Guild Wars 2

So I want to preface this post by saying that i enjoyed the actual gameplay of the tower. It’s pretty fun and mostly solo-able with mobs that are slightly more challenging than meatbags. Also, please note that any caps I use are to emphasize (what I think are) the main points of my post, they’re not anger/rage!

When it comes to story though, this patch leaves a LOT to be desired. So I ask this, WHAT DO WE LEARN IN THIS PATCH??

We get confirmation that Scarlet organized the Molten Alliance and the attack on the Dragon Festival. These are things we pretty much already knew. We still don’t know WHY she did these things though.

Now we’ve got ANOTHER alliance (of krait and ngihtmare court) but we don’t know ANYTHING about them. Why did Scarlet force these two groups together? Why did they agree to enter this alliance? What was the ultimate goals of the two groups, and of Scarlet herself? What’s Scarlet’s motivation in general? WHY does she do the things she does? WHERE’S THE BACKGROUND AND PLOT PROGESSIONS THAT MAKES THE STORY INTERESTING?

We’ve had another 4 weeks of (fairly fun) ministories, but there’s still been NO PROGRESS in the storyline. There’s still no PLOT to Scarlet’s Story.

Here’s the point for the story writers: for every piece of content please ask yourself, “How does this fit into the story and how does it advance the plot? What new information am i giving the players to keep them interested in the meta-arc of the Living story?”

If the story writers can’t give good answers to these questions, and the players themselves can’t find the answers to these questions IN GAME, then you’re failing at the PURPOSE of the Living Story.

Sigh, here’s hoping two weeks from now we’ll have some interesting story instead of more of the same filler episodes =(

I think Scarlet only does it for fun. No real reason. Just for fun so she can always come back and throw new stuff at you making the living story continue. Like some endless super hero tv series against some bad guy that just is bad cause he likes to be bad and do bad stuff.

We learned scarlet is doing evil things because she’s evil. This is the entirety of her Scooby-Doo Villain character. Lysandre is a better villain and he’s genuinely aimed at children.

We learned Tara Strong needs more voice work apparently so Scarlet will be in future Living Stories likely for a very very long time without giving us any clear answers nor reasons, creating even more unrealistic alliances and situations… just not for a little while.

We also learned Faren has great panties.

I suppose scarlet works for the dragons to give them new minions.

Molten alliance is perfect with primordius.
Toxic alliance is perfect jungle dragon.

Maybe in future we will have new alliance.

nihavel.6592:

I suppose scarlet works for the dragons to give them new minions.

Molten alliance is perfect with primordius.
Toxic alliance is perfect jungle dragon.

Maybe in future we will have new alliance.

Seems unlikely to me. Hope the story progresses SOMEWHERE soon though

From the way I took it, the Scarlet story is going to take a break, which is bad, I really want it over with lol.

We learn nothing, because there is not story…

It’s called “Living World” instead of “Living Story” since some time now for a reason… ^^

I don’t think this cutscene was for people who’ve been playing since January, but a recap for newcomers and the eventual finale; which is hopefully coming soon. I agree with you that it’s disappointing we haven’t learned much about her, except through external site interviews and a short story.

Sounded like she was pretending to be the Krait god. Unless the fake prophet was supposed to be the god she referred to.

Nothing. As usual.

Almost as exciting as the TA Aetherpath, in which we only learned that “Scarlet knew Caithe has a secret.”

Luthan.5236:

I think Scarlet only does it for fun. No real reason. Just for fun so she can always come back and throw new stuff at you making the living story continue. Like some endless super hero tv series against some bad guy that just is bad cause he likes to be bad and do bad stuff.

And that would be BAD story telling.

as an aside, I count a total of 5 “bad” s used in aggregate :P

The attacks only seem random if you are seeing them as a main plot, I think they are really distractions for ultimate goal.

There is a boiling pitch of theories of what she could be doing.

My favorite theory is she is using the alliances for various tasks to build and hide a mega-Thaumanova Reactor to undo reality.

She needs the krait mesmer magic to hide the reactor, the Nightmare Court is still questionable due to Caithe’s secret.. the molten alliance did build weapons, but I have a theory they built something else for Scarlet.

Well, I learned that Scarlet knows Malycks secret. Maybe she knows where the Other Tree is.

As for the Krait/Nightmare Court, Scarlet made the Krait think their prophet is reincarnating and used the Kraits to help build the Tower. It wasn’t revealed why Scarlet needed that Tower. Maybe the Nightmare Court is helping, because they want to know where Malycks Tree is (wasn’t it that what they wanted to know in the Personal Story?).

As for the mindlessness of Scarlets actions, Anet did say they haven’t revealed her true intentions yet, so she’s not doing it for fun or because she’s just bad and likes bad stuff.

We learn that all the writers from Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 1 Beyond didn’t took part of this atrocity of a mess of a story.

Errant Venture.9371:

When it comes to story though, this patch leaves a LOT to be desired. So I ask this, WHAT DO WE LEARN IN THIS PATCH??

We get confirmation that Scarlet organized the Molten Alliance and the attack on the Dragon Festival. These are things we pretty much already knew. We still don’t know WHY she did these things though.

that’s exactly what I thought!!! all we found out is she was behind the molten alliance – big deal. how about something about her motives

Yeah i felt the same. Cool gameplay and i loved the look of the final boss, but it feels like the story isnt going anywhere.

Well from the new cinematic it looked to me like she’s an escaped lunatic with too much power and time on her hands. Doing random chaotic and evil things … because she can.

Similar to Joker.

She promised the Krait a God/Prophet, and she intends to deliver.

Qawsada.4251:

We learn that all the writers from Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 1 Beyond didn’t took part of this atrocity of a mess of a story.

Bobby Stein said he is ultimately responsible for the Living Story (or something along those lines) and I believe he was involved in Guild Wars Beyond (I don’t know how much of the writing was done by someone like Bobby or whether Murdock and Stumme took the reigns during their run, I believe Stumme had a lot to do with HotN). I don’t know who wrote War in Kryta but the situation was really interesting, the portrayal of the White Mantle and the Peacekeepers was Saturday morning cartoon villain though. Hearts of the North was a desperate attempt to salvage Gwen’s character after she was trashed post EotN. Winds of Change was really awesome. The factions felt real, it reflected the world as it should be, multiple levels of the story was told. From the personal story of Ashu and Miku, the struggle of the Canthan people empowering themselves to do what the bureaucracy wasn’t doing, the rise to power of the new Ministry and their subsequent corruption leading to Cantha’s isolation and a sympathetic villain (former ally) that reflected that the enemy wasn’t some dude twiddling his moustache as he tied a girl to a train track.

Comparing how the White Mantle (they weren’t an invading army, their numbers were made up of Krytan citizens who joined to protect their people and their country) were portrayed to how the Ministry of Purity was portrayed and you’d think it was a different game. The later was written so much better.

Regardless of all that, I believe they have some real writing talent on the Living Story team and I know I’ve liked work that they’ve put out before (I enjoy most of the short stories and I’m coincidentally reading a Scott McGough book) I think they just put all their eggs in the Scarlet basket and it’s not turning out well (imo) and we need to wait out this storm before they can right the ship. I’d really like to see the Living World turn towards what Shriketalon proposed in the Living World forum. That kind of investment in existing GW2 lore (even if it’s not the Elder Dragon stuff – the other plots pick up on old lore from the first game and new stuff from launch all of which I would enjoy more than Scarlet’s meaningless appearances) is what I want to see more of. I was disappointed to get to the top of the tower and find nothing new happened. Sadly I wasn’t surprised.

Caith did something to her like steal her bf on facebook. Pretty much the whole plot of months of boring

The thing is, we have more spculations about what is going on, but nothing ingame that flatout said: “hey i did it because… or they are mine now because…”

Right now every part of Scarlet`s stories was a blender. It looked nice, but there was no payoff for those who want to know what is going on.
The hints are marginal and i am really curious on how they want to adress this giant flaw in their storytelling.

Appearently Scarlet is like a ghost and leaves no evidence of her deeds, so no one can recunstruct what has happened.

Why has no Asura tried to hack into her systems. Does she have no notes scattered around? Why does the order of whisper don`t use spies on such a prominent threat?

Patience is running low slowly here.

We learnt that she can whisper in a really creepy way :’(

Ever since that first attack, she’s changed :o

Fletch.3572:

From the way I took it, the Scarlet story is going to take a break, which is bad, I really want it over with lol.

That’s what I got from that dialogue, as well.

My whole party got super excited seeing that loading screen for the last instance – finally we’ll get rid of her! Alas, no. She said that “we will see each other again”, the ultimate disappointment. I just hope that this Scarleat break means that Anet read our criticism, realised what a mess they’ve made with the character/story, and that her disappearance will become just another GW Mystery that devs never come back to anyways.

That said, it’s be better if we do get some conclusion sooner rather than later, and the Nov 19th release looks somewhat promising there…

Oh, let her die in pain before Christmas. And let’s have a dragon after it. Or even expansion.

She kind of reminds me of Jinx from League Of Legends, who seems to act evil purely out of boredom.

havellian.4073:

Luthan.5236:

I think Scarlet only does it for fun. No real reason. Just for fun so she can always come back and throw new stuff at you making the living story continue. Like some endless super hero tv series against some bad guy that just is bad cause he likes to be bad and do bad stuff.

And that would be BAD story telling.

as an aside, I count a total of 5 “bad” s used in aggregate :P

Yes I know. But I don’t care since it is a MMORPG and I don’t expect better. It’s already a lot better than other MMORPGs. Usually you don’t play MMORPG because of story and developers are not focusing on making a good story. It’s about doing gameplay with and against other players.

If I want story I buy a good linear single player RPG focused on story without open world crap that distracts me from the main story.

Alot.1036:

She kind of reminds me of Jinx from League Of Legends, who seems to act evil purely out of boredom.

Yeah but that’s the problem. That’s a BORING characterization. It’s not story-telling, which is what most players WANT.

Aerlen.5326:

We learned Tara Strong needs more voice work apparently so Scarlet will be in future Living Stories likely for a very very long time

Well there are only so many characters that can be voiced with the same baby talk voice…

Let me start by saying that scarlet isn’t a character i like…but…i can see a plan to all her actions:

1st She’s a genius and she is quite mad, she in my humble opinion wants to be a God, to create a perfect race

2nd All she’s done so far is research and manufacture, she started by studying weapons and securing the means to build an army, hence the molten alliance, from that she formed the aether blade pirates which served as her shock troops to set the next step of research in motion. In this step she starts to experiment with automatons of life forms…prototypes to her twisted idea of the perfect life form.

3rd She now starts biological experiments to create new life-forms (another step of the research to create the perfect race)…this makes me think she wants to fuse mechanical and biology into a unique lifeform

So in mho the next logical step will be to address the asura and incorporate them in the project (she is a genius but even so she needs the manufacturing capabilities of the asura) and after she gets that, and mind my opinion she will, she’s a genius and she planned ahead she will start to deploy her true mad vision of life a mix of mechanical and biological thralls of each race.

Only at the final step will we, as players, understand the beauty of her plan, she has slowly built knowledge and power using a mascarade of childish behaviour and madness, but let me assure you her threat is indeed real and we will come to regret not taking her seriously…

Prepare for a mad scientist genius to take evolution in her hands…

BobbyStein.2315:

Errant Venture.9371:

We’ve had another 4 weeks of (fairly fun) ministories, but there’s still been NO PROGRESS in the storyline. There’s still no PLOT to Scarlet’s Story.

Here’s the point for the story writers: for every piece of content please ask yourself, “How does this fit into the story and how does it advance the plot? What new information am i giving the players to keep them interested in the meta-arc of the Living story?”

If the story writers can’t give good answers to these questions, and the players themselves can’t find the answers to these questions IN GAME, then you’re failing at the PURPOSE of the Living Story.

This is mostly good, clear feedback. Thanks for sharing.

In the future, please ditch the overuse of caps, as that’s not constructive and reduces the chance that we’ll respond. We read this stuff. You’re not posting in a vacuum.

Thanks for the response Bobby, I’ll try to stick to italics/bold for the points I really want to emphasize in the future.

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Well, I learned that Scarlet knows Malycks secret. Maybe she knows where the Other Tree is.

When and where did you learn this?

I have only played 4 chambers so far, but maybe she could let something slip in those instances?

I got the same thing out of it. I loved the cut scenes. They were well done and it was good to get a recap for people that may have missed previous events. Would have been nice to get a taste of motives like the OP said though.

Scarlet bores me just like Joker bored me in the second Batman movie. Just wanting to watch the world burn isn’t a compelling reason. It’s why Darth Vader is always infinitely more interesting than Emperor Palpatine: He has conflict about what he is doing while the Emperor only cares for personal power at the expense of all else.

What is Scarlet’s conflict? I can’t make a connection with a character that has only one side.

It seems to me she is more a MacGuffin to propel the content so we have baddies to kill. That is fine, but then why make this thing last so long?

I am just chalking this one up to you guys learning how to do the living world stuff. It was a bold decision and it seems the writing team got left holding the bag. I appreciate deeply that you guys took a chance on doing something new. It means more than if you had just gone with a new zone at level cap and added some daily quests. I know you guys will get better at it too.

BobbyStein.2315:

Errant Venture.9371:

We’ve had another 4 weeks of (fairly fun) ministories, but there’s still been NO PROGRESS in the storyline. There’s still no PLOT to Scarlet’s Story.

Here’s the point for the story writers: for every piece of content please ask yourself, “How does this fit into the story and how does it advance the plot? What new information am i giving the players to keep them interested in the meta-arc of the Living story?”

If the story writers can’t give good answers to these questions, and the players themselves can’t find the answers to these questions IN GAME, then you’re failing at the PURPOSE of the Living Story.

This is mostly good, clear feedback. Thanks for sharing.

In the future, please ditch the overuse of caps, as that’s not constructive and reduces the chance that we’ll respond. We read this stuff. You’re not posting in a vacuum.

… which is good… nature abhors that after all.

I’m not sure what the intended take was from this with regards to the story as a whole, but to me it felt almost like a window into the mind of Scarlett, where instead of being to push the story forward, the content was more designed to fill out the character somewhat, to give a taste of the twisted inner-workings of this character. I almost get the feeling a lot of what she does is not only because she’s a bit off, but rather bored as well. Or maybe she’s more like The Brain in “Pinky and the Brain”.

I agree the story itself didn’t seem to push forward, but I think the character did.

Chidori.9483:

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Well, I learned that Scarlet knows Malycks secret. Maybe she knows where the Other Tree is.

When and where did you learn this?

Scarlet said this during one of the Chamber instances.

I got a really cool cutscene with a clear recap of the events since Molten Alliance. Nothing really progressing the story yet.

From the NPC dialogue in the instance I get that the Nightmare Court are intentionally deceiving the Krait. I’m hoping to see that play out.

Scarlet’s little diatribe makes me feel like she’s just having fun & showing off with all that she’s done. Which negates the importance of her actions, making it seem like a child playing with puppets rather than orchestrating a grand design.

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Chidori.9483:

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Well, I learned that Scarlet knows Malycks secret. Maybe she knows where the Other Tree is.

When and where did you learn this?

Scarlet said this during one of the Chamber instances.

Ah, so we get some story progression in the chambers? Haven’t done any yet but that’s exciting.

It’s always interesting to read a post that I agree with and then realize that it’s one of my friends who wrote it.

As for Bobby’s concern about your use of caps, I suggest bold instead.

If you’d like to properly format your posts without the use of excessive caps…try clicking the “more posting and formatting options” under the reply box. You can format using:

• bullets
  Bold texts
  italicized texts
  try this link: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/faq/
  and much much more.
  Just a friendly tip about posting on the forums. And yes, I agree this portion of the story did little to progress or at least answer some questions.

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Chidori.9483:

My Sweet Lily.1952:

Well, I learned that Scarlet knows Malycks secret. Maybe she knows where the Other Tree is.

When and where did you learn this?

Scarlet said this during one of the Chamber instances.

I’m guessing this is if you are Sylvari and have Malyck’s story as part of your personal history. I do, but I haven’t gotten him yet. Looking forward to seeing this happen.

I was shocked and dissapointed to see Scarlet’s annoying face again at the end of this LS.

Bonefield.9813:

<snip>

I should clarify: I know that she’s a genius and has accomplished things few could. She’s clearly using each faction that she creates for her own personal goals, but those aren’t clear yet. We assume it’s for never-before-conceived of magic/tech. But it feels like she’s simply a child showing off and playing with her toys and then casting them away when she gets tired of them. I think the issue is that she’s so flippant and casual with us (the heroes supposedly thwarting her designs) that I’m not feeling any ominous threat from her.

VOLKON.1290:

BobbyStein.2315:

Errant Venture.9371:

We’ve had another 4 weeks of (fairly fun) ministories, but there’s still been NO PROGRESS in the storyline. There’s still no PLOT to Scarlet’s Story.

Here’s the point for the story writers: for every piece of content please ask yourself, “How does this fit into the story and how does it advance the plot? What new information am i giving the players to keep them interested in the meta-arc of the Living story?”

If the story writers can’t give good answers to these questions, and the players themselves can’t find the answers to these questions IN GAME, then you’re failing at the PURPOSE of the Living Story.

This is mostly good, clear feedback. Thanks for sharing.

In the future, please ditch the overuse of caps, as that’s not constructive and reduces the chance that we’ll respond. We read this stuff. You’re not posting in a vacuum.

… which is good… nature abhors that after all.

I’m not sure what the intended take was from this with regards to the story as a whole, but to me it felt almost like a window into the mind of Scarlett, where instead of being to push the story forward, the content was more designed to fill out the character somewhat, to give a taste of the twisted inner-workings of this character. I almost get the feeling a lot of what she does is not only because she’s a bit off, but rather bored as well. Or maybe she’s more like The Brain in “Pinky and the Brain”.

I agree the story itself didn’t seem to push forward, but I think the character did.

People are currently talking about the story pushing forward in terms of Scarlet acquiring more hybrid technology (a theme has been present since Flame and Frost). The Molten Alliance tech was part of what made them so threatening, from my perspective this plot point becomes less interesting as it repeats. When she does it with the krait and the Nightmare Court it’s not a new threat, it feels like a lucky dip of evil factions covering ground we’ve already been over, another item on Scarlet’s shopping list (that doesn’t do justice to the factions involved). The combined tech theme was actually at the core of the Personal Story (the ship that takes down Zhaitan was a collaborative effort between races, something that is built across several Personal Story paths) so heavily featuring it in the Living World might be overexposure.

The other thing the story reminds me of is that cliche “it’s about the journey not the destination”. It feels like the Living World is very much about the destination, because the journey isn’t giving us much to invest in. Whatever the end game is, that’s where the story is. Up until that point it’s like a mechanical acquisition of technology, almost like a formula with no discernible depth. I don’t think the individual alliances are given enough of a role in the story (they come off as pawns for Scarlet and not fleshed out factions of their own) so they can’t carry the story until Scarlet is ready to reveal more, and Scarlet’s only development seems to be adding another alliance to her resume (with no indication of a bigger picture, even if there is one). We aren’t seeing her build a master device, we didn’t find a former ally (slave?) of hers telling us about a master plan, even our allies seem to be in the dark.

When I don’t want to see Scarlet involved it’s not because I don’t want a resolution to her story (I desperately do) because her involvement means the story isn’t doing anything. Without her the krait might have had their own goals, something might have been accomplished. With Scarlet there is an artificial cap on what the story will accomplish because Scarlet’s not ready to finish what she’s doing and the krait were never the reason we are in Kessex, Scarlet is. I don’t want to see more of Scarlet’s alliances because they don’t do justice to the factions involved and Scarlet herself isn’t giving me anything to invest in.

I think Scarlet is just a “mask” of something.
There is someone who is above Scarlet.

I learned that Scarlet has captured Tybalt’s soul and made him fight me! Nuuuuu, not again! Tyyybaaalt! sniff sniff

Alot.1036:

She kind of reminds me of Jinx from League Of Legends, who seems to act evil purely out of boredom.

its working on me as well… I’m finding it boring.

The art team deserve a medal, every time a patch comes out the art/design team nail it! This latest dungeon looks and feels fantastic. Currently its the story that is letting the game down.

This latest patch is a prime example of , the story doesn’t develop. We learn nothing, and we have nothing to keep us guessing. “Who could that be? what did she mean by saying that? What was that thing that disappeared with her?”

All we got was: “blah blah Molten Alliance, blah blah faren’s fancy panties, blah blah I’m taking a break”

megakittytron.5971:

I learned that Scarlet has captured Tybalt’s soul and made him fight me! Nuuuuu, not again! Tyyybaaalt! sniff sniff

I don’t think it’s his soul, just an illusion (whether it be a mesmer illusion or a fever-like illusion brought on by the toxin). That’s why you see currently living people (such as Eir) as well as the deceased.