Tag: GW2

Her home workshop in Divinity’s Reach looked less like the headquarters of a legendary commander and more like a particularly aggressive greenhouse.

Copper pipes ran along the walls carrying heated water to raised herb beds. Small hovering drones misted basil and thyme with carefully calibrated humidity. Grow lamps swung from articulated arms overhead while potted tomatoes climbed trellises built from repurposed rifle parts.

Near the window sat a padded reading chair buried under quilts.

That was Velours’s true masterpiece.

Not the combat elixirs.
Not the tornado harness.
Not the portable barrier projectors she’d once deployed during a siege.

The chair.

It had heated cushions. Adjustable lumbar support. Cup holders. An integrated tea warmer. Hidden speakers that played rainfall sounds. And, perhaps most importantly, enough room beside it for Sergeant Cluckers’s containment vortex docking station.

Velours sat curled into the cushions with a book in her lap while rain tapped softly against the windows.

The tornado idled nearby at minimal intensity.

Inside it, Sergeant Cluckers pecked calmly at floating kernels of corn.

“This,” Velours announced to the empty room, “is success.”

A communicator on her desk immediately began screaming.

She stared at it.

The communicator screamed harder.

Velours pulled a blanket over her head.

“Commander,” came the voice through static, “there’s a rogue flesh golem in Rata Sum.”

“No.”

“We already told people you were coming.”

“That seems unethical.”

“It has laser eyes.”

Velours groaned into a pillow.

Sergeant Cluckers rotated slowly toward her.

“You’re right,” she mumbled. “Responsibility. Heroism. Terrible burdens.”

The chicken blinked once.

“Traitor.”

The first thing people noticed about Commander Velours was the storm.

Not her, exactly. Not the compact little asura with oversized pony tails, or the tea stains on her gloves, or the faint smell of rosemary and machine oil that always followed her around.

No.

They noticed the tornado.

A tight spiral of crackling magitech hovered faithfully at her feet at all times, humming with unstable energy and glowing soft blue at the edges. Loose leaves, sparks, and the occasional misplaced sock circled endlessly inside it.

And, at its center, sat a chicken.

Sergeant Cluckers.

The bird rotated slowly in dignified silence, suspended upon a tiny reinforced perch Velours had engineered herself after “the feather incident.”

People who had fought beside the Commander in battle spoke about her in hushed voices.

The asura who walked through dragonfire with alchemical mist curling from her fingertips. The woman who strode from collapsing ruins carrying survivors under one arm while issuing tactical commands under the other. The one who had faced horrors from the Mists and returned alive, if increasingly tired looking.

Velours hated every single title.

Especially during gardening club.

“You’re holding the trowel wrong,” said a sylvari gently.

Velours froze.

“Oh. Right. Sorry. I mean, not sorry, because I can fix it. Obviously. Statistically speaking, I’m probably overqualified for trowel deployment. I just.. hold on.”

She adjusted her grip.

The trowel snapped clean in half.

The chicken rotated judgmentally in its tornado.

“I can explain,” Velours muttered.

The sylvari stared.

Sergeant Cluckers let out a low, disappointed bwark.

“I know,” Velours sighed. “I know.”

GW2 has one of the most robust wardrobe systems I’ve played with over the years, and I think it deserves way more attention than it gets. Not only can you dye each piece with multiple colour channels, you can also have pieces that completely change your character – such as the screenshot above which is displaying a pirate hand (hook) and a peg leg.

Unlocks like these are account wide, so your characters can instantly have access to dye & appearance items no matter who you’re playing. The only other MMO I’ve played in recent times that has such a robust system, is FFXIV – and these reminders are what bothers me about World of Warcraft’s system, which appears antique by comparison. WoW just recently gave players the ability to unlock appearance gear account wide, previously you had to unlock it on a character who could wear that type of gear. They also do not allow for any dye, restricting your customization further. I understand that implementing these things so late into the game’s life isn’t something that can really be considered (thank you spaghetti code) but the more I play other games, the more I realize how much WoW lacks and how it has not risen to innovation over the years – probably because it never had to.

The latest expansion has released, and I’m slowly making my way through the story (really slowly) and exploring the first zone, Lowland Shore. I think because I have not completed some of the prior expansions it has put me at a bit of a disadvantage. I don’t have the flying mount, for one. There seem to be some places I can’t reach or some objectives I can’t do because of it. Since it’s all new, I’m not sure if I’m missing out or if there’s other ways to reach these places that I just haven’t stumbled into. I won’t be posting any spoilers, but I will say I’m enjoying myself, and I hope it lasts.

As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!