Guild Wars 2

Let me start by saying that this post will mention WoW as an example. If it makes you too kitten to hear about another game as it seems so many do, please leave.

So about the WoW example. The main thing that made me enjoy WoW’s pvp was the factions, as each battleground was related to an ongoing battle between the horde and allience. You’d see the struggle in Ashenvale, and join Warsong gulch to fight the enemy faction back from that territory.

With the fact GW2 has no factrions, I’m struggling to get into PvP from a lore oriented perspective. My characters aren’t fighting back a known threat, just mindlessly killing each other and then standing side by side like nothing happened in LA.

I thought I’d come here to ask what story the RP’ers among you are using to give your character a sense of purpose in sPvP. So far the only story I’ve managed to make for why my char goes there is to “prove himself”, which isn’t at all relative to the character I created.

So, what’s your lore perspective on sPvp? Why does your character fight in the mists?

why do you need such a trivial thing to ensure you attain enjoyment, i dont recall asking for lore when playing pacman or pong.

RedCobra.7693:

why do you need such a trivial thing to ensure you attain enjoyment, i dont recall asking for lore when playing pacman or pong.

MMORPG are all about lore and backstory since, well, they are role playing game…
I myself do not find lore to be mandatory to play pvp (although interesting to know), but I aknowledge that to someone else, which is more interested in it, may be: it is just a matter of what one enjoy.

Demon of the Light.7961:

MMORPG are all about lore and backstory since, well, they are role playing game…

I used to believe that when I played UO on the Europa server.

Nowadays, they could just aswell remove the RPG from the end.

Tom Gore.4035:

I used to believe that when I played UO on the Europa server.

Nowadays, they could just aswell remove the RPG from the end.

It really depends on the game and the community:
It is true, back in Ultima Online there were a lot of roleplayers and lore was important, now it is just something “more” around the core of the game, but it is still important to someone…
It simply changed the “importance” since (seems like) the majority of the players is not interested in it, but as long there are players which pays attention to it there should be lore to explain every bit of the game.

Demon of the Light.7961:

Tom Gore.4035:

I used to believe that when I played UO on the Europa server.

Nowadays, they could just aswell remove the RPG from the end.

It really depends on the game and the community:
It is true, back in Ultima Online there were a lot of roleplayers and lore was important, now it is just something “more” around the core of the game, but it is still important to someone…
It simply changed the “importance” since (seems like) the majority of the players is not interested in it, but as long there are players which pays attention to it there should be lore to explain every bit of the game.

You’re right about that. I guess we roleplayers are in the great minority. Nothing else can explain the fact we don’t really have any tools in the game to help us visualize our roleplaying.

It actually seems the western developers are not doing anything to change that either. The only games coming (or being) out that have any RP tools are the eastern ones, such as Age of Wushu, FFXIV and ArcheAge.

Meanwhile I’ll enjoy my invisible drink in GW2 while standing up and not even moving my hands.

The Lore behind sPvP is basically “reliving” version of past battles.

I’m Here to kick kitten and chew bubblegum and i’m out of bubblegum ©

Demon of the Light.7961:

RedCobra.7693:

why do you need such a trivial thing to ensure you attain enjoyment, i dont recall asking for lore when playing pacman or pong.

MMORPG are all about lore and backstory since, well, they are role playing game…
I myself do not find lore to be mandatory to play pvp (although interesting to know), but I aknowledge that to someone else, which is more interested in it, may be: it is just a matter of what one enjoy.

yes that was my question, WHY, i wasn’t saying its wrong, just that i disagree, i love the lore of tyria im just interested in why its so important to him to need it for sPVP

The lore is the same as any other competition. You, and a team of others, are going up against others to put your skills to the test. Or at least that’s what I understand it to be. Also, why are we arguing about why he /needs/ the lore. Instead of just answering his original question?

Loki.9147:

The lore is the same as any other competition. You, and a team of others, are going up against others to put your skills to the test. Or at least that’s what I understand it to be. Also, why are we arguing about why he /needs/ the lore. Instead of just answering his original question?

well, okay then,
I feel like it is more of an undead realm, (the mists) where two teams fight over and over again for glory, like Valhalla

Skyy.1496:

So, what’s your lore perspective on sPvp? Why does your character fight in the mists?

“Okay so here’s the drill son. There was that guy called Balthazar, some furballs call him Badazar, ‘cause he’s more kitten than furballs themselves and they got their rears hurt cause of that. So this grim guy teared some stuff right out of this mists mumbo-jumbo you won’t understand anyway even if you’re one of these little guys hopping around screaming alchemy. As you may already see, old B. likes carnage, so humans slaughtering other humans for B’s glory makes daddy proud, wheels turning, money flowing, you know that crazy human stuff. Some time ago they all left, leaving misty rock you’re stuck in like other guys ‘ere. Mist mumbo-jumbo don’t like empty space tho. So we found it. Cleaned dust. Hung some rugs – look at those marvels. Started fighting. Not cause of some human god, no way. Cause we like fighting.
Eh? No point? We need no point!
Now get in fighting and stop asking questions soldier.
LAST CHANCE TO NAIL DOWN YOUR STRATEGY.”
^
That’s how I feel each time I think about lore of mists.

Skyy.1496:

So, what’s your lore perspective on sPvp? Why does your character fight in the mists?

sPvP seems to be a continuation of GW1’s Heroes’ Ascent – a series of tournaments ran by mortals (and in GW1 at least, watched for entertainment by the spirits of the dead) for the sake of honor and glory.

It’s basically like taking the Roman gladiators, removing the slaves and debts (at least no mention of such in official lore), and moving the arenas out of the main cities (where those with debts fight) and into the Mists.

ArenaNet really left out the lore of sPvP, so we don’t really know if it’s the same or not as GW1, we just know that it’s a series of fighting arenas in the Mists. All we really have regarding the lore is what the arenas are representing – like the Fractals of the Mists, the sPvP maps each are a reflection of past, modern, or future events. Battle of Khylo was a fight between two guilds (Ascalon’s Chosen and Zealots of Shiverpeaks – Ascalonian and Orrian respectively) during the Third Guild War. Raid on the Capricorn seems to be a replication of when Cobiah Marriner tried stealing the Capricorn when it was finished being built. Not sure on the others since I never do sPvP and can only go off of names and UI maps and screenshots.

WvW, surprisingly, has far more lore… even if not by much.

Cheers Loki, for steering back to the question.

Winds. Simply beautiful is all I can say ^^ Put a story behind the events by using in-game personalities. Love it! May just have to make myself a Charr and use what you said as his character basis now.

Konig Des Todes.
Now this I like. A lot. So maybe my Ele has been going “Bruce Willis” this whole time in Tyria. He died long ago in a battle, but having an Asura’s intelligence and elemental mastery (or something, I’ll try and flesh it out a bit more) he preserved his conciousness to keep the world safe by leading them with his extensive knowledge of battle strategy. He could have been present in every one of the battles each map represents without anyone else batting an eye, because hey, he’s a reinforcement. Each time he enters a battle, he’s re-living the event in his head. Or maybe even someone’s using the same technology that preserved him and trying to alter the past battles to different outcomes for the sake of their god. We can’t let that happen.

This has been helpful guys. Cheers

Skyy.1496:

Winds. Simply beautiful is all I can say ^^ Put a story behind the events by using in-game personalities. Love it! May just have to make myself a Charr and use what you said as his character basis now.

Thanks. Be advised though that no charr will call their species “furball”. I always thought that spvp commentator is norn or human. Kinda fits in, provided that most if not all in-game charr voice is mixed with subtle smacking noises and our guy there don’t make those.

bTomfoolery.2563:

The Mists are basically Valhalla. You’re an immortal warrior (while in the Mists anyways) fighting endlessly; reliving the most glorious battles the world ever knew because it’s awesome and you’re awesome.

I think the fact that you’re immortal outside the Mists too kind of dilutes the Valhalla aspect.

I don’t think it’s ever said that warriors are immortal in the Mists. In fact, there’s more to argue against it.

From Tomb of the Primeval Kings in GW1:

One moment I was moving to claim the center of the Hall; the next, darkness filled my vision and twisted nightmarish creatures erupted from everywhere at once. My allies were besieged, and I could not reach them… all I could do was fight my way through the darkness to get to the world outside. Their dying screams still ring in my spectral ears.

The servants of chaos struck like a volley of arrows; most did not even have time to raise a defense before they fell. I resurrected as many as I could and guided them to this portal, but now I fear the Tomb of the Primeval Kings may be lost to us.

Plus, if folks were immortal while in the Mists, then why were demons in the Realm of Torment trying to kill us? Plus there’s the whole Spirit Form during the fight against Dhuum in the Underworld (also part of the Mists); which has a play-on in the form of Lunatic Inquisition during the last Halloween, where those who were caught and killed were turned into ghosts (the Lunatic Court).

I think people misconceive the GW1 acts of resurrection and GW2’s lack of mechanical and lore death as becoming immortal…