Guild Wars 2

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-story-journal/

I don’t quite get the concept of charging 200 gems for previous releases.

I don’t mind it in concept – after all, it’s a ‘convenience’ fee for accessing something you did not experience in the 2 week period, but who would pay 200 gems for a story instance that lasts no more than 10 minutes?

How does this affect the development of future living stories. Does this mean we no longer have living stories with temporary map content, like Pavillion, BoTW, SAB or the holiday themed ones? You can’t exactly ‘replay’ those because you need other players to experience it with. Or does that mean any sort of living story content that requires mass participation is now permanent content?

And heres the actual Anet released article: http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-living-story-journal/

Hopefully this is the correct forum (only other one I could think was general discussion)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.9lives.be/games/guild-wars-2/nieuws/guild-wars-2-krijgt-opnamefunctie-om-tijdelijke-content-te-kunnen-herspelen&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.9lives.be/games/guild-wars-2/nieuws/guild-wars-2-krijgt-opnamefunctie-om-tijdelijke-content-te-kunnen-herspelen%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D886

Found this tweeted by Dragonseasoncom.

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 35m

Does that mean that we replay living story whenever we want? ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 30m

Guild Wars 2 will see a Journal feature that will be enabled starting Season 2. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 29m

Apparently, you’ll be able to unlock each episode of the living story by simply logging in at the time it’s active. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 28m

When you have unlocked an episode you’ll be able to replay it whenever you like. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 28m

If you missed unlocking an episode you’ll be able to pay a small fee in game in order to do so. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 12m

Lots of stuff is currently undetermined. Perhaps we’ll get to know more when the embargo is lifted in half an hour. ~Tilion

If this is true, I wonder how it will work with the open world stuff, like the different LA stuff. Unless this is only for instances/dungeon thing like the Molten Facility/Aetherblade fortress/place.

Edit: More article(s):
http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-living-story-journal/ (though its only referencing the first article)
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-story-journal/
http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/06/05/guild-wars-2-introduces-dvr-like-functionality-to-the-living-wor/

Indeed, I am personally a bit worried that this will mean nothing large-scale (such as Marionette) in Season 2, since those things would be rather hard, not to say impossible, to do on your own.

lordkrall.7241:

Indeed, I am personally a bit worried that this will mean nothing large-scale (such as Marionette) in Season 2, since those things would be rather hard, not to say impossible, to do on your own.

Yay, I’m not sure how they’d handle stuff like that.

Though now I’m wondering if its only going to be replayable cutscenes/story instances (like the Dead End bar stuff).

Aye, it might simply be that all the pure story parts of the Living Story will be replayable.

I wonder if this is what they meant when they said that LS2 would be permanent. If it was, let the rage begin

lordkrall.7241:

Aye, it might simply be that all the pure story parts of the Living Story will be replayable.

I wonder if this is what they meant when they said that LS2 would be permanent. If it was, let the rage begin

Oh god I can already see it. I’ll be one of those raging if it is. That may be the final straw.

Though there has to be at least one new map in this season.

Why can’t it be all of the above?

Some new maps, events, dungeons and other permanent game features.
Some new fractals based on Season 1 (Scarlet’s hologram boss fractal?).
Some new story instances and the ability to replay them as many times as you like.
Some temporary content (like Scarlet’s Marionnette).

And another article about it
http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-living-story-journal/

though its only referencing the first article

But looks like in about a half hour the info embargo should be lifted:

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 12m

Lots of stuff is currently undetermined. Perhaps we’ll get to know more when the embargo is lifted in half an hour. ~Tilion

Any large open-world LS2 bosses could potentially come back as fractals for replay? Might be one way to get around it.

Sicarius.4639:

Any large open-world LS2 bosses could potentially come back as fractals for replay? Might be one way to get around it.

Maybe, but that would make them much less of large open-world bosses, seeing as Fractals have a limit of 5 players.

Sicarius.4639:

Any large open-world LS2 bosses could potentially come back as fractals for replay? Might be one way to get around it.

Well thats true. They did bring back two already (though they didn’t keep the rewards from when they were out the first time >:( ), so bigger stuff (probably like scarlet fight or watch knights might come back as fractals/bosses) may be possible, though not all (like marionette) are built for only 5 people.

lordkrall.7241:

Sicarius.4639:

Any large open-world LS2 bosses could potentially come back as fractals for replay? Might be one way to get around it.

Maybe, but that would make them much less of large open-world bosses, seeing as Fractals have a limit of 5 players.

Yeah, maybe they can do something to recreate the battle in some way, the Marionette could have large groups of NPCs like we’ve seen during the Personal Story fighting dragons. When you get inside the portals, the other platforms again could consist of NPCs giving the impression of small scale battles in Phase 2.

I’ve never had a problem with temporary content as I’m always eager to sit down and play the game but I can understand this would be a huge feature for those who maybe under certain time constraints for weeks at a time.

New concern. This will let us replay (something) from the release, but will it let those players who didn’t do it at the patch/releases actual timeframe be able to get the rewards? Or will this only let them see (maybe do) only the story and get no rewards?

How would you replay all the multi-player stuff, which needed 5 – 100+ players?

Would you be able to get all the achievements & rewards?

If its just replay all the story parts and they think this is what we mean by wanting permanent content, then they really don’t get it…

But enough of the negative…I have all my fingers & toes crossed its a awesome new, idea by Anet.

kittening sold! I think they need to expand the LFG system to include a Living Story tab.

Apparently it will have a gem cost to unlock it after the living story is over but if you log in just once well its current you can save it and access for free later on, when you may have more time to do it.

Welll… this blogspot seems a step in the right direction. Reminds me a bit of how GW1 worked: complete the story and you get a reward.

No need for farming crappy open world events anymore!!!!!!!!!!!

Sadly it does indeed sound like we will have no more world-progressing big battles, since the open world stuff does seem to be completely permanent.

Ah well, got to lose some to gain some I suppose ^^ Like the change to the system overall.

Here’s the real bits and pieces!

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-story-journal/

As for large open world changes…I think we could still see them. Think about it…bits of the Tower of Nightmares is “permanent.” We’ve seen a permanent change to Kessex Hills.

I can see zones (both old and new) having a period where they are filled with stuff for the active release, but then maybe they go into a “normal” or “less-active” state once the 2-week period is over.

Only the 2-week period might have the massive boss fight, akin to Marionette. Of course…if we can have a permanent Marionette, then I’ll squee like a schoolgirl.

So.. wait a sec…
You just whined all day about “aww, only farm zerg events with 100 trillion hp bosses and grinding events” and now you’re like “aww, it looks like no more open world LS bosses, only permanent new stories on new maps that are replayable and grant me permanent access to hard to achieve achievements and rewards!” …. ?!
Just.. really? I stopped being a total fanboy a while ago, but that news don’t sound bad in ANY aspect. :P

I, personally, think that this is the ideal form of continuing the LS. No more time pressure (get that achievement before it’s gone..!) and so on… Now I’m even more eager for next season

And stop being so nervous about new maps added. It’s not a question anymore… Mordremoth, the jungle, the portal in the preview… do you really think Anet is suicidal enough to give us hope and then smash it? No way

They have put a official blog up about it:-

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-story-journal/

Looks interesting, effectively all living story rewards are going become permanent, so you can try to get them whenever you want, which is good.

The achievements are going to be considerably harder to complete, aiming at very skilled players, anyone of lesser skill need not apply!

That is great news

Looks interesting, effectively all living story rewards are going become permanent, so you can try to get them whenever you want, which is good.

The achievements are going to be considerably harder to complete, aiming at very skilled players, anyone of lesser skill need not apply! They say CONSIDERABLY HARDER than season 1 living story.

LS2!!! Cant wait! The new Changes seems awsome. The ones who don’t want to bother with it don’t have to. Those who love to immerse themselves with thier characters Life and story (like me) as it reveals over time will have the excellent tool to do so now!

No achivement will be forced upon players who don’t want to deal with LS.

Its replayable!

Its gonna be chellenging and rewarding!

The content linkend to it will be permanent!!!

What is there not to like – nothing!!!

I just wanna say Thank you a-net!! This will be SO exciting!

Kimas (my main) Adventures are about to kick off once more!!!

Small recap:

• You can unlock story instances (episodes) by logging into the game during the two-week period or by spending gems;
• Unlocks are permanent and account-bound;
• Episodes will be replayable for season 2 first, and later down the road, for season 1 and personal story too;
• After completing an episode, you’ll unlock challenging acchievements for the more skilled players;

Not sure if I missed anything.

Seems very interesting, and it certainly appeals to my tastes. I wonder if those challenging acchievements are similar to the bonus content from GW1’s missions? I also wonder if those episodes/ instances are similar to what we’ve been getting so far (short-ish), or more similar to GW1’s missions (longer and more similar to dungeon-like content).

EDIT: It’s really nice to see some of the best concepts of GW1’s game design philosophy (finally) coming into GW2. Now, I only hope the maguma’s new maps are a bit more similar to their GW1 counterpart than everything else so far in modern Tyria too, and I’ll finally feel like I’m playing a sequel!

skullmount.1758:

And heres the actual Anet released article: http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-living-story-journal/

Hopefully this is the correct forum (only other one I could think was general discussion)

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=nl&u=http://www.9lives.be/games/guild-wars-2/nieuws/guild-wars-2-krijgt-opnamefunctie-om-tijdelijke-content-te-kunnen-herspelen&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dhttp://www.9lives.be/games/guild-wars-2/nieuws/guild-wars-2-krijgt-opnamefunctie-om-tijdelijke-content-te-kunnen-herspelen%26biw%3D1920%26bih%3D886

Found this tweeted by Dragonseasoncom.

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 35m

Does that mean that we replay living story whenever we want? ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 30m

Guild Wars 2 will see a Journal feature that will be enabled starting Season 2. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 29m

Apparently, you’ll be able to unlock each episode of the living story by simply logging in at the time it’s active. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 28m

When you have unlocked an episode you’ll be able to replay it whenever you like. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 28m

If you missed unlocking an episode you’ll be able to pay a small fee in game in order to do so. ~Tilion

Dragon Season ?@DragonSeasonCom 12m

Lots of stuff is currently undetermined. Perhaps we’ll get to know more when the embargo is lifted in half an hour. ~Tilion

If this is true, I wonder how it will work with the open world stuff, like the different LA stuff. Unless this is only for instances/dungeon thing like the Molten Facility/Aetherblade fortress/place.

Edit: More article(s):
http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-living-story-journal/ (though its only referencing the first article)
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-story-journal/

Basically, in each episode there will be story content that is tied to the whole broader aspect of the Tyria Living World, and open-world content which will be used to affect the general world.
This means, If we were to put it into S1 terms, the ToN(Tower of Nightmares) “open world”(although instanced) content where we’d go up the three levels with tons of players, wouldn’t be available, but the mini-dungeon where you kill the Toxic Krait Prophet wannabe is
If it impacts Tyria = Open-world Content(not available in the Journal
If it’s story content like certain conversations and possibly dungeons(Instances) = It’ll be available in the Journal.

With this said, I imagine the Instances will be much more Story-driven and intense than the actual Open-World content at the time of each release. The latter will probably simply have some context to it and a general purpose that’ll drive all players to fulfill a common Goal. If Destiny’s Edge were to speak, it would probably be instanced, but if there was a Dragon Minion attack event, it’d be Open-World content.

Dont think the original storyline will be repeatable, like they said in the blog too many issues with decisionmaking.

This… is actually some great news. Long time no see… ;D

This is actually quite…..brilliant! Looking forward to Season 2!

For example, let’s take the Marionette release. It’s definitely in the top 5 best releases for Anet.

If Anet were to come up with a similar type of fight for L2, like fighting a champion of Mordremoth, how could this play with journals?

My concern is Anet will sidestep this type of content entirely and move towards smaller scale encounters.

lordkrall.7241:

Sadly it does indeed sound like we will have no more world-progressing big battles, since the open world stuff does seem to be completely permanent.

Ah well, got to lose some to gain some I suppose ^^ Like the change to the system overall.

lordkrall, worry not!
I think some people didn’t read it right
As I mentioned above, they’ll be splitting the Story-driven steps and the Open-World content, instead of mixing it up like in S1.
Open-World content will probably be more akin to Dynamic Events, with some context to them and a common goal for all players, while the Story aspect will be turned in Story-Steps, an expansion of your Personal Story(PS+S1).

Wow this is very awesome. I like the sound of how you can get previous rewards that were only available for a certain story release.

skullmount.1758:

Hmm, so if LS is going to be using the green star like the PS, what happens to those of us who haven’t completed the PS? Do we just select that in the story panel and it basically hides the PS one/step?

Going from what Colin described, that seems to be the case.

Colin Johanson

To go along with this change, we’re modifying the story Journal in your character’s Hero Panel so it will track all of your character’s story steps. From that panel, characters who are level 80 will be able to select between playing their personal story and the Living World story. For the Living World story, you’ll be able to select which unlocked episode you’d like to play. Characters under level 80 will be able to see the available episodes, but will not be able to play them until they reach level 80. Think of the Living World story as the constantly expanding continuation of your character’s storyline once they reach level 80.

I like the “unlockable with 200 gems” part of it.^^

New explorable zone, maps, races, classes, weapons/weapon mixes, skills – hope they’re all in Season 2. 2 years is enough for the “patience” part.:)

“This means that going forward, all of the content and all of the rewards for Living World will be permanent.”

Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.

Vol.7601:

For example, let’s take the Marionette release. It’s definitely in the top 5 best releases for Anet.

If Anet were to come up with a similar type of fight for L2, like fighting a champion of Mordremoth, how could this play with journals?

My concern is Anet will sidestep this type of content entirely and move towards smaller scale encounters.

They said open-world content will exist alongside the episode steps. This already happened in season 1.

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

Yep they changed it exactly the way I was hoping they would. Now if I don’t necessarily have time to play, I can at least log in and unlock everything and be able to play it whenever I’d like.

CharrGirl.7896:

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

If you don’t log into the game during the two week period, you’ll not be able to unlock the new episode for free, so your alternative is to unlock it through gems.

DiogoSilva.7089:

CharrGirl.7896:

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

If you don’t log into the game during the two week period, you’ll not be able to unlock the new episode for free, so your alternative is to unlock it through gems.

Ah I see, thanks. I really thought it was for S1 content.

CharrGirl.7896:

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

If you took a 2 month break from the game, then came back and wanted to play through the past story line along with getting its rewards, you would just need to pay the 200 gems to unlock it.

Or… just be sure to log in once every week to be sure you unlock the story line, then when you get more time you can come back through and play it.

I personaly like this new replay system its nice to see devs listen to players even implementation take sometime longer then we want:-)

CharrGirl.7896:

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

The whole point of the living story every 2 weeks was to force players to log in. This fee is more or less an incentive to get players to log in every to weeks or risk paying 20 or 200 gems.

You are paying 200 if you don’t log in within 2 weeks of a specific story step. This only applies to ls2.

DiogoSilva.7089:

CharrGirl.7896:

This is pretty awesome but I don’t understand one thing, can somebody enlighten me?

They state you’ll be able to “unlock past story steps for 200 gems”, and if you read a bit further, it’s written you won’t be able to play the past storyline from S1 and your personal story.

To me it seemed logical to offer to play past releases for a small fee, so exactly what are we paying 200 gems for?

If you don’t log into the game during the two week period, you’ll not be able to unlock the new episode for free, so your alternative is to unlock it through gems.

Additionally, they are hoping to add S1 to this journal at some point in the future. Just not in July.

My only wonder, is how they will handle other players. Are we going to have several different instances of the game world for every volume with players going through each? If so, how have they solved the problem of player segregation? Add enough volumes and the player base is going to be stretched pretty thinly.

200 gems is a fair amount.
costs about 20 gold anyway.

this is a good feature update.

This sounds like a great balance between open-world group activities and story progression.

I like the removal of meta-achievements too.

Sounds like the story missions from GW1 to be honest. And that’s not a bad thing.

Aye, looks like a rather good solution for the whole issue.
It is nice to see that they have also officially decided that the LS takes place after defeat of Zhaitan, and that it will now assume that people have completed that.

/sign

Very happy for S2

This feature is amazing….it is what we have been asking for, for a long time!

- Permanent Content
- Permanent way to earn rewards
- Less emphasis on achievements to get said rewards
- Harder achievements than just “Kill 50 Centaurs” (remains to be seen)
- No rush to complete said achievements

the only thing i see that kind of rubs me the wrong way is having to pay 200 gems to get the content if you missed it…for instance when I go on vacation this summer…if this content falls in the 2 weeks i’m gone, im screwed

granted…i understand that “hey…too bad, you didn’t want to be around the game to get it for free…pay up sucka” and 200 gems is like 20g(I think)….that is more than achievable in gamen in 1 day