Guild Wars 2

…is apparently the argument some people have, when someone voices concern over the quick-fire release schedule of the Living Story.

I’m sorry, but this is a terrible argument.

Of course I’m not required to play the Living Story. Of course missing a story or two will not result in the game becoming unplayable. Of course all the achievements are optional.

However, you’re missing the point completely.

We WANT to play the game. We log into GW2 because it’s entertainment, and it’s fun. We log in because we like experiencing the game with our partners, friends, and family. We get achievements, gear, and such because we feel like we are accomplishing something that matters to us.

If the Living Story content is released at a pace where most casual players are unable to keep up, I’m afraid it will result in many of them (myself included), slowly finding themselves frustrated and lost.

For many of us, one of the reasons we chose GW2 over other MMO’s is because there was no pressure to play. We could log in and tackle the game, with whomever we choose, at a pace that worked for us.

Sure, there is nothing wrong with the occasional event, or limited time content. I think most of us will agree that stuff is pretty cool, and have no problem budgeting time for them.

The issue is when we have one Living Story right after another (and many times overlapping), in addition to all the other things we WANT to do in the game. Many of us simply don’t have the luxury to sit down for hours every week and complete dailies, monthlies, Living Story, WvW, PvP, Personal Story, Events, World Completion, Legendaries, Random Achievements, Boss Fights, Dungeons, Jumping Puzzles, Alt Characters, Role Playing, Crafting, Mystic Forge, Exploring, and so on.

If the Living Story is going to continue at the pace they are suggesting, then something has to give. Either the achievements, and the time needed to get them need to be drastically reduced, the content needs to be easy enough that it doesn’t require hours and hours to learn and/or complete, or they need to make the content last long enough to let everyone the chance to experience them.

I applaud ANet for taking on such an ambitious goal. I truly hope that in practice it results in a game that is constantly fresh and exciting. I just hope they can find the right balance that will allow as many players as possible to experience the content without feeling a constant pressure to do so.

So, if you’re one of those people that keeps using the argument, “Playing the Living Story isn’t required.” then please take a step back and try to understand that we understand this, we’re just trying to voice or concerns to ANet so they understand that making new content is a huge waste of time, if a bunch of the players can’t keep up fast enough to enjoy any of it.

I love this argument. Raiders from wow usually said to non-raiders similiar things: “you don’t have to raid, and if you don’t raid you don’t need the raiding gear, dungeon gear should be enough for you to enjoy non-raid content”

But if you mention raiding in any form near those people then they usually get mad, call you an elitist and redirect to wow. Funny, isnt it?

Most of this content will probably work on like the aetherblade content, \a story arch a month. So, July content will probably be up until the second week of August. I really don’t think anyone is going to have a problem logging in at least once in that time frame to do some of the new stuff.

OK, but the point that others are making is that you can have content
A+B+C where people who play a lot can play all of it, people who can’t will play A+B, or B+C, or A+C or any of the 3.

Alternatively, you can have content
A+C and skip B entirely. Now everyone can enjoy A+C content, but B never existed. Why not have B available for those who can play more??

Getting mad at ANet for having temp content that you cannot log in to on your personal time is like getting mad at a sports team for having a game when you are otherwise occupied. So you miss something, no big deal, just enjoy the rest of that you have time to experience.

Jemmi.6058:

OK, but the point that others are making is that you can have content
A+B+C where people who play a lot can play all of it, people who can’t will play A+B, or B+C, or A+C or any of the 3.

Alternatively, you can have content
A+C and skip B entirely. Now everyone can enjoy A+C content, but B never existed. Why not have B available for those who can play more??

Getting mad at ANet for having temp content that you cannot log in to on your personal time is like getting mad at a sports team for having a game when you are otherwise occupied. So you miss something, no big deal, just enjoy the rest of that you have time to experience.

No it’s not. Those are entirely two different things. First off, the sports is not something you yourself play. You watch it. People are upset because there’s a huge list of achievements and content they won’t get to experience and not getting anything of substance to make up for it.

There are dungeons, jumping puzzles, and instances. All of which can be repeated and are up for a good amount of time. I don’t understand the basis of the argument. No you won’t be able to get everything, many people won’t. Big deal. Are you afraid you’ll miss a prize? The content is not that time consuming.

Destai.9603:

Jemmi.6058:

Destai.9603:

Jemmi.6058:

OK, but the point that others are making is that you can have content
A+B+C where people who play a lot can play all of it, people who can’t will play A+B, or B+C, or A+C or any of the 3.

Alternatively, you can have content
A+C and skip B entirely. Now everyone can enjoy A+C content, but B never existed. Why not have B available for those who can play more??

Getting mad at ANet for having temp content that you cannot log in to on your personal time is like getting mad at a sports team for having a game when you are otherwise occupied. So you miss something, no big deal, just enjoy the rest of that you have time to experience.

No it’s not. Those are entirely two different things. First off, the sports is not something you yourself play. You watch it. People are upset because there’s a huge list of achievements and content they won’t get to experience and not getting anything of substance to make up for it.

Sports is a form of entertainment that you can enjoy and that you can miss. That is the similarity.

If you want something exactly like this, you won’t find it.

It’s 100% fine the way it is, and if you miss something too bad. I am going to miss something later this month when I go home for my sisters wedding. You won’t hear me crying about it like a spoiled little 5 year old.

The problem is that’s becoming the entire game. So once you’ve beaten the original content, the two week long content is all that remains. That is, until ArenaNet can make up their mind which content stays and goes. They seem to be unable to do that. I get that their trying a new method of delivery, and that’s fine. I’m fine with the living story concept, but it needs to be more than glorified dailies and achievement chasing.

This much I can agree with Destai. IMO, in every update there has been at least 1 thing that I enjoy, and usually several other that I don’t. I particularly don’t like things like moa racing, pinata smashing and so on.

The two week content is all that remains, and that is why I like the faster release schedule, as it gives me something to do when I log in. I also like that a lot of it is temporary, because it really gives the world a real feel. I do not necessary like that I miss something, but I like that I can miss something – if that makes sense? I missed the big karka event in November, and will never be able to get that back. However, I’ve made it to most of the events since, and so I am still having a blast.

Jemmi.6058:

Destai.9603:

Jemmi.6058:

Destai.9603:

Jemmi.6058:

OK, but the point that others are making is that you can have content
A+B+C where people who play a lot can play all of it, people who can’t will play A+B, or B+C, or A+C or any of the 3.

Alternatively, you can have content
A+C and skip B entirely. Now everyone can enjoy A+C content, but B never existed. Why not have B available for those who can play more??

Getting mad at ANet for having temp content that you cannot log in to on your personal time is like getting mad at a sports team for having a game when you are otherwise occupied. So you miss something, no big deal, just enjoy the rest of that you have time to experience.

No it’s not. Those are entirely two different things. First off, the sports is not something you yourself play. You watch it. People are upset because there’s a huge list of achievements and content they won’t get to experience and not getting anything of substance to make up for it.

Sports is a form of entertainment that you can enjoy and that you can miss. That is the similarity.

If you want something exactly like this, you won’t find it.

It’s 100% fine the way it is, and if you miss something too bad. I am going to miss something later this month when I go home for my sisters wedding. You won’t hear me crying about it like a spoiled little 5 year old.

The problem is that’s becoming the entire game. So once you’ve beaten the original content, the two week long content is all that remains. That is, until ArenaNet can make up their mind which content stays and goes. They seem to be unable to do that. I get that their trying a new method of delivery, and that’s fine. I’m fine with the living story concept, but it needs to be more than glorified dailies and achievement chasing.

This much I can agree with Destai. IMO, in every update there has been at least 1 thing that I enjoy, and usually several other that I don’t. I particularly don’t like things like moa racing, pinata smashing and so on.

The two week content is all that remains, and that is why I like the faster release schedule, as it gives me something to do when I log in. I also like that a lot of it is temporary, because it really gives the world a real feel. I do not necessary like that I miss something, but I like that I can miss something – if that makes sense? I missed the big karka event in November, and will never be able to get that back. However, I’ve made it to most of the events since, and so I am still having a blast.

I’m not against it per se, some of the content is enjoyable. Nor am I against the cycling of content. I’ve just noticed a few trends that have left a bad taste in my mouth. For one, there seems to a few loose ends in terms of story. Personal story is left hanging – which could have been addressed in a future expansion. Southsun Cove has no permanent incentive to return – a problem which plagues most areas and which could be addressed by living story.

I’d prefer to see Living Story affect a majority of zones, particularly the middle level ones. The introductory zones and end game zones have enough population and content to get through them, but taking that approach gets people out of Lion’s Arch and into the world they’ve crafted.

I’ve no doubt that permanent material will be available in the near future, but I worry about burnout and boredom resulting from the Living Story release schedule. Of course, that can be allayed by not doing the content. Also, players are then faced with the difficult choice of enjoying the fresh content or pursuing their long term goals.

Heres my problem with the “living stories”.

For those that have already done everything they wanted in the core game, there is nothing else to do. So before, it took too long for the new content to come out, if Anet can keep their promise of releasing a living story every two weeks, then I think it will be fine.

Its not like they take that much time to finish anyways. I literally today started playing GW2 again and already finished the “Dragon Bash” achievement (I got the wings).

My biggest problem with the living stories is, besides being as shallow as a puddle of water on a table, is thakittens throwaway content. This content does not stay in the game forever (ofc its mostly due to its shallowness). It really reminds me of the holiday specials you usually get with games like WoW, GW1, etc.

So Anet, how about spending your time creating actual REAL content instead of the same thing over and over but with a different skin?

If you notice, all these so called living stories is all about,

1) Going into the middle of lions arch to get main quest.
2) Travelling all over the map to find something for the main quest.
3) Going all around Lions Arch and other maps to find something for the achievement (pumpkin, piñatas, snow mans).
4) Go play some useless pvp mini game which most players do not enjoy.
5) If lucky we get a fun jumping puzzle.
6) Some extremely shallow “dungeon” that has no challenge whatsoever and looks as if the idea was thought out during a days of work)

So unless you are an extremely casual gamer (like playing 2 hrs max a week), im pretty sure that two weeks will be more than enough to finish the “living story” that is currently in the world.

It’s like missing a sale at gamestop. It sucks but it happens. This is world and most of the people that play and pay into this world are fans of the series. It’s like that saying. Friends may come and go but family is forever. Casual gamers may come and go but true fans will always remain. The only companies that cater 90 percent to casual are console companies. But when you get into the world of computers, developers cater 80 percent to the hard core gamer. I’m not saying be happy or GTFO I hate that. But I am saying if you don’t like content find something you enjoy and stick with that. Like me, I’m a hard core fan since the beginning of GW1 but I’m not needing to get every achievement and I’m not needing to get 100 percent world competition. I play what I enjoy and if I miss something it sucks but there is always more around the corner. I don’t feel cheated at all. Do what you enjoy and if you don’t like something don’t do it.