Now is a good time as any to resume playing Guild Wars 2 again (or at least login) since ArenaNet is serving up two episodes for Living World Season 2 for free each week (the first two episode unlocks began May 25th).
It has been around 9 months since I last played; I ended up staying for only a short while though as that episode in the Ice Brood series just wasn’t doing it for me (part of that was because they hadn’t yet recorded the voice lines partially due to some of the internal reorgs and studio departures ArenaNet was undergoing since 2019).
Myself, I hadn’t yet played LWS2 (nor did I purchase it since I chose to buy LWS3 while I got LWS4 as part of a promo when purchasing the deluxe version of Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire) so this is like the perfect opportunity to get it unlocked. This is also likely a lead-in to a series of promos ArenaNet will be putting putting out prior to the End of Dragons expansion that is slated for release sometime this year (since parts of it will likely draw upon the story from prior expansions and living world seasons).
On a side note, one interesting thing I have learned when resuming to play GW2 after such a hiatus is forgetting how to play my character, how to get around, and what keybinds I have the different mounts on. It took me a good half-an-hour just to get to the starting point for the first episode because I forgot that I needed to switch to LWS2 first (as I was somewhere in episode 4 of the Icebrood Saga/in the Drizzlewood Coast map). And then once I was going through the early questing, forgot about the quicksand mechanic (in locations like Dry Top) while on the wrong mount (which despawned due to the quicksand, and found myself trapped in it and taking damage where I could not get out in time).
Playing this again also reminded me of some of the annoying design choices where you have to slog your way through instanced combat sessions that take way too long (in this one case, a boss who teleports between raised rocky platforms where at a certain stage, you have to collect these light beams and use it to break his shield so that you can continue whittling him down; and get constantly exploded off the platform by explosives he spawns, onto the ground below where there are tendrils that attack and slow you). LWS2 ties into Heart of Thorns which I have to be honest, I’m not a fan of the map and lot of the designs. It also doesn’t help that my gear and build are suboptimal (not helped when I can’t remember how to play that character).
But this also highlights what drew me into the game for a bit back in 2019; all the exploration parts which at the time, was new. That part of GW2 fed an itch that was missing for me at the time. But I’ve pretty much completed most of that exploration of point of interests and vistas; the actual game play just doesn’t grab me which is why I’ve faded in and out. The story component is decent which is why I decided to resume again (to grab LWS2 while they are serving it up for free). Hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay between the last episodes and the release of the expansion (else I’ll end up forgetting how to play again when that finally launches).
