HOT story accessibility
The period that Season2 of living world was free after it ended was REALLY long, months. The new Seasons of LW will be gated by HoT, but that is all we know, we do not know if you will have to buy them seperately from HoT if you wait long enough
The period that Season2 of living world was free after it ended was REALLY long, months.
Not true, I logged in only rarely during LW2’s existence and l had unlocked when I re-started playing some weeks ago were chapters 1,2 and 7, clearly showing that the chapters ceased to be unlocked the moment the next one was released otherwise I’d have 1-7, so the OP is right about the unlock mechanics for it.
It was for every story part at least 2 weeks time you had to log in and get the story, some episode the time was even longer than that, so it was really long enough time to do a single log in.
Besides that, only thing we know is like it was allready said, that you need the addon for it.
Don’t expect to see LW stuff until next year, not with the state of the game currently.
Waiting to make my purchase then, seeing as I can already get over £13 off the game as it currently stands. I’m sure I’ll get more in the new year.
This seems like one of those issues that will be slipped into a blog post about LS the night before it goes live.
The story that comes with Heart of Thorns is permanent; no time expiration.
Living Story Season 3 (a different story/expanded story) requires one to own Heart of Thorns, and as far as has been gleaned from interviews/streams/etc. seems to be fashioned in the same way as Season Two…free for a period of time – available for purchase later.
I’m sure if there are any changes to the method of acquiring LS Season 3, the Devs will release an announcement.
Good luck.
This seems like one of those issues that will be slipped into a blog post about LS the night before it goes live.
I hope not.
The story that comes with Heart of Thorns is permanent; no time expiration.
Living Story Season 3 (a different story/expanded story) requires one to own Heart of Thorns, and as far as has been gleaned from interviews/streams/etc. seems to be fashioned in the same way as Season Two…free for a period of time – available for purchase later.
I’m sure if there are any changes to the method of acquiring LS Season 3, the Devs will release an announcement.
Good luck.
Do you know how long this period was?
Season 2 chapeters were each free during their first two weeks. Logging in once during that period meant having it forever. When the new patch and new chapter came the previous one was no longer free.
Yes. See above.
Guild Wars 2 core game had a story that was available for everyone who purchased the game. The story was unlocked for everyone and people could play it at anytime.
However, ArenaNet started to introduced Living Story episodes afterwards. These LS episodes take the story forward and expand on it. LS episodes are available for everyone who purchased the core game. However, when en episode is released, you have a 2-week period to login. You DON’T need to play the episode during these 2 weeks, you just need to login once and the episode will be unlocked for you and you can play it at any given time.
HoT also has a story simliar to the core game. HoT story is open and can be played at anytime by people who own the game.
However, ArenaNet is also going to release Living Story season 3 to take the story forward. To access Living Story episodes, you gotta own HoT. While it is not confirmed, one could assume that Anet is going to use the same system here and people who own HoT need to login during the 2-weeks-timeperiod to obtain the episode.
It is just like a TV series. You are supposed to catch up the Live episodes by loggin in (you don’t need to play them during the 2-weeks-span, only login). If you are already inactive and don’t login regularly, Anet assumes you are not an active costumer adn tehrefore you have to pay for the episodes yourself later on.
Core Gw2 gated it’s story chapters by the necessity to log in shortly after said story chapter was released.
Meaning, if you were not logged in while the chapter was still new (I don’t know how long that period was), you had to buy it afterwards.
I don’t own HOT yet, but am curious if this philosophy is still valid in this version of GW2.
If I buy HOT few months from now, will I be required to buy story or any of it’s chapters separately? If so, how long is this grace period where you get all HOT story free, included in the price of HOT?
Short answer: No.
Long answer:
The original personal story is not gated any way, shape, or form in terms of owning it. You’re gated in leveling – so is some HoT story instances (the four Acts, in fact, are gated by masteries not counting the first two of Act 1 – well, three of the four Acts now, given that the last mastery gate was removed).
The unlocking-for-free gating that you’re talking about was done for Season 2, part of the Living World – not around for Season 1 as Anet at the time wanted to have a “always progressing” world, which didn’t settle well for players given that they cannot play constantly and thus would miss out on the story (and many did – even myself at some points) as well as the achievement points.
The expansion is not part of the Living World updates. However, Season 3 will require HoT ownership to both play and unlock – so even if you log in GW2 when Season 3’s episodes release, but you don’t own HoT you won’t unlock them. Or so it is implied – hopefully ArenaNet will change that when Season 3 begins. Do note that we do not yet have an ETA on Season 3.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.