Guild Wars 2

The post-destruction model of Lion’s Arch completely ruins the personal story instances which take place in Lion’s Arch. I can only imagine what new players will make of the jarring scenes. Personal story instances should retain the pre-destruction Lion’s Arch map.

For example, in the attached screenshot, children are cheerfully pretending to be Destiny’s Edge, while the actual Destiny’s Edge members bicker about their old problems as if the the city weren’t just ravaged, killing who knows how many civilians, ready to collapse on them at any moment. Not to mention that Laranthir’s presence in Lion’s Arch firmly establishes that the destruction of Lion’s Arch took place after the defeat of Zhaitan.

I think this is unacceptable, and would classify this as a bug. I seriously hope this issue gets rectified, and that future living story content doesn’t continue to degrade the quality of the personal story.

Edit:
Swept the GW2 reddit and found some threads on the same topic for further perspectives…
Personal Story and Current LA Discussion
Personal Storyline- in the past?

Personally, I don’t mind playing the Personal Story knowing that it took place in the past. Just don’t ruin the immersion of the PS instance by having people calmly talking and shopping in a ruined city filled with Miasma and a giant drill drilling in the background.