Before I get to my moment there are some things I want to say and this is as good a place as any. I was a mad GW1 fan and played through everything there and loved it. For years GW1 and Eve were the only games I played. I was excited for GW2 and frankly if there is a target market for the game I am it. I enjoy all aspects of the game but must confess I am holding off on sPvP while I gather stuff for my legendary (I don’t have a lot of hours in a day for games).
With the Karka event I was very disappointed. I am in Australia and the first two parts were laggy and buggy which was bad enough but worst I couldn’t take part in the finale as it was at 7am on a Monday morning. I also missed out on the chest even when they were supposed to be distributed to everyone. If this was the event format it was no good for me and I took a break.
I was persuaded to give The Living Story a chance. I have to say this format is awesome. This is what I was expecting, the rewards are cool but not over the top and for a lore hound like me the extra material is fantastic. Frankly this has won me back to GW2. I just refunded my Defiance season pass and spent the money on gems. All I can say is MORE!
Now that’s off my chest.. I had a moment… I went back to Southsun for the first time since the Karka event to see the place again so I could better appreciated the changes when they come. I found myself standing by a bridge and I remembered that bridge being built, I remembered clearing trees up the path. Suddenly I had a connection to, of all things, a bridge. New players will just see a bridge and if it comes up I may get to tell them the story behind it but the memories and the connection are mine.
This will be the case with all the changes over time. This becomes our story. At first glance some might say it’s not fair because people miss out if they join late, but stuff happened before I was born in real life too. New stuff will happen that I will miss due to real life commitments but I will hear the stories when I get back. As for things like the dungeons these can become more slices of history to appear in Fractals, it’s perfect. That’s important because that Molten Furnace was fun and well built, it would be a crime not to give it the FOTM treatment.
I remember in Eve there were world changing events that left landmarks behind (like Crieliere for instance). Sure I missed most of the early ones but I heard and read the stories, I saw the wrecks and relics and it was part of a rich history. It was cool knowing I could have been there and I made sure I threw myself into any events that came up.
This Living Story format gives us enough time to enjoy the content, savour it on our own schedule yet it still has that magic of having a limited life. It’s a moment that will become the history of this game.
GW2 is on the way to becoming the MMO as art form. Keep up the good work ArenaNet.
Has anyone else had that magic moment when you just ‘get it’?