Guild Wars 2

I find the story a bit lacking. Basically we are on an island where a group is building a resort. Some refugees signed some contracts, now this guy wants to free them from their job obligations they reluctantly agreed to. All a bit boring tbh.

Reminded me of when I first watch star wars part one, and they talked about the trade federation, treaties, all that boring political stuff.

Give me good old classic storytelling with some meat to it. murder, backstabbing, betrayal, armies going to war, world threats, NOT sorting out building contracts of a beach resort.

N-O.
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(and a bunch of random text to reach the minimum 15 characters to post)

Story, what story? :P In all seriousness though I guess the story is ok…the problem lies with it’s delivery/execution.

I really enjoyed the exploration feel to the whole Southsun business. Feels a bit Indiana Jonesy, especially with the “fieldwork” and wildlife corruption etc.
But yeah, I agree with the OP, it’s been time to get something bigger than what living story has been so far. I haven’t played GW 1, but from what I’ve heard/read, it’s storytelling part was beyond anything seen in this game. I enjoy GW2 thus far, but more epic plots would be very much appreiated.

I really like the story so far.
It started in november with the Lost Shore. There we first met Canach and Noll and I really like it that they are back now cause Canach is an interesting character. You only have to search for the story-parts and speak with the NPCs.

What I don’t like is how Canach was treated by Kiel so in the end she can be the hero. -.-

Niyo.5920:

I really like the story so far.
It started in november with the Lost Shore. There we first met Canach and Noll and I really like it that they are back now cause Canach is an interesting character. You only have to search for the story-parts and speak with the NPCs.

What I don’t like is how Canach was treated by Kiel so in the end she can be the hero. -.-

He is pretty dumb, getting killed by his own mines.

Sovta.4719:

He is pretty dumb, getting killed by his own mines.

I hope you don’t compare an engine-mechanic with the story. It has nothing to do with the story that we had to throw him in his mines. It’s only a bad mechanic to come to the point where the story goes on.
And btw. we don’t “kill” him. We only catch him. And that’s the story part: We find him in his cave and catch him (or Kiel catches him -.-).

Canach is an interesting character, I agree. He has developed since the Karka invasion, he is trying to do good but in a bad way. He is such an interesting character that people are not sure whether to side with him or blindly believe in other (npc’s) that he is all bad.

But building contracts on an island resort? Why did it have to be that? What a waste of a good character on such a bland theme. I could handle the refugees used to build something but not an island resort. I would prefer it if you didn’t even see any of the refugee workers and the consortium refused to allow you entrance to the building site.

Quests could revolve around doing quests for the consortium with each quest giving you another piece to the puzzle.

Make a mission (dungeon) where you had to infiltrate the maasive building site then escape using multiple options or paths. Find out what’s going on. Make that a dungeon, sneaking in (and then out) could be a solo or team dungeon.

Maybe during the break-in there could be some explosions or karka attacks and Canach could appear in a cutscene… and so on and so on…

Who’s Canach? What’s he doing? How? Why? I don’t know. There’s no story in game here.

It is a very interesting story. And its nice thakittens not in your face but rather has to be searched for and discovered in the world. There is not enough of it though, and there are some weird plot turns that don’t make much sense. But after the whole Norn/Char refugees(which made no sense really)its ok. I like Scot’s writing better than the other writers, and I can see his stories in there. What I think they need is an editor to oversee the story.

Stooperdale.3560:

Who’s Canach? What’s he doing? How? Why? I don’t know. There’s no story in game here.

There is story, you talk to settler and then kill other settlers in the name of settlers cause they give MF, then catch canach for achievement.

I just started a thread were I collected all the past letters from the previous karka-event in november. Maybe this (and reading of the GW2-Wiki) will help to understand the story.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/southsun/Lost-Shore-Old-Letters-from-the-Story

If you talk with different NPC’s you’ll get bits and pieces of the “Story”. But the events leading to Canach could have been a bit better. Yes I got the event letters, but I didn’t really read it. :S

Tower Guard.5263:

Yes I got the event letters, but I didn’t really read it. :S

But they are part of the story which helps to better understand the characters. Like Canachs “Sworn Statement”.

lol Canach. It’s like he took his good intentions and was all set to become a somewhat sympathetic villain, but then along the way he developed a pretty hardcore drug addiction and pretty much careened through his ‘plan’ like a drunk tumbling down a flight of stairs. Then we kick him around a room for a bit, and Kiel shows up to tell him what a moron he is, and suddenly a cage appears.

Oh and then we kill a golem. IDK what for but it was there so why not?

I would like it, if most of it wasnt under the radar.
Playing the game normaly you dont get enough info to know whats going on and if you dig in game you have to be there 6 month ago at the first Karka Event to know the characters and now how it “ends”. Furthermore you have to read the forums and the blogs to have any kind of idea whats going on.

Interesting Story, but thanks to the fragmented storytelling i cant really care about it. It is just sad…

Story is lacking, disjointed, unclear…all the info on the site should be in game and you should know about it.

Some guy who’s doing good but going about it in a bad way… that’s pretty much it to the story. It’s just one step above the some-guy-who’s-doing-evil-because-he’s-evil in simplicity.

Of course, in the end, it’s how you tell the story — after all a lot of good stories have very simple core plotlines. In this case though, there was only very minimal storytelling so the story was simply: some buy who’s doing good, but going about it in a bad way.

But the storytelling we had was very good. I really like the text about Canach from the blog. Would love to get more like this about Canach and what hes gone through the last six months.

Niyo.5920:

But the storytelling we had was very good. I really like the text about Canach from the blog. Would love to get more like this about Canach and what hes gone through the last six months.

Having to read a blog post to get the bulk of the story in a video game is like having to watch DVD extras to get the bulk of the story for a movie. If there was a good story here (I didn’t read the blog stories) it should have been in game with blog short stories as supplements.

I meant the story itself and the writing of it is great. But I agree with you that it would be good to have the story-information ingame, too.

I like what has been posted here on the forums and on the site, not what is in game (which is pretty much nothing tbh).

You can tell ANet failed to deliver when even the usual white knights are hiding.
This patch was simply pathetic. Let’s hope the conclusion will be better.

Sephyros.9652:

You can tell ANet failed to deliver when even the usual white knights are hiding.
This patch was simply pathetic. Let’s hope the conclusion will be better.

I’ve already posted my piece in several threads by now, I can’t be expected to copy/paste into every single thread. :P

Niyo.5920:

I just started a thread were I collected all the past letters from the previous karka-event in november. Maybe this (and reading of the GW2-Wiki) will help to understand the story.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/southsun/Lost-Shore-Old-Letters-from-the-Story

ok so I read those letters you put together and they are boring… sorry. Let me pick out some key phrases
“dangerously understaffed” = sounds like work.
“interested, available, and qualified” = sounds like a job interview.
“improve her academic credentials” = sounds like school
“any questions, complaints, or legal claims..” = boring

Everything is so formal and boring. How about some drama please, maybe some humour in there as well? A simple blood stained note “I’m coming for you!!!” and initialed says so much, whose blood is it, who initals are those? when are they going to strike – something so simple causes interest and mystery with some punch to it as well. These long winded letters induces sedation. The most interesting letters were from Canach, he had at least some type of emotion in them, and the second one was interesting because he had discovered a strange type of plant.

What would of been better if this plant had some kind of effect on him and his following letters would show the change.

To be perfectly honest, I was pretty interested in Canach’s story when I read the little story bit. He seemed like an intriguing character. He’s pretty ruthless when he goes about his business, but ultimately he’s trying to accomplish a noble goal by going after the contracts.

But however good his story could be, the delivery has to be up to the task as well, and that is something I think A-net needs to think about more. When you hear all about Canach and think “Holy hotcakes Batman, this guy sure means business!”, you probably looked forward to coming face to face with this foreboding and respectable adversary. But all the effort you spend building him up will just fizzle if you don’t capitalize on the anticipations of your players.

You just go into a random cavern, walk around a few mines, and immediately come face to face with this guy that had the Consortium and Lionguard have beening hunting for so very long. He’s just standing there, doing nothing of importance in a mostly empty cavern. He doesn’t even give you the all-important villainous villain speech of villainy, he just rushes at you on sight without saying anything. And once you beat him with his own mines (which kinda takes away from his intelligence), Kiel just comes up and puts him in a cage. And with that, players would likely have lost all interest in Canach. As far as the dungeon goes, nothing about Canach leaves an impression.

Even worse, the player is more or less ignored throughout the whole thing in terms of how they relate to the story. In the one bit at the end of the fight that gives people at least a vague idea of what’s going on, Canach talks with Kiel, Kiel talks with Marcela, and nobody pays attention to you. One of the reasons I liked GW2 as much as I did was that my character wasn’t a nameless, faceless grunt playing flag bearer to the big-shot NPC that never does anything. The story was our story, and it’s very disheartening to see our characters restricted to the shadows while the spotlight is constantly fixed on Kiel Whats-her-face.

TL’DR: Players don’t get attached to characters without reason, and characters who make no effort to attach themselves to us are impossible to care about in a genuine sense. The player is the most important character of all, and when the spotlight stops shining on them in favor of someone else, make sure they that players know who exactly who they are and why they deserve it.

Better yet, make sure they know us. We’re the ones who they should watch out for.

Sovta.4719:

He is pretty dumb, getting killed by his own mines.

First off – what story?

The mines were laid by the Lionguard, then flipped by Canach for his own use. Then the player flips them again.

What’s stupid is that Canach is invincible except for these Lionguard mines. Maybe the Mother Tree dipped him into a river of the Mists when he was a baby and a mine exploded near him when this happened.

Khal Drogo.9631:

The mines were laid by the Lionguard, then flipped by Canach for his own use. Then the player flips them again.

What’s stupid is that Canach is invincible except for these Lionguard mines. Maybe the Mother Tree dipped him into a river of the Mists when he was a baby and a mine exploded near him when this happened.

First. The mines are Canachs mines. Read the text of Kiel at the entrance! Here is it: “Levvi’s figured out how to detect and handle the traps he’s set for us.”
Second. Read the text of Kiel. She tells you that Canach can’t hardly been hurt cause he experimented with the poison he used on the animals of the island. Here is the text:
“He’s also been handling the stimulants he used on the animals, so he may shrug off most attacks.”

Lord Kuru.3685:

Niyo.5920:

But the storytelling we had was very good. I really like the text about Canach from the blog. Would love to get more like this about Canach and what hes gone through the last six months.

Having to read a blog post to get the bulk of the story in a video game is like having to watch DVD extras to get the bulk of the story for a movie. If there was a good story here (I didn’t read the blog stories) it should have been in game with blog short stories as supplements.

It was in the game if you played last November. People also blast through doing the achievements and miss the dialogue. They also don’t talk to all of true NPC’s.

I like the story so far, but I do wonder why Canach’s plan to save people is to tick off the animals.
Won’t that cause some folks to die?

Didn’t think this one all out did you buddy, ah well either way its fun to see him fall.
I also like the small tidbits like the journals in some settlements. The pacing is a bit better than Flame and Frost, but I will also admit that the hunger for a ‘bigger’ storyline is growing.

Atlas.9704:

I like the story so far, but I do wonder why Canach’s plan to save people is to tick off the animals.
Won’t that cause some folks to die?

He risks it for the greater good (in his eyes). Collateral damage, so to speak.
A bit extreme, yes. But his intentions to help are good. Only his ways aren’t.

Niyo.5920:

He risks it for the greater good (in his eyes). Collateral damage, so to speak.
A bit extreme, yes. But his intentions to help are good. Only his ways aren’t.

About being extreme, I wonder why is this suddenly such a bad thing.
It is ok to blow up a cave full of skritts to protect your property, even if one of your co-workers suggested that you just tried to trade with them. That happens right under the Queen’s nose and nobody cares. I believe that mass murdering a sentient race because they stole your logging tools is pretty extreme.
However, it is not ok to be extreme when you are trying to free a lot of people that lost everything. They lost their homes, their families and friends, and now their freedom, but you are not allowed to help them by doing anything extreme.

Gabby.3205:

Niyo.5920:

He risks it for the greater good (in his eyes). Collateral damage, so to speak.
A bit extreme, yes. But his intentions to help are good. Only his ways aren’t.

About being extreme, I wonder why is this suddenly such a bad thing.
It is ok to blow up a cave full of skritts to protect your property, even if one of your co-workers suggested that you just tried to trade with them. That happens right under the Queen’s nose and nobody cares. I believe that mass murdering a sentient race because they stole your logging tools is pretty extreme.
However, it is not ok to be extreme when you are trying to free a lot of people that lost everything. They lost their homes, their families and friends, and now their freedom, but you are not allowed to help them by doing anything extreme.

Kiel obviously cares a bit more about those under her charge than the Queen does about hers.

That makes sense.
Let me put that on my list of reasons for disliking the Queen xD
Skritts are people too! (I would start a riot, but I don’t want people trying to kill me for chests)

Gabby.3205:

Niyo.5920:

He risks it for the greater good (in his eyes). Collateral damage, so to speak.
A bit extreme, yes. But his intentions to help are good. Only his ways aren’t.

About being extreme, I wonder why is this suddenly such a bad thing.
It is ok to blow up a cave full of skritts to protect your property, even if one of your co-workers suggested that you just tried to trade with them. That happens right under the Queen’s nose and nobody cares. I believe that mass murdering a sentient race because they stole your logging tools is pretty extreme.
However, it is not ok to be extreme when you are trying to free a lot of people that lost everything. They lost their homes, their families and friends, and now their freedom, but you are not allowed to help them by doing anything extreme.

…but at least killing skritt is consistent with protecting your logging tools. This is more like if you were killing skritt to save them from some (probably less likely to be lethal) fate.

Or you could just trade with them, like one of the NPCs suggested, instead of killing them.
Both the cases offer a better and less lethal alternative. The thing is, in both cases, the character chooses the worst and most extreme one, but one character is “good” and the other is “evil” for doing that.

Gabby.3205:

Or you could just trade with them, like one of the NPCs suggested, instead of killing them.
Both the cases offer a better and less lethal alternative. The thing is, in both cases, the character chooses the worst and most extreme one, but one character is “good” and the other is “evil” for doing that.

I guess if you assume green name = good.

Well, I assume “character that we help instead of attacking” = good xD
After all, the event will fail if nobody shows up to help killing the skritts.

It would be nice if they could set up some kind of in game repository for past living story information. Like in this case, someone who didn’t do Lost Shores would be all “Who’s Canach?” and for more information he could go to the Durmond Priory and research him and his past actions, etc. Maybe even have hints to the stories on the blog. “Reports are that Canach confronted Blingg and stole a consortium security golem in the confusion…”

It would really help with the world building and filling in gaps new players would have.

What story? There was a story?

Shiren.9532:

What story? There was a story?

Yes.
Maybe you can read my signature-link about the old letters from the Lost Shore-event. Or you can read the really good Wiki-page from Vahkris which really helps if you are interested in the story:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Vahkris/The_Lost_Shores_Story

In my opinion the Living storyline so far is very bland and forgettable. It doesn’t make me want to learn more. The Guild Wars lore is full of interesting tidbits but the GW2 writers have yet to come up with interesting stories except

A) Tybalt
B) The Charr warband in your early personal story

I’m not expecting world-shattering plotlines similar to an HBO TV show in an MMO, but if your big selling point is the great (personal) storyline, I’m not feeling it.