Guild Wars 2

Much to my dismay, I’ve been struggling to find any meaningful choices or player-driven goals left for my characters after reaching the mid to high levels, and I thought I’d try a more positive method of rediscovering that RP-motivation.

I’ve read a lot of comments in these forums from players who have reached the final stages of the game but are still having a lot of fun through ‘sandbox-style gameplay’, ‘liv[ing] your story’ and loving the ‘freedom to choose what to do’ in this ‘living, breathing world’.

I would definitely say that GW2 has by far the most beautifully rendered and exquisitely designed open world to explore, and no other virtual world in my opinion comes close to what has been achieved in that respect. In terms of actually building my own character’s place in a living and dynamic world though, rather than just being a tourist in someone else’s story, well I guess I just haven’t been in the right places to experience that yet.

So, I’d like to ask you all to help me out!

What is your favourite emergent gameplay experience in GW2 so far?

• How have you used the basic PvE mechanics or systems in complex ways that were not anticipated by the designers in order to create a really interesting experience for yourself and others around you?

• How have you built up simple game elements or been involved in changing the environment (or yourself) in an unexpected direction that created an engaging story for you and your companions?

• How have you created a dilemma or imposed an ongoing drama on other characters (for good or bad) through a creative use of the world around you or the tools at your disposal?

• How have you developed your character’s own unique or unusual position in a city, guild or the world, and how do you make use of the game mechanics to affect your interaction with other players in line with that role?

If I can ask that all responses are kept positive so that this thread remains helpful to others, that would be most appreciated.

Thanks everyone, and I look forward to being inspired to find my own path!

When you run out of pre-programmed sources of entertainment, the most variable, unpredictable and lasting source of entertainment will be other people. This requires you to a) find other people, and b) find people who are amenable to this sort of thing, so it’s not always something you can plan for. When it happens, though, the potential really shines through.

One time I was in Kessex Hills with my warrior, and an event popped up saying ettins had blocked a road. I was the only person around, so I thought I might just leave it – but then a necromancer turned up. Without exchanging words, I pulled out my rifle and picked out one ettin from the cliff atop the road where we were. It ran up to us, and the necro laid down a bunch of marks which I led it through, then we finished it off. We picked another ettin. By the time we were almost done with the event, we had a finely tuned system of ettin disposal, just the two of us. When three more people busted through to help finish the last ones off, I think we were both a little disappointed, because it was working so well despite us being out-numbered.

Another time I was in Fields of Ruin with me elementalist, and a giant siege devourer was up. I had passed it, seen no one else around, and thought “kitten that.” When I came past again, though, there were two female character valiantly battling away. Well, I couldn’t just leave them! So I jumped in. With three people (none of us heavy armoured) we were having a hard time, but whenever someone went down, we got them back up. It took AGES, but eventually, finally, the thing died. The three of us cheered and thanked each other, totally stoked that we had managed it.

These aren’t role-play stories, or elaborate player-driven schemes. Those would be fun too – I’d be all for it. But whatever happens, the thing that make a virtual world feel lively and dynamic is always the players. Every now and then, everything comes together organically, and it’s really, really cool.

Thanks for the detailed response Curuniel!

I definitely agree with you that interaction with other players is the foundation of any good online game, and working alongside others does seem like a fun way to approach the content.

I’m wondering if anyone else feels up to sharing what they feel was their best emergent gameplay experience so far?

When I play games like this, I create characters that have my own background story, while still being part of the game world itself.
I use elements of both to make a unique mixed story.

I do this for myself, even on non roleplaying servers. Every MMO I play, I just end up creating my own backgrounds, and they interweave with each other and the what the game offers.

In GW2 I made one incredible big mistake when it comes to my own story: I followed the ‘personal’ story with my Norn as first character…
This personal story was so weak and to be honest: corny, that it totally ruined my own image of my character.
I just couldn’t fit my own background and ‘personality’ of the character on this one portrayed in the personal story.

I even grew to hate the way she talks all tough, nothing natural to it.

By the way: it wasn’t the story so much: it was the way my character was portrayed.

I restarted leveling an engineer and am now staying clear of the personal story.
If I want to do personal stories again, it will be with characters I have no story or personality for myself. Just empty ‘game characters’.

GW2 as an environment offers a lot of background to make your own characters and story in.

Concerning the players, since they are indeed vital in the process: sometimes I feel like too many roleplayers are all about lore alone, or almost scripted dialogues.
What I mean is this: not every member of a race is constantly busy with it’s history or religion, or even their wars. Sometimes they are just annoyed, or hungry, or occupied with something much more trivial than Tyria…

I’ve had people think I fell out of character because my character couldn’t care less about it’s lore.
Thing is: I might care about the lore, but that doesn’t mean my character has to