Guild Wars 2

Hello,

I love lore in this game. I really do. When the living story first announced and in the first year of gw2 I was really excited for it. However since flame and frost we keep getting updates that are honestly seeming to have no connection. I feel like we’re in a library of uncompleted books and every 2 weeks someone writes and doesn’t finish a new book. I know I know, its all connected. You don’t want to reveal it. We will see. Honestly though, I’m starting to get discouarged. I’ve tried harder and harder each new release to think about how its connected and each release the previous release becomes what seems useless story wise and a whole new set of theories needs to be proposed.

This tequatl update, it really made me sad. I honestly think you guys really pushed this event way too hard. Do not get me wrong, I love updating stuff. I know you said you wanted to tie this into the living story. It just seems soooo pushed. So far the only connection that seems logical is that Rox trying to get into the warband. IF that is the only connection I’d be even more sad. I’m tried of every 2 weeks I’m getting more and more questions. Its been close to a year and I feel like we’ve progressed no where in terms of a story progression. Nothing seems to be solved. It seems like each living story is getting connected through a part of the story that is really lame and unsatisfying to those who are actually deeply involved in the story. Flame and frost got me really exited. Who was behind it all. What are their motives? How will we catch them. I then spend the next few months across the world in a distant land where the only connection is the refugees. All of whom have pretty much become unrelated to the current story. Then the whole aetherblades and Scarlet thing, and it seems she was the one behind the molten alliance. Why we never saw the MA in the months leading up to dragon bash was a bit disappointing. Then the whole Majory’s back story raised even more questions. Then we protect the queen from a assassination by scarlet, whose only clear motive currently is that she is just insane and hates the current order. Next thing I know I’m across the map inside of a swamp fighting a undead champion dragon of zhaitian, whom has rarely been mentioned in the story. This dragon was mysteriously buffed in the story and the only explanation is that its from the pact invasion. I’m really hoping we see this living story come to a good conclusion this year, because these recent releases have become disappointing story wise for me. Here are just a few of my questions.

1. Molten Alliance- Who was behind it all? Why did the MA just fall off the map? Why did they form an alliance between one another. Why did they attack those settlements.

2. Southsun- What happened to Canach. What will the consortium do with Southsun. How does this have any impact on the rest of the world and the overall story?

3. Zypherites- Was the only connection simply the election? What is this thing they’re rumored to be hiding? Where have they gone?

4. Dargon Bash- Most questions were actually answered in this. It would seem Scarlet was behind the alliance between Aetherblade and Pirates. They seemed to want to install a person in the council. Seemed like a pretty solid event. Just the questions about Majory and her backstory are left unanswered.

5. Queen’s Jubilee- Why did scarlet want to assassinate the queen of all people? Why not the grove? What did Scarlett see that made her go insane? What does the Pale Tree think of all this? Where did Scarlet go?

6. Rising of tequatl- Why? Why everything? This part of the story seems insanely random.

I mean like a few people I talk to, the main reason I play this game is for the story. I hate the endgame progression revolving hugely around gold and farming. So I look to the story, exploring, and open world stuff.

Tequatl headlined this months update. The update is living story so Rox was there with achievements. That’s it. It’s no better or worse in terms of lore than nobody being there and Tequatl just being different.

Can’t really see that Rising of Tequatl is a living story it is just a minor revamp of a dragon more or less.
Rox is just there for flexing. ;>

I don’t think that all Living Story elements need to be connected. We can have many different tales told, and I do hope that this one isn’t connected to the rest as that means it’ll just be another “Scarlet did it!” story. That said, I agree with your major points that the Living story releases are underwhelming from a story telling standpoint.

They are too small, story wise. Arena Net likes to compare them to catching your favorite T.V. show every week, but they are more like catching the trailer for the next episode to your favorite T.V. show every two weeks, if that. Most updates aren’t lacking on things to do, but the things to do rarely contribute to telling an interesting story, and that story has never been fully fleshed out in game. usually it is done so through external short stories told on their main page.

Deified.7520:

1. Molten Alliance- Who was behind it all? Why did the MA just fall off the map? Why did they form an alliance between one another. Why did they attack those settlements.

2. Southsun- What happened to Canach. What will the consortium do with Southsun. How does this have any impact on the rest of the world and the overall story?

3. Zypherites- Was the only connection simply the election? What is this thing they’re rumored to be hiding? Where have they gone?

4. Dargon Bash- Most questions were actually answered in this. It would seem Scarlet was behind the alliance between Aetherblade and Pirates. They seemed to want to install a person in the council. Seemed like a pretty solid event. Just the questions about Majory and her backstory are left unanswered.

5. Queen’s Jubilee- Why did scarlet want to assassinate the queen of all people? Why not the grove? What did Scarlett see that made her go insane? What does the Pale Tree think of all this? Where did Scarlet go?

6. Rising of tequatl- Why? Why everything? This part of the story seems insanely random.

1. Scarlet, as was revealed in the Queen’s Jubilee/CLockwork Chaos. They were planning to assault Black Citadel and Hoelbrak (there are some items added to FL and dredge camps throughout the affected zones, some of which expand dredge/FL culture, some expand the point of the alliance, and some expand the goals of the alliance – if you talked to the prisoners in Rox’s final instance, you’d also learn that the dredge was in it because they needed fire magic for their tech and their moletariate were wanting moar power (implying it was Shukov who was the one who associated with Scarlet and the FL; given he and his generals were also making dangerous alliances (Inquest) and after fire magic (destroyers)), while FLame Legion were in it because they needed tech and were intending to subjugate the dredge after all was said and done).

2. He got arrested, or do you mean why his appearance changed (he was being hunted and sylvri appearances can change based on their state of mind and lifestyle). Consortium will continue to try to make a profit or at least come out even, as they always do. It closed up the Lost Shores and Flame and Frost storylines, while it opened up the Dragon Bash storyline.

3. The main purpose was to close off the Dragon Bash storyline, but the Zephyrites’ presence was made to expand upon GW1 lore – specifically the Brotherhood of the Dragon (what happened to it and all – humans took over for the dwarves and eventually went to the skies). Glint’s corpse (possibly her babies). To the sky where they always live except when they come down to trade.

4. Kinda got your order wrong – I guess this was meant to be question 3? :P But Marjory’s story is supposedly to be expanded later. This was just her introduction. But we did learn a bit about her background from the short story.

5. In an interview it was revealed that Scarlet’s actions at the Queen’s Jubilee was, quite literally, done on a whim. It’s not part of her master plan or anything, she just saw an opportunity and took it. What she saw was a hallunication – the machine didn’t connect her to the Eternal Alchemy, per se, but was a sensory deprivation device; and can you imagine losing all sight, hearing, smelling, taste, and feeling? That makes people go insane. And Ceara aka Scarlet Briar is no exception.

What the Pale Tree thinks and where Scarlet escaped to after is likely to be expanded upon.

6. And what’s wrong with random? It isn’t a Living World if it doesn’t expand upon the story of the world.

IMO, what’s wrong with the living story isn’t that it’s “random” like people are starting to claim (it isn’t). It’s that it’s not random enough. A living world would mean that the whole world progresses at the same time. This means old things go away, new things come in, and it happens everywhere. But thus far this so-called “living world” with the exception of SAB and Tequatl Rising and the first three updates that happened in ’12 has only affected Scarlet and her plot and the things that her plot affects (refugees, election, etc.).

eyelogix.1654:

Can’t really see that Rising of Tequatl is a living story it is just a minor revamp of a dragon more or less.
Rox is just there for flexing. ;>

Unfortunately, Bobby Stein confirmed in another thread that Tequatl’s story will eventually tie into the living story…