Living Story recap livestream
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.
Konig!
The interest in “why” and “when” that happened has caught me by surprise. One of the things I’ve learned over the past year is that GW2 fans take an interest in every little detail. And I love that. It means you’re invested and you care—as much as we at ArenaNet do.
Speaking for myself, I not only have to remember the details of the lore from the past (three novels, two games, and almost 9 years worth of added content), but I also have to continue creating lore for future story, make story sense of the gameplay differences between the two games, write dialogue to character voice, script content, maintain style, and do a zillion other things. That adds up to a lot of lore road that I’ve traveled. All I can say is thank goodness for wikis. No single human being could keep all that in their head.
So, I’m not perfect. And yes, from time to time, you will find me or someone else on the team making a mistake.
If we get too afraid to make mistakes in front of you, then we stop saying anything at all, and you get either silence or non-committal mush from us. So, I stick my neck out every time I give a lore talk live or answer an interview without my reference material at hand. It’s a risk I take in order to, hopefully, give you all some answers to your questions. And it’s one of the scariest things I’ve ever done in my life.
And, I’m gonna get it wrong sometimes. I’ll beg a bit of forgiveness in advance.
Besides, if the worst I do is get mixed up who was the first Scarlet contacted: Flame Legion or Dredge, then I’m doing better than I thought I was.
I do appreciate that you have my back so that when I say the wrong thing, you set the record straight for folks.
Given that, here’s the true, secret reason the Flame Legion agreed to work with Scarlet. Scarlet duped them. She lied and said that she already had the dredge signed up. She did the same to the dredge, saying she already had the Flame Legion signed on. In this way, she promised them each whatever the other could give, even though she didn’t already have it. They both believed her. Until, of course, they got together and started talking. They learned then that she was a silver-tongued, snake-nosed trickster. By then, however, they WERE both invested, so it would have been foolish to back out just because they’d been duped into working together. By then, they were experiencing the benefits of the alliance.
Wishing you a very happy New Year, my fellow GW2 Lorehound!!
And so glad you all enjoyed the livestream!
Alright guys, Angel has posted a response to a question/comment. It’s time to bombard this single topic with 1,000 questions in hopes of getting at least one more response
One thing I want to ask, and I understand if you can’t answer, will we (the players) be able to see some of this silver-tongued aspect of Scarlet in game? I only ask because thus far Scarlet hasn’t necessarily tried to be that way with us, and so we see a lot more of her frivolousness, brutishness, and her high levels of confidence, but not the silver-tongued, highly tricksy side. I personally think that being unable to see this side of her has lead to some of the disbelief of how she has been able to accomplish what she has done, even if you have well thought out explanations for it. I guess us players always like to see to believe, which isn’t always a bad thing.
<3 Angel.
What I would give for 10 minutes on /that/ wiki…
Kill Ten Rats – an MMO blog
If you look closely at Scarlet’s story (without assuming that we screwed her up, as some have expressed), you will see a trend in her personality. She doesn’t stay the same throughout, but she definitely moves in a specific direction personality wise. Scarlet will never again be as clear-thinking and clever as she was when this all started. And that’s all the hint I’m going to give you on that.
The FL is misogynist, yes. But even among their own kind, they don’t kill all female charr on sight or at birth. Rather, they use them. They believe them to be secondary citizens, unworthy of bearing arms or learning fire magic. But, they need females in order to keep their farms, cook their food, and bear their offspring. They do not view Scarlet as a partner. They view her as an opportunity. And what great opportunities she has afforded them. They nearly made it to the Black Citadel with their new weaponry before you, the Vigil, Rox and Braham stopped them. They were able to do a great deal of damage to human- and charr-loving areas. They’re riding the wave of destruction because they believe they’ll come out on top at the end. For now, Scarlet has proven useful. One teeny, squeaky little sylvari female isn’t going to get in the way of their plans—now you, on the other hand, just might.
<3 back atcha, Ravious! I wish I could show it to you.
… I personally think that being unable to see this side of her has lead to some of the disbelief of how she has been able to accomplish what she has done, even if you have well thought out explanations for it. I guess us players always like to see to believe, which isn’t always a bad thing.
I get it. We have learned a lot over the past year. When we first started this story, we had to choose where to begin, and we chose to begin with the refugees coming down from the Shiverpeaks because we had limited time to build it and we wanted to begin at a compelling dramatic moment. This relegated Scarlet’s backstory to being just that: backstory. Over the course of the arc, we’ve tried to give you that backstory to the best of our abilities (within our limitations), but I understand that it’s not the same as seeing it for yourselves.
Fortunately, now that we’re in the midst of the story, we won’t have to start things in mid-stream anymore, and we’ll be mindful of creating potential blindspots.
(edited by Angel.4918)
If you could just copypasta the internal wiki’s Bahltek entry, I would be at peace.
Kill Ten Rats – an MMO blog
Angel – how awesome to see you here. Hope you stick around. It’s always great getting some answers, though it’s always fun to speculate, too.
Y’all do some amazing speculating. Even if I don’t come by here often, I do read what you write—usually on my lunch break. And I love nothing more than to see imaginations flying all over the place!
One of the risks we devs take when we answer lore questions is that our answer will either contradict what you imagined (and then you’ll feel bad) or it will put an end to the speculation. And, as you say, it’s always fun to speculate.
Angel – how awesome to see you here. Hope you stick around. It’s always great getting some answers, though it’s always fun to speculate, too.
Y’all do some amazing speculating.
One of the risks we devs take when we answer lore questions is that our answer will either contradict what you imagined (and then you’ll feel bad) or it will put an end to the speculation. And, as you say, it’s always fun to speculate.
I agree.
I think it’s just about balance. Personally, I quite like being contradicted…I like being outsmarted! I always get a bit of disappointed when I guess correctly.
Hi Angel,
Thanks so much for answering a few questions, it means a lot to us. I have one of my own! And of course, I understand if you’re not in a position to answer it at the moment.
Regarding Sylvari and their defense mechanism to elder dragon corruption, we don’t really know much about the biological or magical basis for this. I find it hard to imagine that when this basis for this ‘immunity’ is finally revealed that some villain won’t find a way around it.
Will we get some details as to how this property of Sylvari works in the future? And, does the lore team consider this immunity a hard fact of the Sylvari, or is there room to budge (even one unique case of corruptibility)?
Thank you
Since we have your attention Angel, if you’d indulge in a curiosity inquiry of confusion again:
In the Livestream you said that neither the dredge nor the FLame Legion had a leadership decision for joining the MA – within the MA there was no “Flame Leader” and no “dredge leader”. I find this hard to believe, personally, because neither race really seems open to full consensus. In fact, both groups are under civil war last we heard prior to the Living Story (in Frostgorge Sound and in Sorrow’s Embrace explorable, the interaction with the dredge is about rebellion against the moletariate; while in Citadel of Flame explorable it’s explained that the Tribunes are at each other throats for how to proceed with Gaheron’s death). Given this, a consensus amongst the whole dredge or Flame Legion seems impossible. And on top of that, both groups have a leadership (moletariate and Gaheron/Tribunes) so it would seem unlikely that the grunts would oppose in such huge numbers, unless they all agreed “let’s get power to overthrow our monarchy! Mwuahaha!” – which still seems unlikely.
If one were to presume the “it can take place before, during, or after the dungeon events” route that seems to have been taken with Twilight Arbor (a silly and very confusing method, in my opinion but it’s just my opinion), then either way both groups hold a leadership.
And not only this, but there are multiple mentions of the moletariate’s involvement with the Molten Alliance (primarily by the dead drops, but also by the dredge prisoner I had mentioned before) – as well as shamans who can perform the “Gaheron ritual” (which as best as we players can tell, mean that these shamans are part of the Godforged whom underwent a self-inflicted ritual).
Personally, I had always viewed it to be a case of 1 or 2 Tribunes in the civil war who decided to go away from resurrecting Gaheron – much like Tribune Burntclaw that is killed at the most-hated CoF path – on the Flame Legion side, this one or two Tribune(s) being the ones that Scarlet had convinced, and the remnants of the “old moletariate” after Shukov’s death that’s trying to retain power over the rebellion. That seemed far more reasonable to me than “the dredge and Flame Legion unanimously agreed to follow Scarlet, who tricked them into thinking the other side agreed already when she went to them.” After all, you cannot get a xenophobic race to unanimously agree to work with enslavers. Not without brainwashing.
Just a little bit of confusion I’d love to see cleared up.
And another, perhaps more important, thing I’m confused about:
What happened to the short stories!?!?
They were enjoyable – though yes, I wouldn’t have had the What Scarlet Saw story up there (at least not in such little details – I probably would have had it expanded and split into two or three, with us finally realize “omg Ceara is Scarlet!” in the final story), and though people complained about them the complaint was more that the info never got into the game like it should, somehow (not the story themselves but the bits and pieces) which has since been getting fixed. So… why stop the stories!?!? BRING THEM BACK! OR I’LL CRY! YOU DON’T WANT A CRYING CHARR DO YOU!?
Oh, and why is your name not red? Are you really Angel McCoy or are you an imposter!?
One of the risks we devs take when we answer lore questions is that our answer will either contradict what you imagined (and then you’ll feel bad) or it will put an end to the speculation. And, as you say, it’s always fun to speculate.
Bah! I feel the opposite:
If my theories are never proven right or wrong, I feel like you (ArenaNet) are ignoring story possibilities. On the flip side, if I’m prove right I’m ecstatic (usually – I wasn’t so ecstatic when I was proven right about Scarlet being a female sylvari interested in technology – which I theorized once we interrogated those MA prisoners) and in turn I become more motivated to theorize on other aspects I was less interested or alternatively to theorize based on the new confirmations; and when I’m proven wrong, then it allows me to rethink my theory, to take in the new information and “correct” my theory so that it is no longer wrong, and expands upon the new lore.
Proven right or wrong, it’s a boon. So long as you don’t go explaining anything, proving or disproving some of the wilder theories could prove beneficial either way. It gets us thinking and gives us more materials to work with.
Though personally, I’d rather have the proving/disproving in the game rather than forum posts.
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.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
(edited by Eluveitie.1290)
…that was a great way to implement the backstory and create a more compelling story to the updates.
Thanks for that feedback! I’m very glad to hear you say that. One of our biggest challenges has been too much to do and not enough time. So recently some of the writers, myself included, have started learning how to script scenes. I’ll be immodest and confess that I did both of those. I wasn’t sure how they would received, and I’m still green at scripting (though I’m loving it!).
Based on feedback from the forums, we are actively trying to tell most backstories in the game now instead of via the stories. Although, there are still going to be stories from time to time, like the recent Hobotron one. Initially we started those in order to add some dimension early on to the main characters (Rox, Braham, Marjory, and Kas). We wanted to test out whether people would respond well to seeing their characters written up in a more flowing fictional medium. Some of you liked it. Some didn’t.
Again, thanks for the kind words.
Regarding Sylvari and their defense mechanism to elder dragon corruption, we don’t really know much about the biological or magical basis for this. I find it hard to imagine that when this basis for this ‘immunity’ is finally revealed that some villain won’t find a way around it.
Will we get some details as to how this property of Sylvari works in the future? And, does the lore team consider this immunity a hard fact of the Sylvari, or is there room to budge (even one unique case of corruptibility)?
Hi! Thank you for the question, but you’re right that I can’t answer it. In the future, we plan to go deeper into the first awakening and the story surrounding the Firstborn, the Pale Tree, and the unusual elements of sylvari biology and psychology. We’ve purposefully kept much of this a mystery so we can unfold the sylvari story with due diligence and allow you to experience it fully. In-game, sylvari themselves do not currently know the answers to these questions. If you stick around, you’ll eventually find the answers when they do.
I’ll take Konig’s a piece at a time.
In the Livestream you said that neither the dredge nor the FLame Legion had a leadership decision for joining the MA – within the MA there was no “Flame Leader” and no “dredge leader”. I find this hard to believe, personally, because neither race really seems open to full consensus. In fact, both groups are under civil war last we heard prior to the Living Story (in Frostgorge Sound and in Sorrow’s Embrace explorable, the interaction with the dredge is about rebellion against the moletariate; while in Citadel of Flame explorable it’s explained that the Tribunes are at each other throats for how to proceed with Gaheron’s death). Given this, a consensus amongst the whole dredge or Flame Legion seems impossible. And on top of that, both groups have a leadership (moletariate and Gaheron/Tribunes) so it would seem unlikely that the grunts would oppose in such huge numbers, unless they all agreed “let’s get power to overthrow our monarchy! Mwuahaha!” – which still seems unlikely.
Can you give me a time reference so I don’t have to go back and rewatch the whole video to see what I said? LOL. I hate watching myself.
What happened to the short stories!?!?
They were enjoyable – though yes, I wouldn’t have had the What Scarlet Saw story up there (at least not in such little details – I probably would have had it expanded and split into two or three, with us finally realize “omg Ceara is Scarlet!” in the final story), and though people complained about them the complaint was more that the info never got into the game like it should, somehow (not the story themselves but the bits and pieces) which has since been getting fixed. So… why stop the stories!?!? BRING THEM BACK! OR I’LL CRY! YOU DON’T WANT A CRYING CHARR DO YOU!?
That’s so nice of you to say. I’m glad you liked the stories. Sometimes we hear so much of what people don’t like that we act on that without realizing that there are plenty of people who do like it. I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere for both fans and for us devs.
I will relay this to Bobby Stein (my boss) and we’ll see. I know I loved writing them, and others did as well. We’ll have to see. But thanks for letting us know you like them.
Bah! I feel the opposite:
If my theories are never proven right or wrong, I feel like you (ArenaNet) are ignoring story possibilities. On the flip side, if I’m prove right I’m ecstatic (usually – I wasn’t so ecstatic when I was proven right about Scarlet being a female sylvari interested in technology – which I theorized once we interrogated those MA prisoners) and in turn I become more motivated to theorize on other aspects I was less interested or alternatively to theorize based on the new confirmations; and when I’m proven wrong, then it allows me to rethink my theory, to take in the new information and “correct” my theory so that it is no longer wrong, and expands upon the new lore.
Proven right or wrong, it’s a boon. So long as you don’t go explaining anything, proving or disproving some of the wilder theories could prove beneficial either way. It gets us thinking and gives us more materials to work with.
Though personally, I’d rather have the proving/disproving in the game rather than forum posts.
I hear you, and I understand completely how much fun that little “conjecture game” is. It goes with the territory for imaginative people.
We attempt to get all the information you need out there in one format or another before the end of the arc. Sometimes, you just have to wait for the story to finish unfolding. But sometimes, we just won’t have time to detail it in-game as deeply as you wish we could. In those instances, we can maybe fill in the blanks with blog posts or interviews, etc.
Oh, and yes, it really is me. I’m not sure why I don’t have the red splash. Probably something I did wrong. LOL. I’ve got a note in to Regina to see if she can fix it.
…that was a great way to implement the backstory and create a more compelling story to the updates.
Thanks for that feedback! I’m very glad to hear you say that. One of our biggest challenges has been too much to do and not enough time. So recently some of the writers, myself included, have started learning how to script scenes. I’ll be immodest and confess that I did both of those. I wasn’t sure how they would received, and I’m still green at scripting (though I’m loving it!).
Based on feedback from the forums, we are actively trying to tell most backstories in the game now instead of via the stories. Although, there are still going to be stories from time to time, like the recent Hobotron one.
Again, thanks for the kind words.
And we’re loving it too, keep it up!
As with anything, some won’t like it, some will. What’s important is that you enjoy doing it – there are many who will be happy reading your work and the lore team’s here. Personally, I love both forms of presentation, as long as they’re relevant to their purpose.
Anxious to see what’s coming, and once again, thank you for coming here and discussing these topics with us in your free time. Tell anyone from the team they can come over too, we might suffocate them with questions, as you have seen, but it’s our way of showing affection, heh. : )
EDIT: To help you out here, Angel, regarding Konig’s inquery. It is not mentioned in the video about leadership precisely, but a Reddit response from Matthew Medina to a comment.
Video part regarding Molten Alliance, just in case: 21:20.
8. Q: Who are the leaders of the Molten Alliance, in both the dredge and the charr side?
A: There weren’t any “leaders” per se of the Molten Alliance from the flame legion or dredge. The various Berserker and Firestorm champions of the Molten Alliance were created by Scarlet to give each side someone to rally behind, but she was calling the shots and pulling their strings.
Personally, I believe there’s enough motive behind the Flame Legion to rally and agree, with whatever leadership they have left (the last tribunes), to reach their goals rather than being at each other. Dredge are in civil war, as well, but the moletariate remains and still in control of a vast part of them; whatever leaders they have left there must’ve taken the call to join Scarlet in their desperate situation.
(edited by Eluveitie.1290)
Wow! It says a lot about how much you care about the story, the game, the fans, and the whole community. Thanks for taking the time to answer some tough questions!
I’d like to second a previously mentioned comment about scripting some of the conversations into the game. It really improves the storyline, immersion, player interest in NPC relationships, the list goes on. Please continue to deliver in that fashion. It gives the game a “breath of life”, so to speak.
I have two simple questions, and I will bribe you with chocolate or alcoholic beverages if necessary in order to get the answers:
What sort of cliffhanger can you give us regarding the relationship between Caithe and Scarlet, and the alleged “dirty laundry” that Scarlet mentions?
This one’s been killing me since early access… “I was going to make a bad salad joke, but now I don’t feel like it.” Can you please find out and tell us what the joke is!? I know it seems petty, but man…
I sincerely appreciate your time, and I’m certain everyone that’s read your posts does as well. Keep up the great work, and thanks again!
Phunktastic – Mesmer of The Legendary High Council [TlhC]
North America, Sorrow’s Furnace
North America, Sorrow’s Furnace
…she demonstrates a lack of familiarity/experience with the world and social tact, but all four of them fall into this across their different meet ups. I can see the plot developing towards Kasmeer proving she’s not dumb but I don’t think she has established herself as dumb (because she isn’t). The pay off won’t be there for me because the lead up doesn’t feed into it.
Hi, Shiren,
Thanks so much for the kind words. They’re very good to hear. Kas is definitely not dumb. However, we are aiming for inexperienced. She has been protected within the walls of Divinity’s Reach all her life up to this point. Her only experience with combat has been with her teachers. However, she is quite gifted with magic, and she is recognized among her peers for that.
I see similar things with Flame and Frost and the Toxic Alliance. I feel like suspension of disbelief or (god forbid) my imagination is needed to perceive these Alliances as actually threatening (to the extent that the story wants us to believe). Aside from Southsun Cove getting a few new residents and a toppled tower in Kessex, Tyria didn’t really react or change with these alliances (more so the Molten Alliance, Toxic Alliance had more oomph but didn’t quite get there imo). I find it hard to perceive them as threats when they were fairly static in the game world. Sure there were Molten Alliance NPCs standing around in maps, and in a few isolated cases they “possessed” territory like villages near the Black Citadel or Craigstead, but they never seemed very different from the usual threats of Tyria (there are Flame Legion events that can “capture” outposts right outside Black Citadel, we’re talking a three minute walk from the Black Citadel). Aside from new gameplay mechanics (jump the shock wave to avoid attack, knock out of the ring to do damage) the Molten Technology wasn’t established as truly threatening. The Toxic Alliance barely left the lake and the surrounding settlements barely recognised its existence. Events and threats of this scale should get the attention of more than the Biconics.
The story isn’t over yet.
tl:dr I think there is sometimes a break down of the story between how the writers imagine the story and how it is expressed in the game. Listening to interviews like this one and the Wartower ones is sometimes like a crutch to communicate things in a way I don’t think the game did well on its own.
We face many challenges, challenges you can’t even imagine, in bringing the story to you. We’re in the trenches every day, trying to ask ourselves all the questions we think you will ask once a release goes live. We’re trying to be mind-readers and fortune tellers, in a way. Sometimes, we get it right. And at those time, you don’t notice because…well…it works. At other times, we may have missed the mark.
I would venture to guess that every single player in GW2 has a somewhat different view of what the story is. It’s a matter of perspective, and this is a vast world. Perhaps there are bits of content that you missed but another person found. Or vice versa. I think that’s okay.
PS: If Marjory is truly of Canthan ancestry (?), can we please see more of Canthan heritage in the Living Story? Her first name could be Greek tieing in with Luxon ancestry, but her second name sounds distinctly not Canthan.
Cantha has been shut off from the rest of the world for a very long time. Marjory’s parents and grandparents were all born and raised in Kryta, not Cantha. She is of mixed heritage as well. Just as in today’s world, we find men of Chinese ancestry named Kevin or Joshua, so Tyria has also become more of a melting pot. We will get more into Marjory’s history in the future.
But I hear you and everyone else who is hungry for some Canthan story to come back into the game. You’ll have to be patient. It won’t happen for awhile, but never say never.
… Anxious to see what’s coming, and once again, thank you for coming here and discussing these topics with us in your free time. Tell anyone from the team they can come over too, we might suffocate them with questions, as you have seen, but it’s our way of showing affection, heh. : )
I don’t get the time to do it very often, so I’m happy to be here. It’s my affection for you and all GW2 fans that brings me here.
Thanks so much for the nice things you said.
Wow! It says a lot about how much you care about the story, the game, the fans, and the whole community. Thanks for taking the time to answer some tough questions!
You’re very welcome.
I’d like to second a previously mentioned comment about scripting some of the conversations into the game. It really improves the storyline, immersion, player interest in NPC relationships, the list goes on. Please continue to deliver in that fashion. It gives the game a “breath of life”, so to speak.
Thanks for that feedback! I’m very glad the extra effort has been noticed and is doing some benefit to the game and the story. I can’t describe how much fun it is to bring these characters I’ve lived so closely with to life all by myself and see them walking and talking because I worked some scripting magic to make the go. It’s an amazing feeling. And I absolutely agree with you that it brings life to the game. Very soon, you’re going to see some story scripting by Theo Nguyen, and he is a wiz compared to my apprentice-level efforts.
I have two simple questions, and I will bribe you with chocolate or alcoholic beverages if necessary in order to get the answers
What sort of cliffhanger can you give us regarding the relationship between Caithe and Scarlet, and the alleged “dirty laundry” that Scarlet mentions?
Caithe and Scarlet knew each other in the Grove, back in the day, when Scarlet first awakened. Caithe, being Firstborn, would have been Scarlet’s “superior”, and as we know from the web story that Scott McGough wrote, Scarlet was not very good at being submissive. Her curiosity or her mouth (or both) undoubtedly put them at odds with one another. And Scarlet never forgets a grudge.
This one’s been killing me since early access… “I was going to make a bad salad joke, but now I don’t feel like it.” Can you please find out and tell us what the joke is!? I know it seems petty, but man…
LOL. I’ll have to get back to you on that.
I sincerely appreciate your time, and I’m certain everyone that’s read your posts does as well. Keep up the great work, and thanks again!
Thanks to you all for your time and your loving attention to Tyria. It’s very much appreciated.
I’m going to sign off now. I have to get up for a 9am meeting tomorrow, and I’ll be busy all week, so I probably won’t be able to spend much more time here for awhile.
Take care, all!
And happy new year!!
Check my post again for my recent edit!
Ah yes, I see. Thanks for digging that up for me. So now you can see the compounded challenge of keeping the lore straight. Not only is it vast, but it also comes from more than one mind. And we devs all have our own perspectives on the story as well—just as each fan does. I believe Matthew was alluding to the fact that we didn’t detail out any specific leaders, other than the characters you met in the weapons factory.
So, I will say this. We have been going on the premise that the groups working with Scarlet are not the main population, but splinter groups. It’s not “The Nightmare Court” who has allied with the krait, but a sub-group of them. Faolain, for example, is not allied with either the krait or Scarlet. We have not publicly detailed out who each of these groups is or who their leaders are because we didn’t think that was something the average citizen of Tyria would know. If you’re really dying to know the answer, I can look it up in the next couple days and post something about it. But, they won’t be characters you’ve met before.
And now, I really am off to bed. Ni-night!
(edited by Silicato.4603)
What happened to the short stories!?!?
They were enjoyable – though yes, I wouldn’t have had the What Scarlet Saw story up there (at least not in such little details – I probably would have had it expanded and split into two or three, with us finally realize “omg Ceara is Scarlet!” in the final story), and though people complained about them the complaint was more that the info never got into the game like it should, somehow (not the story themselves but the bits and pieces) which has since been getting fixed. So… why stop the stories!?!? BRING THEM BACK! OR I’LL CRY! YOU DON’T WANT A CRYING CHARR DO YOU!?That’s so nice of you to say. I’m glad you liked the stories. Sometimes we hear so much of what people don’t like that we act on that without realizing that there are plenty of people who do like it. I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere for both fans and for us devs.
I will relay this to Bobby Stein (my boss) and we’ll see. I know I loved writing them, and others did as well. We’ll have to see. But thanks for letting us know you like them.
You can add a + 1 to that really loved the stories as well and hope to see more in the future !
I also love how the last update included a lot of that information delivered via npc dialog… that was an awesome touch!
Keep up the great work! though I might be part of the minority I actually love how the living story is being delivered ! It really feels like time is passing in the world and stuff keeps changing.
Also great work on the attention to detail. When Braham showed up in kessexs hills I went to see if he was also still in cragstead but was surprised that even though few if any people visit cragstead you still took the time to take him away from there so that he wouldnt be in 2 places at the same time. You get extra points for that
EDIT: To help you out here, Angel, regarding Konig’s inquery. It is not mentioned in the video about leadership precisely, but a Reddit response from Matthew Medina to a comment.
Video part regarding Molten Alliance, just in case: 21:20.
8. Q: Who are the leaders of the Molten Alliance, in both the dredge and the charr side?
A: There weren’t any “leaders” per se of the Molten Alliance from the flame legion or dredge. The various Berserker and Firestorm champions of the Molten Alliance were created by Scarlet to give each side someone to rally behind, but she was calling the shots and pulling their strings.
Personally, I believe there’s enough motive behind the Flame Legion to rally and agree, with whatever leadership they have left (the last tribunes), to reach their goals rather than being at each other. Dredge are in civil war, as well, but the moletariate remains and still in control of a vast part of them; whatever leaders they have left there must’ve taken the call to join Scarlet in their desperate situation.
Oh! Doh! I knew I heard/read it recently, guess looking at one then the other mixed them up in my head. o.O
That’s so nice of you to say. I’m glad you liked the stories. Sometimes we hear so much of what people don’t like that we act on that without realizing that there are plenty of people who do like it. I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere for both fans and for us devs.
I will relay this to Bobby Stein (my boss) and we’ll see. I know I loved writing them, and others did as well. We’ll have to see. But thanks for letting us know you like them.
I’ll admit I was probably one of the louder voices that Bobby Stein responded to in the various threads complaining about the short story, but I hope I was rather clear that what I wanted was their removal – just more integration of the info into the game, even if it’s something as blatant as the Sea of Sorrows Marriner Plaques (though I prefer how you added info from Ghosts of Ascalon like that plaque on the Viewing Hill or Dougal Keane explaining what happened).
In a semi-related manner: The wiki is very incomplete when it comes to dialogue for old and now removed Living World content. Is there any way we can convince you or other writers to provide the dialogue which was in the game?
For example, some of Fahd al’Eshadhi’s dialogue from The Lost Shore and some of “the Flame Legion Prisoner’s dialogue from Flame and Frost”: is missing. I doubt that anyone has the dialogue screenshotted somewhere otherwise they’d have been put up by now (I know I did a search and found nothing both in my extensive 3-full-folders-of-999-screens and on sites like Dulfy). Though minor, some of these dialogues that were missed may hold info that would greatly change some people’s views about what’s missed.
We have not publicly detailed out who each of these groups is or who their leaders are because we didn’t think that was something the average citizen of Tyria would know. If you’re really dying to know the answer, I can look it up in the next couple days and post something about it. But, they won’t be characters you’ve met before.
So long as we eventually meet them, tis fine.
However, I find it unlikely the krait were a splinter group given that the Obelisks (and Toxic krait variants) are seen all over. Unless you count it as the “Tyrian krait” I suppose. So would it be right to assume that all krait have allied with Scarlet?
It was known that the Nightmare Court that allied with Scarlet was a mere splinter faction, but never really specified for the dredge and Flame Legion. It’d be nice to know where those leaders are placed within dredge/Flame society, even if we don’t know their actual names (that’s relatively unimportant in the long scale so long as we meet them/hear of them in-game before the arc ends – even if we don’t kill them).
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.
I love it when we get the opportunity to have some direct dialog with an developer. More so if it is from the story side. I really appreciate the time you take for this to happen.
I have to admit, i liked this live stream a lot more, then the one about the game in general since you clearly admited a lot more “mistakes” you made.
I really enjoy this open (even though limited by secrecy) talk we got here.
If you have the time, i would ask a question as well (though they might be in the Dolyak Express as well, though since we got you here already ):
I am confused about the “Scarlet armies”. Is there a rhyme or reason behind them, aside from Scarlets calculations for her greater goal?
They are a serious force to recon with. Each of them able to take different roles. The MA for example is a ground army, the Aetherblades a fast strike force and the Toxic Alliance is a Magic/disturbing group.
Were they supposed to serve these roles in the long run? (I am asking, because at the moment they feel like boring grunts we kill in masses, so they do not really have a identity)
On the topic of naming: I know you name the alliances yourself for your work and you use them as buzzwords for marketing.
However, who names them ingame. Where and when do the people of Tyria come up with these names.
I was surprised to have the name “Toxic Alliance” being dropped by Kas, without that name ever mentioned before, or “created” in-game.
I know what she meant at that moment, since it was everywhere, but she handled it as if the people in-game where also using it to describe the new “unknown” group.
Okay, here is a more tricky topic: What is the deal with the watchknights? They really fell like they were only conceived to be perverted by Scarlet.
I do not mind the concept, but was there actually more behind it beside: “hey i got a cool idea: manekin puppet scary thingies.”
Of course we got the in-game explanation and Scarlets reason for doing it, however they just popped up there and then vanished as if they were never there, which make them feel very cheap.
Was there actually more to them, aside from the concept itself?
And my last one:
There is no denying that LA will be attacked in the next few patches. Be it a diversion or anything else.
We know that the invasions were a gameplaymechanic you (anet) wanted to introduce and Scarlet was just there, fitting for this type of stuff (They are even excluded from the recap video).
So i ask, because i never felt that these were right: Were there other plans to do that part?
Would you have her attack DR directly (since the whole thing was human centered)? Or anything else?
Iam to this date confused about this thing, which to this day menaces the whole globe (Someone of you wrote globe, so i think of her appearing all over the world, teasing the cantha people with multiracial armies it ).
I am not the only one with questions and my might not be as intricate as other more experienced community members here, but i again, love it that you take your time to answer some of us.
What happened to the short stories!?!?
They were enjoyable – though yes, I wouldn’t have had the What Scarlet Saw story up there (at least not in such little details – I probably would have had it expanded and split into two or three, with us finally realize “omg Ceara is Scarlet!” in the final story), and though people complained about them the complaint was more that the info never got into the game like it should, somehow (not the story themselves but the bits and pieces) which has since been getting fixed. So… why stop the stories!?!? BRING THEM BACK! OR I’LL CRY! YOU DON’T WANT A CRYING CHARR DO YOU!?That’s so nice of you to say. I’m glad you liked the stories. Sometimes we hear so much of what people don’t like that we act on that without realizing that there are plenty of people who do like it. I think there’s a lesson in there somewhere for both fans and for us devs.
I will relay this to Bobby Stein (my boss) and we’ll see. I know I loved writing them, and others did as well. We’ll have to see. But thanks for letting us know you like them.
You can add a + 1 to that
I also love how the last update included a lot of that information delivered via npc dialog… that was an awesome touch!
Keep up the great work! though I might be part of the minority I actually love how the living story is being delivered ! It really feels like time is passing in the world and stuff keeps changing.
Also great work on the attention to detail. When Braham showed up in kessexs hills I went to see if he was also still in cragstead but was surprised that even though few if any people visit cragstead you still took the time to take him away from there so that he wouldnt be in 2 places at the same time. You get extra points for that
However you can find all 4 kashmeer, rox, marjory and braham at the same time in kessex and in the Divinity’s reach pub.
But said that, it doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day, we the players can travel to both places, so they are able to do it too
(edited by ElysianEternity.6215)
I’ll throw in my hat for enjoying the stories on the website! I liked that they gave some insight you couldn’t really do in game without doing some kind of flashback instance, etc.
Maybe if you bring them back you could add a few npcs that support them. Seeing a few of scarlet’s trainers in game was a nice touch in the last update. You don’t have to put the entire thing in there, just enough to push the story forward then people can hop on the site if they want the more indepth explanation.
Thanks for answering our questions!
Jerek Lo | Singh | Slagg Blackclaw | Wilhelm von Wilhelm | Viscerious
Sorrow’s Furnace
Kabal of the Righteous [Seed]
Sorrow’s Furnace
Kabal of the Righteous [Seed]
I hear you, and I understand completely how much fun that little “conjecture game” is. It goes with the territory for imaginative people.
We attempt to get all the information you need out there in one format or another before the end of the arc. Sometimes, you just have to wait for the story to finish unfolding. But sometimes, we just won’t have time to detail it in-game as deeply as you wish we could. In those instances, we can maybe fill in the blanks with blog posts or interviews, etc.
I love the Conjecture Game. It is one of my favorite mental exercises for any medium, especially ttrpg.
However, there is a big problem with the Guild Wars 2 universe that makes the Conjecture Game sometimes unfun: The possible universe is too big.
I like the Palladium RIFTS feel of possibilities in Guild Wars 2, but once we get to a point of conjecture sometimes it just gets to the “too many possibilities”-phase [see Bahltek ]. We don’t even know all of Tyria (world)!
I do appreciate that you guys are pushing the boundaries, as seen especially with this “Season 1” of stories because it seems to be dealing with grander things… Fractals, “What did Scarlet see?” than the mere Elder Dragons problem. As that Season 1 is becoming clearer, I see more and more the care you put into crafting it, and the theme.
I really appreciate this dialogue, and I am not trying to blame anybody. I just feel Konig, and all the other lore delvers (including myself) because it always feels like we don’t know more than we know.
THAT BEING SAID, the Guild Wars 2 universe is way more interesting than a similar universe that has been mostly spoiled… such as World of Warcraft. Rift is a little better because there is some polarity of facts as to who was right between factions, but even there… most is known. I guess the worst part though is with Guild Wars is that directions never seemed to go to completion/satiation.
So it is a frustrating line on both sides, but at least we get to all let our imaginations fly!
(Also Bahltek :P)
Kill Ten Rats – an MMO blog
Elona, Land of the Golden Sun….and undead…and poison. The travel brochure lied okay?!
just two thing that has been already said…it´s good to see a dev in here once in a while (even with no splashy red around name ).
And short stories – I was among the ones that “disliked them”, I started one thread about it too…and thing is…short stories are good and by all means keep them comming if you can, but let us find out basic info in the game too. Or something that refers to them, acknowledge them happening. So that we know what happened from game and we can get some insight of how/when/why, i.e. more details in the stories…It´s like…we don´t mind there being books, but it is good we can find out in game what happened in them.
That´s all and keep up the good work. I´m looking forward for what you prepared for us for next patch (and not only because we will get rid of Scarlet )
Elona, Land of the Golden Sun….and undead…and poison. The travel brochure lied okay?!
… I personally think that being unable to see this side of her has lead to some of the disbelief of how she has been able to accomplish what she has done, even if you have well thought out explanations for it. I guess us players always like to see to believe, which isn’t always a bad thing.
I get it. We have learned a lot over the past year. When we first started this story, we had to choose where to begin, and we chose to begin with the refugees coming down from the Shiverpeaks because we had limited time to build it and we wanted to begin at a compelling dramatic moment. This relegated Scarlet’s backstory to being just that: backstory. Over the course of the arc, we’ve tried to give you that backstory to the best of our abilities (within our limitations), but I understand that it’s not the same as seeing it for yourselves.
Fortunately, now that we’re in the midst of the story, we won’t have to start things in mid-stream anymore, and we’ll be mindful of creating potential blindspots.
I’m sorry if my response came out as somewhat critical…
I have actually been relatively happy with the living story stuff thus far storywise. I was a bit disappointed with the mechanics in both Aetherblade dungeons, but that isn’t your area per say. And I won’t deny that I was originally angry at the idea that the Krait allied with someone, but I’ve since then made peace with the how and why (I won’t deny that part of the reason I was angry is that I had bet against Scarlet’s involvement and lost gold because of it :P). I want to note that, personally, I loved Flame and Frost. Even when it was something as small as refugees and signposts. I loved it because it was something new, something changing, but it gave some time for anticipation to build. Sure, I’ll agree, it may have been too long, but it is closer to the pace that I enjoyed. I’m one of those people that loves to get caught up in the hype of a story. When War in Kryta came out I was checking all of the pages daily (well 3 times a day) to see if there was another message, or one of Murro’s journal entries. I enjoyed being forced to wait in order to live out the story at the pace of life, in a sense. Of course, Flame and Frost was beat out by the Zephyrites, mainly because the Zephyrites integrated lore from GW1, and there has been so little of that in the Living Story so far that it was a definite breath of fresh air.
I guess what I’m trying to say, after talking for hours about off topic stuff lol, is that I’m actually pleased with Scarlet hiding in the background near the beginning, and how she was introduced in a sense. I just wish that perhaps her dialogue had hinted at her silver-tongued trait when she talked with us. At least a little bit. I always find it enjoyable/entertaining when the “evil character” tries to “Grima Wormtongue” their way into the player’s minds and make them doubt their actions. I think that is some part of why I enjoyed Winds of Change content so well. Our character was duped, and had to live with the consequences of their actions.
Anyways, I do want to say that there has definitely been some improvement in the way the living world works, and I am happy with where things are going (according to my speculation). You should all keep up the good work!