Guild Wars 2

I’m just going to warn you with the first sentence of this post that it’s going to be a long one. Whether or not this scares off readers makes no difference to me, but I’m just putting it out there that there is not going to be a tl;dr, because no tl;dr could possibly encompass what I have to say. This post is 12 pages (6900 words) single-spaced in Microsoft Word, and is probably no less than 20-30 minutes of reading. Sorry

If anyone wants to put me in touch with e-mail of the Arenanet creative team, writers and personal story creators, I will also reformat the post and send it to them, assuming they don’t see it here (fingers crossed).

To preface: I am a Guild Wars player for the lore and the story foremost (and for awesome armor second). I have a lot to say about Guild Wars 2’s personal story in that regard, because, for me, it was one of the biggest draws of the game – to see the legacy I created in Guild Wars 1 continued in Guild Wars 2. While I know Guild Wars 2 was a big step forward for Arenanet, and therefore filled with plenty of challenges but great potential, I’d like to step in and provide my views on the story, mechanics, lore, and other aspects of the Personal Story and the journey to level 80.

I am no stranger to the Guild Wars world, and that’s an understatement. I have over 5,000 hours logged into GW1 (see attachment), of which 90+% was spent in PvE. I know each and every campaign, mission, character, lore piece, and plot detail like the back of my hand. I know what I liked and didn’t like, and I know what worked and didn’t work in the context of the Guild Wars universe. Which is why, above all else, I want to see Guild Wars 2 flourish – I want to spend another 5,000 hours with this game, as I did loving the first. I know Anet has the potential, and so I only want to help.

That said, I’m obviously going to be drawing comparisons between both games extensively and where appropriate. This means that there are going to be potential spoilers for all 3 Guild Wars campaigns + Eye of the North, as well as the entirety of Guild Wars 2.

So, to begin my analysis and feedback, I’m going to be dividing this letter into two parts: Mechanics, and Story/Lore. The first part will focus on the structural gameplay, flow, and feel of the single-player adventure. The second, and by far more important to me, will focus on the lore of Guild Wars and the story-telling methods and tropes presented. I’m just going to say now that I value the latter far over the former. While the former certainly impacts how the story feels, it can be altered and adjusted with much more relative ease. You can change bad mechanics and tweak numbers. You can’t change bad storytelling and tweak characters/voiced dialogue (within reason).

Above all I want to make it clear that no matter how harsh (or praiseful) I get of the game, that none of this is to degrade what Arenanet and their creative team has made. This post serves only as my personal beliefs about what Guild Wars could or should be, and I make it only because I love the game and want to see it excel.

So, without further ado, let me jump in, starting with mechanics:

Mechanics and Flow of the Personal Story:

To begin, I’m going to say that I enjoy the dichotomy between the personal story and the world events, DEs and Hearts. I think it’s a refreshing break from traditional mission -> quest -> mission structure, and it allows for a more expansive and encompassing world. That said, it presents several challenges and problems with the pacing of the game and the development of the story.

The first and most obvious problem was the level pacing, both in mechanical and lore terms (though I’ll explain the latter in the second part). In mechanical terms, the level grind is far too static. Do a personal story mission, then complete world specifics until you’re a high enough level for the next story mission. In theory, this could work. The problem is that level requirements pile up too fast, and have negative consequences. I often found myself grinding levels during plot-critical content – for example, Claw Island has just been invaded and Lion’s Arch is poised to be overrun. However, my level requirement is too low to complete the next mission, and so I have to abandon my personal story and break the immersion of immediate threat. That’s problem #1. Problem #2 was that I found, having a preference for world exploration, that I was far exceeding the scope of the story in an attempt to level for it. I reached Fort Trinity well before I even got a hint at the formation of the Pact in the personal story – because I found the most realistic option to enjoy the story was to complete as much of the world and gain as many levels as possible, so that problem #1 could be avoided.

These issues arise from an overt emphasis on the 1-80 experience. The personal story is tailored to a pseudo-Guild Wars 1 structure, but without the level structure of Guild Wars 1. In GW1, Missions provided a much higher rate of experience, and levels capped out much quicker. In Prophecies, you were never more than a level or two above or below your mission requirement, and even this did not have a significant effect on gameplay – missions were still easily completed because you were not reliant solely on yourself for progress. In the event that you WERE underleveled, rubberbands were in place. In Prophecies, this was Augury Rock, where completion would net you enough experience to jump from level 16 to level 20 immediately, and the rest of the story followed linearly from there. Facitons and Nightfall generally did not have this problem, as experience gains were much higher and most players were max level before really diving into the story. Because of this level structure, Guild Wars 1 allowed unimpeded story progression that did not break immersion or a feeling of emergency. In the future, Guild Wars 2 needs to be reminded of this flow. While I understand the importance of the level 1-80 experience, the current story model does not condone this and suffers for it. Rubberbands need to be in place to help players with the story so that it can flow properly, or the story needs to be restructured such that there is no significant downtime between missions. Resolving this issue may also alleviate the “ghost town syndrome” I’m currently experience in zones that are labeled levels 40-70. Because of the extreme necessity of exploring for experience, players are completing the world much faster than they are finishing the story. Unless alternative methods are employed, by the time the story is completed, players will have explored most of the world and have little incentive to backtrack to areas below their level (this issue also has to do with poor loot scaling, but I won’t get into that here).

While I’m on the subject of pacing, I want to address the interweaving of Dungeons into the personal story. Frankly, this was a poor decision, or at the very least, was poorly executed. The problem arises because dungeons themselves are optional regarding story progression – up until the final dungeon. While technically speaking dungeon completion is not necessary for the final dungeon/mission, there is another level of immersion breaking that occurs because of this decision. Foremost, players who have opted not to do dungeons but wish to have the Destiny’s Edge experience will now have to go back and experience each dungeon in turn, when the primary focus is the immediate threat of Zhaitan. This problem is needlessly compounded by dungeon structure. A single-player storyline is turned into a pick-up-group event which creates even more problems. While I was able to do Ascalonian Catacombs, Cadecaus’ Manor, and Twilight Arbor – many following dungeons were completely abandoned. I was unable to find a group to complete Sorrow’s Embrace, Citadel of Flames (due to a glitch, which is forgivable), Honor of the Waves, and Crucible of Eternity. That is 4 story missions that I was unable to complete due to lack of grouping and is a SERIOUS flaw in the story structure that personally gave me a very poor experience with the game – one that I am honestly surprised occurred given the obvious reliance on Heroes and Henchmen in Guild Wars 1. This should not be a re-occuring problem in later expansions of the game. Dungeons need to be either a total non-requirement with regards to story, or there needs to be an option to experience the story without looking for a group. I feel like this was one of the larger oversights of the story structure.

I have two more issues I wish to discuss with regards to mechanics, and they’re much more brief. First is the mechanics of the missions themselves. This problem reveals itself in the form of difficulty. I’m not going to go too in-depth here, because I believe this issue has been firmly touched upon and acknowledged by Arenanet, but still I can chime in with my thoughts. Playing as an Elementalist, I found many missions to be frustrating in their difficulty due mostly to combat mechanics or the ineffectiveness of combat AI. I consider myself an experienced game player (HA , RA, and Elite Area running in GW1, tournament-level League of Legends play, among other things) and even I felt the single-player difficulty was over-tailored for me – I shudder to think of the experiences of players who are much more casual in their play and experience level. I often found myself downed by mobs that would endlessly swarm me even as I kited to the extent of my energy and zoning abilities, and allied NPCs felt wholly ineffective at anything other than tanking (when I wasn’t being targeted). This led to frustrations over either A) being downed too much in a story where I am supposed to be the hero, or B ) being the only “reliable” damage force in a large-scale mission (Claw Island, for example, where every mob was just endlessly fighting until I came along to clean up). The structural problem I’m sensing here is that mission difficulty does not feel adequately tailored to my class. Foregoing specific instances of difficulty, the overaching theme was that I felt like I should be playing a warrior – mobs would rush me instead of my allies, my allies would never tank so I could employ true Elementalist-style play. I’m not sure how extensively this was tested, but the main point is that I felt out of class. This is understandable given the limited experience of the Personal Story team, but should be addressed in the future.

The last point I wish to address is cutscenes and interactive dialogue (the fact-to-face cutaways). Some people had a problem with the interactive dialogue. Personally, I did not. I found them engaging, and a fun way to see many characters get out their personality or appearance. The one problem I did have was their overabundance – not specifically because there were too many, but because they were valued over cutscenes. I found what few cutscenes were in the Personal Story to be well rendered and to the point, much like I’d expect from Guild Wars 1. There were simply not enough, and more cutscenes could have easily replaced some of the interactive dialogue – especially in more urgent and immediate missions. Meetings with characters, confrontations with enemies, and calm story moments should be allocated to interactive dialogue. Interactive dialogue should not replace cutscenes during immediate threats such as large battles, sudden ambushes, and the like. Using Claw Island as an example again, I specifically remember cutscenes only being used to point out objectives, such as an Orrian ship that needed to be sunk. For other encounters, interactive dialogue was used. In this case, cutscenes would have been preferred, as you can listen to the characters while they fight, or run, and give a sense of desperation rather than breaking immersion by having one-on-one face talk. The dialogues themselves seemed perfectly fine. They just need to not replace cutscences where cutscenes would be more appropriate.

As an addendum, because I’m not sure where else this fits into, please re-evaluate personal story end-game rewards. Three loot bags with green loot is a far cry from the rewards of Guild Wars 1, and I’m honestly surprised a “token gift” system was not employed in the first place. Unless a completely different team worked on this, it seems obvious to me that Arenanet understood the important of a personalized weapon or item at the end of a campaign. It was so integral, in fact, that Prophecies was retroactively fitted with an end game token weapon reward (purchased with a Droknar totem). I’m not sure why this wasn’t employed in Guild Wars 2. Easy to fix. If a token weapon system is not employed, something of similar value should be – there needs to be a commemorating item for the defeat of the final boss, that seems apparent.

So, if you thought that was long, here comes the extended edition. Part 2, Story and Lore.

Story and Lore of the Personal Story:

The Universe of Guild Wars is something I really admire. Transitioning from Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2, I really felt the evolution of the land, and I actually felt disheartened that it’ll be a while before I see Cantha or Elona again – it’s a rich world and you want to experience it. So I want to take the time to address not only how the Personal Story handles the lore of Guild Wars, but also the inherent story itself – pitfalls it hits, tropes it abuses (or doesn’t), and, above all, I want to give context to the story and how it feels compared to Guild Wars 1 – things that I admired were missing, or critical story elements that felt incomplete.

I know a lot of people aren’t playing the game for the story. It’s an MMO, and content creation is primarily directed at non-story aspects. That’s understandable. I don’t expect Guild Wars 2 to be Shadow of the Colossus or Okami in terms of story or single-player experience. But the stories of Guild Wars 1 improved over time, and still provided a very typical, yet unique and enriching experience that I think people fail to give proper credit. Some people disliked some of the NPCs, or certain aspects, and that’s understandable. But for what it’s worth I enjoyed the execution of Guild Wars 1’s story, and I think it has a lot of success that never properly transitioned to Guild Wars 2. So I feel obligated to deconstruct this, because the story is what compels me about Guild Wars.

To begin, I want to address my primary concern, and all the faults that are an extension of it. Each extension is as equally valid as the primary concern; I just think that all my concerns can be tied together by one specific problem. That problem is choice, and while it’s called the “personal story” I honestly believe far too much emphasis was placed on customization and branching, and that the story ultimately suffers for it. I want to be clear here: I do not think choice is a bad thing. Choice is inherently a good thing – if it’s well executed. The problem is I don’t think the system of choice in Guild Wars 2 was well executed, and it creates a handful of problems.

So to begin the dissection, I want to examine why the choice system fell short. In Guild Wars 1, each campaign got progressively more choice associated with it. Prophecies was almost entirely linear. Factions gave the first hint at real choice: the Kurzicks and the Luxons. Not a great deal, but some, and it was perfectly acceptable. Nightfall expanded on this and did it well: mission paths branched, but you were given full understanding of what you missed if you chose a particular path. If you went to Gandara to rescue Kormir, you were informed that the Master of Whispers successfully defeated the Drought. There is choice, but there is still a linear progression of story. Eye of the North, while not a true campaign, extended this choice further by eliminating the mission system, meaning you were free to choose the order in which you helped each race – but all three plot lines converged, and the story was, again, ultimately linear. In each case, the stories were never truly about choice, they only gave the illusion of choice – and it worked. The stories progressed smoothly, you were informed about the world around you, and you were given a very lore-heavy, tangential experience.

This is where Guild Wars 2 falters. In an attempt to provide real choice, it creates a ham-fisted system where you don’t feel like you’re actually making choice, you feel like you’re forced to be making a choice. This is shown more overtly than necessary as well – while I am okay with choosing your Pre-30 backstory, the determination of your story after that through dialogue options gives a really immersion-breaking sense of “I’m being forced to do this.” Now that’s not an easy problem to solve, and I understand that, but I don’t think the gravity of this was fully considered. You feel often like you’re missing part of the story, or that you’re being forced into a linear story where you’re supposed to have choice – in a bad way. In Guild Wars 1 you knew the story was linear and that your choice was an illusion, but it worked. In Guild Wars 2, the illusion of choice is trying to convince you that it’s real choice, when you’re really just reading a “choose your own adventure” book. It shows. I know there is a very large technical limitation to this aspect – but I think the team failed to respect this. While Guild Wars is a story-driven MMO, it is not entirely about story. It is incredibly difficult, if not impossible to create real choice when the story is 1/10th the consideration of the final product. If this were a story-driven single player game, it would be different. But I get the feeling the bar was set a little too high. I honestly believe Nightfall perfected the story driven mission system that Guild Wars needed. It’s not a step backwards to say that – I appreciate the innovation that Guild Wars 2 attempted, but I would much rather forego it for a more cohesive story where I feel like I’m reading a legend, rather than trying to fill in the blanks of an adventure tale.

But the problem of choice is only the tip of the iceberg – it’s not only inherently problematic in the way that it fails to convey a proper story, but it creates several extenuating problems that further diminish the appreciation of the story. The problem lies in the fact that each story is divided into multiple arcs – but they occur too rapidly and are over too quickitteno be fully appreciated. Any writer is familiar with proper pacing, and the necessity of points of high action, and points of low tension that get you excited for the action again. Guild Wars 2 follows this pretty well, both in the overarching sense of the whole story, and in each of the 7-8 tiered arcs. The problem is that there are simply too many, too fast. The specific instance I recall is being promoted from a junior member of the Order of Whispers into a Lightbringer in the span of three quests. There is absolutely no time to learn about what the Orders of Whispers is or does, because you’re immediately thrown into conflict where it would be unnecessary in a game where a linear story is used instead of a choice system. Lightbringer, a title that takes tons of combat and experience to achieve in Guild Wars 1, is assigned like a badge in Guild Wars 2, and players get no real understanding of what they’ve accomplished. In an attempt to exemplify choice, too much choice is given and pacing is thrown completely out of whack. This problem is further compounded when you consider the mechanical aspect of the level grind between story missions. You can potentially be right in the middle one of the more heated action sequences, and suddenly you’re thrown back into a peaceful world to grind some levels before you can continue. Pacing destroyed. This is why Guild Wars 1 succeeded phenomenally at telling its story. Missions are the high point, in between quests were the low point. Each quest built you up for the next mission, and then each mission was exciting, and engaging. In Guild Wars 2, the story is segmented such that what should realistically be one mission is broken up into two, three, even four different parts. The story loses momentum and the player loses interest. Rather than feeling excited for the next story mission, players feel nagged, like they’re being fed a piece of content rather than experiencing an engaging plot.

This pacing has even further reaching drawbacks. Most notably, the amount of screen time characters get is brief, and situations arise and resolve so quickittenhat there is no real time to experience what characters have to offer or to let them grow on you. The most excruciating example of this was a Norn character (whose name I had to look up) named Apatia. I had never seen her before, she accompanied me on a quest, fell to the enemy, was revered as a hero, and then became a non-factor in the rest of the game. I had absolutely no idea who she was, if I was supposed to care about her, and I felt absolutely no heroism in celebrating her triumph with the Norn in Hoelbrack. This kind of thing is the result of poor planning, poor pacing, and a poor choice system. Characters are not given proper time to develop, and the hero and player has no reason to connect with any NPC they meet, especially given the overaching context of the story (I’ll get to that). An example of a character done well but brief was Tybalt. Do you know why I remember Tybalt? Apples. See, when you have NPC characters that don’t have a lot of time to be developed you have to give them something that makes them memorable – something humoristic or innately identifiable that gives them a real connection to the player. Tybalt was a Charr, a supposedly ferocious race, and yet he was incredibly humorous and had a simple, identifiable trait – his love of apples. It sounds silly, but it works. I remember him. I wish his character were fleshed out more. I cannot say the same for the many other NPC characters I met on my journey who may as well be nameless.

Taking this further, there’s a reason why Destiny’s Edge is successful – and it’s not just because they’re the poster children of the game. They give you a goal to work towards. This is called themeing. When you begin the story, you’re not exactly a hero. As a human player, you look up to Logan Thackeray and say “I’m not as cool as him, but some day, I WILL be.” Those kinds of characters stick in your mind. You only need one or two of them. Granted Destiny’s Edge are recurring characters – but the point still stands. The player needs a character like this in their story to compare themselves to. You already know the names of the Guild Wars 1 characters who employed this. Prince Rurik. Master Togo. Kormir. Even if you didn’t like these characters, they serve as a subconscious indicator and mentor for what you wish to become – a hero, or a wise sage, or a source of guidance. That’s what connects a player to their character and their world and makes you want to be a piece of something bigger. Guild Wars 2 fails this challenge by introducing heroes too late, or too en masse to be effective.

There’s a test you can do that tells you if characters like this are well fleshed out or not. Think of the character, and describe them without mentioning what they look like or what their job/role is. I cannot do this for Apatia, or for the Charr pilot, or for the Asura that was killed by a corrupted Pact member. With the big three from GW1, and the heroes, it’s very easy. Rurik is a reluctant, yet stoic leader – he believes in a future for his people. Togo is wise and humble and cares about the success of his students. Kormir is overly trusting and naive, she puts herself out of her element and makes mistakes (which is why she makes a good 6th god – because there’s deep irony and character transformation). Almost any NPC from GW1 that had any significant presence passes this test. Vekk (smarmy, dis-concerned), Dunkoro (Brave but with a faltering conscious), to name a few. Even characters with very little screen time, such as the Vabbian Princes, have very apparent personalities (Bokka, the tragically bumbling half-wit). Not to say Guild Wars 1 was perfect in this regard, and it certainly had characters that fail the test (Justicar Hablion, Saidra, Danika). Guild Wars 2 has many characters that fail this. For me, Tylbalt passed. Trahearne barely passed. All of Divinity’s Reach passes, but that’s a given. Demi Beetlestone sort of passes. Ironically, King Adelbern in AC passes, because Rytlock explains his motivations and then you see his conflict between regret and hatred (though this may also be residual from GW1). Most characters native to the GW2 story fail the test, at least for me personally.

As I mentioned earlier, this is also a problem with the overarching story. The true theme of the Zhaitan fight is that different minds must unite to overcome adversity, and that progress is not made without sacrifice. The problem is that so many unsung heroes die in the fight against Zhaitan that it’s hard to care about any of them. All 5 races go into this war knowing they might be killed. Hundreds, if not thousands of Pact soldiers die during the war. It’s extremely hard to care about the female Charr who flew my airship when she’s just another casualty among the hundreds of dead. That’s why, in a story about sacrifice, you NEED pillar characters for the player to connect to and hold onto, to stick with them through the entire story as their mentor and guide. I think this is probably why I liked Trahearne. I know a lot of others didn’t, but for me, he was the anchor that held the story together because he was the only character in a sea of nobodies that actually had something to say, that stuck with me and felt like somebody I would care about. Keep in mind that he’s one of the most important characters for well over half the story. That should give a rough idea of how these characters need to be developed: it doesn’t happen in a single mission. Again, this is where Guild Wars 1 was successful. It explored characters over a long period of time and stuck them with you as allies and as guides. Rurik led you to Kryta. Togo led you across Cantha. Koss and Dunkoro helped you across Elona, and you really began to feel what each character’s personality and motivations were like (battle quotes go a long way).

The personal Story of Guild Wars 2 simply tries to throw too much at you. The pacing falters, the NPCs aren’t relatable, and characters that are supposedly important appear and disappear in an instant. There needs to be people you care about, people who are developed, and people you’d hate to lose. Even if a character is hated but well developed, they’re still better off than characters we know or care nothing about – antagonism also gives a player a sense of what they don’t like, or who they don’t want to be. I could never sympathize with Gwen in Eye of the North, she just seemed like a zealot to me. But that’s okay, because her character was fleshed out, and she represented a cognitive limitation that someone like a hero has to overcome. Characterization. Themeing. These need to be addressed, and I know the team from Guild Wars 1 is capable.

My next problem is the overall lack of threat in the world. The land of Tyria is more beautifully crafted in Guild Wars 2 than it could have possibly been in Guild Wars 1, and yet the land is such a clean slate that one questions if the dragons even exist. Before Guild Wars 2 came out I was under the impression that the entire world was radically altered by the rise of the Dragons. Other than continental shifts, I cannot say this expectation has been lived up to. Here’s the problem: The dragons are the greatest threat Tyria has ever faced, yet they’re conspicuously absent and completely non-threatening to most areas of the world. The minions of the dragon aren’t introduced until later in the story. That makes sense for the most part, though an introduction that really sets the stage for the world that the dragons have formed would be clearer on this matter. You don’t see the dragons themselves at all. This also makes sense, to an extent, as one of the chief characteristics of a scary villain is that you never really see them until the end – they’re a shadow lurking in the background (and, to give credit, I REALLY like the dichotomy between Zhaitan’s concept art, where he appears as a generic dragon in the minds of the people, but his true form in-game is a grotesque undead monster). What doesn’t make sense to me is the complete and utter lack of tangible threat to any area for which I would care about in the universe. At no point do I ever feel Divinity’s Reach, or Rata Sum, or anywhere else is in immediate danger of the Dragons or susceptible to their horrible power. Which is a shame given how well-defined these areas are. I was really, REALLY impressed the first time I explored Divinity’s Reach. It felt so alive and real, and was truly breath-taking. But it was so far removed from any threat that it slowly became more of a fairly tale than a real city.

This creates a very heavy burden on the player to have a strong suspension of disbelief. One of the key characteristics of a threatening villain is to feel their power. Every minion on the face of Tyria that the dragons control is far isolated from the strongholds of the 5 greater races. Anything that could be considered a tangible threat is never fully explored (the great collapse in Divinty’s Reach – I’m looking for some content expansion here). You have to go far beyond the borders of the great cities before you really discover the Dragons’ influence. The only time any Dragon ever feels a threat is in Orr, or world events such as the Shatterer. Even their impact is minimal. In order to give context to the chaotic world the players live in, there needs to be a real threat against something that the player values. If I’m playing a human, Zhatain can’t just threaten Claw Island. He can’t even threaten just Lion’s Arch. He has to threaten Divinity’s Reach, and my entire race’s way of life. That gives the hero purpose, and gives them adversity to overcome. It gives them something to fight for, and fight against. It gives a deeper purpose to the world in which the hero lives. The dragons are as powerful as gods – their influence needs to be felt. While I know the personal story purposely focuses on Zhaitan, it feels as if the other dragons don’t even exist. Primordus, the greatest of the dragons (or so Eye of the North implies) is completely absent save for one line of dialogue in the post-story explorable. The sea dragon isn’t even mentioned in passing. Jormag and Kralkatorrik have equally intangible threats. Kralkatorrik is so large that you can see him on the map in Guild Wars 1. Yet he’s completely gone from anywhere in Guild Wars 2. Enemies of that caliber don’t simply disappear. They have real consequences and they need to be threatening. The Titans opened portals directly to Lion’s Arch and Ascalon. The entire continent of Cantha was infested by the afflicted. Abaddon’s corruption could be seen in the Fountain of Lyss, and his realm of torment showed tainted versions of many key areas in Elona. Their threats were real, and tangible. Your world was in peril and it needed a hero. Guild Wars 2 sorely lacks this focus.

In that same line of thought, their power needs to be exerted over the hero, and they need to be a force that takes sheer willpower to overcome. Guild Wars 1 did this fantastically. The Mursaat will kill you in a second if your armor isn’t infused. Shiro swats you like a fly, and the Envoys must restore your life so you can fight him. If you’re not an experienced Lightbringer, Abaddon’s minions kick your butt. These make the player feel HELPLESS. They give the hero reason to become stronger, and to fight harder. Consequentially, just as the hero grows in power, so do the enemies they face. Conspicuously absent from Guild Wars 2 are elite minions of the Dragons. From the very first to the very last, Zhaitan’s forces are almost exclusively Risen, simple, plain undead. I’m not sure what became of the concept art for Zhaitan’s minions, but what I saw were heavily armored, nightmarish brutes that not even the most valiant champions could fight. Those are what the player should have to overcome. Again, Guild Wars 1 did this perfectly. The Titans. The Shiro’Ken. The Tormented (even the Margonites weren’t Abaddon’s greatest trick). They’re elite. They’re tough. They give the player an adversary to grapple with and they instill fear and a sense of power into you. In a similar sense, the game also needs to have the threat of defeat built into the personal story. In Guild Wars 1, up until Eye of the North, every mission came with threat of failure. If an NPC died, if your party wiped, or if some other objective failed, you failed the mission. This creates an experience I find sorely lacking in Guild Wars 2: missions tailored so that failure is possible but not forgiven. Because you can infinitely respawn if you die, there is no proper tailoring of difficulty or punishment. It’s very, very immersion breaking that, during the final fight with Zhaitan, I had to resurrect myself 7+ times due to being swarmed with enemies that I was incapable of fighting without the other members of my party. If, for instance, a party wipe resulted in a kick from the mission, then the level of difficulty could be reasonably tailored such that failure is possible, but not entirely likely. In this sense, you’re much less likely to die, and therefore feel more heroic, which is desperately needed in such a large scale fight. I know this fits sort of into mechanics a bit more, but it was worth noting here. I think this is one of the more overlooked flaws on the personal story.

My final problem lies in the lack of lore-based story and the lack of tangible, memorable locales in the game. Here’s a thought experiment: think of every Guild Wars 1 locale that means something to you, and isn’t a major city (Lion’s Arch, House Zu Heltzer, etc.) Whether it be because it was interesting, or challenging, or you have fond memories with friends. Here my list, off the top of my head:

Piken’s Square, Serenity Temple, Yak’s Bend, Temple of the Ages, the Wizard’s Castle, Maguuma Stade, Sanctum Cay, Augury Rock, The Dragon’s Lair, Thunderhead Keep, The Granite Citadel, Mineral Springs, Naphui Quarter, Tahnakkai Temple, Arborstone, Leviathan Pits, The Harvest Temple, Raisu Palace, Faharnur the First City, Gandara the Moon Fortress, The Fountain of Lyss, The Hidden City of Ahdashim, The Gardens of Seborhin, The Bone Palace, The Gate of Madness.

I didn’t look any of those up. Those all came out of my noggin and I remember them. Why? Because they have something special about them, or a fond memory. Skill capping in Mineral Springs, the difficulty of Thunderhead Keep, etc.

Now do the same though experiment with Guild Wars 2. If Tyria was terraformed again, what places are you going to remember that weren’t from Guild Wars 1 and aren’t a major city?

If you’re like me, you have are hard time thinking of any. Fort Trinity, perhaps. It’s because the mission structure of Guild Wars 1 created a TON of interesting set pieces that encouraged you to know not only where you were, but the history of where you were, and the importance of where you were. The irony is that the world of Guild Wars 2 attempts to be so dynamic that there’s nothing static to grip the player. I remember Thunderhead Keep because it was the first truly challenging mission of Prophecies, and was the source of a lot of humor about pick-up-groups. When my only interaction with other players is limited to a constantly changing series of events, the only static areas I have to remember are the 8 dungeons, or the major cities. There are no plot elements or locales that really grip the player. Almost everything in Guild Wars 2 is an open field with no instanced towns for players to congregate and create memories or experiences. Players need these areas to get attached to. They make a player a part of the world, and they make the world worth fighting for. The give you a home away from home, and gives the world a unique richness. This is sorely absent in Guild Wars 2, and it hurts. I spend more time admiring the lost ruins of Guild Wars 1 than I do finding enjoyable places of interest in Guild Wars 2 – and the personal story does nothing to help alleviate this problem. Every mission takes place in the open fields, or an instanced zone of a location you pass through doing world exploration. Large locations like the Chantry of Secrets or the Vigil Academy go largely neglected. There is no sense of attachment to the land that players desperately need to make them comfortable in the world. I only feel comfortable in the home cities, there are no home away from homes, like the Ice Tooth Cave that Guild Wars 1 offered.

This ties in to an extreme lack of lore that the personal story also provides. The only instance of lore I can recall is speaking to the Orrian king about the history of Orr – and that was AWESOME. But it’s the only real lore I was fed. In Guild Wars 1, you were fed lore as it happened. Horn Hill and Stormcaller, the history of the Crystal Desert and Ascension, the history of the Feud between the Kurzicks and the Luxons, and the reason for the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest. The history of Palawa Joko and the importance of the River Elon – the Rise and fall of Abaddon and the Margonites. These are beautifully crafted lore pieces that are woven seamlessly into the story and create a rich experience. The entirety of Guild Wars 2 is spent fighting Zhaitan, or discovering strange new ways to deal with him. Compare: to deal with Zhaitan many of the Priory offer artifacts that have no background, or new inventions that use magic in order to fight the dragon. Contrast this with how players in Factions sought to fight Shiro: they went through a sacred Kurzick Temple and a Luxon honor Festival to retrieve the Ashes and Spear of the two greatest Luxon and Kurzick champions, St. Viktor and Archemorus. That alone enriches the world in which the story takes place. The Priory artifacts do none of this. This is why I was so excited to see the Searing Cauldron used as a weapon against Zhaitan – it has real historical and lore implications. Again, it enriches the world because it gives the world history and depth. There are 250 years of history that can be explored – tell us what the dragons have done, how the races have survived, and lead us into the ultimate fight as a culminations of efforts that existed even before the story of the game.

Guild Wars 2 is not without some memorable areas however, and I want to point out examples of lore pieces that I think are very well done. However, it’s key to note that none of these areas are specifically involved in the Personal Story and are entirely optional, making them out of the way and, to an extent, inconvenient to discover. The first is a large tower in Orr that was obviously once used by the Vizier. It contains a mural of Abaddon and a journal that gives a history of Orr from and explorer’s perspective. That was probably one of my bigger lore-satisfaction moments that Guild Wars 2 is famished of. The other is the Kodan capital ships in Frostgorge Sound. They have their own unique gimmick – they’re well named, and one of the event hearts there is actually to explore the Kodan lore. That’s AWESOME. I want more of that. The names, by the way (and I didn’t peek!), are Honor of the Waves, Deep and Troubled Waters, and (my favorite) Blue Ice Shining. They’re well crafted, and memorable, something many other areas of the game lack. Ebonhawke and its graveyard (plus a journal detailing the days of Gwen and Keiran Thackeray) are also a very fine example of optional lore pieces that really enrich the universe. But, again, it is neither used by the story nor fully explored to its potential, and neither are encouraged as areas for players to congregate (you just pass through them for the purpose of world completion).

This is probably the longest post I’ve ever made about a game. I do it, as I’ve said, because I care about the universe of Guild Wars. I don’t expect Guild Wars 2 to be Guild Wars 1 – but I do expect it to build upon its predecessor in a respectful and awesome way. I think there’s so much potential here for cool things to happen, and that with proper feedback Arenanet will really be able to cater to the expansive, awesome world they’ve so lovingly crafted. I really hope to see some, if any of these suggestions, and the suggestions of others taken to heart, and to have Guild Wars 2 really expand into a truly awesome, enriching experience. The game is masterfully crafted for such an early stage of release, and I’ve honestly had a blast so far. While my gripes with the Personal Story were disheartening, I have high hopes that they can be corrected for future content, and I can really get that true Guild Wars experience I waited years for. All that in mind, I hope someone from Arenanet reads what I’ve put here and really gives it some thought, and I encourage everyone else to contribute their thoughts and keep this discussion alive – whether it be to agree or disagree with me. My fingers aren’t tired yet!

Hopefully in the months, perhaps years to come, much of what I’ve said will be resolved, and we’ll be looking back on Guild Wars 1 not as the superior predecessor, but as a limitation to the true potential of the Guild Wars World. I put 5,000 into Guild Wars 1, here’s to another 5,000 with Guild Wars 2.

As a final side-note: everything I’ve said will become completely invalid and any transgressions will become completely forgiven if Arenanet decides instead to release the Canthan Expansion with Tengu as a playable race, and they /dance Gangnam Style. (I’m serious Anet, please).

Thanks for reading, if you did. I know it’s quite a lot, but, there’s a lot to explore.

Very nice writeup, I agree with a lot of your points. Particularly that I would’ve liked to have seen more lore offered up to us throughout the personal story, that there needed to be less characters and more time spent with them so that we had time to grow attached. Related to that, the story arcs were very segmented, and didn’t flow together particularly well. Also, the disconnect between the dungeon stories and the personal story definitely didn’t do either story any favors. Destiny’s Edge didn’t even come close to getting adequate characterization or development. For example, I read the books, so I know what Eir’s character is like. But if I hadn’t, my only exposure to her was basically in Ascalon Catacombs and Honor of the Waves. The two situations she’s presented in lead me to believe she’s foolish and/or stupid (Ascalon Catacombs), and a big baby (Honor of the Waves). And it’s a shame, because Destiny’s Edge was supposed to be an interesting part of the story. Another sideffect to the disconnect between the dungeon stories and the personal story, is that it ended up with the Zhaitan fight being an incredible letdown. I get the impression this is due to the fact that two different teams were working on the dungeon stories and the personal stories. The mission before the one where you actually fight Zhaitan has a ton of buildup, and is made out to be the final mission. Probably because this was the last mission the personal story team got to make, so they wanted to go all out. The dungeon stories didn’t tend to have any really involved story segments to them because they have to be played with other people. So what you end up with is a mission that feels like the final mission, and then a mission (the actual final mission) that just feels like another dungeon (albeit a very cool one).

I do disagree with some of your points, though. In particular, that Zhaitan’s influence needed to be felt in all of the starting areas and threaten each race’s home cities. And keep in mind, his influence IS felt in the Sylvari areas (Caledon Forest has plenty of Risen) due to their proximity with Orr. It wouldn’t make sense for the Risen to be anywhere else. Also keep in mind that, at least at the time of this story, none of the race’s nations are dealing with Zhaitan. It’s the Pact, made up of the Orders, which are entirely independent. The nations are tangled up in their own troubles with the Flame Legion, Nightmare Court, Centaur wars, etc. I feel it’s much better to ease players into the conflict rather than shove Zhaitan and the Risen down their throats from the very beginning. I actually felt that the Claw Island mission, as well as the defense of Fort Trinity, did a very good job of making the player feel that Zhaitan is truly a dangerous enemy. There’s no need to force this into the player cities, particularly when these cities need to remain somewhat constant as expansions and future content come out. Eventually the story of the game needs to go on under the assumption that Zhaitan has been killed.

Another couple minor points I disagree with, and these are much more just personal taste, is that I felt Tybalt and Trahearne were both poorly handled. I felt Tybalt was actually a good character (although personally, I felt the “apples” thing was a bit overdone and bordered on annoying. A joke that was only barely amusing the first time, had overstayed its welcome the second time, and then stuck around for a third and fourth), but I thought it was a very poor decision to make him the mentor for Order of Whispers. We were told to join OoW if we wanted a James Bond experience. What we got was more akin to Get Smart. For whatever reason, our “mentor” character had less experience than the player, and was nothing more than comic relief. Comic relief characters are fine, but it really cheapened the entire feel of that Order.

I’m not going to go into a rant on Trahearne, as I’ve made my opinions on his poorly shoehorned role in the story, and the game’s complete disregard for the player character after his introduction post-Claw Island in a couple other threads. He’s one of the single biggest problems with the personal story post-Claw Island and essentially kills any enjoyment I can have with it on subsequent playthroughs, and I’ll leave it at that.

The nations are tangled up in their own troubles with the Flame Legion, Nightmare Court, Centaur wars, etc. I feel it’s much better to ease players into the conflict rather than shove Zhaitan and the Risen down their throats from the very beginning.

I agree that it’s a great experience curve to ease a player off a less threatening enemy and into a more powerful one – it makes sense. The problem is that once Zhaitan becomes the real threat, his presence is marginalized. Claw Island is the closet he ever comes to attacking areas familiar to the player’s home city, and almost all of the fighting between the Pact and Zhaitan is in territory many physical miles from important locations. I feel like his presence needed to be felt in the world after the decision is made to go to war with him. Go to Divinity’s Reach, and NPCs are still talking about fighting Centaurs. Contrast this with the mini-mission to get to Elona in in GW1, where portals to the Realm of Torment open up directly in Lion’s Arch and Kaineng Center. Or the War in Kryta, where the final stand against the Mantle is fought right in Lion’s Arch. You can feel the urgency there. Fighting an Elder dragon needs to thrust Tyria into war and have the feel of it – returning to a home city feels like Zhatain’s power is worlds away, an insignificant dot on the land.

As for Tybalt, I agree that he sort of put a little unnecessary comic relief into the once-serious Order of Whispers, but even as someone who loves lore, I don’t think it threw me off like it should have, I enjoyed him. Trahearne is a different matter, one that I can’t really comment on. His presence didn’t altogether bother me, and I’d honestly have to replay to the story to get more of a feel for why players didn’t like him. For me, he was the only character that had any reason to get attached to, and that alone made him the crowing achievement NPC of the campaign. I’ve heard others drawing comparisons to Kormir, whom I also didn’t mind. I’ll have to read the large thread on Trahearne and gather what people didn’t like.

Well I think a big reason that Zhaitan feels marginalized is because the game focuses too much on Trahearne and his cleansing of Orr. They make that the Pact’s number one priority. So it’s hard to make Zhaitan feel like this huge threat when the Pact isn’t bothering with him until the very last mission. Honestly, I don’t know why cleansing Orr and killing Zhaitan had to be separate. Why not have it be so that killing Zhaitan would lead to the cleansing of Orr? Maybe there’s some lore reason that they didn’t go into, or maybe they did and I missed it, but it just didn’t seem necessary to separate the two aside from giving them as much time to put Trahearne in the spotlight as possible.

As far as the whole “Zhaitan’s power feeling worlds away” thing to most of the home cities, I still think that was the point. Orr isn’t anywhere near Divinity’s Reach, the Black Citadel, or Hoelbrak, and it’s only somewhat close to the The Grove and Rata Sum. And since Zhaitan is sitting tight in Orr and raising an army, we’re really just not going to see much of him until we go to Orr. I think GW2, at least at this point, is meant to take place during the calm before the storm. At the start, Zhaitan isn’t attacking yet. He’s still preparing. And we have no idea what the other dragons are up to yet, either. Claw Island is really the first time Zhaitan tries to go on any sort of major offensive. I got the impression that the Pact’s whole attack on Zhaitan was more of a preemptive strike to take him out BEFORE he could really do serious damage to Tyria. I do think it could be very cool in future content to have more of a major war, something like War in Kryta as you mentioned, but I don’t really think that was the intention for the showdown with the first Elder Dragon. We’ve still got plenty more to go.

I think this is a good thread. But, I don’t think the general mechanics behind the story missions are the biggest problems. You’ll run across things that are higher level than you, and you will quickly find yourself underleveled if you try to do them too fast.

The way that a lot of choices actually play out in the story brings a lot to MMOs in general. However, my problem isn’t really with the story, it’s the storytelling, the characters, as well as how they act and talk to each other. Everything seems like a joke to them, and there is hardly anything taken seriously at all. This is to the point where the plot often feels like a recent Disney movie due to all the jokes people through back and forth, especially when in moments that should be dark. Not to spoil anything, but there are moments in the plot where certain things happen to certain characters, and hardly anyone seems to really care about what’s going on due to the constant joking, references, and general lack of emotions/reactions the characters have.

The joking can be cute, and even funny at times, but it’s far far too much. Anyone who has done the Orr story missions should know what I mean. This also ties into my problem with the games plot seeming to happy and that there’s a distinct lack of drama. Sure, there are tragedies, but they are rather uneventful and very quickly forgotten tragedies and what was meant to be serious just comes out as funny, which should never happen with tragedy. If anyone has played Factions, you’d know that the plot was actually dark, and in my opinion, was taken much more seriously (in terms of storytelling) than the other chapters. Even in Nightfall and EoTN, it was joke after joke, bookah comment after two legs comment, yet Factions was just right. Sure, the cut scenes were cheesy and at times were a mess to watch, but the story was spot on in terms of drama and serious characters, instead of just tons of women in skimpy outfits and cutesy characters cracking jokes/references every other line.

The player is another problem. While you have choices, you’re still just some random person who’s only real goal is to be the hero, maintaining a feeling of detachment from all of the other characters around you, despite how much you do for them. This ended up making me feel like my character is essentially doing all of this for nothing, as there isn’t anything different I could do that would change how other people treat or think of them.

When it comes to dungeons being included in the story, I think it’s a good thing. Sure, there is a disconnect, but some of these dungeons (depending on your group) can be difficult to the point where you wont feel like even touching them.

Also, I’d imagine that the Tengu would be a playable race in one of the hopefully coming expansions, as well as (plz) ritualist.

Most of all, I would like to give you a big hug.

As another lore and story fan, I envy your ability to write down exactly what I felt. If I was a teacher I’d give you an A+ and recommend you, and if I was working at Arenanet I would sticky this. (sticky it) Why should you sticky it? Because every single point this guy, or girl, makes, is on the point. It is all true and it’s beautifully compared to the first Guild Wars, that enriched and enthralled players with it’s story and lore. A story that would rival many fantasy novels and games on the market.

Story is about captivation and nostalgia, and lore is about enrichment and knowledge. I’m not feeling that I’ve been enriched with knowledge of the world in Guild Wars 2, at all. Neither am I feeling much captivation of the story because of the points made in this thread. Or feeling much nostalgia… The only compelling things in Metrica Province were for example the Guild Wars 1 lore, i.e. ruins.

I’ve been a big fan of the Factions campaign, and my character is a testament of my love to the Kurzick. Factions had uniqueness, it introduced us to the Luxons and the Kurzick. In the missions you were introduced to them and you learned a short deal about them, but most of all you were intrigued by their unique culture. Should you want to learn about them, the lore was in the game and ready for you read.

I’m not going to write a long post about what I feel, because the thread pinpoints exactly what I feel! I’m not going to speak for anyone else when I say, that I’ve felt a little disappointed… and I’m not really compelled. OP mentions the lack of cutscenes, and I agree on this. I would also like to add that I find the cutscenes bland? They seem more boring than ever, and most know that the GW1 cutscenes could do with some work.. like in the Bonus Mission Story Pack, which had unique animations and good cutscenes.

On another note, even though in comparison to GW1 and it’s campaigns / expansions I feel that GW2 is a step back in the direction of lore and story, there are good things, as well. The Dynamic Events and Hearts are cool and fun, and sometimes offers lore that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. +1! These should somewhat revolve around the core of the story, and for the most, they do. They’re well made. So a big plus. The scenery is amazing and zones look unique. Another big plus.

A short note (hah) on the effects of enemies in the game. In GW1 enemies would usually be distinct to a certain area of the world, and that’s really good. Because, that created diversity and made the areas more interesting. In GW2, you see skritt, quaggans, centaurs, and ettins too widely spread. The ogres, on the other hand, are more neatly located in Ascalon, which also makes sense. When you see a certain enemy, or friendly race, too much, they became uninteresting and they seem as if they have a bigger impact on the lore as a whole, but they don’t.

ps. POIs are cool, but would have been cooler if they had a little text associated with them, like waypoints in GW1 had a short text associated with them, that give you a resume about the place.

Story and lore is not only for the PvEer or Roleplayer. It is also for the PvPer. The Great Temple of Balthazar was a great idea with it’s scenarios. You felt like you were fighting for the glory of the God. Likewise did the Luxons and the Kurzick have an indepth grudge we could take part of, and it made the PvP more interesting, and also made factions of players fight each other for a love of their own faction. The Mists do little to show this, they’re good scenarios that are kept in time, and my only real gripe, is that it feels a little cold in terms of lore. WvW, is in lack of real lore, sadly. It’s not really memorable, but it’s a good game.

Story and lore is the trademark of GW1 and hopefully will be of GW2. It’s what makes even singleplayer games interesting, many years later, too. It will stick in your head, like Pre-Searing Ascalon, Yak’s Bend, the Maguuma Jungle, Kaineng City, Vabbi, etc. I can remember all of these places, because as a player you were taken along to the areas and they had depth to them. They weren’t just questing hubs that you went through to get 100% completion, they offered unique areas that had their own story, but also intertwined with the main story. I mostly remember the GW1 areas when I at Tyria. I feel that the Maguuma Jungle for example, has little new lore to give. It’s mostly the ruins that are compelling, and I’m sure this wasn’t the intent.

It got longer than I expected, and most of all everything written is to provide you feedback from a very big fan. I was interested in playing GW1 years later and redo Prophecies many times, but even on my second run through GW2, midway, because I’ve not completed the story yet, I feel somewhat bored.. and it feels trivial. Like a book with too many cliches, characters, and the like. Which is a shame, because you’ve shown in the past you can do marvelous stories. I suppose this is one of the dangers of having a forum, haha, but know it to be true that I write all this to try and help, and I completely support the OP. Sticky this thing, or at least make sure it won’t drown on the forum! This is one of the best written construcive criticisms on the forum boards.

This was a wonderful read — thank you so much for taking the time to compose this. I never played Guild Wars 1 — so much of what you had to say was very illuminating. I completely agree about your criticisms regarding the story. I believe you’re right about Trahearne, in that at least he was a character that stuck with us through mission after mission, but I am one of the many who hated how he was portrayed. I place a big amount of that on his voice acting (or lack thereof) — scholar or not — no one should sound that comatose.

I really wish that the Orders storyline had extended over a greater level range. Having that door shut after so fast a period (I agree it felt awkward to go from a grunt in the Vigil to a Warmaster so fast) was disappointing, as was losing my mentor Forgal — I feel the way about him as you do about Tybalt. I SO loved storming the Charr Renegade camp near Ebonhawke and having Forgal run in there like a madman screaming and taunting them, I wanted to cheer! But now, at level 80, I’ve not even completed my personal story. I lost interest in fighting the neverending throngs of undead many quests ago. The quests from Claw Island and earlier were great experiences — each one felt unique and like there was something important at stake. But after, with the rapid-fire deaths of Forgal, Apatia, Zott, and etc., and each mission feeling so similar (running around with Trahearne droning on and on in my wake), I definitely feel uninspired. I understand that the war against the dragons brings tragedy and loss, but there has to be something to hang onto through that — we lose that connection and I believe you wind up feeling cast adrift in the later stages of your story. I miss Logan! And Lord Faren! And Forgal! And yeah… where exactly is my sister…? I thought your comments about the other elder dragons to be interesting. I’m thinking that will be something for future content expansions. I’m also really hoping for a rework of our personal stories as well (more a return to and a deeper connection with the roots of our story, and maintain that throughout future storylines), and please, please consider having Trahearne’s VA and character reworked and rethought a bit. I want to love him!

Lauren.3061:

This was a wonderful read — thank you so much for taking the time to compose this. I never played Guild Wars 1 — so much of what you had to say was very illuminating.

While I don’t have a large base for comparison, for a story-driven MMO Guild Wars 1 and its expansions were very well done. The stories and characters clearly improved over time, I hope much the same happens with Guild Wars 2. If you could ever acquire the GW1 collection, I’d suggest you do so – each campaign is about the lengths of the personal story in GW2 (except maybe Prophecies, which is a bit longer). Guild Wars has a very, VERY deep and rich universe that’s worth exploring, if it interests you. So far I don’t think GW2 has done it justice. Nearly ever area, every outpost or mission, or place of importance in GW1 has a deep canonical root. GW1 feels like there’s a massive history of Tyria (Tyria the world, not just Tyria the continent) that spans back for hundreds, thousands of years. Guild Wars 2 just sort of feels like a “next chapter” that’s sort of disconnected from the universe it’s built on – a lot of the lore in GW2 focuses on nostalgia points from GW1 (which is really nice, and I like) but in doing so foregoes the richness of the universe as a whole (Orr is explained in passing as a risen kingdom of humans in Guild Wars 2 – It’s actually Guild Wars 1 where you can find out who sunk Orr, why they sunk it, they effects of its sinking, etc). Did you know the Crystal Desert used to be an ocean? Guild Wars 1 will tell you all about it – and how the first ascension in that ocean came to be and how the Margonites fell to the lure of Abaddon. I feel like Guild Wars 2 takes this for granted, as if players are expected to know it, and thus kind of skimped on optional pieces of lore such as journals, statues, etc (for the most part, some are scattered about).

I really appreciate all the positive feedback guys – keep throwing out ideas and letting Anet know how you liked the story and what you think was done well, or could be done better.