Guild Wars 2

Elric Of Melnibone.4781:

I like the Dry Top area, but I hate that they had to kill off the beautiful Zephyr Sanctum, which was probably my favorite update. How will all of the new players or returning players ever experience Zephyr Sanctum???

If you go back to the lore discussions around the time, the Zephyrites had a whole fleet of ships, the Sanctum we saw was just the one that comes down to trade. So there’s nothing saying that they can’t bring that event back sometime in the future… with the explanation that it’s one of the ships that Aerin never got the chance to sabotage.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

Late to this discussion but still…

Changing the landscape is problematic as it cross the lines with the Personal Story and that can raise a lot of questions about the state of the world.

There is plenty of progression that can be achieved with or without changing the landscape of established zones too radically. Adding new areas to accommodate progression is a safe way that opens up the map more (which is nice), though there are plenty of things a Living World Experience can bring to the table and expand upon.

There are many, many elements that are established already in the world that are relatively standing still that could be explored as part of a Living World project.

• What’s happening with Fort Trinity and how is Trahearne going with the plans to defeat the other dragons? In fact, can we see the corpse of Zhaitan yet? What is the state of Orr right now? New area right there.
  • Are any of the other Elders worried about that “elder-dragon-killing-number-2-skill-pressing-players” yet? Power struggle of Zhaitan’s remaining champion creatures over what’s left while Orr gets cleansed? Gotta be lots to do with that.

• Then there’s a nice little place called Garenhoff where the Wizard’s Tower is and that Arcane Eye already use as a locale. That story arc could be brought up in a living story element and would certainly be something I would like to learn more about as it was something established back in Guild Wars.

• What about the other races like the Tengu?

• What about the established forces of the other Elder Dragons?

• Then there’s the Orders that can be expanded upon for more than just a Personal Story element. It would be nice to see that expanded and brought into focus a bit, especially with Living World stuff as I’d enjoy fighting along side my Order again in a more specific order-ly. Expanding and reincorporating the Orders and other factions in a more real way is a great way of expanding on lore and bringing some new content series in as well. A Orders bounty system. Quests, dailies etc?
  • What are the not so nice Orders like the White Mantle and the likes getting up to. How’s Kryta going right now?

• Those Steam creatures have a living story and personal story tie in and would be interesting to see how that could be played around with. Steam creatures go fully self-aware and go on mass purge? Dealing with issues like creatures becoming self-aware? Something? Anything since LS Season 1 is gone right now.

• Ebonhawke anyone? How’s all that going since Zhaitan was 2’ed to death? How’s that treaty?

• Re-establish the Hall of Monuments, actually do that place justice and answer some of the questions established back in Guild Wars (as far as I know they haven’t been answered).

• Clearly the Underworld is still around. What about the other realms? Why don’t we take the fight there?

I’m sure we could go on…

Then you could actually add character progression with personality, where choices actually held some validity unlike what we currently have. and if you could go back through and refine personal choice and attachment that’d be nice

Incorporate new profession skills maybe?

Not too sure about Orders skills (Sunspear/Luxon etc) for the older players but that could be explored, even for Orders specific content.

Not everything has to be world changing but progression can bring depth to character as well.

If Pact is on charge to change their plan: Krattakrolik>Mordemoth, there should be added some group events like: check troops, progress of preparation, collect all what will be need, check all what u know etc… when nov 4th probably will be like: Pact is already in charge come fast, oh we encountered enemies, help to kill after cleaning job workers in 4 hits of hammer build all infractructures (other way: they found some ancient infra, come and rest is the same). There is lack of this background.
Much more I receive in very bad taste – idk – market strategy? waiting until 4th nov? Sb thinks players walkthrough is like: DR Part 2>WvW T>Madness>Nov 4th? not it is likeDR Part 2>do not launch gw2 until nov 4th. It is very individual, cuz players looking forward/like different aspects of the game and what we gain, we gain something for all but in sequnce, players who are about ls wait through repeat able content, pvp frenzy and WvW T for their turn and others wait cuz of them. Why it isn’t more suitable for all prefrences.. the goldean mean’ lack or just bad bad bad strategy.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

Hi, some ideas
Brisban Wildans: Pact have secret service agents called Whispers, I would like to see some of them spectating walls in front of fort in Vandal Claim, ofc in stealth mode, but as allies we can see tchem and due to the fact that we deal with inq, court, bandits – inteligents forms of life, very suspicious and careful. When we try to talk with them they only say: Shhh… Their next sigins able to see in Vandal Claim too, they will talking with triforge tacticians, when we close to them they start to behave like: I did nothing, I just walk there, and by coincidence I talk with triforge tactician.
Humans will deligate their mastermind for this case: so show some of them in Divinity Reach, call this group Central Muuguma Mind Service or sth like, place them somewhere with books etc.. and add 2-3 books enable to read: about maguuma, maguuma centaurs, behemoth, maguuma wind riders etc..
Norns; some of them will start talking killing plants in jungle can be rewarding as dealing with sons or even more. It can be in Hoelbark.
We have some weapoints taken away, put some Arcane eye messing around and saying all day all night: Go away! etc..
Charrs, hmm, maguuma – it is other type of terrrain, and we will need to send some sources, but bulls and dolyaks can’t deal with so what about charrs that training devouvers, plated behemoths (it is other race than gw1 behemoth, it is like armodillo+siamoth), siamoths as pack animals, and supicious buyer that wanna them (ofc Whispers). Eh, flamethrowers < if u came up with something I would like to see this ing.
Sylvari, idk, really idk.

All of them don’t intefere imo. And all of them are like the small things that drive all cogs. It should move a little background of ls2.

If you spect what happens in this topic, have your own thoughts say if you’re going to do sth like that. Looking forward devs reply.

Mem no Fushia.7604:

Hi, some ideas
Brisban Wildans: Pact have secret service agents called Whispers, I would like to see some of them spectating walls of fort in Vandal Claim, of in stealth mode (but as allies we can see them)(due to fact that we deal with inq, court, bandits – inteligents forms of life, very suspicious and careful). When we try to talk with them they only say: Shhh… Their next sigins we will in Vandal Claim too, they will talking with triforge tacticians, when we close to them they start to behave like: I did nothing, I just walk there, and by coincidence I talk with triforge tactician.
Humans will have their minds for this case: so show some of them in Divinity Reach, call this group Central Muuguma Mind Service or sth like, place them somewhere with books etc.. and add 2-3 books enable to read: about maguuma, maguuma centaurs, behemoth, maguuma wind riders etc..
Norns some of them will start talking killing plants in jungle can be rewarding as dealing with sons or even more, it can be in Hoelbark.
We have some weapoints taken away, put some Arcane eye messing around and saying all day all night: Go away! etc..
Charrs, hmm, it is other type of terrrain, and we will need to export some sources, but bulls and dolyaks can’t deal with so what about charrs that training devouvers, plated behemoths (it is other race than gw1 behemoth, it is like armodillo+siamoth), siamoth as pack animals, and supicious trader that wanna them (ofc Whispers). Eh, flamethrowers < if u can up with something i would like to see this ing.
Sylvari, idk, really idk.

All of them don’t intefere imo. And all the small things that drive all. Drive background of ls2.

If you spect what happens in this topic, say if you’re going to do sth like that, or you have your own thoughts. Looking forward devs reply.

It seems like you might have some good ideas, but it’s hard to tell, because this is really hard to read. If you want a dev response, you may need to edit your post to make it more readable.

I recall reading somewhere that ANet regarded destroying Ascalon (pre-searing) as one of their biggest mistakes and went on to explain why, about players “home” etc. Well it didn’t take long for them to make the same mistake again. And no, I don’t care about the “home” zones; they are just peripherally annoying instances that cease to be home very early in a character’s personal story and certainly not “home” to a player.

When I look at the map of Tyria I see lots of unexplored areas, places I can’t go to because the devs haven’t made that place yet. I wanted to visit these places in GW1 also, still waiting. So I’m very much in agreement with OP; stop destroying good stuff and make new stuff.

While we are at it, isn’t it time that Orr started to recover? I cleaned up that mess 2 years ago and it’s still an ugly mess. How about getting rid of the toxic/krait/scarlet junk out of Queensdale? It should never have been in that starting zone anyhow and now it has no place there, it’s just some forgotten junk in a once better world that is looking very neglected.

I wonder if the people complaining about the changing world are the ones who embraced the new "unlockable content by leveling’ Please go play a different MMo that focuses on being static and boring and linear, instead of trying to make this one into a bore-fest.

omninull.4036:

I wonder if the people complaining about the changing world are the ones who embraced the new "unlockable content by leveling’ Please go play a different MMo that focuses on being static and boring and linear, instead of trying to make this one into a bore-fest.

This is not the same. Here it is a question of changing environment. We never ask leveling level or make it easy Game play.

Furyan.9578:

• Then there’s a nice little place called Garenhoff where the Wizard’s Tower is and that Arcane Eye already use as a locale. That story arc could be brought up in a living story element and would certainly be something I would like to learn more about as it was something established back in Guild Wars.

• Ebonhawke anyone? How’s all that going since Zhaitan was 2’ed to death? How’s that treaty?

• Clearly the Underworld is still around. What about the other realms? Why don’t we take the fight there?

These questions are things I often wonder.
As much as I wonder where are all the newness we learned over the game.
As the observatory in Jotun Arah. Has you install it in the Asura, for example?

Kessex Hills will be cleaned? find a little beauty?

All three levels will they finally have real solid foundation, extending? libraries, laboratories true? True fortresses?

Why are humans the only ones with Hospitals?

Trinity is strong it will become a fortified city extending its domination? if yes, corruption back she? Nature means she? Water is it clear?

The kodan will not they widen their new cities?

Tengu will they get out? or we can visit their cities?

Rata Sum will finally make provisions xenophobic fear of others, but also dragons?
When did Soren Draa and Desira atum will extend? Thaumanova will be rebuilt? or stabilized?

When will we see real forest?

what becomes of the consortium? southern sun will become a true seaside resort? Lion arch will evolve, little by little?

i like the living world.
specially the movement and changes with kessex hills and tower.
has been my favourite event chain so far specially because players could just open enter it and all have a go. i found the fights through the tower very dynamic.

hordes of quite tough enemies made the fights inside the tower fast and champions held the group up then. very good mix, can just say i liked to play the tower alot.

the changes the event brought to kessex are for me excellent. everyone stepping into kessex can ask “why is there so much waste around the lake?” “thats because we fought and destroyed the tower here”. great!

the only thing i dislike with the living story is that the world within tyria is not moving with the story enough.

if the capital city gets destroyed in war i would assume that all races on tyria are on shock and get into movement.

like a capital city destroyed means people living inside the city need now e.g. food supply. we have the corn fields in gandarra fields and this is just outside the city.
in such war scenario i want to see the norns going wild to help lions arch get food supply, by building a huge windmill and bread bakery to help feed lions arch people which build the city now up for month maybe years…

the new norn buidings could then lead to more people move there from time to time and a new city evolves because more traders and blacksmith etc. move in there. a new craftsmen junction evolves. players get events to bring supply to lions arch and all that then. in the future this could lead to an annual event connected to the evolution of tyria. like a annual “hoelbrak’s celebration of the windmill” with huge norn events for players like axe throwing contests and all that medevial stuff. huge place in the iddle with wooden tables where players can actually sit togehter. like a player arriving in this place can see a guild of 30 people already sitting at those huge table rows. such evens i’d prefer instead of events connected to real world halloween or such. this i would expect from an online mmo with a living story.

while that happens and starts to create itself we see huge discussions between the people of lionsarch. i mean its destroyed by war so people are to resettle and their opinion should diverse into different directions. some think the city must be build up again, some believe its better to move away cause it could be attacked in future again, etc.

maybe even players can make decisions within a political system inside the game how the story gets on or he story evolves with different options players can speculate about what happens next. people bulding lions arch build it but some went away so lions arch will be build up again but not be the capital anymore because the people which moved away build something better for the position as capital city. all kind of that…

it cannot be that something huge happens and some places are in business as usual.

overall i want to have more happening inside the world at all. at the moment the issue with arenanet (as far i as a player can see) seems to be that there are a lot of ideas. :/ ???

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

Here are a few ideas off the top of my head. They all are “little things” that require only a little time and creativity.

*Add a few watchknights patrolling around Divinity’s Reach, and a few npcs near the new path. When a watchknight walks by, the NPC makes a comment about how they make them feel uncomfortable like they could snap again. This will attract curious players to talk to the NPC, giving an opportunity to integrate some season 1 summarizing, such as how the watchknights were twisted by scarlette and she even made a huge one at this spot in Lornar’s Pass which in turn encourages the player to explore for that spot later.

*Add a few “molehills” to the junction area between Wayfarer Foothills and Diessea Plateau. Have Biron along with some other Norn walking around trying to fill in the holes as well as find scraps and whatnot. If someone who played Flame and Frost and returned his ship in a bottle to him talks to him, he says it’s good to see them again and states he gathered up other Norn kids who lost something to the Molten Alliance and they’re gathering the scrap to make armor out of their enemy so to speak. If a player who was not around for Flame and Frost talks to him, he gives a small summary about the events of Flame and Frost.

*Now more than ever, the threat of the Elder Dragons is looming over Tyria. The people need something to comfort them, but this something needs to make the people tougher rather than weaker. This has caused the Arcane Council (perhaps particularly a disgruntled Phlunt, still fuming over Taimi’s childish antics?) to force Moto into “deciding” to follow up with Subdirector Klein about mass-producing the first two worlds of the super adventure box as “Super Adventure Box: Episode 1”, at least in an arcade form. This gives both the chance for players to play the popular Super Adventure Box content as well as gives you the developers a perfect chance to expand upon the Consortium and what they are up to lately.

*Gnashblade needs to be more active. He seems to get skins that correlate with current events to sell in his store. Why not have him (or at least one of his employees) be more “mobile” with each new skin update, having him venture to parts of Tyria where the skins would be found. For example, when the Ley Line skins came out Gnashblade could of been standing in the Cavern of the Shining Lights making comments such as “Yes, oh yes, this could sell nicely!” If the player talks to him, they get the black lion rundown, but also get a little “lore” to go along with the new skins.

*Kiel won the election, now it’s time for her to get to work. The city of Lions Arch should be being rebuilt little by little each living story update, and Kiel should be there at the front of it all directing the rebuilding process. Again, if you talk to her you get a chance to learn about the council election, Scarlet’s attack, and even a chance to have her mock Gnashblade a little and mention where he went off to and for what reason (example-I sent him to Drytop to look for anything that could help rebuild this area here, but he is late getting back to me…)

*It’s not like ALL the Zephyrite ships were blown up. Have the rest of their people come looking for them and pick them up in Drytop. Have a few Zephyrites wanting to stay on the ground, perhaps they were too shaken by the hijacking to want to be in a small space with people again or perhaps they always were curious about life on the ground and now’s a good time to try it. Also, the Zephyrites provided Lions Arch with some materials for rebuilding. Therefore, Lions Arch should have at least a little Zephyr Sanctum feel to some of the rebuilt parts.

*The dead should be honored with something better than a wooden signboard with a sheet of names on it. Make a new monument listing the names of those who were lost in the battle for Lions Arch and someone at the monument to talk to who can give a small summary on how Lions Arch got hit but was not destroyed.

I could keep going if needed, however I just wanted to toss a few examples out there of changes to the world that are different from “Place X has been blown up, not rebuilding that, sorry charlie.”

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

It is quite simple, Regina.
Not destroying; Changes made by political/culture meanings. You’ll may notice a different House’s banner around the city, or the cave where you used to smuggle shiney goods to the Skritt fellas now smells of ogre? Oh sorry, forgot that there are is no real lore visible, just written.

Destroying: If there is something happening, and a fort turns out to be weak, it is your adventure to save it “in the last minute clishe” and REINFORCE it.
Let’s see Kessex Hills. Okay, things are destroyed. Brilliant job. Then the Krait tower has been blew’d up. Nice one. Now it’s standing in ruins. Okay… But where is the next step??
I’ll tell you, the next/“final” step is to rebuild what has been destroyed, to an even better state as was before. It is how exactly places & cities reborn.
They get destroyed & built up shortly using the best available technology.
So we ask You and the team… Where is this “step”? When is this “step”?

Dry Top & the Lost Zephyrites;
The next should be help these zephyrites to rebuild their flying…stuff from what’s left and escort them safety by using the pact’s airships.
Some of them may won’t fly again, sicne they lost faith or just in fear… so they’ll repopulate Dry Top & do something worthy later, maybe with connection to the other flying zephyrites.
Don’t forget that we’re waiting for a really cruel Crystal Desert too, where you have to survive through those sandstorms & heat.

1. You pick the most beautiful zones and ruin them with random crap left behind at the end of that living story zone.
a. Examples include the left over krait/spore crap ruining Queensdale (and are also way to hard for a low level to complete when they randomly come across it) or the shrapnel littering kryta.
b. I DON’T MIND AT ALL that you change the zone for the initial event. But build it backup at the end. Shouldn’t the farmers of kryta use all that metal/wood scrap to rebuild forts/hamlets even better from before. Shouldn’t those new forts and hamlets have a visual theme that fuses the krytan region but also the toxic alliance architecture since they are using the same building materials? I like that you added even more banks, merchants, and etc. back in lions arch as part of the rebuild. Now rebuild the structures even better than before!
c. If you leave anything behind make sure it fits THEMATICALLY with the rest of the zone so it doesn’t stick out like an eyesore. See letter a. above.
d. If you leave anything behind in a zone put a “memorial plaque” explaining how it ended up there in that state for new players.
e. If you are going to destroy a bunch of crap and leave it looking ugly do it in a zone that is already ugly, confusing, and asymmetric as kitten to begin with — Orr.
f. If you take the time to design amazing little areas like nolan’s hatchery then make it useful post ls. Special karma merchants, special weapons merchants, etc.
g. stop destroying the places we care about most for dramatic effect if you are going to leave them ruined. (Totally fine if you build them back up within a REASONABLE time, see letter b.).

2. Specific examples of LS content I thought were amazing:
a. The Frost and Flame Dungeon, The Aether Dungeons, The Aether JP
b. The Tower of Nightmares MegaDungeon.
c. Anything that gives a new zone to explore (Tower of Nightmares, Dry Top, Edge of the Mists, Labyrinthine Cliffs/Zypher Sanctum).
d. Things that bring in mini-events/games (Sanctum Sprint, CrabToss, Sanctum PvP).
e. Things that required teamwork but not significant amount (Tower of Nightmares and zone content, Defense of LionsArch). (IMO things that require significant coordination of 50+ people is just impossibly stupid i.e. puppet, jungle worms, etc. Don’t get me wrong there is a place for the content but should NOT be in the LS).
d. Things that felt like a battle and gave good loot— Defense of Lions Arch, Puppet Master Fight.
f. The boss battles for LS 2 which were not a boss that was instagib/insane health but instead fights of moderate health bosses that required timing and understanding of mechanics.
g. Any holiday content. Best ever. Period.
h. Divergent story lines refreshing. IE. SuperFunBox.
i. Any event that gives amazing loot. The Dungeon events, The Puppet, Defense of LA etc. I think for LS2 you made a pretty good move the rewards for each little story segment seem pretty good overall.

I won’t make a list of negative LS content… but you can probably infer that the what I have not included were things which I thought were either unimpressive and/or poorly done.

In my opinion after the personal story is over a new map of orr should be spawned one that change and purify orr, part if the maps should be an elite area maps where players can team up and defeat powerful foes, it can be the equivalent of GW1 FoW, a place with great challenge and great rewards. Returning back to zhitan controlled orr should happen by talking to a historian and asking to see how orr looked prior to killing zhitan.

Regarding the permanent changes in the game please try to spread the destruction, kesseks hills was one of the most incredibly beautiful areas in the game and the only explorable permanently scared but living story events. how could it be the the centaurs never suffered any change from the events, i was hoping to see some of their camps lie in ruins, maybe part of the camps will try to ally with the humans in order to fight the foes scaring the land, both of them have a common foe that try to destroy their way of living.

An earthquake that will expose part of GW1 dungeons can be great, entering vloxes falls or shards of orr via the grove can be incredibly fun.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

Our actions have no direct impact on how things will turn out. Nothing we could have done would have shaped Lion’s Arch differently, and they can’t because it’s a one time event. Destroying a cultural cornerstone like Lion’s Arch was a bad idea – especially when nothing is done to replace it with something both hopeful and monolithic. To have progression and change, you need to open up new zones quicker and more completely. I personally dislike sweeping world changes on a frequent basis – once every few years is ideal. The focus should not be on destruction, the focus absolutely needs to be on opening the world that’s already so beautifully crafted.

Cept trahaerne you can destroy him as many time as you want.

But i guess this wont end well

l think it’s fine

Although the living world is awesome, the speed is not as fast as most of us like to see. And yeah because we battle the dragons we will see destruction for sure, to me that is surely fitting.

But then there is a big “what should we do when there is no living story”?
We should do what charr, asura, men (and not sure) but also sylvari normally do and that is BUILD or REBUILD. This is something that can be done when there is no living story going on.

A big change? No need for that, but every week there should be a option where people can contribute to one or more small events.

Like:
contribute x amount of wood to build a wooden house in LA
contribute x amount of rock to build a stone house in LA
contibute x amount of glittering dust to repair a waypoint

You can also make it like:
Contribute to x amount of events on a map to change a bit of that map

If you have the basic building blocks in place you can start setting up competition.
If more wood than ore have been contributed we get a wooden house…
If more events are done in one map vs another map.. the one with the most events done will get the change.

So many small things will help populate maps, bring the community together and really change the world with baby steps..

Destai.9603:

Our actions have no direct impact on how things will turn out. Nothing we could have done would have shaped Lion’s Arch differently, and they can’t because it’s a one time event.

This is the biggest detriment, in my opinion. I hated in S1 how there would be these epic events, and we’d all come together and figure out how to conquer the challenges (on my server it was much more work than others, pre-megaserver)….only to KNOW that come the next episode, something even worse would happen. Under those conditions where even epic victories that give you an adrenaline high don’t even affect the outcome…why bother?

I realize that there’s a story to be told, and that if they make the events unfold based on results of previous events then the future would be “too bright” to keep telling the story. However, let us have our moments…let us rebuild, let us show the enemies of Tyria that we won’t just keep falling back and falling back…it will make the game so much more fun if we felt we actually had SOME CONTROL over what’s going to happen next.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Imagine what Season 1 would have been like if after the Crown Pavilion, we went hunting for Scarlet to fight her on her own turf, finding her final liar to be in some fractal of the Mists that ended up being the home of the Grand High Sovereign – you’d be fighting in some alternate future Tyria where evil has long prevailed and ruled the world with an iron fist… to have suddenly disappeared one day (when he went to true-Tyria and was slain), leaving the lands in chaos, leaderless, and ripe for Scarlet’s taking. She’d have an entire pocket dimension under her control, and you’d have to fight your way through scores of minions, holding her teleporter rooms (that were akin to The Shadow Nexus in GW1) which was her means of traveling back into Tyria so that she couldn’t escape. Then, once backed into a corner, a final confrontation in the very fabric of creation.

If I could +1000 this post, I would.

Now this is exactly what I was expecting out of Season 1’s content. During Nightmare Tower, Scarlet gave me the impression that she was from another reality or Tyria’s future. There was even a point where I got the idea that the evil Sylvari was trying to start a new world order.

I thought, “Oh cool! Anet made a science fantasy story!” Then Season 1 unfolded, and the rest is history.

We have to remember that Anet abruptly ended the Scarlet story due to fan request. I bet you there was alot more to the story too. HOWEVER, THERE IS A WAY TO FIX IT!

How to fix the problem?

Introduce the alternate reality anyways! The PCs find a portal, go through it, the portal closes, then the PCs are trapped in the alternate Tyria! The heroes have to struggle with adjusting to the new world order, fight unique enemies, and find a way to return home! Voila! Instant story!

I don’t see anything wrong if they decided to show a “New Lion’s Arch” in Season 3 or 4.

Things can get rebuilt, surely, but that mess takes a lot of time too!

Just be sure that when you make it, makes it feel like a “reconstruction” and not a “rollback”. new buildings, change in some colors, maybe a little bit of the architetonic style, etc. Forts could change their layout and include different towers, defenses and underground levels showing people learned from their defeats.

All of it could work! things go down, they go up anew. recycle, rebuild, evolve!

Pheate.5286:

A big change? No need for that, but every week there should be a option where people can contribute to one or more small events.

Like:
contribute x amount of wood to build a wooden house in LA
contribute x amount of rock to build a stone house in LA
contibute x amount of glittering dust to repair a waypoint

You can also make it like:
Contribute to x amount of events on a map to change a bit of that map

If you have the basic building blocks in place you can start setting up competition.
If more wood than ore have been contributed we get a wooden house…
If more events are done in one map vs another map.. the one with the most events done will get the change.

So many small things will help populate maps, bring the community together and really change the world with baby steps..

I agree on this. This is what people do in RL too! Anet, if you want to make a Living World, you have to let the players change the world in small ways too!

((EDIT: I’m removing the comment about GW2 having sandbox options. I’m not so sure how well this would work for this game.))

Now I’m going to add a possible event that I’d love to see. I think there should also be an event to help the Lion’s Arch Pirate Skritt. We need to help the rats get their pirate ship, so the humanoid pirates can get their old hideout back! What kind of ship should the Skritt get? They should get an airship!

Elric Of Melnibone.4781:

Destroying Lions Arch really bothered me. It also scattered all the players as that used to be the social spot for most servers. Megaservers kinda did that also. More and more beautiful landscape tarnished by Living Story is getting pretty depressing. If they destroy the Grove I am going to get really upset.

Have you ever played Asheron’s Call? If you did you would fondly remember the destruction of Arwic. In Asheron’s Call early days, Arwic was a bustling center of commerce much like Lion’s Arch, with people coming from all over to trade and talk. Portal storms (a mechanic to keep players from overcrowding a specific location) were nearly constant. This all changed in the shadow wars, when Arwic was destroyed by a Shadow Spire. After the attack the residents of the town moved down the roads to the South and West. The gaping crater remained unoccupied for years, until the town was rebuilt stronger from the ruins, laden with walls. However, some the townspeople didn’t move back into the walled city and remain in the buildings outside the town. All of this happened over the course of years. Yes, YEARS.

As a veteran player I remember the day Arwic fell. I remember visiting the town and seeing the huge crater and being completely blown away by the balls Turbine had to blow up a city that up until that point had become the Lion’s Arch of Asheron’s Call. I remember years later visiting Arwic and seeing a thriving new city; although never as populated as it was in the past.

As a veteran MMO seeing this kind of stuff in GW2 makes me happy! It tells me Anet knows what they’re doing and they get it. When they tell a story they are telling the story. If the story warrants to destruction of a place like Lion’s Arch Anet has the balls to do it. Living World was always present in Asheron’s Call. I’m glad to see it is present in GW2.

I love seing the destruction (not in a weird sinister enjoyment kind of way) it adds a new dimension that were not always winning or barely winning and that the consequences are long-term . However I would really like it if we could win just once and a while.
Like invading centaurian lands ,or driving back branded infested areas and actually for once driving back the enemy and for a couple of months changing the landscape by creating new features to balance out the destruction.

if someone ever touches queensdale, he will pay for it. it’s my happy place

My 2 cents. I only read about 2/3 of this thread at most, so hopefully there aren’t too many repeats.

I enjoy the living story, and the destruction of things in the world has been interesting to me. But I do think that in regards to an ever-changing world, it is a little one note.

Someone earlier on the first page mentioned the slow rebuilding of Lion’s Arch and cleanup of Kessex Hills, and I couldn’t agree more. That was exactly what I had been thinking. A slow re-building and cleaning, just a little bit at a time (such as each LS update) would be amazing.

Tyria is in a constant state of war in nearly every region, between Centaurs and Humans, Char and Flame Legion, and so much more. We see this all the time in our dynamic events. I know this would require resources at Anet, but I would like to see it taken a bit further. I’d love to see some strongholds in the world, the little forts, sometimes be damaged or destroyed, and other ones built up. Again, it can be slow. I’d love to see small settlements being made or established. Throw a new group of explores somewhere in the world and have them build up a small outpost. Have a group have traveling merchants trying to expand trade. Doing a small bit of this in somewhere like Dry Top after season 2 is over would be great, since most of our known world has been unable to go there until now, but it would work in every region.

And now that the story journal shows dates and we know that time is truly passing in game, have some NPCs have kids. Have some old NPCs die. Have temporary funerals in the grave yards. These things would make the world feel truly alive.

I love the big events and updates and large scale story. But I think that the small scale story get’s overlooked a lot (mainly by the players, there is a ton there already if you just take the time to look around and talk to NPCs). You’ve created the body of a world, and with the living story given it a heart, now you just need small things like these to be the blood that flows through it’s veins.

I’m really glad this discussion is being had. Blowing things up really isn’t the sort of “dramatic world changes” people want to see. The creation of something new and interesting, or scary, or beautiful is far far more interesting to be a part of. Anticipation of the result and having something wonderful and new in the world.

I’m sure it’s more work to produce, so you can always resort to smashing something up for some of the living world events, but it really would be nice to be part of building something new some time.

Just imagining what it would be like to have been involved in the construction of parts of divinity’s reach, discovering and defeating villains trying to thwart your attempts, all resulting in something beautiful rather than a city in ruins.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

I think, the way the real world tends to work, and the way the best stories tend to work, is that the good tends to outweigh the bad. When something is destroyed it is rebuilt. When something is devastated it heals. Where there is death there is also birth. For every corruption, redemption. As for Kessex hills, it is Kryta’s breadbasket. It was already sundered to pieces by centaurs who have inexplicably escaped being effected by things that would have logically wiped them out in the same measure as the other races. And now that the tower has exploded the creatures contained within are still somehow alive. I think Entangled handled matters much better though chiefly through introducing a new zone rather than destroying another. Personally, I would diminish the destruction in kessex slightly, you needn’t reduce events to accomplish that. The centaurs should be shown having suffered in that zone as much as any other race has. The tower should have driven many of them mad with hallucinations without the protections Marjory and the priory devised. Rebuild Lions Arch, using the metal debris from the Breachmaker to lend the new structures a more industrial steampunk/pirate motif, and show that the captain’s counsel has learned some lessons of how to defend a city in the process. The humans, who’s numbers are diminished, should resort to using watchwork knights as soldiers to fill in their numbers. It would show they have learned something from trading for 200 plus years with the asura. I would ease tensions further between the humans and the charr, and give Ebonhawk recognition as a semi autonomous multi-racial city. You could in game make it a city the same way LA or the black citadel are etc. Airships would become even more common. Things in general would become more mechanized as the races modernize and gear up for full scale war with the elder dragons. After Mordremoth is dead, every year after that another elder dragon encounter should be had. In the process the remainder if the tyria map would be opened, cantha, elona, and long unanswered lore questions answered. The wizards tower mystery, the gargoyles disappearance, the fate of the mursaat, dhuum, the six gods, should all be answered. The story is everything. The lore is everything. It must be told.

Imo we need some changes for the world on a smaller, more character personal level. On some specific characters it could still be a huge change for the story. Destroying stuff and death only takes you so far and gets really boring after a while. Seriously, enough with that, please. It’s getting more stale than a 10 year old cracker. There are so many much more interesting ways to tell a story than killing and destroying things. Places and people naturally change over time without bad stuff happening, too. That would be a great thing to bring in after we blew up so many things. Show us the seed of our and Trahearne’s hard work in Orr, the land finally starting to cleanse or Lion’s Arch being built again, or maybe the racial capitals expanding? Maybe we could finally help the Zephyrites rebuild what they lost?

And we haven’t seen any change with some story important characters in 2 years either. Or even the less important ones from the Personal Story, I’d love to see my old friends again! What have they been up to for the last 2 years? Where’s Malyck? Did he finally find his tree? Why don’t we bring him back and go see his tee? Why don’t we give Trahearne a cute salad boyfriend or something? What’s up with your old warband? Or Arlon and Pellam? Dagdar and Eladus?? Or your old krewe, what have they done in the last 2 years, I mean it’s 2 years and a smart krewe working on things! There are so many things you could do with the personal story characters, hopefully without death and destrcution and I’m sure that more than a handful of them have left huge impressions on the community.

The only thing destroyed is the gold to gem exchange.