Last week we took some community questions and got some ArenaNet answers.

The Final Battle Begins in Guild Wars 2 as the Battle for Lion’s Arch content goes live later today. Last week we asked the community to submit their questions and ArenaNet's own Mike Zadorojny was able to join us to get those questions answered.

Last week the teaser trailer and news coverage for this patch was released, and for a teaser it really didn’t tease much of anything. A lot of the questions we received looked toward the future, both in terms of rebuilding Lion’s Arch as well as Living World season 2. Unfortunately, ArenaNet is not yet ready to talk much about either of those. Mike did say that the future of Lion’s Arch is a developing story and that it is not going to be returning to the way it was, but that players will have to wait for that story to be told.

With the future of Living World off limit, we asked Mike to look back at season 1 now that it is coming to an end. We asked what the biggest challenges were for creating the first season of the Living World and Mike answered that it was making content that was both challenging and approachable for every player. With every event and character they are trying to improve and it has kept everyone at ANet on their toes. In this process of improving, they are constantly able to expand and improve on what the Living World can do, and that they are still only scratching the surface in terms of the types of stories, impactful moments and in changing the face of Tyria.

The Collaborative Development Initiative (CDI) is a big part of how ArenaNet is trying to improve GW2. We asked Mike how the CDIs changed the way they are developing the content and the answer was simply that it doesn’t. What the CDIs help with is getting feedback from the players and seeing what they want. Player feedback is always an important part of where ANet takes GW2, Mike said. They are always mindful of feedback as well as looking at how and where within Tyria players are playing the game. As it is such an important part of player feedback, Mike mentioned that they are looking to improve how the topics and the CDIs themselves are handled and for players to stay tuned on their future.

Getting back on track with today’s release, we asked if the Escape from LA meta and events would still be going on. The answer: not really. Mike Z stated that the tone has changed as players work to take back LA instead of just trying to get civilians evacuated. With this change in tone, the type and focus of combat in LA is also changing.

Part of these new events that will be happening are the Assault Knights that players saw a glimpse of on the Guild Wars 2 Atlas last week. Mike was keeping true to his no spoiler policy for this release, but he did comment that there was something cool for players to see with the Assault Knights. The images that we received from ArenaNet, however, at least show that there is more than one. Check the images below to see the Blue, Green and Red Assault Knights in action!

Along with the change in focus is more story. Mike said that the last patch, Escape from Lion’s Arch, was intentionally light on story because it was reactionary to this attack on LA and was focused on trying to get as many civilians safely out of the city as possible in the immediate aftermath of the attack. This release will not only have more story, but is the culmination of the entire season and will answer some of the big questions that have been around even as far back as the Flame and Frost content.

One reader asked about a mention of a fallen ally and if ArenaNet would possibly be killing off one of the main characters, either from Destiny’s Edge or the Living World “B-iconic” characters. Mike said that they are blowing up Lion’s Arch and they are not afraid to do the same to any of the major characters as long as there is a compelling story to be told and it continues to help evolve the world. They are always looking at what’s next and creating those moments that catch players off guard because they didn’t expect it coming.

As with most content patches, there will be a new meta with a new set of achievements. The big reveal in terms of rewards is what Mike called a big, uber chest at the end of this content that will reward players well. It is rewarding you for the culmination of this patch, the finale of season one. Mike didn’t spoil anything specific, but made mention of rare items, crafting materials and tying back to previous releases. All of this is in addition to the rewards that players were able to get during the last patch. The heirlooms, belongings and spinal backpacks will still be attainable during this patch.

To finish off this Q&A, we have a grab bag of short answers. Not everything in Scarlet’s Lair was a hidden secret or code, as some things were there to add to the mystery that is Scarlet Briar. Personal story missions will always exist in the most current version of a map, something that Mike said is intentional and will make sense later in the story. The Tengu really are big meanies and don’t feel the Battle for LA is of any direct concern to them. The members of Destiny’s Edge do have day jobs (such as Logan being Captain of the Seraph), but this does not exclude them from appearing in the Living World content in the future. Lastly, I asked if the Consortium is up to anything while LA and the Black Lion Trading Company are in shambles and Mike replied that the Consortium is always up to something.

While there wasn’t much for spoilers for this patch, we did learn that the next patch (the maintenance build coming out on March 18^th) will include a small bit of story to wrap up season 1 as well as tease what will be coming later. In addition to this small bit of story, this maintenance build in two weeks will be the deadline for the current meta achievements.

Thank you to everyone who submitted questions over the past few releases. This week, ArenaNet gave us five codes worth 400 gems to give away, as well as two grand prize rewards of Digital Deluxe edition codes. Check your inboxes to see if you were one of the lucky winners!

Matt "Mattsta" Adams

Follow me @MattstaNinja