i am having a very annoying time rn and am tired of drawing my own characters so.
I’m almost never available for the VS Art Parties and was thinking maybe I could throw this post out there; like or rb this as a ‘you have permission to use my nerds as inspo for drawing time’ if you want? i get new little guys to look at, you potentially get some art of your little guys. we all get to look at some neat characters. yehaw
Confirmed Arenanet will be starting development on the next expansion for GW2 next year, but the details won’t be announced or revealed until after the launch of GW3 (they didn't specify whether they meant the beta or the 1.0). The aim is to return to an annual cadence for GW2 like what we’ve seen with SoTO, JW, & VoE
The announcement of GW3 has made an overall positive impact on the population of the game. Since the announcement on Friday they've seen a 40% increase in daily active users. VoE set a record with returning players (accounts with no log-ins for a year or more) and this weekend beat that by almost 2x (Saturday was the single best day for new player acquisition since the Steam launch). So the population is very healthy despite some community concerns about player migration.
The strategy they're embracing moving forward looks to keep that momentum and entice more players to try, remain engaged with, or return to regular activity in GW2 and GW1 with the tiered HoM 2.0 releases, GW2 world polish, and more info about GW3 being provided makes people excited to experience or return to the world.
They spent a while emphasizing that they want player time and investment to be and feel respected bridging between the three games, and are fostering an ecosystem where players are encouraged or inspired to try the different 'versions' of the world to earn those HoM rewards/ explore the unique experiences each game has to offer.
They heard feedback about GWAMM being carried over to GW3; that's not their current objective, but they might review/revisit. In that vein, they also essentially confirmed GW1 HoM won't connect to GW3 like. at all.
HoM 2.0 will ‘feel like the Return To experience’ and release in chronological order, with the core game having 2 releases (one focused on open world, one focused on story) to tackle the sheer volume of core content. Confirmed the living world instalments will also be included, not just the titled expacs. HoM 2.0 will grant rewardss in both GW2 and GW3.
Insisted that they have not and will not move devs off of GW2 to GW3 during these 18 months of 'down time' before the beta launch next fall to dispel concerns about gutting GW2's team/ resources. Each game has a dedicated team, they don’t share people or resources.
In talking about the new WVW BL, they touched on where they failed in the release of desert BL back in HoT. The internal approach was ‘what's best for gliding’ instead of ‘what's best for WvW’ and they're acknowledging that wasn't the correct approach. They've taken years of feedback to heart while developing their new map: they didn’t work alongside the community during devlopment of desert BL and they learned their lesson there (will be taking cues from the PvP push mode beta and feedback gained throughout that moving forward). Eg. They want to run betas for the new map for around a year on the live server and not just the private test realms to get broader community feedback and data.
Chatted a bit about the technical challenge of modernizing/optimizing the engine as the game has aged and touched on the coming PBR (physically based rendering), community voiced performance concerns (client performance like frame rate in large scale populated areas, server performance like skill latency) etc. that they want to address in these polish updates and future development. For example, they mentioned added granular settings for individual optimization, so more settings client side for your rig, and making info like event/boss timers and other stuff more intuitively accessible in game instead of through the /wiki commands.
‘You don't make investments in technology at this scale unless you are committed to supporting those investments long term.' Reaffirmed their commitment to developing all three games. All three will be updated with a zippered/staggered approach; a ‘lull’ in one game will be a leapfrog for an update in another, meaning there's always content in the world of Guild Wars.
GW2 will not be coming to mobile or console; the 3 games are meant to occupy different niches, and they've built them intentionally in that way. in order to do a game really well on console, you have to build it from the ground up with those gameplay and tech considerations in mind. doesn't make sense for GW2 to be placed anywhere other than PC ('Players managing gw2 inventory with a controller seems like a cruel punishment' lol).
The GW3 timeline is intensely focused on high fantasy with little to no technological advances in the world given it's so far in the past, with the intent that seeing how the magitech and jade tech etc. evolve in GW2 and feeling that distance between the setting of GW2 and GW3 is tangible and impactful (and also letting each game fully embrace it’s own unique storylines and themes).
Acknowledged that they've been a bit silent the last few months leading up to the announcement of gw3, but they want to return to more regular dev updates/roadmaps/ communication with the community now that the secret is out and they have more space to speak freely about the schedule/plan moving forward.
really difficult to convey to some people that you are absolutely allowed to dislike a character, but you should also pay attention to and understand why the POC character or woman is disproportionately targeted by fandom (for, often, innocuous reasons)
Do your Commanders show up to Dragon Bash? I have to imagine it would be a big deal, but then, all the holograms have to be a lot less fun if you fought those things personally
I wrote a short fic about this once! The end of the Dragon Cycle was the last time my commander directly participated in the festival (at least in my headcanons), and it was mostly for his daughter/mentee Sorcha’s sake. He’s skittish by nature and prefers not to be seen in public if he can help it, but once Aurene was in the picture his views on the whole ‘bashing’ situation got a lot more complicated as well.
Tarir already has, in game, mesoamerican influence within it's architecture. My character himself is also Mexican Indigenous, so I felt particularly emotional about the thought of leaning into that. So Here is Aurene inspired by Mexica art! In my mind, the exalted created this mural shortly after her birth, to commemorate it and soldify Leo as her champion... embedded into the walls of her sanctuary.
(Journal of Adelaide Montaine; 1339 AE - Season of the Phoenix)
'They sent a guardian after me. Oh Gods, the Priory thinks I'm possessed.'
'It's been an eventful few weeks. I'm trying to catch up as I sit here on the back of a supply wagon bound for the Fields of Ruin, but my head is still spinning. I suppose I should just start where I left off. After leaving Scholar Worfmir and the rest of the priory team monitoring Bria to their work, I spent a long time pondering why my escape early retirement from the Priory seemed to have gone so smoothly after I got clear of Lion's Arch, especially with the Whispers badge slipped into my bag making it clear that even the Order was aware of my departure. Maybe my letter to Gixx really was as convincing as I'd hoped it was.'
'Stopping to question a captive Inquest operative against my better judgement was really the first mistake I made in the Steppes. The shadow of Hanne's words had been hanging heavily over me for a while, and when I saw the opportunity to possibly confirm whether or not she was still following me, I couldn't help but take it.
I put up my hood and stormed into their hidden lab with less subtlety than the situation warranted, which was the second mistake. Or mistake 1.5, maybe? I shut off the alarm manually (hit it with a sword) and went right for the databases. My limited experience with Inquest technology isn't much more than other farm girls from Kessex have, but it's at least enough to know what a keyword search is.'
'I don't know if I was expecting her to jump out of the console and stab me, or what. The feeling of being watched had only gotten stronger as I traveled through the region and part of me had thoroughly convinced itself I was about to be jumped and dragged off to a vivisection table at any given moment.
The Inquest assignment databases told the opposite story. Biothaumist Hanne had been reassigned shortly after our encounter to a highly classified new krewe, and shipped off to...somewhere. I was so baffled that the shadow I'd been convinced was right behind me wasn't even on mainland Tyria anymore that I barely noticed the alarm reactivating until I had to hightail it away from the lab supervisor.'
'Even after learning that Hanne had been sent far away, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was breathing down my neck, one step behind me. At this point, I decided that if my instincts weren't leading me completely astray, and Gixx kept his word about advocating for my innocence in Kryta, the unshakeable presence was most likely the Order of Whispers. But STILL, no matter how close I got to Pact encampments, no one made any attempts to capture, question, or really even talk to me. My hood is a serviceable disguise from a distance, but it isn't that good. I actually felt like I was being ignored, which, in hindsight, was probably true.'
'I started avoiding the Pact camps after that, staying with friendly ogres and camping out in the old Ascalonian ruins. Still, the feeling stayed, but I kept it at bay thinking about what the old wall must have looked like in its prime. An ancient feat of human dedication, and a symbol of old Ascalon's hostility and fear. Ghosts still mill around it, trying to keep outsiders at bay. I wish I could help them realize their war is over.
I was camped in a nook below those ruins (the third mistake was starting an uncovered fire) when she found me.'
'One moment, I was writing down my thoughts, and the next I had blue chains clamped around my neck, burning cold. At first I thought it was a ghost attack, but Vulpes' immediate panic felt different somehow. Then I saw the charr. I haven't encountered many guardians before, just a few among Priory and Vigil squads, but I was able to put two and two together. She was staring directly through me, like she could see the demon snarling behind my eyes.
I didn't recognize her armor, not at first. The only thoughts running through my head were the fight-flight-freeze kind, and I wasn't exactly examining what I would later realize was a modified Whispers brigantine bearing the Tyrian Alliance's crest on the back.'
'A bellowing shriek from above snapped me out of my panic (or maybe just made me panic more productively) and my flesh construct got a lucky hit on the bounty hunter. The magic sustaining the chains faltered and I threw the biggest concentration of terror magic I could in my attacker's direction before she could get a paw around the crossbow at her hip. I ran for the nearest Legion base as a Shatterer (an entire Torment-ridden Shatterer) passed overhead.
The bounty hunter wasn't dissuaded for long. We traded strikes as I clambered through the ruins and eventually decided to take my chances in the Brand itself. I don't know if you, imaginary reader, have ever had to out-sprint a charr who is actively trying to kill you, but it's not fun. I only have two legs to work with.'
'It was at about this point, sprinting full-tilt through the Dragonbrand, that I realized most of her shots were going embarrassingly wide. Then I realized she was missing on purpose, trying to herd me back out of the Brand rather than kill me outright. I put it together when I identified the Tyrian Alliance crest; this wasn't just any bounty hunter. She was here for Vulpes, not me.
From the Priory's perspective, I stumbled into their hall all those months ago in a delirium and denied their attempts to screen me for extraworldly entities, only to run off and immediately be accused of graverobbing and murder in Kryta. They know about the Accident, they know small-scale disasters tend to follow in my wake, and they know that once I finally managed to secure a place of safety in their underground library, I abruptly ran away again with little explanation. In their records, I've been nothing but erratic and flighty, a random Kessex orphan with magic too strong for my own good.'
'The Priory must think I'm a victim of demonic possession. (And they're not exactly wrong, either.) That would explain why the normal Pact forces haven't made any attempts to detain me; they must not know how strong or weak of a demon Vulpes is. They were waiting for a specialist to track me down.
The bounty hunter gave up the chase abruptly, just clear of Steeleye Span. I don't know why. It's possible her jurisdiction doesn't apply to places under the control of the United Legions, or that she'd rather not provoke whatever she thinks Vulpes is that close to a populated area - even if the population is made up of battle-hardened Sentinels. Either way, I took the lucky break and wound my way down towards the Fields of Ruin, much more careful to ensure I wasn't leaving a trail.'
'I haven't seen her since, but I can only assume she's still out there, probably regrouping and adapting her strategy now that we've actually exchanged blows. I wanted to drag my feet before investigating the address in Ebonhawke from Ma's book, but it looks like I won't get the luxury of traveling slowly.'
(Journal of Adelaide Montaine; 1339 AE - Season of the Phoenix)
'I'm getting sick of this ghost in particular.'
'I left the Dragonbrand a few days ago, heading for safer roads. I find myself hesitating before traveling onward, as if something is holding me in place here. Sometimes I feel energized when traveling, as if latent life energy seeps from the ground and into my reservoirs. The Brand didn't feel that way - it sapped at me as if the very soil was starved of life, clawing at any living being that passed through to sustain itself. I'm still ill-at-ease, having left it behind.'
'There is a Priory presence in these lower reaches of the Marches. I keep my hood drawn, though they're so far removed from Lornar's Pass that I wonder if they would even be looking for someone matching my description. The feeling of being watched hasn't left me this whole time.
I wonder if something else has its eyes on me, instead. It wouldn't be the first time. I try to travel by night these days, but perhaps the light of the sun would help me feel a little more secure.'
'A now-familiar stench hit me as I passed by a waterfall this morning. I found a dead man lying beside a campfire, dressed like a Krytan traveler. No sign of what killed the poor fellow. I said a few words, for all that Grenth is still listening, and left him to his rest. Something prickles at the back of my neck as I sit by my own fire in the nearby treeline. I don't like the feeling. It feels like Godslost - a sort of humming in the veil.
There's a house in these woods, on the very edge of the old Ascalonian wall. Ghostly torches burn in the ruins surrounding it, but the house itself is in good repair despite its apparent age. What disquiets me are the shades lurking in the forest around it, gazing at passersby through the stolen eyes of dead logging workers.'
'In better news, the Priory encampment here doesn't seem to recognize me, with one welcome exception - I first met Scholar Worfmir in Godslost Swamp, where he was kind enough to teach a fledgling necromancer his craft. Now, almost a year later, I can finally repay the favor.
There is an exception to the Foefire living (perhaps un-living is a better word for it) in that house. The necromancer Bria, retaining her own mind through sheer strength of power and will, despite the curse binding her to this side of the Mists. She frustrates me. With the capacity - the unique privilege - to defy a curse chaining an entire nation to undeath, she uses her power for selfish, predatory gain. Was this tendency to evil what gave her the ability to resist the worst of the Foefire in the first place, or was she driven to such a single-minded cruelty by decades of entrapment in this place?
I can feel an old tendency of my own threatening to trap me here with her, the same as the mires infested with Zhaitan's Unchained. I see my own worst fate playing out on repeat before me and I cannot stop myself from railing my fists against it until one of us breaks. (And the first to fall can always only be me, because I am mortal and what is already dead cannot die. Not like this, anyway.)'
'I stayed as long as I dared, giving my notes to the scholars, guarding locals from lurking shades, meeting Bria in battle each time her ghost coalesced and trying, selfishly, to reason with someone who'd already chosen who and what she was. She fascinated me when I arrived. I think I hated her by the end. I think it was the dangerous kind of hate that quickly turns to obsession. I've never fought another necromancer who so clearly outmatched me before. It was...exhilarating? Having something other than myself to protect, not having to hold myself back...hm. I wonder if that feeling is what drives some people to become wandering adventurers. But I was never going to be able to break whatever cycle she was trapped in, and the Priory would have caught on to me sooner rather than later, so I gathered my resolve and continued on.
There is ground to cover, and I have a lot to think about on the way.'
Like they tried to change Reblogs and people rightfully got up in arms, this is a LOT worse. In order to have access to any sort of thing dubbed mature, and We haveALL seen what they think is mature, Everything from a black and white photo of a black woman's arm, to posts about IUD recalls, to a nude painted by a 17th century artist, to anything involving the word Trans; you have to send your personal information to a third party site that WILL get hacked, and you will be doxxed. And they can say "Oh shit, well it wasn't us who sent your name address and gender identity to Moldovan teenagers, here's a couple extra minutes in the ball pit.
That's bad enough!!!!!!!! But the entire idea of needing permission from state authorities to access anything labeled mature by our friendly AI overlords is some fucking Boll shit. Die Gedenken Sind Frie baby. This is all a reaction to people getting uppity about their lowly lowly rights and is being propped up by the same bad actors tht have made life unlivable. Fuck that shit.
"Well it's only being rolled out in Brazil and UK" Yeah, to start. "Well they're being forced to do this by laws." YOu know it's always really funny when these tech giants (Or whatever you call owning tumblr dot com) get really antsy about laws considering they pick and choose which ones they abide by.
This is a breaking point and it's going to be very interesting to see how we proceed from here.
Where's the fucking. The form. The fucking form. Hang on, lemme find it.
Tumblr is a place to express yourself, discover yourself, and bond over the stuff you love. It's where your interests connect you with your
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Okay, but I really feel like if anyone would have been able to bond with vlast, it would have been Trahearne
no no, really hear me out!
the ill-fated eldest son of a former minion of an elder dragon sets of to kill his grandfather, an elder dragon. The eldest son is isolated and alone for most of his life, and cannot escape his destiny.
the only difference is that Trahearne had people, and found the commander. he no longer was alone, and so he did not become bitter like vlast did.
Vlast wants to escape his destiny, he wants to be free. Trahearne is trapped in a wyld hunt that he thinks is impossible. But still they both try, they spend almost every waking moment trying to fulfill it
vlast is filled with anger, trahearne feels like he cannot give into it.
i just think that if they got to talk, to meet, maybe vlast would have had a better fate
The tragic sibling parallels between Vlast and Aurene, and Trahearne and Caithe get me every time - the older brothers crushed by the world on their shoulders who die trapped in the (dragon) cycle of generational trauma and the younger sisters struggling to prove themselves who finally break that cycle, all of them angry and lonely for different reasons, none of them perfectly fitting into the world they strive to save anyway - the way they each must understand their sibling more than anyone else in the world but never get a chance to properly express that before it’s too late
Just so you know, Tumblr friends, if you ever tag me for a writing/art/screenshot/whatever game and I don't play along, I do still appreciate the tag and would still love to be tagged again in the future if you think of me. I just don't always have something to give for a specific tag prompt, or I'm too busy at the moment.
