Guild Wars 2

I’ve read about some of The Lore in gws. I’m really interested in it but as I actually play the game I feel disconnected from it everywhere besides the personal story. I just complete hearts and dynamic events and get very little of the story behind it all. It almost feels empty. Anyone else get that feeling/any tips to keep emerged in the story?

That is unfortunately one of the problems I’ve also found with GW2. I came from GW1 already loving the world of Tyria and I can read GW-related lore articles for hours on end, but when I’m in game I very frequently feel disconnected from that side of the world.

Talk to named NPC’s, they quite often have loreish dialogue that can be a little more in-depth than the dialogue of the Heart-NPC’s. Pay attention to the names of zones and POI’s. You really have to go looking for the lore in a lot of areas.

Yeah, the lore is a little less blatantly shoveled into your face as it was during GW1. Being honest, some of the parts had trucks full of exposition, and some were good about “pick up as you go along, bookah”.

Here, you do have to actually interact with NPCs and ask around areas. Or stand around and listen to conversations going on.

You really have to go talking to NPCs or listening to the idle dialogues. Just completing stuff or even reading event dialogue won’t give you much of anything. Hearts contain next to no lore on average (though there are a couple which do give lore, such as the tengu in Kessex Hills) and even then it’s only before completing the heart, usually, and the events which contain lore other than “these things are happening” is fairly uncommon (but existent) – kind of the same with explorable mode dungeons – it exists, but its not the focus of the activity.

And despite what FlamingFoxx said, talk to generic NPCs as well – every now and then there’s a generically named NPC that actually has a dialogue box. For example, one of the patrolling Seraph Guard NPCs in Fort Salma of Kessex Hills gives a lot of lore on the centaurs – more than seen just about in any other one spot, actually.

GW2’s lore is, as above said, hidden.

This said, yes, lately I’ve been feeling disconnected with the game’s story. Both in how it feels like there’s no progress in the open world (hopefully as the living story gets put into full gear after Flame and Frost, this won’t be such an issue! crosses fingers), and in the direction lore is going – and how often I find inconsistencies (intentional or not). Then also I feel disconnected cuz I feel as though I’ve done just about everything (even though I know this isn’t the case, its just that there’s so little left and what’s been added – only Southsun Cove having stayed other than the preview for Flame and Frost – is rather lackluster content wise).

Just like the latter years of GW1, only the discussions on the game’s lore is keeping me going in interest.

^— Yes but it can be really torturous talking to hundreds of generic NPC’s.
Yes some of them to have dialogue chains (and quite interesting ones at that), you end up talking to a lot of generic response NPC’s in the process, which can make the world feel just a little more flat.

Ok. I was just wondering if I was missing something or if it was a universal feeling. Thanks for the comments and advice warheads…

Warheads? Possible slang for Guild Wars players? probably not, but I tried.

Named NPCs mostly all have unique dialogue options, and some of them also change based on your race/gender/order/personal story choices (if you have a Whispers character, see how many hidden agents you can root out). Not all of them are strictly related to the lore, but a lot of them talk about the history, the present, and themselves. And a lot of NPCs in towns/outposts/before and after events/etc will stop and talk to each other if you catch it.

Paying attention to and engaging NPCs in any part of the game can really tell you a lot, and it’s what keeps me engaged in the world—I’m always finding someone I never talked to before, or who actually says something different to an alt, or overhear a conversation for the very first time and it adds something lively or tells me something I didn’t know before.

athuria.2751:

(if you have a Whispers character, see how many hidden agents you can root out).

This is seriously a hobby of mine, you know. It’s very entertaining to do, and the hidden agents often will tell you a bit about the region you’re in. Take for instance an agent in Dredgehaunt Cliffs, who tells you there’s a steading nearby which the Sons of Svanir have taken over.

Then there’s the one in Brisban, who MASSIVELY helps a Renown Heart if you can find her.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

athuria.2751:

(if you have a Whispers character, see how many hidden agents you can root out).

This is seriously a hobby of mine, you know.

Haha, same here. You’d be very surprised just how many Order of Whispers agents can be found in Hoelbrak – and with interesting new lore too – compared to the other racial hometowns.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Then there’s the one in Brisban, who MASSIVELY helps a Renown Heart if you can find her.

Hmm, doesn’t ring a bell to me. Then again, I don’t think I’ve been to the Maguuma with any Whispers characters…

I tried to for the first few months, I really did, but it just didn’t grab me in any discernible way. I’ve only finished 3 dungeons in story mode. And the very last quest to kill Zhaitan has been queued since November I think.

There was something about being on a giant, floating supercarrier shooting lasers that made me say, “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Tyria anymore.”

jweez.7214:

I’ve read about some of The Lore in gws. I’m really interested in it but as I actually play the game I feel disconnected from it everywhere besides the personal story. I just complete hearts and dynamic events and get very little of the story behind it all. It almost feels empty. Anyone else get that feeling/any tips to keep emerged in the story?

read about rin then go to the char starting city, the rin ruins that are there – I never felt more connected doing the jumping puzzle and walking through what use to be some ones hall way.

go swiming in LA, explore the old LA, what use to be – if you played GW then the layout underwater is identical….

When it comes to what Salacious was talking about, I was extremely disappointed to see the lack of dwarven ruins in the game, I mean yeah you find caves with dwarven ruins, and some of the outposts appear later on, but I wanted to see just one of those rusty metal bridges still existing in game

I guess I just haven’t played the game as much as the rest of you have. I’m still staying alive from a lore sense, of course I do love talking to every single NPC I run across.

Narcemus.1348:

When it comes to what Salacious was talking about, I was extremely disappointed to see the lack of dwarven ruins in the game, I mean yeah you find caves with dwarven ruins, and some of the outposts appear later on, but I wanted to see just one of those rusty metal bridges still existing in game

250 years is a long time for something made out of metal and wood, as I recall a lot of Deldrimor structures being . . . stone survives, but wood which isn’t cared for rots (Shiverpeak mountains with lots of cold and snow also presents other effects on wood over time) and metal will rust, weaken, and collapse.

The bulk of dwarven ruins appear to be underwater or half-buried. Probably because not much would have survived any other way.

Narcemus.1348:

When it comes to what Salacious was talking about, I was extremely disappointed to see the lack of dwarven ruins in the game, I mean yeah you find caves with dwarven ruins, and some of the outposts appear later on, but I wanted to see just one of those rusty metal bridges still existing in game

But we haven’t been to most places where said Deldrimor ruins should be (which would be just north of Snowden Drifts and east of Mount Maelstrom/Timberline Falls).

If you’re feeling disconnected from the story/world, my advice is definitely to talk to named NPCs as FlamingFoxx said. Anyone with their own name is highly likely to give a unique response when you greet them, which may or may not be lore-filled. Around the cities, for example, there are all kinds of interesting people – not to mention the randomly triggered dialogues you may or may not hear while walking around.

A lot of the GW2 lore than I love in-game is just finding places which I know to be significant. Nothing beats walking around the site of the Henge of Denravi or the ruins of Droknar’s Forge if you played GW1 and were there back then. Finding the tomb of Saul D’Alessio or swimming around Old Loin’s Arch were pretty exciting for me. If you know the world, you can feel a connection with the places and things you see; if you don’t, NPCs in the area will often fill you in.

You have to go looking for it if you want the lore in-game, but it is definitely there. Think of it like being in the Priory. People don’t just rant legends at you, but if you do some digging, things you might have passed by can end up having a lot of significance. Playing an Order of Whispers character does help add another dimension too, absolutely (I’m particularly fond of their base in Ebonhawke).

I really want to agree with you Curuniel, it definitely does have that kind of feeling to it. I really feel like this would move to another level if you could hunt out locations in the world, dungeons or caverns, and find books of lost lore, ancient tablets, and the such.

@Konig, there are many areas that had existed in the world that have been entirely wiped out for the sake of the norn starting area, and that was where this feeling first started. I know there are reasons for that, but still it made me sad. I was feeling better when I came to Lornar’s and further, but still it stinks. BTW Tobias there are wooden dwarven ruins at the bottom of a lake, I’m pretty sure they’d last above ground longer than underwater.

Narcemus.1348:

I really want to agree with you Curuniel, it definitely does have that kind of feeling to it. I really feel like this would move to another level if you could hunt out locations in the world, dungeons or caverns, and find books of lost lore, ancient tablets, and the such.

There are places you can do that, but I haven’t found them all. A few places in Orr have history scrolls laying about, the Priory has books (I understand they do, I don’t play Priory . . . yet . . .), and there are places where engravings or headstones can be found. An entire place in Brisban Wilderness is a love letter to “Druid’s Overlook” and “Sage Lands” from GW1, the Granite Citadel ruins has some fun stuff in it, and then there’s this tree somewhere with “two fives followed by an M” carved into it.

And Aurora’s Remains. These are four things which specifically connect back to GW1.

Narcemus.1348:

There are wooden dwarven ruins at the bottom of a lake, I’m pretty sure they’d last above ground longer than underwater.

Given the Shiverpeaks’ weather, I’m going to go with a “I doubt it”, with a side helping of a shrug and “that depends on what the dwarves did to that wood”. In Guild Wars 1 there were swamp ruins in Kryta and leaning shells of buildings in Ascalon which had no right to be standing either. There are some things you just stop thinking about before you get yanked completely out of a game by how unrealistic it is.

What I’m saying in the first part is more of a creation of a personal library in the finding these pieces. I understand what you are talking about, I have seen the Orrian History Scrolls and such.

Narcemus.1348:

What I’m saying in the first part is more of a creation of a personal library in the finding these pieces. I understand what you are talking about, I have seen the Orrian History Scrolls and such.

. . . you mean like finding things about the world and writing them down in an in-game journal? I would love this so hard I’d blow two weekends searching out all the lore entries in a history book the character would fill up.

Narcemus.1348:

@Konig, there are many areas that had existed in the world that have been entirely wiped out for the sake of the norn starting area, and that was where this feeling first started. I know there are reasons for that, but still it made me sad. I was feeling better when I came to Lornar’s and further, but still it stinks. BTW Tobias there are wooden dwarven ruins at the bottom of a lake, I’m pretty sure they’d last above ground longer than underwater.

Re: norn starting area: Actually, there shouldn’t be any ruins in the norn starting area (read: Wayfarer’s and Snowden Drifts) except Jalis’ Refuge (formerly Maladar’s Fort iirc) and possibly Graggult’s Keep.

Though I’ll admit, the disappearance of the Frost Gate is confusing (I originally thought it to be Frostgate Falls, but that doesn’t seem to be so…).

Regarding the underwater ruins – it depends on the qualities of the water. If there’s a lot of oxygen and bacteria then yes, however if there’s not then no. Given both the extreme cold of the Shiverpeaks and the apparent climate changes of where said ruins are, I can’t see a large variety of bacteria surviving – though I’m no germologist so I may be wrong.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Though I’ll admit, the disappearance of the Frost Gate is confusing (I originally thought it to be Frostgate Falls, but that doesn’t seem to be so…).

And now you have me comparing maps. Grandmaster Cartographer in Tyria in GW1 and now a full 100% explorer in GW2, I’ve got a lot of stuff to look at. Trying to extrapolate using this link here it seems the low path Rurik was on is now flooded with snowmelt runoff. And a Lionguard Haven is now built in the same area.

Yeah, you are right Konig, I’d never even second guessed that. Perhaps the Frost Gate Falls name comes from the run off from Frost Gate coming to that area, but it is obviously not the location of the Frost gate, I mean that is waaaaaaay south of where the old Beacon’s Perch was.

I like to stick around event NPCs after their events are done as I found that often the best “fleshing out” of the world occurs between event NPCs, just off the top of my head the lodge at Taigan groves and the troublemaking children there are great, watching the kids plan the bear summoning ritual and then carry it out is a lot of fun, as is watching the norn girl going around the house swapping flies with a greatsword.

When I started playing I too felt disconnected from the world but once I started noticing these and payed attention and looked for them I discovered that the world of GW2 is one of the most fleshed out fantasy worlds I have seen.