Guild Wars 2

I like the idea of a humble start and moderate beginnings. Even as the story started off slow and modest, I’m sure it will pick up steam. Baby steps are fine, but an evolving and involved story is what makes it so compelling.

As of now:

• Refugees aren flooding into Black Citadel and Hoelbrak, causing the camps to grow in size over time.
• Geysers are springing up around Diessa and Wayfearer, as elementals attack whoever tries to plug them up.

Have you seen anything else yet? Anything else you’d like to share on the way the world and story is evolving.

The initial idea of this thread was to mainly point out that the Flame and Frost storyline might be going too slow. If you feel that way, feel free to point out how many days you feel should be a good pace to release the story steps.

Yes i think so to, the only thing we had to do now is helping volunteers and repairing signs, cost me 20 minutes to complete, now the story is completely dead :/

To be honest, there is more living in Orr than in this story.
In fact it doesn’t feel like a story at all, just a stationary event…

There are small changes but many of them arent obvious unless you look for them. I agree that things seem very slow at the moment. The Living Story to me seems about creating an atmosphere of change in the world as a narative. Events and stories can then be set against that.

Im gonna give it time to run its course before forming a final judgement on it.

They said there were clues hidden about the events (if I read correctly) if you listened enough and checked everywhere but this event was so boring that I almost didn’t even do it.

I feel no connection to these people because I have no idea what happened to them and it doesn’t feel like an emergency because they are just walking in over the course of weeks and in no rush. I’m kind of against this kind of intro because it makes our players feel like lame ducks sitting on the sidelines where the “major story” or w/e is just repairing signs and lighting fires.

If they keep making the living story a slow and continual thing like this where nothing big happens then they can’t ever add bosses or anything without making it instanced or just one big event that they hope everyone can make it too. Or does this story even have a boss? Anyways… now I’m just rambling.

You have to think of it in less of a gameplay context and more of an actual story context.

They’re not in a rush because whatever displaced these people has already done so. The roads are littered with the dead who never made it to the cities. Right now we are in recovery mode, repairing signs to lead the refugees to the cities and light fires to help keep the encampments warm.

From a story perspective, it’s perfectly acceptable that this is happening over the course of weeks and weeks. From a gameplay perspective, it’s not since well…we’re impatient kittens. lolz

We have to admit that about ourselves. lol

Don’t look at the living story as simply more content. Look at it truthfully as something that’s living and it takes awhile for things that are living to evolve.

Think of it this way, our impatience is bred mostly out of curiosity surrounding the events that led these refugees here.

In that respect, the living story is working as intended.

Oreoz.2573:

You have to think of it in less of a gameplay context and more of an actual story context.

They’re not in a rush because whatever displaced these people has already done so. The roads are littered with the dead who never made it to the cities. Right now we are in recovery mode, repairing signs to lead the refugees to the cities and light fires to help keep the encampments warm.

I was approaching it from a story perspective.

It’s been over a week where refugees have been flooding in. We’ve done our part to guide them in and give them a warm welcome, but now, we — the heroes — are standing back and continuing on with our own things.

Logically after a week we would be marshaling a response, attempting to find answers, and generally working to solve the problem. From a story perspective we have done our part to guide the people, it’s the cities’ jobs to grant them comfort now.

We are heroes, we should by now be gearing up to see what has threatened these people, not only to win their homes back, but also to make sure it doesn’t spread and threaten the rest of us.

This would obviously follow in a gameplay response, as in the Vigil preparing men to send out, the Priory gathering information, while the Whispers reconnoiter to investigate the issue, while we stand behind them to get to the bottom of this.

I think this living story needs some mouth-to-mouth. LOL

Azjenco.9425:

Oreoz.2573:

You have to think of it in less of a gameplay context and more of an actual story context.

They’re not in a rush because whatever displaced these people has already done so. The roads are littered with the dead who never made it to the cities. Right now we are in recovery mode, repairing signs to lead the refugees to the cities and light fires to help keep the encampments warm.

I was approaching it from a story perspective.

It’s been over a week where refugees have been flooding in. We’ve done our part to guide them in and give them a warm welcome, but now, we — the heroes — are standing back and continuing on with our own things.

Logically after a week we would be marshaling a response, attempting to find answers, and generally working to solve the problem. From a story perspective we have done our part to guide the people, it’s the cities’ jobs to grant them comfort now.

We are heroes, we should by now be gearing up to see what has threatened these people, not only to win their homes back, but also to make sure it doesn’t spread and threaten the rest of us.

This would obviously follow in a gameplay response, as in the Vigil preparing men to send out, the Priory gathering information, while the Whispers reconnoiter to investigate the issue, while we stand behind them to get to the bottom of this.

It’s kind of hard to explain but you have to look at it from a story perspective whilst at the same time removing yourself from the plot.

It’s been weeks and weeks on our end but within the story, the lore of the game, it might only have been a day or two. It’s kind of like in a movie where the protagonist gets out of a car and then the camera cuts to him getting out of the shower in his apartment. For us, it’s been one second. For them, in the story, it’s been 20 minutes.

The vigil and the other orders could very well be trying to find answers. When that happens (hypothetically speaking) it could very well be written in the lore that it happened 5 days after the refugees first started flocking to the cities.

It’s kind of like how in WoW there’s no real lore explanation for all these “heroes” running around saving the world and doing these quests for various NPC’s. We’re just there. lol

The problem isn’t the slowness of the event changes. You need to let the entire player base have a chance to experience each part of the living story. Some people play every day, some a few times a week, some maybe only once a week. You need to think about all of them. A month is plenty of time for all those types to see the story. The improvement that could be made is to simply add some more “motion” to the story. It seems a bit stale or dead. Add some reoccurring events that follow the paths of the living story, not just random npc’s placed about and signs. Its a great idea, just needs a little polishing to help EVERYONE enjoy it the best they can.

Oreoz.2573:

It’s kind of hard to explain but you have to look at it from a story perspective whilst at the same time removing yourself from the plot.

It’s been weeks and weeks on our end but within the story, the lore of the game, it might only have been a day or two. It’s kind of like in a movie where the protagonist gets out of a car and then the camera cuts to him getting out of the shower in his apartment. For us, it’s been one second. For them, in the story, it’s been 20 minutes.

Yeah, I see where you’re coming from. Still, I don’t completely agree.

To me it’s a matter of pacing. For instance, when you’re reading a book, the story needs to focus on pacing. Even if the events that span a hundred pages takes place over 30 minutes, it’s the story (the author’s) mission to keep you involved.

I know this is an MMO, but I approached this matter from a twofold perspective.
1. Character. I know you said a person needs to remove themselves from the plot, but that’s a bit difficult. To an extent, we drive our own characters’ plot. In game, to my character, I’ve helped these people, I acted as a guiding hand. But now my empathy has ran its coarse, and my character is kitten It’s time for my character to get to the bottom of this.

2. World. After a week the majority of active players would have experienced this event. Those who haven’t might not be interested, i.e. PvPers. Since we’ve all been exposed to this event, logically all our characters would be where my character is at now. And with a few thousand powerful individuals with the incentive to deal with a matter at the ready, I’m quite positive our characters would be in the process of taking matters into their own hands.

From that logical standpoint it just feels like the world has reached its natural point of progression. Two weeks to a month between changes feels clunky and a bit like the story is being lost in transition.

On a side note, it’s perfectly understandable that we have different expectations of how a story unfolds and how we enjoy it, and feel differently about how it’s told to us.

In terms of story…this is horrible.

You don’t start a story with monotony. You start with an action beat. You have to get your reader/viewer/player interested. Grinding 75 ‘good deeds’ isn’t remotely interesting.

Also, we’re totally missing why the refugees are fleeing. Sure, ANet prolly wants to build suspense. Well, Anet writers…you blew it. Every single one of those refugees knows what they’re running from. At least one of them would have told the story. If you want to build suspense, you don’t start out by flooding your story with witnesses. Heck, you could have used the classic dying messenger trope and done a better job with this bit. Anything is better than a complete break from having a whole bunch of characters behaving like not characters.

Then again, if I actually was playing GW2 for the story, I’d have bailed shortly after the first personal story mission. So much fail in terms of writing…

Kaiyanwan.8521:

To be honest, there is more living in Orr than in this story.
In fact it doesn’t feel like a story at all, just a stationary event…

Yeah I love those stories in my books, too. Page 1 antagonist gets revealed, Page 2 antagonist gets killed, Page 3 antagonist survived somehow, Page 4 antagonist gets killed again, Page 5 The End.

We know why the refuges are fleeing. Freak weather patterns. Weird conditions. Lighting and fire storms. That’s what we know. They told us that. Not Anet, but characters in the game have told us about these weird storms.

Ever been in a disaster area in real life? Floods? Fires? After it’d done, there’s a period of cleanup, but that’s really about it…because there’s no way I get hit a storm with my sword and get it to stop. The Priory might have started to investigate this, but I’m still busy mopping up Orr.

This is one thing in a world of things. Zhaitan is defeated, Orr is cleasened, but there’s plenty of undead still around.

This other thing, it’s a disaster like any other…it’s one in a world of disasters. We’re just focusing on it, because it’s the new content.

Vayne.8563:

We know why the refuges are fleeing. Freak weather patterns. Weird conditions. Lighting and fire storms. That’s what we know. They told us that. Not Anet, but characters in the game have told us about these weird storms.

Ever been in a disaster area in real life? Floods? Fires? After it’d done, there’s a period of cleanup, but that’s really about it…

True, that might be the way natural disasters happen on Earth, but this is Tyria. Their greatest disasters to date were magical in nature.
The Searing – Charr Flame Legion
The Cataclysm – Vizier Khilbron
Nightfall – Abaddon
Even the latest disasters are all attributed to the Elder Dragons.

If this was Earth, I’d agree with you. However, due to this happening to the inhabitants of Tyria, who have suffered generations worth of disasters at the hands of powerful beings that have reshaped the world, I’m going to disagree with you. We are heroes, and we’d surely be pressed to battle whatever being might be behind such large scale disasters.

Azjenco.9425:

Vayne.8563:

We know why the refuges are fleeing. Freak weather patterns. Weird conditions. Lighting and fire storms. That’s what we know. They told us that. Not Anet, but characters in the game have told us about these weird storms.

Ever been in a disaster area in real life? Floods? Fires? After it’d done, there’s a period of cleanup, but that’s really about it…

True, that might be the way natural disasters happen on Earth, but this is Tyria. Their greatest disasters to date were magical in nature.
The Searing – Charr Flame Legion
The Cataclysm – Vizier Khilbron
Nightfall – Abaddon
Even the latest disasters are all attributed to the Elder Dragons.

If this was Earth, I’d agree with you. However, due to this happening to the inhabitants of Tyria, who have suffered generations worth of disasters at the hands of powerful beings that have reshaped the world, I’m going to disagree with you. We are heroes, and we’d surely be pressed to battle whatever being might be behind such large scale disasters.

Right so it’s magical in nature. After the Searing, what happened? People recovered and regrouped for months. After the Cataclysm, what happened. Nothing, because everyone was dead. After the Foefire what happened. Nothing because no one could get back into Ascalon.

You’re right, this isn’t Earth, it’s Tyria, but storms are still storms. Are we saying here that freak weather patterns or volcanic activity can’t happen in Tyria, cause I’m thinking that there’s been at least one volcano explosion I can think of.

The truth is, this is the disaster part, and some people, the most qualified, will check it out. Weather scholars from the priory is my guess.

If this is vast and magic in nature, I’m still not sure running in with my sword is the smartest move.

So yeah, I finish the first part of my living story in 2 minutes. Now I have to wait almost a month before the next installment. Can’t wait for the next bit because the first bit was so intense.

Sure it’s slow, but I think it’s fine.
I would have hated if it were always a one time event like the karkas and that you HAVE to be there to no miss it.
The living story wasn’t meant to be rushed.
At least I don’t feel pressured to do it at the right time.
Stop assuming that everyone can log everyday the game and consider it like episodes we get with each updates.

Vayne.8563:

Right so it’s magical in nature. After the Searing, what happened? People recovered and regrouped for months. After the Cataclysm, what happened. Nothing, because everyone was dead. After the Foefire what happened. Nothing because no one could get back into Ascalon.

You’re right, this isn’t Earth, it’s Tyria, but storms are still storms. Are we saying here that freak weather patterns or volcanic activity can’t happen in Tyria, cause I’m thinking that there’s been at least one volcano explosion I can think of.

The truth is, this is the disaster part, and some people, the most qualified, will check it out. Weather scholars from the priory is my guess.

If this is vast and magic in nature, I’m still not sure running in with my sword is the smartest move.

Well, I’m not saying charge in all hellbent, for all we know Jormag is just beyond the horizon. What am saying is, we are tasked with the duty to defend the realms. After the Searing, didn’t we battle still battle the Flame Legion, even as we were pushed back. Even so, some staid behind to continue the fight.

Like you said, after the Cataclysm there was nothing left to salvage, so this isn’t the exact same circumstances. Even after the Foefire, the charr battled the ghosts for their land. If that was the case then, they’ll certainly do something about taking back their homes now.

Look, I’m not trying to bash the story here, in fact, I like that it started modest, I just feel the pacing is a bit off. And I don’t mean jump on our high horses and charge into the heart of a hurricane. I can say for certain there are individuals investigating this to see whether or not it was magical in nature, and being a hero I’d like to take part in that in anyway possible. Like we’ve both said, progression, it needs to happen. The next logical step is investigation, and I’m sure we can be off some help with that.

Azjenco.9425:

Vayne.8563:

Right so it’s magical in nature. After the Searing, what happened? People recovered and regrouped for months. After the Cataclysm, what happened. Nothing, because everyone was dead. After the Foefire what happened. Nothing because no one could get back into Ascalon.

You’re right, this isn’t Earth, it’s Tyria, but storms are still storms. Are we saying here that freak weather patterns or volcanic activity can’t happen in Tyria, cause I’m thinking that there’s been at least one volcano explosion I can think of.

The truth is, this is the disaster part, and some people, the most qualified, will check it out. Weather scholars from the priory is my guess.

If this is vast and magic in nature, I’m still not sure running in with my sword is the smartest move.

Well, I’m not saying charge in all hellbent, for all we know Jormag is just beyond the horizon. What am saying is, we are tasked with the duty to defend the realms. After the Searing, didn’t we battle still battle the Flame Legion, even as we were pushed back. Even so, some staid behind to continue the fight.

Like you said, after the Cataclysm there was nothing left to salvage, so this isn’t the exact same circumstances. Even after the Foefire, the charr battled the ghosts for their land. If that was the case then, they’ll certainly do something about taking back their homes now.

Look, I’m not trying to bash the story here, in fact, I like that it started modest, I just feel the pacing is a bit off. And I don’t mean jump on our high horses and charge into the heart of a hurricane. I can say for certain there are individuals investigating this to see whether or not it was magical in nature, and being a hero I’d like to take part in that in anyway possible. Like we’ve both said, progression, it needs to happen. The next logical step is investigation, and we I bet we can be off some help with that.

We didn’t take the fight back to the charr after the Searing…it took two years. There’s two years between the Searing and the rest of the game.

And the pacing is only off because people are considering this a book. They’re putting too much into it. It’s a side event in a world full of events. There’s a few freak storms in one area, and they displace some refuges. Are we really comparing this to the Searing?

People are leaving homesteads because of flood and fire. We’re heroes. We’re helping them. But then there are still other areas of the world that need our attention a lot more than these guys. Until a threat is actually unveiled, by the people who figure out this sort of stuff (give you a hint, it’s not us), then we’re just on standby.

It fits with the personal story. We never figured out anything. Some guy knows that the attack on Lion’s Arch is imminent and then we go into action. Some guy says this tome is missing and we have to find the team sent out to find it,. and we go into action. Some guys are missing, or some fort is taken, and we go into action.

There are some storms. Some people are displaced. After defeating Zhaitan, I think I’ll probably wait for someone to check it out who’s a bit more qualified. lol

This very slow living story just might be a reaction to so many people complaining when they couldn’t atten certain one time events…

Vayne.8563:

We didn’t take the fight back to the charr after the Searing…it took two years. There’s two years between the Searing and the rest of the game.

And the pacing is only off because people are considering this a book. They’re putting too much into it. It’s a side event in a world full of events. There’s a few freak storms in one area, and they displace some refuges. Are we really comparing this to the Searing?

People are leaving homesteads because of flood and fire. We’re heroes. We’re helping them. But then there are still other areas of the world that need our attention a lot more than these guys. Until a threat is actually unveiled, by the people who figure out this sort of stuff (give you a hint, it’s not us), then we’re just on standby.

It fits with the personal story. We never figured out anything. Some guy knows that the attack on Lion’s Arch is imminent and then we go into action. Some guy says this tome is missing and we have to find the team sent out to find it,. and we go into action. Some guys are missing, or some fort is taken, and we go into action.

There are some storms. Some people are displaced. After defeating Zhaitan, I think I’ll probably wait for someone to check it out who’s a bit more qualified. lol

Technically, we didn’t take the fight back to the charr at all, we were there fighting the whole time. Post-searing the game only picks up two years later, but there’s been a constant resistance in Ascalon since the searing happened. We’ve been fighting back in a constant struggle during all that time.

No, this isn’t comparable to the Searing, but we’d the stupid if we weren’t weary that this could be a precursor for something far greater. This is happening near enough to Hoelbrak and Black Citadel that it could spill onto their doorsteps, in this world of constant threat, I’m certain there will be steps to investigate this event without so much as a second-guess.

As you said, this is a world of heroes, which doesn’t mean all heroes are off in one location. Tyria most probably work in a sensible manner, where some heroes focus on Orr, while others clear out dungeons to save a few people, and so on. Does that mean no heroes will take enough interest in this to get to the bottom of these events? Heck no, just as a few are still aiding the refugees, others will meet with knowledgeable individuals to lend a capable hand.

This fits in with the criteria of the world, personal story included. We’re constantly helping out and investigating threats, even as we’re part of one of the three orders. Saying we should stand back as more qualified individuals investigate is nonsensical, as we have on many occasions aided very capable beings in doing their jobs, and a capable being would be stupid to turn away a useful hand. Even suggesting that we are not qualified for the job is ridiculous, after all the events we’ve encountered and the many threats we have subdued, how exactly are we not qualified or capable individuals?

Frotee.2634:

This very slow living story just might be a reaction to so many people complaining when they couldn’t atten certain one time events…

“OMG ANet, we can’t make the one-time events, they suck!”
“OMG ANet, these slow story events suck!”
“OMG ANet, y u no release WvW update?!”
“OMG ANet, you shouldn’t release your stuff until you’ve tested it!”

Abraham Lincoln was a wise man.

Narkosys.5173:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Frotee.2634:

This very slow living story just might be a reaction to so many people complaining when they couldn’t atten certain one time events…

“OMG ANet, we can’t make the one-time events, they suck!”
“OMG ANet, these slow story events suck!”
“OMG ANet, y u no release WvW update?!”
“OMG ANet, you shouldn’t release your stuff until you’ve tested it!”

Abraham Lincoln was a wise man.

But those are true anet sucks.
make it repeatable if it is only monthly or something cause 20 mins day 1 and nothing till 30 days later = dead.

ANet sucks in your opinion. If you feel this way why not move on?

Also, there’s DE’s going on to do with the story. Did you not know this?

At very least they need to add more content so there is something to do.

Actually, according to this guide http://dulfy.net/2013/01/29/gw2-living-story-refuge-volunteer-events-guide/ , things are evolving. Since the 4th of Feb new things (npcs/structures) have appeared.

It’s maybe slow and small, but the storyline is evolving.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Also, there’s DE’s going on to do with the story. Did you not know this?

Are you referring to the sign repairs/lighting fires/healing refugees, or actual DEs that happened after this started?

Crisu.9378:

At very least they need to add more content so there is something to do.

I know a lot of people who have stuff to do. I mean a lot. The 20-30 regulars in my guild are all finding stuff to do.

The problem is that some people know how to make their own fun and some people need to be spoonfed stuff. It might be a generational thing, I don’t know.

There are always people who are bored no matter how much they have to do, and there are always people who know how to entertain themselves.

No MMO can ever launch with enough content for the former. For those who know how to entertain themselves, this game is a fantastic playground.

Like someone said the story is evolving. Very, very slowly but it is. I consider an appropriate timing for such stories as very difficult. If the different steps take to long people will loose interest. If the story is evolving to fast it will kill the mystery which is wrapped around the story. Noone would start to puzzle about the things that are going on if the story changed to fast, because there is no use in guessing when you get told the next step in 3 days or so.

I’m still curious what will happen next and tbh I’m even a bit sad that they told in advance when the next bigger step will come.

Vayne.8563:

Crisu.9378:

At very least they need to add more content so there is something to do.

I know a lot of people who have stuff to do. I mean a lot. The 20-30 regulars in my guild are all finding stuff to do.

The problem is that some people know how to make their own fun and some people need to be spoonfed stuff. It might be a generational thing, I don’t know.

There are always people who are bored no matter how much they have to do, and there are always people who know how to entertain themselves.

No MMO can ever launch with enough content for the former. For those who know how to entertain themselves, this game is a fantastic playground.

Yes, some people enjoy a well crafted experience that pulls them in, while loving the nuanced engagements that come with enjoying a creative designer’s ideas.

Meanwhile, there are some simpleminded people who you can throw a ball of yarn at and they’ll be rolling on the ground for hours, as their lack of expectations and insight keep them perfectly content, no matter how mediocre the subject.

As you can see, your insult can be turned both ways, so there’s no point to be rude. The aim of this thread was to explore the pace of this event and that small changes would do it well, and thanks to Plunder for his response, it was actually the most helpful.

Azjenco.9425:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Also, there’s DE’s going on to do with the story. Did you not know this?

Are you referring to the sign repairs/lighting fires/healing refugees, or actual DEs that happened after this started?

Actual DE’s.

• A storm happens and fissures come out of the grounds, as well as tornadoes and Unstable Elementals spawn.
• Avoid the Tornadoes otherwise you get knocked down.
• Kills the Elementals for boulders / ice blocks to seal the fissures.

TheDaiBish.9735:

Azjenco.9425:

TheDaiBish.9735:

Also, there’s DE’s going on to do with the story. Did you not know this?

Are you referring to the sign repairs/lighting fires/healing refugees, or actual DEs that happened after this started?

Actual DE’s.

• A storm happens and fissures come out of the grounds, as well as tornadoes and Unstable Elementals spawn.
• Avoid the Tornadoes otherwise you get knocked down.
• Kills the Elementals for boulders / ice blocks to seal the fissures.

Nice, I actually found one of these! It was a pleasant surprise, to say the least. Can’t wait to see what other things come next, or what threat is behind all of this.

I think we need to measure the pacing against the time it would take for a casual, 5-10 hour a week player to complete the lvl 1-25 experience. As well, I think GW2 is such a fast paced game, that we learn to devour content quickly. Throw in the wiki and storytelling that is intended to proceed at an rpg pace is accelerated.

That being said, I do feel anxious to help the refugees. Consider though, that a planet as dangerous as Tyria would always have a displaced population: there are refugees everywhere, orphans and even displaced dogs. If the writers need someone to help feed, clothe and shelter those curled up, shell-shocked, charr refugee cubs…

Seriously, they are breaking my heart!