Guild Wars 2

was just curious how the seasons have worked int he past. specifically since hot launched.

I mean you bought hot…..and im assuming s1 was the hot story itself? is that correct?

Then s2 was something u bought AFTERWARDS that gave u 10 more instances/chapters? Were they as long or as good as the hot base game ones? You all pay money for this or was it available for gems from the get go?

Then for s3 i guess u pay again?

Was just kinda confused s2 wasn’t included in the hot promotion…i mean its half of its gem price but thats stilll alot, and it means real life currency for new players no doubt.

Also how were the rewards for the past seasons? I mean i finished the hot story a few days after i bought it last week and was pretty disappointed by my final rewards at the end.

Is the point of each season really just 2-3 hours of story content? Im not saying thats bad or anything, im just wondering.

And if i wait until i can pay halfprice for the seasons does that effect their quality in any way? i thought it read that achievements for past seasons disappear, is there anything else that u lose by waiting?

s1 was mostly temporary content that is no longer available.
s2 was out BEFORE HoT.
s3 (episode one) is out today.

afaik – they are sticking with the same model kitten. Meaning the content is free so long as you log in during the release window ( which looks set to be 2-3 months..)

afaik 2: the episodes “unlock” ( essentially you wont have to pay for them), even if you haven’t purchased hot, however you need to purchase hot to actually play the episodes in s3.

edit: also think of seasons/episodes as a tv show. But interactive.

Cerby.1069:

I mean you bought hot…..and im assuming s1 was the hot story itself? is that correct?

No. The core game has a story about the world and about your character called the Personal Story, which primarily takes place in instances that become available every 10 levels.

After the game was released the story of the world and your character continued in two periods, these periods were called living world season 1 (which was mostly temporary open world stuff) and living world season 2 (which was mostly repeatable instanced stuff). The story was then further contined in the expansion, Heart of Thorns. The first episode of season 3 of the living world (which thus takes place after the expansion’s story) will start tomorrow.

Note: Living world and living story are often used interchangeably.

Cerby.1069:

Then s2 was something u bought AFTERWARDS that gave u 10 more instances/chapters? Were they as long or as good as the hot base game ones? You all pay money for this or was it available for gems from the get go?

As I said, season 2 came out before HoT. A chapter was free as long as you logged in within 2 weeks after a chapter released. I’d say the chapters are similar in qualityato HoT’s story. Season 2 (thus all of its chapters combined) was longer than HoT however. They were never available for money directly, only for gems (and thus available for in-game gold which your then exchange for gems).

Note that you can also play the instances for free if you party with someone else who has the chapters unlocked. However, playing the instances in this way only allows you to experience the story. It doesn’t reward you with achievement points, mastery points and items.

Cerby.1069:

Then for s3 i guess u pay again?

No, it works the same as season 2. You log in during the unlocking period and you get it for free (whether you own HoT or not). You still need HoT to actually play the chapters though.

Cerby.1069:

Also how were the rewards for the past seasons? I mean i finished the hot story a few days after i bought it last week and was pretty disappointed by my final rewards at the end.

You can check out the rewards here: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_season_2 (requires some clicking to get to a story chapter and then to the specific parts of the story that give rewards). And of course there are additional rewards for achievements.

Cerby.1069:

Is the point of each season really just 2-3 hours of story content? Im not saying thats bad or anything, im just wondering.

That is the point of a chapter, not an entire season. Plus chapters usually have additional content. For example, season 2 gave us 2 new zones, new skins, new achievements and so on.

Cerby.1069:

And if i wait until i can pay halfprice for the seasons does that effect their quality in any way? i thought it read that achievements for past seasons disappear, is there anything else that u lose by waiting?

There is nothing you lose by waiting. That was only true for season 1.

You can lose the ability to ‘unlock’ the Season 3 Episodes at no cost by waiting, but only if you do not log in, at all, in the 2 or 3 months the Season 3 Episode is active. Which probably isn’t likely for most active/semi-active players. That would be the only way to incur a cost for the Season’s Episodes.

Good luck.

Cerby.1069:

I mean you bought hot…..and im assuming s1 was the hot story itself? is that correct?

Seasons are stories bridging major releases like Launch and expacs. They are not the actual stories from HoT or the Personal Story.

S1 took place a couple of months after launch, set after the Personal Story against Zhaitan and ran for just over a year, incorporating all the festivals as well. Sadly S1 is gone with no sign of a return or a direction from management indicating they will make a version compatible with the current game (it could not exist as a straight re-release)

S2 is a series of episodes which is largely the same structure as HoT. It furthers the fall out from S1 and sets up HoT.

S3 will follow the story from HoT

Season 1 consisted of patches every few weeks (around 2012-2013ish) that progressed a story that took place after the personal story. These added new events/instances/boss fights. That content was all temporary and is currently not in the game, apart from the special dungeon path in Twilight Arbor.

Season 2 consisted of 8 episodes and they included 2 new maps (Drytop and Silverwastes). Those 8 episodes can still be bought and played today (but were free unlocks if you logged in while they were in their release period) as they play out in those maps (and some old ones) and in instances. They changed to this format because many people felt very pressured to play through season 1 content (which usually lasted for 2 weeks only with limited achievements/rewards such as skins). While season 2 rolled out small hints were added in the weeks between episodes, in that case it were vines that started popping up around waypoints and some other small details. This story was a setup leading to Heart of Thorns.

With season 3 we are sticking to a format similar to season 3, if you log in during the release period of each episode you unlock them for your account permanently. Because the release cycle will be different it’s likely that there will be new episodes every 2-3 months, but with much more content in each update. You will need to have Heart of Thorns to play them, but don’t need to have it to unlock them (in case you buy Heart of Thorns later you’d be able to access them instantly if unlocked). This story will be playing out after the Heart of Thorns story and likely will set up the next expansion. As of now nobody knows exactly how big this season will be and how many episodes there will be.