pre-searing hard mode, for post characters

What I'd like to see is that ANET creates hard mode for pre-searing. However instead of these HM areas being accessible from the usual outposts, you instead access them via some sort of time-portal in post searing (probably only accessible after completing hells). This portal would not take you back to the current pre-searing, but instead to an area that is a copy of pre-searing (meaning you don't get to interact with people still in the 'real' pre-searing).

This area would be hard mode with all that entails, including locked chests (I don't remember if pre currently has chests).

Maybe ANET include a normal mode thats identical to the current pre-searing. I'm not sure how to handle the titles in regards to this false pre (LDOA which will remain a title for the real pre only), and the max party size might need adjusting. I'm also not sure how quests could be handled, so I'm going to suggest removing them all from the false pre.

So will all the NPCs in Bizarro Pre- have goatees?

Rurik would need an anti-goatee!

This idea sounds... interesting. Probably won't be implemented, but interesting none the less.

Gasp! That means that the real-world Rurik is the evil version of himself!

Personally, I'm not really on board with this idea. There's just no...relevence. Time portals open up mysteriously to a parallel universe where Pre- lays untouched and waiting for grisled adventurers to explore? It sounds like a bad comic book one-shot.

No, We have "hidden stash"es. They are unlocked barrels that drop blue, or white items and sometimes a little money.

As for the party size, I don't know, it might be interesting to have a party size of 2 in HM.

Maybe call it some sort of hallucination after drinking some odd concoction, though this would mean that ANET would have to kill all drops and merchants would be inactive there. Or leave the drops and merchants working, and say that the NPC who gives you the concoction can craft items from your dream.

Though going for some bad comic book one-shot work. Personally I don't really care so if someone has a better idea to explain the link in-game, go for it.

Only the female ones

how about a pre hard mode for pre characters? one that doesn't require you to be lvl 20 (say, lvl 12). That would actually make Legendary Defender of Ascalon a not stupid title.

This is EXACTLY what I thought everyone would think about the LDoA. Please enlight me if I'm wrong here. I was the 4th LDoA (yeah and proud of it) in Pre. There were no titles at the time I got my level 20. Dumb title? I've heard people rant that on several occassions. One of the most popular questions I got in Pre at level 20 "was why did you do it?" Of course the most popular comment was "get a life you have to much time on your hands".

I went to pre to become level 20 because at the time, that was all there was left to do. There was no other campaign. I had beaten the original campaign with missions bonuses, finished all the quest not once but 3 times on 3 different characters. I farmed the FoW (got the armor) for 600+ hours (yes actually kept track of that), and found at the end of all that there was nothing left to do but go back to the begining. Around this time ANET changed the way monsters pulled, and the rumor began that it was impossible to get to level 20 in pre anymore. It was a challenge, worth pursit. Oh and btw I work 55+ hours a week on a normal job on a critical server team, I have a life lol.

There are not that many LDoA title holders. I think around 40. A great many came to pre just for the title and nothing else. That was sad. I'll be the first to chastise know-it-alls who tell others how to play other peoples characters, but I can voice that the more people get this title, the more worthless it becomes.

Having areas that are specially designed for title holders is not a good idea in my opinion. The areas wouldn't be used that much since not many people would hold the title.

Nuff said
Merciless Evilphire

Symon the Scribe. I will tell it hundreds of times.
You get to level 20, you talk to Symon and you can go back there.
That could be available if you...
- Have finished the game...
- Got LDoA...
- etc..

The Pre Hard mode would be a great idea too.
I sometimes use my empty slot to make pre characters when I suffer PreNostalgia, and I would love to see something like that.

No.
You didn't give one good reason why LDoA is not a stupid title. All it represents is grind. You need to repeat one easy trick countless times. Please tell me how that is not stupid.
If they'd change it so that in pre-searing hard mode you could get to lvl 20 without death leveling, it would actually show skill instead of grind (wasn't that guild wars' original slogan? where skill, not hours played, etc.), provided the hard mode is hard enough.

Why are we talking about this title, when I said in my OP that it should remain a title for the real pre-searing only ?

As this area will be accessible to post-searing players, you need to go through the searing to access it. This means that either you would already have LDOA, or you would of failed it by going through the searing. Either way this area won't help you, nor would having it as an entry requirement be a good idea due to the grind required to obtain it and the number of characters permanently excluded because they can never get LDOA.

Level 20 and having finished prophesies on a character seems a good requirement to me, as thats the hard mode requirement.

To access Hard mode you must have completed the campaign. People therefore who have it are not in need of training anymore. Why not therefore allow them access to a hard mode in Pre. No time travel just new characters are able to access it (until they go Post) Lower the level access to hard mode in Pre to lvl 12 (Hard mode in pre is easier than hard mode post, it could even be called a training area to the differences in hard mode from normal mode) A new set of hard mode pre armour would be needed in order to cope with hard mode, eg. Al 25 instead of AL 7 max (keeps in on par with the armour u can in Ascalon Post)

It doesn't even make sense to make a time traveling thing for players to be able to play presear though...not to mention they won't make presear hard mode.

That would count out characters from before the LDoA title, which would annoy an awful lot of people ^^

Although they can always make another character, I meant to be an option, an example of requirement.

Being level 20. Having finished the campaing, got Protector, etc... examples of possible requirements.

Ages ago, before Factions, i kinda hoped that when Anet added other areas in the mists, a Pre-Searing area would be one of them.

IE: Grenth - Underworld, Balthazar - FOW, and Lyssa would let you into a freaky twisted version of Pre-Searing (but not just a reskinned pre-searing), because that's where you started and it'd be nice to pull everything full circle.

It makes less sense since Factions and Nightfall though.

Hard mode in the Pre-Searing landscape?.........sounds like the Charr homelands in GW:EotN to me, if the previews and articles are to be believed.....

I will point out that just by traveling between Tyria/Cantha and Elona, you're traveling back and forth three years in time (As a matter of fact, that Forgotten teleporter in the Desolation is basically a time machine...)

Well it sounds like it will have the pre-searing landscape. However since its Charr territory, not Ascalon territory I doubt we will have the same architecture. Such as the wall structure in Regent Valley on the way to Fort Ranik, or the Wizards Folly tower.

Or to quote This IGN article (currently the main page of guildwars.com links to it, which gives it a lot of credibility):

Guildwiki says the time-skip during the searing was two years, meaning we still are going to be jumping 4 years as we travel between Prophesies and GWEN. So the GWEN to Prophesies time jump will be twice the size of the post-searing to pre-searing time jump.

So, we end up that the only reason not to do it is that they don't want to or they have no time time to.

But can be done.