Guild Wars 2

There are a lot of sloppy mistakes on the latest living story update such as large texture bugs on the map and a general lack of polish that makes it feel rushed out the door.

http://i.imgur.com/owmMmL7.jpg
(This is something that should never have made it live.)

There is also an entire new settlement where events take place to the west of the bridge that has no name on the map, PoI, or waypoint.

The way the story was handled in Flame & Frost was great, it was a bit too slow, but it was presented well, in instances with cut scenes, and it was at least clear what was happening.

However now we get this update where the story is spoiled for us the second we open the achievement panel and the actual ways we are supposed to experience the story are hidden in events that randomly play in Southsun and seem impossible to predict (There are events where Kiel will interrogate settlers or speak with researchers.)

Another example of this is that Lord Faren who is a major player in the Human Noble personal story doesn’t even acknowledge the player if they chose that storyline and treats them like a total stranger.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like the way the content events are being handled in Southsun, lots of things to do and rewards to earn, that’s good. However it feels like the story, polish, and attention to detail has taken a step down from Frost and Flame and as a result feels rushed. Personally I’d rather wait awhile longer and have polished content then get rough content quickly. What do you think?

The current setup is just the start of the new story. We’re just given little tidbits to keep us busy while they flesh out the next phase so I think that their pacing is fine. Same as with the F&F story when we had to protect refugees, only here the setup feels more complete because there’s more dress up imo with the beach huts, the searching for sample spots etc.

As for the graphical thing: Are you sure it’s not just a graphics card issue as I’ve not encountered any graphical issues at all thus far.

As far as the ‘missing parts of the story’ is concerned: We still have 3+ weeks until the next patch and since Southsun isn’t that big anyone who runs around it for a few days in a row will easily pick up on all aspects of the story as it’s been unfolded thus far I think.

I do agree with you on the Lord Faren issue btw, that could easily have been fixed/prevented.

Chief.5928:

The current setup is just the start of the new story. We’re just given little tidbits to keep us busy while they flesh out the next phase so I think that their pacing is fine. Same as with the F&F story when we had to protect refugees, only here the setup feels more complete because there’s more dress up imo with the beach huts, the searching for sample spots etc.

As for the graphical thing: Are you sure it’s not just a graphics card issue as I’ve not encountered any graphical issues at all thus far.

These aren’t little tidbits, they have already revealed who was behind the poisoning of the animals in Southsun through random events on the island, not exactly a small detail. It’s also spoiled immediately through the achievement window and back item rewards.

I’m also pretty sure the texture clash is not an issue on my end, go to Driftglass Springs, you should see it.

There is still more to come, but i somewhat agree with your post. These are the drawbacks of a Living Story, but at least A-Net is trying, and i give them major credit for it. Other MMO companies release worse updates with less content.

I agree they shouldn’t have given away the storyline in the achievement panel, and could have given Lord Faren a line to acknowledge that his best friend has shown up.

But other than that I think it’s fine. There’s a lot going on at once but you’ve got plenty of time to do it. If you want to take your time and experience the story you’ve got that option, but people who don’t care and just want to do the events and achievements can do that instead.

I’ve not personally come across any graphical bugs, it’s all looked fairly polished to me, although the settlement could use a WP.

My only gripe is the performance issues in this zone, which have been there since the release of this zone (long before this event). I had to tone down my graphics in order to play this zone specifically.

OP is right, several aspects of this arc do seem rushed. F&F had more attention to detail. But so far it seems SoS has more meat to it gameplay wise, especially for a 5 week long transitionary story. I guess we can do a fair comparison in a few weeks.

I do expect more polish from the future arcs though, even if they perhaps have a transition time of 2-3 weeks without a story running to buy that time (although I expected the slow start of F&F to be laid out that way to buy time for production on the following chapters).

I’m having the same texture problem as OP … at the very same place :/

First I thought this would be a dumb hate-thread but I can see the OP has some fair points here. I imagine the stress which goes with developing monthly content… They have to give us a schedule before, else people would rage even more: “it’s only there temporary and they can’t even tell me how much time I have??!!11”

Maybe it would be wise to introduce a living-story free week in order to grant the developers more time for new content.

what I don’t like: an achievement which can only be done by max. level players on Southsun Cove: The Omlette achievement. You can’t eat it on lower levels + it’s soulbound.

It’s temporary content. No need for quality.

The flower backpiece feel kinda rush.

Granted they ARE cool, but it clips so badly with a Sylvari using Greatsword…

I was disappointed in Faren as well. Being an NPC in my human’s story, I expected SOMETHING to be different.

The back pieces, achievements, mini-game, and events are all good in my book. Lack of cutscenes feels unimportant for me here.

I’m not getting that graphical problem, so it might be something depending on your graphics settings or your card. I’m running a Radeon HD6870 with graphics turned almost all of the way up.