Guild Wars 2

I finally got around to doing Hearts and Minds last night. The HoT story was entertaining, albeit short. One thing I bothers me is that unlike the personal story and season 2, this story did not feel epic. It felt out of proportion to the threat Mordremoth posed. Also, I understand that with deaths that occurred during the story it ended on a somewhat solemn note, but defeating Mordremoth should have felt at least a little victorific.

As I start season 3, I hope it brings back that sense of an epic tale.

As I’ve said many times, half the story of HoT is in the zones. For example the modremoth fight in Dragon Stand is much better and more interesting than the one in the story.;

Vayne.8563:

For example the modremoth fight in Dragon Stand is much better and more interesting than the one in the story.;

I agree.

Unlike many games anet follows a stance at least since hot id say where alot of the story takes parts in the maps the metas etc and experiencing those is part of the story. Not everyone will prob see it as that but that was the idea they were going for and i would say it work out fine.

EDIT: vayne pretty much said it before me my life has no longer meaning ;-;

The weirdness is mostly about how the story handled the characters…. in that, its more like stuff happens around them rather then directly to them. As a result, there isn’t much in the way of personal stakes in the Story battle Mordy, because you don’t really have much interaction with it prior to the fight.

I can’t really articulate this fully… but its that the HOT story was written as novel, and we’re supposed to put more emotional weight in the struggles of our companions. But HOT is the 3rd book in a series; and it presumes we know enough about the characters in this part of the story.
That doesn’t really work when most new players don’t understand the characters established in LS1, and HOT doesn’t have time to do a shorter version to get players up to speed. Thats a problem when you’re putting the narrative focus on those characters, but the audience has no time to get attached to them.

If we look back at the Pact portion of Personal Story, the fight with Zhaitan felt unfulfilling because the “lead up” to the battle was great, but the battle itself ended mid-note. During most of that story, Zhaitan was “felt” in everything that happened… even if he wasn’t specifically, you still believed he was watching your every move, and somehow managed to be one step ahead of you through the whole story. That sense of an ongoing mind game is what stood out about Zhaitan as an enemy, and highlighted by how every loss of life shift power in his favor. Even if it felt forced at times, you still got the sense of things being an uphill battle as you try and solve the puzzle of “how do you kill a dragon?”. At this point its no secret that the last section of the Zhaitan fight was cut due to time; and that pretty much confirmed everyone’s feeling that things were leading up to a bigger ending. You had every motivation to want that fight to be personal… and right when the excitement of the situation started to peak….. you sparkle him to death with fireworks for 2 minutes.

Which brings us to Mordremoth. It had a lot of the same story beats as Pact Tyria…. but there was one key difference. Mordremoth didn’t feel like the real threat through most of that story, because the threats weren’t directed at you, so much as it was directed at your companions. The only thing that you felt was the time pressure to do certain things…. and that pressure was disrupted with the how the map stories constantly distract you with their situations. Which, ironically, is a far better story when seen from the perspective of a Pact Commander trying to salvage and rally the Pact Fleet, and ignoring the personal story completely. These are 2 divergent character paths that were glued together, but still distinctly separate parallel arcs. Thats why the chapters in VB start out strong- but when you start breaking of to do your own thing with the Egg, the pacing starts to feel off.

This is a type of situation that should had called for a Second character to run parallel with the Player, as a way to keep continuity between the different sections. Its the same dynamic with the Player and Treherine when they took up the Marshal and Commander ranks. While one was out in the field doing something, the other would be complementing that work with another task. This idea keeps the player aware of both sides of the story, and eventually converges again to decide their next move. But in HOT, the player spends most of the story sections detached from the Pact, and even most of his companions. And when the companions are around, they’re the ones doing most of the story work.

And thats why the fight with Mordremoth feels less personal, despite you having a one on one fight with it at the end…… the player wasn’t actually the main character for most of the story. At the same time, the Dragonstand Fight is a lot more satisfying, because the Map Meta in VB, AB and TD all organically converge toward this one event…. as the remains of the Pact Fleet, your new Allies, and all the “Commanders” pull together to confront the Dragon where it lives. This was the fulfillment of what we expected with the Zhaitan fight; and as Mordy tries to belittle and intimidate you, it makes you appreciate the opportunity to bash its face in, in person.

starlinvf.1358:

Mordremoth didn’t feel like the real threat through most of that story, because the threats weren’t directed at you, so much as it was directed at your companions.

Well said.

DeadTreeJig.6714:

As I start season 3, I hope it brings back that sense of an epic tale.

Oh boy. Prepair yourself for great disappointment there. Ep5 story is awefull and ruins all the season 3.

Ider.1276:

DeadTreeJig.6714:

As I start season 3, I hope it brings back that sense of an epic tale.

Oh boy. Prepair yourself for great disappointment there. Ep5 story is awefull and ruins all the season 3.

Well, maybe the upcoming expansion, or season 4. I can still hope.

Ider.1276:

DeadTreeJig.6714:

As I start season 3, I hope it brings back that sense of an epic tale.

Oh boy. Prepair yourself for great disappointment there. Ep5 story is awefull and ruins all the season 3.

the return of a “big guy” is epic, i liked it.

DeadTreeJig.6714:

One thing I bothers me is that unlike the personal story and season 2, this story did not feel epic. It felt out of proportion to the threat Mordremoth posed. Also, I understand that with deaths that occurred during the story it ended on a somewhat solemn note, but defeating Mordremoth should have felt at least a little victorific.

That’s because the actual fight in the physical realm is taking place in the Dragon’s Stand map’s meta event, where you have a more epic experience of defeating Mordremoth.

In Hearts and Minds you only break the power Mordremoth has over his subjects (Sylvari for most part).

Ashantara.8731:

DeadTreeJig.6714:

One thing I bothers me is that unlike the personal story and season 2, this story did not feel epic. It felt out of proportion to the threat Mordremoth posed. Also, I understand that with deaths that occurred during the story it ended on a somewhat solemn note, but defeating Mordremoth should have felt at least a little victorific.

That’s because the actual fight in the physical realm is taking place in the Dragon’s Stand map’s meta event, where you have a more epic experience of defeating Mordremoth.

In Hearts and Minds you only break the power Mordremoth has over his subjects (Sylvari for most part).

More like you destroy his mind, while everyone else is destroying his body.