What updates have I missed?

I've been away from this game for a while now. I'm having trouble remembering, but I left shortly after the new zone was released that had some new 6mans in it. It was well after Khitai but I'm having trouble remember the actual name of the content .... Dragon Star Arena maybe. The new zone was centered around excavation in a dessert setting.

I'm wondering if anyone had a tl;dr version of what I have missed since then? Any major updates to zones or game systems?

Also, is it still true that you basically have to be a paying sub if you want to enjoy PVE content?

Thanks,

Baneric

Not sure how long you've been gone, but the biggest changes of the last couple years were the World Boss event, once-a-month PvP week which makes it stupid easy to level up and gear out, pvp gear being adjusted so its viable versus t4 gear, t5 raiding, the Shadows of Vanaheim adventure pack, and the Achievement system. The HoX was retooled somewhat, and soldiers were nerfed slightly.

Upcoming updates are massive nerfs to t3 and t4 raiding to make them more pug-friendly and t6 raiding. Crafting revamp hasn't been mentioned in so long it's likely permanently on the back-burner. They were talking about expanded AAs for a minute, but also quiet on that front.

content updates year by year

http://aochideout.blogspot.com/searc...arly%20reviews

You miss crafting revamp, we get it during spring 2015 according to Monthly letter.

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Originally Posted by lmagowz

You miss crafting revamp, we get it during spring 2015 according to Monthly letter.

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Spring 2015, really? :-)

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Originally Posted by Erock25

I've been away from this game for a while now. I'm having trouble remembering, but I left shortly after the new zone was released that had some new 6mans in it. It was well after Khitai but I'm having trouble remember the actual name of the content .... Dragon Star Arena maybe. The new zone was centered around excavation in a dessert setting.

I'm wondering if anyone had a tl;dr version of what I have missed since then? Any major updates to zones or game systems?

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The zone is Dragonspine and amazingly even after all these years you haven't missed much actually. My advice would be to go away for another 2 years and come back.

1.Achievements system has been added to the game
2.PvP gear got stat revamp to make it more competitive with T4 PvE gear (I have no idea how good it is against T5 PvE gear)
3.T5 raid was added (Just revamped version of all T1 raids chained together. Entrance is out in Dragonspine so you need a subscription)
4.World bosses were added (Tank and spanks. Primarily just drop pets, T1/T2 PvE gear, and other misc. junk)
5.PvP events were added (You get victory tokens which can be used in the armory to buy special pets, mounts, AA xp, and abilites )
6.You can now view another players minigame wins/losses
7.PvP minigame streak was added (If you win a lot of minigames in a row you get increased PvP xp and campaign badges as rewards)
8.Itemshop updates (You can buy T1 raid gear, and T2 PvP gear accessories [lol])
9.Shadows of Vanahiem mission pack *Do NOT buy this*($20 for a rehashed not fully textured atzels fortress zone, that consists of nothing but grindy quests such as kill 120 atzel bandits). You can watch Henryx play through it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY1RqxC3R5s

And currently on Testlive.. is T6 palace of cetriss raid and a bunch of nerfs for T1, T2, T3, and T4 raids to make them more accessible for more of the playerbase.