Guild Wars 2

Sariel V.7024:

Shaaba.5672:

Malkavian.4516:

Besides, the main head of the story dungeon is treated as the main character.

Thanks for reminding me of another thing that bugged me. I am supposed to be the star of the show, not whoever happens to start the instance. Another reason it should be soloable.

You’ll like Living Story then. The characters still have most of the focus, but they can’t do anything without you taking the charge. And they always refer to you as The Boss.

If only we had a telecaster…

Tachenon.5270:

Sariel V.7024:

Shaaba.5672:

Malkavian.4516:

Besides, the main head of the story dungeon is treated as the main character.

Thanks for reminding me of another thing that bugged me. I am supposed to be the star of the show, not whoever happens to start the instance. Another reason it should be soloable.

You’ll like Living Story then. The characters still have most of the focus, but they can’t do anything without you taking the charge. And they always refer to you as The Boss.

If only we had a telecaster…

I seriously lol’d.

The personal story is probably the weakest point of GW2 in its current form. It had tremendous potential and when the game first released it was enjoyable and even offered some challenges.

The big problem is that it’s plot has been finished. Everything you do is in the last now so how do you add new classes and hopefully new races?

It had a lot of potential but I think fixing it would just take so much time and effort I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a completely new, shorter personal story

Seera.5916:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Seera.5916:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Ybrahim.2084:

A lot of people seem to have missed the point of this post. I wasn’t cranky because of grouping. I was cranky because the last step in an entirely soloable quest line was a group quest. It makes no sense at all, and it adds annoyance to an already annoying process.

I disagree. By level 30, you should have received a mail telling you about dungeons — it is part of the personal story albeit optional. If you follow that optional stories that opens at certain level that bring you to a different dungeon, you’ll learn more about your NPC companions and would have prepared your for the final battle (or last step).

But those are purely optional. You do not have to do any of those dungeons to complete your Personal Story.

Yes they are option but still part of the story.

But Arah story mode is not optional.

Yes but the stories while leveling up prepares you for it. That’s my point.

It’s “oh, there’s this personal story step, but it’s group content, so it’s optional since this is your personal story after all” for the first several dungeon steps. Then you get to Arah. “Oh, sorry, this group content isn’t optional even though this is still your personal story.”.

Not exactly. If you think about it, the Arah dungeon is where your personal story intersects with the NPC’s or other player’s personal story.

That’s what the issue is. That it went from purely optional to purely required.

As I’ve explained above.

But you’re failing to realize that optional does not equal required. And that those of us who prefer to do things by ourselves do not particularly like having to do things with others to finish up something that we did not know would end with a group required instance. They didn’t let us know before we got invested in the story that the final chapter of the story would require us to group up.

Believe me I agree with you. I don’t like it either. I am merely responding by pointing out that the last quest didn’t came as a surprise.

I don’t mind doing group content. When I choose to do it. I also don’t like the feeling of being forced to do something I don’t want to do. Even when it really isn’t forcing.

When I started the personal story back at game’s launch, I didn’t know the final chapter was group content. By the time I learned, I was already into the story.

I totally agree.

It peeved me off. I don’t mind playing with others around me when my success and speed of success isn’t so highly dependent on how the others around me are playing. Especially if I don’t know their skill level. And now to finish the story that I’m enjoying, I have to group with 4 others who may be even worse at the game than I am, and I’m not that good?

Well that Story Mode is not difficult at all and even if you’re not that good, it’s failure proof. However, you might take longer than usual to complete it.

But I agree with you.

Yes, it was the intersection of two story lines. Those of us who prefer to play alone and got peeved at the final chapter are fully aware of it and fully understand that. But that does not reduce our irritation at it. In fact, it increases it. Because now all that optional group content that we prefer not to do just made us go: who are these other guys? What are they doing here?

Well you met these guys when you first enter Lion’s Arch in your story so they are not strangers. Other NPCs you’ve met in the Pact.

I’ve done Arah story mode twice. Once with a group of friends who currently don’t play and once with a PUG. I wasn’t too fond of that long story mission with strangers. So I likely won’t do it again until I have more friends willing to do Arah.

I completely agree. I have 11 characters and only 2 of them did Arah since I also do not like Pugging it. Besides, I already know that story so there’s really no loss there.

I think the problem here, if there is one, is mostly the surprise factor. You do the entire PS solo, and then suddenly on the last stage, you need a group – which is something you’re not expecting.

While it probably won’t be implemented like this now, I think the best solution would have been to insert all the other Story Dungeons as steps at appropriate places in the PS. That way, you’re used to doing dungeons, so Victory or Death doesn’t come as a surprise. With the bonus advantage that you’re better introduced to the other races’ members of Destiny’s Edge, and know all about their group dynamics and what they’re talking about.

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Seera.5916:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Seera.5916:

Sir Vincent III.1286:

Ybrahim.2084:

A lot of people seem to have missed the point of this post. I wasn’t cranky because of grouping. I was cranky because the last step in an entirely soloable quest line was a group quest. It makes no sense at all, and it adds annoyance to an already annoying process.

I disagree. By level 30, you should have received a mail telling you about dungeons — it is part of the personal story albeit optional. If you follow that optional stories that opens at certain level that bring you to a different dungeon, you’ll learn more about your NPC companions and would have prepared your for the final battle (or last step).

But those are purely optional. You do not have to do any of those dungeons to complete your Personal Story.

Yes they are option but still part of the story.

But Arah story mode is not optional.

Yes but the stories while leveling up prepares you for it. That’s my point.

It’s “oh, there’s this personal story step, but it’s group content, so it’s optional since this is your personal story after all” for the first several dungeon steps. Then you get to Arah. “Oh, sorry, this group content isn’t optional even though this is still your personal story.”.

Not exactly. If you think about it, the Arah dungeon is where your personal story intersects with the NPC’s or other player’s personal story.

That’s what the issue is. That it went from purely optional to purely required.

As I’ve explained above.

But you’re failing to realize that optional does not equal required. And that those of us who prefer to do things by ourselves do not particularly like having to do things with others to finish up something that we did not know would end with a group required instance. They didn’t let us know before we got invested in the story that the final chapter of the story would require us to group up.

Believe me I agree with you. I don’t like it either. I am merely responding by pointing out that the last quest didn’t came as a surprise.

I don’t mind doing group content. When I choose to do it. I also don’t like the feeling of being forced to do something I don’t want to do. Even when it really isn’t forcing.

When I started the personal story back at game’s launch, I didn’t know the final chapter was group content. By the time I learned, I was already into the story.

I totally agree.

It peeved me off. I don’t mind playing with others around me when my success and speed of success isn’t so highly dependent on how the others around me are playing. Especially if I don’t know their skill level. And now to finish the story that I’m enjoying, I have to group with 4 others who may be even worse at the game than I am, and I’m not that good?

Well that Story Mode is not difficult at all and even if you’re not that good, it’s failure proof. However, you might take longer than usual to complete it.

But I agree with you.

Yes, it was the intersection of two story lines. Those of us who prefer to play alone and got peeved at the final chapter are fully aware of it and fully understand that. But that does not reduce our irritation at it. In fact, it increases it. Because now all that optional group content that we prefer not to do just made us go: who are these other guys? What are they doing here?

Well you met these guys when you first enter Lion’s Arch in your story so they are not strangers. Other NPCs you’ve met in the Pact.

I’ve done Arah story mode twice. Once with a group of friends who currently don’t play and once with a PUG. I wasn’t too fond of that long story mission with strangers. So I likely won’t do it again until I have more friends willing to do Arah.

I completely agree. I have 11 characters and only 2 of them did Arah since I also do not like Pugging it. Besides, I already know that story so there’s really no loss there.

It might not have come as a surprise to you, but it did to others. How were we supposed to infer that because there were optional story mode dungeons for a side plot that the final mission would be a dungeon? And not even one the most skilled player could solo due to one part requiring a second player.

As to Destiny’s Edge, for players who play through the story slowly, they have forgotten about them. And just knowing their name doesn’t really tell us who they are. Short of your former mentor, they’re still strangers really.

Seera.5916:

Yes, it was the intersection of two story lines. Those of us who prefer to play alone and got peeved at the final chapter are fully aware of it and fully understand that. But that does not reduce our irritation at it. In fact, it increases it. Because now all that optional group content that we prefer not to do just made us go: who are these other guys? What are they doing here?

Well you met these guys when you first enter Lion’s Arch in your story so they are not strangers. Other NPCs you’ve met in the Pact.

I’ve done Arah story mode twice. Once with a group of friends who currently don’t play and once with a PUG. I wasn’t too fond of that long story mission with strangers. So I likely won’t do it again until I have more friends willing to do Arah.

I completely agree. I have 11 characters and only 2 of them did Arah since I also do not like Pugging it. Besides, I already know that story so there’s really no loss there.[/quote]

It might not have come as a surprise to you, but it did to others. How were we supposed to infer that because there were optional story mode dungeons for a side plot that the final mission would be a dungeon? And not even one the most skilled player could solo due to one part requiring a second player.[/quote]

Well the Mother Tree have prophesied that you cannot do this alone and it only made clear in the Arah instance what she meant.

As to Destiny’s Edge, for players who play through the story slowly, they have forgotten about them. And just knowing their name doesn’t really tell us who they are. Short of your former mentor, they’re still strangers really.

You get a glimpse of who they are from that vision shown by the Mother Tree. Besides, all the answers are part of the world, not of the Personal Story. Details about them are found in each dungeon’s Story Mode.

I’ve been on this step on my warrior on my main account for over 2 years…not joking.

I don’t know if others solo for the same reason I do but for me it’s about choice. Most of the content in PvE can be done both with a group and by your onesome so going solo doesn’t automatically put you at a major disadvantage. It means that when I’m not up to group play, I simply don’t have to worry but if I am I have the option to join with others. Being an MMO doesn’t mean requiring people to group up.

The personal story I’ve done a few times, Arah thrice, and parts of it are not engaging. Some of it I do like. Tybalt for example made me laugh. Trahearne not so much, though TPing him during his speeches is amusing….
The end was jarring. I went from soloable with optional group, to required group with no option to solo. I was fully expecting to require ‘help’ but in the form of the NPC relationships built up during the story. Not from other players.

azzy.6485:

I’ve been on this step on my warrior on my main account for over 2 years…not joking.

9 out of 11 of my characters reached level 80 without completing their Personal Story. I’m not a big fan of Orr nor Arah. So yeah, you’re not alone.

Now if the Living World is truly is living, Arah would be a pristine area by now.

As the OP writes, the final step in the personal story is jarring: it’s the only one that requires group play. In university, the equivalent would be giving 10 weeks of homework on Newtonian Mechanics, but making the final about Einsteinian Mechanics. (A fair test for physics, but a poor way of preparing the students for it.)

I do, however, really enjoy the racial components of the personal story: most of the charr, asura, and sylvari stories include a bit of gray and at least a few multi-dimensional characters. There’s lore you won’t encounter elsewhere. Aspects of the order stories are also interesting: a lot of people still remember Tybalt fondly (although I found him less interesting than Sieran, who changes from being a flighty party girl to being a serious scholar and able to see the bigger picture).

I think the story bogged down after the pact gets together: there are a couple of really good components (“greatest fear” for example), but it pretty much plays out as if they ran out of time to polish it. I enjoy replaying the racial stories; I barely enjoyed the pact story the first time.

But all that said, I continue to be far more interested in new content rather than overhauling the old. I’m glad they are restoring the parts of the story that got hacked out to allow the NPE to release on time for China’s release and I’m glad that they are fixing some of the dialogue (whether for consistency or just to get a ‘better take’). Afterwards, I’d be just as happy if they leave the original PS alone and focus on making the LS really good (and replayable).

Previous Story dungeons would have introduced you to group play long before Arah.

While there are a multitude of issues with the personal story, your complaints are not valid IMO, it looks like you completely rushed through the story to be honest.

Novuake.2691:

Previous Story dungeons would have introduced you to group play long before Arah.

While there are a multitude of issues with the personal story, your complaints are not valid IMO, it looks like you completely rushed through the story to be honest.

As was already pointed out above, the other Story Mode dungeons are not required for your personal story. You’re only given a mail from your herald about them when you reach the level for each story mode, and you don’t hear anything else about them. You’re not otherwise directed to or required to do those dungeons. Arah Story, however, IS required, and it’s the ONLY one required.

Why do I feel like the only person that likes Logan Thackery and Trahearne?

Ybrahim.2084:

A lot of people seem to have missed the point of this post. I wasn’t cranky because of grouping. I was cranky because the last step in an entirely soloable quest line was a group quest. It makes no sense at all, and it adds annoyance to an already annoying process.

Yet your original post says otherwise.
Communication’s not your strong point, eh champ?

Ybrahim.2084:

The last mission in your PERSONAL story is group-only. Best of all, Anet doesn’t tell you this. Instead of saying, “Hey, we know you’ve been able to solo EVERY part of this quest line up to now, but here we’re going to saddle you with a bunch of brain-dead NPCs and make you get a group too”, they just let you blithely pop in so that you can wonder what idiot was in charge of a battle where several elites keep respawning every time you manage to kill them.

Even if you did magically clear the room somehow, you need two people to get through the door. At this point, I can only imagine the writers and devs high-fiving each other before going out to celebrate by giving some hapless nerd a swirlie.

I understand it must be very difficult having to communicate (or, god forbid, group up ) with people in a Massively MULTIPLAYER online role playing game. I understand that perhaps you are so socially stunted you break out into a cold sweat over the thought of posting a simple “lfg arah story” in the in-game LFG tool that is so easy to find a trained ape could do it.

But what I do not understand is your completely erroneous claim that arah story is not soloable. All you need is a SINGLE PERSON to stand on a plate for literally twenty seconds. A single person. From a game with a sales volume of 3 million.

Is it honestly so difficult to do? Or do you mean to say that you are so unattractive a partner that you cannot find a single person, (from 3 million) to assist you?

Or maybe your problem lies elsewhere. Because maybe do not believe you could get through arah story alone, even with the infinite respawns, hordes of NPC’s and easily-researched boss mechanics. But to that I say, nay! Even the most incapable player can get through the content in this game with enough perseverance.

So soldier on, friend! Don’t give up, I’m sure even you can make it with practice.

Feel free to contact me in-game for any tips, or if you get stuck on any of the hard parts of the story mode, such as mashing F at a cannon while zhaitan dies without attacking

I thought the personal story was cool, but I also played GW1 extensively and read the books. Having access to that Tryia history, and actually PLAYING in it in gw1 really makes the gw2 Personal Story much more enjoyable. When they talk about the old people, places, and events, my kids and I get all excited and say, “Cool! We were THERE! WE DID THAT!” thanks to playing GW1 for years.

-Chris

Samhaim.8956:

@OP i think it would make absolutely no sense to have us solo the fight against zhaitan, its an elder dragon, a weakened one, but still, its a massive battle and you’re not the star, you’re just part of the army, and if you weren’t there someone else would’ve taken your place. In such massive fight you are Not a special snowflake.

Well, to be fair it was mainly the airship that took Z out. It’s not like at any other point of the story we were completely alone. All along there are numerous NPCs that fight and die beside us. So yeah, it does make sense for the final story to also be soloable, because the story makes it clear that you’re not doing it on your own anyway.