Some of us have actual lives and do not have time to do the story right away. By the time we are able to do the story it is almost a ‘what is the point’ because the zone it accompanies is now dead.
I would not even mind buying a zone pass from the gem store for some reasonable fee (like the cost of the episode) if that is the only option. I just want to do the story when/if I have the time to do it and doing it a year later all to get access to a zone nobody is even in (look at the one from chapter 1) just is doing it to do it. For example, I still have not done more than half of season 2 because I never have the time.
First, if you have time to farm in the new zone, you have time to do the story. At most, it takes 30 minutes for one character to get the story to the place where you are allowed access to the new zone. For episode three, that’s all your other characters need to get in. For the other two episodes, there are work-arounds to gain access without redoing the story on other characters.
That said, I think people should have access to the new zone regardless of unlocking the story — gating the zones behind the story might be a fair business decision, but it artificially limits the number of players who are available to play there. A year from now, only new players willing to pay gems will have access and that’s bad for everyone in the long run.
John Smith: “you should kill monsters, because killing monsters is awesome.”
Who said I have time to farm? The only reason I can manage, oh, 2 berry runs in a day is by giving up participating in other content.
Yes, in a year it will be a ghost town. Especially once everyone has all the berries they need. I give it about 9 months before it is just another farm for blues and greens. A real shame since this is a multi-player environment and a nice looking zone, but that is what people are doing with previous LS3 zones. I was not even able to get into the new zone until recently because I was busy with RL stuff.
I don’t know about anyone else but when a new map is brought to the game I want to play it. I don’t want to be required to do a story version first. Especially not a story version that’s probably bugged and annoying as heck to get through. My preference is to wait a couple of days for the bugs in the story to be taken out before I do it, not be a test subject to find them on the way to get where I really want to be.
If they need an unlock, have an NPC at the portal who guards it (and who checks to see if your account has the required HoT/Living story). After you speak to him he sends you through to the new map.
Be careful what you ask for
ANet may give it to you.
Yes, this one was definitely bugged.If you were not bit by one you most probably were by the other. Or if you escaped both then you got caught on the mystery mechanics to get Aurene to fight the mordremoth. With any game update it is usually best to wait before running it if you can, let someone else find the bugs, but with LS3 that is not always an option.
By the time everyone gets all their ascended gear a new shiny (story) or 2 will be out. I want to actually enjoy a zone while people are in it. Or if that is not possible at least move on to where everyone is and enjoy the new zone.
Even if there is a way to bypass, I don’t agree with having story block access to a map. If they want to stop people from entering the map that haven’t purchased the expansion, have the gate check for that. That’s what other MMOs do.
it’s this luck based mystic toilet that we’re all so sick of flushing our money down. -Salamol
If you are after berries there is no need to do the story to access the map. Only Bloodstone Fen and Ember Bay requires doing the story to access it.
The annoying or convenient thing about these(depending on how you look at it) is that the majority of the time spent gaining access is standing around waiting for NPCs to repeat the same dialog for the millionth time. Eir’s Memorial is probably the biggest offender. That should have been made into a separate thing like the LS2 recap so that it be skipped entirely.
Even if there is a way to bypass, I don’t agree with having story block access to a map. If they want to stop people from entering the map that haven’t purchased the expansion, have the gate check for that. That’s what other MMOs do.
They can obviously do it. For example, getting to the airship or such requires buying a pass. If they absolutely have to enter the story to get access to a zone just have a chapter that is 10 seconds of an NPC talking about the new land (hopefully stoppable with the escape key).
If you are after berries there is no need to do the story to access the map. Only Bloodstone Fen and Ember Bay requires doing the story to access it.
Huh? To get access to the zone (what this thread is about) at least one of your characters needs to have done the first instance. Your other characters can enter after that to collect berries or whatever, but that does not remove the story lock on that first character.
The story isn’t that hard. Really. It’s also not that buggy. Those who say its’ bugged or hard will have a hard time proving it now, since it was fixed shortly after launch and Aurene doesn’t get stuck anymore. I’ve done the story easily a dozen times and I’d be happy to help someone through it.
You have to do one story once, to get one character through, but after you do it on one character, every other character can just walk through the gate. What’ you’re talking about is 20 minutes one time to unlock the new zone on every single character.
There are quite a few issues with this game, but this isnt’ one of them.
I’d be willing to help people through this story who can’t make it on their own, if they’re on a US server.
The complaints about Hearts and Minds is one thing, but I haven’t experienced a single bug in this story since they fixed Aurene a couple of weeks after the patch.
It’d be cool if you could skip all the dialogue, at the least. This is why it’s so painful for me to go back and even consider replaying LS2 on other characters — you have to wait for them to completely finish their speeches before anything interactable comes up. Sometimes I just want explorable, and, yes truly explorable mode for stories, dungeons, etc. Very much like the Nightmare fractal, where you just cross a line or interact with an orb and the next part just begins. It’s not that I don’t like the voice acting but rather that I’ve heard it so many times…
Sometimes I’m just thinking, “Stop talking already — I don’t need to know why I need to interact with this thing, just let me do it.”
That’d greatly speed up your experience.
It’d be cool if you could skip all the dialogue, at the least. This is why it’s so painful for me to go back and even consider replaying LS2 on other characters — you have to wait for them to completely finish their speeches before anything interactable comes up. Sometimes I just want explorable, and, yes truly explorable mode for stories, dungeons, etc. Very much like the Nightmare fractal, where you just cross a line or interact with an orb and the next part just begins. It’s not that I don’t like the voice acting but rather that I’ve heard it so many times…
Sometimes I’m just thinking, “Stop talking already — I don’t need to know why I need to interact with this thing, just let me do it.”
That’d greatly speed up your experience.
Makes you miss the good old days of walls of text doesn’kitten :P
Beats standing around for hours waiting for NPCs to kitten.
Also it is possible to simply walk through the portal without doing any part of the story. No idea if that is related to having completed the story on another character. It does make the scroll pretty much useless if your character already has Frostgorge Sound.
Was about to suggest the same thing… I skipped most stories for new zones by doing this but even then I only enter new zones to see what’s going, have a look around then back to PvP.
I mostly play for the new Free-For-All arena in PvP lobby.
….. And Elementalist.
The only reason I can manage, oh, 2 berry runs in a day is by giving up participating in other content.