Guild Wars 2

I just wanted to say how much I love reading the stories. Every time I see a new one in the launcher, I get really excited. You guys have some talented writers at Arenanet and I’d like to say thanks for adding that little bit extra.

There’s always a lot of negativity on the forums, and there are always people who disagree, but as an avid reader and a fan of books and stories within video games, this sort of thing is right up my alley.

The Halloween event is definitely my favorite of all the living stories, so I’m really glad that you guys added a little extra background on the history of the Bloody Prince. He’s a very interesting character, I hope we get to see more of him in the future!

I agree. I think they should be conveyed in game somewhere, but the short stories are some of the best written content overall.

I love them as well. I think the main gripe though, is some people don’t want to go to the website to read the stories. They want it all immersed within the game.

The stories are usually really “out of character”, so it would be hard to place them in an in game book or have NPCs talk about it without breaking immersion.

I guess as someone who visits forums and reads stuff on the website, I don’t have a problem with reading the short stories on the site.

They should just do a GW2 podcast and have someone live read the stories. Then you could listen to them while you played

Also a good way for Developers to address the community

Personally, I find having to leave the game entirely to get these awesome bits of backstory to be more immersion breaking than an oddly worded book.

Bottom line, the short stories are too good NOT to be accessible ingame somehow… if purely for the fleshing out of the NPCs that we just do not get there. Nevermind how good they are to read.

Delvoire.8930:

They should just do a GW2 podcast and have someone live read the stories. Then you could listen to them while you played

Also a good way for Developers to address the community

Just not WoodenPotatoes.

Sorry WP

Rekia.1480:

There’s always a lot of negativity on the forums, and there are always people who disagree, but as an avid reader and a fan of books and stories within video games, this sort of thing is right up my alley.

You misunderstand us completely, the community has never said they hate the short stories; this bit of lore is always enjoyable to read. The problem is the means in which it is delivered. Parts of a story, must always be in the book, otherwise, there is no connective tissue, it doesn’t feel real or factual, even in a fictional sense. In that same respect, parts of a video game’s story, must always be told in the video game. Cut scenes, dialogue, mail, a book you read, or even just a tab at the top of your screen that opens into an index of short stories; any of these would be great ways to implement the short stories in game. Yet they chose not to, and this is where we find fault.

EverythingXen.1835:

Delvoire.8930:

They should just do a GW2 podcast and have someone live read the stories. Then you could listen to them while you played

Also a good way for Developers to address the community

Just not WoodenPotatoes.

Sorry WP

haha. I quiet enjoy listening to WoodenPotatoes reading the short stories.

Mia Lunarfang.5826:

Rekia.1480:

There’s always a lot of negativity on the forums, and there are always people who disagree, but as an avid reader and a fan of books and stories within video games, this sort of thing is right up my alley.

You misunderstand us completely, the community has never said they hate the short stories; this bit of lore is always enjoyable to read. The problem is the means in which it is delivered. Parts of a story, must always be in the book, otherwise, there is no connective tissue, it doesn’t feel real or factual, even in a fictional sense. In that same respect, parts of a video game’s story, must always be told in the video game. Cut scenes, dialogue, mail, a book you read, or even just a tab at the top of your screen that opens into an index of short stories; any of these would be great ways to implement the short stories in game. Yet they chose not to, and this is where we find fault.

Actually, now that you mention it, Everquest had an awesome mail-type system where you could read these kinds of stories. They were released at regular intervals and viewable through an option in the HUD (similar to mail). I always loved getting new ones to read, and they written the same way, sort of an out of character “this is what is going on in the world” type of story, rather than an interaction or a dialogue that your character might have with certain NPCs.

I don’t mind reading the stories they way they are now, since it’s just a simple click from the launcher, but setting it up to be accessible through the HUD might make it more enjoyable for other people.

I understand the cost involved with adding art / NPCs / voice acting to stories, so just having them to read is nice, it’s like a little something extra.

Rekia.1480:

I understand the cost involved with adding art / NPCs / voice acting to stories, so just having them to read is nice, it’s like a little something extra.

Anyone can post a short story on a website; I do it all the time for my guild. But going the extra step, putting it in game, and thus making it part of the experience, rather than a side-note; that’s what professionals do. And professionalism, is what I expect from a business.

rizzo.1079:

I agree. I think they should be conveyed in game somewhere, but the short stories are some of the best written content overall.

This.

Which is rather sad, that the best written content comes from out of the game.

Rekia.1480:

The stories are usually really “out of character”, so it would be hard to place them in an in game book or have NPCs talk about it without breaking immersion.

Excuse me, but how does Braham talking about his father at the end of Retake Cragstead break immersion?

How does Dougal Keane being asked about his trip to Ascalon City break immersion?

How does the Marriner Plaques break immersion?

Talking about the events of the story doesn’t break immersion if done properly. There’s dozens of examples for all three novels as well as the first two short stories published – Braham’s Story and Rox’s Tale – that got the main points of the information into the game.

Delvoire.8930 is pretty dead on about the main gripe – folks don’t want to be forced to go out of the game to learn the information from these stories. It’s not the existence of the stories, it’s that the stories are the sole source of this information.

It’d be like watching the Transformer series by Michael Bay then having to read a summary written by him online in order to understand why the robots are on Earth in the first place, because that isn’t in the movies.

In the end, you don’t need to add the short stories themselves to the game. You don’t need new art nor do you need new voice acting. Just take an old NPC model and make him a Priory member that has done research on the topic and can inform players. Or go with a newly added book to The Durmand Priory’s library. Or even with an object like this Plinth That’s all you really need. No fancy cinematics or the like. Just one NPC that tells the main points of the story. Hell, for most cases they already have an NPC that’d work, if he were permanent.