Guild Wars 2

I read many responses over the forums of GW2, and it seems that the general population of GW2 players are against the wall of texts we get from Quests in other MMO’s.
- But the wall of text in the little prelude to The Last Stand with Canach’s story has far more text than any quest I’ve ever had to read.

- I had hoped for more Cinematics, like the one that introduces our character and the Orders of Tyria. I had hoped that I’d have to get immersed into the game to get such lore.

- Is it just me, or do we need to get this story INTO the game and not on the web-page?

Frankly I’m ok with the way it was presented. Most people who complain about the “wall of text” (granted I’m generalizing and it doesn’t apply to all) are the people who simply want to get into the game and play it without much need or want for explainations or back story. This isn’t a bad thing nor meant to be derogatory, just simply a way of playing the game.

Those really interested in the backstory (such as myself) would be happy to read a short page of text to get the story. Would I like an ingame cinimatic, sure, do I need one or miss it dearly if not there, not really.

In fact, that simple story told would mean they would have to animate it, get voice actors (and if they wanted professionals that would take both time and money), record and edit it, etc.. Frankly I’d rather that time and effort go elsewhere and they let the story writer give the optional web story like they did.

It takes so much out of the game for me.
- I’d rather have that text in the game instead, because reading it on the web page is not how I like getting into a game and/or MMO.
Game content should be in the game, imo. And they still have to find a voice actor for Canach when making him a part of the Southsun Living Story, so why not make it anyways?
- It seems cheap to me. I am expecting so much more from GW2, when ANet is saying that they want it to be the #1 MMO on the market.

Some walls of text are worth it. The beautiful back stories and lore of this game are worth it. It’s good reading.

I wouldn’t mind at all an in game cinematic kind of thing, but if it can’t be done, I very much appreciate that they offer the back story on the website.

They didn’t have to do it. It’s kind of them to do and at that, well done.

Stylized presentation like character creation, dungeons and orders would be amazing, those are my favorite. I don’t mind walls of text compared to nothing at all, but I want more presentations

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need cinematics or special effects to tell a good story. You simply need to structure the information in a sensible manner. That said, I’d rather see story information, like Canach’s backstory, in-game and given in appropriate servings throughout the gameplay.

Come to think of it, a lot of Korean MMO are good at providing expository information through NPC dialogue, both in structure and presentation. Vindictus is a very good example of this (it’d be an even better example if it had a better story).

I think story stuff like this should be in game… giving the story to NPCs to tell (split it amongst several to make it easier reads) would be more immersive. Put the NPCs in different parts of the world with trails of hints from one to the next to make it more fun (of course the story would have to be interesting).

I agree that content like this should be in the game, and there’s even ‘Guild Wars’ way of doing it too: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Storybook

Collectable Storybooks could have all this in there, and include the same content as the emails we currently get for Living Story releases.

Heck, put the Personal Story in a storybook and make the Personal Story tab on the Hero panel a bookshelf and we’ve got a pretty well rounded system.

Deimos.6548:

Collectable Storybooks could have all this in there, and include the same content as the emails we currently get for Living Story releases.

Heck, put the Personal Story a storybook and the Personal Story tab on the Hero panel a bookshelf and we’ve got a pretty well rounded system.

That really would be a good idea. (I for myself collect every story-email I got – or I collect the ones of the events who are still in my email and wheren’t deleted automatically.)
In RIFT, there are collectible books with interesting stories, too. There you have a tab on the Hero panel which says “books” and there are all the books you’ve found and added to this collection by double-clicking on the book. On this tab you can re-read every book you collected every time you want by just clicking on them. And they often have more than one page.
Would be nice to have something like that in GW2, too.

Two things I’ll say.

First, I agree those need to be in game, but I disagree that they need to be done in cinematic form, but probably that’s because I love reading and I believe those were really well written bits of story (specially the Canach’s one). Maybe as someone mentioned, them being added to story books like in GW1 or in the personal story tab, but also keep them on the web, so I can read them sometimes when work is slow.

Second, give me more walls of text!!!..

I have no issues with it. I like to read. And its only a wall to those look from the bottom unlike the rest who like to read; it is a short climb on a hill on a mountain of lore.

Those who despise the wall of texts are of the Vigils, who can’t even read, and the Whispers, who prefers one word or short sentences. But among the Priory, walls and walls and more walls of texts are welcome. Even if the wall of text crumbles we will build it and read it.

But I agree that someone among the Priory should be charitable enough to guide all the poor folks of the other Orders.

Sinifair.1026:

I read many responses over the forums of GW2, and it seems that the general population of GW2 players are against the wall of texts we get from Quests in other MMO’s.
- But the wall of text in the little prelude to The Last Stand with Canach’s story has far more text than any quest I’ve ever had to read.

- I had hoped for more Cinematics, like the one that introduces our character and the Orders of Tyria. I had hoped that I’d have to get immersed into the game to get such lore.

- Is it just me, or do we need to get this story INTO the game and not on the web-page?

I pretty much agree with everything you’ve said here. While I definitely don’t mind reading it( I’ve read both GW2 books) and while the written pieces are good and have interesting back-story, it takes away from the immersive game world that Arenanet is trying to create if these living story plots aren’t incorporated in the actual game. I want to be able to experience this type of story in game in order to feel a bit more connected with the characters and the world. Same with the Rox and Brahm back stories.

Without having this type of context appear in game for the players character to experience and become a part of it makes these newly introduced characters/villains seem almost meaningless and less interesting in a lot of aspects. At this point in time, I don’t really care too much about Canach as a character.

While I know there will always be many portions of MMO lore that players have to take the initiative to research or go find themselves, there are many MMOs that have done a pretty good job in incorporating character back-story in to the game itself.

Ice Crown Citadel in WoW:Wrath of the Lich King really stands out to me as being one of my favorite story arcs in the entirety of the franchise. The story that was being told was powerful, you could sympathize with the characters, and a lot of that was told in game. By the time you made it to that final boss battle with Arthas, aka the Lich king, you really had strong feelings towards this encounter. Arthas, once the virtuous defender of the light and justice itself, became corrupted by a cursed blade he thought could save his people from the oncoming darkness. Instead he turned into the very evil he was trying to combat. Going through the journey with him, watching him grow desperate and slowing become corrupt, and even being able to play as Arthas in WC 3 and then having to confront him in a final battle after he became the lich king made this epic.

I think if Anet wants these living story arcs to be a big success long term, then they really need to tell strong stories, bring interesting characters, and have a lot of that be communicated in game. Make players actually want to find out more about the lore on their own time, by making a strong compelling story in the actual game first.