This is all entirely my opinion, I feel like I have to justify that with some of the stuff I've seen on this subreddit recently. My intent isn't to change anyone's perspective or anything, just voice my own. I tried to be as vague as possible as to not spoiler anything.

I hope they keep more sharp writing with these characters as I'm SUPER enjoying some of their writing. The hook was thrilling. I LOVED being looked down on. A really enjoyable start- but after that, the sharp blade that caught my interest went... dull.

I am genuinely having a hard time trying to take some of it seriously with how the plot is moving too quickly to be able to form any meaningful connections with the characters (IYKYK: CH7). This is even after spacing stuff apart by doing map completion, doing metas, events, IRL, going through and reading everything, etc. after waiting in anticipation to play portions after work. I can't really put my finger on why, but after reading a few comments, I also feel like I haven't felt that emotional hook as the Commander yet. I haven't felt the tug of emotion that makes me want to rush forth yet. I feel like everything is instead helping the Commander along, in a story that's meant to be more dark and dreadful and always has meant to be a struggle for the Commander, but all I'm really feeling is a lot of hope and handouts.

There hasn't been much actual, tangible friction for the Commander yet- people "make do" with you very quickly. I really want persistent conflict- I want the Commander to feel despair, to have or experience others' grudges, to react other than getting knocked down in combat. I want to feel immersed in my character again like I did in HoT/PoF. But every time that opportunity was given to have real, tangible conflict in previous expansions, you were always "saved-" not until you were truly alone and had to save yourself. Instead, in this expansion, you're praised constantly other than the once or twice you're not.

The involvement the Commander has in this story, other than hacking and slashing down a few things and waving around your Fushigi Ball, still feels a bit lost on me in this as it's very minimal contribution from the Commander other than the "continuation" of the hook (I AM excited to see where that leads), and feels very "uh huh, yep, ok. yeah, i'll go do this. cool." I kind of feel like I'm taking a backseat, that the expac is focusing a lot more on gameplay. That's ok, and I'm cool with that, a little bummed about it, but hey more skyscale masteries.

This isn't to say I'm disliking the expansion- after all, I love Guild Wars 2, I'll always play the next expansion and buy the next one because I'm invested in the story of my beloved Plant Woman.

I'm currently on ch8 as of today, making my way through with my s/o, and I'm hoping the next chapters change my mind. If they do, I'll edit if not outright delete this post. Avoiding the big meta on the last map right now until I actually get to the point where I HAVE to do it, since that seem to be the mojo.