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Rescue at Minister Cho's Estate (hm) can't be done with buddies

In order to beat it, you need 4 optimal builds. Maybe even 3 if your main profession is sub-optiomal for HM (ele, ranger). Just so happens that me and my buddy use those professions. So we either do it individually with three OP heroes, or we don't. I understand that WoC HM content is supposed to be hard, but couldn't this extreme reliance on heroes just be left to 6-8 man areas? 217.129.113.149 00:18, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

This is possibly the hardest (and dullest) quest of the entire WoC content so far, but without reason, considering it's just supposed to be a simple quest with simple (weak) rewards in the middle of something bigger (the entire WoC). It's a 4-man area against groups of five. Each battle takes too long (considering the amount of groups you have to battle in your way), and you must abuse the system (heroes). 217.129.113.149 00:24, 30 November 2011 (UTC)

So much has been written about this dreadful quest that it's pretty pointless saying more. What's needed now is for Anet to throw us a crumb, and say "Sorry guys and gals, it was intended as a challenge but not to be this damaging to fun in GW." [Fixing it would require several things, mainly reducing foe group sizes to 4, but also greatly reducing the sheer density of foes in the area which contribute nothing but a hard, unpleasant, and highly repetitive grind.] Morgaine 14:32, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

It's high-end content. It's supposed to be hard. Is this particular quest boring? Yes. Can it be done with one person, three heroes, and a little concentration? Also yes. Can it be done in hard mode using a boatload of cons, a summoning stone, and some abusive tactics? Again, yes. Should ANet implement a Black Beast of Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuughhhh summoning stone, instead of relying on mysterious ones? Once more, yes. –Jette 15:42, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

We know it's supposed to be "challenging", but that's not the core problem of this quest. If the 5-man group of mobs were only present in, say, a few key locations (like near the NPCs), they would still be equally hard, but much less repetitive. And there's still the problem with the over-reliance on meta hero builds, making it nearly impossible to play with buddies. If things are supposed to be challenging, the solution is easy: make the 8-man party areas harder, and give us a discount in 4-man party areas, where not everyone will have enough slots for overpowered heroes. At least, with a party of 8, I can take with me a buddy or two and still abuse the heroes. At Minister Cho's Estate, I must basically say to my buddy: we can't do it together, sorry. Minister Cho's Estate is possibly the hardest HM quest for WoC so far, and there's no reasons for it. It's not a final boss battle. It's not near the end of WoC. It's harder than everything that comes after. And the same applies to the vanquish, not only the HM quest. 217.129.113.149 18:38, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

While I agree that this quest is tedious, if you want to suggest a fix or improvement, please create an account and submit your idea officially. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 18:50, 9 December 2011 (UTC)

I have a question... WHY does it matter what Diff you do it in ....WHEN THE REWARD IS ALMOST IDENTICAL. --ilr

23:38, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

The rewards are doubled, and you have to do it make the other hard mode quests, that also have extra rewards. Also, hard mode quests are more about 'doing them for the sake of it' as a personal challenge than for the rewards. Mith

Talk 14:30, 12 December 2011 (UTC)

First, you coul use some stones like the mysterious, or better, the Shining Blade War Horn, with 4 man party those stones really make the difference. As a ranger you could bring your pet as a meat shield, while your ele buddy is not that bad, an SF nuker is always a good thing; sone useful skills are the always-good "You Move Like a Dwarf!", Ebon Vanguard Assassin Support and against their casters technobabble. If you really can't do this, just use a conset. It it softens every situation and every foe. --

Kyx 00:24, 11 December 2011 (UTC)

There's going to be some fairly major revisions to balance on most of the content that came with P1 & P2 of WoC, including the respawned explorable zones. Andrew has had a change of heart, and decided that everything should no longer be at Titan-quest level. I think most people will find going through the content less of an exercise in frustration with the new release. Apologies to the people who haven't enjoyed the content as a result of the difficulty. But for the last part, we're trying to address some common complaints - rest assured that means 8,000% more Afflicted for the ending! John Stumme 03:54, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

That's good news! I really hope that you guys will stop balancing content around discordway and 3hero setups with cons, or shadow form tanks/farms. By the way did you write the characters for WoC? Reisen the Phoenix is my favourite so far. --Boro

10:42, 3 February 2012 (UTC)

I've primarily done the dialogue for WoC, yes. I've written everything up to and including the rescue attempt of Ashu, and then all of the quests that involve Miku or Reiko after that. The next biggest contributor has been Andrew, who wrote the tengu section, as well as some other content you'll be seeing soon. All of the quest implementation and a lot of design has also been handled by Andrew - these days I'm lucky if I even have time to write text, but there will be a new blog piece going up soon. Robert has been contributing side quests, and even Joe has pitched in with writing some things, including ___ ____ _______ ___ ___ ___. John Stumme 02:01, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

You're such a tease, John. -- Armond Warblade

02:42, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

Then I have to say: Nice trolling those who liked the War in Kryta storyline. Even if it's unintentional, it's spot on. That players can't think in shades of grey, that you portrayed the mursaat as power hungry maniacs eating babies because players needed a clear enemy and that they can't think for themselves... moral of the story: don't ever have Izzy in charge. It's bad for everyone. Especially with his balance. --Boro

10:11, 4 February 2012 (UTC)

For the purpose of the story, things really need to be shades of grey. The goal has been to tell an origin story, so that people will be able to understand why Cantha is what it is by GW2's time. Because of that, there can't be an absolute villain behind everything, as that leaves two options: defeat the villain and solve the problem, or don't, and have an ending that players won't be satisfied with.

Jeff had felt that we were resolving too much in GW1's timeline, and we weren't leaving room for cool things to happen between 1 and 2. Because of that, I went with something with more ambiguity - it leaves room for more to be told. It's also why there's an "A" plot and a "B" plot that are intertwined for WoC, so that one of them can have clear development and resolution. I'm probably going to catch a lot of flak from GW1-only players for introducing various plot threads that are meant to be paid off in GW2 or extended fiction, but I'd like to think it helps the lore of the world as a whole, and gives people more to get invested with. John Stumme 19:01, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Urge to break NDA rising... rising... rising... NO MAIN VILLAIN!? What are you — . You know what, forget it. People can draw their own conclusion when it comes out. This doesn't bode well for the next chapter of GWB, though; it seems like the whole world is falling apart and any quests we finish leave us with some gold and XP, but we don't get to do anything about it. Palawa Joko takes Vabbi; we slaughter hordes of undead! Astounding victory! But don't hurt him, we can't step on his toes or he won't be there for GW2.
I've got no problem with bridging the gap between GW1 and GW2 via incomplete plots, but it'd be nice if we felt like we were able to do something. What happened to curb-stomping a god and his funny monkey, or beating up the Grim Reaper over lunch? The WiK plot was cheesy and overplayed, but it made sense -- you had a definite victory over the White Mantle and their creepy golden floaty friends (who had better be in GW2, they were cool). If Lion's Arch still sinks because some zombie dragon rolled over in his sleep, well, that's life, and it's not our fault. But what about Ascalon, which many of our characters are supposed to really care about? We've been wiping the floor with Charr for 8 years (I think... the timeline is so confusing), I don't see why Rin has to fall on our watch.
The point I'm trying to make here is the same point that those who've whined about not being able to import GW1 characters have made: it's hard to feel heroic when you lose even if you win.
tl;dr Give Dhuum a huge glowing electric guitar and have him play heavy metal when you lose. It'd be awesome. –Jette 20:28, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

There is one thing I don't understand regarding the portrayal of the player character in the latter part of current WoC story... why the melodrama regarding killing people/stuff? Suddenly the player character became preacher of peace and nonviolence, which is a big immersion breaker for me and made me go "huh??" several times. The player characters didn't flinch from purging White Mantles in Prophecies after they learned the secrets behind Blood Stone, they didn't lament on killing Kurzicks and Luxons in Factions as outsiders just to befriend their hommie faction for their artifact, and finally there was no remorse in killing the Kournans in Nightfall. Player characters have always been heroes whose might and bigger purpose defined them to be on the side of righteousness. I can understand the players can be sour about Ministry of Purity for manipulating them into doing Ministry's dirty works, but the heroes I know from previous Guild Wars story are not humanitarians. They will save lives, of course, but they do so without getting bothered by petty moral dilemma that seems to be the focus of this part of WoC story line. The Ministry has no power over player characters. It is just odd that the players kept pursuing Jade Brotherhood when it is clear such act cannot be justified. I think the general direction of the Ministry turned from good guys to bad guys is a pretty solid political set up for the story, and I hope the last part of WoC will give our player characters their heroic confident back for sake of consistency. --Kgptzac 06:00, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

(Reset indent) He never said there was no main villain, just that there wasn't a painted-black villain "behind everything". In other words, the chapters could still have finale bosses, but they won't be taking out every single leader of the enemy organization in one fell swoop of stupidity on their part.
It would seem silly not to resolve some of the... 4 plots of WoC (MoP, Miku, Tengu, Gangs). Miku will most likely get her story's end, which will probably involve Ashu's freedom and Reiko's death/redemption/exiling. Tengu won't, MoP probably won't. Gangs could, and they could include the epic boss battle. I don't think there's other plots in WoC... For now.
I really hated the closed book feeling WiK left, because it was forced to be re-opened with HotN, and it contradicted what we already knew (Lazarus liiiiives!). I feel it could have been done much better, the ending felt way too rushed and the entire order were made out to be black-as-the-abyss villains except for one guy until the end where 2 fellas no one cared for found out near the end that the White Mantle were evil and left (right..... dumb***es).
Point being: You can have final bosses without closing stories, and outright closing stories isn't always good, especially in Beyond's case since it's focused on continuing chapters. Hell, the only closing situation I can think of which effectively closed stories was the War in Kryta - with just main plots: Prophecies still left the Stone Summit and Charr situations open, Factions left it unknown what happened to Shiro along with the Kurzick/Luxon situation, Nightfall left Dhuum and Menzies, EN should be obvious, and HotN re-opened the White Mantle. Konig/talk 22:04, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

I believe the said "revision" has come, but having finished this quest again in HM I'd say it's still pretty bad. Maybe adding more guards as ally will be a quick fix to bring down the quest's difficulty in par with others. --Kgptzac 05:45, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

It's better than it was before. 4 afflicted is much easier to handle than 5; you just have to be careful that you don't overaggro. For the last peasant, take the island route so the monsters aren't between you and her. Now Tracking the Corruption, that one's still a bitch. -- Hong 05:51, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

After seeing how bad it is with 4 enemies, I can certainly imagine it's an improvement from 5. But still, it's still in need of reevaluation and reblanace. --Kgptzac 05:57, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

It's a hard mode quest, it's meant to be hard. Though this is where the idea of putting unique and wanted rewards in them to be bad. Konig/talk 11:33, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Leave my ele alone!

← moved to User talk:Ramei Arashi#Leave my ele alone!

No way, You rock!

Don't stop now. One thing you might have to take into account: If you increase an ele skill damage: you buff monster damage too, and usually by 150% of the named change due to level differences, which can make an already hardly manageable foe (since you don't have reliable elemental defenses) partywiping farm-target. On another note: PvE mesmer monster damages are quite problematic especially when they carry like 3-9 copies of clumsiness, a rupt and migraine. --Boro 18:17, 6 January 2012 (UTC)

AB this weekend had 4 american districts!

The community has been saying for long, that AB needs rewards more proportional to JQ/ FA to be alive. This weekend, with the double faction, this mostly abandoned place exploded with people and reached at least up to 4 full districts. Other casual formats don't get a boost this big on their weekends, especially for dead formats like Codex. Perhaps devs should take note of this. People DO want to play AB, when there's enough motivation! Diogo da Silva 11:28, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

No Diego you are wrong. People don't want to play AB. People want to farm other people for their title completion. AB was simply not worth the 'effort' for most. And that's pretty much the same thing in any other format. In PvP you usually play to become better than the others. It is no longer the case in gw since titles (grindables) and Zaishen Strongboxes (courtesy of John and co) were introduced, and killed motivation, sportsmanship, and generally changed all positive aspects in the pvp community to farming other players to proggress their titles. --Boro

11:51, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

That is true. RA wouldn't have so many syncers if it didn't have a title track. Still, many people want a record of their progress, and some way to measure how good they are compared with the rest. For me, something like the account-based ranking like HB had would do the trick, even if it was shared among all PVP modes. Something that tells you how often you win, representing not only your skill, but how good is the people you usually join with, something mostly for yourself to see, instead something to show others. But that won't work for many other people. Mith

Talk 14:58, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Yes, it's true that a lot of people want to farm for points/ zkeys. But it's a good thing at the game's current state, because it gives the opportunity for other players to have companions to play with. I play RA and JQ regularly, and used to play AB when it was healthy, and I always loved the fact that I could have both FUN and be rewarded for my effort. We can't make the general assumption that everyone wants to farm and farm only, just because some play those formats only to farm. And like I said, if everyone's sole purpose was to farm, other dead formats like Codex would have been busy with 4 districts during weekends too, which is not the case. Diogo da Silva 15:34, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

No. That's bad. At any state of the game. Two years ago people said the same while a much better and numerous community could have been saved. But it is never too late. Really. New people are coming to gw every day (or new characters are made), so while it would be a somewhat substantial loss to lose the syncers, smurfs, leechers and in pve speedclearers, the benefits gained from a healthy gaming community simply eclipses any possible losses, and given time the community will heal. --Boro

17:44, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Sequel :)

Sequel ? Yseron - 90.9.254.247 07:44, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Miku In Kryta

Hi John. With the post you added on the ArenaNet Blog today about Miku I started to think about the lore behind Miku and her introduction during WiK. What happened to the home she found in Kryta and how she got involved with Danthor has been left pretty open. Is there any chance that we might see what happened to Miku before we meet her (while playing as Keiran)? --Musha 06:41, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Actually it's been clear cut from the beginning, just hidden:

"I had finally found a home in Kryta. He...took that away. He branded my loved ones traitors. They were all I had left." Auspicious Beginnings

Reading between the lines: Miku's adopted family were killed under (false?) pretenses of them being enemies of Kryta (or, more specifically, the White Mantle). Konig/talk 06:55, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Konig beat me to it. From my internal timeline, Miku isn't taken in by her foster family until 1073, making her 15 at the time. That's approximately a year after the initial Afflicted attack that kills her family, and the subsequent attacks that force her to flee Kaineng.

All things considered, she's had some pretty lousy luck - but it was needed for how her character arc resolves. John Stumme 17:48, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Now that which we lacked, we have. Thank you for the timeline (and Miku's age). On a side note, I updated Miku's page to include this known-for-a-while-but-never-documented-on-her-page information so that we don't get this question (again). Konig/talk 20:23, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Here's the whole timeline if people are interested. Also, don't read this until you've finished the quest with Jinnai. Otherwise, SPOILERS.

1058 AE Miku is born.

1067 AE Ashu is born.

1072 AE The Afflicted Plague ravages Cantha. The Yuudachi family, head of the Sai Ling Order, are killed in one of the attacks. Miku and Ashu survive, but are separated in the attack. Miku is unable to find her younger brother.

1072 AE Ashu is found by Guardsman Jinnai, and is given into the care of his aunt, Reiko.

1072 AE Driven further and further from Kaineng by the Afflicted, Miku secrets herself aboard a ship heading for Lion's Arch.

1073 AE Reiko makes her first push for the people themselves to fight back against the Afflicted, using Ashu as a figurehead.

1073 AE Miku ends up in a small village in Kryta, where she is taken in by a sympathetic family, treating her as their own daughter.

1074 AE Reiko begins to rise in rank at the Ministry of Flame, and begins speaking to the public with Ashu more often.

1076 AE Reiko becomes increasingly dissatisfied with the Ministry's restrictions, and begins maneuvering to create a new branch.

1077 AE The Ministry of Purity is established, with Reiko at its head. Ashu remains a central figure, almost a symbol to the MoP.

1077 AE Guardsman Jinnai confronts Reiko about what she has become, and what she has done to Ashu. Reiko threatens Jinnai, and he disappears shortly thereafter.

1079 AE Miku's adoptive family is killed by the White Mantle. She seeks vengeance, and crosses path with Keiran. The two confront the White Mantle together.

1079 AE Miku returns to Cantha to face her past, and begins searching for her brother. Enter the player, and then things happen. John Stumme 22:54, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Oooh I love timeline stuff, thanks for all of that. While we're on the subject of Canthan dates though, would it be possible to find out when the Tengu Accords mission takes place? Sounds Risky | 23:02, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

I just realized Miku was born on the same year that Kisu's father died. Talk about coincidence. Konig/talk 20:20, 11 February 2012 (UTC)

Awesome, I love timelines, too. :D So, Miku's 21. Does a timeline exist for Zei Ri's past? Or, at the very least, what year he was born? I'm curious how old he is.--Res 01:21, 15 February 2012 (UTC)

M.O.X.

If I'm not wrong, wasn't M.O.X. initially supposed to change professions like Razah, but that idea got scrapped for the lack of technology to do that? Now that Razah can do it, I'm wondering if the team pondered about doing the same for M.O.X., or if there's any obstacle to do it, or something? Diogo da Silva 15:04, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

I don't think anything ever indicated that M.O.X. was intended to be able to change professions. I'm guessing you got such from the line of M.O.X. being "the ultimate in magic, mechanized party protection", though that doesn't imply switching professions. Konig/talk 15:09, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Nope. Mox has 6 skin. The original plus one per Avatar Form. That shows that it was designed with the Dervish profession in mind. Most Asuran golems (including those from summoning stones) are dervishes too. Mith

Talk 15:35, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Xun Rao

Now that WoC is officially over: is there a backstory to this individual? And why has he yet to appear in-game? --Falconeye 10:33, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

He's the secret shadow ruler of the Ministry. He operated behind the puppet leader of Minister Reiko because, alas, he is only 9 inches tall. –Jette 14:47, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

^ Has us figured out - he is not only our first main character as a mini, he's also the first EVIL mini. Well maybe not. I will say nothing further on the matter of Xun Rao, except that what you see (or don't see) of him is intentional. John Stumme 06:26, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Does he have something to do with Evennia? --Musha

18:38, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Clearly Xun is Evennia's other brother. Konig/talk 18:45, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Can we please at least have some closure, in regard to whether he won't turn up again until GW2 historical lore, or whether he will eventually be portrayed in later GW1 content?

(Reset indent) If I was to guess, I would say that Xun Rao is to the Guardian what Reiko is to the Mesmer : a wind of change introducing a new way of fighting. Based on the emerging MoP's philosophy revolving around high spirit (radiance), personal betterment (valor), zealous determination (zeal). Qualities anchored in virtuous concepts like justice, command and absolution (his three weapons of choice) while protected by the proverbial quill's power through edicts (wards), propaganda (symbols) and eloquent or motivational speechs (shouts).

"They (Guardians) are not tied to a particular race, philosophy, or group of gods but a larger concept of proactive defense, of taking the fight to a foe and protecting those you fight alongside..." To paraphrase some words from Jeff Grub on the guardian's genesis. Words that echo deeply with the only text/preach we have from the Ecclesiast of the Ministry of Purity : a call to arms and self-reliance divergent from the traditional ways.

Moreover, Xun Rao's title advocates for him to possess spiritual training : monk or ritualist. More the latter since we are speaking about Cantha, and many ritualists are prominent advising figures in this society (such as our dear Master Togo). And with the spreading of the paragon's teachings and embodiement of leadership roles (thinking Thackeray here, but not only), it is not so far-fetched for me to imagine him being a ritualist/paragon lore-wise and one of the pioneer/founder and... evangelist of the guardian profession. -- Leonim _{[talk·contribs]} 22:07, 20 April 2012 (UTC)

Meaning of Miku's Name

So in a discussion on Miku's Talk page you said you would tell us the meaning of her name after WoC was fully released. So now that its finished, care to share? --Musha 00:44, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Also Reiko's name's meaning please. --Musha

00:54, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Miku's name is spelled with the characters for "Beautiful Sky." The idea behind it is that it's a wide open sky of possibilities, the beauty of looking ahead at life and enjoying it. Miku's whole character arc has been centered on transitioning from being reactionary to things that have happened to her and have her mired in the past - to proactively choosing what she wants for herself, instead of what she feels obligated to do. When her brother tells her that too much has changed, that's the point of realization of the futility of living for the past: life changes, and things go forward. We can never recapture what was, we can only learn to live with what is. She understands she needs to live her own life, as he needs to live his own. She holds reasonable doubt that he may grow to be a better man, and learn from his experiences (I'd like to think that most people would afford their family members the same benefit of a doubt in real life) which is why we don't murder a child. Also, the ESRB really doesn't like that sort of thing.

Reiko's name doesn't hold any special significance. I was really stuck on a proper name for her, so I asked my good friend Kim Kirsch for a name, and Reiko is what I got. I liked the feel, so I went with it. This is pretty anticlimactic after answering the first question. XP John Stumme 06:37, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

But apparently committing xenocide on the mursaat, then hunting down many from the remnants slips past the radar, and the genocidal maniac gwen deserves her happy ending ... so... yeah whatever. If Ashu grows up into a gender switched reiko-class fanatic (an archetype you have already overused to the point of decharacterizing the Mantle and then the MoP), then we get to kill him anyway. sooo... What I would like are better villains, with actual characteristics. What Reisen has said: Start thinking in shades of grey. Give us meaningful choices, not fake ones like in the War in kryta viral campaign. There was so much potential in WiK: new PvP format, Reputation points (mantle/blade), finally fleshed out mursaat instead of... these... fake - for the lack of better words - ones with saturday morning villain lines you ppl @ the live team created (ok it was mostly Linsey's fault). I don't mean to be offensive but you can do better, and I think you should. So please put more thought into the villains. --Boro

08:50, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

The ratings people care about sex, drugs, children, and words appearing on George Carlin's list of things you can't ever say on TV. Horrible torture, dismemberment, genocide, psychopathic adventurers, and the ever-popular "chunking" graphic are PG at worst. It's kind of strange: they can censor a movie depicting some jerk blowing up fourth graders with a mailbag full of pipe bombs, but they can't censor an instructional video which teaches you how to make one. Apparently, fictional violence is far scarier than the real kind.

I love the art for Reiko, by the way. The eyes are the best part, she looks completely psychotic. I can't decide whether she wants to kill me, recruit me, or slash off my clothes and ride me to death. That's the kind of look you usually only see in people who've taken massive amounts of PCP just before you walked into the room, and they've completely severed all connection with reality so their mind is on the astral plane or something, and you've got to try and fast-talk your way out of the there because she's going to blow your goddam brains out if you so much as blink wrong. This is why I no longer accept invitations to my friends' homes. –Jette 11:35, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Since I've argued for why the WM and MoP are different on many occasions already, I'll just say this to you Boro: the White Mantle and Ministry of Purity are different in its roots (motivations, leader(s), and even who the grunts are), even if similar in their actions. Konig/talk 12:05, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

I think Reiko was a discarded character for generic Female Khorne Bererkers from Warhammer 40k. She could just as well sing MAIM KILL BURN in half of her lines and the character wouldn't be different. She's a prime Chaos Cultist and so must burn as such heretics usually do. The WM and MoP are unfortunately very similar in their 'development', as both start off with good intentions (saving kryta from the charr when the royal family turned tail and run/cleaning up the afflicted) then start having b ad leadership, and you have to stop them in the end. They both utilize brainwashing to different degrees, and they both have the general competence of a saturday cartoon monster of the week (which is not too much), or more precisely the IQ of a chair. The only improvement in WoC is that unlike in WiK, where the white mantle default to bad/veryverybad for no apparent reason other than Izzy being in charge (a fact which I find ironic), and the shining blade default to verygood. Never mind that the mantle had no problems with Salma living her life as a priestess...

In WoC the am fah and JB, while being generic street villains, slowly become protagonists of the story, and this means in John's book that they deserve characterization, and just after many have slaughtered hundreds of mantle because they were forced to if they wanted the 'gon hero, they (the players) get a slap on the face for going through the fucking railroad War in Kryta storyline is. Nevermind the fact that WiK gameplay is horrible and full of trial-and-error/tomato surprise encounters, and WoC is already infamous for the huge mess that is/was Minister Cho's Estate.

And no, Jette. I don't reason with chaos. I kill them at every doorstep. Because I am the Scythe, the bringer of Salvation! And I shall cut down the unbelievers. DEATH TO THE FALSE QUEEN! --Boro

16:36, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

(Reset indent) When going to such generals, yes they're similar. I disagree on the line about Reiko's dialogue - the whole point of her having power is that she's a motivational speaker. The issue is that we just don't see 99.99% of this motivating speaking (we see her speak once - after she's becoming a bit tyranical). The difference in leadership is that the White Mantle, ignoring Saul, began with the intent of oppression (Mursaat and Dorian, let alone Isaiah), and ruled from the beginning with lies (even lies to the leader from the "gods"); the Ministry of Purity is led from start to end of WoC by an ambitious person who is tired of the slowness of the bureaucracy and is eventually driven power mad (or so that's how I interpret it).
The White Mantle never brain washed, they just outright tricked people. The Ministry did brain washing in a non-literal sense, but through motivating (blinding people with "for the good of the people!"). The White Mantle never claimed to be doing things for the good of the people other than what Saul did (hell, they bloody gave pendants as an excuse to not help the poor!) - this is the complete opposite of the Ministry of Purity who'd (claimed to) go after the threats to the people (which began as true).
Arguing beyond this is obviously pointless though (I won't argue that WiK didn't have its falisies - I agree that the WM were painted too black, due to the lack of dissidents from the group, and I won't argue that WoC didn't either - hell, I could pick it apart at the seams thanks to Part 3, but it's not as bad as you claim and I can tell that arguing with you any further would be pointless so this is my last retort. Konig/talk 17:00, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

I would've happily taken Reiko as a hero. Maybe getting thrashed around a bit could have bruised her ego and made her more pliable to reeducation. Failing that there's always the ol' icepick lobotomy, which would be interesting to perform just to see what it does to a mesmer. –Jette 17:22, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Maybe the hope I had where taking Miku, Reiko, and Ashu as heroes--a big family reunion with their differences resolved--is just inconsistent with the theme in GW xD (or because giving us 3 heroes is too much reward :3 but we really do need a new mesmer hero!)

Anyway, I do feel there's a bit too much overlap between the nature of MoP and WM, though compare to WM, MoP's (or rather, Reiko's) rise and fall is given a bit more polish. --Kgptzac 21:41, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Role of Emperor Kisu in WoC

MoP caused pretty much a civil unrest that threatens the empire's relationship with Luxons and Kurzicks. It does not make sense for the Emperor to not appear in the story. --Kgptzac 23:07, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

Nor does it make sense for the Shiro'ken to be said to still exist yet not be focused on at all, nor does it make sense for the Crimson Skull to appear out of no where despite their camps being overrun with scavengers and no mention of them (especially since the MoP are after threats to Cantha, and the Crimson Skull is definitely a threat), nor does it make sense that the Obsidian Flame are no where to be found. I could go on, but WoC wasn't a full fledged expansion so it's to be expected some elements are left forgotten. Konig/talk 23:54, 12 February 2012 (UTC)

We put in as much as we could with the time that we had. Some content did not make the cut, and some inconsistencies are the product of coming from more than one writer. There have been takeaways from it, if nothing else.

The Emperor being left out is a deliberate choice - mention is made that he has not been in the best state since his loss, and it has made him ineffectual. The focus is heavily on the MoP and the consequences of their actions because I wanted to instill the thought of: when the next Emperor comes to power, what is the climate of the people going to be like? What kind of person would that thinking breed? The Ministry of Purity's effects weren't truly meant to be felt during this time frame, it's more the changes in thinking that they brought about and how those get passed down that is their legacy. Much in the same way that here in the United States, slavery is absolutely unthinkable - but that's only true because people began to acknowledge it is as wrong, and passed that on to future generations, abolishing it into an inconceivable act. John Stumme 06:24, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Perhaps too much focus had put been on the MoP, so much that you've forgotten about the Obsidian Flame guild. This has really resulted in several inconsistencies. From Nika, "She is wholly dedicated to only two things—avenging her ancestor Vizu and protecting the Empire of the Dragon." So where was she when the Empire's need was dire?

From Kiishen, "It is no secret that the Am Fah and we of the Obsidian Flame despise one another..." So where was the Obsidian Flame during the Raid on Kaineng Center? Where were they when the Am Fah swarmed The Marketplace during the Tracking the Corruption quest? This matters to me most because I've been anticipating the guild's involvement in WoC long before it was first released (I've also imagined that if I could join any official/NPC guild, it would've been them). So other than the fact that WoC has been extremely hard for me even in NM (considering I only own Factions and as such have limited skills & no heroes), this has been very disappointing. If the Obsidian Flame was absolutely nowhere to be seen in WoC, then they're as good as extinct. 220.255.1.127 07:29, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Most of the obsidian flame seppukued after the initial round of nerfs to Shadow Prison. Something about life not being worth living anymore. Nika got a job as a size-zero runway model for the Ministry outfits. –Jette 07:49, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Hey John, thanks for the reply. I see what you mean now, and I hope there can just be more evidence of that in the quest text, etc, to show the players that the Emperor is ineffectual after death of Togo, as I feel the quest text in its current form leaves the question unanswered. I guess that leads to the next question... will there be more reiteration on WoC content, such as fixing those inconsistencies, and perhaps another daily "Watned" just like the Shining Blade ones? :p --Kgptzac 21:25, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

It's GW:BEYOND. Get used to inconsistencies and start using brain bleach on a regular schedule. Or consider lobotomization into a servitor. It's give or take 1.5-2.2 months before gw2, and only then will arenanet higher ups notice that there is a metric crapton of stuff, errors, inconsistency to fix, and in the worst case neither GW or GW2 will leave a nice and polished impression in players. BTW mursaat>asura --Boro

15:19, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

What happens next?

**WoC Spoiler Alert!**

So we got rid of Reiko and now Ashu is taking charge of the Ministry of Purity. He says he's going to try to lead it in the right direction, but we know that by the time of GW2, all non-humans have been banished from Cantha. Does this mean that Ashu continues to lead the people of Cantha in the same direction as Reiko? --Musha

02:46, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

And you think there's going to be any kind of answer for this before GW2? Ha! ~Farlo

Talk 06:36, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

Or maybe Ashu does try to work for a better Cantha in a different direction, but the secret tiny mastermind prevents that, teaching Usoku to hate all who don't agree with him and turn him into a second Yian Zho. Konig/talk 12:07, 13 February 2012 (UTC)

So what was the point of this expansion if everything that happened is for nothing at all? MoP comes to power and changes cantha, player characters run around and fail to make a difference, why did they spend the resources on this? 69.116.18.247 16:27, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

They did make a difference. They saved people. These people were witnesses of what really happened, so t won't be forgotten. Mith

Talk 19:29, 26 February 2012 (UTC)

End of WoC, and now ?

Hi John ! First of all, I really want to thank you about this amazing job in the third part of WoC ! This final act is just magic ! But now, I have a very large number of Ministerial Commendation and I don't really know what can I do : should I wait for a HoM update with Imperial Weapons adding, or can I just take Imperial Guard Lockbox in exchanging Imperial Guard Requisition Order ? Joeyw 16:49, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Get the weapons you like and trade the rest for stuff we have enough copies of already. Srsly john What were you thinking??! --Boro

18:18, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

HoM update

So now that the Winds of Change story arc is done and Guild Wars 2 is right at the door (so to speak), are we gonna get a Hall of Monuments update anytime soon? We now have three heroes with no statues (which is just frustrating because I have 29 statues and I want the last reward point) and a bunch of weapons which would look nice on display (there's plenty of buffer here but I'm sure many wouldn't mind). I really hope that this is high on your priority list, I would at least like to see Keiran's statue, we've been waiting on it (and his alternative armors) for ages now. » Keneth O'Connor, 13:19, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

This was answered on Joe Kimmes' talk page yesterday. Konig/talk 14:48, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Thanks, though I can't say I'm thrilled about the answer. I can't imagine what the higher priority things are on their list, considering the fact that a sizable portion of the playerbase is gonna be migrating to the sequel soon. One would think they'd wanna give us as many ways to rack up those reward points as possible before the release. »

Keneth O'Connor, 18:45, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Ele update 2.0 i expect and more skill updates such as the paragon. Da Mystic Reaper 19:15, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Higher priority? Probably everything on this list, which they announced will be released. Content and skill balances for a game that won't be dying once GW2 is more important than adding additional means to fill something that's already completable. In the time it took for them to get Keiran, Miku, and Zei into the HoM (even as high priority), you could have gotten that last hero armor/pet. Fun fact: GW2 isn't high priority for the GW1 team. I don't think it's a priority at all beyond making sure their new content doesn't contradict GW2 things. Konig/talk 19:56, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

It's not that I can't get the last hero in a matter of minutes, it's that I refuse to on principle because I hate that hero and I have 3 perfectly good ones sitting around. Call me stubborn but I am not willing to accept that in the course of more than one year, adding one hero to HoM was too much for their workload. I've heard all of the excuses and as a game designer myself, I simply find all of it ridiculous because as I see it, it takes one static object model (for the statue), a few lines of code in the game and from the web team to update the calculator and that should be it unless they wanna add new armors or if each individual statue gets something in GW2 (but looking at it, it appears to be just a total count).

And although I'm sure the game won't die after GW2 is released, a huge chunk of the population is gonna start playing GW2. Because let's face it, most of the GW playerbase is now only active in order to 1) obtain reward points for GW2, 2) see the game before GW2 release (in case of new players), or 3) participate in events to get more stuff (generally in order to rack up more reward points). Even major updates like WoC only grab the attention of the community for a couple of weeks, especially when their hard-earned rewards have no long-term benefit. I can appreciate the fact that the current Live Team's focus is the game for which they're responsible for but Hall of Monuments is part of that game and it's what a lot of the players care about most right now. Sure, it'd be nice to see a Paragon skill update (although I don't see how the Elementalist got priority over that one since they didn't really need an update, there were plenty of Eles running around perfectly happy), but ignoring the huge pink elephant in the room isn't really making anyone ecstatic. »

Keneth O'Connor, 10:55, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

(Reset indent) For the live team, I'd say you're right, except that they don't have an artist - every new model comes from taking time off of GW2. Furthermore, with the constant work on GW2, the web design team would also be busy - for instance, back in October I sent a message to one of the PR (I think it was Regina) about an error in the video downloads for some of the skill and race videos that I found - she told me that they were aware and for some time but that they were busy with higher priority items. Four months later it still isn't fixed.
In essence, while it might be simple for them to do these things, they have higher priority things - namely, making Guild Wars 2 - than to expand the HoM. If you don't want to get that last hero armor then I'm sorry but you have no one to blame but yourself. Anet has no obligation to make things easier for you or others, and quite frankly I'd rather see the skeleton crew that is the Live Team work on new content or balances (to either skills or content) than to make something already completable easier. Konig/talk 15:02, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Bittersweet

First off, once again, excellent job on part 3. And with the re-balancing of part 1 and 2, I've finally been able to progress in HM past MC's estate, allowing me to re-experience all that content. However I am deeply saddened by the additional uses of Ministerial commendations, seeing as when I asked you last you told me to go ahead and use them so I did, and am now 30 short of what I would've had. I can't really be mad at you since I'm sure you didn't intend to switch it up on us like that, but I am still fairly saddened and would appreciate the addition of Wanted style quest if that's not too much to ask. Once again, good job on the content, had a blast fighting Reiko --Indigo121 17:21, 18 February 2012 (UTC)

Excellent job? I beg to differ. --Boro

08:53, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Some elaboration is required.

elix Omni 15:59, 28 February 2012 (UTC)

Quality of content is a subjective issue. I liked it and have made a point of telling him so on all three parts because I feel that the content don't speak up enough compared to the discontent. Felix, its not on the page now, but back when part 1 came out I asked Stumme if we would ever see a use for mini comms besides the purity weps and he told me to go ahead and use them.--Indigo121 03:02, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

← moved to User talk:Borotvaltgandalf#Bittersweet

Sigh. Please ignore him Mr. Stumme. I miss the days of you responding to us on the wiki, but with people like him around here, I can understand why you left. Maybe if i built a giant floating sphere, filled it with all the Boros around here, and then sent it crashing into the landscape you would come back...--Indigo121 03:23, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

I'm afraid to say that such a sphere would be too large. Best send it into the sun. Konig/talk 06:35, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Please reserve your comments for edits, not editors.

elix Omni 11:06, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

Oh you puny little mortals. I'll be back. In a much more sophisticated manner, without the raging fits that are usually seen on me when I think about the Live Team's recent accomplishments... --Boro

16:44, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

My apologies, simply couldn't resist the Final Fantasy XIII reference that no one got because I'm the only person in the world that liked that game--Indigo121 01:01, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

For reference's sake, my prolonged absences don't have anything to do with people or comments here. It's really just a result of how much time I actually have to spend keeping up with it, these days. I have some things that are pretty demanding of my attention, so nowadays putting my feet up/smoking cigars has to happen in meeting rooms, and not at my desk. John Stumme 19:53, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

What about now?

With Andrew out, has the Live Team got smaller, or do you have a new guy working there? And how's that going to reflect future updates? Diogo da Silva 18:42, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

A while ago (at least), there was a position for a live team designer on Anet's job listings. So the position might have been/is expected to be filled. Konig/talk 19:27, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Why??? ...look I'm not being negative here when I point out that there's only been 3-1/2 chapters of content to actually buy for this game, expected to spread over a 7 year period? That works out to like $20 a year in revenue per person at retail price which no one's payed in years either... Resources have to come from somewhere and when they don't ya shift departments around. I hope Stumme can get back to work on Gw2 as well and really soon. (for the sake of memes!) --ilr

08:40, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

And your entire argument would be turned upside down if Anet put a more figures on the team so that they can make sellable content again (hopefully bigger than the BMP but you gotta fight somewhere). There's only minimal income because they allowed there to be minimal income. Konig/talk 16:12, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

It's never that simple. ANet is a legal entity working for a much larger legal entity that happens to be based in Starcraft land, and thanks to the magic of creative bookkeeping, they're still making money after all these years. I think if the answer was "hire moar artists/programmers/designers/etc!!!" they'd just do it. I tried to hire a maid to clean my room once; aside from the sexual harassment suit that was brought against me for forcing her to wear one of those ridiculous outfits, I had to go through eighty-five pages of paperwork just to say I'd toss her a couple bucks a week to keep my den of evil from getting too filthy.

Also, you have to live in Bellevue or one of the other ANet hotspots. I wouldn't mind tinkering with armor and drawing half-dressed women for ANet, but I'm not packing my crap and moving to a new time zone just to do it. –Jette 19:49, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

Hiring is simpler than something they already had to do (hiring)? Interesting. /sarcasm mode off. What I meant was that because they left a skeleton crew for GW1, GW1 cannot get new products. If they left a little bit more, then GW1 could have continued getting BMP-sized content going. There was never a need to hire, nor is there now. Just redistributing resources that they already have would be enough - as it stands, the live team has to borrow people from the GW2 team in order to get content, but what if those people they constantly borrow worked on GW1 full time? In a company of 200+ (iirc), 3 or 4 people won't make that big of an impact (save for during the rush prior to release deadline, which will now be upcoming in the next few months - hopefully). Konig/talk 21:39, 25 February 2012 (UTC)

← moved to Boro's talk page

Phantoms, Clones & Summoned Creatures

Are Reiko's phantoms and clones during The Final Confrontation considered summoned creatures (both mechanically and/or lore) in gw1? Was this intentional? And are they considered to be minions, spirits, asuran summons, or new/other category? --Falconeye 20:37, 4 March 2012 (UTC)

Technically, they're illusions, the same as the Mesmer Skills in GW2. Think along the lines of if "Conjure Phantasm" appeared to actually conjure a phantasm and not just place a Hex on someone. Hope that helps! John Stumme 19:43, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

That answers the question for what they are in lore, but not what family and army they are, which is more of what Falconeye was after. Konig/talk 20:37, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

April Fools Day

Please, bring back Corporal Bane, the Moahawk, and the Annihilator Golem quest again for this years April Fools Day event. The quest was LOTS of fun! *Malganis Frostmourn* 12.106.72.10 17:40, 12 March 2012 (UTC)

The future is a tricky thing, especially where time travel is concerned. Knowing that, I can't say for certain what's going to happen. John Stumme 19:39, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

For your consideration, MisterB's suggestion for a proposed April 1st quest is hilarious. ^_^ --Falconeye 22:06, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

Many thank yous to John, Robert, and the rest of the live team for another fun April Fools Day quest. I especially loved the references to other things in the game, such as Rurik. *Malganis Frostmourn* 12.106.72.10 18:39, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

You can't say what is or is not going to have happened? Makes sense to me. – Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 22:28, 29 March 2012 (UTC)

OMG, they really made a reality of "that 7-s February suggestion"! Hilarious!--193.105.40.18 11:29, 2 April 2012 (UTC)

← moved to Boro's talk page

April Fool's Redux

Please bring the quests back for the rest of the week, I didn't get the chance to play them yet. --Musha 04:08, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

agreed: are there technical-limitation reasons why Canthan New Year and other major/minor events do not last nearly as long as Halloween/Wintersday? --Falconeye 16:10, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Hell yeah, I didn't get to play them even once! Removing them that early is plain silly

Future Updates

After Winds of Change, there will be "things people are going to be surprised by" that the Live Team will not currently discuss. Part 3 was fun, good ending to that story arc. Now that we're past that, any chance you can start talking about this? 70.92.10.102 01:14, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

I don't like surprises. I finally got my Paragon and Ranger teams to something resembling "Efficient" in HardMode without running Imba builds. Continued development on class updates would probably just screw that up and force me to re-learn everything about them. Also; GW2 needs Robert.... he understands us, unlike Izzy. --ilr

06:09, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Wrong: Izzy understands game balance. He just didn't care about guild wars 1. --Boro

08:14, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Rangers and paragons need to be updated, regardless (and especially because) of how hard one person or another have to work to make a build that is above mediocrity. Anyways, I can't wait for the next content for GW: Beyond. I've enjoyed WoC a lot, even after a rather monotonous start (it was not that bad because I was playing with friends, and the rewards ended up mattering once part 3 came out), and to be honest, the thing I've liked the most about it was its narrative style, both in presentation (world-changing events) and believability/ complexity. I don't care about cliche-driven bland fantasy tales, but when Cantha started to actually deal with complex issues, when we given differing points of views and had the opportunity to see through them all and contribute to a few of them, and when the world (the maps) seamlessly changed to reflect that, Cantha felt a breathing, living world. Tell us, Mr. Stumme, will the next chapter for Beyond take this storytelling style? I would love an Ebowhake/ ascalon chapter that would feel this alive, what with the threats of Charr everywhere, and the conflicting Ascalonian/ Krytan relationship! Diogo da Silva 12:19, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Let's see some skill updates (ele update 2 and paragon update) before any new GWB content. I would rather see a better balance between the professions than new content. Da Mystic Reaper 12:56, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I also want to see the second ele update first (maybe because I'm an... ele :P), and I do think skill updates are as important (and exciting) as new content. But I think the live team usually works on both simultaneously, is that right? Diogo da Silva 13:21, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm all in for balance improvements, but please don't break the game with one huge update: break it into smaller chunks so the introduction is both more gradual, and the issues that pop up are easier to root out. Since it took you 2 months to finetune the dervish after it's big overhaul, and gameplay suffered greatly in those months, I think you understand why I ask. --Boro

14:10, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Not to mention the mesmer update. Seeing how the ele update has been split into 2 updates i do believe they have learned from past mistakes, what bothers me is the time between the 2 updates. Well after that i believe it would indeed be best to fix the lack of balance between the professions first since it would improve gameplay by alot for the remaining time there is left. The second thing i would like to see is an elimination of the rank discrimination in PvP so it becomes fun again for everyone and not just the elitists, let them enjoy themselves with GvG. Da Mystic Reaper 14:23, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Not to mention that if new content is produced before major skill balances, all that new content then could gain obsolete builds, just as everything prior to Eye of the North content (arguably even including EN content) has. It'd be more effective to do the balancing first - at least of what remains for major skill updates - before producing new content (though I'd say reworking all the anciently old skill bars from Prophecies and Factions' eras, at least, are also required). Konig/talk 16:26, 5 April 2012 (UTC)r

at some GM chatter some days ago, a GM told me that we're going to love the B-day celebs. that's all I can tell. --

The Holy Dragons 16:57, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Why do I get the feeling that most ppl who replied here didn't even read the thoughts box?? --ilr

20:34, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

(Reset indent) It's possible some haven't *cough IP cough*, but I at least have. My post was in long-term, since GW isn't being abandoned (unlike the ilr on Guru2 implied - which it seems Stumme noticed). It is obvious that the next thing we'll get is the 7th anniversary stuff, and then it'll just be skill balances and bug fixes (though I doubt they'll produce major skill balances) until GW2's release. Konig/talk 21:52, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I actually didn't read it until you guys pointed it out. o.o Diogo da Silva 22:36, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

No idea but i'm sure we all read it before we started this topic. Da Mystic Reaper 21:25, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm not sure if this is derailment or not, but I don't think that Rangers are underpowered. Me and my friend Grasping Ghoul went to Lornar's pass yesterday, he as a ranger with dshot, apply, hunter and the rest as beast mastery skills, me as an ether prodigy nuker with shower, fireball and immolate for damage, hbreeze and Heal Other for healing, Deep freeze and armor of mist for utility. his pet tanked everything, he spred poison and bleeding, dshotted healsigs, and when I needed to nuke I nuked, or gave some support to the pet who eats frost wurms for breakfast if I give him breeze. His armor was from Bergen Hot Springs and he had no elites. he can solo a lot of places. Don't see why rangers would be weak. Especially when they get a warrior w 105 AL and 20 dmg reduction for 3 skills. --Boro

21:21, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

So he spread degeneration and d-shots around and used a pet as tank, but what more can a ranger do in PvE. When it comes to raw damage they are completely outclassed. Pets are only useful for tanking and the skills designed to deal damage drain away energy even with high expertise. They lack a good IAS as well since Rapid Fire is a preperation or are forced to use Expert's Dexterity. And when you sum up the usable skills in both PvE and PvP it isn't that much out of all of the skills the ranger has. The ranger has the same problem as the dervish had in the past, it's still good and effective to play but only because of a handful of skills the rest of them are useless. Da Mystic Reaper 22:23, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

A dedicated pet build can do over 100 dps, sustainably with that one skill that gives energy if the foe has a condition. It can be a bit less when they have to change targets often, since their AI is so slow to update, but they can certainly deal a lot of damage. I otherwise agree that the ranger has few real options. Manifold

23:15, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

There is obviously the barrager and it's variants (b/p comes to mind), Volley and variants, some apply based degen spread, incendiary with preparations, beast tanker with any of the above, pure beastmaster, bunny thumper, escape daggers, axe thumper, sword ranger... these are quite a lot to me. --Boro

10:00, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Barrage and Volley are basicly the same builds so no much difference in those 2. Apply Poison is always based around the same play-style, degeneration, only a few differences but none that really alter it. Incendiary is the only one that allows variations since it can support degeneration as well as damage be it either with Kindle Arrows or Incendiary Arrows..or be a part of the Apply Poison builds wich it often is (in the cases Burning Arrow isn't used). Beast tanker is also a good example but pure beast master is inferior to all of the above. Then comes the following problem wich further proves the lack of good skills the ranger has, and thats a whole load of builds that rely on attack skills from secondary professions. You mentioned axe, sword, daggers and even hammer with the thumper, only thing you forgot is the scythe. Now the following problem is the lack of diversity of the bow builds you mentioned. Barrage has it's focus on AoE damage either buffed with Splinter Weapon or one of the conjures from the elementalist, Volley does exactly the same but leaves room for an elite and thats it. Incendiary Arrows also has it's focus on AoE damage like Barrage and Volley do and can be used in an identical way but it gives you the option for a preperation be it with Ignite Arrows wich acts nearly identical to Splinter Weapon or Kindle Arrows wich acts identical to the conjures. The last preperation it is seen with is Apply Poison making it part of the apply builds, and truthfully besides Incendiary Arrows the only elite Apply Poison is seen with is Burning Arrow. Only the beast master builds play in a different way. The non-bow builds just mimic the style of other professions and are not the ranger's own. You may have mentions alot of builds but from the ranger's own the differences are very few. Da Mystic Reaper 12:03, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

And that's exactly the same variability other professions already have: Mesmer is either panic or inept, a warrior is tanky, Kd, or damaging (By your logic swords HBlades and axe damage spammer should be identical. Monks with HB, UA (identical) or some prot focusing on removals (Ls or pnh), Ele either nukes or goes home, Sin either farms or deals tons of single-target damage, why should rangers be different. They have their niches but will never outtank the fragile sins, outdamage the sins or eles, outdisrupt the mesmers and so on. And that's perfectly fine. --Boro

13:30, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

Mesmers are domination or illusion, at which they then can have panic, energy surge, psychic instability, ineptitude and shared burden, when it comes to heroes. Players also have a unique build around Fevered Dreams, and another around Keystone Signet. Basically, mesmers can offer massive aoe rupting, massive aoe damage, massive aoe anti-spellcasting, massive aoe anti-physical, and/ or massive AoE KD, with extremely fast casting times and recharge times. They're very diversified disruptive-nuking machines. What are rangers in comparison? They either spam Barrage/ Volley, which must be sided with Conjures or Splinter Weapon, and then all they can do is damage; or they mimic other professions. An update would probably make traps viable, spirits viable, and some AoE rupting and AoE beastmastery for PvE. Diogo da Silva 13:45, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

And not forgetting that the warrior and the monk like the ranger still need to be updated. Warrior maybe more than monk though since the monk can play HB/UA, Healing Burst and Word of Healing (i agree roughly the same builds with different elites). I'd say players are better for protting and an combine healing and protting quite well. For the build of the monk it just depents on the area and wich foes the team is facing. Da Mystic Reaper 14:01, 7 April 2012 (UTC)

I would argue Monk needs more work than most. All I ever see these days in PvE are Smiter's Boon smite monks, which party heal and are about as effect as a healing monk, but with damage. Also, from a healing/prot stand point, I find Ritualist primary or seconday are better suited to both, with Necro or Ele primary for specific builds. ST rit, SoLS N/Rt healer, N/Mo Protter, E/Mo ER protter, etc. I don't even bother with a healing monk or a prot monk because it can be done more effectively with other professions. Even a P/Rt shouts + resto can be just as effective as a healing monk in many circumstances. Monk needs the update, since Rt > Mo for most applications... 70.92.10.102 22:50, 9 April 2012 (UTC)

Happy Belated Birthday 2012

^ 2.223.229.5 20:05, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

WoC Part 3 Encounters

Hi John, Thanks for all the hard you and the live team placed into Winds of Change. I have a question regarding encounters. I have only found 3 encounters in Part 3 of WoC. Are there more or am I missing something. Been searching pretty heavily. Thanks.Dero Ahmonati 21:55, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Uhh have you checked out this very wiki? It's been documented well. --Boro

06:03, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

Actually, if you take note on Winds of Change encounters, there isn't a single Part 3 encounter documented - the last one documented requires A Treaty's a Treaty which is, of course, from Part 2. 06:09, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

I located four encounters and I'm slowly placing them on the wiki. 142.179.24.246 20:20, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Glint

← moved to Boro's talk page

WoC quest changes

Hi John, I remember reading somewhere that once WoC's final update went live, some of the Cleansing quests would be changed so that they would become optional instead of mandatory parts of the whole story. Now part 3's up and thoroughly discussed, but as far as I can see, all Cleansing quests are still required for story completion. Is there any plan to still make that change at a later date? And on a WoC-related note, are there any plans to make Initiate Zei Ri more accessible as a hero? And by that I mean that really NO ONE was waiting for yet another useless melee hero (i.e. Miku) but a lot of people were probably looking forward to another Rit hero because they would probably actually end up using it... if it didn't require slogging through the entirity of WoC HM, anyway. (I did it once, it was pretty mind-numbingly boring and quite possibly the stupidest ever requirement for obtaining a hero in the history of GW.) So... is there any possibility that Zei Ri's requirements will be given some more thought and made less inane at a later date? -- Elv 10:35, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

Redundancy

I believe the xunlai bakers are redundant since The Scribe estabilished that there is the Fraternal Order of Bakers and Brewers. Don't make everything xunlai and for the love of all that's holy don't trash the original gw lore! More guilds, diverse mentalities and complex characters make a game immersive. Seeing everything as either Xunlai or Zaishen does not. --Boro 19:55, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

I want to both agree and note that they were mentioned in the update notes of last years' anniversary... and was never seen in real lore (aka in-game or some in-universe tale in update notes). Edit: Also, as far as I know, the Fraternal Order of Bakers and Brewers were only in charge of Thanksgiving weekend treats in lore... I think there was an NPC mentioning who made birthday cupcakes in game though, will check. Konig/talk 21:14, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Edit2: It wasn't in game, but the Scribe no less! Second Birthday Celebration#The Scribe's Tale - "These celebratory cupcakes have been baked by Imperial Chef Tian, the creator of Canthan Truffle Delight, the dessert created for the Celestial Pig during the Canthan New Year festival." Xunlai stole Tian's job! Konig/talk 21:17, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Allow me to note that the reception of the xunlai bakery has been.. rather negative back then. I'd honestly prefer those elite bakers renamed. As for the future, I really think John should do some lore-digging before he so carelessly disregards all the previous work of the writers - in an official addition no less - just like he did in WoC with the Obsidian Flame.

Edit: I see. Then maybe the warm-hearted disciples of that magnificent chef (and maybe the fraternal order got the recipe too - could be a cool quest tho) surely deserve more mention than the cold profit-minded xunlai. --Boro

21:32, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

The Obsidian Flame's lack of appearance isn't a disregard, probably more of an oversight or one of the story plots that didn't get implemented that Stumme talked about before. Konig/talk 22:10, 24 April 2012 (UTC)

Have you considered that the Xunlai may have acquired them, after several mysterious accidents with catering establishments of diffrent kinds being burned by Fire Drakes? They could have also hired the Celestial bakers in exclusivity. Nothing like some good ol'monopoly making. Mith

Talk 00:12, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Yeah it sounds plausible, but why do they bother with the cakes? They could act as retailers if you absolutely want them to deal with cakes, but why bother when there is a guild based on baking. With this mentality the warlike zaishen could be dealing in fluffy animal toys. It makes about as much sense as the elite xunlai bakery agent. --Boro

05:07, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

I'd move this section to your talk page with the other inane bitching, but I'm too lazy to do that much cut and pasting. Whining about trivialities like this is past anal, it's just stupid. If you really want to do it, do it on Guru where they have threaded posts that can be completely ignored, instead of talk pages that have to be moved around. –Jette 05:29, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

As a hard working Xunlai Baker I don't appreciate your lack of gratitude. It's not easy to lug around one of those giant magical chests, ensure all the monsters of Tyria have a bounty of festival goods to drop AND feed the hounds of Balthazar! Those guys eat a lot! A little gratitude would go a long way! 58.106.134.180 05:34, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Form a union. –Jette 05:45, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Honestly I'm not against giving them credit when credit is due (I still remember the huge number of agents standing defiantly against the bone-bleaching winds of the crystal desert), I just voice my displeasure with what I believe to be a terrible decision both lore-wise and in being a possible waste of art assets. And to the IP 58 I think giving the credit to those brave agents feeding the local monsters sounds fun. It could be a cool side quest. I might make a suggestion for it. But honestly why would the burdened agent go through all the troble when others have proven themselves in that field? Excuse my 'inane bitching' but that makes no sense to me. --Boro

05:58, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

I always thought the monsters ate all the prizes, and you found them before they had time to fully digest. I suppose it's equally possible they ate the delivery people and kept the prizes. –Jette 06:24, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Considering what some xunlai have been through, this would make them no better than the Dorian-izzy-era mantle... It somewhat explains why there are no live bakery agents to this day. Anyway we can discuss it further on my talkpage or a suggestion page. --Boro

06:30, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Okay, I was damn certain I made a comment earlier... I brought this up and got from a dev that the lore is that Tian made the recipe but obviously one man cannot make enough for the three continents so he has other bakers help him out and the Xunlai also help distribute. The Xunlai are a wide-purpose group with multiple branches - we previously seen their gambling house, and of course their banking, and (my own words) if you read the update notes carefully... it never says the Xunlai were the originator of the cupcakes but it simply says that bakers of the Xunlai distribute them (and distributing definitely falls into their line of work).

Also, I was informed that there is one Elite Xunlai Bakery Agent in game - though the game is crashing for me upon trying to load the latest update (remembering something, I think restarting my computer fixed that in the past... so I'll be logging in tomorrow maybe), he's named "Elite Xunlai Agent Isa Ku" and is - according to Robert Gee - the brother of Zha Ku. And as for monsters getting them (own words again): some are eating, some are not, I'm sure. We know some are thanks to The Scribe though. Konig/talk 08:08, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

Beyond

Is there going to be a storyline of beyond in Nightfall?, i thought i read somewhere on the wiki there was, (but i can't remmember where). And if so, will it involve Komir?, Her story sort of dropped after she became a God, and that wasn't the greatest ending, by now, she should have or start having all of her domains under control again. Maybe the gw team could make quest chains similar to WiK to follow along cleaning up the Tormented Realm. Maybe Palawa Joko could have dealings with the "bad guys", or something. Other than that, great job in gw beyond, (although, Rescue at Minister Cho's Estate could be easier). Hope there will be more addition to gw1, and not sorta let it drop because gw2 is coming out. Great job. --Thon Ghul Talk 17:35, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Let's see the skill balances first before GWB continues. A proper balance between all of the professions is something that that should have priority. Besides what use are those builds in GWB gonna be if they end up outdated when the skill updates would come after it. Da Mystic Reaper 18:23, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

You probably read about it at Upcoming changes and features#Future updates and/or Guild Wars Beyond#Future updates. --Silver Edge 20:19, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, thats the spot i was looking at silver...I guess i agree with you reaper, but im still anxious for that next part >_>. --Thon Ghul

Talk 00:10, 29 April 2012 (UTC)

7th Year Birthday Presents

I just want to ask, is there a mini, or multiple minis in the 7th year present that are new minis? Or perhaps you meant that the "rare" mini(s) are obtainable elsewhere, but this 7th year present can also yield the same mini(s). I just wanted to find out what you meant, because usually people have found out stuff like that by now, and I'm surprised they haven't. --Lustre Of Havoc 話 06:27, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Yea, I guess John doesn't come to the wiki anymore... --Lustre Of Havoc 話 01:26, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

He's just busy. See John's Random Thoughts box and his comment above in the #Bittersweet section. --Silver Edge 03:09, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

I saw those, that's why I said that. --Lustre Of Havoc 話 18:14, 21 May 2012 (UTC)

I hope they all stay busy elsewhere. I still think Gw1 is the superior product right now when compared strictly on Quality of Life content and polish (and Pet Balance), but that's b/c it's had 7 years of live iteration to reach that point. Meanwhile all the rest of my gaming friends won't shut up about Guildwars2. They'll be playing some totally unrelated game or MMO and any time they get frustrated, they'll keep yelling out "I wish we were playing GW2 right now instead". These were guys who couldn't even get interested in Gw1 let alone play it 4-7 years like the rest of us here. They're not alone either and their numbers will grow exponentially as word gets around. Therefore it takes precedent right now and every available resource needs to be kept on it. --ilr

20:15, 27 May 2012 (UTC)

We're such hipsters. But I must admit, I too have a smug sense of superiority due to my GW1 veteran status. Damn GW2 newbies, get off my lawn! 78.92.3.145 09:13, 10 July 2012 (UTC)

Lore Question on The Tengu Accords

I was hoping you can answer a question I (and a few others) had brought up a while back when WoC was released. When does the Tengu Accords BMP mission take place? We know that the Tengu Wars ended in 1071 AE, and the Tengu Accords were the events which opened up the negotiations to end the Tengu Wars, which gives the indication of only a few years, but unless Togo was hit by some aging curse I'm finding it hard to believe he went from this to this in a few years. So some clarification would be much appreciated. Konig/talk 11:04, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

Oh-ho, my friend, you'll believe it when it happens to you. –Jette 08:16, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Could be due to stress.. Lou Wolfskin 15:47, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Since we don't know how much hair the younger version has underneath that hat it is a bit difficult to tell indeed however hair can turn gray within 5 years. The added wrinkles i would say somewhere between 10-15 years or so. Da Mystic Reaper 17:51, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

When Kappa Attack (Hard mode)

Please soften this quest down some. Sure, it's a hard mode quest, but I've tried this quest with several different hero builds and have even tried it with guildies and have wasted 10 consets and I just can't beat this quest. Reading the discussion pages for this quest it's apparent that many other people are having the same problem. There's probably a couple other quests that could be dummied down some, too. Please. This quest has become a very expensive endeavor for me. --Musha 06:36, 26 June 2012 (UTC)

It is also my last Quest i didnt manage to end so far and may will ever be. It may is a bit depressing for players like us that actually could beat anything else in PvE, but there is no sense in making it more easy for us, there exist enough players not able to do this im NM. It is a sidequest and a harder version of the normal version we already did. Furthermore we are not used to not easy-to-do PvE-challenges, but exactly that shall HM-Quests be^^. --Naru uu 20:22, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Cartographer Check

I'd like to know if there's an easy way to check which parts of the map are unexplored. I understand that "foggy" areas are unexplored, but that is vague, and sometimes (miss)leads to unreachable cliffs or precipices. I also understand there are many helpful 3rd party applications, however, since the map changed due to GW Beyond I'd like to know if there's an officially approved method to explore 100% of Tyria that's more precise than World Map occlusion. 213.198.224.248 19:55, 7 July 2012 (UTC) Nitro

P.S. Congratulations to entire team once again and I look forward to working with you one day, I just hope it'd be sooner rather than later :)

The map didn't change due to Beyond. Konig/talk 20:50, 7 July 2012 (UTC)

^^ There really isn't since we couldn't even get Gaile to guarantee ban-immunity from unknowingly hashed versions of TexMod... However the images from a guide that I started seems to have caught on within parts of the wiki so I'm assuming they're the safest option currently available. You can find the guide here: User:Ilr/sandbox ...it basically TELLS you which cliff faces you have to go to in order to expose that highlighted section against the hard-borders.

offtopic: Stumme is pronounced "Stew"-"mee"?? ...Lol, I was always pronouncing it "Schtuum" --ilr

21:13, 15 July 2012 (UTC)

Loot has to be fixed, regardless of gw2 status.

Hey John. I have a serious issue and I think many others do as well with the loot system. This week I tried to 'farm' the collectibles for Nicholas the Traveler. 18 runs, attempted in both normal, hard mode, doing everything I could think of short of begging my alliance to run with me to get the items. I got 1. So 9+ hours and I got 1. So how much time should I spend trying to get them? 20 hours? 30?

You can say I'm just not lucky, but this is an issue that is going beyond luck. There are others out there that can try a dungeon 400 times and get rocks or r13 golds that are worse then purple weapons. (I've got golds R13 with no improved gold value, no modifications, and no inscriptions. Let me know if you want them). While others step in for the first time and get rich. This screams of being unfair. You are requiring some of your player base to break their backs to break even, while others live the easy life. We've all known someone who every time they do something they get something interesting, if not valuable.

You compound this issue because we are neither given storage for collectibles (and storage in general) yet are expected to hold everything. Why hold everything? Well your drop rates are very very bad for some people. You either hold onto it or lack it when you need it. If someone is hunting a monster they should be able to forage and find the collectibles they're looking for. I think that's fair don't you? If people put in the hard work they should have FUN, and not be forced to treat guild wars, or even guild wars 2 as a job.

This is not the first time this has happened to me. I have almost a second 'God walking among mere mortals' and yet I'm flat broke. If it weren't for Gw-en.com's generous djs and events I doubt I'd ever be able to help anyone. I would be forced to say 'sorry, you're on your own, I need to farm'. I don't think anyone wants that. Please, as a perspective game designer, as a long time player, and someone who cares about fun I beg you to re-evaluate the loot system.

Add collectible bags, modification bags, allow us to buy more storage in game (if only to rent), allow us to get loot even with heroes, replace experience rewards with gold rewards, and lastly, allow us to 'forage' enemies for collectibles. Why should anyone be expected to kill 1000 enemies just to get 5 doodads? Thank you for taking the time to read this post. Dealaka 06:20, 6 August 2012 (UTC)

Unless you're referring to the possibly bugged drop rate of diamonds, I fail to see how any of this other stuff isn't working as intended. You're basically asking for Streak-Breaker code to be added to every R.N.Gen'd chest pop. ...no way they could possibly have any time left for that now.--ilr

07:04, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Actually I'm not talking about a Streak-Breaker code. I'm talking about a 'forage' button for when you kill enemies you can forage for collectibles. I also asked for more storage specifically of collectibles. Change some of the experience rewards to gold. Finally allow players to talk to npcs for rewards based on how many times they've done a dungeon to select the rewards they want instead of just being random drops.Dealaka 18:28, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

"I have almost a second 'God walking among mere mortals' and yet I'm flat broke."That's probably because so many titles required for GWAMM can be bought or must require money (elite captures for one require monies). Konig/talk 20:02, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

May it is a bit out of topic, but i have to agree here. I hate farming and i totally understand the annoyance of randomness. PvP is one thing, but in PvE, some upgradecomponents i have not seen once so far. There are a few things that totally annoy me (whatever, i dont care about a change anymore):

Any player should be able to play with perfect stats, but the change to find them is low and to buy them is sometimes unpayable.
- Not one of my charakers uses a superior-life-rune and only a few heros on my main use a minor-life-rune.
- For totally beginners the maxarmor is sometimes to expensive, how should such a player get the money for upgrades that cost around 50k?
Heros are far better than henchies and make NM so easy, you can limit your own actions to running to the next group.
- You must already by an expirienced player to have enough skills for good builds (out of topic)
- To equip all my heros perfectly would need more money than an obsidian-armor. Thats why most of my heros are not and the difference in strength is obviously. How should any "noob" ever by able to reduce the difference to a "pro", if he is not only able to create heros better than the other henchies? He wont find enough upgrades out of coincidence ever.
Weapons fall with a horrible amount of bad stats.
- Their worth schould be choosen by the rarity of the skin, not by the rarity of getting this skin with good stats.
- For hot-topic stuff it is more easy to get that the ones falling rarly but are from lower interest. Froggy costs far more than Canes or Deadly Cestas, but there are always some that sell froggy while im pretty proud of my purple req10 Deadly Cestus, after it was the first one with perfect stats (other than the 10^^). If there is a skin, that falls nearly not but is not worth enough to sell it, you shouldnt have hope to ever get it.

You created many great skins, but gave us a hilarious chance to get them. Whatever, it are only skins. But the other points a especially punishing weak players without money.

@Dealaka, your intends are making it easy to get the expensive, for titles needed stuff. That are unneeded things to me, i played (shortly) games, where even stats where included to the stuff, that drops even less often than in GW. I am may not a noob, but im not a good player and had never problems (ignoring the ones about equipping my heros) to get at least the needed stuff. --Naru uu 21:04, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

"Actually I'm not talking about a Streak-Breaker code." ..regardless, you don't seem to understand how what you're asking for is a zero-sum gain. It would deflate the value of most drops even further and cause huge Gold inflation. Sorry but you're way off base. The Gw1 economy can not and should not be restructured around GWAMMing. That was a project for Linsey to deal with 2 years ago but she had to be put on GW2 crafting instead for the benefit of a new audience. --ilr

21:11, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Personally, there's only two changes to drops I really see needed: 1) Less randomizing, this goes with Naru's point of weapons with horrible stats - I mean, in Prophecies and Factions it's possible to get a weapon drop with three attribute-affecting stats for three different professions. Some smaller variety within the stat production (which can occur by making inscriptions retroactive to Prophecies and Factions - rarity of non-inscribable weapons be damned - would solve a lot of this, and reducing the weapon-damage-to-requirement range would also help immensely).

2) Trophy items could be more common in Normal Mode (since its white, its fine for HM, but in NM making them more would be nicer). This has two benefits: makes farming for collectors (from nick to regulars) easier - which harms nothing (in large values at least), and gives a steady income for those playing through NM as they become more likely to get trophies over some coins split between the party or less-valuable whites (which are non-stackable and often skipped for space of later item drops).

Beyond that, I don't see anything necessary. Especially if the sole purpose is to make more expensive things less rare (thus dropping their value and creating a false inflation of gold, as ilr said). Rare skins remain rare, but will be less likely to have worthless stats, so it's a little less rare in regards to useful ones, but not by much. Add in more rare items (there's dozens of skins seen in only greens or on Tolkano, or in collectors, that's not available elsewhere). Konig/talk 23:17, 7 August 2012 (UTC)

Weekend Event Confusion

Hey, I'm wondering what is going on with the weekend events. Most people predicted this week would be double kurzick and luxon faction for title points event however the log in screen announcment now shows double competitive. I have just checked facebook which you have announced it is Kurzick and Luxon....which one is it as i like to take advantage. --80.2.185.183 18:23, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Double Kurzick and Luxon Title Points is the correct event. In the eventuality that there's a conflict between what it says in game and what is posted on FB/Twitter, go with what we've got posted on social media. Stephane has become our champion of correct information! John Stumme 19:21, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

And just like that the login screen has been updated. Thank you! I been looking forward to this weekend for ages and have had many kurzick quests adding to 500k stockpiled ..wahoo for 2million faction tomorrow. --Smithy-Star

19:38, 9 August 2012 (UTC)

Reverie

This festival is absolutely amazing. There were many ways for Guild Wars 1 to "pass the torch" to GW2, and all the obvious ones involved a lot of noise and explosions... But I'm very happy with the quiet and meditative way you have chosen. Taking us one more time to all those old places brings back incredible memories of how much fun and how much happiness Guild Wars has given me over all those years; I'm having a lot of fun taking my first character, with my 2005 build (Refund Points, how I hated you!), plus the good old henchmen, and running around Ascalon all over again. Makes me feel like I'm seeing an old friend one more time.
Thank you for all the hard work in this. I saw the Festival Coordinator Stumme in Lion's Arch and, as many trepidations as the land may currently face, this was a huge gift for the Guild Wars players. I think I'll keep the Proofs as mementos of this time... Erasculio 01:30, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it, I think it ended up striking a chord with a lot of people. I've seen any number of my fellow coworkers finding their characters in-game, taking screenshots, and posting them up on Facebook and sharing their personal stories/memories of the game. It's really kind of humbling to see the depth of feeling that people have for this game still. John Stumme 01:36, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Reverie Gifts

Is there any way to manipulate what kind of weapons we get from the gifts? I have two dedicated at the HoM, and I would do everything to prevent from getting a second one I don't need. (Have a wand and a shield). 217.129.59.88 09:34, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

There isn't a way to directly manipulate them, but Joe has it set up such that the gift won't give you anything that you've already dedicated. John Stumme 01:30, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Wonder what that means if you have all weapons (tormented, oppressor, destroyer) dedicated. Guess we'll find out. Oh, I have them all dedicate to my account, not per character. --24.8.61.135 03:57, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

what happend if you have all the weps? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 80.103.8.95 (talk).

Swore I posted this, but don't see it. Anyways, was wondering what happens when you have all the weapons dedicated on your account already. I'd be doing this quest even if I knew the answer was "you get nothing", so no big deal. Cool idea to do this (despite the "belittling other peoples accomplishments" issue it bring up, I still think this is good). --Mooseyfate 15:23, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

If you were the 24.8.61.135 ip, you did post it but the 80.103.8.95 ip removed comments when making his. Konig/talk 17:45, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Answer: With all tormented weapons dedicated already, i received a star wars (tormented) shield --Mooseyfate 23:03, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

I have no idea, no biggie though.--Mooseyfate 23:07, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

D'aww

That is all. -- Armond Warblade 00:34, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Heroes in PvP

Hi John,

I was just wondering about the possibility of re-enabling heroes in certain areas of PvP after the release of Guild Wars 2? There are some of us that would still like to finish the PvP titles for HoM, which would be a bit of an impossibility without heroes (mostly HA). Either way, the vast majority of the serious PvP players (and players in general) would be gone at that point, and the only remaining players would be people trying to finish up HoM (which heroes would facilitate).

Thank you for your consideration! --99.226.189.20 04:54, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Take your heroes into the Training Arena. You get 2000 easy Balthazar faction every 24hrs. Buy z-key for 5000 faction. Do the Zaishen quests/missions for z-coins. Every gold coin is a Z-key. This method gets you the PVP point in the HoM in less than 3 months. Plus you end up with a lot of platinum just from rewards and selling loot. 76.164.65.219 05:17, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

>mostly HA

The other thing about re-enabling heroes is that it kinda allows you to play, too, instead of just grinding all day long. --99.226.189.20 01:35, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Team Arenas

Hi, since guild war's traffic will decrease significantly with the release of GW2, I was wondering if smaller capacity structured PvP could be brought back into play. It is nearly impossible to form PUGs for HA anymore and codex just isn't very popular. These low traffic venues become abused by guilds or friends who simply form multiple parties and compete with each other for easy title points. I feel Team Arenas could offer fast PvP action and offer a bit more than RA. Thanks for your consideration. - 24.47.145.43 05:05, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Why would TA be any different from HA in regards to amount of people available? They're both team-based arenas. TA was 4-man, HA is 8-man. Solution? Make HA 6-man? Konig/talk 06:34, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

That's why it would be different; because its only 4 man; much easier to form teams. - 24.47.145.43 16:10, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

Allow me to rephrase: Why bring back TA, where doing such will only further divide the dwindling player base, when one can simply improve on the two team-based PvP formats already existing? Konig/talk 17:04, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

The player base of HA is virtually non-existant so I'm sure it won't affect HA much. It would mostly take from RAs player base which is not suffering from lack of players at the moment. The PvP player base would mainly be spread between RA and TA since PUGs in HA or codex are almost never formed. It's mostly guilds farming those arenas. I also feel that HA is a bigger leap from RA for some of the inexperienced PvP players; where as TA is simple and just consists of an Annihilation match. This may appeal to a larger crowd than HA (even if it was 6-man). - 24.47.145.43 21:42, 22 August 2012 (UTC)

It's fairly impossible to predict how the PvP playerbase will end up after release, so saying something will or won't be affected is relatively silly. IMO, TA is unnecessary to bring back, as HA and CA can be modified. I'd rather see a centralizing of players, rather than further division, regardless of where the players are divided. Especially with lowering numbers (regardless of the rate of lowering). But this is my personal opinion. And besides, why bring out new (or return old) formats when one can improve existing ones? TA was flawed hence why it was removed, so to bring it back one must fix those flaws - so one might as well just fix the flaws of existing formats to make them more enjoyable. Konig/talk 02:11, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

In my opinion, it would be better to remove CA altogether, make HA more casual (disable title showing, add an optional random team forming, etc), and keep GvG as the hardcore format, but making it more accessible. 217.129.59.88 02:17, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Or just realize GW1 PvP is dead and has been since 2007, look around for other PvP games, and make an account on one of those. HoN, League, Dota2, Smite, World of Tanks, SC2, and various fighting games all have bustling communities and years of engaging PvP ahead of them.

I PvP'd like hell in Guild Wars, and I'm sad to see it die; or rather, I was sad when it died years ago, and now I'm just shaking my head when people suggest massive changes to arenas that won't actually fix anything. The game is gone, and the company hasn't supported PvP modes since mid 2006 - everything since then has been temporary bandaids and duct tape to stop a ship from sinking. It didn't work; the ship sunk. Making changes to arenas now is like using higher quality duct tape on the ship that sunk years ago, all you're going to do is get wet and waste good duct tape. -Auron 03:21, 23 August 2012 (UTC)

Could you state the problems that existed with TA? And I agree; PvP in guild wars has long been dead. Even I plan on going straight into GW2 during release but I feel that GW1 should still not be completely ignored.- 24.47.145.43 04:49, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

I'm just curious what you diehards intend to do if GW2's PvP turns out to be massively successful and draws away every last holdout from this one? (sorta like Dota2 is doing to HON or BF3 did to BF2). B/c at that point it just wouldn't make any sense for any remaining Devs here to put another round of effort into yet another bandaid... What is it going to take, to get you guys to move on? --ilr

15:13, 24 August 2012 (UTC)

HAHAHA ^DISREGARD THAT^ I SUCK DICKS -- Sorry I ever doubted any of you in my previous post --ilr

07:48, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

i think the idea of bringing back TA is great, but i think for all the team based PvP they should have one outpost, and talk to NPCs to enter the different arenas. For Example, you could talk to "So and So[Codex Arena]" for the daily Codex, and then talk to "So and So[Hero's Ascent]" to enter HA.

I don't much think suggestions are meant to be here. Rodan (talk) 02:25, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Wintersday Grab Bag can give mini polar bear?

Just looking for official feedback as to whether this was intentional or not as I did receive one this way. Also curious of course if the chances are about the same as the chest? Thanks for a great Wintersday 2012! --Darius Shalnin 06:40, 2 January 2013 (UTC)

New Content?

Hi John. Is there anything you can share about whether the Live Team will be reconvening for GW1 to produce any new content and maybe even finish out Guild Wars Beyond? --Musha 20:27, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

A Guild Wars Blast from the Past

I'm sure you probably get this a lot, and heck, I don't even know if you read your discussion page, but since I read this post over on the Team Quitter forums, one of the few remaining active Guild Wars 1 forums, I figured it was too beautiful to not relay to you, or at least someone working on Guild Wars 1.

If Guild Wars was reverted back to it's state in 2006...

I don't know if you still have the backups, but I would like to imagine that you have the Holy Grail of games stashed somewhere on a server deep in the lands of anet.

If I may quote a player from the forums, Personally i would pay upwards of a thousand dollars to see Guild Wars 1 like it was in 2006. Thats the effect the game had on me. I feel this quote accurately describes many people out there today. In fact, if you did this, I personally guarantee you that you would see new life breathed into Guild Wars like you never could have imagined possible in 2013. It pains me everyday I hear the "Dead Game is Dead" statements. It kills me logging in and seeing my friends list dark and desolate. The gaming community cries out every day, asking for you guys to answer our prayers and bring back the old game we all fell in love with. We aren't asking you to admit any mistakes, Guild Wars is and always has been a great and entertaining game. We are simply asking you to acknowledge the fact that you created the greatest game ever, and in 2006, that game was unrivaled by any competition in all of online gaming. You had it all once, you can have it again. The current game can run side by side with the old game, however you want to integrate it. Even if it means allowing us a second instance of our accounts where we have to start over entirely due to the difference in items, or registering a new account entirely. PEOPLE WOULD EVEN PAY TO BUY ANOTHER COPY OF THE GAME IF IT MEANT THEY GOT TO PLAY THE 2006 VERSION! I mean it. I would absolutely hand you another $30,40,50, even 60, just to have that old game back. I miss it, the community misses it, the competitive online gaming environment misses it. The nostalgia will never disappear. The question is, are you willing to embrace it? Vhang 10:45, 12 March 2013 (UTC)

Why do I feel like if GW1 were to revert to the 2006 version, most if not all players will be doing this? (okay okay, exaggerated) Oh, right, nostalgia always makes things feel better than they really were. I don't doubt that folks like you and those from the thread would love to experience the old GW game as it was then, but would it really be as enjoyable as you think it'd be? Maybe as a Corporal Bane kind of activity though. Konig 16:44, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Honestly, if anything, it'd be better than I think it would. The game is so dead now, and they threw out all of the game mechanics so that there's nothing to do anymore. 6 Man HA, VoD, Team Arenas, game would be so much better than it is now. It would definitely be worth it.205.178.39.70 01:38, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

Switching to 6 vs 6 vs 6 for HA is definitely the right thing that would make LAN parties able to start the map, at least. On bringing back Team Arenas, I'd say it's also a good revival step if Codex will not be affected by the change. And regarding reworking the underpowered / unused skills, the list of fixes would be too long to list it here, but I'll gladly e-mail it for team's review during the next few weeks. Dmitri Fatkin 10:44, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

The Shadow Wars

This was just an idea that i came up with that i didnt have time to make, so i hope you like it.

After Zhaitan's defeat you can start the storyline by talking to Skullex in Lions Arch(GW2)

First Cinematic:Intro (Character name):Who are you? Skullex: No time for that now. Follow me.(Walks over to mists portal)(appears to be working on something) (Character):What are you doing? Skullex:(Waits for 5 seconds)You'll see. (A Gaping Chaos Rift opens near the portal) Character:What is that? Skullex: a rift.(walks through) Character: (wasting no time to step through) (you appear at the Shadow Army camp) End of Story Preview

there are also new skills

"MY RAGE ISN'T KILLED!"costs 25 adrenaline and 5 energy and is a self targeted version of "By Ural's Hammer!"

And a new map: The Shadow Realm

Is this for Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2? I don't much think suggestions are meant to be here. Rodan (talk) 02:24, 3 August 2013 (UTC)

Feedback talk:John Stumme

Rescue at Minister Cho's Estate (hm) can't be done with buddies

Leave my ele alone!

No way, You rock!

AB this weekend had 4 american districts!

Sequel :)

Miku In Kryta

M.O.X.

Xun Rao

Meaning of Miku's Name

Role of Emperor Kisu in WoC

What happens next?

End of WoC, and now ?

HoM update

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Phantoms, Clones & Summoned Creatures

April Fools Day

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When Kappa Attack (Hard mode)

Cartographer Check

Loot has to be fixed, regardless of gw2 status.

Weekend Event Confusion

Reverie

Reverie Gifts

D'aww

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Team Arenas

Wintersday Grab Bag can give mini polar bear?

New Content?

A Guild Wars Blast from the Past

The Shadow Wars

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