Guild Wars 2 will receive a new content patch in January, which was presented in more detail in a trailer. However, many players are somewhat disappointed by the announcement and miss promised content.
What does the trailer show? The trailer for “Shadows in the Ice” gives an insight into the content of the new episode as well as the story being told within it:
- The focus is on the Norn Braham, who is supposed to make contact with lost animal spirits of the Norn.
- The map Bjora Marshes, introduced with the patch in November, will be expanded.
- The Boreal weapons from the last patch will receive a new upgrade level and get glow effects.
- The Raven mastery will be expanded and will apparently allow you to use portals in the new area.
- There will be a new attack mission.
- There will be a new armor set.
- A new “/shiver” emote
- With Drakkar, the world boss finally comes into play, who was already announced in August.
When will “Shadows in the Ice” be released? The new episode of the Icebrood Saga will be released on Tuesday, January 28, 2020.
It will be unlocked for free for everyone who logs in before the release of the next episode. However, you need the expansion Path of Fire to be able to play the episode.
Why are the players dissatisfied? Although the upcoming episode brings many innovations, most of them are extensions of existing content in the game. Something new and creative is missing.
Moreover, prior to the Icebrood Saga, it was mentioned that the patches would also bring new “expansion content” into the game. However, nothing of that can be seen in the trailer.
Players hoped for major innovations and are disappointed
What is the problem? After it became known that there will be no expansion following the Living World Season 4, many players were disappointed.
The developers, on the other hand, promised that even with the individual updates of the Icebrood Saga, significant content could find its way into the game. Meanwhile, we are at the third update and the fifth month since the start of the saga.
So far, there has only been one piece of content that can be considered a “major innovation”: the build templates. And these were poorly implemented and heavily monetized.
What do players miss? Fans of Guild Wars 2 hoped for major innovations such as:
- Elite specializations
- Playable races
- New weapon types
- New masteries that have a significant impact, like mounts in PoF or gliding in HoT
- New fractals
- New raids
But none of that is currently in sight. The roadmap for the first quarter of 2020 also does not promise any updates in this direction. Accordingly, many users on reddit react ironically:
- ger_brian: “Expansion-level content more precisely here, folks”
- Moralia: “It will be better in Episode 3! Or 4! Or 5! Or in the next saga!”
- MonstrousVomit: “Cool, then I can play the whole episode while waiting for my PC to load the next mission from Monster Hunter World”
An expansion feature – please!
What does Guild Wars 2 need? In my opinion, Guild Wars 2 is a very successful MMORPG that regularly brings good updates into the game. However, the steady rhythm and the same structure create a sense of routine and remove all suspense.
I am no longer really surprised or hyped by trailers; everything feels somewhat the same. What’s missing is a big surprise, something new that I don’t expect, to generate excitement and interest again.
This has not happened since the mounts with Path of Fire in September 2017. Since then, everything has been the same, and that’s too little even for the hardest fans. In my opinion, Guild Wars 2 urgently needs an “expansion feature” that brings variety again.
I have elaborated my wishes for Guild Wars 2 for the year 2020 in a column:
