"The Midnight King" Trailer & Announcement / Studio Road Roadmap / Updates Announced!

🫘The final patch of SOTO is about to release and the story is over! A pretty mediocre story trailer but genuinely decent blog post information on this one including many new goodies for PvP and WvW. Let's dive in.
🫘Find me on Twitch on occasion:
/ woodenpotatoes
🫘My subreddit for getting in contact and discussion:
/ woodenpotatoes
🫘Also I tweet:
/ woodenpotatoes
🫘I have an active discord:
discord.gg/woodenpotatoes
🫘If you want to help me make more videos in a very real way, please consider supporting my Patreon
/ woodenpotatoes

[@AATproducer]

😂 Mukluk said in his streams yesterday: if you want to know more about that scream and the shadow, woodenpotatos will bring out a 45 minutes video just discussing that. Meanwhile WP: I have absolutely no idea what that scream and shadow was about. Genius

[@harude]

It's kinda cool seeing that shout out coming from one nerd to another nerd

[@stevenmcg1986]

Oh thank you. I was dying for ANY type of WP GW2 content and I just knew you'd make a video about the release trailer and blog ❤

[@WordsOfTheTeacher]

Me every day

[@Thakrulll]

16:40 The little reticle and the action camera is also used for some adventures and the Skyscale fireball ability. So this features might be a very nice addition to the game even if most people won't use it for the normal action camera mode.

[@KecalMilenium]

I think daemon talking about lost soldiers is not Epoch, but the general we recruited in the last patch. Kind of hard to tell with how little time we had with him and with the audio filters they use for daemon vioces.

[@niclastname]

I think the "play for free if you own Soto" is to make it clear for people out of the loop that this is included in the expansion, and not a potentially separate thing like LW episodes. I know there have been issues with people not understanding the structure of what is free or included with what during the LW era. People would buy expansions and not realize that they also had to buy LW separate, or they would buy LW on the gem store and not understand that they couldn't actually play it if they didn't own the previous expansion etc. So my guess is that they say that in the trailers to make it clear "If you own Soto, this content is included and if you buy SotO later you will get this with it" so that people don't wonder if it works like LW where it's kind of free, but only if you were there at the time, and if not you have to buy it later, but even if you buy it or logged in you still have to buy the expansions, etc etc etc.

[@CatarinaStone]

personally I would prefer an astral ward betrayal rather than a peitha betrayal. We deal with Eparch and Isgarren is like "cool, we now have a really good opportunity of wiping out the kryptis once and for all" and since Zojja's ascension, well it turns out she's not on our side anymore

[@TaT2GeN]

I like your idea. I was initially hoping for a Peitha betrayal in the form of a Trojan horse with that portal they were trying to create while it was still inside the tower...I was like..uh, guys, why are you making this thing inside? but then it was moved outside, disappointing. it would be cool to see what would happen if we had to go up against the Wizards, especially now knowing that the Astral Ward that is with us are there because they believe in the wayfinder & we would have some of them choose to fight with us. Could be interesting. Then again, Isgarren could convince them we've been irreversibly corrupted and should be put down on sight. Maybe there is a hidden use for the Heart that Waiting Sorrow knew we would need. I'd hate to find out all of this was a fractal and that the wizards created and are watching to see what we would do in this kind of situation. That would be such a cop out and let down imo.

[@ringthatkill]

@TaT2GeN i like Mabon so that cop-out would probably only have one good thing and is Mabon being alive lol

[@Jaaaaaaaaaanzbo]

I think it's a shadow of a giant spider, the meta is called in to the spider's lair after all.

[@_Banjo_]

split up and fight the legs

[@niclastname]

That's what I was thinking as well. Shadow could be spider legs.

[@thelyssamysterygw2439]

Eparch will probably transform into a spider. His throne looks like a web.

[@Techstriker1]

Giant spider you say? Would love at an easter egg to the pre-Abbadon spider god.

[@relifed]

About the action cam, it's good for any player that uses a skyscale too, cause you automatically swap into it when you want to use the fireball skill

[@anthonymaringelli7478]

Pvp updates are awesome! I cant believe they’re updating djinns domain. I pray for an eventual new map but this is great

[@technonewt7971]

I use action came depending on what content I play. I use it exclusively in SAB and jumping puzzles but almost never when in other combat modes.

[@JohnSmithJane]

Can someone explain to me why so many people think Peitha will betray us. Ive heard multiple content creators for the game now (including WP) and the general broader community entertain this idea. Dont get me wrong, I love it in theory... but what are you people smoking? Theres no iota of my being that can even entertain the thought that ArenaNet would do this. Am I being unfair? Im not in love with the story right now, but I dont super hate it either. Its good enough, could be better, thats been the GW2 standard for a while now. Peitha's betrayal would be an amazing moment, but what has ArenaNet ever done with the writing of this game that makes it possible they would do this? Especially when theyve never given the player a chance to be hesitant of Peitha.

[@Thakrulll]

19:00 Grouch have talked about this before in blogposts but the gist of it is this. World restructuring and Alliances were announced in 2018 and then behind the scenes it immediately got deprioritised. So there was no active development on it between 2018 and late 2021.

[@ctg4818]

Took them like 5 years to add legendary crafting/armory after announcing that too

[@niclastname]

​@@ctg4818 Yeah gen 2 legendaries were a HoT feature, and we got the last one S4E6 4 years later after 2 living world seasons and another expansion.

[@ImmortalityV]

I sort of get the whole "Play for free if you own the expansion" though. In season 4 of living world you could own the expansion but not play the subsequent living world for free if you weren't there when it launched. You'd need the expansion + 200 gems to play that episode. So maybe as to avoid confusion to players that haven't played in a long time?

[@hardy83]

That's my take too. It's still funny wording, but then again I hate the use of the term free on anything that has a cost barrier. Buy one get one free. Well no, it's not free cause you're spending money to get it. For example.

[@niclastname]

Yeah I don't see it is them being disingenuous. I took it as the opposite. They're making it clear that this is included content to avoid the old LW confusion. Not only could you buy an expansion and have to buy the LW too before, but you could also own the episodes and not have access to them if you don't own the previous expansion. This seems like they're making it clear "this is included in the expansion, and you need the expansion".

[@ImmortalityV]

@@niclastname Exactly! Thank you xD Finally someone who understands

[@_Banjo_]

Ironically you could also own the episodes without owning the expansion

[@ImmortalityV]

@@_Banjo_ Exactly! And still not play them xD Such an odd thing that its still like that. Just attach the living world seasons to expack purchases

[@ewancuthbertson8019]

The convergence CM is likely to be 50 players not 10 players

[@Salamandr0]

That's what I think as well since the article never mentioned that it would be 10 squad for the CM. Imagine 10 players trying to split up and do all the events on the map in a short amount of time.

[@Ehsk_]

Before I comment on the video I'll say to anyone reading who hasn't yet checked out the recent let's plays I'd recommend taking a look. The FF6 play through especially. I noticed when watching the trailer that Eparch's lair actually shares the same kind of 'pillars' or mini towers that the wizard tower itself uses - where they flare out horizontally at the top - which is kind of interesting to me, but I'm not sure if that's visible in-game currently or not though. I could see the fractal, being called the 'lonely tower', taking us inside the place especially if it's a mirror of Isgarren's tower - lonely because Eparch left the court and spent millenia squishing other demons I guess. Peitha mentioned that fractals don't only show Tyrian history at some point in the base expansion so I could also see it giving a glimpse into why he left the court. That being said, I'm not confident that they'll deliver on the intrigue in this patch alone. It would probably take the end of this patch having direct continuity with the next expansion's story to achieve that but I'm also not sure people would have the appetite for that right now. Myself included.

[@WoodenPotatoes]

That's very nice of you to say thanks man.

[@ringthatkill]

​@@WoodenPotatoesff6?? Omg

[@3renegade3]

I would have thought the action cam reticle is to improve aiming of Skyscale Fireballs (assuming that shares the same reticle) and for that reason alone I actually really appreciate it because that tiny white dot is impossible yo keep track of.

[@TheZerothbase]

biggest surprise in the trailer was finding out the Midnight King is clearly a Protoss (based upon voice) "For Auir! Princess of the Traitors! You must construct additional pylons!"

[@Godooable]

9:15 I think ANet is just clarifying it is still part of the purchase we made... what 1 year ago at this point?

[@JaredSvB]

The shadow scene right at the end of the trailer, I believe is just a hint of the Fractal they're talking about in the press release.

[@Winterbay]

For the reticule for action cam I look forward to making it actually visible for those times when the game forces you into it for various reasons and I never see where the little white dot is...

[@Bramandin]

I remember like over half a decade ago, skipping school days at UNI to stay in my room and watch WP nerd out over what is potentially happening in the floating castle and what's up with the village below. WP was so excited about it, and me together with him. And look at us now, the tone in which WP is speaking. It's disappointment all around. Why do western MMO game devs keep failing to deliver so consistently? Why is everything washed on arrival? I do not have the answers. I just eating member berries, wishing we were gigachads of old who made good good games that make people POG

[@luckypeanut9943]

I love action cam for some of my open world builds, feels super refreshing to jump around on my mirage and aim with my deadeye

[@TheZenGardener]

Messed with the squad system but still not fixed the merge squad mechanic? 😑

[@AirG]

as a 100% action camera player and holosmith wvw main, I love this addition and can't wait for more visibility depending on zoom on my character

[@Fenrasulfr]

I really like that they are finally doing qol updates for action cam. It really helps me that is not very mechanically gifted in mmo's.

[@1sparrow]

Love these vids, a true staple of my gw2 experience

[@RPGCrash]

yeah gw2 is surprisingly solid on the steam deck, considering how easy it is to download community made control schemes and then edit them to your own taste. extra options to highlight the camera are awesome and more than welcome. if anyone isnt sure how that can help, what i usually do im games that allow this is change the crosshair colour to hot pink; there arent many environments or enemies who are hot pink. it sticks out. easily visible vs white against sfx spam.

[@Schmelon]

Action cam is great for mounts and jumping puzzles

[@1996technique]

I wish eparch was an actual spider, perhaps related to that spider deity from the lore. Would make sense with "into the spiders lair", and the references to eparch eating the kryptis. Instead last patch we got some tall kryptis which was really underwhelming. In the same way anet retrospectively mentioned Deimos being a kryptis maybe they could put the huge spiders like Arachni from gw1 to be a sister of eparch or eparchs daughter or something

[@stevenmcg1986]

Maybe they're pulling an 'IT' on us. That demon body is his clown appearance, but he actually IS a huge ass spider lol

[@TaT2GeN]

That's what I am hoping for. it could be an avatar like the pale tree, luring us into its web...and if it was connected to that ancient insectoid god that Abbadon killed and absorbed power from, it would be nice to know more about that. There was some very subtle nods to the king being a spider with some wording, I was hoping this is where it was going. We'll see I guess. I hope we aren't let down. They have/had quite a few directions they could have taken this story and drawn upon existing lore, we'll see if they were imaginative enough to do it.

[@stevenmcg1986]

@@TaT2GeN dude, that would be tight. Sadly, I lost faith in thier story writing after living world season 4. That was the best. I would be so happy if it was anything cool like this. But I doubt it will be. I'd love to be proven wrong.

[@TaT2GeN]

@@stevenmcg1986 yeah I always get so hyped up in my own head coming up with so many directions they can take these stories when they release the concept and then it's sort of a let down when they do a much simpler story. Like, I get it, they have time constraints and have a habit of doing too many things at once for the size of their company and NcSoft constantly making them downsize and streamline that they can't do everything they might want, but it does kind of suck sometimes. I love this game and will always play it and enjoy what we do get, but I do wish they had the budget and time to make these stories something great again. They just need to get in these comments and take some story ideas and run with them! I would gladly give the concepts over if it meant seeing it in game one day!

[@_Banjo_]

They were going to give us "alliances" before "world restructuring" then they switched the order as WR was essentially ready. Why wait when we can have WR now and it continuously be developed.. People in the past few betas have been making their own dedicated guilds which were essentially alliances of other known server guilds. So essentially...we had alliances. Unfortunately not everyone had this extra slot. That is why the sixth slot was added.

[@BartmossTV]

Every now and then I return to your channel, watch whatever the current state of GW2 is, cry a little inside, and then go on with my life. If they really do GW3, I hope they hire a proper product manager/lore master, someone who can actually enforce a consistent vision and storyline. GW has to be the franchise with the most wasted potential I know.

[@thefaisman8956]

Ive been keeping up with your LP of Zeus and its been such a joy. But it demands that i pay attention to the screen. When I'm keen on going out for a drive through back roads, this is exactly what i look forward to listening to!

[@Nooctae]

I don't think you realize how few people actually have Champion Brawler WP. On gw2efficiency, there's still only 70 people that have it lol. Yes, there's like.. 4 or 5 people that nolifed pvp so much they have it 4 times over, and the pvp population being small made it feel like there is a lot, but it's rare.

[@Rejosc]

23:22 The kind of support for PvP I would like to see now is the ability to host "snapshots" of your guild hall map in the PvP custom arena tab. Just keep the player cap at the same amount and give another sink for arena tokens. I mean what could go wrong, it will just be jp's and roller beetle tracks, right?

[@niclastname]

I've been playing on kb/m for decades of my life and I've used action cam almost all the time since they added it lol. Action cam even gets used in other things like some adventures and when using the fireball on skyscale. So the customization is nice even for people who don't use it in regular play.

[@relifed]

Grouch did talk about something big for instanced pve players coming up with the next expac, leaderboards for instanced content might just be a part of that

[@Bramandin]

When WvW restructuring got first announced I was mega hyped for it. Now I just expect it to scatter into the wind what little community managed to hold on on my server, and leave a broken 25% core of the server in a little guild conglomerate that will last for 4 months. Yey, it's finally here.

[@niclastname]

But the whole point of restructuring is so that we're no longer tied to a server. Why do you say it like it's a bad thing that people in your server wouldn't be tied to each other anymore? That's the benefit

[@Bramandin]

@@niclastname we have an amazing server community. I've been with it for a decade. I love it, it is the most stable community in my life other than my family.

[@LeiosLabs]

I think the most exciting thing from Anet that I have heard about recently is that DrStephenCW is now working 80% of his time on Guild Wars, not Guild Wars 2.

[@liltixy4194]

I think the same. Toolbox being whitelisted is amazing. I can't wait to see what he is cooking up next!

[@_Banjo_]

The free things just clarification for those used to the living world. So no FOMO for people who dont own the expansion yet. People knew may have also been confused by living world and the stories theyve heard

[@_Banjo_]

Everytime you mention Waiting Sorrow, im like oh shit i forgot about them! I wonder if , Waiting sorrow is actually being held captive in Eparch's tower. Perhaps somehow he baited the commander to him using the heart of the obscure? It kinda makes sense they (she? i cant remember) would be there. Yet the reveal would be super weird as the main storyline hasnt made any attempt to establish them as a character. Outside some start parts of SOTO where we're like Where did this heart come from?

[@kosLuftar]

Great video WP, hope you feel better. I feel the same about the story as you, due to the previous updates, but I hope they figure out a way to finish the story on a high note. I hope that the retrospective, doesn't lead to a major diversion from the vision of the game they described before SoTo. ANET has a history of abandoning their original ideas very quickly in the name of reiterating.

[@skyrif1709]

Now looking back at this trailer, I think this is a bloodstone

[@NovaBushido]

I feel like these updates are them build on features they can reuse in gw3. They can be testing grounds as well for them to see what works. GW2 flopped on the PvP and WvW push in early years. On the next game if they push it hard, with all the experience they have, it's going to be a huge thing for the game.

[@_Banjo_]

Menzies? Sorry thats a no. But if we want conspiracies. Spiders + Demons = Abaddon or dare i say...Arachnia

[@thelyssamysterygw2439]

Totally on board with your tinfoil hat about Abaddon and Arachnia. Menzies is in Tyria. You know him as Rytlock Brimstone.

[@_Banjo_]

14:00 is it a 10 man scale? I assumed it was just an amped up version of our current 50 man private squads. And not all bosses at once. Chuck in a few timer thresholds that indicate event reward. Reminds me of Gw1s challenges that used to give the hero armor pieces. Im interested to see how they handle the title and achiement progress, because currently the end boss is random. Can we pick?

[@StoganNZ]

I feel like the Tyrant amulet will be fun with scepter ele in pvp

[@davidhenry7536]

Im kinda excited abt a possible GW3. I loved GW2 and played it consistantly for 8 years. But I feel so behind and like I can't get caught up after not playing for a bit. I feel like GW3 would be a good reset for a lot of content too

[@davidhenry7536]

also Im not really invested in the story as of right now. The wizards tower thing was cool and fun but I have no idea whats going on with the Nyos stuff.

[@Aidkit5218]

next expansion area confirmed with new final mission against Eparch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@williamhawkins542]

There is a surprising number of people playing GW1 still for a game in maintenance mode

[@_Banjo_]

Curious how the leaderboards work for the Convergences CM. Will the squadleader be the number 1 spot? Will it just be hte same adventure UI, except the first 50 places are your whole team with the same timestamp?

[@ouroboros02]

they had the opportunity to deliver something new with these demon like entities, but anet just gave us fricking human re skined politics. It was really a shame cos cerus chasing us at the beginning really gave me hype on something really dark going on here like the name of the expac suggest.

[@Thakrulll]

8:30 A lot of people do not absorb information at all on their own, as is evident from all the comment on Reddit, the forums or KZbin. They don't read the roadmaps, studio updates or follow news from 3rd party sources. So many people are confused on how the expansions work now when they went with the mini expansion format. I have seen so many people be surprised over the reduced amount of maps and also what features were going to be released and when. Like the new Fractal and the weapons. I think ArenaNet just want to be overly clear and really hammer it into peoples heads. The way that they are doing expansions now is different from how it worked before. Post Expansion release content used to be separate purchases and now they are not. That is why they have to clarify that this content is free if you have the related expansion.

[@brspies]

Exactly. We can say it sounds silly or clunky, but the system was explicitly different for, what, half this game's lifetime? Most of us may not think about it because we were active players who got living world for free in a timely manner, but it's an important change to communicate as it was a big pain point for a lot of lapsed players.

[@DemethVLK]

No one in my guild knew there was gonna be a new expansion soon... I'm kinda sad about this

[@harude]

I think this was stated in light of scandals from other games...

[@Thakrulll]

Here me go :D

[@Muten1988]

Should I wait for the update to buy a Legendary weapon starter kit 4 or would I be able to buy both? (kit 3 today and 4 after the update hits on the same account)

[@CatarinaStone]

you would be able to buy both. I think if you don't get 3 now it's gone because it doesn't end up in the legacy rewards

[@duncanrobertson6472]

Get the 3 now

[@huntrokilla]

One thing I kinda miss is the IRL post and events about the company with dev interviews they used to do. Is that weird? Just made it all more grounded and human. I remember I used to love watching my Guild Wars Nightfall dvd that came with the collectors edition

[@peleus7657]

What is Sunken treasure week? Teq rush?

[@Bramandin]

THAT SHADOW IS E !

[@marthdaeglin]

Much more better, the shadow is another one of E's puppets!

[@anonymouschicken7316]

Gws !

[@MerisimusDecimus]

eat this pasta for free if you paid for the buffet

[@embreis2257]

13:58 challenge mode for a squad of potentially up to 50 players is 'its own format'. this is new. wonder how they are going to scale it. maybe it is easier to beat with 30 people knowing what they do compared to 50 players just winging it.

[@anirutheblessed]

I'm really hoping Peitha does betray us after Eparch is gone. If she's been manipulating us from the beginning, I think that would be the best possible end for this expansion. The merch they have for this calls her the "Shadow of Nayos," so maybe? (Possible they just didn't want to reveal her name, but one can hope.)

[@WoodenPotatoes]

Yeah 100% I think there are still traps around that idea but if they do it carefully I'm game for it.

[@qontroL]

Kinda nails home the fact that the commander ended up being an idiot that does things the player would never agree with

[@DemethVLK]

I hope they don't. I would like to think Nayos exists in the Guild Wars lore,with its habitants, its queen. Anyway, what would the end of the story be? We destroy Nayos or make Ramses king? :/

[@anirutheblessed]

Doesn't have to be "kill x boss." Could be something like "work with the wizards to separate Tyria and Nayos for good" or something.

[@thelyssamysterygw2439]

@@qontroL It's hardly an RPG then is it? The studio had plenty of opportunity to play a twist on the story during the dragon arc, and failed to do so. Now is not the time to innovate. For one, they don't have the budget to land the delivery.

[@LeviathanVIII]

I will be very disappointed if she doesn't betray us.

[@TeaMakerJason]

The end stinger of a floor killed me 😂

[@ii7317]

Well, we all know that if you have a fever, the only cure is MORE COWBELL! Get better, spud :)

[@_Banjo_]

Sunkern treasure week is to get people geared up for underwater content? Right???

[@joro148]

Kinda sad seeing WP so unexcited for the game. SOTO is meh but still ...

[@DemethVLK]

Yeah it takes a toll on me since when he kinda lost interest in the game.

[@MythXRaser]

Why are you recording when you are sick?! Please take proper care of your health WP, we will still watch and enjoy the video even if it comes a bit later. Hope you will be better soon!

[@WoodenPotatoes]

That's nice of you! No worries though it's not physically demanding to record.

[@Mystic___]

The nasty nose noodles are running along again.. I had a cold for the last two weeks. Rip.

[@JustinDHampton]

I am months behind

[@joshuahng1]

Wahooo wp gw2 vid! 👍🔥💪👏

[@CyprienCole]

If you look at it from a price point, the expansion has been worth it. I think story-wise it's slightly one of the weaker if not the weakest stories of the series.

[@YashodharAithal]

Genuine question, where would you put Icebrood?

[@CyprienCole]

​@@YashodharAithal Narratively speaking, it's not the worst; it does get a little weak in the middle. Braham's (the character, not the voice actor) general disliked and the fact that the product was unfinished with missing voice acting didn't help either. The dragon response mission was the main source of pain. They had a decent plot, but there were much too many of them. In addition, is the final battle not very good, but most expansion endings are a little underwhelming. The finest part-which makes it tougher to complain about-was that it was free at the time of release.

[@Mystic___]

I agree, it wasn't really that expansive but I would rather pay more for a fleshed out expansion than pay a lower price for expansion I feel "meh" about.

[@bladerunner2006]

I still think it's much better than pretty much all the core stories, and at least as good as the scarlet arc. It's not HoT-ending-level, but as long as we're not creating new lows I don't mind having a weaker one from time to time.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

I don't really understand how other people judge the story, but to me, this is an average gw2 story experience. SOTO story has been more enjoyable for me than Core, season 2, HoT, or IBS. I liked PoF, season 4, and EoD better.

[@Comediansbeingcringe]

I haven't played since EOD, nothing looks that good about SOC, am i very mistaken? Or am i right.

[@yitrul]

... What does ascended gear have to do with PvP? Its not even used in that mode.

[@Jerler91]

I love me a good ol' road roadmap 😂 yes im being petty, sorry. Lol

[@naryktaryk225]

The final part of the trailer look lot like what we seen in of naos in the main part of the expack (basicly only the terrifing room with Cerus). Not that this is say anything important what it does mean. (Only that the palace could look like the the temple of febe, that the temple itself could be on the last part of the map, or that there could be another run away from big monster sequence). Personaly i love your new LP mainly because the guild wars 2 soto streaming was horribly depresing since you are way more negative about content then me. And even i do think that the main part of the expack was way better then the post patches. But i do like the new demon realm enviroment i only wish they didnt go with so many 'Big' characters so quickly (or even better dont show them at all). After Cerus, how febe was described (and partly Demos) and most importantly amytas meta boss Nourys i expected much more from top end kryptis at least in visual part since story combat is way to easy as alwayes. Even the post patch 1 was sort of good since you only fight some minor mid ranking characters, but you can listen to npcs talk about way more powerfull characters offscreen. But the patch 2 show basicly every important member of kryptis roality and they look patetic. I would maybe be ok with the 'legendary' general Nephus if he looked how Eparch looks but showing the kryptis queen and Eparch himself was terrible. We shouldnt see Eparch at all even in last patch maybe only terrifing hint how big and scary he is and be forsed to retreat back to tyria. Yet another milenia lasting conflict that comander solves in few days, GW2 at its worst. I hope that Anet learns one day not to build up stuff so much or dont end it instantly and completly (even if Eparch make it out of the next patch (and i dont have any hope that will happen) the fact that he have to repel our army made of few astral ward volunteers and some low level kryptis rebels personaly and his queen was killed make him look weak and not this big threat he was described to be earlier).

[@1badapplepie]

yea that would be great if 9 out of ten matches weren't full of win trading afk trash, queuing plat with bronze etc. its really sick

[@geraldcampbell6834]

Yes I play on the Lenovo Legion Go and I use action cam and this is good for handheld players on any device!

[@kairos1519]

Eparch has great voice, but his model looks really goofy. He's like the stickman drawn by a child. Why Cerus and Deimos were following this guy?

[@DemethVLK]

His rig is also a reused asset too. You can see it when he speaks

[@mismismism]

I can't lie, I have more negative to say about SotO than positive, especially the post expansion stuff, because the story was one of the saving graces of base SotO and the demon/Nayos stuff is awful, like shockingly awful. It feels beyond generic, likw they took these alien looking demons and basically just turned them into uninteresting humans. I wish I could say something positive but the next expansion cannot be like this. Buggy, weapons are not enough to replace specs, the balance has been weird, changes to specs making them feel worse to play, the story cut into 30 second chapters for post expansion, we didn't at least get new anomations for old skills, it cannot be like this in the next one. I wish them luck, hope for the best but SotO was not it for me at all. I don't really think QoL is proof of commitment when the actual content being released is beyond lackluster to the point it feels like no effort is going into it. I completely understand why some think they're doing the bare minimum to milk GW2 until GW3 comes put at this point.

[@shogenx]

i just feel these stories are really rushed so much exposition is hidden away behind achievement lore, but then its just felt really nasty

[@gahvno]

Yeahhhh... No. After zipping through the last patch I'm logging in throughout the vault just to do the vault dailies and collect stuff, most of our Guild hasn't played for several weeks. We've been on Helldivers 2 and Deep Rock Galactic lol. Oh... And I log on to GW1 for the memories. After Anet let most of the adults go - I know that they just gave props to those folks who have been around 20 years, but that's just PR - they have clearly lost their way and it looks more and more like all they have left are some kids who are using the game to LARP.

[@rannytrom6694]

Ur voice just got cooler

[@dragonspit77]

Man this really is the twilight years of GW2. Its not looking to good.

[@Alexandoas]

Honestly have not played since the launch of what felt like a rushed and unfinished Expansion where a bunch of story stuff from last expansion felt unsatisfying, leading into this one where I had a bunch of wizards tell me every struggle I went through before meant nothing. Reality was falling apart and they acted like we just had a bad pest infestation for fuck sake…

[@beepbeep5548]

I gotta be honest, I’m really disappointed by the shift in marketing with this new business model. Sure marketing has never been Anet’s strong suit but it seems like these trailers have had next to nothing in them. No trailer for the fractal, not even a teaser for the t2 obby, no news about the new relics, and in past they didnt tease anything about the new strike CMs or anything. Im not saying to completely give us everything before its released but its really hard to build hype for any of these patches when they dont share anything beforehand. I mean hell its a week before the patch and were JUST learning that the new fractal CM isnt even coming out on patch day. We have to wait until June 4th!!! I can understand why theyre delaying it but its really a slap in the face that they waited until now to even share any of this and we still barely know anything. Maybe Im just salty but I’d like to get more than a 20second story teaser trailer for a patch that has a whole bunch of new goodies

[@flobro6768]

I want Eparch to be E, our mysterious correspondant from season 1 onwards. That would greatly save the Soto post patches story.

[@Teraphas]

Updating the gw2 engine makes sense if it will be the engine used in gw3 or at least the basis of the engine

[@DemethVLK]

The rumors were about Unreal engine 5 Also making a game for 2030 with a 2004 engine would be insanity

[@jace9968]

my opinion doesnt matter, but ill say it anyway. Personally i don't like where the story is going and the whole kryptis thing just isnt the vibe. I've been stumbling my way through the story without interest and the zones are pretty mediocre especially the map metas. I miss the feeling of being involved in conflict, war, and turmoil. so far soto is just political dialog that i could care less about with new characters i know very little about, and for the love of all things can zojja stop crying. im still hoping we get an Orr expansion

[@Sturmjaeger]

I didn't even know there was a stinger on the trailer. Once the content list appeared, I stopped watching because I figured it was over.

[@stevenmcg1986]

Same on my first watch. But then again, it's not like you missed anything if you didn't see it lol

[@Ragucci25]

GW2 is on it's way out. We just have to accept that.

[@ctg4818]

Roadmap is a red flag corpo word lol.

[@Mexico47]

SotO is weird and not apart of the guild wars world. We been fighting in another world. Players wana explore Tyria not travel to other planets or worlds. A expansion in the far far north would have been more welcomed and loved then SotO.

[@CyprienCole]

PvP is tiny because PvP is mostly try-hards which any casual will be turned off right away.

[@JohnSmith-rr3jt]

PvP is tiny because its fucking terrible and the devs gave up on pvp balance 6 months after release lol

[@CyprienCole]

​@@JohnSmith-rr3jt That statment isn't correct, they have done balance changes in PvP. Just because there balance is awful doesn't mean they haven't done any changes.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

The balance honestly isn't bad. I think what we're all feeling is the vicious cycle of low population. Every year the active playerbase gets a bit smaller, and the quality of games gets worse. There's no way for the game to "feel" balanced if silver and plat players are in the same games. Pvp is small because Anet indicated they don't care about it for years. It didn't have the tools to be a big pvp game at launch, they came in too slow, and even now there is jank, and a lack of upkeep that dampens interest. The one thing they do is balance, and if you were playing 6 months after release, you would know how ridiculous it would be to call that the "peak of balance."

[@DemethVLK]

​@@JohnSmith-rr3jtthat's not true at all. In fact at launch there was not pvp specific balance updates.

[@GOONED-CELLULITOSAUR]

Imagine being a gw2 player in mid 2024. You could be playing dragon's dogma 2, helldivers 2, BG3, elden ring dlc in a month, etc, etc, but no, you're playing nothing else but a 12 years old misery of a video game that gets 2 bosses a year, one of which was designed by kindergarten children. Literal brain torture lmao.

[@flobro6768]

Right because the player base of gw2, a strong casual audience only play one game, gw2, the least mmo like experience among other mmos. /s

[@GOONED-CELLULITOSAUR]

@@flobro6768 This is literally what it is, they're a one game andy for 12 years staight. Pathetic.

[@_Banjo_]

Surely by your logic, after theyve killed their 2 bosses in the year, these people have time to play these other games

[@UCEBuster]

It could be so much worse. They could name themselves after dick scum and waste their time complaining about a game others like to play, on a video about said game, while living under incredibly ignorant notions about what others do. It would make them look like an angry child throwing a wobbly, storming out of the room, then coming back to cry some more, because no one acknowledged their tantrum the first time. That's usually the kind of thing someone does that betrays a description of themselves when they become disenchanted with their obsession. They decide they have to proclaim their former love is sour grapes, desperately hoping they can change others' opinions, as if their opinion matters at all. Imagine what kind of sad, pathetic loser one would have to be to do that. When an adult gets tired of something, they usually just quit and move on.

[@GOONED-CELLULITOSAUR]

@@_Banjo_ And they don't play anything. They log in daily to buy worthless garbage off of the mtx store, stand is LA and do random braindead activities that were introduced into the game 7 years ago. This is your gw2 demographic. Literally clueless of what's even coming out outside of their 1 game they've been playing for 12 years straight. One Game Andys are so weird. My god i wouldn't be stuck with a shitty game, and miss out on amazing titles like helldivers 2 and so many more. Literally the whole planet will be playing the elden ring dlc, and the gw2 community will log in to do some random content introduced into the game in 2015 cuz there's nothing to do. Its just so fucking pathetic they should create a short documentary on the mindset of a gw2 player.

[@JohnSmith-rr3jt]

SOTO has sucked across the board so far, doubt this last patch will change that.