Guild Wars 2

I think that thread fits better into the “Personal Story” sub-forum. This is hardly a lore discussion.

I enjoyed it. Certainly better than the disjointed stories from gw propecies and gw factions, which still remain some of the worst story telling i have seen in an rpg.

But yes, prob wrong forum for this topic

There’s two things I generally disliked:

1) Some story arcs, especially the lvl 1-10, 10-20, and 40-48 ones (race-specific and racial sympathy storylines) felt far too short, and would have preferred twice as many steps in them, and more exposition in the racial sympathies (you’re just told to go somewhere dealing with a race, no foreknowledge on what the threat is, and the reasoning presented for chosing the race (e.g., grawl psychology) is never once brought up in some of the storylines). They were a good means of having a nice storyline that’d be more unique, squandered. The other story splits didn’t seem that bad, since they tied in more with other plots, but the first 20 levels worth felt too disconnected and irrelevant, with only some NPCs appearing later if you chose properly later on.

2) Story mode dungeons – yeah, not personal story, but still, they felt to… impersonal. I know they’re a “side plot” but it’s a plot where you only see pieces of it. I’d have much rather preferred that Destiny’s Edge comes and goes into your own personal story, rather than just leaves at lvl 30. As a charr, I felt no need to help Logan at Caudecus’ Manor or help Zojja at Sorrow’s Embrace. Even if it meant pulling the guild together – and in Arah, even if I didn’t help pull DE together, they were all there – unlike what ArenaNet said.

And yes, probably wrong forum.

Overall I loved it, but as many have pointed out before: around the time you join the order it becomes ‘impersonal’. It’s still about you, but not really (Trahearne) and whatever you did in the past doesn’t matter. Especially the latter is a shame: you never see characters from for instance your Warband, being Charr, anymore. I hope in future expansions/content they somehow make it so that the decisions in your character creation actually matter again, but right now, even though I loved playing through them, it doesn’t matter.

I liked it — I hope we get more Order-specific stories later on, though. I was underwhelmed with most of the Orr-related bits of the story, but the earlier parts I enjoyed.

i’ve played through it 3 times till almost the end. I make it to the temple of grenth in orr part and lose interest. The pact offensive in Orr just gets a little to science fiction to me and I get put off.

Right up until fort trinity I love every minute of it. The tanks, submarines and laser beams just take things to far out there in relation to the way the rest of the game immersed me for my taste.

No, not at all.

None of the races were that interesting and the world just seemed like one sqaure area to the next. It lacks tension, atmosphere and build up.
The whole story evolves around “We will beat zhaitan one day!” and that was all that kept me playing to see this massive dragon and what sort of boss fight it would be, I kept food, boosters and sharpen stones ready to face him.

And then I played Arah story and got to the last boss.

My reaction:
The godly dragon of undeath and corruption and he’s hangs from a cliff and falls like a lemming and this is what Tyria was afraid of?!? This guy was the one that forced the humans and charr to work together?!? If this game had subs I would of quit right there.

GW2 may have a unique combat system.
But Wow’s story is a thousand times better than this.

(Bring it fanboys!)

Maybe. But WoW has had over a decade to build up background lore and everything. Overall the story, if you for instance read the books also, is very good, here and there some characters are poorly written or parts of the story. We live and we learn. Arenanet has taken note of our likes and dislikes and I have high hopes for future content.

Also eventhough the encounter itself wasn’t too engaging: we build a massive army and weapons specifically designed for him to bring him down. I see a lot of people complaining about Arah and eventhough it was a bit slowpaced at times and the encounter could’ve been better, we brought 5 races together, 3 orders and had Destiny’s Edge backing us, coupled with weapons designed for his destruction. It was only a matter of time before Zhaitan was brought down. And he was. Also I think the fear of Zhaitan, like with any other Dragon doesn’t just come from the Dragon itself, but from the minions it spawns: whole continents filled with their minions etc.

It can only get better as I said and I for one am eager to see what they bring to the table next. WoW didn’t get ‘awesome’ overnight. It took them a few years as well, but nowadays gamers are just impatient and spoiled.

Direksone.3867:

Maybe. But WoW has had over a decade to build up background lore and everything. Overall the story, if you for instance read the books also, is very good, here and there some characters are poorly written or parts of the story. We live and we learn. Arenanet has taken note of our likes and dislikes and I have high hopes for future content.

Also eventhough the encounter itself wasn’t too engaging: we build a massive army and weapons specifically designed for him to bring him down. I see a lot of people complaining about Arah and eventhough it was a bit slowpaced at times and the encounter could’ve been better, we brought 5 races together, 3 orders and had Destiny’s Edge backing us, coupled with weapons designed for his destruction. It was only a matter of time before Zhaitan was brought down. And he was. Also I think the fear of Zhaitan, like with any other Dragon doesn’t just come from the Dragon itself, but from the minions it spawns: whole continents filled with their minions etc.

It can only get better as I said and I for one am eager to see what they bring to the table next. WoW didn’t get ‘awesome’ overnight. It took them a few years as well, but nowadays gamers are just impatient and spoiled.

I thought about it for a minute and I just keep coming up with the same answer:

Wow felt like a journey, GW2 didn’t, but hey thats my opinion.

The Blue Ace.2850:

GW2 may have a unique combat system.
But Wow’s story is a thousand times better than this.

(Bring it fanboys!)

Both games have bad main stories, and both games have insufferable Mary Sues. But I personally prefer GW2’s presentation. So, yeah.

Edit: If by “journey” you mean “lfd” and “lfr”, sure.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

There’s two things I generally disliked:

1) Some story arcs, especially the lvl 1-10, 10-20, and 40-48 ones (race-specific and racial sympathy storylines) felt far too short, and would have preferred twice as many steps in them, and more exposition in the racial sympathies (you’re just told to go somewhere dealing with a race, no foreknowledge on what the threat is, and the reasoning presented for chosing the race (e.g., grawl psychology) is never once brought up in some of the storylines). They were a good means of having a nice storyline that’d be more unique, squandered. The other story splits didn’t seem that bad, since they tied in more with other plots, but the first 20 levels worth felt too disconnected and irrelevant, with only some NPCs appearing later if you chose properly later on.

2) Story mode dungeons – yeah, not personal story, but still, they felt to… impersonal. I know they’re a “side plot” but it’s a plot where you only see pieces of it. I’d have much rather preferred that Destiny’s Edge comes and goes into your own personal story, rather than just leaves at lvl 30. As a charr, I felt no need to help Logan at Caudecus’ Manor or help Zojja at Sorrow’s Embrace. Even if it meant pulling the guild together – and in Arah, even if I didn’t help pull DE together, they were all there – unlike what ArenaNet said.

And yes, probably wrong forum.

I 100% agree with the Sympathies, i would prefer it if it wasn’t a choice of 3 but a choice from all of them, because i REALLY wanted to do ogres or grawl, but being a Sylvari neither were options… that being said though, the Hyleks were and they’re pretty amazing. My opinion aside, i do think that we coulda got more reason for why to help just one of those 3, and some background about each race. Like for Hyleks they pretty much said, “Hey they’re frog people and they use alchemy! they could be useful!” and then the story had nothing to do with their alchemy and was all about their religious system and why they have to listen to their champions (i’m trying to give away nothing and it’s hard xD).

As for the 1-10 and 10-20 parts i was 100% fine with it in the Sylvari one, but with my Human and Asura i felt like the 1-30 sections were WAY to short.

For the Storymodes though, i thought those were fine, the whole point behind them was that it -wasn’t- our story. We were just tagging along for the ride, and as such it’d play out whether we were there or not, which makes sense as to why they’d be united regardless of if you were there. As a Human, and Sylvari you’re kinda told that you need to help unite destinies edge several times. Hell as a Sylvari you even get letters from Caithe on a regular basis talking about how she’s set up an arrangement for the destiny members to meet up and she wants you there to help things go smoothly.

I really enjoyed my personal story but was a bit dissapointed about the personalisation. Yes there are different branches and routes you can follow but in the end it all comes to the same point. I really expected that you choiches determine the outcome. Join the vigil and you have to take Zhaitan on heads up. Join the priory and you find some mystic weapon in an ancient tome that kicks all of his behinds. Join the order of whispers and you find out bout his weak spot. Something in those lines. Having said that, I also have to admit that these where expectations. Even as it is right now I think the entire personal story (and I think I’ve played roughly 90% of all possible story lines) is very well done and epic and a good story.

mercury ranique.2170:

I really enjoyed my personal story but was a bit dissapointed about the personalisation. Yes there are different branches and routes you can follow but in the end it all comes to the same point. I really expected that you choiches determine the outcome. Join the vigil and you have to take Zhaitan on heads up. Join the priory and you find some mystic weapon in an ancient tome that kicks all of his behinds. Join the order of whispers and you find out bout his weak spot. Something in those lines. Having said that, I also have to admit that these where expectations. Even as it is right now I think the entire personal story (and I think I’ve played roughly 90% of all possible story lines) is very well done and epic and a good story.

Ugh no, when something like this happens you end up with a total MESS when it comes to lore “Well what the kitten actually happened?” is the case for all of those types of games. I’m very happy Anet went with the route where every main plot point has one specific scenario where everyone shows up at (Claw Island, Cleansing of Orr, etc).

The end of the “personal” story was largely fatal to my pleasnat gaming experience.

The shift to group based-dungeoning to see the last page of the story literally ran my roommate and regular teammate right out of the game.

I still haven’t finished it because I want to do it in the company of my friends, and it kitten my friends off so bad they don’t play anymore.

Honestly, that’s a bit absurd. Your friends stopped playing the game because the final chapter of a story to kill an Elder Dragon couldn’t be solo’ed?

Nike.2631:

The end of the “personal” story was largely fatal to my pleasnat gaming experience.

The shift to group based-dungeoning to see the last page of the story literally ran my roommate and regular teammate right out of the game.

I still haven’t finished it because I want to do it in the company of my friends, and it kitten my friends off so bad they don’t play anymore.

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?Seriously?

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?Seriously?That’s no fault of the game, that’s a fault of your friends.

Because its the same kitten in other games with raiding – you play the game through and at the very end the Devs just can’t figure out how to finish up with the same group size as they started.

And as others have meantioned, the elder dragon CAN be solo’d once you reach that point in the dungeon. The gating is nonsensical.

I’m pretty sure that if the entire last dungeon to kill Zhaitan was soloable, there’d be more than a few complaints.

Nike.2631:

Because its the same kitten in other games with raiding – you play the game through and at the very end the Devs just can’t figure out how to finish up with the same group size as they started.

And as others have meantioned, the elder dragon CAN be solo’d once you reach that point in the dungeon. The gating is nonsensical.

Um…. well, at lv 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 75, 78, and 80 you get a mail (maybe not at 80, but trahern flat out says it there) telling you to go to a FIVE man instance to go help destinies edge, you ignoring those up until 80 and then complaining that you have to group up is pretty absurd.

And btw, this isn’t like raiding, this is a kittening 5 man, you don’t need freaking +10 people needed, just 5, and from the sounds of it you have multiple friends playing the game so the whole getting of 3 people and doing the instance isn’t that hard, i know that’s what i did with all the story mode instances.

To it was not enjoyable at all as the Personal Story does not feel personal at all! If you want a good personal story go to SWTOR (Which is the only thing I liked about that game). I just never felt connected to my character and with many of the people I met in the story. A part of the Sylvari storyline real grinds my gears……

Glad you guys are all happy with it then. I don’t think you actually have to look that hard to find out that people are NOT pleased with the implementation.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?Seriously?

So.. your friends stopped playing an MMO because they had to party with other players?Seriously?That’s no fault of the game, that’s a fault of your friends.

Does being an MMO mean you can’t play it solo at all? Because 90% of my play time is non-grouped, and it seems the Devs are specifically going back and strengthening open world content – possibly in the service of people like me who don’t really care to hang out with strangers.

Did anything up to the last quest require you to group?

Does a lack of uniform expectations in an activity not sink in as being a bad thing?

Really, I wish I could be a fly on the wall when some of these decision are made and signed off on, because they are manifestly bad.

Maybe the last mission should have been a jump puzzle instead of a Dungeon – it’d be the same sort of completely nonsensical transition.

It was okay up until Claw Island but all the tiny steps made things feel “choppy”. The pacing feels like it is constantly being interrupted by all the running around.

Some parts also makes the “mentor” character seem like kitten because of the stupid back and forth running. Using waypoints doesn’t change this.

I think the biggest disappointment I had was the absolute waste of space that is the Home Instance.

What little you add to it from the Personal Story becomes completely neglected by the time you join an Order. With next to no means for actual customization, and actually no reason to ever go back there save for Personal Story Quests I still have absolutely no idea what this area was intended to be. I mean, it’s not even much of a trophy case since the things you get in there aren’t easily found to begin with.

And yeah. Zhaitan was an underwhelming fight, but luckily by the time I did it I knew that and I wasn’t as disappointed by that. It’s a kitten shame though, because his model in game was pretty awesome. A shame they didn’t use it more, especially considering all the work that went into it.

I’d agree completely with that, Rat. I would have loved for the home instance to be populated with trophies, mementos, things you obtain throughout your character’s life. Not just from the personal story, but something from each dungeon, something from each zone you 100%, things like that.

So that it would look visibly and immediately different between that of a level 80 character who has completed their story, done every dungeon, and 100% the world and a newbie lvl 1 who hasn’t done anything.

Mmm. To the suggestion forum!

I enjoyed it greatly up to the point where Warmaster Forgal was replaced with Trahearne.

It all went from my personal story to Trahearne’s personal story, with my character reduced to a spunky sidekick.

Son of Elias.5420:

I’d agree completely with that, Rat. I would have loved for the home instance to be populated with trophies, mementos, things you obtain throughout your character’s life. Not just from the personal story, but something from each dungeon, something from each zone you 100%, things like that.

So that it would look visibly and immediately different between that of a level 80 character who has completed their story, done every dungeon, and 100% the world and a newbie lvl 1 who hasn’t done anything.

Mmm. To the suggestion forum!

Omg yes! And I will say there’s a few HUGE changes that I really do like with my gone instance.

1) half of its population died because I chose to save a friend over the people and those that are remaining, a lot don’t look to hot.

2) I have a freaking army of Hylek standing in the middle of my instance and a few that patrol instead of guards.

If only the other changes were bigger…

PS: I’ve noticed the sylvari and charr instance BARELY change and it has upset me greatly =(

I hated the personal story.
I have not encountered one memorable character besides Tybalt and he was mostly comedy. The action is tolerable because that seems to be the focus of the game. Forget lore or interesting story telling. That is non existent. The previous game had heaps of lore and subtle story telling that kept you interested and satisfied those that wanted to look beyond the story for lore. There is nothing in this story. Pure garbage. Not to mention the final battle with Zaitan was very disappointing. Again, epic, but the battle itself was horribly played out.

My suggestion to Anet is go back to the subtleties of Guild Wars. Stop trying to be a direct to DVD action movie.

PS. Trahearne can suck a fatty.
Edit: Forgot to mention that the plot will inevitably revolve around killing all the elemental dragons. Seriously. Death, Fire, Earth, Water, Ice and likely, plant (life). This sounds just like something I wrote when i was five years old. It only lacks the story arc where we all have to go steal the ice crystal from the ice dragon to kill the fire dragon and take the fire crystal from the fire dragon to kill the ice dragon. Simply kitsch.

I was enjoying my “Personal” story until it stopped being personal.

With the introduction of the pact story line (Minus your “Biggest Fear” part) and Trahearne I totally lost ALL interest in the personal story.. Mostly because its THE SAME on any character I make..

No.

Boring, bugged, bad rewards (3 greens for killing zhaitan?).

I personally enjoyed the Personal Story. I do agree that it gets kinda disjointed at parts, there are some poor transitions between stories. That being said though, it is confusing being called a “Personal Story” when by the end the story isn’t about you anymore, it’s about Trahearn. Now I actually like this. In my mind, it shouldn’t be up to one person to do everything, and on top of that you actually get to help someone fulfill their purpose in life, which is a great thing. I just wish that they had done a better job of developing Trahearn through the process of the story, it would have made the ending of the story just that much more amazing. I hope in the expansions he becomes a lot more confident in his actions.

Narcemus.1348:

I personally enjoyed the Personal Story. I do agree that it gets kinda disjointed at parts, there are some poor transitions between stories. That being said though, it is confusing being called a “Personal Story” when by the end the story isn’t about you anymore, it’s about Trahearn. Now I actually like this. In my mind, it shouldn’t be up to one person to do everything, and on top of that you actually get to help someone fulfill their purpose in life, which is a great thing. I just wish that they had done a better job of developing Trahearn through the process of the story, it would have made the ending of the story just that much more amazing. I hope in the expansions he becomes a lot more confident in his actions.

Actually, the problem is the other races (non sylvari) don’t see Trahearn at all, period until the pact where as sylvari work along side starting at lv 10, which is HUGE. I see all these people complaining about Trahearn and how he had no development etc, yet i saw TONS of development in him due to being a sylvari and working along him since the beginning (which was mostly him being super scholarly and passive).

That being said, i actually like how at the end everyone comes together and you have to accomplish the same relative goal (IE starving the mouth, cutting off reinforcements, and then there’s another 3 way split before cleansing orr) the reason i love this so much is simple, it leaves NO question on what happened in key parts of the story. We all know how Zhaitan died, we all know how Orr was cleansed, we all know how the Mouth(s) were starved etc, etc etc.

Another major thing a lot of people look over is the fact that in the story regardless of what option YOU choose, the other option is still followed through, IE when i went into the heart of Lyssa’s temple to cut off the reinforcements they also commented about how the “other pact members” destruction of the ship helped to ensure that Zhaitan will not get any reinforcements and etc.

Idk why so many people seem to think a personal story in an MMO (where your character clearly can’t be the sole reason everything worked out, because there are millions of people who are doing the same stuff) should be TOTALLY your character and there shouldn’t even be another NPC out there to “steal their thunder”.

Durzlla.6295:

Idk why so many people seem to think a personal story in an MMO (where your character clearly can’t be the sole reason everything worked out, because there are millions of people who are doing the same stuff) should be TOTALLY your character and there shouldn’t even be another NPC out there to “steal their thunder”.

/facedesk

Personal Story.

Personal Story.

The story in GW 2 was supposed to be all about your character, and unlike all other MMORPGs where your character merely takes a small part in a grander story. That was sort of the selling point here.

Well it was personal, until Trahearne walked in… and then it got personal again. /kill bill music playing in the background

Edit: Someone please make a video about the first meeting with Trahearne, with this music playing

I’d sure love to get personal with Trahearne for stealing my Norn’s Legend…

Durzlla.6295:

Actually, the problem is the other races (non sylvari) don’t see Trahearn at all, period until the pact where as sylvari work along side starting at lv 10, which is HUGE. I see all these people complaining about Trahearn and how he had no development etc, yet i saw TONS of development in him due to being a sylvari and working along him since the beginning (which was mostly him being super scholarly and passive).

This is definitely a huge problem, and if it’s the case that Trahearne sees significant development as a character in the sylvari story, that’s good, at least. From the perspective of someone who only played through the story with a norn character, and even being aware of the fact that Trahearne was coming from reading the forums, I still found his introduction and preordained importance to be completely out of left field. All the more so when he was bestowed with an apparently-legendary weapon the game had never mentioned to me before, and everyone important in the world just decided he was the man because a big tree said so. I’m aware that there exists actual reasoning for all of this, that the Pale Tree has its own relevance, etc, but the story – for everyone not-sylvari, at least – does an extremely poor job of establishing it when it happens. I think we agree about all of this – but it bears stressing because it’s such a big head-scratcher.

Durzlla.6295:

That being said, i actually like how at the end everyone comes together and you have to accomplish the same relative goal (IE starving the mouth, cutting off reinforcements, and then there’s another 3 way split before cleansing orr) the reason i love this so much is simple, it leaves NO question on what happened in key parts of the story. We all know how Zhaitan died, we all know how Orr was cleansed, we all know how the Mouth(s) were starved etc, etc etc.

I think this could have been accomplished without making it the business of the personal story. Speaking only for myself, I think that the player and the game would have been best served if the personal story and the “main big baddie threat” story were divorced from each other entirely. My expectation, going in, was that my character’s personal story would be shaped by the nature of his race and the biographical selections I chose for him – in other words, a story having to do with him and his personal adventure. It would have made more sense for the entirety of his story to follow through like this, although obviously, it also would have required a great deal more effort in crafting fully individual, race-specific stories. Ideally, this would have been paired with a progression of the main story experienced through my own gameplay in the world. Hearts, DEs, and a more obvious, aggressive Risen threat through much of the game world would have gone a long way toward this, and Trahearne and the Pact could have been part and parcel of it all through heavy presence in higher level events (leading up, of course, to an endgame DE chain portraying an epic battle with Zhaitan.)

Durzlla.6295:

Idk why so many people seem to think a personal story in an MMO (where your character clearly can’t be the sole reason everything worked out, because there are millions of people who are doing the same stuff) should be TOTALLY your character and there shouldn’t even be another NPC out there to “steal their thunder”.

It is what it is, of course, but it can’t be glossed over that Arena.net’s own claim is that the “Personal Story” “really is all about you.” It isn’t, and however it might be reasoned that it’s better as it is, it doesn’t really address the failure in the message advertised.

(I should add, however disgruntled I may sound, that I love this game, and I don’t mean to single you out, Durzlla. It’s only because I think it’s one of the most potentially-unique and interesting aspects of the game that I feel especially strongly about it, and simply hope that it’s strengthened in future expansion.)

I enjoy my personal story (1-20) and also the order’s story quest (20-50) but hate it when it became Trahearne’s story. I dislike how characters from our personal story quest seems disposable, they’ll just disappear after we join the order.

Durzlla.6295:

Narcemus.1348:

I personally enjoyed the Personal Story. I do agree that it gets kinda disjointed at parts, there are some poor transitions between stories. That being said though, it is confusing being called a “Personal Story” when by the end the story isn’t about you anymore, it’s about Trahearn. Now I actually like this. In my mind, it shouldn’t be up to one person to do everything, and on top of that you actually get to help someone fulfill their purpose in life, which is a great thing. I just wish that they had done a better job of developing Trahearn through the process of the story, it would have made the ending of the story just that much more amazing. I hope in the expansions he becomes a lot more confident in his actions.

Actually, the problem is the other races (non sylvari) don’t see Trahearn at all, period until the pact where as sylvari work along side starting at lv 10, which is HUGE. I see all these people complaining about Trahearn and how he had no development etc, yet i saw TONS of development in him due to being a sylvari and working along him since the beginning (which was mostly him being super scholarly and passive).

That being said, i actually like how at the end everyone comes together and you have to accomplish the same relative goal (IE starving the mouth, cutting off reinforcements, and then there’s another 3 way split before cleansing orr) the reason i love this so much is simple, it leaves NO question on what happened in key parts of the story. We all know how Zhaitan died, we all know how Orr was cleansed, we all know how the Mouth(s) were starved etc, etc etc.

Another major thing a lot of people look over is the fact that in the story regardless of what option YOU choose, the other option is still followed through, IE when i went into the heart of Lyssa’s temple to cut off the reinforcements they also commented about how the “other pact members” destruction of the ship helped to ensure that Zhaitan will not get any reinforcements and etc.

Idk why so many people seem to think a personal story in an MMO (where your character clearly can’t be the sole reason everything worked out, because there are millions of people who are doing the same stuff) should be TOTALLY your character and there shouldn’t even be another NPC out there to “steal their thunder”.

I’ve actually only played through as a Sylvari, I’m still working on my Charr, and the others are kinda just sitting back for the time being. And I know what you mean about the development of Trahearn, there was quite a bit of development from the early Mazdak quests up through the Claw Island chain, but after that he gets kind of stale. And I think part of it has to do with his constantly pessimistic tidbits that he says in combat, but throughout the establishment of Fort Trinity up through the cleansing of Orr, and even after the death of Zhaitan, he never really celebrates (until you make him). He never shows that he’s gained confidence in what they have accomplished, and he seems just as confused and indecisive as normal. I think, though, that in the next expansion he will grow to show much more development though.