Guild Wars 2 - Visions of Eternity Expansion Discussion Thread

[Edge-]

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/a...s-of-eternity/



New expansion, new thread!

Adventure on an Unknown Island
Tyria’s leaders are anxious about rumors of covert Inquest voyages launched in search of the island of Castora, an island so remote that it’s long been thought to be inaccessible—or even nonexistent. The risks involved prevent all but the most tenacious (and perhaps foolhardy) of pursuers from investigating the Inquest’s plan. Your race to discover the Inquest’s plot will lead you across two new open world regions at launch, each filled with magical energies and strange creatures. Two additional maps will open as the story continues over the course of a year.

During your travels, you’ll unlock three new Mastery tracks, including one for your Skimmer mount that will unlock new and updated abilities. The new region also brings new adventures, collections, and thematic rewards. Players who own both Guild Wars 2®: Visions of Eternity™ and Guild Wars 2®: Janthir Wilds™ will be able to unlock a new Castoran Homestead map.

Elite Specializations & Combat Updates
A new elite specialization for each profession will unlock new traits, profession mechanics, and healing, utility, and elite skills. Further augment your build by acquiring new relics themed to your adventures in Castora. And work towards six legendary rewards: three new legendary weapons, plus a ring, accessory, and aquabreather.

Deadly Encounters
The magically infused landscape of Castora is home to all manner of strange, warped wildlife. Two of the three major updates coming in 2026 will pit players against the most powerful of the island’s denizens in Raid Encounters (including Challenge Modes and a Legendary Mode) and a new Convergence. Along with the first of the new Raid Encounters, new system updates will make raids easier to access. A Fractal with an accompanying Challenge Mode will also release with the last of the major expansion updates.

New Features and Rewards
New emotes, armors, weapons, recipes, and other unique rewards await those who brave the dangers of Castora, and seasonal Wizard’s Vault refreshes throughout the expansion will bring additional options for unique aesthetic rewards.

To support the addition of a new Homestead map, we’re introducing two additional features. The first, the ability to freely swap between the Janthiri and Castoran maps, is helped by the second feature, Layouts. Layouts create a file you can use to save, load, share, and edit arrangements of decorations. We’ll share more about these and other features as we get nearer to the launch of Guild Wars 2®: Visions of Eternity™.

Please keep discussion to the upcoming expansion to this thread, thanks!

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Third "expansion" in a row that does not seem very appealing. Once again only two maps at launch and then a third that gets added and completed over half a year later. The visuals look unattractive compared to the Elder Dragon saga's maps.

It is neat that they are doing another round elite specs again to help cater to people who haven't found one that really appeals to them yet, but what about people who are already satisfied with their elite spec? Another one doesn't do anything for them, so your character is not enhanced.

No new PvP or WvW maps. Again.

The story fell off a cliff after IBS episode 1, became abysmal by EoD and its patches, and from what I have heard the expac storylines continue this trend.

What is there to be excited for?

[ryanmahaffe]

Third "expansion" in a row that does not seem very appealing. Once again only two maps at launch and then a third that gets added and completed over half a year later. The visuals look unattractive compared to the Elder Dragon saga's maps.

It is neat that they are doing another round elite specs again to help cater to people who haven't found one that really appeals to them yet, but what about people who are already satisfied with their elite spec? Another one doesn't do anything for them, so your character is not enhanced.

No new PvP or WvW maps. Again.

The story fell off a cliff after IBS episode 1, became abysmal by EoD and its patches, and from what I have heard the expac storylines continue this trend.

What is there to be excited for?

Yes, its following the formula that they have been transparent about, but it isn't a third map, its two maps across two updates, making the expansiosn total 4 maps, like Janthir.

I disagree with he visuals, love the coastal vibe, gw2 hasnt had something like that in a long time. Obviously, that's up to opinion though.

The Elite spec thing is kind of a silly critique, the Espec teasers had more people talking about this expansion than either Soto or JW and it's not even close, the reddit was far more active with speculation, Especs bring a lot more attention to gw2, if people are happy with their spec, thats cool, but itd be like implying a new class in WoW or job in ff14 would be a waste of time because people that play those games already have classes they play.

there is a new pvp mode coming out within a few months.

Soto and Janthir have similar reactions to the story, really strong starts that they fumble in the followup
Janthir Wilds was marginally better than Soto, which completely shifted narrative tone. Janthir was more consistent but needed a more refined approach.

For gw2 players, new maps, new raid bosses, new fractal, new especs, big improvements to housing, 6 new legendary items to farm for, so far they have improved the mounts a ton with each new expansion so there is no reason to think the new skimmer wont be a massive improvement. The Warclaw went from a lame mount to one of the most fun in the game. All reasons to be excited, and unless you are comparing to WoW or XIV, gw2 putting out expansions of this side every year is easily comparable to other major live games, and exceeds the majority imo.

[PACOX]

Yes, its following the formula that they have been transparent about, but it isn't a third map, its two maps across two updates, making the expansiosn total 4 maps, like Janthir.

I disagree with he visuals, love the coastal vibe, gw2 hasnt had something like that in a long time. Obviously, that's up to opinion though.

The Elite spec thing is kind of a silly critique, the Espec teasers had more people talking about this expansion than either Soto or JW and it's not even close, the reddit was far more active with speculation, Especs bring a lot more attention to gw2, if people are happy with their spec, thats cool, but itd be like implying a new class in WoW or job in ff14 would be a waste of time because people that play those games already have classes they play.

there is a new pvp mode coming out within a few months.

Soto and Janthir have similar reactions to the story, really strong starts that they fumble in the followup
Janthir Wilds was marginally better than Soto, which completely shifted narrative tone. Janthir was more consistent but needed a more refined approach.

For gw2 players, new maps, new raid bosses, new fractal, new especs, big improvements to housing, 6 new legendary items to farm for, so far they have improved the mounts a ton with each new expansion so there is no reason to think the new skimmer wont be a massive improvement. The Warclaw went from a lame mount to one of the most fun in the game. All reasons to be excited, and unless you are comparing to WoW or XIV, gw2 putting out expansions of this side every year is easily comparable to other major live games, and exceeds the majority imo.

They kind of make a similar comment every expansion. Its a tradition at this point.

[Edge-]

https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/new...-and-guardian/

Blog for the first three are out -

Mesmer = Troubadour

Ranger = Galeshot

Guardian = Luminary

[PACOX]

Heh I wonder if they messed something up. They initially revealed mesmer, thief, and, ele but the blog post hasMesmerr, guardian, and ranger. Mesmer is getting a healing elite spec. Ranger a special bow in the way warrior has a special sword. Guardian getting a shroud, which seems cool.

Someone had fun writing the blog post. Outlines the abilities and class mechanices but in character.

[Edge-]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2522220219

livestream of the troubadour, galeshot, and luminary. watching now, curious about luminary.

[Zodiark]

Third "expansion" in a row that does not seem very appealing. Once again only two maps at launch and then a third that gets added and completed over half a year later. The visuals look unattractive compared to the Elder Dragon saga's maps.

It is neat that they are doing another round elite specs again to help cater to people who haven't found one that really appeals to them yet, but what about people who are already satisfied with their elite spec? Another one doesn't do anything for them, so your character is not enhanced.

No new PvP or WvW maps. Again.

The story fell off a cliff after IBS episode 1, became abysmal by EoD and its patches, and from what I have heard the expac storylines continue this trend.

What is there to be excited for?

I played GW2 since Beta. I felt like the game had potential but unfortunately it is a victim of the same problems that are why we aren't getting much in the way of big budget MMORPG's. Mainly gaming nowadays has grown very expensive. Writers, voice actors, development staff, etc. Even WoW which is one of the dominant MMORPG's has turned to micro transactions and such to boost it's revenue. So imagine a game with an even smaller player-base and no monthly sub to boost it's cash-flow?

The storylines had grown stale and went downhill as you say, but there probably isn't enough budget to hire new writers and such so they just keep producing content to try and keep what players they have at this point. Maybe some new ones who are bored of XYZ game will jump in and spend a few bucks. All that isn't enough though. I used to buy the expansions when they came out myself but after a while I just kind of stopped because I didn't see anything super exciting anymore. To me GW2 was a nice little break from WoW but the combat was always a little bit of a turn off to me as well as other friends of mine who had tried the game. However the world and lore were interesting enough to make exploring and playing fun.

However if they can't inject fresh content that is also FUN and decently written then it's like what's the point?

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I played GW2 since Beta. I felt like the game had potential but unfortunately it is a victim of the same problems that are why we aren't getting much in the way of big budget MMORPG's. Mainly gaming nowadays has grown very expensive. Writers, voice actors, development staff, etc. Even WoW which is one of the dominant MMORPG's has turned to micro transactions and such to boost it's revenue. So imagine a game with an even smaller player-base and no monthly sub to boost it's cash-flow?

The storylines had grown stale and went downhill as you say, but there probably isn't enough budget to hire new writers and such so they just keep producing content to try and keep what players they have at this point. Maybe some new ones who are bored of XYZ game will jump in and spend a few bucks. All that isn't enough though. I used to buy the expansions when they came out myself but after a while I just kind of stopped because I didn't see anything super exciting anymore. To me GW2 was a nice little break from WoW but the combat was always a little bit of a turn off to me as well as other friends of mine who had tried the game. However the world and lore were interesting enough to make exploring and playing fun.

However if they can't inject fresh content that is also FUN and decently written then it's like what's the point?

The abysmal writing quality in your average Western production is inexcusable. It is not that hard to write a good story. Writing is the least expensive part of entertainment. It is the easiest and cheapest thing to improve. Screenwriters make the least amount of money of anyone in the industry despite how much effort they put into their work and how big of an impact it has on a hundred million+ dollar production. If you were writing year long, you would be making about minimum wage, which is not sustainable in Los Angeles, where you can be making $100,000 per year and still be broke due to the sheer cost of living. Sometimes you hear in the news somebody selling a script for $100,000 or something like that. It is very rare to sell a movie script.

Hollywood spends more on catering than they spend on writers, and writing is almost always the worst part of a modern Western movie or show. The production - the costumes (remember they're making at least 5x or 10x duplicates of every costume), sets, lighting, cameras, effects, etc - is almost always at least decent. The acting is almost always at least decent. The problem is the writing. The writing is simply poor in Hollywood. Raising the payrates in Hollywood would not attract better writers. There are so many people who want to write, that there is no shortage of writers for Hollywood to draw upon. There is no incentive to hire better writers. Good writers aren't writing Hollywood scripts. They're selfpublishing their own books. If wages were raised, it would just be raising the wages of poor writers. Hollywood has the money to hire better writers, but they won't because the system is about knowing people and leveraging connections and exchanging favors. Threats such as "if we don't end this writer's strike, the storytelling will decline!" are empty because we are already at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Hollywood storytelling. Most things that are good are produced at least somewhat outside of the Hollywood system. They're being produced outside of California.

GW2's peak content and design output is ofcourse long past, but the current game is by no means operating on a shoestring budget. The EoD credits lists something like 100 names of designers, prop artists, programmers, etc (probably many of them contracted too), before it starts getting down into contracted orchestras and voice actors. Hiring or contracting a professional writer as one more name is not going to make Anet go into the red. The overwhelming vast majority of novelists are not making a lot of money either, which is why they have to attend conventions to try to spread their name and sell books. Only the very, very top like JK Rowling or GRRM can afford to ignore conventions and get lots of royalties anyway. You can find a good novelist who understands how to write good dialogue, keep the pacing tight and the tension high to maintain audience interest, etc, without needing to hire Martin or Rowling. There are many good authors out there who would love to work on a project like a game, not just as advertising but just for the experience on doing something different.

[Scyth]

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2522220219

livestream of the troubadour, galeshot, and luminary. watching now, curious about luminary.

All 3 look fun overall imo, although galeshot and luminary are the ones I'm most interested in this week. I like the shroud mechanic for Guardian and the new F5 on Galeshot is pretty interesting imo.

Hope they show Elementalist next week!

[PACOX]

Specs turned out better than I thought. Galeshot is going to be a best in probably everything but instances...even then it might be strong depending on the numbers. Looks great. I never cared for guardian but luminary also looks great. I do play heal mesmer a bit in fractals, troubadour looked like a fun little sidegrade. Troubadour could use some better animations and sound effects to really sell its class fantasy.

[Zodiark]

The abysmal writing quality in your average Western production is inexcusable. It is not that hard to write a good story. Writing is the least expensive part of entertainment. It is the easiest and cheapest thing to improve. Screenwriters make the least amount of money of anyone in the industry despite how much effort they put into their work and how big of an impact it has on a hundred million+ dollar production. If you were writing year long, you would be making about minimum wage, which is not sustainable in Los Angeles, where you can be making $100,000 per year and still be broke due to the sheer cost of living. Sometimes you hear in the news somebody selling a script for $100,000 or something like that. It is very rare to sell a movie script.

Hollywood spends more on catering than they spend on writers, and writing is almost always the worst part of a modern Western movie or show. The production - the costumes (remember they're making at least 5x or 10x duplicates of every costume), sets, lighting, cameras, effects, etc - is almost always at least decent. The acting is almost always at least decent. The problem is the writing. The writing is simply poor in Hollywood. Raising the payrates in Hollywood would not attract better writers. There are so many people who want to write, that there is no shortage of writers for Hollywood to draw upon. There is no incentive to hire better writers. Good writers aren't writing Hollywood scripts. They're selfpublishing their own books. If wages were raised, it would just be raising the wages of poor writers. Hollywood has the money to hire better writers, but they won't because the system is about knowing people and leveraging connections and exchanging favors. Threats such as "if we don't end this writer's strike, the storytelling will decline!" are empty because we are already at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to Hollywood storytelling. Most things that are good are produced at least somewhat outside of the Hollywood system. They're being produced outside of California.

GW2's peak content and design output is ofcourse long past, but the current game is by no means operating on a shoestring budget. The EoD credits lists something like 100 names of designers, prop artists, programmers, etc (probably many of them contracted too), before it starts getting down into contracted orchestras and voice actors. Hiring or contracting a professional writer as one more name is not going to make Anet go into the red. The overwhelming vast majority of novelists are not making a lot of money either, which is why they have to attend conventions to try to spread their name and sell books. Only the very, very top like JK Rowling or GRRM can afford to ignore conventions and get lots of royalties anyway. You can find a good novelist who understands how to write good dialogue, keep the pacing tight and the tension high to maintain audience interest, etc, without needing to hire Martin or Rowling. There are many good authors out there who would love to work on a project like a game, not just as advertising but just for the experience on doing something different.

Yeah I get it. I just know that when you loose momentum in life and in anything really then it's harder to recover and build it again. I feel like GW2 has lost that momentum that it had when it was first launched. It was ambitious and had a lot of good qualities but for one reason or another it just didn't resonate with fans enough to really push the game into the heights it would have needed to reach to see those more lofty ambitions realized. So today we have lackluster expansions with lukewarm stories.

[PACOX]

[Maljinwo]

What the fuck is the antiquarian lol

They started off with an Indiana Jones type and then they pull out an electric guitar and a giant mace. Looks terrible

[Magicon]

What the fuck is the antiquarian lol

They started off with an Indiana Jones type and then they pull out an electric guitar and a giant mace. Looks terrible

yeah, it looked terrible... it was cuz they was kinda "Stealing" stuff from the player/mob and then get the power of said "artifact", that is not even a artifact. But it felt just weird, the whole thing.

I also didn't like that weird Paragon Spec.

I did like the Ritualist tho, actually a great addition since it was in Gw1.

[Maljinwo]

yeah, it looked terrible... it was cuz they was kinda "Stealing" stuff from the player/mob and then get the power of said "artifact", that is not even a artifact. But it felt just weird, the whole thing.

I get they are using whatever they steal. But rocking out a guitar completely took me out of whatever character fantasy they were going for.


Paragon just spammed yelling animations. Wasn't a fan

[Edge-]

What the fuck is the antiquarian lol

They started off with an Indiana Jones type and then they pull out an electric guitar and a giant mace. Looks terrible

the guitar is a bit off, but honestly i'm way more into the elite spec than I think most of the rest of the internet is.

leans into the thievery angle very well, having a skritt thief buddy is funny, and i kinda dig the way it's described as a set of bonus skills you can choose from vs. replacing random skills on your bar. even the risk/reward element of bypassing cooldowns on support skills is kinda cool.

ritualist looks solid even as a non-GW1 person

paragon is whatever. shouty boy, fine, i play one in poe right now heh.

[PACOX]

Looking at the reaction on reddit I think someone people forgot about Anets humor. Some people still can't grasp the name antiquary even though Google is free. Why they chose to present the class that way...who knows. I feel like there's some internal joke involved. Its fine, a lot of people are just farming karma.

Based on the blog post the spec is designed around the thief steal mechanic, they just showed some of the crazier ones .

Ritualists and Paragon seem just like their GW1 counterparts. I'm not deeply familiar with them but I do the basics of both, ritualists is almost a straight port. Paragon is a bit odd lorewise. Technically modern paragons actually exists in the game. Warrior's spellbreaker spec is the ""evolution" of GW1 Paragon. Curious to see where they go with that. I guess you could argue all Sunspears weren't paragons.

[PACOX]

Antiquary, Paragon, Ritualists livestream



I love antiquary. Paragon and Rit are cool but they basically do what warrior and necromancer can already do. Antiquary is chaos.

[PACOX]

Blog post

https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/new...neer-revenant/