Guild Wars 2

Sometimes I really wonder: Would story-driven quests (which tell their own little stories) actually be bad for the game? Developers themselves state that events have little room for storytelling…

…so I think there’s stuff like this missing in the game.

We already had quests in the game. Everyone who experienced last Halloween can probably remember. Mad King Memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF_Xltpc_Do

Anet nailed it already, those worked great in the game (I can’t remember a single negative reaction about this), and it had a great narrative, awesome storytelling in it’s own little context. I still wear the backpiece with pride and it reminds me everyday what would be possible in GW2.

please, more of that dear Anet.

Yeah, the Mad King Memories quest was awesome.

I think there is room for more of these, providing they are quests, and not tasks that are just named ‘quests’. I also don’t think that quests should have any indicator that you’re on a quest.

As for the whole events and storytelling thing, eh.

I can see some difficulties in this, such as balancing immersion with providing the main source of XP, as well as workload into planning and crafting the event.

However, if you also take into account not just speech and text, but also the mechanics of the event, how the event progresses ect, you could use these parts of the event to also tell the story.

I’d say the pre-event for Dwayna temple is a good example of this.

The event chains tell little stories, just stick around and listen to the npcs.

Marcus Greythorne.6843:

Sometimes I really wonder: Would story-driven quests (which tell their own little stories) actually be bad for the game? Developers themselves state that events have little room for storytelling…

…so I think there’s stuff like this missing in the game.

We already had quests in the game. Everyone who experienced last Halloween can probably remember. Mad King Memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF_Xltpc_Do

Anet nailed it already, those worked great in the game (I can’t remember a single negative reaction about this), and it had a great narrative, awesome storytelling in it’s own little context. I still wear the backpiece with pride and it reminds me everyday what would be possible in GW2.

please, more of that dear Anet.

First, you should really change your title as there are more than a few Story-Driven quests in the game. From the one about the lady who lost her husband in a cave (this is in Harathi Hinterlands just south of the centaur camps); to the children and the Ritual of Bear (in Wayfarer Foothills). There are 100’s to possibly 1,000’s of these spread all throughout Tyria, it’s up to players to discover and find them. Most are pointed out to start by an obnoxious NPC running over to you to scream “help, help” and then the trigger starts the Dynamic Event chain.

SIDE NOTE: Forgot another really interesting story Dynamic Event in Dreadnaught Cliffs. It’s related to a “suitor” for this Norn woman who’s passed off by another. He then turns to the Sons of Svanir for power, only to be double crossed by a veteran shaman-like leader there who tries to just absorb him in some ritual for power for himself. Really interesting story of love, despair, and blind following.

But…. my main point I really wanted to bring to the table is your thing about “epic story quests” is an example pulled out of a MAIN HOLIDAY EVENT. Those events will always be of an epic, grand scale. Don’t necessarily expect something like that every two-weeks, when instead expect something similar in October (Halloween), December (Wintersday), July (Dragon Bash), and possible April 1st (April Fool’s Day) [although that was less story, more Adventure, of the Super Boxy type].

you’re telling me there are 100s or even 1000s of these story-driven events in the game? Are you kidding me, have you even played the game? Those events are very rare. I won’t go to wiki and link all the events which are story driven since it’s quite a bit of work, but not nearly as you make it out to be.

It could work if GW2 hired better writers. At the moment I feel the quality of the GW2 story lines is just about right for young teenagers….so is Twilight.

I’m all for deeper quests in the game. It’s one thing this game is definitely missing that would improve it for people like me.

I for one would love to have some follow up quests to the various characters in my personal story, especially the early ones that hang around my home district. Maybe some additional stuff for my order as well. The home area story arcs were my favorite in the game because they had a lot of personality and really felt like my character was involved and not just a casual observer or passerby. The events really make the world feel more alive, but they ultimately are just part of the scenery. Some multiple zone spanning stories about these people who were a major part of our storyline would be awesome, and many of these characters deserve an epilogue, if not some sort of prologue. I’d like to know how my old krewes and warbands are doing!

Every event is story driven is just not put in a neat manuscript pdf for you to read you got to “play” the story and be part of it and not just sit back and read. That the different between video games and books/movies.

Jski.6180:

Every event is story driven is just not put in a neat manuscript pdf for you to read you got to “play” the story and be part of it and not just sit back and read. That the different between video games and books/movies.

let’s see. I’ll take a rather later release since you can expect that dynamic event implementations improve over time.

Southsun Cove:

Events (from the Wiki)

• Help Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv plant explosives in karka nests (80)
• Help find missing Consortium property in ruined camp and skelk nests, and kill local reef skelk (80)
• Bring karka eggs to Owain (80)
• Help Advisor Zakk repair his golem and reclaim his training area (80)
• [Group Event] Kill the reef shark in Sawtooth Bay (80)
• Kill the reef drake broodmother threatening the Lionguard (80)
• Patrol with the Lionguard to secure the road (80)

Nr.1: Help Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv plant explosives in karka nests (80)
Dialogue Text:

Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv: “I’m ready. Someone make sure to keep those skittering horrors out of my way.”
Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv: “Our roles are simple: I set the charges, you keep those creatures off my back.
Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv: *”I wish I had something clever to say right now."*
Lionguard Demolitionist Varrv: “Get back! It’s about to become uncomfortably warm in here.”

from the wiki it seems that’s the whole dialogue

Nr.2: Help find missing Consortium property in ruined camp and skelk nests, and kill local reef skelk (80)
Dialogue text:

Adviser Lorcan: "I understand your concerns, but the travel package clearly states, “No refunds”. I can, however, offer you the Consortium’s heartfelt thanks for your patronage."
Advisor Okk: “This site is the outcome of an unfortunate project. Forensic retrieval is ongoing. We appreciate your discretion.”

is there even more to it?

Nr.3: Bring karka eggs to Owain (80)
Dialogue text:

Want an omelet? You’d better get cracking! Those swarming critters or their nests, that is, not the eggs. I’ll handle those.
Starting event:
Owain: Who’s hungry? Bring me the eggs from those creatures and I’ll whip you up a taste sensation.
Upon receiving enough eggs:
Owain: The Griddle’s fired up. I just hope I have enough eggs to feed everyone.
After making omelets:
Owain: Great! Now there’ll be plenty for everyone. Oh yes. (giggles)"
Owain: Wait until you taste this. There’s nothing like it back in-back in Tyria… (cries)

… mmmh

Sorry I can’t go on with this. Can’t wait to find out which story drives the reef shark event or the broodmother event.

Mad King Memories was a great step in a good direction in my opinion, I really hope we see more of that.

The greatest thing about these types of quests is that they can span across zones and thus be more epic.