In Guild Wars 2, a familiar old event returns: The Festival of the Four Winds! But what is new, and how has the festival changed? We asked the developers from ArenaNet in an interview.
What is the Festival of the Four Winds? This event was introduced in 2014. At that time, the faction of the Zephyrites was introduced. These were traveling mystics with airships, who could gain special powers with “aspect crystals”.
During the festival, you could test these powers in various mini-games and quests, thus receiving valuable rewards. There were events in the Crown Pavilion, at the Labyrinth Cliffs, and the Queen’s Gauntlet with unique bosses.
The Developers in Interview
The event is finally returning on July 24, 2018. Many fans have wished for this. But what’s new, and what changes? Mein MMO was able to interview ArenaNet employees Joe Kimmes (Team Lead) and Matthew Medina (Designer).
Mein MMO: Will the new mounts make the aspect crystals and their powers obsolete? Or will there be a “No-Mount” zone?
Joe Kimmes: One of our main goals for the event was to allow mounts and gliders in the festival areas. It’s a lot of fun to explore the Labyrinth Cliffs with mounts, and since you can dismount and use the crystals at any time, you can alternate between the two styles as needed. Players without mounts will not be excluded – just like in previous festivals, you can borrow mounts temporarily if you don’t have one yet.
Matthew Medina: Although you can reach all spots with mounts where you can also go with the aspects, there are plenty of narrow edges and thin paths at the cliffs that you can reach better with the precise movements of the aspects. Therefore, we have redesigned the cliffs a bit to ensure that players can use the mounts.
We wanted to make sure that players can use the movement style they prefer. So there will be no “No-Mount” zone in the Labyrinth Cliffs. However, there is a limit in the Crown Pavilion (to prevent boss exploits).
Mein MMO: What can we say about the balancing in the Queen’s Gauntlet? Will it be too easy with the new elite skills? Will there be new challenges?
Joe Kimmes: One of the goals with the return of the Gauntlet was to not make the existing fights too much harder – after all, it should be easier than last time for players who have worked hard to improve their gear and skills. Nevertheless, we made the opponents a bit stronger so they are not too easy for our experienced players.
This applies only to the old bosses – once you have taken down the first set of existing bosses, a new set of five new special bosses will be unlocked that you can approach in any order. These modern fights are designed to pose a threat to experienced players. The skills of our players impress me every time; I’m curious how they perform from the spectator’s ring.
Mein MMO: Will there be new content for the festival? Many things from the old festival are already firmly established in the game.
Joe Kimmes: We took the opportunity and expanded the festival with new activities, including races and a new meta-event based on Amnoon’s Casino Blitz. The old beloved events, like Boss Blitz, will of course return. There’s a lot of work involved in fixing the bugs that have arisen over the years.
Mein-MMO: What rewards can we expect?
Joe Kimmes: We have a large set of new rewards, including new weapons, armor, and toys that you can earn in the festival activities. Additionally, there are festival tokens and achievements. You can also still get items from the last festival if you missed them or couldn’t get them otherwise.
Additionally, the Zephyrite trading chests have been updated with new ultra-rare items. They are still very rare, but maybe you will get lucky this year?
Mein-MMO: What will the story of the new festival be? Is it relevant to the current story?
Joe Kimmes: One thing I wanted to show in the festival is the state of the Zephyrites. The last time you saw them, they were in the midst of a terrible catastrophe on the Dry Top. By showing how they have recovered from that, we bring the story to a satisfying conclusion, and this will certainly not be the last we see of their culture.
However, the festival will not directly influence the current story – we plan for it to return every year, so it’s not tied to the ongoing story.
Matthew Medina: There will be a light story wrapping for the festival, but it isn’t necessary for players to have more than basic story knowledge. Festivals are open to all players, and there is enough story that can be packed into a specific timeframe. It’s a chance for the Commander [your hero] to relax and unwind.
Mein-MMO: Some fans are already complaining about the oversupply of events and festivals. So why are you bringing back an old event?
Joe Kimmes: The team has spent a lot of time over the last two years working on the annual festivities, aiming to make them reliable, fun, and promising.
However, when we look at the existing festivals, we see that there’s a long gap during the summer months between the Super Adventure Box in April and Halloween in October. The Festival of the Four Winds, with its sunny beaches and team spirit among the races, was the perfect choice.
That’s it for our interview with the developers. The new Festival of the Four Winds kicks off on July 24, 2018!
