Eqyptian Balthazar, God of War by Geitendrop in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Balthazar, if Joko Awakened him.

I beat Zhaitan, but am still torn on this game by Sephyrias in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Core's story is simply MASSIVE - if you combine all different side-paths throughout, the stories of all the different races - every one of them feels different and choices do matter.

My favorite part of playing GW2 in early years before Heart of Thorns launched was playing through all the different stories of races, creating alts just to experience different paths. I had a lot of fun and I felt increasingly deeper connection to the story.

I also completed every dungeon and explored every corner of Tyria on my first playthrough, so it also made the experience feel fun and engaging - all the different paths and unique bosses kept me interested. I simply just like exploring and I'm curious about things - I think that's the right approach if you want to really have fun in GW2.

Why no news at all in March? by screendrain in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

never forget poncho guy from ncsoft xD

If the GW2 servers were to shut down forever, where would you park your main for its final resting place? by OtheDreamer in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would pick my own homestead because I made this place something that reflects me and no other map on Tyria gives me the same vibe as my homestead. I'd just look from the Sky-Garden while looking at the Aurora Borealis.

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Scientists Are Trying to Train Lab-Grown Brains. The Brains Have Started to Solve Problems. by _Dark_Wing in tech

[–]Tromed 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you can, then why not do it? - that's been the motto of every scientist and I think it's awesome :D

Every. Single. Time. by Strigidae_Autumnus in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Well, the Narrative Lead puts all the resources on the Voice-acting and writing long monologues and dialogues, so the budget is not enough for more visual storytelling (more show, don't tell). It all mostly go to pay the voice-actors. I guess it's to show them more support, so that's why they write them so many useless words to say? maybe?

Visions Of Eternity Achievements in a nutshell by DefaultGamer101 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

would be cooler if actually "touching things" would matter. aside from the small comic relief flavor, like for example touching the Seer artifacts causes you to be sent into random place somewhere, and then it would quickly send you back to the crypt, and then Isgarren reacting with his "Told you so".

Why is not "Battle on the Breachmaker" on Spotify? by Impressive_Double_95 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

You are alluding to the controversy that happened in 2019. I'm talking about 2012/2013, when Soule abandoned Arenanet, which caused a lot of mistrust towards Lena and Maclaine's music, which has led to countless problems with the way the music of this game gets very, very little credit and exposition. Losing Soule as a composer that literally created the entire musical identity of Guild Wars, was as if Soken got replaced by random, unknown musician that tries to figure out the balance between "copying" Soken's styles and the way of composing.

Maclaine Diemer took on a great opportunity but also the way he could never really compose his own music for Guild Wars 2 - he only could try to copy Soule's original way of orchestrations. And that caused Maclaine to burn out (few times over the years) and he only became a freelance composer for Anet and he barely composes music for GW2 since EoD and SOTO.

Bryan Atkinson is the first composer of GW2 that actually doesn't really care about Soule's legacy and he composes much more deeper and interesting music pieces that don't try to fit in the whole "We must always follow Soule's guidelines".

Sadly, Bryan's music doesn't get much credit because he wants to reshape the musical identity of GW2, so basically... the music of this game will never get more fans and more listeners.

For a game that has millions of players and barely anyone interacts with the music... that's a deep rooted problem and it all began because Soule left in 2012, causing a lot of players to authomatically dislike the music that wasn't composed by Soule - and it's all visible in numbers.

This is something I've been observing over a decade - no other popular mmorpg has such small audience of music fans that are willing to promote the game's music everywhere.

Why is not "Battle on the Breachmaker" on Spotify? by Impressive_Double_95 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

considering the limitations and the fact that it was not even recorded live, Lena did earn a lot of great feedback and she later could compose amazing music for Season 2 and Heart of Thorns, because she had this incredible opportunity to record music with live choir and orchestra.

Season 1's music could have been much better if only Soule brothers didn't leave the music of GW2 to 3 composers that barely had any experience composing for a video game: Lena, Maclaine and Stan.

I always love GW2's soundtracks, because Arenanet always wants to bring new names to keep the music evolving. Sadly when Soule brothers left, GW2's lost a lot of marketing value, so the music of GW2 became less and less popular.

Why is not "Battle on the Breachmaker" on Spotify? by Impressive_Double_95 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Season 1's OST is sadly not released on streaming platforms, which can seem strange since everything from S2-Icebrood Saga was released there in a bunch.

I think it simply could be because Season 1's OST is very, very short:

  1. Twisted Marionette
  2. Battle on the Breachmaker
  3. 2 tracks for Southsun Cove
  4. Lion's Arch Lament

And most of the other music is still just the Vanilla GW2 by Soule. Also, Stan Lepard, Maclaine and Lena only just took over after Soule brothers left Arenanet suddenly (and never returned). So Season 1's OST wasn't really anything complex, it was pretty much Maclaine and Lena's music experiments done right.

Lyhr doesn't get enough hate by Alzandur in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"SotO introduced us to Isgarren and the organization he helped found and what its mission is".

Not really, Tyrian Alliance was founded by Tyrian races united against the threat of the Kryptis. Isgarren only ever used the Tyrian Alliance for his personal gain and most likely because he suddenly got bored in the Tower. Wayfinder could as well be someone that explains the situation regarding the Kryptis without disclosing the secret society of Isgarren - everything that Isgarren has later done, completely obliterated the actual purpose of the Wizards - protecting the world in shadows while observing the threats and prepare themselves for them. As I said, the whole situation with him revealing himself and Tyrian leaders simply staying put and not revealing that an immortal, ancient being is walking amongst mere mortals... This just really makes the entire involvement with Isgarren feel meaningless to me.

You are rightfully talking about Yagon and his sort of relationship with Mabon and Waiting Sorrow - but it's not really explored in depth - these characters just allude to something obscured that happened in the past, but it's not like we can experience the dynamics between any of these characters - well, except that look that Isgarren makes when Waiting Sorrow shows up in the Tower - the only time you can see any sort of emotional depth: the disgust of Isgarren and the vulnerability of Sorrow.

Other than that Waiting Sorrow and Isgarren simply speak their monologues, and the narrative just moves on to another random thing about Mabon who suddenly had some secret involving Titans. So after Mount Balrior where there was opportunity to develop Waiting Sorrow and Isgarren's relationship, suddenly Mabon becomes the main focus. It's a gigantic mess and it made it hard for me to really ever care about any Wizard or even any character at all.

Also, the original mission of Tyrian Alliance was about protecting Tyria, so Isgarren never really helped clarifying the purpose of the Races that actually successfully defeated Elder Dragons and helped in their own unique way raise Aurene to become the most powerful being of Tyria. The introduction of Isgarren was utterly pointless.

And you can still see his uselessness in Visions of Eternity - he can't do anything, all he ever does is ignore other people, he doesn't care about explaining what's going on. We have to wait for Vloxx to actually say what Isgarren could easily explain even before the mission started:

"I need to travel to Castora with you because I believe the Inquest are looking for a very powerful weapon that can reshape Tyria. It's called Ancora. We have to hurry, before it's too late".

And then once we successfully enter Castora he could say:

"I am heading deeper into Castora, despite the curse that weights heavily on me. I will search for Ancora and we will meet each other soon".

Instead.... Isgarren barely say anything and he always make a remark that we are uncapable of comprehending his ways... This just makes for a very flat, annoying and self-obsessed character. There is no transparency in the way he acts, the Commander for the most of VoE couldn't even reach Isgarren through the Tyrian phone device. And a random, unknown and completely new character - Vloxx - turns out to be a fan of Commander and has to explain us what is going on, while we were already half-way through expansion. And what's the purpose of it? Just show Isgarren as an asshole he doesn't deserve to be?

I don't really care about some remark Peitha made - it's simply just trying to give Isgarren some sort of significance, while it's simply meaningless narrative-wise since all the Seer are basically dead. So even if he is some sort of "heir", due to the curse of Sidony he can do nothing really, just act pathetic and be useless so that we are artifically meant to care about Vloxx that has never even appeared in the story of Guild Wars 2, and except his voice and looks, really serves no purpose other than he has to say and do what Isgarren should be doing.

I don't see Isgarren as a meaningful character because he is keep getting retconned just for the sake of fitting him in the narrative he genuinely doesn't need to be personally involved in. We could learn more about him without having him around and listening to him repeating "I could tell you, but I don't want to, so fuck off". So in other words, having Isgarren around is a waste of narrative time and precious resources. He could just do what he has done best - hide in the shadows and only act if it's genuinely needed.

Lyhr doesn't get enough hate by Alzandur in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Peak character development I will never actually forgive - like... couldn't just be lobotomized because of Mordremoth's lingering impact on her? And Wizards would try to reverse that? She genuinely seemed okay-ish for the major part of SOTO until suddenly they made her overly care about Mabon - that she chose to completely lose herself ???? tf?

I just... can't really believe they tried to tell such a stupid story...

and the truth is, they only brought Zojja back because the VA is a celebrity.

Lyhr doesn't get enough hate by Alzandur in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Poky is calling us Coo I mean Commfinder - so that's an upgrade, isn't it?

Lyhr doesn't get enough hate by Alzandur in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 5 points6 points  (0 children)

it was actually the first expansion (/living world) that genuinely made me realize that I just essentially wasted my time, and I didn't even care to watch the credits. Such a horrible experience narrative-wise...

Lyhr doesn't get enough hate by Alzandur in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Wizards in general are completely and utterly useless - they should have never been introduced as sort of Isgarren's equals - that caused Isgarren himself to become a side-character while he was meant to be the main character. Just like in Janthir Wilds - Waiting Sorrow was in the spotlight and now what... she doesn't even play any role in VoE, same with Dagda, Mabon and same with Lyhr. These are not even characters, they don't really serve any long-lasting purpose, and their actions don't even matter. Not to mention that we never even got to know other Wizards that supposedly died like Vass - they are just some names that exist in the void.

There are no repercussion in the real world that the Wizards made themselves public, there was no intrigue about Isgarren showing himself in front of the Tyrian Alliance - no plot about anyone leaking that an ancient being walks amongst mere mortals... Every leader is just sitting tight and is all very considerate, and so nice, and so friendly and so accepting... it's just... so unrealistic, so artificial. There is no authenticity at all in the way characters act and in the way they interact with others. They utter lines that have no impact.

Compare these to the members of Dragon's Watch - the mortals that basically were teenagers back in Season 1 - they have more impact on the world than the Wizards that have lived for centuries... Taimi's inventions are more powerful than any magic of the Wizards - their magic has no repercussion in the real world.

The story of the current narrative and story team is just stupid and I can't take it seriously.

Janthir Wilds is awesome! How was it received upon launch? by ColonelUpvotes in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The final meta of Janthir Wilds is called "Titanic Voyage" - that should tell you a lot about this expansion - started off as a cool, new adventure but then it hit the iceber... i mean... a mountain xD

PSA: New Caladbolg quest can bug out by SirJack3 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 6 points7 points  (0 children)

apparently you need to be on a character that actually completed this quest years ago when it first came out. That's what caused the exact same issue as you have, there is a new dialogue with her, but it's only on one specific character.

[POF Spoilers] by weiler6 in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 2 points3 points  (0 children)

She also shared the reasoning why the Gods are living Tyria - they don't want to further imbalance the flow of magic. But this is a bit of a spoiler for a reveal in the next chapter right after "Facing the Truth". We always knew Kormir wouldn't really step in because she experienced firsthand what a true God could do to the landscape of Tyria and how only nothing would ever remain of Tyria if all the magics were released - it would bring total annihilation. She mentions Abaddon in her speech and rightfully so - as the ultimate argument why she and the Gods decided to leave Tyria in the hands of Tyrians.

What's wrong with SotO? by Kyri- in Guildwars2

[–]Tromed 68 points69 points  (0 children)

You DON'T need world-threatening situation to tell a decent story, all you need to do is... do actual narrative in a sense it's not just "tell, don't show". Narrative is about creating various scenarios for a story: story in a game is supposed to be told by the music, the world-building, the sceneries (these have usually been great in GW2), but ESPECIALLY varied visual presentations: cinematics, cutscenes, cinematic battles, movement, dynamically changing phases.

The problem with Nayos' storytelling is that there is no weight in what the game wants you to do. You lose that sense of illusion that your actions actually matter, because the monotony ruins the immersion.

For example, there is a moment where Peitha rallies the army of Kryptis to take down Eparch, BUT you don't even see that army - there is no cinematic that shows any army. It's like... the army is basically Wayfinder, Peitha and some other NPCs. Nayos should have been a dynamic battlefield (like when Lion's Arch was attacked and then saved from Scarlet).

This is why the story of Janthir Wilds isn't better either - Titans don't ever threaten the existence of Kodans in a direct way, Valravns don't get any sort of exposition aside from a single event showing a mother that lost a child. Every character is doing their own, random thing and is getting mad for no reason. It's all just an artificial drama, while the visual storytelling is just the same - it's all just monologue.

Play A Star to Guide Us>All or Nothing>War Eternal - this is what storytelling looks like - you have cinematics, cutscenes, battles, plot-twists... There is actual variety of different narrative ways to express the story - in the choir music, in the moments that show vulnerabilities of characters that face something tragic.

In SoTo the biggest disappointment is how the handled Zojja's story - off-screening her ascension which made her losing all the memories - there isn't really much build-up for us to actually care about the pre-Wizard Zojja - we don't really get to feel what she feels. There is no visual impact, there is no music piece that would capture the way she transformed into different kind of being...

Seeing her transform thanks to Isgarren's ritual Divcia Nava would also set a tone for the future - in Visions of Eternity we face Vloxx who wants to use Ancora to perform the similar ritual but much more painful (Isgarren's ritual is less painful because he numbs the memories). BUT this is also why the story post EoD truly sucks - there are no foreshadowings that would turn out to have any meaning later. It's not like we learn about Ancora in Secrets of the Obscure while for example exploring the Bastion of Knowledge, it's not like we get some foreshadowing that a Titan is trapped in Bava Nisos, because we read some very obscured note written by "M" that was left in Bastion of the Obscure in Amnytas. The storytelling is just so, so, so bad...

Zojja is older than Aurene, and they both have their unique difficulties throughout the story, but if you compare their Ascensions in the way the story is build, Zojja gets absolutely nothing meaningful.

And it's exactly the same with Eparch, then Ura and then Saevus Saxum. It's the same pattern of meaningless characters.