In a further developer livestream, ArenaNet finally introduced the big new feature for the upcoming Guild Wars 2 expansion End of Dragons. Starting in February, you will be able to go fishing with your own ships. However, MeinMMO author Mark Sellner takes a lot of excitement out of this feature as it cannot compete with the highlights of the other expansions.
What was shown? In a 30-minute livestream, the developers behind the MMORPG Guild Wars 2 presented the new core feature of the upcoming expansion End of Dragons for the first time. There are small boats on which you can go fishing together with your friends. This works not only in the areas of the new expansion but also in all the old areas.
This is an activity that can be done alone but also as a group, as for the first time in Guild Wars 2, you can take other people with you on your floating vessel. This aligns with the siege turtle, a mount that will also be introduced with End of Dragons and can carry two people. Previously, means of transportation in the MMORPG were always made for one person only.
How does fishing work? Everywhere in the world, you can see clearly marked spots in the water where you can fish. When you have a fish on the line, you need to move a small bar back and forth in the middle of the screen until the fish is caught.
There are supposed to be over 200 different fish in total, as well as new dishes that can be prepared with the fish. Also new are the boats, which have not existed in Guild Wars before.
There will, of course, also be two new mastery tracks for the boats and fishing that you can level up. But it sounds really not that exciting and varied to me. For me, fishing offers too little, especially as a major main feature of the new expansion.
Fishing can be as cool as it wants, but it’s just not enough
Why is fishing disappointing? First of all – I have no problem with the feature itself. I consider fishing a meaningful addition and a nice side activity with friends and guildmates. But it is not enough to compete with the major features of the other expansions.
The first expansion, Heart of Thorns, fundamentally changed how I, as a player, move through and perceive the world. Suddenly you could glide. Fly through the air, reach completely new places, and experience familiar places in new ways.
The second expansion, Path of Fire, built on exactly that. Mounts were introduced, each with its own specialties. The raptor could jump particularly far, the rabbit particularly high, and the griffon made movements in the air even better.
End of Dragons doesn’t even hint at having the potential to affect me similarly to how mounts or gliders could. One might argue that with the boats, a new form of transportation is being introduced to the game, but that’s not entirely true.
Because over water, I could already move with the stingray mount from Path of Fire and even do so with greater flexibility. Thanks to a mastery, the stingray can even dive and therefore allow me to move faster underwater.
The boat logically cannot do that.
Anyone who wants to see the details about the ships and fishing can find the complete livestream here:
What does the community think about it? Also, the community in the game, on Discord, and on reddit seems rather annoyed with the feature. For many, fishing and boats are simply irrelevant, and I can understand that.
If you pick up the community sentiment, it quickly becomes clear that most players are only interested in the new elite specializations and areas. For most, fishing is simply just… there. And that’s a shame.
The 9 elite specializations that are coming with End of Dragons and generating a lot of excitement are nothing new. Previous expansions also introduced new elite specializations. However, they were never the reason to purchase the expansion itself.
It could have been so much better
What alternatives would there be? Imagine you are the commander of a great army, you have fought against gods, defeated dragons, you were even once dead, and your best friend is even a dragon. How could that be further developed?
- By flying? Yes, absolutely.
- By taming epic creatures? Yes, please.
- By going fishing? The answer everyone has to find for themselves, but in me, everything speaks against it.
It could have been so much better with relatively simple approaches. And ArenaNet was actually very close. The best example of this is the siege turtle, which will also be introduced with End of Dragons in Guild Wars 2. A mount for two people. Finally, I can take my buddy with me and show him cool places.
Finally, I can say, “Jump on, I’ll show you how to get there,” instead of awkwardly drawing on the map. The turtle is a great addition and takes the mounts from Path of Fire one step further. But why not more of that? Would you rather have more mounts like a two-person turtle tank with weapons, or rather 50 more fish? The answer is easily found.
What do players wish for? A major wish of the community was a new playable race like the bird-like Tengu. This is a lot of work for the developers and I personally think it wouldn’t have brought much as a new race contributes little to actual gameplay.
Yet, on paper, “A new playable race” would still sound much more epic than fishing. Another wish that would be much more realistic would be new weapons.
In Guild Wars 2, there are already three weapons that can only be used underwater: the trident, the spear, and the harpoon gun. End of Dragons thematically already focuses on the sea and the big, bad water dragon. It would have been so cool to finally use those weapons on land, or at least bring a new underwater weapon.
This could have been optimally integrated into the new elite specializations. It could have changed gameplay in the long term and attracted new as well as existing players. I believe ArenaNet missed an opportunity here.
What do I wish for? Quietly and secretly, I hope that fishing is not all that awaits us in End of Dragons. One of the greatest things about Path of Fire was the griffon mount, which was never even announced. Players discovered it shortly after release, and the community celebrates the flying feathered creature to this day.
I wish for a similar surprise from End of Dragons, as the features announced so far leave me rather cold than excite me for the new expansion. But until it releases in February 2022, I can only hope that the heroic commander of the Pact can do more than just go fishing after saving the world again.
What do you think of the announcement? Are you looking forward to fishing, or are you more of my opinion? Do you think End of Dragons has enough features to compete with Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire? Is the new expansion even comparable to the old ones? Let me know in the comments.
