Guild Wars 2

Every mission in the personal story is solo-able and people get used to this until they reach Arah.
Why did you you choose this idea of mandatory grouping for the last story mission?
Why do you force the players group up for their last story mission when you haven’t done this with all other missions?
Why didn’t you make the story mode of that dungeon solo-able so every player can finish his story on his own?
Why should the personal story finish inside a dungeon, after all?

GM’s wont answer this. I believe it could be either some experiment to get some feedback regarding forced dungeon(ing).

If only they would have made a fight like the one with the Ancient Karka instead. Make it soloable with a ton of NPCs lead by Destiny’s Edge instead of other players. That would be an awesome end to the story.

I just discovered this today. I’m more than a little irritated that I have to do a group event for my last story mission.
This would work had I gone through the rest of the story with people. The problem being that it’s 4 am, and it’s suddenly like “Oh. Go gather 4 more people to progress”.
I just shut it off.
First, forced WvW for world completion, now forced dungeons for story completion.

@Epyon

Dont forget forced WvW for monthly achievement ;D

I fully agree that this is sort of odd. I’ve already done it, but it’s a fairly lengthy dungeon, and quite difficult at times. Most people who played their story to enjoy just that, who just hit the magical level 80, aren’t yet geared or interested in the high end content.
It’s quite the obstacle.

What has me wondering the most is that they did not include the other dungeons in the story before this. If you have not set foot in the dungeon story modes prior to this final one, you’ll be in for a lot of confusion as to why everyone acts the way they do.

Not saying I’d want the other dungeons to become mandatory for progress, but it’d be nice to have them included as side quests on the go. To have them be a bit more important than just a loosely referenced mail we get as we level from our “Herald”, whoever he or she might be.

Turning this final requirement into a personal story quest instead, and leaving out the necessity to barge into the dungeon would be most desirable though.

Most preferable to me is to make all dungeon Story mode soloable with the Destiny Edge as your allies (story rewards aren’t that great anyways)

Second is a solo last mission.

Orion the Cursed.1206:

Most preferable to me is to make all dungeon Story mode soloable with the Destiny Edge as your allies (story rewards aren’t that great anyways)

Second is a solo last mission.

I wouldn’t entirely remove the option to do the story dungeons with groups though.
Just having a single player option at a muuuch easier setting would be nice for those who love the lore. Or perhaps some NPC that allows you to watch the cutscenes you’ve already come across as often as you like. Most groups want you to skip them for the sake of being fast after all…

never have understood that. Isn’t the point of story mode to, you know, experience the story? Why does everyone seem to skip the scenes?

I would assume it was to force any players who had avoided all the dungeons and PvE grouping content thus far to engage in it, considering that their storyquest is over and they have to find something else to do with their in-game time now.

I agree it’s a little annoying, although the Arah storymode dungeon is very fun, but there should be a solo mode.

First of all, you don’t need to do it.

The reason it ends in Arah is because that’s how the story goes. You start, you work your way in to the orders, form the pact, and go fight Zhaitan. It’s not like you’re going to get to beat an Elder Dragon solo.

Just got to the last mission on Monday evening and have been unable to complete it since. Gates to Arah have been closed and a DE to open them is bugged. When they were open I was unable to find a group as everyone was too busy doing FOTM. Real shame as I was really eager to finish the story but now I frankly couldn’t give a kitten Spent too much time trying to get a party together unsuccessfully. I have had the same problem trying to get a party for the story mode of HotW and CoE. Very few people seem to be doing the story modes of the less popular dungeons anymore . Seems like a stupid design decision to me if I’m being honest. I’m on blacktide btw, usually play from 7pm (GMT) on.
(edit: If its hard to find a group now, imagine what it will be like in another month or two. Really think something is needed to be done, maybe the introduction of a cross server party search tool.)

Ronah.2869:

Why did you you choose this idea of mandatory grouping for the last story mission?

It is a great question. Were I in their shoes i would say that a dungeon offers the appropriate level of “epicness” that a target like Zhaitan deserves. However I am not a developer, I am a player who cannot finish their personal story because the barrier to entry is too high. I have to find a group and i have to find one when the gates of Arah are open (which is no easy task at all).
I have my second character getting to level 80 and to this quest soon. I am already considering the possibility that i will not complete it on this character also.

I did not like this set up at all. I actually did story mode before I knew I needed it for personal story, it did not get counted so I needed to do it again. That took me about a month to do including time before fractals came out.
As to forced WvW for monthlies and world complete, I will never get either. Just absolutely hate pvp even on large scales.

Kavs.7286:

Just got to the last mission on Monday evening and have been unable to complete it since. Gates to Arah have been closed and a DE to open them is bugged. When they were open I was unable to find a group as everyone was too busy doing FOTM. Real shame as I was really eager to finish the story but now I frankly couldn’t give a kitten Spent too much time trying to get a party together unsuccessfully. I have had the same problem trying to get a party for the story mode of HotW and CoE. Very few people seem to be doing the story modes of the less popular dungeons anymore . Seems like a stupid design decision to me if I’m being honest. I’m on blacktide btw, usually play from 7pm (GMT) on.
(edit: If its hard to find a group now, imagine what it will be like in another month or two. Really think something is needed to be done, maybe the introduction of a cross server party search tool.)

Same (bugs and all). I’m in Tarnished Coast. Got it done eventually after weeks but i wont do it again for my secondaries.

Yes it’s irritating how you can comfortably level from 1-70 solo without any dungeons, but once you hit 80, bam dungeons galore. I was expecting some more end game world events besides the 3 dragons.

The fact that the final story mode quest isn’t solo-able is game-breaking for me. I’m off to play Dishonored – see you later ArenaNet.

Even though I have been level 80, with the quest to kill Zhaitan, for a month…I still haven’t gotten into Arah story mode to finish the quest…people don’t bother with it since its so long and the rewards are bad…

gj aNet.

I don’t really mind. I understand why it’s frustrating. I’ve been enjoying the game solo too. However, I think this one bit of attunement (doing the Orr meta-events to open Arah) and the dungeon itself as the final step is a nice touch.

If this were Warcraft, most of us wouldn’t be able to see or participate in the final battle against the big boss. Instead we all get a chance to kill Zhaitan and see how the story ends. Just the fact that we get to do this without being in an elite raiding guild satisfies me.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, just this is my PoV. If anything I also blame Fractals for taking players away from Orr. I haven’t tried Fractals yet, so I have no opinion on the quality of that dungeon but I have noticed more level 80s hanging around Lion’s Arch doing Fractals instead of going to Orr. In my humble opinion, that’s the problem.

This really is one of the most broken parts of the game in my opinion.

I have no desire to group up to do my chraracter’s “personal story”.

I’m quite fed up with regards to this, 6 weeks now I been stuck at the last stage of my personal story not being able to progress because either the DE’s to get to Arah are bugged or there is no population around (more so now that openworld is largely abandoned by people farming FotM, who was it that said Gear Treadmill won’t have an impact on other aspects of the game).

Just think this part of the storyline wasn’t well thought out, if you didn’t rush through it in the first few weeks when there was zergs in every area, then you end up in similar situation as me, hitting a wall where you’re relying on DE’s not being bugged to get to Arah, and there actually being a population there to do these DE’s. And then you have to group up in a PUG (if you’re lucky) to be able to do the dungeon.

I haven’t bothered doing any of the personal story on my other characters, seems no point as there is no way to get to the end and finish it with relying on too many factors to even get to start the final event.

Hope Anet add some new content or rewards in Arah to entice people back to the area, so people who haven’t completed their personal story can at least have a fighting chance to do it.
Or even better, move FotM gate to Arah, that way Arah will never be closed (unless bugged)

I have the same issue. The dynamic events have spawned, but it was very unclear to me how to trigger them, to the point it was only by accidently wandering round I manage to start them. I have also been unsuccessful finding anyone to form a party with to complete the final story line. Most people I ask simply reply..“The 2 hours aren’t worth the crappy end game rewards.”

@CntrlAltDefeat

Go on gw2lfg and make a post. Might take a few days but you will eventually get a group. BTW, i believe Anet set it so that the Dungeon door is always open for now. Good luck and yes, i’m still unhappy with the forced dungeon in story.

Yes, gw2lfg should help. It’s not impossible to find a group even if it isn’t as easy as it was close to launch. There’s always someone around with alts who wants to be completionist, and there are still new people coming into the game. I did it for the 3rd time the other day with an alt in a guild group and for the others, it was their first run through.