#guild wars 2 rant

[kehideni]

Lemme just rant a bit

Ok so i'm trying to think of positives for this update.

I like Ramses, but then immediatelly i am reminded of the pathetic shock value Arenanet attempted at.

First and foremost, we are surprised that friendly kryptis have just... free access to our mind now, courtesy of Peitha (fk you for that)

Second: all he does with it is "hint hint nudge nudge" that the Commander is special... urgh i mean, fine yeah i know, player character but kryptis all around have been repeating that for so much now they don't shut up about it. Either tell me what the FFFFAK you mean by "special" or forget about it. Say Commander is delicious and be done with it.

Third he asks us to go see something he senses... ok... it ends up being a civilian kryptis who was so insignificant all i remember is that it had Gorrik's voice. So i'll just refer to it as Gorriptid.

So we LITERALLY have like 2 sentences with Gorriptid, he gets to camp, we continue with mission to kill pathetic excuse of a patch-end-boss. Gorriptid ends up being there (how the FUCK i have no idea since we JUST left him at the safe camp), we don't get the chance to save him (not that i care) so basically we were introduced to Gorriptid for 10 minutes and then i'm supposed to mourn him? The game seems to believe so? I personally don't give a shit.

Apparently this was so that i can see the depravity of Eparch and his followers. ... yeah for that to work i'd need to have MOMENTS with kryptis to atleast begin to see them as "people of their own" and not as enemy minion number x+1

Peitha... Peitha peitha peitha....

thirst trap does not work on me so to me she is nothing, not a thing. I DON'T trust her, i understand the Commander does and that makes sense i guess, but only her introduction proved that. Trust takes more than a positive first introduction, atleast to me. I would have LOVED to have maybe a BIT more politics where Commander has to work with Peitha... you know ... to see kryptis as people and to maybe I COULD TRUST HER MORE!

The beginning of SoTo was so good, what the fk is this? Why wasn't it continued?! I'm legit starting to regret purchasing the expansion.

Patch-big-baddie's introduction was a few sentences and then we killed her. The fuck do i care that she was her cousin's mate (ew btw)

The earnable achivements... eeeeehhhh for all i saw i'm done with the story achivements already and the map achivements i did not have time to look at since i soon gotta go sleep, i work tomorrow morning.

Positives... other than a nice new character in Ramses- who isn't much yet as he was JUST introduced, and might i remind you Peitha's introduction was also phenomenal just the continuation of her is... shit.

Positives, what else positive can i think of?

The meta is good.

There's literally nothing else... there was a good new character and a meta. GG arenanet...

[madameevil]

I really only play one MMO, Guild Wars 2. I play it because it's always been respectful of my time.

It never negatively pressures me to play it everyday.

It never punishes me for taking time away and returning.

It never forces me to grind for hundreds of hours relying on RNG.

It never forces me to have a coordinated group of people with a consistent schedule.

I love it for all that. It's not like most MMOs because of all this. It's also unfortunately what a lot of "more intense" gamers complain about. They complain about it being too casual but honestly it just sounds like they're upset they have little to no way to gatekeep the experience.

God forbid you have other hobbies or games to play! God forbid something happens in your life and you need to take time away! Instead of punishing you, the game is good at just welcoming you right back in where you left off. It's comforting and honestly I hope it never changes. It's a reliable game I can always return to no matter how long it's been.

[therealpactcommander]

okay so with the commander’s established love for cats as they literally pick cats up off the street from all over the continent and take them home, it made me start thinking, like… all of the home instances are public areas. For Asura, it’s a lab, Sylvari have a garden, humans just have a fucking part of town, charr have their barracks, and the norn have a public living space.

the commander doesnt have a house or anything.

They are just finding cats and setting them loose in a public space.

they bring lots of shit actually but the cats are the funniest part to me. theyre bringing home stray cats left and right and nobody can question them because theyre the fucking commander

edit: 34 btw. 34 cats

[megraen]

So I’ve been playing Guild Wars 2 again. I’ve fallen into a trap and can’t get out…

[meeeeeeese]

You know, I've always thought it's a real shame they didn't come up with 'the void' concept in the base game because they could have done so much cool stuff as foreshadowing for it.

But specifically, the Thaumanova Reactor is one place the void really should have shown up early, seeing as the inquest there were combining dragon magic (and void is essentially just fully combined, unfiltered dragon magic). Like imagine if Thaumanova was a void-haunted wasteland in the base game and we just had no context for what the corrosive darkness causing 'glitches' in reality was. Then when we get to the fractal we briefly see the dragonvoid show itself, a massive destructive force speaking in a thousand voices manifesting moments before the reactor goes critical. And then over the next few expansions we slowly piece together that 'ohhh that's the force behind it all'

I dunno. I really like the concept of the void in general, I love me some cosmic horror, but I think there were some massive missed opportunities where they could have built it up and quite frankly I could talk for days about all the places it could have been hinted at before its eventual coming in EoD

[thornethenorn]

Okay so I'm brainstorming for a fic where Thorne and Yao bond over being disabled but also kind of learning about the differences in what they face, since Yao is an amputee and Thorne's disability is a chronic illness/condition.

I started doing research on amputation because I didn't know that much about it- Thorne's disability is a fictional condition based on my real one, so I already know everything about it. But I needed to learn more about amputation. Only to learn some really disturbing implications that make me feel bad for Yao lmfao. i need somewhere to put all my thoughts down and wow look the tumblr 'create post' button. I know anet just went for 'design a cool looking prosthetic' and probably didn't go this far into it but still.

(I tried to find the least brutal pictures but I'm looking up medical papers and references for literaly slicing arms off so apologies in advance lmfao. All pictures of real people are from medical references and reports, and most identies are censored by default, or are models for prosthesies.)

(i'm also not a medical proffessional, this is just me rambling)

First- keeping in mind that we don't know if Yao is a congenital amputatee (born without limb) or a surgical/trauma amputee (losing limb in another way)- Yao is either a forequarter amputee, which means they're missing an arm *and* their shoulder, or a Shoulder disarticulation amputee, which is far less brutal comparitively, but still pretty horrid. Both are very rare, though forequarter is rarer.

The main difference is that shoulder disarticulation amputations are just removing the ball joint of the humerus from the shoulder socket. This generally tends to leave a residual limb as the socket and soft tissue there is still attatched.

Forequarter amputation removes the socket and shoulder blade.

Let's look closer at Yao's prosthesis in comparrison to prosthesies used for these kinds of amputations.

Generally, the prosthesies are fairly similar in design (disarticulation on the left, forequarter on the right. I'll give a few examples because prosthesies differ greatly on the needs of the people who use them.)

(fourth picture is advertised as being usable for disarticulation and forequarter amputations, but I *believe* the model is a forequarter amputee- however i'm not a medical expert and don't know the model's medical history)

Yao's prosthesis' mount... socket... idfk what to call it. the copper thing, is opaque and they have a pauldron, so we kind of have to look at every angle possible to get an idea of what the joint actually looks like. luckily im an artist so i took a bunch of reference screenshots that one time along with a well placed frame from a trailer

This is likely just for modelling purposes because they're placed on a standard human base and it needs to be in the position of a normal shoulder for animation and im way overthinking it, but the part of the jade tech that kind of is used as the top of the humorus bone (the ball joint) seems to be straight up in their shoulder / the socket. It's also impossible to tell any other details that might help (any straps or fabric or anything) because we never see them without their shirt (unfortunetly)

I looked at their animations but their stupid pauldron is in the way for so much but there are some things i got that might show it moves like a ball socket does but it is. so hard to tell

I will note that their concept art has more of an obvious 'its a ball joint' look, but it's also further out from their body, so it could still be a dearticulation since it could accomodate a residual limb (when it comes to their concept art, at least)

Generally, it's fairly hard to tell, and could go either way, but on their in-game model it seems like a ball-joint socket that's more set in where a shoulder would be, so I *think* it's a forequarter aputation, but it very well could be dearticulation.

Either way, let me explain WHY these kinds of amputations are so rare, and what I mean by horrid implications.

Surgeons always, ALWAYS try to save as much of a limb and as much tissue as possible. If only your finger is needing apputation, a surgeon will amputate just the finger, if its your hand, they'll amputate at the wrist- hell, in trauma amputations (amputation from injury, often vehicle accidents irl) if you can preserve the amputated limb the surgeons can PUT IT BACK ON in some cases. Even in congenital amputation (again, being born without a limb) has the option for surgeons to preform surgery on the fetus if it's possible to save the limb! Judging by that, it's not hard to see why upper-limb amputations are so rare- for an upper arm amputation, especially in cases of dearticulation and forequarter amputations, something reeaally fucked up has to happen. Sometimes its a last resort for infection or cancer, sometimes its just injuries that are so damn bad that it's the most they can do.

Like I mentioned, we don't know how Yao lost their arm, so lets move to that.

Lets get the least traumatizing option out of the way- no injury, just a birth defect. It's possible, but congenital amputation is the rarest cause of limb loss, and I think it's more commonly parts of limbs (like fingers, forearm, etc.) than the entire limb. I'm also fairly sure this would only be possible for dearticulation amputations, and not forequarter amputation, but again, not an expert. So... it might be possible, but I don't know the odds. And it is a fantasy world, anyway.

That leaves amputation happening after birth. There are two causes. Trauma amputations are losing a limb to an injury. This can include the limb actually detatching and/or the limb being crushed to a point of it being unsavable. Surgical amputations are often used to remove cancer or untreatable infections. (Forequarter limbs, for example, are occasionally used to save the rest of the body from a tumor around the armpit.) Trauma amputation is more common.

It can be assumed that Yao, if not born without their arm, lost their arm as a kid, as the youngest we see them is in Chul-Moo's memory, and they have their prosthesis in the memory. I mean, it's why they were being harrassed:

Judging by how they designed and built their arm themselves off of self-taught robotic engineering skills, it likely took a long time to get functioning, which means they were probably a lot younger then they were in the memory when whatever happened happened.

And because it's at the shoulder, that means it had to have been a really fucked up injury or infection/problem, dearticulation OR forequarter. All when Yao was a child- presumably an orphaned child and 'the hell's wrong with their parents' is that they're just not in the picture, since Yao went and joined a crime syndicate as a teen(?).

That's just. idfk. heartbreaking?

[gwtoomanyalts]

I love GW2, I do. I mean, this blog exists for a reason. But you know what I've had nothing but trouble with in the game?

Actual Guilds.

As a player, especially since the eighth year of the game to now, I'll take little breaks from the game. Nothing insane like max three months out of the year total, almost never consecutively. However, without fail, every time I come back one of two things will have happened. If it was a small to mid size guild, 10-100 people, I'll still be in it, with like three other people. If it was a large to massive guild, I'll be kicked, usually within a single week. I'm starting to think I'm not the type of player most guilds either want or can have, which sucks because I miss my little gold text box filled with random words.

[neverloseguy]

Since yesteday, Anet has "fixed" a bug that prevented people from immediately being able to craft everything. Fine and all...

...except I cannot craft anything beyond Initiate level. I cannot craft bonfires, signposts, wagons, whatever. All I can craft is a metal pot...

Anet plz I cannot make a house with these.

[kutscene-kestin]

I am really fucking angry about the way they fucked up the stuff eaters. Instead of double clicking and it gives me a bag, it pulls up a buy screen where all I can buy is the bag. I don't care one bit if it pulls from the bank now, and surely they could do that without reworking the damn ass system. Fuck this shit.

[bigsnaff]

ough 12, 17, and 20 for Dokks from the OC ask game!!!

x @/scourgeblooms

OC ASKS

12. Generally, what's most people's first impression of them? + What impression do they *want* to leave on others?

It largely depends on whose first impression it is, because it tends to go either one of two ways:

They warm up to him very quickly! What's there not to like? He's charismatic, he's thoughtful, he's energetic. His presence pretty much immediately lights up a room.

His upfront friendliness reads as over-familiar or offputting, sometimes even infantilizing. I don't think he comes across as disingenuous by any means, but I can see how he would seem overbearing.

Either way, Dokks doesn't tend to put too much stock into first impressions of himself. He's had his fair share of people figuratively (and sometimes literally) turn away from him for his demeanor, but for as incredibly warm of an individual he is, he's also not a people-pleaser. He never has and never will change himself to be palatable to individuals that can't take having this oldie dad them. If it sucks, hit da bricks!!

17. How talkative are they?

Dokks is VERY chatty when given the opportunity! Don't get him wrong, he can read the room; he knows when saying his piece may be inopportune or out-of-place, depending on the circumstance. But he's the type of guy to stand there for hours chatting away with someone by his side, even if the only indication of them listening is the occasional "Uh-huh," or "Really?". Walk out of the room and you'll still hear him talking away in there for the next hour!

And this is a two-way street! Dokks is happy to listen to others, ecstatic even! Join him in his workshop one day when you need someone to vent to; he'll always have some advice or words of comfort to offer, and he very much enjoys the company. Ignore it if he accidentally bangs his head on a bar. It happens.

20. Any song(s) that you feel represent your character best? (bonus: would *they* like this/these song(s)?)

THIS little track has been in my head for years as Dokks' theme. I generally associate synth-heavy songs with Dokks anyways, but this was the first! It has the energy to it. It's the type of song I've imagined him bouncing his head to while working on a project of some sort. ...So I imagine he would like it just because of that, haha.

As for a song that has actual lyrical substance to it, Unity by Shinedown really really really gets me for him. It highlights the most significant parts of his character; his family, both past and present, the ones that are gone but he continues to live for, and the ones that are still with him and he is holding onto with everything he has. I think he'd really like the song just for the message it carries alone.

[brax-was-here]

Stupid responsibilities. I want to get some gw2 commissions done but

"Oh guess what? This bill came in...that over there needs to be paid...Oh BTW, you need groceries again...car needs gas. "

I swear to whatever Supreme being is listening, becoming an adult was the dumbest thing I ever did.

[thorn-walker]

Guild Wars 2 is my favourite game ever and at that point I don't think this fact will change, so it's very easy for me to ignore problems.

Well the problems are starting to get very hard to ignore.

The quality drop in the Xpac stories is SAVAGE. The Gyala nonsense was weird and it didn't connect with anything, SOTO was fine but not great, and now?? Seriously what the fuck is this?? I can't even remember the name of the update bruh that's how worse things have gotten

When they said "shorter Xpacs with less waiting time" I was okay with that because that's how The Elders Scrolls Online does it and it works!! BUT AT LEAST TESO GIVES US MORE THAN 30 MINUTES OF STORY CONTENT WHEN IT DROPS. AND THE STORY MAKES SENSE.

It's like they wanted to do a story speedrun. It doesn't make any sense. We meet Irja, they seem like a good character to develop what the shit is going on in Nayos. They die horribly in the next ten minutes and every npc acts as if I'm supposed to care?? Fuck no, develop the goddamn character first!! Same with Heitor, they try to build up her threat and everything, then she and Peitha talk for like 1m30 seconds and you kill her. Wtf??? There was no emotional investment AT ALL.

Nayos looks good but then I got back to Drizzlewood Coast on an other character and thought "wow. Even 2-3 years ago the quality of the maps was SO MUCH BETTER"

Also: idk if this is an issue in English, but the French voices are starting to... Disappear. 1 out 3 lines is voiced. Sometimes your toon will speak but one line isn't voiced. Sometimes all your dialogue is voiced but the npc you're talking to isn't. I play to hear Bruno Méyère talking through my sylvari's mouth, thank you very much.

Yeah anyway I'm EXTREMELY disappointed.

[idkimnotreal]

i'm so mad at this game. "continue exploring maguuma to earn your gliding mastery" but then you actually go to maguuma and every other exploreable spot (hero points/poi/vistas) is, hear me out, INACCESSIBLE unless you already have all those masteries and mounts to reach those secret locations, or you're already deep into the game to know which events unlock what or how to do the jumps or whatever. and it's not intuitive like core tyria.

listen. anet. i've got a hangover. i just want to turn off my brain. i'm sure this was fun in 2014 but i mean...

[fantasyquess]

I'm a f2p player and I'll stay that way until lvl80 and then probably some (unless I magically get a job pls 😭😭)

but I love checking out premium outfits in games and how it looks on my characters, so I did. why so many things look so good on Charrs while on my Sylvari main I'm like, meh, why 😭😭

[nerdybookahs]

Looking forward to... the rest of 2024

Looking forward to... the rest of 2024 #Blaugust2024

We are now very well in the second half of 2024. Back in January, I made a post about the games that I was excited to see release this year and I wanted to take a look at what’s happened since then. And yes, I know that I titled this post “the rest of 2024” and half of the games that I wrote about should have been released by now. But if you’re interested in at least half of the games that I…

[racke7]

So, last night I was thinking about FF14 and Skyrim again.

Specifically, my feelings of "I played this game all day - do I feel like I actually did anything today, or not".

If I manage to play Skyrim for basically a full day (instead of some random burst of an hour), I usually feel like I've "advanced the story" of that character, gotten better gear, established the character's personality a little bit (doing X instead of Y, prioritizing this quest over that, commentary through regular gameplay, etc).

So I don't necessarily feel like I "did a lot of things today", but it does feel like there's an "accomplished" feeling, kind of.

If I play FF14 a full day, I feel like-... It feels a bit as if I've watched a really long movie (especially if I played MSQ)? It's a sometimes-good movie, so I don't necessarily regret it, but... that's it. Between the queues for dungeon-diving and travel-time, a lot of the gameplay really amounts to "watch a cutscene".

So, I learn new stuff about FF14-lore, I might get inspired into creating a fancy new outfit for a class, and... a few numbers go up? The aftermath of playing FF14 really does feel as if I've spent the day watching a weirdly prolonged movie.