Guild Wars 2

I know you have an introduction for your character, which tells the tale of your personal story rather well, but the game still doesn’t have an introduction that shows the larger tale of Guild Wars 2.

The strangest part of it is that there’s already a cinematic that would do the job admirably:

Just skip from 2:02 to 4:15, cut here and there to keep it flowing, maybe change the voicing and music, but the visuals and the message is brilliant, I can’t understand why this isn’t currently in game.

I recently tried a game that has a cinematic along with making you page thru the company credits. It felt really old-fashioned to me.

I thought that as well.

Having not played GW1, it took me a while to understand the storyline. In fact, it took me a long, long time to get a grasp of the entire world itself.
No idea why charr and humans dislike each other; what’s that purple line cutting Ascalon in half; why am I killing zombies for more than half of the game….oh wait Zhaitan…“of course how silly of me” >.>

I still didn’t understand what or who destiny’s edge were originally fighting against til halfway through playing my second character lol.

Many of these questions gets answered by just playing and playing attention to the world surrounding you, ANet made a really great job at creating a real genuine atmosphere. But that does not mean a 2 minute video to introduce you into their beautiful world wouldn’t be welcomed.

To be honest, there is not much of a “meta”-story in GW2. You got your personal story, which imho is not very personal at all. And then out of no where you go to Orr fighting undead for whatever reason.
There is no story arc that could have been introduced by an opening cinematic. I like this game, but the story that is been told is really shallow.

After 3 months we still have no new story missions, which does clearly not help to get anyone feel like being part of the world, such a shame. I am an old fashioned player, I want to know why I am fighting all this evil creatures.

I’m fighting a response of “if you want Skyrim, go play Skyrim”

But it seems akin to complaining that there’s not much action in chess. GW2 is an action game based on dynamic events. WvWvW happens why? Just for the sport of it!

They’re still struggling to get quests to be stable, let alone interesting or engaging. Which is totally ok, cuz it’s really not what GW2 is about.

Coming in with an opposite perspective, I think there is a huge amount of lore and story to the game. Using a human character as an example:

1 – you play through the event that sets you up as Hero of Shaemoore which kicks off personal story.
2 – you resolve your biography choices that really flesh out your character as a…character.
3 – The orders are introduced one by one and they explain who/what they are and the dragons.
4 – Play through your order arc that really gets into how bad news the Dragons really are for all races.
5 – Prepare/stage the assault on Zhaitan.

There is a pretty clear progression there and unless you are just clicking through or skipping all of the personal story dialog scenes and options, it’s pretty hard to miss. The only thing I could see being a bit out of no where would be the reunion near the end, but if you do the story mode dungeons along the way then you see every step of that happening.

If you are talking about lore and details that are superfluous to your character’s story and the Zhaitan arc, that gets filled in by talking to NPCs and listening to chatter. There are kids in LA and the Foothills that explain the Charr/Human conflict about thirteen thousand times a day.

The Dragonbrand is also explained by various NPCs in Blazeridge. Where it came from, what its doing, how its affecting creatures, how it might be fixed. All voice acted things you participate in, via hearts or dynamic events.

I guess a case can be made for the lore and events of races and the world not being shoved in the face of, and shovel fed to, players. But if you slow down, explore, participate, and observe, then you get everything you need to know and more.

If the deeper lore of the franchise is something you are really interested in knowing, then spend and hour or so reading through the original games wiki, and/or check out the two books that have been published so far. There is a ton there to invest in, but most of it isn’t directly related to the Zhaitan chapter of the Dragon plot.

mulch.2586:

I’m fighting a response of “if you want Skyrim, go play Skyrim”

But it seems akin to complaining that there’s not much action in chess. GW2 is an action game based on dynamic events. WvWvW happens why? Just for the sport of it!

They’re still struggling to get quests to be stable, let alone interesting or engaging. Which is totally ok, cuz it’s really not what GW2 is about.

Who are you trying to fool. GW2 is 90% PvE. Wv3 is just running in circles on 3 similar maps and one extra map. PvP is one kind of minigame on some boring maps.
Events are OK for some time, but they get old fast. A PvE game needs a story, no matter how lousy it is written.
Right now, GW2 has no story at all. Zhaitan is gone, personal story is done, and the Karka are just a joke on a deserted island.
Give me the feeling that something is happening, pretty please.

AcidicVision.5498:

Coming in with an opposite perspective, I think there is a huge amount of lore and story to the game. Using a human character as an example:

I understand that there is a story, and I did all 3 orders. (I also sat with progress blocked for weeks, and re-ran many steps trying to get them not to hang). My contention is that it’s not what the game devs put their vision into. The lore is there, but the things we do, the design of the game isn’t to advance the story, or even to consistently respect it. It’s cosmetic, just like race and sex, to support an action-based game.

Most shooters, RTS, and action/console games have stories, too. Even good pr0n.

The story is there, but it’s not what it’s for.

AcidicVision.5498:

Coming in with an opposite perspective, I think there is a huge amount of lore and story to the game. Using a human character as an example:

1 – you play through the event that sets you up as Hero of Shaemoore which kicks off personal story.
2 – you resolve your biography choices that really flesh out your character as a…character.
3 – The orders are introduced one by one and they explain who/what they are and the dragons.
4 – Play through your order arc that really gets into how bad news the Dragons really are for all races.
5 – Prepare/stage the assault on Zhaitan.

There is a pretty clear progression there and unless you are just clicking through or skipping all of the personal story dialog scenes and options, it’s pretty hard to miss. The only thing I could see being a bit out of no where would be the reunion near the end, but if you do the story mode dungeons along the way then you see every step of that happening.

If you are talking about lore and details that are superfluous to your character’s story and the Zhaitan arc, that gets filled in by talking to NPCs and listening to chatter. There are kids in LA and the Foothills that explain the Charr/Human conflict about thirteen thousand times a day.

The Dragonbrand is also explained by various NPCs in Blazeridge. Where it came from, what its doing, how its affecting creatures, how it might be fixed. All voice acted things you participate in, via hearts or dynamic events.

I guess a case can be made for the lore and events of races and the world not being shoved in the face of, and shovel fed to, players. But if you slow down, explore, participate, and observe, then you get everything you need to know and more.

If the deeper lore of the franchise is something you are really interested in knowing, then spend and hour or so reading through the original games wiki, and/or check out the two books that have been published so far. There is a ton there to invest in, but most of it isn’t directly related to the Zhaitan chapter of the Dragon plot.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m constantly deleting characters, just to get some more personal stories (up to the factions).
My personal opinion is, that a PvE game needs a “carrot on the stick” story outlook. Like the next big thing ahead is “Dragon X”, prepare yourself for whatever.
Since the first elder dragon is gone, what am I supposed to look forward in GW2? FotM?