Guild Wars 2

I don’t know, Harry Potter is pretty popular. Probably as popular as Tolkien. There’s room for a bit of everything.

The Vigil, for example, has a very serious storyline. And Tybalt is a fun character, but he doesn’t affect the story after the part he’s in when the game gets more serious.

I understand that there are issues with the story, and if that’s going to cause you to leave the game, well, no one can stop you.

But all games take time to grow. As goods as the Prophecies story was, it was a complete fantasy cliche. Anyone with half a brain knew what would happen. You knew the White Mantle were bad guys…your character didn’t. You knew the Vizier was up to no good. Your character didn’t either.

Guild Wars 2 has uneven storytelling at best, but it’s not all Tybalt. Certainly the later you go in the story the more serious it gets.

It was to make some examples, but yeah.
- Mhenlo and those characters that you’d meet more than just once was a nice touch, I think.
- Most characters in Guild Wars 2 that you meet either disappears when you enter an Order… or gets killed. Sacrificing oneself is such a cliché, but can be nice and a tearful part of any story when used correctly, sadly it wasn’t in GW2. Instead of these guys in the Orders being people you’d meet later on and get acquainted with, they are killed. Your friends in the beginning gets forgotten.

They are capable of doing better than that.

Tybalt is actually a wonderful character. I think you’re just too focused on the whole “we’re spies, we look cool” vibe. He’s round in that he acts comical to hide his inadequacies, but when the moment of truth arrives, he redeems himself by making the ultimate sacrifice. Original? Not really. But he’s certainly well written. Much more than I can say for one particular plant.

@Vayne
When I played GW1, I seriously did not know the White Mantle were the bad guys. I remember stopping and saying “what? whoa whoa whoah, wait. what??” for a few seconds :p

Sinifair.1026:

It was to make some examples, but yeah.
- Mhenlo and those characters that you’d meet more than just once was a nice touch, I think.
- Most characters in Guild Wars 2 that you meet either disappears when you enter an Order… or gets killed. Sacrificing oneself is such a cliché, but can be nice and a tearful part of any story when used correctly, sadly it wasn’t in GW2. Instead of these guys in the Orders being people you’d meet later on and get acquainted with, they are killed. Your friends in the beginning gets forgotten.

They are capable of doing better than that.

There are plenty of characters in Guild Wars 2 who come back again at the end. If you haven’t done multiple race’s personal stories you might not realize it.

Another big difference, and one you’re forgetting, is that Guild Wars 2 has no heroes or henchmen. You don’t have them hanging around all the time. There were a handful of henchmen when GW 1 launched and that was it. Heroes came later.

Those henchmen have been replaced by Logan, Eir, Rytlock, Zojja and Caithe. Not to mention Trahearne (who comes in fairly early in the Sylvari storyline) and Queen Jennah.

And of course the heads of the Orders hang around too.

And the story is just beginning. The four Guild Wars games took two years to come out. If you only had prophecies, well, you had Rurik who everyone wanted to kill anyway, and Aleshia who did a pretty good job of killing herself.

I’m not so sure I’m on the grass was always greener thing here.

You can’t have a good story with ONLY seriousness all the time, real people aren’t like that. When things get bad, sometimes a bit of humour is all you have to keep morale up.

I don’t think you read all the tolkien books.

So you think a “serious” story is devoid of any humor? How the hell do you create a believable world without some laughing every now and then?

GW2 is also full of lore, but it’s not as much “in your face” as GW1. It’s in the tombstones and statues, in the ruins and stories the NPCs tell. You have to take the time to explore and talk to NPCs, but that makes it all the more worth it.

The story in GW1 was darker than here…and it seemed a little more complete than this…but hey, GW1 had four campaigns…this game has only one. We should give it some time and see how it goes. To be honest, I am eager for more lore and discoveries.
They are working on it, obviously…so we’ll just have to wait and see! I trust that ANet will keep improving this game, it just needs a bit of time.

As for Tolkien…I am a huuuuge fan. I have read all his books…his darkest book was “The Silmarillion” and I have to say that it’s my favourite one, out of all his works. “The Hobbit” on the other hand had humorous parts and it was a ’’lighter’’ story compared to “The Silmarillion” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
I don’t mind humour here and there…we have some serious and humorous aspects in this game…I guess it also depends of the Order you choose. Vigil is quite serious, due to Forgal.
But yes…Order of Whispers in GW1 were very mysterious and secretive…quite professional too. I expected them to be more like Dark Brotherhood in GW2.

Can I have your Gold?

There can still be alot of humor even in a serious setting. I think Anet has done it pretty well balancing the serious with the humerous. It’s common in both RPG games and fantasy movies, it can range from slapstick silly to a more modest apporach.

I agree with you, Sinifair. But, unfortunately, this game is created for young players and families. So if you want serious mmo, you have to find some other.

’Can’t see ANet changing the whole style of their game through fear of your threatened nerdquitage.

If 20 levels of the personal story (which is a small part of the game) and the eyes of an as-yet-to-be-released-in-game NPC are enough to make you quit, perhaps you just don’t like the game and are looking for excuses?

The game has a quirky sense of humor and shows it in many ways. If you prefer your MMOs to be 100% serious all-the-time, you’re right: this probably isn’t the game for you.

If the mediocre storyline was my biggest complaint about this game, I’d feel like I’d just found the game for me, and probably be quite happy with it.

Tosha Daydreamer.9251:

So you think a “serious” story is devoid of any humor? How the hell do you create a believable world without some laughing every now and then?

GW2 is also full of lore, but it’s not as much “in your face” as GW1. It’s in the tombstones and statues, in the ruins and stories the NPCs tell. You have to take the time to explore and talk to NPCs, but that makes it all the more worth it.

Yes this!
The lore in GW2 is not a book to read its a living story that the aim for GW2.

Your leaving because of Tybalt? Ok leave because of treherne leave because of logan but Tybalt

Hating Tybalt is like hating kittens

Blur.3465:

The story in GW1 was darker than here…and it seemed a little more complete than this…but hey, GW1 had four campaigns…this game has only one. We should give it some time and see how it goes. To be honest, I am eager for more lore and discoveries.
They are working on it, obviously…so we’ll just have to wait and see! I trust that ANet will keep improving this game, it just needs a bit of time.

As for Tolkien…I am a huuuuge fan. I have read all his books…his darkest book was “The Silmarillion” and I have to say that it’s my favourite one, out of all his works. “The Hobbit” on the other hand had humorous parts and it was a ’’lighter’’ story compared to “The Silmarillion” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
I don’t mind humour here and there…we have some serious and humorous aspects in this game…I guess it also depends of the Order you choose. Vigil is quite serious, due to Forgal.
But yes…Order of Whispers in GW1 were very mysterious and secretive…quite professional too. I expected them to be more like Dark Brotherhood in GW2.

I got the Salmarillion, The Hobbit and all three books of The Lord of The Rings.
- Love his works.

Anyhow, I see many of you not taking my post serious (try and act mature, people. I’ve been defending GW2 for a long time, but the arguments to the storytelling being a downer cannot be overlooked any longer).
- I focused on a major issue to many of my friends, thus not getting any compliments out there, which, I believe, is why many of you would start flaming, instead of using those things called arguments (cut it off, kids, seriously. The grown-ups are talking).
- Practically all my friends are leaving, and though I am trying to bring them back to play they don’t hold for long, even though we all agree that GW2 has the potential to be an awesome game.

My opinion about humor is that it has its place, even in a dark universe, but the style in GW2 reeks goofy more than humorous at many a time, which has appeared to have a rather disengaging effect on these friends of mine. We were about fifty starting out, some of them on another server than mine, but they left due to how hollow it felt after a while, and they told me that they’d stopped playing, so there were no reason to leave the other of my friends on my current server.

Personally, I would love to see the Living World really taking off (maybe with more than just one plot and some events in two zones, but multiple scattered throughout the world, some minor others needing our attention more).

- My brother is studying to become a game-designer and he is ticked off at how the style is goofy instead of being funny, like telling a joke and you’re the only one laughing, because you weren’t really all that great.
- We’ve agreed to try and get some of the guys together and play, because ANet has really introduced some great game concepts and designs, and we want (yes, we do WANT) this game to engage us more, and we believe that getting rid of goofy, implementing funny in its stead, while also being serious at the same time, would suit this game and its lore well.

Even those of you who wants to laugh at everything in the game, did you serously find the Magister of the Durmand Priory anything but annoying? It is no time to joke around when dredge are destroying dwarven artifacts, but instead of saying like “We have to try and get these artifacts before the dredge destroy them!” she went with “Oh, c’mon! It’ll be fun.”

That is neither funny nor serious, it’s inappropriate to say that dwarven artifacts that might be destroyed and killing dredge will be fun (but then, the Sylvari does have different views upon death than the other races).

Doesn’t GW2 strike you as being way more goofy than you expected, especially if you played its predecessor? (I mean, yeah, it had a nice first impression, but some of these characters took me off the Personal Storyline altogether, though I’m completing more of them and getting deeper insight… but you should still have the opportunity to get that insight with just one character. Used to be that you made one that you got really acquainted to, but mains and alts ain’t so different in this game, which is both good and bad, good from the meta-gamer’s point of view, but bad from that roleplaying and storytelling perspective, because you are forced to make more characters to study the lore in game, instead of going about it with one character).

cargan.5689:

Your leaving because of Tybalt? Ok leave because of treherne leave because of logan but Tybalt

Hating Tybalt is like hating kittens

I don’t particularly like Tybalt and I don’t particularly like kittens either, as cute as they seem.

Having said that, I appreciate why Tybalt is drawn in such broad buffoonish strokes in order to have a stronger “redemption story” impact.

I also enjoy a lot of humor inserted into the game, particularly in war zones. From personal experience, humor there impacts both morale and bonding.

I can also understand coming into an MMO with expectations and being disappointed. This is no different than walking into a movie that has been advertised as a dark drama and discovering over half of it turns into campy romantic comedy. (Not saying GW2 was advertised as the former nor turned into the latter.)

@OP: sorry the lore in the game did not live up to your expectations. If it is a valuable component of your enjoyment and customer experience, and it seems lacking, then you have the choice to accept what is in the game, tolerate it, or vote with your feet.

If other aspects of the game are enjoyable enough to compensate, then you get to decide whether that compensation is enough. Not sure if discussion here regarding different perspectives could or should affect your values or impressions.

Good luck with wherever your gaming takes you… here or elsewhere.

I get your point, but I think it all comes down to taste. I don’t find fart jokes funny, but some people think they’re hilarious. You don’t like the somewhat goofy humor, I love it. I loved Sieran and Tybalt both. Tybalt because of his backstory and Sieran because of her “loose cannon” attitude.

I would recommend the Vigil storyline if you like a more serious note, don’t know if you’ve already done that.

Keep in mind that I’ve only CONSIDERED leaving.
- And that is not because of Tybalt (I just find that the Order of Whispers were way more professional in their work than they are now) but because of a more goofy style than what you’d normally meet in the GW universe.

Don’t you guys want the storytelling aspect to improve? Have all the fans who wanted it to improve left because you ignorantly believe ANet made a perfect first attempt?
- I left WoW due to their rather “unserious” take okitteneroth, not taking lore serious, having more references to TV series and other famous aspects of our real world than actual Warcraft lore.

GW2 shows great promise and potential, so why are you fighting a fan, who actually wants to get immersed into the game and the lore? Why do you insist that I must leave for caring about the lore and that they keep it intact and not make the same mistake that WoW did?

Do you not think that ANet can better themselves?
- I have high hopes with GW2 and I’m not about to leave, but this storytelling needs some serious tweaking (I have been out in the world and talking to NPC’s, so don’t tell me that I need to do that). I hope that the Living World will be more serious about it (Rox is the only charr I’ve seen that looks like that, and I hope she won’t prove to be too “goofy”). I agree that there is room for joking around… but not goofing around when the world (or a dwarven artifact) is in danger.

Tosha Daydreamer.9251:

I get your point, but I think it all comes down to taste. I don’t find fart jokes funny, but some people think they’re hilarious. You don’t like the somewhat goofy humor, I love it. I loved Sieran and Tybalt both. Tybalt because of his backstory and Sieran because of her “loose cannon” attitude.

I would recommend the Vigil storyline if you like a more serious note, don’t know if you’ve already done that.

I already played the Vigil Storyline, and I liked Forgal. Would’ve preferred that he survived and might show up in Elona or Cantha sometime, when the expansions would come.
- Sieran seemed like she lacked sense. Haven’t played all the way through that storyline, but as my brother put it “She isn’t serious enough to know when to give up her life for the greater good.” – or some such (I like Caithe, though. She is more serious, so it can’t just be that the sylvari don’t take things seriously).

- My personal opinion is that she can joke when the time is right for it, instead of just being lucky and finding an important artifact, when she was disobeying orders.

I agree, the story immersion in this game just isnt there sometimes. Tybalt got on my nerves so often I was actually glad when he died, same for all the order mentors. They come across as really weak, shallow and forced characters, although this is more to do with the fact that the story missions in this game are so spread apart at times. Its kinda hard to feel for someone you dont see for 2 levels at a time.

Agree with OP. There’s always room for levity but it needs to be done right. Harry Potter had a lot it, but it fit within the world Rowling wanted to portray. Even then, much of the silliness and humor had a degree of depth and meaning.

goldenwing.8473:

I also enjoy a lot of humor inserted into the game, particularly in war zones. From personal experience, humor there impacts both morale and bonding.

I can relate to that. Having played quite a lot of Final Fantasy games, I have regularly experienced how they tend to joke about more than Western RPG’s, which when used correctly creates this impact on morale and makes the bonds between the characters’ seem more real.

goldenwing.8473:

@OP: sorry the lore in the game did not live up to your expectations. If it is a valuable component of your enjoyment and customer experience, and it seems lacking, then you have the choice to accept what is in the game, tolerate it, or vote with your feet.

If other aspects of the game are enjoyable enough to compensate, then you get to decide whether that compensation is enough. Not sure if discussion here regarding different perspectives could or should affect your values or impressions.

Good luck with wherever your gaming takes you… here or elsewhere.

The thing is that ANet with GW2 introduced some really cool and fresh gameplay designs and concepts, and (as already said) my friends and I all agree that GW2 is a game that we really want to be immersed into, but the lack of lore (for RP’ers, which they mainly are, I kinda just tagged along there, found it to be fun) made it harder to get immersed into the game (and kinda hard to see where your character would end up, and what his story was).

I like GW2 a lot, but without any friends playing it the game will be a lesser experience than what it has the potential to be, and that is my main concern.
- GW1 and 2 are both games which are extremely fun to play together with a few friends, and it’s easy to team up with them.

My hope is that the Living Story will improve so much on this storytelling aspect that we do not just create the story from what happened before the “now” but actually create it along with the Living Story (that would from an RP’ers perspective be what we call “AWESOME!”).

Your never going to please everyone i find GW2 fails when it tries to get serious the OMG hero saving the world grates i would love to have in game glycophosphate just for Treherne. The Zojja’s Tybalt and the priory are a refreshing change.

Tyria is a world torn appart cities burned people dead in times of stress people tell jokes, bad ones and no matter how bad they are you laugh ok you hit the guy but you still laugh. The loopy characters seem to me more real that the supermen.

After all if you cant tell fart jokes while your clearing mines when can you

Budg.3064:

I agree, the story immersion in this game just isnt there sometimes. Tybalt got on my nerves so often I was actually glad when he died, same for all the order mentors. They come across as really weak, shallow and forced characters, although this is more to do with the fact that the story missions in this game are so spread apart at times. Its kinda hard to feel for someone you dont see for 2 levels at a time.

If you played GW1, meeting Mhenlo and his gang throughout the campaigns were a nice touch. One wouldn’t experience it with the “I’m the world’s salvation” but “I’m part of something larger trying to fight this. I’m not the only hero.”
- Kind of like “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” – There were more than just one character there, and they all supported each other and had a relationship with each other and developed throughout the story.

In GW2 I feel like I meet characters that are either left behind or killed in action.
- I must, however, say that when fighting alongside Trahearne at the end of the Personal Storyline (before the Arah part) and the sound becomes all silent and “Fear not this Night” is playing while you fight off an army of undead? THAT was actually pretty epic.

cargan.5689:

After all if you cant tell fart jokes while your clearing mines when can you

… touché.

Mortifer.2946:

I agree with you, Sinifair. But, unfortunately, this game is created for young players and families. So if you want serious mmo, you have to find some other.

Shouldn’t they feel some sort of responsibility towards their GW1 fanbase?
- Mike O’Brien seemed to think so in the Manifesto.

Are you calling him a liar? :O

Sinifair.1026:

Budg.3064:

I agree, the story immersion in this game just isnt there sometimes. Tybalt got on my nerves so often I was actually glad when he died, same for all the order mentors. They come across as really weak, shallow and forced characters, although this is more to do with the fact that the story missions in this game are so spread apart at times. Its kinda hard to feel for someone you dont see for 2 levels at a time.

If you played GW1, meeting Mhenlo and his gang throughout the campaigns were a nice touch. One wouldn’t experience it with the “I’m the world’s salvation” but “I’m part of something larger trying to fight this. I’m not the only hero.”
- Kind of like “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” – There were more than just one character there, and they all supported each other and had a relationship with each other and developed throughout the story.

In GW2 I feel like I meet characters that are either left behind or killed in action.
- I must, however, say that when fighting alongside Trahearne at the end of the Personal Storyline (before the Arah part) and the sound becomes all silent and “Fear not this Night” is playing while you fight off an army of undead? THAT was actually pretty epic.

Yes, the second to last story mission with Trahearne is the pinnacle of the story line. The fight with Zhaitan afterwards is quite the letdown really. On the topic of Orr story quests, it was kinda nice that so many people from the various storylines came back. Thing is, chances are you’ve never met them in your personal story and yet they act as if you’re meant to already be aware of their backstory when really I couldn’t give a Koss about them. Then most of them die at some point anyway and the game plays sad music like im meant to care. I never even knew who they were in the first place! And then someone else dies next mission, and the mission after that… and it just loses all effect and cheapens Orr for me.

Sinifair.1026:

Do you think that Tolkien would have had such huge succes with Lord of the Ring and the universe if he hadn’t been serious about his work? Do you think the movie would have been as huge a succes if they hadn’t taken the story seriously?

The movie is a beautiful fail. So many things wrong. So many things changed unnecessarily. I’m good with stuff being left out. It’s a big book. Sorry, Tom. I’m not good with stuff being added in that was never in the books. When Jackson chose to put in new non-Tolkien material, it stopped being an adaption of The Lord of the Rings and became some cheap dime store imitation.

But anyway, yeah, I get what you’re saying about GW2. Tybalt didn’t bother me as much as that flighty sylvari, but even so a little slapstick goes a long way.

So quit…? It’s not like you’re paying a sub or anything so feel free to go on to a different game.

I mostly agree with you, Sinifair. It feels a little goofy indeed. Though let’s give them some time, perhaps the story will get more depth later on. So far, Trahearne is the only character I have issues with…
Anyhow, all Tolkien fans are more than welcome in my guild…we also roleplay as some of Tolkien’s characters in game…so if anyone is interested, let me know.

It’s amusing to me….before Guild Wars 2 was released, people complained, a lot, about GW(1)’s storyline….how shallow and stilted it was.

Personally, I like Tybalt and Sieran, but that’s just me. I don’t think I’m ignorant for not agreeing with you, though; I think I have different tastes than you do, and that is ok. =)

Personally I like that the storyline is less serious because I think it makes a nice change. I can skip between GW2 and other RPGs I’m working my way through and get some variety instead of everything being doom and gloom all the time.

In fact I did the same with the books. Just before Christmas I finished Robin Hobb’s Royal Assassin trilogy, which is very much doom and gloom and “did we really win in the end and was it really worth it?” and it was nice to have Edge of Destiny to give myself a break.

But I also think it’s a bit of a jump to judge an entire Order by one member. Yes Tybalt is the one you spend the most time with, but he’s not exactly representative of the entire Order’s personalities. A lot of the other members are more serious and formal. (I also got the impression some of them looked down on Tybalt because he made everything a joke.)

Lacking a lot of constructive criticism here.

“if it doesn’t change”

Well what do you want to change it to? You didn’t even specify.

And why should they? They already spend years designing the story, recording the VA, designing the map around it.

You want them to do that all over just to appease one person?

If you you don’t like the story then you don’t like the story. Unfortunately that may mean you will leave GW2.

I may not like Harry Potter and I want them to change the story but why would they care? They made their money, they invested their money in the story and the actors.

It might not be a bad idea to take some time off from GW. They are still settling into their long-term phase, and it will take time (hopefully) for the deeper lore to get rolled out. Slow down, pace yoruself, get out of Tyria for a little bit. You own the game, so you can come back any time. Give it a few months and check in to see what’s new.

Yea guild wars 1 was WAY more serious. This pretty much sums it all up.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/images/d/d9/Erol.jpg

Sinifair.1026:

Budg.3064:

I agree, the story immersion in this game just isnt there sometimes. Tybalt got on my nerves so often I was actually glad when he died, same for all the order mentors. They come across as really weak, shallow and forced characters, although this is more to do with the fact that the story missions in this game are so spread apart at times. Its kinda hard to feel for someone you dont see for 2 levels at a time.

If you played GW1, meeting Mhenlo and his gang throughout the campaigns were a nice touch. One wouldn’t experience it with the “I’m the world’s salvation” but “I’m part of something larger trying to fight this. I’m not the only hero.”
- Kind of like “Lord of the Rings” or “The Hobbit” – There were more than just one character there, and they all supported each other and had a relationship with each other and developed throughout the story.

In GW2 I feel like I meet characters that are either left behind or killed in action.
- I must, however, say that when fighting alongside Trahearne at the end of the Personal Storyline (before the Arah part) and the sound becomes all silent and “Fear not this Night” is playing while you fight off an army of undead? THAT was actually pretty epic.

You’re still comparing apples and oranges here. Guild Wars 1 had heroes and henchmen. They were with you all along. Every time you played. In every instance. You keep bringing up Mehnlo. Well yes, but he was there. There was no personal story because the entire game was the personal story. Or rather the story.

In Guild Wars 2, the personal story not only isn’t the entire game, it’s not really the game at all. For example, you could replay missions in Guild Wars 1. Here, the world itself, the dynamic events are more of the main course. And you and replay though.

Are you really telling me that the Harathi Hinterlands is not dark? Or that it’s goofy? Or are you just ignoring it, because you’re looking only at the personal story. Orr is goofy?

In Guild Wars 1, btw, the Asuran’s were always goofy. That’s how they were. Gadd was really dark and annoying but you know, he was a comic figure. He was funny and intended to be. Oola was pure comic relief. So yeah, Asurans in Guild Wars 1 always filled a goofy role but they weren’t there through three of the campaigns.

At what point did you decide that an unrepeatable story was the main center of this game? Because I don’t feel that it is.

I’m probably one of the lone dissenters but I actually agree with the OP about Tybalt at first: I thought it was a little off-putting how blatant they were being in a public setting, and that for an ancient secret society they sure seemed to be relatively open, easy to find (their HQ is a stone’s throw from LA’s marketplace) and a bit goofy.

What rescued the character for me though is that a) it’s impossible not to like the guy and b) he has a surprisingly powerful and sad backstory that I really did not expect from an MMO.

There is such a thing as “serious humor”. Take the mission where you have a drinking contest with pirates as an example. It was hilarious, but also life-threatening, and you were still on a mission to rescue a kidnapped woman.

As for Tybalt, he was my absolute favorite in the storyline. He looks like a bubbling idiot, but he can pull off some pretty neat stuff. And really, it was the main character who screwed up with the conversation at the apple cart, not Tybalt:

Lightbringer Tybalt Leftpaw: Psst. Hey, there. Can I interest you in an apple?
<Character name>: I’m looking for my contact. A member of the Or-
Lightbringer Tybalt Leftpaw: Ack! Ssssh! Apples for sale! Nothing but apples to see here, folks!

Also, complaining about how a character acts isn’t really a valid point. Because people come in all shapes and shades, so you can have anything. I suggest you read the TV Tropes Guild Wars 2 Characters page and take a look at the links that you find.

I think that, if someone feels it is a game breaker, leaving a game due to a lack of engagement with some NPCs s probably for the best.

Just sayin’

shimmerless.4560:

I’m probably one of the lone dissenters but I actually agree with the OP about Tybalt at first: I thought it was a little off-putting how blatant they were being in a public setting, and that for an ancient secret society they sure seemed to be relatively open, easy to find (their HQ is a stone’s throw from LA’s marketplace) and a bit goofy.

What rescued the character for me though is that a) it’s impossible not to like the guy and b) he has a surprisingly powerful and sad backstory that I really did not expect from an MMO.

You have to know the scale in GW is huge. What seems like a few steps away may represent a long distance. Take for example, in the tybalt story where you have to take a ship to the Order HQ ( the one in LA is not the HQ). While in story it is distance where you need to take a ship but gameplay wise is only a swim across.

Huh. Well I did click on this thread expecting some of the following:

- I can’t get a legendary
- Fractals are boring
- Dailies are boring
- Everything is too expensive
- The trading post tax is too high.

.. however I actually kind of agree with the Lore comments in general. It certainly isn’t enough to drive me away from the game, but I can actually very much understand why it would drive a true storyline player nuts.

When I played the Elder Scrolls series, I was fascinated with how the universe had a history, and how everything had a story and fell into place. Heck, there were even fully written and fleshed out books that you could read in the world (in Skyrim), and there was nothing off-putting or goofy.

I’m not saying that I don’t appreciate the occasional easter egg, but the story in this game is just not… serious enough? Aside from Warmaster Forgal, most of the characters just seem loopy, and it starts and ends with Trahearne.

There’s also the problem (all games have this) where NPCs and allies seem minimally competent. For three orders that are supposed to be steeped in history and have the highest of reputations, they sure suck at doing anything right. Guild Wars 1 actually was one game that had an answer to this: you controlled the NPCs during the missions! They joined your party. There was an elegance to this – suddenly, you were a part of something bigger, fighting alongside allies that live up to their reputation. Equally important to your success was being able to properly utilize all of your party members.

In Guild Wars 2, you can just stare at the Vigil soldiers poke at a basic risen for 10 minutes, and lose to it to boot. What the hell were these Orders doing before I got here?! They are extremely lucky that one Plinx run’s worth of Risen did not decide to knock on their keep door while I was away, because the Champion Abomination would’ve wiped the entire order in 20 minutes.

… anyway…

Yeah. I still like the game for it’s generally solid application of MMO concepts. It has the skeleton of a game I like: balanced sPvP, large scale WvW, and general PvE. Each of these has potential -

The sPvP, if a lot of work is done, can be the basis of something great. Can you imagine a DOTA-type map being created for it, with Guild V Guild on either side?

The WvW will improve with performance tweaks. Bigger and better maps – a constant war around the clock.

I must agree with you, though. The story… the lore… it was just not for me. This game did not live up to Guild Wars 1’s storytelling and immersion.

Lore is one thing, storytelling an immersion are another.

I believe MMORPGs need lore, but storytelling and immersion need to be balanced against making a playground/themepark for thousands of kids who just don’t care – the personal story is an example of how hard the balance is.

I am Playing Tomb Raider for immersion and storytelling – GW2 for carrying folks through team encounters like dungeons.

Bioshock infinite comes out in 24h so i’d say its a perfect time to quit gw2.

Fortunately even if you did leave, you could always come back at any time at no cost. You’ve already bought the game and the devs stated that there will be only expansion content in the form of Living Story for quite some time.

You always have a home here on Tyria

Nuka Cola.8520:

Bioshock infinite comes out in 24h so i’d say its a perfect time to quit gw2.

The thing is, I like GW lore and I like the world, I like their new gameplay designs.
- I don’t want to leave Guild Wars 2.

I’ve considered it because when I’ve got all that neat dungeon gear, the legendaries and all that, when I’m done with these things, what is basically going to keep me interested is the story. It is also what was supposed to keep my friends interested.

- The problem is that many of them never really played GW1 and I think many of them presumed that we’d get access to more lore and story about what happened in GW1 and up till now, but they don’t, and from an RP’ers perspective that’s bad.
- I have a friend who roleplays on my server, but everyone is in Divinity’s Reach, everyone is a Trade Company who is secretly a guild of thieves and criminals. That is what I hear. Some people fight off Kralkatorrik’s minions and make that their lore, but basically people can’t seem to make one character that really becomes their alter ego and main character.

- People also say that one character cannot get all the lore. For me to get that (and I also realized this as I made different characters as different races) I have to make more characters and level them up and complete the Personal Story.
- They have a great premis for making GW2. They have ALL the lore of GW1 to implement, but the difference between the races and how they think doesn’t make the same impact you could get in GW1.

Yeah, it takes time, and you need to get out there, talk with NPC’s, make more characters… and basically grind to get the lore you need to make your character’s lore.

Now, I am excited to see this game evolve into something better, but I want to say that while I am a fan of humor, I don’t really like the way they did it in GW2 (not always at least. I haven’t laughed at anything in GW2, not even smiled at it).
- I think that it can help morale and bonding between characters, but your friend at the start gets left behind before you really get to enjoy his/her personality, and your mentor dies? Every mentor makes the ultimate sacrifice, be they Vigil, Priory or Order of Whispers.

You bond with the different characters over time, and killing them off really just sells them short, imo.
- I hope that Braham and Rox becomes familiar faces in the dangers we have yet to see, but I also hope that Rox’s look doesn’t affect her personality. I’m going to wait and see.

Don’t get me wrong, forum or devs: I really like GW2, but I’m the only one of my friends who took the time to get into it more, and if I’m going to be alone in GW2 then I don’t know if I’m going to hang in there.
- It’s a shame really, because I think that GW2 is really, really great designed when it comes to playing together with friends n’ such.

Sinifair.1026:

Nuka Cola.8520:

Bioshock infinite comes out in 24h so i’d say its a perfect time to quit gw2.

The thing is, I like GW lore and I like the world, I like their new gameplay designs.
- I don’t want to leave Guild Wars 2.

I’ve considered it because when I’ve got all that neat dungeon gear, the legendaries and all that, when I’m done with these things, what is basically going to keep me interested is the story. It is also what was supposed to keep my friends interested.

- The problem is that many of them never really played GW1 and I think many of them presumed that we’d get access to more lore and story about what happened in GW1 and up till now, but they don’t, and from an RP’ers perspective that’s bad.
- I have a friend who roleplays on my server, but everyone is in Divinity’s Reach, everyone is a Trade Company who is secretly a guild of thieves and criminals. That is what I hear. Some people fight off Kralkatorrik’s minions and make that their lore, but basically people can’t seem to make one character that really becomes their alter ego and main character.

- People also say that one character cannot get all the lore. For me to get that (and I also realized this as I made different characters as different races) I have to make more characters and level them up and complete the Personal Story.
- They have a great premis for making GW2. They have ALL the lore of GW1 to implement, but the difference between the races and how they think doesn’t make the same impact you could get in GW1.

Yeah, it takes time, and you need to get out there, talk with NPC’s, make more characters… and basically grind to get the lore you need to make your character’s lore.

Now, I am excited to see this game evolve into something better, but I want to say that while I am a fan of humor, I don’t really like the way they did it in GW2 (not always at least. I haven’t laughed at anything in GW2, not even smiled at it).
- I think that it can help morale and bonding between characters, but your friend at the start gets left behind before you really get to enjoy his/her personality, and your mentor dies? Every mentor makes the ultimate sacrifice, be they Vigil, Priory or Order of Whispers.

You bond with the different characters over time, and killing them off really just sells them short, imo.
- I hope that Braham and Rox becomes familiar faces in the dangers we have yet to see, but I also hope that Rox’s look doesn’t affect her personality. I’m going to wait and see.

Don’t get me wrong, forum or devs: I really like GW2, but I’m the only one of my friends who took the time to get into it more, and if I’m going to be alone in GW2 then I don’t know if I’m going to hang in there.
- It’s a shame really, because I think that GW2 is really, really great designed when it comes to playing together with friends n’ such.

Honestly, you should consider joining a guild of like minded people. The guys in my guild are more into story and lore, for example and quite a few of us played Guild Wars 1.

I think you’re not leaving because of the story. I think you’re leaving because you’re bored that your friends weren’t patient enough to see it through.

What do Rox’s eyes have to do with Lore T_T.

Stop hating on Rox and Tybalt, they’re both awesome in their own special ways.

(Shush, Rox is awesome, even if she’s not out yet)

LFk.1408:

When I played the Elder Scrolls series, I was fascinated with how the universe had a history, and how everything had a story and fell into place. Heck, there were even fully written and fleshed out books that you could read in the world (in Skyrim), and there was nothing off-putting or goofy.

You think there’s no comedy elements in The Elder Scrolls? I’m going to assume you’ve never played Morrowind or Oblivion in that case. Or somehow missed things like the Fighters Guild ‘rats in the attic/cellar’ quests. A lot of the dialogue you can overhear and some of the books are far less than serious too.