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[Hawkian]

A few dicey moments myself just carefully driving through so as not to hose the battery, but nothing where I felt I was in any danger. Still, glad to be out of that mess.

Whoa, glad you guys are alright.

As expected, the updates page is really sparse here by design.

Whatever happens during this speech better be interesting, because otherwise it's a pretty mild update. Expectations in check.

Generally speaking it's just a good idea to keep your expectations in check about everything, always. There's no merit in setting oneself up for disappointment when the alternative is just being pleasantly surprised.

That said, they are playing this one very close to the chest (I legitimately don't think we'll be describing this update as "mild" when all is said and done).

Essentially, this is the least information we have been giving from a "setting the stage" perspective since the very first Living Story release with Flame & Frost: Prelude in January. In that case, it was because the circumstances of the release were themselves very sparse and there was little in the way of narrative. This time around, the reasoning is a designed surprise.

I have little to offer in the way of prediction. Wooden Potatoes' speculation didn't really grab me at all until the very final reveal from the Asura personal story where

Spoiler

the Battle for Divinity's Reach

is mentioned. I had totally forgotten about that line and it blew my mind. Still, they are positioning this as the speech itself having some kind of surprise, not that there's just going to be a surprise on this side of the fourth wall. No ideas.

From a mechanical game update perspective, just want to read between the lines for all a bit.

• WvW XP update needed; yay. They really need a blue WXP bar on screen though (like the purple glory bar in PvP), it really adds to the addictiveness factor. Supply drain on Trebuchet hit is absolutely nasty and might throw a wrench in the works of GAF's brewing tradition of grabbing and holding "that tower" on an enemy BL.
• "Characters that are one year old will receive a Mini Queen Jennah, a 24-hour Birthday Booster, and a Scroll of Experience."
  They buried the lead here. I could take or leave the Jennah mini (12-inch high busty human females sort of creep me out *glances sideways at Bikini Kasmeer owners*), but this means that a good number of us who have launch day characters will be getting a pile of these. For those who don't know a Scroll of Experience just levels any character to 20. This is awesome for me, essentially a bump to Level 20 for all the characters I had under 20 plus a nice stockpile for future characters.
• PvE Culling being turned off is really good not just from a "I can see things" perspective but because it's a general confidence in engine performance along with better tweakability. Personally, I've been extremely happy with performance in WvW since culling was turned off- though I'm certainly not seeing the T1 Zerg. Anyway, in honor of this I'm reactivating a guild event I had planned when this was accidentally announced a few patches back: Omega World Boss Train, August 21st.

Also remember tomorrow is our 2nd Official Champion Hunt at 9:00PMEDT. This time we'll be hitting up Fields of Ruin. With the 21st that'll be three weekly guild events in a row for the first time in 2013. Please let me know if you guys get burnt out with them, but honestly I feel just as much energy in-game, if not more, than in Feb-March after the world boss updates, and I see more people on average playing every night than any period since launch.

One final note: I really fucking want that Infinite Watchknight Tonic.

 

[Kos Luftar]

With the PVE culling being turned off, I bet you a dragon or a whole lot of Aetherblades are going to attack DR and we will have to fend them back...this will last for whole two weeks. I have no idea how they will treat anyone making new human characters (special instance for them maybe).

 

[Reknoc]

*glances sideways at Bikini Kasmeer owners*

don't judge us man. Anet wont support us so we can only live our swimsuit life through a tiny woman.

 

[Retro]

That being said she's probably knocked up with the next king and we'll have to protect her from a few baddies for a few minutes.

"Twists":
- She's a pretender to the throne, with no actual ties to the royal line.
- She's pregnant.
- She's abdicating.
- She's from the "Mecha dimension", which explains why she suddenly has advanced robotics when humans are still using pretty basic technology.
- She saw Everquest Next and decided it looks better than Kryta.
- She's a Mesmer illusion herself, a puppet being controlled by someone else. Maybe a dragon?
- She has foreseen the return of the Human Gods and there's trouble afoot, but since everyone voted for Kiel, we'll never know what it is.
- She interfered with the election to make sure a human rather than a Charr sat on the council.
- She's Logan Thackery's long lost sister.... ewww.
- She's actually Drag Queen Jennah.
- Happy to announce a collaboration with Dominos; players can now /pizza to be taken directly to their delivery site.

Ehhhhh... I hope it's something. That Preview is pretty sparse, more than usual, especially for such a 'big' event as the anniversary.

 

[Da DreadLord]

Character age is how they've done it in the past. My guess is that it's more rewarding to the player without being able to be gamed. If they did a present per character by account age, people would just roll a bunch of extra's right before the account birthday. If they just did it one per account, it doesn't reward the people playing multiple characters for their dedication. It's a middle ground.

I'll just be grumpy at you all for a bit then cause I had to delete my characters to move server

 

[Reknoc]

I may be bringing up some painful memories here but;

Phantom Menace.

Anise is the real Queen!

 

[Kos Luftar]

Ehhhhh... I hope it's something. That Preview is pretty sparse, more than usual, especially for such a 'big' event as the anniversary.

It better be something or I am totally unsubbing.

 

[Jest Chillin]

The Charr have taken their lands back.
Norn did not take the lands from Kryta, the got moved down to lands that belonged to the Dwarfs, not humans.

She would be an idiot to try and start a war with other nations when there are these world destroying Dragons flying everywhere.

Whether the lands were originally Charr or not doesn't matter. And taking Frostgorge would be necessary to take Ascalon anyways. I'm not talking about a Queen trying to right wrongs but a Queen that is hungry for power.

As for your second part..

Spoiler

did you read the books?

 

[Retro]

I may be bringing up some painful memories here but;

Phantom Menace.

Starring Kanik as Darth Maul.

 

[Hawkian]

don't judge us man. Anet wont support us so we can only live our swimsuit life through a tiny woman.

hehe. swimsuit life.

I guess what I hope for most of all is that no one has correctly predicted exactly what's going to go down, but that really does make sense if you think back on it. And ideally, something that is far-reaching enough that it really would have to be explained to people coming back from a break or recent and new players. I guess I'd actually be happy for any one of the three, though.

 

[Noisy Ninj4]

"Twists":

The mecha dimension idea has some merit, as I did get ambushed a couple times by mechabeasts while escorting reps outside of the normal spots they would appear. (fields of ruin)

It better be something or I am totally unsubbing.

Whoa, whoa. Hey, let's not get crazy here.

 

[Jest Chillin]

"Twists":
- Happy to announce a collaboration with Dominos; players can now /pizza to be taken directly to their delivery site.

Ash just died from sheer joy.

I'll just be grumpy at you all for a bit then cause I had to delete my characters to move server

I've only got one "made at launch" character, so I'm in the same boat. And I've repeatedly deleted and created new toons since. So I'm not benefiting from it either.

 

[Retro]

The mecha dimension idea has some merit, as I did get ambushed a couple times by mechabeasts while escorting reps outside of the normal spots they would appear. (fields of ruin)

I think Colin sort of dismissed without dismissing the Wooden Potatoes video in guild chat. Somebody asked (I don't remember who). His comment was something like "Wait and see".

If these Watchknights can be anybody, convincing enough to rattle Logan (granted, that's not exactly hard), she could be a Watchknight herself, in theory. Who replaced her is up in the air, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Her "Speech" could start off okay, but by the end it could turn into a "surrender or else" kind of thing.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Whether the lands were originally Charr or not doesn't matter. And taking Frostgorge would be necessary to take Ascalon anyways. I'm not talking about a Queen trying to right wrongs but a Queen that is hungry for power.

As for your second part..

Spoiler

did you read the books?

I read all 3 books.

You talking about something that happened in Edge of Destiny?

 

[Lunar15]

As a Norn, I'm deeply offended that Anet thought a fitting birthday present would be a minature queen that I don't even belong to.

What with Kiel being elected, minorities are getting the shaft. This is an outrage!

 

[Jest Chillin]

I read all 3 books.

You talking about something that happened in Edge of Destiny?

Nope. Book Spoilers:

Spoiler

Sea of Sorrows. Despite the legitimacy of the Dragon threat and the fact that Cobbiah's Lion's Arch was holding Zhaitan's minions back, the then King still tried to take LA by force. His justification was that the Dragon threat was overblown.. an opinion he held since he and his people had very little losses directly to Zhaitan's minions. The same could be said of Queen Jennah's Kyrtan kingdoms. They're far less affected than other nations.

 

[Hawkian]

I think Colin sort of dismissed without dismissing the Wooden Potatoes video in guild chat. Somebody asked (I don't remember who). His comment was something like "Wait and see".

If these Watchknights can be anybody, convincing enough to rattle Logan (granted, that's not exactly hard), she could be a Watchknight herself, in theory. Who replaced her is up in the air, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Her "Speech" could start off okay, but by the end it could turn into a "surrender or else" kind of thing.

All bets are off with watchwork clones convincing enough to recite actual past dialogue. Could be a regular Skrull-fest up in here. Even the player character could be a Watchknight!!!

I do actually like this idea more than many theories I've heard, though.

 

[BrettWeir]

OK. Back from a very long hiatus. Are there any links that show all the changes to classes since....say January?

I'll step back off of my GW2 bitterness box and give this a whirl again.

 

[Levyne]

I wonder how many people slotted 8 or more characters on day -3 in the hopes of getting a slew of valuable minis on the birthday and are now salty about it.

 

[Kos Luftar]

I wonder how many people slotted 8 or more characters on day -3 in the hopes of getting a slew of valuable minis on the birthday and are now salty about it.

Didn't you do that?

It is going to be funny where everyone is going to ask for a RNG present so they can get a random Mini instead of just Queen Jenna.

 

[Hawkian]

I wonder how many people slotted 8 or more characters on day -3 in the hopes of getting a slew of valuable minis on the birthday and are now salty about it.

I made almost all of my characters then (I believe my Guardian was a few days after and my Engi wasn't made until sometime in 2013), but I'm happy I'm getting a scroll for each of them.

OK. Back from a very long hiatus. Are there any links that show all the changes to classes since....say January?

I'll step back off of my GW2 bitterness box and give this a whirl again.

In terms of class changes with that much of a gap you'd have a ton of reading to do... http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Category:Updates
edit: The June updates had the most substantial stuff class-wide: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Game_updates/June_2013 There is a new DOT condition called Torment.

At this point, probably better to just hop in and roll over the skill tooltips for your favorite class and play around to see how it feels. Welcome back

 

[Levyne]

I did not, no.

 

[Hawkian]

Can't believe I initially missed the pic they used for the Jennah mini:

god Logan. even simping after the mini version.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Min-Queen Jennah doesn't wear shoes it seems.

 

[hythloday]

I feel like we need to thwack Logan with a newspaper.

No Logan. NO. Do NOT chew mini-Jennah. That's a bad Logan.

 

[Trey]

Min-Queen Jennah doesn't wear shoes it seems.

Neither does the NPC the mini is mimicking.

 

[Proven]

I understand keeping living story stuff hidden but I thought there would be some more feature stuff that Colin talked about in the big blog post...maybe crafting pushed to 500...unless they want that to be a surprise as well. I feel like that page is going to grow as the week goes with more features that they will introduce in this update or it will stay the same and new features will come in September.

Doesn't make sense.

I feel like Colin's quote in that IGN article ("permanently creates content and change for the entire world game-wide", "we want to showcase that that’s where stuff is headed") is hinting at something that probably wouldn't really work on a preview page. LIke, Something where people might read it and not immediately grasp the meaning of what's being said because it's technical or not really a 'punchy' item for a preview page.

I dunno, I feel like we're getting half the picture here. Maybe they're going to slip an extra update or something in, or gate the content so major events start next Tuesday but end a week later... /shrug.

Spoiler

Queen to reveal she is carrying Trehearn's lovechild. Once you go tree, you never want to leaf...

Exactly. You can hide content like plot twists, massive zone changes (what I'm expecting), and the like but you never hide new features like increased crafting and LFG. Features help drive excitement.

I think Colin sort of dismissed without dismissing the Wooden Potatoes video in guild chat. Somebody asked (I don't remember who). His comment was something like "Wait and see".

If these Watchknights can be anybody, convincing enough to rattle Logan (granted, that's not exactly hard), she could be a Watchknight herself, in theory. Who replaced her is up in the air, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. Her "Speech" could start off okay, but by the end it could turn into a "surrender or else" kind of thing.

Oh no god dammit, I do not need more Skrulls in my life. Secret Invasion was enough for me. Then again, that ended with Norman Motherfucking Osborn and a couple of good bits in Dark Reign...

(Marvel comic talk)

Nope. Book Spoilers:

Spoiler

Sea of Sorrows. Despite the legitimacy of the Dragon threat and the fact that Cobbiah's Lion's Arch was holding Zhaitan's minions back, the then King still tried to take LA by force. His justification was that the Dragon threat was overblown.. an opinion he held since he and his people had very little losses directly to Zhaitan's minions. The same could be said of Queen Jennah's Kyrtan kingdoms. They're far less affected than other nations.

Jenna isn't anywhere near as stupid. Maybe a little selfish, but not stupid.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Jenna isn't anywhere near as stupid. Maybe a little selfish, but not stupid.

I know next to nothing about her to say one way or the other.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Jest just wants a Shamalamadingdong twist.
He is insane.

She is probably get assassinated...by the mysterious person from a distance with a new sniper rifle weapon.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Jest just wants a Shamalamadingdong twist.
He is insane.

She is probably get assassinated...by the mysterious person from a distance with a new sniper rifle weapon.

Man everything has been so straight forward so far, it needs SOME kind of twist to create drama.

 

[theMrCravens]

Oh lol.
What a crappy preview for birthday update.

I'm guessing (hoping) they're keeping most of it secret though.

 

[Shanlei91]

Starring Kanik as Darth Maul.

It can finally happen with the culling patch. No more disappearing Gungans!

I wonder how many people slotted 8 or more characters on day -3 in the hopes of getting a slew of valuable minis on the birthday and are now salty about it.

When the game released, I put my economics degree to work and realized the gold->gem conversion would fluctuate in a month's time. Players at release were pumping their money into armor/weapons, then would pump into gems.

I took advantage of the lucrative conversion rate and put all my money into gems. Buying up characters slots up the wazoo.

Two months later, I deleted all my characters and turned them into Norn. So I can look forward to that birthday gift parade two months after you guys.

Someone is making those Claws of Jormag and Shatterer's.

Don't be so salty Kanik. Sweet Kanik > Salty Kanik.

Imma Hannah Montana.

 

[nataku]

Sparse update page... Finally getting rid of PvE culling is great, but man, that's a really weak update page.

Wonder what the birthday buff includes in it. The experience scrolls are welcome for my alts I haven't leveled yet, but getting 5 mini Jennah's kinda sucks. Hopefully I can toss four of them in the toilet and get something else.

EDIT: Apparently Jennah is a Mesmer. I never knew that. Interesting.

 

[Hawkian]

I assume that, as was this month's, the first patch of September will probably include more features and structual upgrades, while the second will flesh out the narrative and content progression.

 

[Proven]

Thinking about it more, I'm glad for the experience booster but I think I'm done leveling most of my weaker characters. I'm tired of the kiting needed for most of the ones I have left and with W101 coming out next month, and the itch to replay Bayonetta, I'm just going to submit to my love for brawlers and bruisers. I already leveled up the three classes I play most like that, Condi Warrior, Power Necro, and Condi Thief. The rest will be spvp only for now.

 

[Levyne]

I wouldn't actually mind this update being a little thin. Maybe I could play some other game next week!

 

[Hawkian]

EDIT: Apparently Jennah is a Mesmer. I never knew that. Interesting.

One of Tyria's best, apparently.

Oh wow, I missed this when Retro pulled the extra bits from the MMORPG.COM preview:

Ten Days of Black Lion Sales: Each day for 10 consecutive days – starting Friday, Aug. 23, at 12:01 a.m. (PT) – players will be able to purchase items and weapon skins that had limited sales during the game’s first year from the Black Lion Trading Company.

That's actually a pretty big deal, dang. And fitting for the anniversary.

Any particular stuff you guys missed that would be interested in claiming during these sales?

I'm thinking this may include:
-Fused skins
-Sclerite skins
-Jade weapon skins
-The 3 unlimited-use gathering tools

 

[nataku]

I think it's just things sold specifically on the store. The weapons of Rox and Braham, etc.

 

[Hawkian]

I think it's just things sold specifically on the store. The weapons of Rox and Braham, etc.

Yeah that's fair enough. It would still include the gathering tools.. any other skins?

Ah, maybe minis as well. I kind of want that lion cub. :3

Note on the unlimited salvage kit:

This salvage kit saves you 0.52c per use compared to the basic salvage kit. When you consider that 800 gems currently costs 25g 14s 88c, you'd have to use the Salvage kit 483,631 times in order to get your money's worth. Not including the price of convenience, of course.

hahaha, oh wow. Calling it, this thing is just a jumpstart on the new status quo for blue/green salvaging for account-based MF. Still not worth 800 gems to me. I'll keep kits on me now that I have so much more inventory. If it were free per use, like the gathering tools, I'd shell out for it.

 

[pyros]

Hi, does anyone know how to craft a Box of Valkyrie Draconic Armor, I have all the ingredients, I have armour smith at 400, wiki says it has to be unlocked without explanation, thank you

 

[SirKhalid]

Yeah that's fair enough. It would still include the gathering tools.. any other skins?

Ah, maybe minis as well. I kind of want that lion cub. :3

Note on the unlimited salvage kit:

hahaha, oh wow. Calling it, this thing is just a jumpstart on the new status quo for blue/green salvaging for account-based MF. Still not worth 800 gems to me. I'll keep kits on me now that I have so much more inventory. If it were free per use, like the gathering tools, I'd shell out for it.

I just check the gem store, I guess it's a permanent addition since it's not written limited sale? If it's permanent, I might get it if it get a discount later on.

 

[Kos Luftar]

Hi, does anyone know how to craft a Box of Valkyrie Draconic Armor, I have all the ingredients, I have armour smith at 400, wiki says it has to be unlocked without explanation, thank you

Just drop all the ingredients into the discovery tab with the correct amount, it should discover the recipe and craft the Box for you.

 

[Hawkian]

I just check the gem store, I guess it's a permanent addition since it's not written limited sale? If it's permanent, I might get it if it get a discount later on.

I guess that's relatively likely. It'll become more desirable as people understand the new value in salvaging blues and greens without regard for kit quality.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Just drop all the ingredients into the discovery tab with the correct amount, it should discover the recipe and craft the Box for you.

It does both now? Because early on you had to mystic toilet the recipe first, then you could craft them like any other armor in the game but with more mats.

 

[Kos Luftar]

It does both now? Because early on you had to mystic toilet the recipe first, then you could craft them like any other armor in the game but with more mats.

Boxed Armor's are not MF recipes, they are just crafting recipes that you unlock through the crafting discovery window.

 

[Jira]

So you all know, Colin personally told me that there's a lot of stuff in the update that they intentionally kept off of the preview page as they're supposed to be a surprise.

 

[elazullizard]

It does both now? Because early on you had to mystic toilet the recipe first, then you could craft them like any other armor in the game but with more mats.

It's true. From wiki:

Armor box/satchel: 1 crafted chest armor, X Bottles of Elonian Wine, X Crystals, X Mystic Coins

Likely an absurdly high amount if you're looking for 400 level armor, but hey, there you go. After you stuff that stuff in the forge, you can learn the recipe. You can also probably buy it direct off the TP if you really want to.

 

[Jest Chillin]

Boxed Armor's are not MF recipes, they are just crafting recipes that you unlock through the crafting discovery window.

So it changed. Because it used to be

5x Bottle of Elonian Wine (at Miyani's)
20x Arcane Crystal (reward for PvP)
20x Mystic Coin (reward for daily/monthly quests)
1x element of armor (from the set you want to craft)

And that would give you the recipe. I know because I looked into early on in the game and then discovered that it wasn't cost efficient to make. You can google it now and still find that MF formula all over the place.

 

[Kos Luftar]

So you all know, Colin personally told me that there's a lot of stuff in the update that they intentionally kept off of the preview page as they're supposed to be a surprise.

Robert told me the same thing.

 

[Sophia]

So you all know, Colin personally told me that there's a lot of stuff in the update that they intentionally kept off of the preview page as they're supposed to be a surprise.

Trolling creators be trolling us!