Hey folks! That's some good points you've made. I want to clarify some stuff I guess for sake of conversation, but also for edification. Because I like interacting with you guys and why not?
First thing: with the next raid release, the HoT Raid Mastery Track will be hidden just like the Griffon track. They can be unlocked the same as always: by completing any raid event. We understand that some people don't want to do raids, but want their delicious Spirit Shards. So let's fix that.
I'm going to sort of meander at this point because I haven't had breakfast yet. I'm so hungry
Fractals are part of Core Tyria (meaning base game, no expansion necessary). That is why the mastery track is separate. It has always been part of Core Tyria, and it always will be. Full stop. Raids are expansion content only. The Raid Mastery Track under HoT will always require owning HoT to utilize. At this point in time, I don't see that changing.
PoF raids will not have a mastery track. We learned very quickly as a company that:
- 1) good masteries are hard to design.
- 1a) if you create a good mastery, why lock it behind a raid?
- 2) it's better to use open world masteries inside of raid content.
The Raid mastery track was locked for one simple reason: we wanted players to have to start playing the content before they could farm and max out their masteries. Sure, go level them up in events afterwards, but don't go into the content full prepped without having done it at all.
The track wasn't hidden like Griffon because that tech didn't exist. It does now, so we're enabling it. It sucks for some people that have it unlocked, but it is what it is.
I hope that answers some of the questions/comments I read, and I'm happy to answer any more you may have.... Within reason. Everyone likes some surprises. Jeeze, Brenda.
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