#“all of PoF was about humans :(” IT IS LITERALLY. ABOUT A HUMAN GOD? IT IS *THE* HUMAN XPAC.

[akurathereaper]

An insignificant rant on HoT&PoF

As everyone knows, yady yady ya, everyone prefers HoT, whatever

I’m one of those people and I’m about to rant about this too.

THIS IS NOT A SPOILER FREE RANT

I will be talking about story elements and stuff that happens in both DLCs.

I like Path of Fire, I really do, it gave me Elona, it gave me agent Kito whom I wholeheartedly pity cuz he has to deal with the Commander, it gave me more of Aurene (and it gave me Joko on whom I can shit on when I feel bad)

But, it didn’t give me maps I like (and I will tell you why) (please note I am no game designer, or designer in general. In fact, maps designed by me would be probably shit, but I still believe my opinion is valid, because I am a person with eyes that can see)

This is going to be a small rant when it comes to maps, now mark, english isn’t my first language so there may be nonsensical sentences, and I am no professional critic so all of this is coming from my heart, not my brain.

Ready? Let’s go

So I’m going to do a little comparison (nothing too much in depth) of the four maps from each DLC (plus Domain of Vabbi but I don’t have much to say on it if I’m honest).

 We have Verdant Brink, Auric Basin, Tangled Depths and Dragon’s stand from Heart of Thorns, and Crystal Oasis, Desert Highlands, The Desolation, Elon Riverlands and Domain of Vabbi. 

Let me start with HoT, because it makes logical sense.

When you first start the Heart of Thorns campaign, you’re told to go from Silverwastes to... Verdant Brink. You get a small taste of it right before you enter it, in that cave where the injured pact members are talking about it. And then you load in (hopefully, if your pc doesn’t reenact an atomic blast), and first thing you see, when you walk in on that VERY SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED LEDGE

is absolute carnage.

Ships are strewn about, hanging in pieces torn apart by Mordremoth’s vines, smoke and fire is everywhere, that part of the jungle is ravaged not only by Mordremoth, but also by you. Your Pact. And in that moment you exactly realize what happened (if it wasn’t obvious from the cutscene that played before it *cough cough*)

But now you see it. The map tells you a very obvious story, and you don’t need to be a genius to figure it out. It tells you and SHOWS you exactly how strong and dangerous the Dragon you’re hunting is. It shows you what you have to overcome.  (And if you’re me, you’re crying cuz Trahearne got kidnapped)

I’m going to skip the storyparts of this map, but will instead focus on the meta of it (since i’ve done it like trillion times). There’s five main crashpoints. Each has to bring their all to successfuly make this map “safe”. The nobles, the Pale Reavers, the quaggan and her soldiers. Everyone. I’m guessing that after you kill all the five champions, the area becomes safe enough for you to move on, after all, you’re the Commander, and you cannot leave everyone to die in the middle of the Jungle. Once again, the map tells you a story through the gameplay)

And then you move onto Auric Basin (I’m guessing it’s a lot of people’s fav map)

Oh, Auric Basin... The map instantly breathes “something”, something different. You KNOW you’re somewhere else, the whole atmosphere tells you that you’re somewhere forgotten, somewhere where the touches of humans, sylvari, charr, whatever main race, have not reached. 

Your first instance of it is most likely the story instance, so you get introduced to the place pretty quickly. I don’t have to say how gorgeous the city actually is, right?

The whole place is an archaeologist’s wet dream. And again, the map tells you, it shows you, it’s story, it’s history (the Priory people are wetting themselves over the whole thing), and sometimes it’s the Exalted themselves who tell you the story. But you can gauge a lot of it just from observing. It’s not the most effective of cities, I’ll be honest, but it’s a damn impressive one. After all, Tarir was build for Glint’s scion.

And the meta? It’s about PROTECTING the city. Protecting it from Mordremoth, from destroying it, from destroying the safe place for a dragon’s egg. You stop Mordremoth from leaching the place with Octovines (or an exalted does it for you. Kudos to you, immortal and endless exalted), and you don’t rly realize the importance of this place until the whole Aurene thing happens.

And oof, Tangled Depths. 

Tangled Depths, one of the most hated maps in the entire expansion, a thing (imho) that can be very much blamed on the map limitation (I’m talking about your map, where you see where you are and where the waypoints are, etc.) Like, honestly, wouldn’t it be a WHOLE lot easier to traverse if your map made actual damn sense? But I digress.

Tangled Depths is probably one of the lesser impressive maps? Overall, I very like it, although it’s story has to be unearthed and explored actively. It’s more of a bland looking pie with delicious filling.

Tangled Depths is quite...a good map. In a way. Don’t throw trash at me, please. I also hated it when I had to walk through it, but I learnt the shortcuts and then traversed with relative ease, so I stopped seeing the whole map as a nuisance and started seeing it for what it was. 

Such an untouched piece of history... The Rata Novus? Rata Novus? Hello? Asura lived here?

The Ogres, making their village there? The Nuhoch, fighting for their survival with the Zintl hyleks and the Chak? The Chak? Such new and interesting creatures who literally eat magic! In the middle of the jungle, you see such life, such vivacity, even in the midst of Mordremoth’s reign of terror.

And the story of the meta is tying in so nicely to the overall thing! You’re literally tunneling into Dragon’s stand, to reach old Papa Mordremoth, and you’re doing it with the help of everyone on the map! The Ogres, the asuras (well they dead, so their robots lol), the Chak (yeah, Chak bois be helping, not rly it’s just the lane lol), and the useless easy line! You’re charging a thingimajig that blasts a hole through the ley-line empowered wall and bam, you’re in DS. (Excuse me it has been a while since I was in TD) And Chak bois are on your ass trying to eat it cuz magic but that’s so the meta is interesting.

And then... My favourite map. Dragon’s stand.

I played this map... probably more than I should’ve, but... the way it is structured is simply so interesting! Three lines, for three leaders, each battling their way through the jungle to get to the Generals, to get to the Mouth of Mordremoth. And along the way, you gain more and more allies, more and more people to help you fight this noodle!  You get the ogres, the itzel, the nuhoch, the skritt(!), the exalted, the... THE NIGHTMARE COURT? *cough cough* cut content *cough cough*. Yeah, some don’t get an explanation, but you see everything that you have done, everyone you have helped in the previous map, go help you out in this one? You see them and protect them at the last island (and the whole map is just one giant meta and I LOVE IT (it can be a point of criticism as well, since it’s quite hard to explore if the meta ain’t done and the last few pois are impossible to get if MoM isn’t dead)) and it’s just so epic

Everything you did was leading up to this moment, this last battle, this last stand, the DRAGON’S STAND. And the battle was just... epic. Epic, is all I can say about this map and it’s story. (Shame the Commanders/Generals were cut out, as we have no clue who they were, and knowing something about them would make it a bit more meaningful in fighting them)

To conclude.

HoT is focused as hell. You got a goal: Pop a cap in Mordremoth. And you’re going to do it. You got twice the motivation if you’re a sylvari. Each map is designed to give you the build up of the fight, first you see what Mordremoth can do, then you see what’s at stake, and then you gotta fight for it. The fact the maps are gorgeous (If a little (bit a lot) laggy) only helps the overall feel.  Anything and Everything can and will murder your ass, and you gotta be ready for it.

Now onto PoF maps. This segment is going to be shorter, because in all honesty? PoF, I like you, but you’re just... well, you’ll see. Hopefully. This is after all just my opinion lol.

Oh and if you got this far? Kudos lol I ramble a lot. <3

Anyway, PoF maps.

So the opening to PoF is... quite good? It’s a bit out of your control but it does it’s job imo.

You come in on an airship, and you see the land spread before you. You see a pyramind, and you think “Oh hell yeah, pyramids.” I would LOVE to just be able to explore the area, you know, have a chill opening, but PoF is about FIRE and FIGHT so, you fight and try to save the people and it’s very chaotic and everything is on FIRE OH GODS.

So you chase this mysterious person, you get introduced to the raptor village, all goes well or bad, and then you are directed to the city of Amnoon (since we’re still in a story instance), so you go. Amnoon is very pretty, and following the tradition of MMO cities very impractical, but hey, rule of cool. The whole time you’re not rly allowed to explore anywhere or look at anything, you’re focused, sure, but you’re also very distracted, you get me?

You want to look around, you want to explore, but you’ve just been attacked by this Herald woman and you’re tired of politics. The opening of PoF isn’t bad, but it is very different from HoT, as in HoT you first SAW the carnage Mordy did and THEN you went on down to help the remaining survivals, whereas here, in Oasis, you kinda.. live through it? You see it first hand what Balthy is doing, while in HoT you only chased the aftermaths of the massacres. This works differently for everyone, and I personally prefer the HoT approach. 

PoF is very open when it comes to the story, as in you are not AS limited to instances as it was with HoT, sometimes it works to its advantage, sometimes.. it doesn’t. 

The way PoF maps jerk you around is very confusing to me. You explore Crystal Oasis, then you go to Desert Highlands, then to Elon riverlands, and you gotta go back down through the Oasis to get there, so you are already trudging through the land you already know (and since you have mounts they took full advantage of making the maps bigger, but it makes them feel... emptier? Like I get it, it’s the Desert, but still...) so you get to Elon riverlands, you do your thing there, then you go to Desolation, then to Vabbi. Nice. Okay.

In none of these maps, there is a story meta. None. No impressive whole-map meta where you gotta all cooperate to keep the map stable. Nothing. There is no use in me trying to analyze these maps, for they are just... backdrop to what’s happening.  Balthazar this, Balthazar that. Oh no Kralky is awake, and oh look we met Vlast for like 2 seconds and then he immediately ded. 

I’ll be honest... I don’t remember much of PoF before chapter 9 The Departing (because that chapter was fire. Lol. get it), which saddens me immensely. I remember most of HoT. Where what happened when it happened how it happened, I know, and if I don’t know immediately, in few minutes my brain serves me the entire instance. I could probably play HoT blindfolded. 

This is a very shallow look into why I probably don’t like PoF as much as I like HoT. 

To try and conclude my very messy terrible rant essay:

Heart of Thorns used its maps in a way that showed you with gameplay what’s in store for you. It used maps in a way to help you build that anticipation of the fight, of everything you sacrificed along the way. The maps are smartly connected in a way where with each map you delve deeper into the jungle, deeper into the mouth of the beast. Sure, they lag as fuck, but the PoF maps do so too, don’t lie to yourselves. With each map you meet new allies that help you along the way.

In Path of Fire I just... don’t get that feeling. I run from map to map, mindlessly following the green star, hoping I will stumble upon something interesting on the way. In Heart of Thorns it was the opposite. I was walking around the map, breathing in the atmosphere of the place, and stumbling upon the green story star. I feel like the Elona desert did not get such justice as it deserved. I trudge around the maps, I complete the maps to get the reward, then I move onto the story. My interest in the whole thing only started to pick up once I freaking DIED for gods’ sake. 

My hopes for the End of Dragons, which is happening in Cantha, is that I get more of that focused map design. That story in gameplay, that map-wide meta that will have me grind my teeth at 10pm on a work/school night. I don’t need Drizzlewood metas (an inferior Dragon’s stand, mind you) that are like 2-3 hours long. A 30 min prelude and 30 min metas are fine. An hour long meta if you have the idea for it, but... give me map stories, Anet.

Feel free to share your own feels about the different feels between the DLCs. I will GLADLY take in PoF preferrers. What did you prefer in PoF? What did you like in it? Give me your opinions, give me your take on everything. 

And thank you for reading my overly long rant essay, hah.

[pinkplantmakesstuff]

Okay I gotta know more about Alec’s dragon powers! How did he get them at first? Was he born having Zhaitan like powers already for did he receive them somehow?

This has taken a bajillion years for me to write omg but thanks for asking @inkberrry it makes me really pleased ;0; (Also I was gonna add art and screenshots to explain better but I got anxious about taking so long so one day I’ll do that separately)

Right so Alec is SUPER like, Mary Sue canon breaking baloney and I was really embarrassed about sharing him to start with but the fact people don't seem to mind is really nice?? (I had a BAD time with some super canon sticking people initially oops) So yeah most of this is over the top and doesn't follow the official lore AT ALL. ALSO I'm only up to Living World 3 atm so this might all change!

Also this is gonna be SUPER LONG (Maybe so I’m going to bung it under a cut)

Right so there are 2 ideas I am toying with and this is the first;

The first idea is that he is somehow able to absorb magic. 

Maybe some of Zhaitan's magic spilt into him before he was born and he's more susceptible to accepting and assimilating magic then most beings (for reasons I don't know oops). 

So his only magic is absorbing and taking other really powerful magic. So if the dragons didn't exist? Alec would have no powers.

I THINK it's said that when the dragons die their magic flows back into the world, and considering Alec is LITERALLY right there he gets a whole dose of evil dragon magic, which is affecting the powers he controls but also his form.

Because he can absorb the powers, after fighting Zhaitan his risen/necromancey got stronger, and once he fought Mordremoth he can control plants and tendrils (And combine the two powers too!) 

ALSO! He looses his arm fighting Mordremoth/saving Trahearne (Yeah it's a Trahearne is rescued au too) instead of simply repairing Caladbolg his new tendril plant magic and the fact Caladbolg  IS a magic sword, it fuses to his stump as sort of a plant sylvari sword arm that changes between normal planty arm to big cool sword arm (This happens in the second idea too!)

Second completely wild, over-the-top, maybe the one I’m leaning towards idea that makes Alec completely self-indulgent/important ;0;   :

Heads up I know nothing about the massive in-depth wider lore of GW2 and don’t have that much interest in learning? To me gw2 is a fun playground for me to create things and stories in so bare with me XD

So you have the six human gods who made everything? Well WHAT IF they had like, a rival thing that was like, an evil demon thing that was just as powerful. I call this dude “The Destroyer”. 

So The Destroyer wants to destroy! He hates the six and is like “I’m a jerk blah blah blah I’m gonna make these six evil dragons to fuck up the cool stuff you are all building and those humans and the stuff others are creating. This weakens him a LOT and the six gods kick his ass and he “dies”.

Cept he doesn’t die! Zhaitan as one of his creations power, accidentally reforms a much MUCH weaker version of the Destroyer as Alec or like, reawakens a weak dormant destroyer who takes over a human babby. Cept he doesn’t know this, is raised as humans and with humans and is basically just a timid dude who tries to do good.

Because the Destroyer created the dragons, each one he kills Alec reabsorbs a portion of it’s powers! (So like the first idea basically)

I know a bit about Balthazar so I think it could be neat that Balthazar recognises Alec as The Destroyer (And iunno what happens in PoF that much so I’ll leave it there for now.)

Either way the Destroyer is no longer the destroyer and just Alec the tired Commander.

Also this explains in my head why Alec survives SO much bullshit all the time whereas I’m pretty sure a normal human would have died preeetty quickly in his shoes. ALSO explains why he didn’t go mad when he saw the Eternal Alchemy coz I guess he’d be part of it???

ANYWAY weird ramble over. Sorry this isn’t super coherant or fancy or even edited/read a second time to make sure it makes sense (Or even that dragony in the end? The third option is he just, is connected to the dragons somehow which was my initial idea but then I got carried away over the past few months). And ta again for letting me indulge omg! Also I tagged your main blog iunno if you’d rather I tagged ResonatingFern oops >.<

[aquathelita]

Oh? U got OCs?? Tell me bout them

OH B O I!!!! O W O

This is gonna be a long post so bear with me. Also please note some of the links below lead to their OC bios on the amino app (you should be able to view them in browser tho without the app), while others lead to sites like Wattpad.

Okay so as a writer I have plenty of "OCs" which are just characters from my novels. Most of my early primary protags were just different versions of myself or my personal Aquailita (which is where my online handle derived from, because people kept mispelling it as aqualita).

When I mention OCs nowadays, I mostly mean the roleplay characters I have.

There's Victor/Valeriu/Bakuro, various versions of the same character translated into different universes. The jist of him is that he's an introverted bastard with a love of art and animals that had a lot of pressure put on him by his father to be more than just an introverted bastard with a love of art and animals, and that pressure made him a DEPRESSED bastard with a love of art and animals that also hates himself and uses acting as a coping mechanism to be literally anything other than his true self. He's an asshole that loves pranking and I love him so much. (There's also a Victor in my novel College Sucks but he's so different from the original that I can't QUITE count him in this.)

Those two started off (as Bakuro and Akio) in my anime I'm writing called Prisoner of Fear, in which a young woman with a fear of vampires gets kidnapped by vampires for a month. They have such a fantastic dynamic because they're opposites but also like super close and they're shitheads and I fuckin love them. I love writing them together.

Then there's his brother Adrian/Andrei/Akio, who's a sadistic heterosexual asshole (btw both of them are vamps) that loves tormenting humans. He has basically been the golden child of the family because he has the most ambition and discipline. But somehow he is best friends with the family rebel and edgelord (his brother). He's a huge flirt and kind of a slut but he's like lowkey a gentleman. It's a grey area and I fuckin love him even though I hate roleplaying/writing him sometimes because of how he treats humans and how sexual he is.

I have so many others that I've created over the years for various novels and fandoms and roleplays and I can't possibly fit all of them in one post, so maybe if people care I'll make another post talking about a few more.

There's also my daughter Cassandra, another DL OC. She's an italian fire mage who was trained to be a vampire hunter by her parents...but would rather dance and draw than make art. She's feisty and fantastic.

Then there's my B E A N Izumi. They're an introverted genderfluid bookworm with a deep interest in the supernatural and fantastical. They have a little red notebook that they write about their experiences with such things in, and a little white notebook with all of the new/full/blue/etc moon dates written in them because they're just that kinda nerd. They also have social anxiety, and have a strained relationship with their mother. They have a good heart but my god does their anxiety get in the way at times. I love roleplaying/writing this bean so much!!!

Izumi originally started off by name as a background character in PoF, but I took the name and made a new OC for Diabolik Lovers, and now I just love using this bean in all sorts of fantasy/supernatural roleplays and writings. I have a Wattpad story of them if you're interested.

(If anyone wants to ask directly, I have Nerina, Oleksandr, Wesley, Victoria, Victor (from my novel), the original Aquailita, fairy Aquailita (the first picture included), the rest of the Rosu/Akagawa brothers (Bakuro and Akio's brothers), Morty (Sangy's darker half, or a 2P in Hetalia terms), and Claudi (also PoF), all of which I'm willing to talk about!)

One of my older OCs is Sangy, the personification of Happy Tree Town (where Happy Tree Friends takes place). He's a polar bear and an anxious precious sweetheart and I just love him.

Anyway thanks for asking! I love talking about my OCs and it's so nice and refreshing to talk about them with someone other than my friends and roleplay partners. It's also good to get a chance to link my writing stuffs and get a bit more exposure. :)

[paragonbroadcasting]

Guild Wars 2 next expansion is Path of Fire

Players head to Crystal Desert and Elona starting Sept. 22

Note: @paragonbroadcasting​ will be releasing the expansion news as a series of articles. This one will be just the briefest of summaries and will act to kick off our coverage.

We’re headed to Elona and the Crystal Desert is was revealed to today. The long awaited second expansion of Guild Wars 2, Path of Fire, comes to return players back to favorite place that have not been scene since the original Guild Wars over a decade ago. Path of Fire goes live September 22, 2017.

The Story

The expansion picks up directly after the events of Living World Season 3. Balthazar,  the human god of war and fire, has returned and seeks to increase his own power rather then help the world that once worshiped him. He is traveling to the Crystal Desert to kill Kralkatorrik and take the dragon’s power in a move that will end the world is he succeeds.

Mounts

Player Mounts come to Guild Wars for the first time. Each of the Mounts will allow players to get into player in the new maps they would not be able to otherwise and have an opening combat move that helps the player against their foes before the mount disappears for the rest of the fight.

New Elite Specializations

Each profession gets access to a new specialization that grants them access to a weapons they did not have access to before. Sorry, still no spears.

Firebrand (Guardian): Uses tomes and fire to cast support for allies. Gains access to Axes.

Scourge (Necromancer):  A rejection of Palawa Joko hold on people’s souls. Exchanges the death shroud for enhanced movement speed. Gains torch as an off-hand weapon.

Deadeye (Thief): Assassins and Mercenaries, the new use of a rifle gives thieves an improved ability to take out targets from long range and from stealth.

Mirage (Mesmer): Though use of Melee and stealth, the Mesmer is now able to stay up close and personal with foes. Like Guardians, Mesmers also gain the ability to use axes.

Spellbreaker (Warrior): Derived from the Sun Spear order, Spellbreaker use daggers to literally cut magic off their foes and turn spells back against their user.

Weaver (Elementalist): Able to wield multiple atunements at once,  this hybrid is able to create new combos. Gains access to swords.

Soulbeast (Ranger): A Soulbeast takes on the essence of their pet to enhances their combat abilities and gains access to the dagger as a main hand weapon. Rangers also can tame new pets.

Renegade (Reverant): Reverants learn to channel the legend of Kalla Scorchrazor, the female charr that the rebellion against the Flame Legion, and call on her warband to help allies, ambush foes and use myst portals to direct attacks behind a target with a shortbow.

Holosmith (Engineer): Bends light to form weapons and build energy till they eventually explode! Gains access to swords.

No further details at this time

New Guild Hall: Windswept Haven

No further details at this time

Pre-purchase and Preview weekend

Guild Wars 2 Path of Fire is now open for pre-purchase through the gemstore in game but will be available as and as a retail box after release. The game includes one level 80 booster. PoF can be bought without owning Heart of Thorns or the base game but access to Heart of Thorns remains restricted.

Pre-Purchase Bonuses

The Spearmarshal’s Gift - A special gift from an anonymous friend in Elona. Players will use this to choose one weapon skin from the Sunspear Weapon Set.

“Elonia Envoy” title - Whether a new arrival to Elona or coming home, build bridges by displaying this symbol of respect and friendship.

Miniature Balthazar - This exclusive miniature replica of the god of War and Fire is on the warpath.

Pre-Purchase options:

Basic ($29.99):

The expansion and the level 80 boost.

Deluxe ($54.99): 

The expansion and the level 80 boost.

Spearmarshal’s Presence (Unlocks an outfit)

Lily of the Elon Permanent Pass - Access to a Riverboat Casino with vender access

 Additional Character Slot

Identity Repair Kit

Ultimate ($79.99)

Same as Deluxe but with 4000 gems. That translates to $50 of gems for $25 extra cost.

Preview Weekend

Regardless of per-purchasing Path of Fire or not, all players are invited to the Preview Weekend August 11-13th. Much like with the Heart of Thorns beta, Players will experience part of the opening story and explore the Crystal Oasis map with a the raptor mount.

Sources:

GuildWars2.com: Path of Fire

Twitch.tv / Guild Wars 2: Guild Wars 2 Expansion Announcement

Youtube /Guild Wars 2: Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire – Announcement Trailer

Massivlyop.com: Everything you need to know about Guild Wars 2’s Path of Fire expansion, launching September 22