dragons have devoured the majority of the magical energies the Gods play host to, that this has now caused a fraction in the ranks of the Six - and one faction sent Balthazar in a desperate attempt to regain his magic as a way of bringing order or dominance back to the Gods. This faction may have included Lyssa, and may have the goal of retrieving their magic at any cost; another faction of the Six may oppose this plan, and be more interested in letting events play out.
At any rate, Balthazar makes another revealing quote which is important to note. He says that he found out in some way that there was no honor in war, but still believes in the glory of it. It is important to note that this does not mean that Balthazar has renounced all war - only that he sees the glory in it more than any honor. Given that the last major war which Balthazar fought was against his own half-brother, before that against his kinsman Abaddon, and before that his own father… we might be led to believe he may have had a change of heart in the same way the Gods decided to change their stance on the Bloodstones. In addition, it is important to remember that this is the first time we have actually directly observed Balthazar, and therefore his comments here are inherently more trustworthy than any mythological accounts.
To summarize, the Gods are inherently flawed and ultimately human figures (whether literally or not remains to be seen). Their origins are unknown, and therefore suspect. Their powers exist independently of them, and therefore can be siphoned but not destroyed. The Gods personalities and behaviors are fractious, sometimes petty, and almost never foresighted. The history of the Gods after the Exodus is one of further and further retreat from the world of Tyria, and the explanation for this seems more and more likely to be the loss of power from the rise of the Elder Dragons. Given an inherently hot-headed and violent personality, and faced with the loss of power and place in the cosmos, the desperate behavior of a de-powered Balthazar is not at all out of step with his and the other Gods' lore up to this point. TL;DR - What more do we have to do to make the Tengu trust us, anyway? Have we not bled on the battlefields against Elder Dragons enough? submitted by /u/Jonah_Marriner [link] [comments] |
| Thanks Anet for the undocumented change to the human female guardian staff attack animation Posted: 03 May 2017 02:34 PM PDT The change isn't anything important at all and is very subtle and specific, but... It always REALLY bothered me how the animation for the staff attack animation on female human guardians literally freezes completely in place at the very end for a bit before reverting to the idle pose or start of the attack animation. Since the LWS3 Episode 5 update, the animation's duration or animation keyframes seems to be adjusted properly so that the animation returns to idle or repeats the attack smoothly. I'm probably the only one who cares, but I love this change. Thanks Anet. The staff still slides up and down but it is nowhere near as noticeable as the freezing. Updated animation: http://i.imgur.com/spk1GHk.gifv submitted by /u/chaklong [link] [comments] |
| Poor displaced beetles Posted: 03 May 2017 02:12 PM PDT I know I am kind of late, but I just got into Bloodstone Fen and saw these poor Beetles. Just imagine doing regular beetle stuff and suddenly BOOM you are on a floating platform in the middle of a giant magic storm. What a horrible fate :/ submitted by /u/ArminBarkas [link] [comments] |
| What is up with anet bringing so many joke legendaries lately? Posted: 03 May 2017 08:21 AM PDT First the Quaggan shield, then the battleship rifle and now the candle torch. I mean the comments under tekkits post show already what people think about this new legendary. Like seriously, would go with a candleholder into a battle? Why can't they just bring serious stuff. I have so much gold to spend on legendaries but lately nothing what they create appeals me. They were on a roll with chuka and champawat and eureka, which both looked really good in my opinion but they just started to creating low quality gem store items with some particle effects basically. Pls get your shit together anet. submitted by /u/2girls1up [link] [comments] |
| current state of fractal lfg Posted: 03 May 2017 04:22 AM PDT |
| [Little Parody(?)] The New Mastery... Posted: 03 May 2017 10:20 AM PDT Hai there! So I tried to quickly get the new mastery yesterday, and well... the first time I experienced it I had this thought in my mind... I know it's short, but I felt like making this ^-^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8OBPlVd8RA I hope you enjoy and as always, thank you for watching~ ♥ It was literally my first experience as I used all my charges and got stuck in the spinning animation in the air, it didn't let me glide so I fell down and died. 10/10 submitted by /u/Noxxi_Greenrose [link] [comments] |
| Draconis Mons - Aestus and Ignis Posted: 03 May 2017 04:29 PM PDT Congratulations for this fight A-Net. I really loved all the mechanics ( the boiling water, flame attacks, floor destroying ) and the fact that you can solo all the pre events with a little of practice. Really hope to see more boss fights like this on open world. submitted by /u/onizukabr [link] [comments] |
| Update Notes - May 3, 2017 fixes Posted: 03 May 2017 04:45 PM PDT |
| Is Legendary Armor crashing the game? Posted: 03 May 2017 12:54 AM PDT So I'm in Tangled Depths and someone in map chat says "enjoy your desktops" and everyone in my squad crashed a few minutes later...it also seems like the servers have been unstable all day. The rumor is that toggling the armor off and on is causing crashes..... submitted by /u/Birkiedoc [link] [comments] |
| Kas and Jory should break up. They have become, and need, different people. Posted: 03 May 2017 11:51 AM PDT So driving to work today after having played the LS last night, I had a cascading series of realizations about Kasmeer and Marjory's relationship. Both they and it have changed greatly in the time we've known them, and I honestly think they should see other women. There are those who said this kind of thing long before now, pointing out that their relationship was founded on an imbalance of authority and experience. At the time I didn't mind this, hoping as I did that Kasmeer would grow to be more than she was. That she undoubtedly did - so much so that in my opinion, she has outgrown being what Marjory needed her to be. Having had her own troubles in the past to temper her, it's unsurprising that since being thrust into the spotlight of history, Kasmeer has proven the much more resilient of the two, having become a heroine willing and able to face danger while still retaining her sensitivity and optimism. In contrast, Majory has shown herself to be much more brittle and volatile. Her sister's death and the conflict with the dragons have greatly changed her. Once playful, confident, and carefree, she has - much like Braham - become reckless and fatalistic. One would've thought that being a necromancer the entire time, she would've had a better grip on the power and immediacy of death, but then again, the death of a close family member is a different thing than death in the abstract. What she honestly wants is for Kasmeer to be around when it's convenient to her, and not when not. I have to say, it was very hypocritical of her to have gone off on her own into an incredibly dangerous situation without word or discussion, but then when Kasmeer removes herself after receiving a great blow to her faith, Majory starts whining about "she left me". (Truthfully, although I know it was a raw in-the-moment reaction, something she may regret later, it made me like her quite a bit less.) Understandably and rightly, Kasmeer has begun to lose patience with Marjory's cavalier treatment. What she needs is an equal: someone who will communicate with her, genuinely share and take part in a couple's emotional life, while also respecting and trusting her as a partner in dangerous situations. (My ladymesmer volunteers.) What Marjory needs, quite honestly...is a housewife. That is to say, a civilian woman who will stay out of trouble and danger and be content to wait for Marjory to return - which ironically is what Kasmeer used to be, but is no longer. This can change, but Marjory honestly seems pretty uninvested in growing the relationship in the way it needs to be grown, at least right now. There, that's my in-depth opinion on two imaginary ladies' imaginary relationship. (If I seem to have given this a lot of thought, I am an old guard of the yuri (anime/manga lesbian) fandom, and have been thinking deeply about this kind of thing for about twenty years. :P) submitted by /u/ArshayDuskbrow [link] [comments] |
| Legendary armor issues and feedback Posted: 03 May 2017 02:28 AM PDT Regardless what you think of the aesthetics (I personally am digging the light and heavy), the new legendary armor sets seem to have a fair number of issues and oversights and and it would be beneficial for Arenanet to have a list of all of them in one spot. For the record yes, I am aware there is a feedback thread on the official forums, but it has devolved into mostly mindless bickering and flaming. I will be posting the list there as well, but for more visibility I think we should have one on the subreddit too. Light The breasts are too big on sylvari and asura. Here is an example and a second one from another thread. Floating weapons, backpacks. The anchor point or whatever you would call it, is way too far behind the character: click! This also affects backpacks and shields even when they are drawn. The Precursor armor has no such issues Dye channels are a bit too light. Not a big deal on this set, but if you were to look at these screenshots again, I am using Midnight Violet. That's rather light for Midnight Violet. Toes clipping on asura. The third segment on your lower back when in combat and wielding a staff clips into your body. Affects only human female characters. The bottom of the "buttcape" clips into the ground when in combat mode if you aren't using a staff: click! Feet clip through the cape on charr when using a greatsword: click Medium - Charr tail-clipping as seen here.
PLEASE NOTE: ArenaNet already responded that this is indeed an oversight and something they thought had been fixed already. This one will probably be resolved soon. The left shoulder-pad floats in the air on all races, but it's particularly bad on charr The top on female sylvari and female humans is different. Some like the sylvari version, some don't, but the fact that they are different is a surprise on its own. The non-sylvari version looks more like body-paint than armor, you can even see your character's belly button (?!) Toes clipping on asura when weapon is stowed. Frankly this one is a bit baffling, since it covers the toes when in combat mode. Heavy Dyes are too light and it's a much bigger issue than with the light armor. This is Shadow abyss, taken from another Reddit thread. Juggernaut does not affect the armor at all. Comparison when stowed and wielded. Ironically the Poly-luminescent Undulating Refractor does affect the armor from what I've personally seen. Minor clipping on the boots on charr Shoulders floating on asura in combat mode The forward facing horns on charr clip through the helm pretty badly General issues and requests Multiple reports of the game crashing because of legendary armor Several people requested that the "wing animation" when drawing the weapon be displayed when you have any piece of the armor equipped, not only the chest piece A few requests to have an option to turn off the shine when you unsheathe your weapon, because it hides the transformation. Some like that shine though. A request to let us dye the wing aura thing. Please, list more and I will keep updating my OP. I will also update it if we get any official response on these issues. No need for drama or flaming, let's keep it civil and let the devs know what we think could be improved. submitted by /u/Andulias [link] [comments] |
| Did this make anyone else giggle? Posted: 03 May 2017 03:14 AM PDT |
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/3mnd0pq71dvy.jpg){kind=link}
![[link]](https://i.redd.it/8mca9395s9vy.png){kind=link}
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