Guild Wars 2

I thought I might as well post it here, since all you lore-freaks (and I mean that in a good way) might welcome this. – It also went on the suggestion page, but the only comment I’ve got is that ANet doesn’t care about their lore because the playerbase don’t.

Anyhow, if any of you have played GW1 you may have noticed that one the map, when selecting an outpost or town to fast travel to, you’d get a panel that explained some lore and story of the place, introducing it in a nice way with just enough lore to give the player a taste of what had happened.

- GW2 doesn’t come with the towns or outposts, but it does come with waypoints and (most importantly) points of interests.
Because the waypoints are more recent lore, they could tell some of the issues the town or outpost is seeing, if a panel was added. We already have a panel, but it is mainly there to ask you if you truly want to travel there (or do we? I actually don’t remember right now, I so rarely use them).

- The points of interests, however, would do well with a panel introducing the finer points of why this exact place is of worth noticing and why it should have a particular interest to the player.

I think it would be a nice way of implementing lore into the game without adding (as some players have suggested over the past 6 or 7 months) the old quest system to accommodate this.

I would rather learn more about the lore of Tyria in the game than on the wiki, if I have to be honest.
- Do you guys agree or what is your take on this?

I don’t know that the waypoints would be necessary, but I whole heartedly agree on the points of interest. There are many PoI’s that I see on the map that I have no clue what they’re referencing, or such, it would be nice to hover over and get a brief blip about why the location is named. I know it may seem rediculous (there being hundreds of PoI’s) but I would honestly read each and every one of them.

Sinifair.1026:

It also went on the suggestion page, but the only comment I’ve got is that ANet doesn’t care about their lore because the playerbase don’t.

Let me start by saying whoever said this is a kittening idiot.

Sinifair.1026:

Do you guys agree or what is your take on this?

I do agree, I like the idea greatly, though I don’t think clicking should be necessary – simply expand the hover-over box would be enough IMO.

I’m also surprised this hasn’t been thought of before (as far as I know).

Like Narcemus, I would read each PoI that comes with a label.

And hell, why not do the same for zone and area names? Remember during the early betas when the loading screens for zones, instances, and personal story steps had quotation descriptions about the events of the personal story or information on the zone/instance? I wish they didn’t remove those – far more interesting than reading your map completion progress when it’s on the bloody world map.

you can most of the time find the so-called idiots everywhere on this forum, except in lore forum, where a not-so-well-thought complaining, whining, attention-whoring, flaming threads (usually accompanied by elementary-school-ish spelling) get grilled, grounded so fast, thanks for the lore-lovers

Konig Des Todes.2086:

And hell, why not do the same for zone and area names? Remember during the early betas when the loading screens for zones, instances, and personal story steps had quotation descriptions about the events of the personal story or information on the zone/instance? I wish they didn’t remove those – far more interesting than reading your map completion progress when it’s on the bloody world map.

Oh yes, I remember it very well indeed.
- Actually, I also remember the log-in screen that while superflous was the first impression of the game, and was an awesome feature (only after they removed it did I realize that it seemed essential, but that’s off topic here).

The Guild Wars lore is rich and very enchanting, when one gets into it. A lot of dark events have taken place in this world, and while I think that humor has its place even in a dark universe, I also think they should be more serious about the lore in GW2.
- I found Magister Sieran very much annoying – I might as well admit it.

Also Tybalt (and I’m not out to flame him here, mind you. I understand that many people like him, and I haven’t personally played through the Order of Whispers storyline yet) was a character that wasn’t good at introducing the Order.
- Remember the Order of Whispers in GW1? They were truly hard core, serious and professional in their work, while Tybalt panicks and talks about apples in a way that would make anyone suspicious.
- I think they should work more on their characters. I like that Braham and Rox are more serious about the troubles at hand, but I’d personally have liked for ANet to introduce some of those characters that we already know and expanding their story, but I just sorta go with it right now.

Anyhow, you guys may have some ideas on how to improve storytelling and such, and please, feel free to share them here.
- I’ll see you guys in game.

Every game has annoying npc’s, or atleast npc’s with a character that you dislike.

As for Tybalt. I really suggest you play through the whole OoW content on your own character before judging. It is very well done, if there is some npc that is out of lore it is Demi and not Tybalt. He fits in perfectly and his reactions are all explained.

To get more on topic. Indeed it would be nice to have a small single line description under each PoI.
e.g:
Serrated Blade Tavern -Happy hour at 5 and please ignore the whispers from above-
Malchor’s Anguish -Made for the one he loved above all other 5-

The quibble about him not being an ideal introduction to the OoW is on target though (at least IMO). Yeah, I’m glad he was in the game, good character just not a good fit for the situation.

Absolutely concur on the fluff text for PoIs. If it’s a point of interest, tell me what’s interesting! (Apart from the view, and sometimes that’s probably what it is, but not always.)

Thing is – Tybalt’s the second introductor into the OoW. Ihen and the rest met during the level 20-30 storylines are the ones who introduces the order, and each one of them is serious.

I would like to see an improved book interface in GW2. At the moment, books use the same box as NPC dialogue which only allows for around 2 sentences per box. It was quite dissapointing when I got into the Priory library the first time expecting to be there for a long while. It’s been done in MMORPG’s before, both Aion and Rift had books scattered around the world with nice, large peices of text in them which allowed them to actually tell a short story or at least include enough information to make up a small magazine column. Infact, in Rift each player picked up a copy of the book and kept it with them at all times in its own area on the UI, which is GW2 would equate to a literature tab in the hero window.

I know it’s a small nitpick but it’s one I feel would really improve the way developers could scatter lore around the world. Those notes and journals and scraps of paper left lying around places of ruin or at the end of crypts etc. could have multiple entries and really flesh out the area.

I personally am of the belief that we should have our own personal library, especially if you are Durmand Priory, and that you should be able to find books in obscure places in order to expand your understanding of lore as well as give people reasons to fully explore the world.

The waypoint/POI lore idea is awesome, I loved reading about the outposts in GW1.

Books in GW2 should be like the player’s quest books (Flameseeker Prophecies, Togo’s Story, Dungeon Master Guide, Zho’s Journal etc) from GW1. They contained a lot of info while at the same time being compact and quick to get through. You could even turn the pages.

I agree about Tybalt. Love the guy, he’s my favorite mentor of the 3, and one of the better written characters, but there should’ve been more Doern to be honest. That guy reminds me of the old Order of Whispers (which come to think of it, is so out in the open nowadays). I don’t even think Sieran is a good Priory rep to be honest. There’s no character that has the feel of Durmand the Historian from the old game. The Vigil is a bread and butter army faction so I didn’t expect much, but the OoW and Durmand Priory have history connecting to the old game, yet their history or just the feel of them is so unfinished. 250 years have turned an organization that preserves history into a bunch of scientists. I’d like to see mention of that transition. 250 years have turned an organization that no one’s heard about into one that sets up a booth in every major city. End off-topic rant

In their defense, the Order of Whispers are usually found in the uncommon areas of Taverns and/or caverns that are only accessable by moving through the sewers of Lion’s Arch. I think the only open booth is in The Grove, which is probably because of the way sylvari are.

Even still, the fact that there’s a booth in the Grove that says “Hey look at us but don’t ask questions” is the worst way to recruit for a secret organization

The Order of Whispers openly shows their existence now, and it’s even outright lampshaded in the Grove that their camp in the Grove is the most open there is anywhere else. It’s just that they don’t openly show what they do specifically let alone all of their bases.

Even though its obvious to players, the Lion’s Arch base is hidden, for example, and they deny it being a spy hideout.