I don't think the game's direction is sustainable anymore (ending spoilers)

[Tanis_Ebonhart]

That's fine.

The next Expansion doesn't need it to be hugely story-wise. It can be back to humble roots and let us explore more of the world. Furthermore, we no longer have Hydaelyn's blessing. We're just a really strong mortal.

This mindset of always one-upping the last expansion is why games like WoW have got such bad stories. They forgot their roots.

[Rolder50]

The other thing that isn't sustainable other then the story would be the job design. How do you keep adding abilities for multiple expansions without it feeling bloated? For Crafters, how are new players supposed to get into crafting when the barrier of entry is 90 levels thick and growing? And so on.

[Lihtleita]

after defeating the ultima weapon, we went to stop the dragonsong war. most would consider a god eating super weapon made by the ascians themselves would be more plot worthy than an ancient war and politics.

and yet hw remains a lot of peoples favorite expansion. its not the stakes that truely matter, its the emotional investment and connection to the player.

[Tanis_Ebonhart]

The other thing that isn't sustainable other then the story would be the job design. How do you keep adding abilities for multiple expansions without it feeling bloated? For Crafters, how are new players supposed to get into crafting when the barrier of entry is 90 levels thick and growing? And so on.

Crafting isn't that hard if players just focus on one... They are meant to be leveled alongside the player hence the Beast Tribe quests that give tons of exp for it. It's only an issue if you want to max them all.

[Rolder50]

Crafting isn't that hard if players just focus on one... They are meant to be leveled alongside the player hence the Beast Tribe quests that give tons of exp for it. It's only an issue if you want to max them all.

Good luck doing anything at max level without multiple if not all of them. For example, looking at my Alchemist right now, and a weapon requires items made my Goldsmith, Leatherworker, and Weaver.

[Rokke]

Something to be mindful of is Natsuko Ishikawa has only continued the existing storyline. If they keep her onboard as the permanent lead writer, she'll have an opportunity to literally start her own epic from the very beginning. Considering how near unanimously well-received her writing has been, I'm fairly content to see what she'd be able to craft from the ground up.

This is my mindset. We've seen she plays well with others' toys and her OCs/locales have been great so far so should she stick around (and I certainly hope she does for a while) I look forward to seeing what she could do when she gets to lay down the foundation

[Tanis_Ebonhart]

Good luck doing anything at max level without multiple if not all of them. For example, looking at my Alchemist right now, and a weapon requires items made my Goldsmith, Leatherworker, and Weaver.

The market board can help as can making friends in FCs and trading with them. Not everything has to be done all on your own.

[Raven2014]

Eh I don't think it's a problem at all. I think it lie more in the perception players had formed on their own. To this date, I think the 2 most challenge the WOL had fought in term of raw power is probably Ultima Weapon and Omega, with Zenos Shinryu maybe a third. For the most part, our adventure has been more a challenge of will rather than a test of strength. Also, in 2.0 and 3.0 there is a bit of mental gymnastic to justify our fellow adventurers, but with the introduction of Azem it's pretty much cannonlized that the WoL had never fight anything alone, we are always the sum is better than the total of its individual. So while our power is great, it's not overwhelming.

For the ending of EW, I don't think it affects the scale of power much. The edge of creation is merely a location, it's not a place of power. And there is nothing about the End Singer as a powerful entity. She's like someone who has access to the red button for nuke, so by proxy can be considered powerful, but that doesn't mean walking up and punch her in the face is a proof of godly strength. I think this is exactly why when Zenos show up, he express his surprise why does our quarry still alive. End Singer is probably far weaker then Shinryu Zenos in term of raw power.

[Aelin_Ashryver]

I mean, we lost our support from the scions and will probably be heading out on our next adventure alone. Which is a big loss. We never would have succeeded without their help. We beat Zenos but I am not so sure he is dead and gone forever either! Plus as ppl say it doesnt need to be world ending to be a good story.

[displayed]

I mean, we lost our support from the scions...

The Scions are "gone", wink, wink. Tataru explicitly mentions that she's going to be creating a cover organization so the Scions can still operate, just not openly.