Guild Wars 2

I have a question for ANet concerning Season 1 and the journal.

At the beginning of Season 2, the journal system was introduced, and the blog post stated that you guys wanted to implement Season 1 as well.
I just wondered if you could elaborate a little bit more; we (the players) know that Season 1 wasn’t crated with the journal in mind, but that doesn’t really make us aware of the difficulties of implementing the feature.

You see, I really enjoyed my character’s personal story. I really want to play Season 2, but it feels weird without having played Season 1: I created my character during the Festival of the Four Winds, and during the the introductory sequence (the one at the port, with Ellen Kiel and those guys that appear in the cinematic of Scarlet’s death) I felt out of place.
Even after watching the Season 1 recap it feels like I’m missing a lot. Also, S1 really seems like great fun from what i gather from reading the wiki, and this fuels my desire to play it.

Hence I’d like, if possible, some more details on the matter of adding Season 1 to the journal.
I can imagine such an endeavor is not on the easy side, what I’m asking is whether the amount of work is titanic (so I shouldn’t get my hopes up of seeing S1 in a few months, or ever), or if it is something that can be done in a bunch of months and it is being worked on.

Right now I’m postponing going forward with S2 because I wish I could do S1 first, but if you guys tell me it’s unlikely to see it on the journal until several months I’ll just go on, play S2 and “forget” about S1 until it eventually comes out…

To sum it up, I’m not making demands , I’d just like to get out from this “limbo” of uncertainty xD

IIRC, when they introduced the journal, they said they would like to make Season 1 available as well to those players that havent played it yet. However, they said that this is not as easy as it might seem.

Quite a few LS chapters contained content that required map zergs to complete (Marionette, Battle for LA, Invasions etc.).

First they need to find a way to make that content playable for single players.

I can’t speak for devs, but my opinion on the matter: The “being left out” problem was an issue throughout S1. If you miss a release it was hard to get into the action. That’s a big part of why S2 is being done as it is.

I’d put the chances of seeing S1 in the journal anytime soon as “extremely low”. While they could reuse the plot, the open-world events that made up the bulk of the season simply won’t work as instances without a monumental amount of work. It’s probably almost the same work to convert an episode of S1 releases into Journal instances as it is to create a new A2 Journal chapter from scratch.

My advice? Try and find videos and wiki pages and writeups to fill yourself in on S1 as best you can, because I doubt you’ll see it accessible anytime soon.

There used to be the atlas describing things that happened. It all changed when the fire nation Mordremoth attacked.

Play season 2, don’t worry bout season 1, it sounds like you will be waiting a long time. Just watch some YouTube vids to get caught up

It’s highly likely to happen, since it is a revenue stream, and as such it is likely to be a priority for the developers. The size of technical task is likely to delay its release though. Almost none of the living story involving Southsun will fit the new format so that would require almost total rework.

Stooperdale.3560:

It’s highly likely to happen, since it is a revenue stream, and as such it is likely to be a priority for the developers. The size of technical task is likely to delay its release though. Almost none of the living story involving Southsun will fit the new format so that would require almost total rework.

Scale down and/or provide lots of respawning NPC’s that don’t make a large difference to enemy health pools along with removing all boss drops except generic LS items (and not rare loots).

I wonder if the Dredge dungeon that featured in LS1 will make a comeback with the jetpack. If it does, I’m coming back to the forums with popcorn.

Scoundrel.2139:

I wonder if the Dredge dungeon that featured in LS1 will make a comeback with the jetpack. If it does, I’m coming back to the forums with popcorn.

It’s in fractals, but the jetpack isn’t.

It’s just a thought, but to make LS1 work with the story journal they could rework some of the combat mechanics then just use scenes and instances that were already in LS1 (I’m sure it’s still somewhere at ANet, right?) and “rebuild” it slightly to be compatible – a delight for new and veteran players alike.

I see no reason to kitten yourselves over trying to incorporate the LS1 exactly the way it was into the story journal. Criticism of changes would also likely be met with resistance by a large chunk of the forum population. It’s like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, I’m sure nobody would complain if ANet rebuilt the peg a little bit.

Hell, if they really wanted to go all out with it – they could release it at the same time of LS3 and rewrite some of the flaws and heavy criticisms found in the first LS…such as how we (the PC) knew Mordremoth’s name.

That might be a good alternative. Heck I would be ok with a fractle type dungeon that highlights the important parts. Along the same lines of the pale trees vision of orr.

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

I just want to say to you, Mr. Presti, how grateful I am that you not only take the time to read the threads on this forum but you also reply where you feel it is merited. I realize this is completely voluntary by the staff at Anet, so I want to say thank you.

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Thank you for this.

I suggest people better dont expect this to be implemented anytime this year, or even next..
Chances are that it wont be implemented at all, because more or less everything will have to be changed and that’s not really worth the effort when you can make new stories instead.. Anet has shown that their priorities evolve fast, so even if they would like to do this now, doesnt mean it wont get pushed back again and again and again..

So guys, really, dont wait for this. If you read a summary I’m pretty sure you wont have trouble following the story after the first 2 S2 Episodes..

I’m curious as to why they didn’t continue the ’Marjory’s Journal’ type items. It was an awesome delivery method for content recap, and included an extremely impressive cinematic. Introducing a similar item to recap the first season, or even seasons post S2, would be beneficial to everyone.

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Are you guys going to come out with a directors cut version that will solve all the continuity and pacing issues in season 1? Or will that probably be after you guys finish your other long term special projects?

I had originally assumed they would convert some megaserver servers to the various episodes of season 1. Then when someone would activate that specific episode, next time they would zone change, they would be brought into that part of the story, playing with all other players playing that episode. You could go back to lions arch in an earlier episode, and see it before the destruction, or even play your personal story in these maps.

Anyway, something along those lines. I actually thought it was the main reason for the megaservers. So they could offer players the chance to play together on different content from the previous season, all in one “feels like” cohesive world.

Loboling.5293:

I had originally assumed they would convert some megaserver servers to the various episodes of season 1. Then when someone would activate that specific episode, next time they would zone change, they would be brought into that part of the story, playing with all other players playing that episode. You could go back to lions arch in an earlier episode, and see it before the destruction, or even play your personal story in these maps.

Anyway, something along those lines. I actually thought it was the main reason for the megaservers. So they could offer players the chance to play together on different content from the previous season, all in one “feels like” cohesive world.

They never said or implied anything like this.

Vayne.8563:

Loboling.5293:

I had originally assumed

They never said or implied anything like this.

Of course not. It wouldn’t be an assumption if they had said it : )

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Loboling.5293:

I had originally assumed

They never said or implied anything like this.

Of course not. It wouldn’t be an assumption if they had said it : )

Well, I think Vayne is being a little bit cautious considering how players have run with assumptions in the past and then used that “self-hype” as something to yell at Arena.net about when the reality didn’t quite match what players had conjured in their heads.

chemiclord.3978:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

Loboling.5293:

I had originally assumed

They never said or implied anything like this.

Of course not. It wouldn’t be an assumption if they had said it : )

Well, I think Vayne is being a little bit cautious considering how players have run with assumptions in the past and then used that “self-hype” as something to yell at Arena.net about when the reality didn’t quite match what players had conjured in their heads.

My apologies. My post was meant to be taken as a joke. He is quite correct.

So there’ll be no getting to experience Scarlet Briar again for the very first time?

Just don’t forget the Southsun mini-campaign too.

That should start with Faren sending an invitation to the player to be a guess judge in a cat contest before having to run to Southsun to lay low. And then things go crazy.

It’ll be nice if some of the settler vs consortium events came back. Or even better if Southsun worked more like Dry Top, with a meta event in which you deal with local fauna and settler vs consortium conflicts, and another in which karka go bananas all over the place.

The difference is that S2 is instance-based in the way that the PS and GW1 missions were. You navigate an open map to reach a “mission start” point, which puts you in an instanced area where all the story stuff happens.

S1 on the other hand was almost entirely open-world. Even the instanced pieces (Tower of Nightmares) functioned as open zones. The really big stuff like invasions, Marionette, and battle for LA were big-zerg content. Players were hardcapping these maps to do the content.

To be put into the Journal, all of that has to be completely redone such that a single player can complete it in an instance. For stuff like Mari and the Scarlet battle, which were designed around 100-150 players doing it, that’s a really big rework. Basically, the bulk of S1 would have to be remade from the ground up. I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon.

I’d actually suggest more story based instances. Like, instead of killing the marionette, you see what happened play out as a cut scene. You could probably make some of the events playable, but I think cut-scenes is probably easier, and faster.

Becka Williams.4978:

I’d actually suggest more story based instances. Like, instead of killing the marionette, you see what happened play out as a cut scene. You could probably make some of the events playable, but I think cut-scenes is probably easier, and faster.

Cut-scenes would be easier and faster but… Can you imagine the interest if the Marionette became an instanced world boss fight?
Just a thought though and I’m not even certain it could be worked into the system at all. It is an opportunity for Anet to take a part of the game that was already coded and rework it to fit into part of this new system.

I think the marionette could be a good boss fight, or maybe fractal end boss, but that wouldn’t work for every single living story update from season 1. That’s why I think cut-scenes are probably easier to do.

Wow, I didn’t expect this many posts on the issue when I created the thread!

Thanks to everyone who contributed, and thank you Stephane Lo Presti for taking the time to post here on the forums

Now I understand the situation much better; I hadn’t the fainstest idea that S1 content was so much different from the Personal Story.

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Can you at least add in an official summary of Season 1 into the journal – just a page, maybe akin to the “I’m <character name>” panel in the beginning of the PS section that explains the events of the various updates?

Becka Williams.4978:

I think the marionette could be a good boss fight, or maybe fractal end boss, but that wouldn’t work for every single living story update from season 1. That’s why I think cut-scenes are probably easier to do.

They should add it as a Guild World Event, like teq, karka, 3-h wurm

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Wow, thank you for this honest and detailed answer!

It’s going to be a monumental task to do that, even if implementing it in fractals. A lot of S1 was open-world stuff, and it would be very difficult to instance it. It’s not as easy as just copy + paste. lol.

maybe the journal version of season 1 will only contain the important story scenes.

as for the zerging part, marionettee battle etc, i guess can replace all other players with NPC army? and tone down the difficulty?

but yeah a lot of things must be redone to fit into the journal.

I don’t assume we’re seeing LS1 being implemented so soon, my guess is at least 1 year (I’m being optimistic, they already have many things being worked on simultaneously).

Marionette perma-world boss!!
gogogogo!!

>>^.^<<

Replayable would be best, but I can understand the difficulty. But even a recap in your journal like the PS would be great.

I would love to see the watch knight be added to fractels. Same as the watch work creatures. It could be fought similar to the char invasion. It could be fun and technical fight.

Sindex.9520:

Stephane Lo Presti.7258:

Hi Maxwell,

The big issue for us to add Season 1 to the Story Journal is that Season 1 was not built the same way that Season 2 was. I can’t really share details but this means that we can’t simply retrofit the story steps into the Story Journal and we’re going to need to rework Season 1 into a format that fits the Story Journal. As we’ve said, we really want all players to be able to experience as much of the Living World as possible at one point, but I don’t have more details to give you, including a possible timeline.

Thanks for sharing your perspective!

Are you guys going to come out with a directors cut version that will solve all the continuity and pacing issues in season 1? Or will that probably be after you guys finish your other long term special projects?

in total support of a directors cut!

I’m looking forward to when they can let us relive Season 1 by experiencing it again through the journal, even if that takes a long time. Perhaps in the meantime we could be given an item in our inventory that will allow us to watch all of the official cutscenes. It could be an item that every character gets, kind of like how players whose account is linked with their GW1 account automatically get a Hall of Monuments Portal Stone in their new character’s inventory. It’s a quick fix since the cutscenes already exist and they won’t have to be changed, and it would greatly benefit the new players like Maxwell who didn’t experience the first season but who want to know what’s going on and to see what happened (without having to search YouTube for video clips).

But until we can relive Season 1, I suggest reading the summary here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_season_1 and then going ahead with Season 2. That way at least you’ll know who the main characters are, how they were introduced to the game, and why they’re important to the story.

It sounds like you’ve completed your personal story, and I found that helped me with Season 2 for one of my characters. I created my latest character shortly before Season 2 came out, and when she started doing Season 2 all of the main NPCs were calling her “boss” and I was like, “My other characters did Season 1 with you guys but this character didn’t; you have no reason to call her ‘boss’,” and I felt out of place with that character. So I decided I would finish her personal story first so she could at least have the esteem and honor from completing that with Destiny’s Edge— most of whom have links to the current main characters— and then the current main characters would have a believable reason to regard me as their leader despite her not having done Season 1 with them.