2861

The red triangles are vistas, which give you a nice view of the scenery. Generally they are high up (which might explain why you don’t always see something) and require some clever jumping to get to. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you see a floating map icon in the world.

2862

Those are vistas. Find the floating map, hit ‘F’ next to it to interact, you get a nice 360 panoramic view and another step towards world domin…er, completion. Some can be less obvious to get to (up a cliff, underground, mini-jumping puzzle, whatever).

EDIT: Bah, sniped! :)

2863

I’ve just been watching some Youtube videos and am not very up on GW2 but did they get rid of the more “painterly” zone look of GW1? Seems more like a full-on 3D game a la EQ, WoW, etc. than the prior one, which felt more Fable-ish. Well, I guess GW1 was full 3D too, of course, but just seemed very painterly, and Fable-ish just with the paths through the zone, no jumping, etc.

2864

I don’t know, I still feel that GW2 has a painterly ascetic to it.

2865

Cool, it is just what stands out about my time in GW1 – sweeping, gorgeous vistas.

2866

I had real trouble with this veteran harpy thing in the Asura quests as a thief. Just COULD NOT BEAT HIM. Took 10 minutes, and if he hit me, I would die.

I left, explored some more, tried WvW, and came back when I was equal level. No problem at all.

I really haven’t found the thief to be squishy at all. As long as you use your skills to evade properly, he is pretty survivable. The dual dagger has 2 casts of Death Blossom, Shortbow has 3 of the backward shot, sword has all kinds of tricky things.

2867

Yeah it does which gives it a unique look.

2868

I did this quest last night on my Norn Guardian with my friend’s Norn Warrior. My friend died pretty quick and so did all the npcs so I was left to kill everything myself.

I managed to complete it by pretending I was PvPing and trying to juke the mobs’ skills. Keep on the move constantly, hit from range or weave in and out of melee, use your dodge. It was a serious pain to complete.

The last guy can spawn more adds or drop a totem looking thing that makes him invulnerable until it is killed.

2869

Oh, and the voice acting…gulp. I mean, it’s no big deal, and the game is way cool, but the voice acting screams “hey, Jane and Bill in Accounting, can you guys come up here and read these lines?”

2870

That’s how it sounds to me too. I am not even sure they were that specific. It was probably like bumping into someone in the hallway or on the street and handing them the script.

2871

Well, Jane and Bill in Accounting, and Felicia Day, anyway :)

2872

Well, if they indeed have big names doing voice, I sure hope they did it pro bono. Not that all the voices are bad–some are pretty decent–overall I wince during the cutscenes, not because of the writing (it’s pretty good, often) but because of the delivery.

But enough of that. TOR had great voice acting, and the game disappointed. I’d happily trade Class A voices for Class A gameplay…

2873

I just finally beat it at lvl 15 (it’s rated for 11). After comparing it to other quests in the line and even level 15 events and quests outside your personal story line I can only imagine it’s broken.

What really pisses me off is that you can’t even consistently dodge stuff. Sometimes it looks like you made it but then it veers off by 45 degrees and hits you anyways. I don’t know if this is lag and the client is just trying to make up for the fact or if some missiles just can’t be dodged.

2874

If it’s any consolation, I had to reach level 15 to beat the human miniboss quest (it sounds like a very similar story point) as an elementalist.

2875

I was wrong about a lot of things, but mostly the Asura area. Is amazing. A giant cube city. Its like a Minecraft race gone crazy.

2876

I’ve had a relatively rough time as a Thief during main quest - but it helps to utilise weapon switching. I’ve found the Shortbow quite good for the tougher fights - because you can kite without too much trouble. Also, the Knife Throw (whatever it’s called) is quite powerful for multiple enemies.

I’m loving the combat and the feel/flow of the game.

However, I’m still forcing myself to play the PvE levelling part - because it’s just so… aimless. I’m not good at aimless :(

It’s obviously a labor of love - and the world is full of fantastic stuff. But I just don’t know WHY I’m doing what I’m doing.

It’s probably just me…

2877

If you review all your posts on here there is a definte theme to you and it never really comes across as a happy one. If I were you i’d give up gaming, move to a hippy commune and start smoking the weed, things are bound to look better at some point. ;p

2878

If only I hadn’t praised a ton of games here, I could see your point :)

2879

I’ve had a lot of fun tonight just working to get a full complete on the Caledon Forest area, which I finally accomplished just an hour ago or so. It’s a pretty nice reward for finishing the area off including a couple masterwork pieces of gear and 10s, and it guarantees you travel the entire zone and explore all the nooks and crannies and see all the sights.

If you’re looking for a goal to the PvE, that wouldn’t be a bad one to go after.

2880

I’ll check out that area, thanks.

One thing I really like is that you get actual rewards for achievements.

I’ve always hated the “Xbox” style of achievements - as it’s such a hollow way of extending a game.

But in GW2 - they finally “got it” and give you something for your efforts.

Really, there’s a TON of good stuff/intentions in the design.