[2020] Living World Season 4: "Long Live the Lich!" devs here – ask us anything!

Originally posted by Artumes

Which is your favourite Quaggan?

Originally posted by holymonkseal

Can we get some lore about other gen2 legendaries like Verdarach has?

Originally posted by Artumes

Which is your favourite Quaggan?

Originally posted by lostsanityreturned

Do you plan on doing more in engine cutscenes like the last one? (It was amazing and looked a lot better than the prerendered ones imo)

Are there any plans to put in a break bar tutorial into the game, if no, why not?

Originally posted by DemethValknut

Why don't you consider making story instances, repeatable, instanced PVE content ( i wont call them dungeon but it's the spirit).

Ep 3 last's instance is basically already that, just allow me to make it again and again for loots and fun, you put =so much time and effort behind them !

Originally posted by lokikaraoke

Hi guys! Thanks for doing this AMA. I guess this is a Jason/Ben question related to Fractals and Raids.

I have over 5000 hours in this game as do a bunch of my friends and guildmates. We've definitely gotten our money's worth! But over the past year or so, we've been playing this game a lot less. It's not that we don't want to play, but it feels like the pace of content releases for grizzled vets like us has been lacking.

We're all okay with repeating content, we WANT to repeat content, but the pace of raid and fractal releases just isn't working for us. We've gradually gone from playing 3-4 hours/day to playing a couple hours a few times a week. It's getting harder and harder to keep people engaged in our raid statics. Guild and raid recruiting has slowed significantly.

Do you have any good news for those of us who desperately want to have more organized, instanced content to play? Do you think the current pace is representative of what we can expect moving forward?

Edit: well this blew up. Since there's a reasonable chance I'll be on the WoodenPotatoes 57 minute AMA summary I'd like to say hi to my guild and make sure to click the bell on this video so you don't miss any great content!

Originally posted by DoctoredMonocle

Hello dev team!

I really enjoyed the Beetle collection and the addition of the new mount, but looking forward I'm slightly worried about Petey.

Are there any plans to implement Petey either in previous maps (races in vanilla GW2, you know you want to!) or looking forward will he still be part of our gameplay (kind of like Jackal portals being nifty short cuts)?

Given the episodic nature of LW, I'm scared that he'll be used only for Kourma and we won't see the need for Petey any more.

Thanks!

Originally posted by SystemSound

Dont know if any of you can answer this, but, why Living World soundtrack is not on Spotify? Both expansions and core game are but not LS...

Originally posted by apostles

Would you be able to shed some light on the issues that happened during the patch (and pre-release)? Always interesting to hear about what happened from a dev perspective.

What happened, how it was fixed, when did you realize it was code red, etc

Originally posted by DoctoredMonocle

Hello dev team!

I really enjoyed the Beetle collection and the addition of the new mount, but looking forward I'm slightly worried about Petey.

Are there any plans to implement Petey either in previous maps (races in vanilla GW2, you know you want to!) or looking forward will he still be part of our gameplay (kind of like Jackal portals being nifty short cuts)?

Given the episodic nature of LW, I'm scared that he'll be used only for Kourma and we won't see the need for Petey any more.

Thanks!

Originally posted by endelon

Are there any plans to finish Gandara based on player disappointment/feedback ?

Originally posted by Charrikayu

Has there been any consideration about adding an "accessory wardrobe" to the current wardrobe list? Guild Wars 2 has dozens, if not hundreds of absolutely beautiful trinkets which ultimately serve no purpose by virtue of being too low level or having the wrong stats for a particular build. This system would have several major advantages:

• Practical applications such as transmuting Aurora (or the eventual legendary ring) for players who wish to have a legendary accessory but not the cosmetic effect, as well as differentiating accessories of the same type, such as two rings from the same living story chapter or raid which have different selected stats.

• Content applications, as it would incentivize replaying old story, dungeons, open-world, and other things which contain trinket appearances unique to them for unlocking.

• Personal applications for those of us that like customization, and although many accessories have no outward appearance, many hold sentimental value such as Order badges, racial items, GW1 callbacks, and Heart keepsakes.

Considering there now exists a gathering tool wardrobe, and that backpacks can already be transmuted, the idea doesn't seem too farfetched and would add another dimension to a game that thrives on customization.

Originally posted by seboot

I'm probably not going to get an answer but I'm still trying, any plans for a Joko combat tonic / proper Joko outfit ? How am I supposed to properly praise him :D

Originally posted by holymonkseal

This beetle collection was great. Can we hope for more core-tyria collections with new living stories? Also, more only core-tyria collections? And maybe some only orr related?

Originally posted by nononsenseresponse

The final cutscene was spectacular - well done cinematics team! How long does it usually take to go from story board to finish for such a cutscene? What was the most challenging part of the cutscene to get right?

Originally posted by RandommUser

Matt Lambdin

Is the beetle adventure boost resets gonna get fixed? Is the endurance regen something you think might get changed?

Cinematics team

Why are some of the "movies" so heavily processed instead of using the in-game settings?

Marketing team

Why was there no interviews, articles, etc. for this release?

Who might fit

Why is there no adventure to using the 2nd instance mechanics? I feel like that could make for an interesting one to speedrun

Originally posted by Kantoku83

The fractal endgame currency sink was fantastic. Can we get something similar for luck? Even after maxing out our account magic find, we still get luck from dailies, festivals and salvaging gear with nothing worth using them on.

Originally posted by Something_Memorable

FTT turrets: were these intended to ever be used elsewhere other than just the new map? Having such awesome abilities - would be great to take these elsewhere given that to keep them running require the new map’s pseudo-turret-currency (thus helping a bit with the replayability/motivation to play problem)

Originally posted by [deleted]

As it stands, a lot of of the space in Lost Precipice is unused. The art assets are gorgeous, but they aren't ideal for decorating either. A lot are out of reach from waypoint, and there's just... nothing there.

Has there ever been consideration what to do with this empty space in guild halls?

Was Lost Precipice always a guild hall, or were the "unused" sections of it once intended for something else, like a normal map?

Originally posted by Heartsure

Quite a few questions, will appreciate if any are answered:

1. Any plans to do something about the LFG and Dailies sections bloating with each additional map? Maybe just how the achievement panel works in general and things getting really long (story journal section, etc. . . .)

2. Will raids ever be a non-living world release? I'm not really asking about specific dates here, but moreso whether you're considering just releasing a raid when it's ready instead of holding for an episode release.

3. Are fractal reworks still a thing? Any info on this would be much appreciated.

Originally posted by manumotate

Hello Mike and Team,

• You said in the forums that you guys had some opportunities to make some adjustments on how to approach developing each episode that will help hit your quality standards more consistently. Do you have any insight on what are those new adjustments?
• Do you guys plan on making adjustments to the Gandarra Meta event? the biggest issue i have with this event is that we are unable to fully explore the city.
• On the 1st episode of LS3, we got some information on how the team were structured for the next expansion, is it possible to give us similar information on how is ANet structured ?

Thanks!

Originally posted by CaesarBritannicus

What was the main technical change which delayed the episode? Was it relating to mounts, the cutscene, or something else entirely?

Originally posted by TJPoobah

Specifically designed beetle racetrack with ramps for jumps and corners for drifting (along with the standard race event with checkpoints and such) when?

Originally posted by BunnyisCthulhu

I'm just posting that the final cutscene for the episode was amazingly done, I really loved the animation in it. Great work, guys! :)

Originally posted by holymonkseal

In this episode we had nice CC mechanic at the last boss. It seemed that you wanted to incentivise players to... learn about that if they hadn't already.

So my question is - have you guys thought about adding CC tutorials in lower level maps? Like clams from draconic mons heart, ie.

Originally posted by tryhardarchitect

Kudos to the success of the beetle mount, it truely feels awesome to use, and the collections felt very rewarding! My only question is, what was the intent of the charge time when you first mount the beetle? It feels a bit awkward to wait around for 15 seconds in order to zoom around.

Originally posted by iPenguin_

Are there any plans to address concerns with the new Beetle mount regarding how it's endurance bar starts empty instead of full unlike the other mounts? It's a bit of a pain to say, want to smash through a wall, mount up on your beetle, and then have to wait roughly 10 seconds for that bar to fill.

Originally posted by LissGin

With the new mount having been released and new mount skins eventually being released for it my question is as follows: If a beetle skin comes for a preexisting bundle (wintersday or Halloween for example) will people that already own that bundle unlock it at release; or will they have to buy the bundle again or maybe even buy it as a standalone skin?

Originally posted by inkthedink

Do you guys / gals at Anet have a cadence of sorts like you do for fractals?

Originally posted by korarex

Once, a person in gw2 map chat told he's game dev of ArenaNet and everyone asked a lot of questions.

I still have got just one question since I'm not even sure if it was really a dev, not a fake.

I'm not into reddit, communities or questions.

Right now, I've finally got a chance to know the truth. Please, feed me with long term promises at least.

So my only question is:

"Will I ever get a chance to play as a tengu?"

Because gw2 and wiki info are not enough at all.

I wish one day I will be finally able to play as a "bird-person" in my favourite game - in Guild Wars 2.

(Or at least in any other good game in this world?)

Thanks for the best game ever. Wish you all the best, dear ArenaNet <3

Originally posted by wobbleone

beetle racing is amazing, any chance we could see racing system build up around them, be it festival or something similair to adventures but with multiple people?

Originally posted by MechaSandstar

How can you build content around a mount you can't guarantee people will have?

Originally posted by gahata

You didn't answer why, and Soundcould doesn't provide an option to either download commonly used file formats (these are very good quality downloads, but very impractical) and it doesn't fulfill the role of Spotify

Originally posted by Atelia

I'm very curious about game development as a career- if you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to become game developers?

(I know this is an AMA about the latest episode and might not be the right place to ask this question- if there's a better place, or a place where some devs have talked about this, please let me know!)

Originally posted by DemethValknut

Oh by the way, the trailer for ep3 was everything I was waiting for a lw trailer. You've got it !

Originally posted by D_i_v_o_r_u_s

If Raid Releases are obviously getting delayed, can the community at least get Information about it? The worst thing for the Raid-comunity (especially at the moment) is that there isn't a single bit of information as to why this happens. Also, if you make a priomise and realise that you can't hold it, could you just admit it and not find some excuses?

Originally posted by rilgebat

Given that GW2 is increasingly featuring content that is in essence a resurrection of conventional quests rather unwieldly packed into the achievement system; has there been any consideration towards reintroducing a dedicated quest system/log?

I feel that the positive reception the Caladbolg "Current Event" received is a good indication that this kind of content is still in demand, and still relevant. At least when done well that is, mundane fetch/kill quests are still quite rightly replaced wholesale by Dynamic Events. Well done quests would slot in perfectly in the current gaps between existing systems (i.e. DEvents, Hearts and Instances) in GW2.

Originally posted by FirePosition

Alright, strap yourselves in cause this is a long one. I have some general questions regarding difficulty in the main story (and in some way open world). It’s a wall of text, sorry, been sitting on these questions for a while and am always asleep when the AMA is posted. Answer what you can, don’t answer what you can’t (or don’t want).

1. Difficulty progression question: What’s your stance on difficulty progression in regards to expansions and living world? Is the idea that the game becomes harder in chronological order (PS, LWS1/2, HoT, etc.) or are you in favor of “resetting” the difficulty per expansion, as to make it more accessible to newer players (ie. so people who buy PoF instead of HoT wouldn’t instantly be overwhelmed). If the latter, does that mean the living word building up to the expansion is more difficult (because part of expansion) or easier (leading up to new expansion, depending on story).

2. Death in personal instance question: As it is now, whenever you die in an encounter, it isn’t (usually) reset. This makes it possible for people to die and respawn until the boss dies of exhaustion (this made Bloodstone Caudecus winnable for some people). This also does not make death punishing at all, since nothing is lost. Do you think this is an issue of any sort? I personally prefer to be punished for my mistakes but I understand why others won’t feel the same way. If you feel it’s an issue, is a fix on the radar? If you don’t feel it’s an issue, are there ideas to make it punishing ie for an achievement?

3. Git gud? question: There have been a few complaints of people who find newer content too hard, or rather, don’t want it to get harder because they don’t want to be excluded out of the experience. What’s your stance on this? Do you want the main story to be accessible by everyone at the cost of keeping things not too difficult (through mechanics and deaths and the like), or do you think players should gradually “git gud” since the game goes more and more towards an end, similar in a single player game, and that players just need to improve in order to reach and beat the eventual final boss?

4. Challenge Mote question: This ties in somewhat with the previous question. Challenge Motes were a relatively big thing in LWS2 but disappeared after that, with the exception of Hearts and Minds. Are there any ideas of bringing them back? My personal preference (probably a bitch to implement) is to have challenge motes on at least the final instances of each chapter which would provide a challenge to people who want it so that the people who just want the experience can just ignore it. For this, the mote would preferably be available right from the start (again, probably a bitch to code). I remember there being a challenge mote in the Glint’s Lair instance in LWS2, but it was only available on replay and had no achievement, so I wonder how many people actually used it. Basically, tl;dr: Challenge mote, yay or nay?

• Bonus: Scaling: I started playing the PS with my brother and was surprised that the instance scaled with the number of players in it. Although I haven’t played the newer releases yet, I don’t think this is the case there. Is there an idea for this to return or is it just not worth the effort?

Again, sorry for the wall. I have a problem with walls of text.

Originally posted by Charrikayu

Could you explain why the wardrobe system works for backpacks, themselves an accessory, but not other types like amulets, earrings, and rings? Or is it merely a matter of volume and the wardrobe currently can't contain the number of available trinket skins?

Originally posted by gahata

Could you package the LS soundtracks as albums with the last episode of the season, or release an "episode EP" with every episode? Honestly I listen a lot to both HoT and PoF soundtrack, but I never really touch any of the LS pieces (that I love), because it's insanely impractical for me to do so

Originally posted by Atelia

I'm very curious about game development as a career- if you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to become game developers?

(I know this is an AMA about the latest episode and might not be the right place to ask this question- if there's a better place, or a place where some devs have talked about this, please let me know!)

Originally posted by MindSecurity

Mounts Team Matt Lambdin

Is it possible, and if so, can you guys please add the "checkpoint" mechanics into Guild Halls so we can make courses in there?

Originally posted by InternetKillTV

Hey Cinematics Team!!

I've shouted a lot about the quality of the cinematics this patch, in particular that final one. I think they were truly exceptional. Often cinematics in the game now are pre-rendered and come in a lower resolution, like the one in the second instance. It's a shame considering the quality of the in-game assets are actually so high so seeing you guys execute a cinematic playing in engine with such excellent uses of camera, sound, framing, animation, and mo-cap was so exciting to me. It is by far my biggest standout of Guild Wars 2's storytelling up to now.

So my question to you - aside from raving about the sheer quality of that last cinematic - is whether this shift in technology and quality for the cinematics is something we can expect to see going. Now that you've cracked the in-engine camera systems and live rendering for cinematics are those low quality pre-rendered cutscenes a thing of the past?

Originally posted by RUBIK1376

That said, raids haven't being delayed at all.

So the current pace of 2 bosses + events every 10 months is the new norm forever?

Originally posted by RUBIK1376

Is it possible to give priority to new fractal development over fractal reworks? Reworks are nowhere near as exciting and can make existing fractals unenjoyable (molten boss haha)

Originally posted by Hrafhildr

So back to boring Kralkatorrik? :'(

Originally posted by Rainpumpkin7266

About trailer and final instance

Originally posted by Tomser555

Different person but thank you for this lengthy insight into the story, the meaning behind it and how it came to be. Its always really nice to read the thinking process behind the writing.

Originally posted by wheadna

Given that Petey is a product in some sense of the scarab plague, does this mean that all rollerbeetles in GW1 are actually descendents of scarabs that emerged from the first plague?

Originally posted by notameatheadmaybe

I might be wrong and I know you're not involved in VO work personally, but maybe you can shed some light on it, and if not, that's fine too. :)

I feel like all the VAs for the PC/Commander seem to have slightly differing take on most lines. Not every, but most. Is it because (possibly) due to what the particular voice artist's take on it, or is it something planned and baked into the scripts?

Edit: grammar.

Originally posted by SelfieOfDorianGray

we needed Aurene to do something on her own initiative that wasn't done the way the Commander [...] would likely want it to go.

I think this may be where some people take issue with the ending, then. Because given the responses from NPCs and the Commander immediately after Joko dies - the jokes, the levity - it feels like the Commander is perfectly okay with the way it happened. Even if the Commander makes an off-hand remark of, "Was Joko right?", following that with a joke and a campy catchphrase from Braham sort of undoes whatever feeling of consequence may have been intended in what had started as a very serious and reflective moment.

Just food for thought, I guess.

Originally posted by ddcarvalho

Specially Aurene.

Originally posted by W4lhalla

So with both teams now merged, can you give us a rough cadence on to how many Raid releases we can realistically expect? Like on average one every 5 months, 6 months etc?

Originally posted by RUBIK1376

You said Ben is working on redesigns for a couple fractals and what I'm trying to say is that we just want him on new fractals not redesigns.

Originally posted by Chiorydax

Hey guys! Great work on making Joko an awesome villain. I was kind of "meh" about him until this update. Major props to the writing and cinematic teams for bringing this together!

• Are there any active plans to dive deeper into some of the standing mysteries from previous/existing conflicts? (I'm personally thinking of Joko's true origins or what happened to Menzies; those are both things I'd love to see that could have been revealed but haven't yet.) Of course, I know you guys love a few good mysteries, so I wouldn't be too disappointed if they were left to the imagination.

• I really enjoyed the new fractal and all the mechanics involved! How do you guys decide what aspects of the world to tackle with fractals next? Is it kind of "oh, this is neat, let's do this next" or is there more strategy behind it?

• On the subject of Joko being an awesome villain, what challenges do you guys feel were the toughest to overcome when creating a good villain over the years? You've improved a ton since launch. What challenges are you still working toward mastering?

• Braham is finally back on my good side. It's good to see his dumb charm returning. Not really a question, but I'm glad to see that situation turning around.

• Also, in the last mission, the Beastmaster was able to escape Joko's Awakened imprisonment by praising the Commander's military prowess. I guess that's a win? It's interesting to see how different characters react to Joko's influence. Some seem totally brainwashed (until their dying moments) while others seem fully functional as their own personality. Any rhyme or reason to that?

Originally posted by TheCavis

Did Taimi know we were immune beforehand? Because she went from "don't worry, it only infects humans" to "run over there and squish them" very quickly, even though it wasn't established human characters were immune at that point.

Originally posted by -Wonder-Bread-

This. Right here. Is an incredible f**king answer, holy hell. More of this, please! I love it!

That probably doesn't answer your actual question--the truth is I don't know why the decision to bring him back got made. (That isn't, by the way, intended to imply that I think it was the wrong decision or anything--just that I wasn't around when it was made.)

This part I am confused about. Is there not a single person left from the old team that could tell you such a thing? Or did the old team leave in such a way that they were not able to share this information with you? It seems a bit important to know the whys as a storyteller, especially when you're picking up from someone else's work and need to keep it consistent.

Originally posted by SelfieOfDorianGray

I didn't say that the Commander's response was joking; I said that Braham's "Ka-Braham" (and, I would add, the immediate inclusion of jokes and comments of disgust from Taimi/Rox/etc.) were joking, and felt like a disservice to the moment. Further, I don't know if I necessarily agree that it feels 'authentically Braham', given that Braham has spent several episodes prior with a much more serious tone and seemed to be developing in that direction, but I'm sure everyone reads their interactions in a different way.

Originally posted by void2258

On that topic, why is the intelligence of both dragons and the minions so varied? Zhaitan was basically himself a dumb beast, but his minions were sometimes smart and had whole sub-stories (mazdack, the eyes and mouths). Morde was highly intelligent and conversational, while most of his minions were mooks. Kralk is a silent Kaiju, but Glint and Vlast were talkers, while Aurene hasn't spoken yet (though that could be an age thing). Jormag is somehow communicative enough to have willing followers doing his bidding, while we have seen no sign of any intelligence whatsoever from either Primordus or his mobs. And we have no data on Steve.

Just what is up with the dragons intelligence?

Originally posted by FirePosition

I have a lore question. Can Sylvari be Awakenend? They couldn't be Risen because it was technically conflicting corruptions (Risen vs Mordrem), but can they be risen from the dead and be controlled, either by Joko as Awakened or by another powerful Necromancer? Or, due to their plant-like substance, can they be "reanimated" by some sort of nature magic? Or a combination of both?

Originally posted by Thop207375

You’ve done a fantastic job

Originally posted by questhere

There's a lot of speculation over if Joko is truly dead and whether we'll ever see him again. But it seems no one's asking the obvious questions.

Do dragons poop? and how regular are they?

Originally posted by Chiorydax

That makes me curious, by the way! Who did the motion capture for Joko? I remember people praising his/her flair even in the trailer for this update. Whoever it is, they're a ton of fun!

Originally posted by JondorHoruku

What was your inspiration for the way roller beetles work, and were there any unforeseen difficulties in implementing the design (esp the ‘momentum’ aspects)?

Originally posted by void2258

It's unfortunate that the nature of the achievement system makes everything single run. We did Caladbolg once per account and can never do it again because the system can't handle per-character segmenting (repetition can only be account wide). It would be nice if there were a way to do these kinds of things multiple times (although of course that would need reward adjustments as well unless you want to give us a free ascended on every character).

Originally posted by Thop207375

I doubt you can probably answer this but is there still three teams associated with Living World?

Originally posted by skarpak

do you tho?

Originally posted by Korruna

The Roller Beettle mount is awesome! I had a question though... I'm not sure if it's latency or not, but the penalty for the Big Air tricks seems to hit me even when I'm not hitting the button, or when I'm just trying to do a normal jump. Are there any plans to look at how this penalty works? It feels like it's too sensitive right now. I say this since the Roller Beetle already has many other penalties and the Big Air one currently makes the mount a lot less fun for me with how it currently works.

Originally posted by DeimosXid

Are any of these future unknown features still in the works, or has development on guild-related content completely stopped?

Originally posted by JessicaLPrice777

Guys, you're reading WAY too much into "I can't talk about what we're doing next." There's no secret code underlying these answers, just, literally, I can't talk about what we're doing next.

https://media.giphy.com/media/l0IycI0rreFNQwmSQ/giphy.gif

Originally posted by Rainpumpkin7266

ah ok. Got to say, after the trailer "disaster" of Episode 1, trailers have been way better, with episode 3 trailer being an improvement to episode 2

Originally posted by greiton

have you ever seen another dev make something and just go how did they do that?

Originally posted by -Wonder-Bread-

Fair enough. I hope you are settling into your new position well. Joko's writing in particular was some of the best ever in the entire game. So major props to whoever wrote that.

Originally posted by Kaneyren

Raids and Fractals are the same team working on two different products.

This seems pretty bad for two of the most important things keeping people playing in between Living World releases.

Originally posted by Rainpumpkin7266

Sry, forgot to add the ""

What I meant was that it was highly criticized because it didn't show many new content, which then led to people suggestions of how a good trailer could be (I tried to find the reddit threads about this, but didn't have sucess), which then led to a very high praised episode 2 trailer with the only thing being criticized being the fact it didn't say the name of the map)

Originally posted by TehOwn

Is Crystal Reid still around? I loved her enthusiasm in earlier videos.

Edit: Also, I think people worry that "one team" means fewer people.

Originally posted by -Wonder-Bread-

It really was excellent and Nolan North's voice acting truly sold it. He has been by far my favorite voice actor ever since his work in Spec Ops: The Line. The man has incredible range.

Side question to you: How does one get hired on as a game writer? It is something I have always wanted to do and it doesn't seem like just being a writer is enough.

Originally posted by Varorson

Out of curiosity, how much harder is it to alter JUST the PC's voiced lines? Since you need different voice actors anyways, it would seem like such is easier than for altering NPCs to reflect the PC (and their choices), but how much more/less difficult would you say it is?

Originally posted by glowinggoo

There must be a lot of stress coming from the story team rehaul, but I'd like to tell you that it really works. My friend and I LOVE LS4 and how it handles everybody's arcs (especially the Commander, it's perfect), so whatever team rehaul happened, you guys are doing great.

We were just talking about how LS4-3's story has so many things that we've wanted to see since HoT and that playing it felt like opening up your Christmas presents. Lots of 'did they really go there?' 'holy shit' and 'wow did they really say that'. We've been pretty invested in the Commander for sometime, and this just made them our favourite protagonist.

Which, you know, isn't really a thing I expected to be saying about GW2's MC back in early 2017, even if we've always liked the general arc they have.

(That said, I'll miss Joko. Oh well. As of this moment, I'll trust that whatever you've got in mind to replace him is going to be more engaging than he was.....which is a pretty tall order.)

Originally posted by Skelegro93

Was it intentional that the reality of Aurene growing up didn't immediately dawn on the commander and his friends? As everyone entered Joko's chamber they only commented on what Aurene was doing and not what it could mean. I think Braham and the commander did say something along the lines of "well she IS a dragon." I also really liked how Joko's magic just blasted out of him in a "he's done" sort of way.

Originally posted by StepW

Thanks for the awesome reply :).

Although I'm also wondering from the perspective of actually choosing how the commander reacts to things. This is a bit of a tough question to phrase. Given that there are so many different possible characters playing the role of commander, does all of that customisation perhaps inhibit the writing team from giving the commander character too much... character?

To give an example from the latest story episode (minor spoilers ahead!), Joko goes on the whole "you're the villain" monologue. Hypothetically, this might have hit a soft spot or resonated significantly with the commander. Sufficiently portraying such emotions might be difficult, since different personalities or different races might respond differently to such a claim.

Like, say, a Blood Legion Charr with the "ferocity" background chosen might act aggressively towards such a claim, but a dawn-born Sylvari with the "charm" personality chosen might have let those words get to their head and develop insecurities about how they can get Tyria to trust them when a couple of years ago half of their race was allying with a dragon.

My point is that, from my perspective, the more personality the commander portrays in response to the story's happenings, the more likely they are to hit a coherence clash with their character (or with the player's view of their character). Covering all those possible backstories is absolutely not feasible and would get very messy very quickly, so there must be a balance to be struck between making the commander generic enough to fit under any possible backstory and interesting enough to actually be a compelling character. How does the writing team handle that balance?

Originally posted by Varorson

But just taking humans as an example, you have 3 background choices, 3 "regrets" choices, and 6 gods you can worship. That's 54 variants. (I don't remember how many variants there are for non-humans, but I'll assume for the moment that human is average.)

You misunderstood me!

I meant a variance focusing on per race/gender. So you'd still have only 10 recordings, but each recording would be a different line (or every other, where race matters and gender doesn't), rather than 10 recordings of the same line.

I understand full well that account for biography options, order, greatest fear, etc. would only expand the variances well beyond the initial setting. Though having more lines for such would be wonderful (for example, in Siezed instance, Faren talks about how there should be a "Krytan" present... why doesn't human Commanders - especially human nobles who've known Faren for ages - react to such / get a different reaction from Faren?), I can understand how such can be difficult to do.

(On an side, humans actually have the greatest variance as most other races only have 4 (norn, sylvari) or 5 (charr, asura) options whereas humans have 6!)

Originally posted by Gorden121

Does that mean there is absolutely no connection between the magic used to create risen and the magic used to create awakened? And if so doesn't that imply that the magic spectrum of the Elder Dragons is fully separate from the magic humans can use, potentially because of their connection to the human gods?

Does that mean there are at least two separate non-coupled magic systems in Tyria, one with connection to ley-line energy and one without?

Originally posted by Tostitokid

Didn't you say the same thing about Bubbles?

Originally posted by [deleted]

These sorts of silly answers make me laugh and brighten my day. Thanks for being you Peter. It's always fun to see you on guild chat because I know amongst the serious answers you won't pass up a chance to be light-hearted & have fun.

Originally posted by Shinasti

I would like to note a tiny thing regarding this - the focus on the asura and science fantasy is, at least in my opinion, making the other races and more classical fantasy feel a bit out of place. In this episode, when Canach and the commander used seeds to create the twine walls I actually caught myself wondering why we weren't just using asura barriers or whatever phlebotinum they have this week. I had a somewhat similar experience replaying a few of the older story missions, but I can sort of put that away as times changing in Tyria.

I just want to point out that personally I too really miss the less explained, more mythical aspects of magic we used to have in vanilla and maybe they'll lose their place in this story if we don't spend a bit more time on them.

Originally posted by Charrikayu

Man, the response I could make to this would exceed the reddit character limit.

I guess the long short of it would be, do you find yourselves treating the narrative as a means to an end, or merely as an end itself? I'm someone who tends to think of narratives in terms of their social, cultural, and economic implications which is why I really loved the myth-fantasy of the first game and have a huge soft spot for simple things like saving Ronjok from the Kournan army, and think dystopian-Vabbi is the best idea the game has had since launch. Exploring the magitechnical implications of science fantasy in a world that relies on nature magic and has mid-industrial races seems more like an exercise in "cool stuff" than an attempt at worldbuilding, which probably explains why I've found myself at ends with most of GW2's narrative. If your primary concern is trying to do cool things and the emphasis on societies is second, it definitely changes the perspective/approach I have toward much of GW2's story.

Originally posted by Majigor

Tell us! Spill the beans!

Originally posted by -Wonder-Bread-

A bit late to the party here, but I really want to know if we'll ever get more lore that is not specifically story related. For instance, there are other MMOs and RPGs that give you more story and lore via books or just random NPC dialog that just tells you more about the world... makes it feel more alive.

The new map and really all of the new LS maps so far feel somewhat lacking in that regard. They don't feel lived in and necessarily like actual places that people exist in.

We get some during the actual story, especially during the part with the farmers, but even that is just a one and done and I really do not feel it explored enough of what those people's lives are like.

I really love the world of Tyria! It's beautiful, expansive, just gorgeous in general. But this just feels like a major part that is lacking currently.

Originally posted by foozlesprite

I'm thinking what BlueSakon said. Necro player character summons are pretty creative body part arrangements themselves, so I see no reason Joko couldn't have fun with corpse putty when he got bored.

Originally posted by RandommUser

How did she get to Kourna?

Originally posted by SAlNTJUDE

Im not sure who to direct this question too but here it is,

thinking about distant future, given the precedent of HoT and PoF being isolated content, how do you guys plan on handling new maps where mounts cant be a requirement but can be used to possibly trivialize a lot of it?

whats the process of deciding what content stays unique to a zone/patch/expansion and what becomes "core"

Originally posted by Taiaho

I think praising and adoring Joko as an Awakened is more of an effect of how you personally deal with the compulsion forced on you by the Awakening. Some recognize actively how they're being influenced/controlled and manage to discuss it in a differentiated manner, much like drug addicts who would like a way out, and some just dive into it and go full-praise mode. It probably has to do with the personal willpower and self-awareness of an inidividual, not with there being nuances to the severity of the Awakening process. But it's certainly an interesting question!

Originally posted by Varorson

Troopmarshal Ogun is the legendary bounty, while the Beastmarshal is fought in the storyline. Both can also be seen while scouting Kourna in Forearmed is Forewarned.

We don't know what happened to the Wurmmarshal, though.

Originally posted by TryToBeNormal

Hello, I have some questions. I apologise if they have been asked before.

1. Story-wise, what exactly happens to the remnants of the Forged after Balthazar's defeat? I forget if it's ever explained anywhere what becomes of them but an army without a leader is still an army even if it's disorganised.

   1a. I suppose the above question could also be applied to the Awakened as of the latest episode, presuming that Joko hasn't pulled some trick (which given the recording in the Loyalist Warrens, I feel like even if he has gone out he still has one final trick up his sleeve)

2. This feels like something I shouldn't ask, but how many players do fractals often in comparison to both how many players raid often and how many players don't do either?

3. I suppose this is also asking beyond what I should, but once it's finished, will Living World Season 4 have an associated Legendary Trinket equivalent to Aurora for Living World Season 3?

Thank you for the time and I apologise for myself and others. I understand that you put a lot of work into the content you make and it's often not as simple as we'd like to think. Here's to a smoother launch for LS4E4!

Originally posted by Tivanshko

Is it possible that we get old untold stories (like what happened with the nightmare court and Malyck during HoT) within the scope of living Story releases ? I think that its not always necessary to use all 6 episodes to bridge 2 expansions. So why not use some releases to tell side stories?

Originally posted by ReapEmAll

Now that Balthazar has been cast out and killed, who took over his role as the god of War, Fire, etc.? Did one of the other gods take it or was it usurped by Menzies? If it wasn’t Menzies, what happened to him and his Shadow Army? You really seem to be hinting at his death with The Fate of Menzies, but it’d be nice to have some confirmation. :)

Originally posted by dixieflatcurve

I think cinematics use music volume slider, and many players have it on 50% or less, so the difference in volume levels can be staggering. It always bugged me too.

Originally posted by talajian

Wait, so if I've been piecing together the delicate sketches of personality that you gave the Commander and have been enjoying that......does that mean I actually enjoy the Commander's character, what there is of it, or does that mean that your sleight of hand is working?

Originally posted by Exfrus

I don't think we've ever been in situation where we felt it would add anything to have a female norn say something differently from a male norn.

If you dig through the norn personal arcs I believe there are a few instances where female norn and male norn have different dialogue and some of those are voiced. It's pretty much exclusively restricted to interactions with the Sons of Svanir because they have VIEWS on women. Same story with female charr and interactions with the Flame Legion for the same reason.