Guild Wars 2

First of all let me tell you that I enjoy GuildWars 2.
I will spew a lot of critique, but I only do so because I care for this awesome franchise and want to give some feedback.

The only living world content I know I missed is Flame and Frost. So far, seeing Season one in a retrospect, I think I didn’t miss that much.
I can only say that I didn’t really enjoy Season 1 story-wise. Not because the story was inherently bad, more because there was barely any in it.
I really disliked Season 1’s ignorance of the personal story and couldn’t really relate to the decision to swipe all the established characters of the table to replace them with new ones who are somewhat related to the old characters. I like the new characters and I can imagine that the VA’s of Rytlock, Eir and co may have been unaviable, but still it felt too forced.
For me the first Season was more or less this in each episode: Some sparse instances with a bit of dialogue(voiced and written), followed by a huge, mostly grindy and stressing event-overload stuffed with achievements you had to do to get the price.

Season 2 is a huge improvement so far. Unlocked forever, not just until the next content arrives. I got a friend who can’t even relate to the new npc-group, because he didn’t have time for the first season and couldn’t play the story later when he had time.
But back to season 2 itself:
I really enjoyed the instances and how story-progression was combined with map-exploring. The content I got in the discussion with Taimi because my char is an Asura, was great.
The desert-theme is well made and I love the sandstorm-mechanic and the buried chests. The events lost a lot of their grindy mentality, since there is no longer a timer running down until the episode ends and you won’t be able to get the stuff anymore.
The achievements don’t put you under that much stress anymore either, which I also enjoy.

Sadly, Season 2 still shares some things with Season 1.
For example the “dying world”. Living world content isn’t really living up to it’s name. I get the feeling that whenever Anet want’s us to get engaged in the story, a lot of npc’s have to die. Season 1 ended with Lions Arch in ruins, Season 2’s launch killed the Zephyrites. To be honest, I find that the most cheap and unoriginal thing to do.
GuildWars 1 blasted me away with an awesome story and wonderful characters, GuildWars 2 seemed to honor that legacy…seriously, I still get wet eyes when I hear the flute at Gwen’s grave.
And now? I’m a cynic, so don’t take the following too harsh, but let me explain my current impression:
“BOOOM!!!”
“Oh look! Look here! We got a lot of dead people! Isn’t that sad, player? Don’t you feel emotionally engaged? No? Wait a sec…”
“BOOOM!!!”
“BOOOM!!!”
“BOBOOOOOOOM!!!”
“More dead people, see! So sad. Let us put up some monuments where children ask around for their dead parents and asura parents look for their missing daughter. Are you engaged? What? Not yet? Guys, get some dragon-minions with flamethrowers to the fahrar over there and get ready to light the cubs up, the players still aren’t engaged.”
The writers and world-designers of Arenanet have proven that they can do better than this.

But after “Points of Interest Episode 2” I think I get the picture.
A tight budget and the writers have to cope with limitations like limited space for the conversation-texts.
To be honest, I’d rather see less things like jumping puzzles and in return even more story-content.
For me Arenanets gold are their writers and a world that looks like a picture that has come alive.
This being said, I want to clarify that I don’t hate jumping puzzles. The hidden garden in Mount Maelstrom is one of the greatest works of art I’ve seen so far in games.

Another part I dislike about the Living Story so far is the lacking integration of the pc.
When I play the game I don’t feel like the story involves my pc. I rather feel like playing a sidekick for Marjory Delaqua.
I’m not even talking about the lack of the pc being voiced(I heard Arenanet is working on that, so I’m happily waiting), but the simple things.
For example:
As far as I understood our pc is the leader of the group. So why is it then that the pc is the only character staying behind in the cutscenes of the instance “Cornered”?
A leader would lead the group into the next room behind the vines, instead of standing inertly around.
Including the pc into the scripted movement-sequences shouldn’t be that much of a task I guess.
Second:
The game has animations for the pc.
The pc doesn’t have to speak, in order to appear in a cinematic conversation.
How about this version of the groups arrival at the Seraph-outpost in Brisbain Wildlands?
The pc walks up to the seraph-commander.
In a short text-conversation the pc states the reason for the arrival.
The conversation ends and the the seraph calls for Majory’s sister.
The cinematic conversation starts, we see the pc is shown with an open mouth like he/she is just about to start speaking, only to be interrupted by Belinda who sees her sister and greets her in the way we already saw ingame.
Marjory starts to introduce the group(which could have been also a good way to introduce the group to players who didn’t play season 1), when she reaches the pc, she could say something like this: “Our leader, known as the Pact-Commander who led the attack against Zhaitan.”
The pc just makes a humble bow and the conversation goes on.
Integrated pc without any variations, totally race- and gender-neutral.

Of course these are just opinions and suggestions.
I’m looking forward to the next episode of season 2.

Wholeheartedly agree, and I think your suggestions are just what is needed to make the story reach the quality it used to have.

tekfan.3179:

As far as I understood our pc is the leader of the group. So why is it then that the pc is the only character staying behind in the cutscenes of the instance “Cornered”?

Because after Scarlet blew up Marjory and Braham, our character was the only one smart enough to remember that rushing someone with explosives is a bad idea.

Filaha.1678:

tekfan.3179:

As far as I understood our pc is the leader of the group. So why is it then that the pc is the only character staying behind in the cutscenes of the instance “Cornered”?

Because after Scarlet blew up Marjory and Braham, our character was the only one smart enough to remember that rushing someone with explosives is a bad idea.

I loled!

I would hate to see the player character have to drone on in X number of chapters later about how “I am fine now! Stop worrying about me and LET me lead.”

Filaha.1678:

tekfan.3179:

As far as I understood our pc is the leader of the group. So why is it then that the pc is the only character staying behind in the cutscenes of the instance “Cornered”?

Because after Scarlet blew up Marjory and Braham, our character was the only one smart enough to remember that rushing someone with explosives is a bad idea.

I’d differ on the assumption that a leader allows his team to run into explosions that easily. Well…a good leader at least should try to stop them from it
Though, after checking the forums lately, I get the feeling that some people would actually like to step over the smoldering corpses of the current NPC-group.

tekfan.3179:

Filaha.1678:

tekfan.3179:

As far as I understood our pc is the leader of the group. So why is it then that the pc is the only character staying behind in the cutscenes of the instance “Cornered”?

Because after Scarlet blew up Marjory and Braham, our character was the only one smart enough to remember that rushing someone with explosives is a bad idea.

I’d differ on the assumption that a leader allows his team to run into explosions that easily. Well…a good leader at least should try to stop them from it
Though, after checking the forums lately, I get the feeling that some people would actually like to step over the smoldering corpses of the current NPC-group.

Given the way they act though, I think the only way you’d be able to stop them from running facefirst into explosions is to shoot them in the legs yourself.

And then they’d still probably try to limp into them…

Edit: While telling each other that they’re perfectly fine and to stop worrying about them.

tekfan.3179:

*GuildWars 1 blasted me away with an awesome story and wonderful characters, *

Look what a beautiful area.
BOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOM, EXPLODING MAGIC TERAFORMING CRYSTALS EVERYWHERE.

wouw.5837:

tekfan.3179:

*GuildWars 1 blasted me away with an awesome story and wonderful characters, *

Look what a beautiful area.
BOOOOOM BOOOOOOOOOM, EXPLODING MAGIC TERAFORMING CRYSTALS EVERYWHERE.

True. Except for the terraforming of the crystals. The earth was simply burned. If they would have terraformed the region, GW2-Ascalon wouldn’t look like it does.
Still I didn’t felt that tragedy being rubbed that blatantly in our faces.
The GW1-pc was away, came back and found his/her homeland destroyed.
Rurik sets up a plan for the exodus to Kryta and we start helping for a better future.
There were sad things like orphans, but we could actually help them:
-The boy who finds the ghosts of his parents, they got a chance to say goodbye and that they will see each other in the mists.
-A few expansions later we are able to take the adult Gwen as a hero into the Mists, where she talks with her mother and everything has a sweet sour note. Later we even find the flute we gave her as a child.
A little help and a little hope to savour.

In GW2 we get to evacuate citizens of Lions Arch…mostly represented by a counter at the edge of the screen during the event. Well do I care about my numbers… -_-
Once we defeated Scarlet, we find a city in ruins with three monuments of loss and grieve.
No mission to find at least one parent of the child who can’t find his Mommy and Daddy.
No way of at least giving the parents of that asuran girl a bit of closure.
Instead we get to do festival-quests to raise money with no feedback whatsoever of what it accomplished.
That would have been like going from the post-searing Ascalon, only to celebrate festivals in Kryta in order to get enough wintersday- and halloween-food for the starving victims of the searing.

Lionguard Quatta and her trainee are so far the only real story-content I can find of what is going on with the citizens of Lions Arch.
They encounter a homeless woman who finds out that her former home has become a graveyard. I can relate to that.
Next we see the financial corruption in the Lion Guard, which is to expect in a pirate-city.
When they find dead bodies, there is no incline to care about it, rather a semi-comical off-screen-comment of the trainee getting sick from the smell and Quatta being annoyed for not getting a bonus since there is a deadly miasma-pocket inside.
So on one hand we got that three places of grief, while elsewhere the tragical death of three people is reduced to a puking greenhorn and a greedy asura.

The problem I have is that there is only the tragic death and destruction. Instead of caring about it, we are sent off to see the next people crash into chaos.
The world isn’t getting more atmospheric and more immersive, we just get more crash-sites to do jumping-puzzles on.
Granted, a lot of it looks good and the instances are fun.
However, while I felt like having an impact in GW1, in GW2 I feel like being a firefighter who can only help by killing the pyromaniac who is forced to leave while the fire is still burning.