Guild Wars 2

I think there should totally be a way to replay season 1, but for free: Suggestion: Storybooks for LW PS Dungeons

Although, they could theoretically, take that system and charge gems for access to the LS.

Since this idea has been coming up more and more in the forums, I’d like to add my thoughts as well as sum up other’s suggestions of how (and why) ArenaNet could proceed forward with Storybooks.

Problem:
As a player, I want to relive and integrate together elements of both Living World, Personal Story and Story Dungeons.

To unify the three types of story systems that we have currently in-game, the proposal is to bring back a familiar tool from Guild Wars: The Storybook (GW 1 Storybook)

Almost all of the current content/voice/instances could survive intact with only additional minor text written to put it in context.

Requirements:
To make the storybook work as a historical quest system, it requires the following change: All open world maps should take place in the current timeframe, i.e. All open world maps are happening now.

Implementation:

• Storybooks are UI elements and items and can be deposited into a Library, replacing Personal Story tab.
• Books can be Activated and Deactivated which adds and removes them from main UI top right corner. Once activated, the green instance marker will appear in the world for the book’s currently active instance.
• With a book you can sequentially play through instances, read story bits and watch cutscenes.
• For the Living World, storybooks track previous Living World releases instances, dungeons, website story material and cutscenes.
• Acquired from a Historian NPC for Personal Story/Living World/Dungeons and turned in for rewards.
• Toned down story dungeons are incorporated into new personal history storybook or new Destiny’s Edge storybook.

Outcome:

• Zhaitan has been defeated across the world.
• Living Story is what is currently happening in the world.
• Personal Story is now Personal History (soulbound) and replayable.
• Orr can slowly move on from the Risen.
• Destiny’s edge can participate and grow as characters again in Living World.
• Dungeon story/explorable progress can be read and tracked through the dungeons’ storybooks, and be consistent with the other story systems.
• New book UI can be reused for in-game books, stories and novels as inventory items.

This presents a unified story progression for Guild Wars 2, going into the future.

Recent related:
Suggestion: Revist Personal Story Yes or No
A Living World
Suggestion: Previous Living World DLC
Suggestion: A Library

It’s important to keep the Zhaitan battle accessible to a 5-man team since it’s a part of the personal story. But what’s stopping there from being 2 (or more instances)?

If the battle is redesigned as a two pronged attack, then a huge 100 person instance could be a frontal assault while another instance (like the current one) would be a sneak attack / crippling blow. Then it’s the same story but two different ways to play.

Female, Human, Heavy (1st screenshot)

1) With Whispers Boots, the under-layer of mesh fabric pokes through the boot armour on the front of the boots (dark green in this screenshot.)

2) Also, the Dark Leggings has a red patch or dot in the bottom center of the draped fabric.

Male, Human, Medium (2nd screenshot)

3) Dualist Coat has a bright red strip down the middle.

I agree that content like this should be in the game, and there’s even ‘Guild Wars’ way of doing it too: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Storybook

Collectable Storybooks could have all this in there, and include the same content as the emails we currently get for Living Story releases.

Heck, put the Personal Story in a storybook and make the Personal Story tab on the Hero panel a bookshelf and we’ve got a pretty well rounded system.

This thread has some fantastic matching! For mine, it took a lot of previewing but I think I’m happiest with this armour for my warrior, Violet:

Enduring Breastplate
Tier 1 Human Shoulders ( Commander’s Shoulders)
Whisper’s Gauntlets
Truyere Leggings
Whisper’s boots

What if Town Clothes were transmutable with Light Armour?

I think that would work out really well for Scholars who would then be able to wear town clothes in battle. And also everyone else, who could then use tailors or use any of the game’s current light armour to craft new items they could use as town clothes.

Actually the only thing that bugs me about the Day / Night cycle is how it isn’t consistant across all servers and zones. Travelling from Overflow to the regular server usually is a jarring shift from day to night and I’m pretty sure this happens when you zone too.