The basic main story
Here’s a summary: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_summary/Season_1
Personal story – http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Personal_story
Why Lion’s Arch is no more (for the time being) – http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_summary/Season_1
http://bad-eu.guildlaunch.com
The Family Deuce. Asuran Adventure Specialists.
…why would you skip those scenes if you are interested in knowing what’s going on? :P
The events you are referring to are not the ‘basic story’ of the game, btw (at least personally, I’d say that refers to your personal story). The events that lead to the destruction of LA are called ‘Living Story’. There’s an official video giving you an overview over what happened here…
Long story short: A dragon-maddened villain named Scarlet destroyed LA (by drilling into a leyline running through the city) in order to wake one of the elder dragons.
What happens next will probably be revealed in the next living story update
First this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9LrN-LD-ZI
Then one day…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJFlbegazTM
But our heroes banded together and we prevailed!! Unfortunately…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjfybC7pm-I
You can also check out the new Atlas which has videos, sound clips, and screenshot links on the world map
http://atlas.guildwars2.com/en/