Guild Wars 2

Living Story- Southsun Package

• Considering the small team that put the Southsun Live Story together and the short amount of time they had to complete; I enjoyed most of the content. The two back-pieces have actual skins. I did feel the time and effort to receive the two back-pieces was too easy and quick to receive. I was able to complete the quest to receive the rare back-piece (flow) in a short afternoon. I was not solely focused on completing the quest therefore took more time than needed. Granted, without the help of fellow players, it would have taken more time. Compare this quest to the quest from Halloween to receive the Masterwork back-piece: You had to traverse a multitude of maps using hints. Without the help of any guides or people giving you the location, this could be tough. The Masterwork reward was sufficient for the amount of effort you put in. You receive a gold back-piece for half the time and effort in Southsun. In a nutshell I think receiving two back-pieces, one gold and one exotic and could be completed in one sitting was too casual. If I’m going to earn nice rewards, I want to exert time and concentration into the quests. Casual quests/event should reward Masterwork Items with the exception of "endurance quests that play out through several episodes.
• I enjoyed the Crab-Toss mini-game and felt it was spot on for a mixture of Challenge/Fun. Once you got the hang of it, it was a blast.
• The story line was lacking information preventing me from connecting with the lore.
  – Canach’s implementation as a key rival was rushed and forced. Reminded me of how Trahearne was suddenly a key NPC in the game. “The transformation from a noble, respectable citizen, to mysterious, powerful rival”; When and how did this all take place? Granted if you followed Robert in the forums and read all dialog/posts, then you could had figured out how everything fit into place, but not all players go that length, if the lore isn’t played out with the player involved, then the story becomes diluted and hard to follow. Cutscenes from F&F were a good connection point for players to connect to the story .
  – From unknown to captured; this is how fast Canach was revealed. Where were was the story finding Canach and pinpointing him to his Layer?

How has it progressed?
ArenaNet has taken the recommendations and requests from players, approved on their mistakes to build a more fluent and thorough Living World. For the most part I think the team has done a good job improving. If you were around from the first Southsun event, then you remember the mass of players trying to do the one-time event. Half of us never received our rewards until later in the Mailbox.
*A gradual approach with an exciting ending- Flame and Frost came in extremely slow and ended too quickly. Building wooden signs, Reviving injured refugees, was not interesting or fun. It played a tiny role to the introductory to F&F, but was in the game for the longest period of time. The dungeon was a great addition and was challenging. The dungeon was only in the game a brief period of the game but served as the finale. Settlers were also in 3 different Major Cities, but why are there no remnants of them in Hoelbrak or The Black Citadel now? Seeing an actual change would have been nice. Maybe by adding a few small huts being built for refugees? Some reflection that represents a change in the world and had a permanent consequence. Another part in which I hope the ArenaNet team saw and are working to improve.

The connection point from the first Southsun event to F&F was null & void, but that’s excusable. The one thing that is confusing for me is who the “ally” is and who “enemy” is. Not a fan of helping both groups. One minute you’re fighting Canach, the next you’re fighting Subdirector Null/Golem. Wait what’s going on? I want more definition on the plot. Southsun currently is a mixing bowl with everyone against everyone attitude. Not exciting.

Going Forward
In the future I hope to see more defined, challenging content that has me connected with story and NPCs. I think rewards from the Living Story should be earned instead of slouching through the content. Weapon/Armor/Trinkets should be earned using a mark similar to the dungeon design, not the “RNG” design currently in place. I’m happy with the miniatures being RNG/boxes but not the awesome weapon skins that F&F had. I don’t want to “jump the gun” on my previous statement since I read you can trade Karka shells for weapon/armor/trinkets after the players hold all camps. I like that design.
When it comes to the Living World I would also like to see more permanent content in the mix. A balance between the both would be nice. I want to be able to go back to Southsun later in the year and see a few new residents (settlers that stay) and play quests/events that relate to the previous living story.

wookiee.4631:

Sounds like it’s just going to be another holiday release. I could swear one of the devs a while back said that every 6 months there would be a “mini” expansion, the first being Lost Shores. The June update should be the next. I could easily be wrong about Dragon Bash, but it sounds like it will just be a month (or 2 month) holiday with no major permanent content. Maybe I was wrong about what I heard originally.

Either way, I’m not too hyped for this one. Holiday events are fun and all, but I’m still waiting for major things to happen. The apparent inclusion of RNG skins for the third living story arc in a row doesn’t help much either. Guess we’ll see on June 4th and whenever Dragon Bash is released. Maybe Anet will do something big for the 1 year anniversary, which should be in August, right?

Yea the end of august is the 1 year. (28th was official release, with some of us having 3 day head start) Pretty stoked to see what they have in store for us. I personally want a mini zhaitan, but that’s just me

Greetings fantastic players,

I am curious on whether or not the Supply Crate will continue to drop after the live story has moved. I know the meta event will still be active, so does that mean drops from southsun will stay the same?

Thank you,

Dan/Antara

Kain Francois.4328:

I’m more looking forward to Canthan Farmers wearing a Claw of Torment hat. That was hilarious in GW1!

LMFAO!!!!!

Well Robert, I personally think your team did a fine job in the short amount of time allotted to you guys. Your team had to come up with content with expectations from players higher than F&F (Which that team had more time to produce). Kind of like how a concert works with 3 bands “You always expect the next band to be better than the previous.”

With one exception of the Harvesting tool which was not up to par (not sure if that was your team though)

Personally I believe the tower owner Isgarren has a dark side and is doing strange things in the tower. A good plot would be noticing strange creatures in the small town Garrenhoff (Kessex Hills) and end up in the Wizards Tower. I would like the vibe of an undead force inside (not risen, but actual undead who never successfully had their souls make it to the mists, usually controlled by a wizard/necromancer). The Bone Dragon from GW1 was near this area as well. So I think it would be a good mix.

Also just want to say I hope to see Underworld and Fissure of Woe make it’s way into GW2. Both places were great endgame pieces

Hopefully this isn’t one of those names that everyone says differently….

Like “Aatxe”

There will most definitely be more than “RNG” items. Contractually from a marketing standpoint Anet prob has to include GEMSTORE items, but highly doubt an event would only include “RNG” items.

Also, not sure this would be a 1 year celebration as

1. This was not the date of release

KodChim.5670:

Check reddit, people datamine and post the results there. It’s a minipet and “Jade something weapons”. Or something.

Really sad that Anet keep doing this.

Mind posting a link? I don’t use reddit.

EDIT: Found Link in other post

To all:

Southsun Cove is a “bridge” between F&F and what’s upcoming in the near future. The content is only supposed to last a month with some permanent content. I don’t believe the “Spring Break Team” had the support to make the instances advanced.

Reference

PS. I had saw a posting early on explaining this, but was unable to find.

What is your source that “RNG” boxes are on the horizon?

Rhaps.8540:

Robert Hrouda.1327:

hey folks,

our patch notes jumped the gun a bit. Canach instance is NOT the ending of the living story. That will come next week. Stay tuned!

Okay thanks for confirming that Robert! I’ll stop looking for a instance that isn’t there yet :P

Give your web guys a kick up the kitten tho, shouldn’t really take this long to update the patch notes on the main site.

YOu have to realize that Mark (who usually posts the update notes) is gathering this information from various teams. Imagine pulling bits of information from a whole lot of people in a short perioud of time. There is going to be mistakes.

I want to picket NCSoft until they allow ArenaNet to re-write canthan culture/gameplay back into the mix

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

This is the item that I would have gotten if it would be a sickle.

I don’t mind spending money on a videogame and helping ANet out financially, but I do feel a bit let down. First the 8-Bit crafting stations lazily being relabelled “Consortium” and now the sickle that is actually a pick-axe.

This is not fun.

I wasn’t sure if I was the only one who thought the new crafting station was a skin from the SAB.. Glad I wasn’t the only one who thought this.

Shanna.4762:

As people above me have stated, the name is from a lore perspective, not a literal one in terms of game mechanics. Relatively misleading to some, I know but it’s the truth!

If I’m not mistaken though, literal “Guild Wars” are gonna be part of this game at some point…At least that’s what I’ve heard from a few different people.

I know it’s been thrown around but let’s hope it comes back; guild halls and all!

I only support the settlers who lost their original homes. Fight for their freedom!!

(oh right heres my twitter hash tag #SettlerFreedom)

It was nice having Guild Battles in GW1 though…

Personally I get on for different reasons. Some days I grind, some days I meddle around, some days I want to WvW, some days I just want to stand around and check out different items, (armor, weaps, crafts etc).

But my favorite: Getting online with a good alcohol buzz and gaming with some buds, maybe mess with some peeps

I would bet the Crab Toss is a permanent add since they intitially states more mini-games would be added to GW2.

BrimstoneAshe.5043:

At the end of the day, even if you pay full $50+ price for GW2, you get a good bargain for game content that comes with the game. Additional content is just icing on the cake and isn’t costing you a dime.

Depends if you purchase Gem items with money. But if you don’t, then you’re correct, it’s a good bargain regardless of what anyone says. If you pay 50 bucks for a game and get a great forum, updates, and decent support, and wiki (yes wiki since they provide the actual website). Not too bad.

Chuo.4238:

Nah. GW1 was not even close to a perfect game. Nobody’s made a perfect game yet.

That said, there are things about GW1 that are different from any other game out there, and those things, I think, are what the community really liked about it.

Now I happen to think that, with GW2, ArenaNet has changed their target audience, no doubt aiming for something bigger than the GW community. Fair enough, but with that about-face, you shouldn’t be surprised to see quite a few very upset and disappointed GW1 players.

So nobody’s saying GW is the perfect game. What I think the old GW community is saying is that GW2 is not an improved version of GW. It actually got rid of much of what GW players liked so much about GW. So many people expected GW2 to be like GW, but better. Instead we got something that’s not like GW at all, and fairly debatable whether or not it’s a better (or more fun) game.

What does this add up to? A bunch of people who spent 8 years as ArenaNet fans, and the last almost 6 years looking forward to a wonderful improvement in the same spirit as Guild Wars. As we can see, that amounts to a large number of people who are disappointed that their years of excitement and anticipation were mostly not worth it.

Well said Chuo; I do not believe it was entirely intentional though. A bigger fan base= more value. I know they wanted to keep the close-knit GW1 community and tried very hard with HoM and the achievements/name reservations, but the game did take another path all together. That said this is not GW1 and the game will make it’s own name for itself, whether us GW1 fans like it or not.

I believe GW2 is going to have it’s own unique fan base with a close-knit community; It just won’t be the same GW1 fans (excluding some ;] )

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Tachenon.5270:

Jordo.5913:

i guess their marketing worked huh?

Why, yes, yes, it did. If you consider all three Guild Wars campaigns and Eye of the North as ‘marketing’ for Guild Wars 2.

I don’t think GW1 players make up as much of the playerbase as you think.

Well I’m a player from GW1 era, but I can vouch that 90 percent of my gw1 friends either bought the game and quit early, or just never purchased.

After reading up on various pieces of Lore about Canach which lead to other places, It came to mind that Wizards Tower is a mysterious place that does not hold any details except it might hold powerful magic tomes etc.

I think this is the perfect area to add a dungeon (maybe related to live story events) because of it’s style and lore.

Thoughts?

Just a shame to see all the liked posts on the “Not buying” list. I have to agree though on some aspects. I’ve made comments and received negative responses when I made the statement that GW2 was going in the wrong direction, everything that GW1 had to offer and was built upon, GW2 steered away from. I try to have faith in the company that once made me proud though. I know there are great designers, developers, lore writers, etc that are very passionate and great at what they do. As with any company/game, the bigger they get, the harder it is to keep the original style.

Where can you get the 200percent MF?

Reminds me of Paragon armor

Shanna.4762:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZg4AD542gM

I feel like Joan. NCsoft needs to stop whining about cultural sensitivity and allow us our Cantha!

this made my day

SkewerHed.2650:

Antara.3189:

Oh! Here we go for all you eating right now :0

You can’t swallow without your tongue touching the roof of your mouth.

Well, I’m probably very gullible, but I just proved your statement as false.

Cannot be possible

The internet never lies!

Shilp.8732:

Antara.3189:

Oh! Here we go for all you eating right now :0

You can’t swallow without your tongue touching the roof of your mouth.

Nice going.. How many people are choking right now… lol

The object most choked on by Americans is the toothpick

Oh! Here we go for all you eating right now :0

You can’t swallow without your tongue touching the roof of your mouth.

OH an another quote for you hungry minds

In the SpongeBob SquarePants episode “Plankton!”, Plankton is revealed to be 1% evil and 99% hot gas, thanks to his ingredients analyzer, which traps him inside itself.

ZilentNight.5089:

I hope i wont get infracted for this but i just have to share =D
www.youtube.com/watch?v=73ipP7IRj5k

LOL

They actually have a great staff but this was funny

Scientists have discovered that Earth’s rotation is slowing, and in the past 2 years, there is about 24 more seconds in a day.

If two full moons occur in a month, the second full moon is called a blue moon.

This one time at band camp I .. wait this is GW2, nvm

Please devs lock this post as arguments are sure to be escalated.

Wiki was changed to reflect Jeffrey’s clarification.

I want to agree with Luthan that having the Living Story forced in your UI, edges you to play the content even if you are not an every day player, leaving more gripe for those people who do not have the time to complete in the alotted time.

There should be an option to remove living story UI incase you do not want to participate. They also send you mail so you would know if there is a new live story running (that is if you check your mail)

I have been scanning through a good amount of posts the past two weeks and I must say, my conclusion about the Live Content is all pretty much the same, It’s a love hate relationship because it’s fun if you’re there and in the moment, but dissapointed if you miss a piece or the entire content completely. The ultimate balance is having both, permament and live updates in the game. Doing one or the other does not seem to fit the style of both sides. Either one group is happy and the other is not.

Another downfault with constant live update patches is the content is rushed through development and testing; a grind for devs and testers which in return reduces the ultimate creativity put into the content. I am not doubting the skills inside ArenaNet because truly these guys have done a heck of a job reading the forum, providing updates (as best as they can) and still able to push these updates out in a timely manner. There is a point in time though when the developers and managers making the decisions at ArenaNet have to say to themselves there needs to be more permanent content because players will get tired of fast paced content.

“Example: If I am inactive for a year and come back and see that a good amount has happened since I last logged on but all the content (items, armor, consumable, the whole nine) is now inaccessable or highly expensive on the TP, then I would still be in the same state I was when I left a year ago. Same choices of content with the exception of possible new locations which are now left to the random players who happen to go there.” This is why I definitely see a fit for permanent content in any game. The idea of the living story and updates is fantastic, but not without a mixture of permanent choices for people such as the OP who would like to see some change in the game. He basically has not (with the exception of the new live story running now). Not a good visual for people who don’t play actively.

Honestly the dungeon from F&F should had stayed, just to give rememberance by. (therefore giving you both live and permanent solution).

Caedmon.6798:

Flissy.4093:

Assyrian.4827:

We have players under the age of 18 if they do buy it is that illegal(online gambling).

It’s not gambling. You are GUARENTEED to get something, just maybe not what you want.

I guess lucky dips should be illegal for children too.

It is gambling.The item you want is not guaranteed when opening the chest,you buy the chests to get a chance on the weapon skins,and nothing else..How in the world are you missing the fact that this is gambling ?

Gambling “. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.” " An act or undertaking of uncertain outcome; a risk: I took a gamble that stock prices would rise."

I personally believe this thread has derailed and therefore should be closed since it offers no benefit to players except a debate on whether or not buying “RNG” chests are gambling or not.

To that point; theoretically it is “gambling” if you reference the meaning of the word. However, in federal law terms, gambling laws pertain to financial gambling and not to general gambling. So no it is not illegal nor is it in any way shape or form wrongful of arenanet to sell them. You do not spend real currency purchasing the chests directly. You spend real currency buying a virtual in game currency which you have the freedom to do with what you please. It is a personal choice to buy the chests leaving only you liable. Also, anyone under the age of 18 who has access to credit/debit cards would have to either have parental/guardian permission to have the card/ or be legally emancipated (pertaining to United States laws, not particularly other countries.) ArenaNet does not endorse financial gambling, but only provides goods based on developer and consumer reccomendations.

Also a side note; Anyone who directly considers this gambling on the terms of the definition and does not therefore “gamble” is inherently inccorect because every moment you walk out your front door in the morning and get into a vehicle, cross a street, etc. you are theoretically “gambling”.

Cheers,

I think we need to create a petition page and have people sign it with their emails and send it to NCSoft to make a point that we (the consumers) want Cantha and are the reason NCSoft makes sales.

Weindrasi.3805:

You can’t expect everyone else to adopt your play style. The only way you’re going to get that in-game socialization you want is to join a guild with real life friends or with people you have some kind of history with.
The only reason I join guilds is so that I have quick and easy access to teams that make WvW and PvE tasks easier. Sure, I’ll chat a bit now and again, but my main purpose is, essentially, to get henchmen out of the other players. Socialization is for my real friends, in my real life.

I completely understand what you’re saying, but you have to look at it from a different perspective; everyone plays GW2 for different reasons, lore, pvp, pve, social, role play, farm, to get away from everyday problems.

Like the GW2 Quote, “Everyone has a story, What’s yours?” There are plenty of players who are looking for good convo just as him. He just has to find it!

Hey man,

We all have our backstories and most (if not all) have been in some sort of “rut”. Take a deep breath and really try to calm yourself down to a peaceful state of mind for a minute. Remember that this is your life to live, do it the best way you can. Look up, not down. Do it for yourself, not for anyone else (well your kid too of course). But you have to be strong and confident in yourself. I always look towards the motto “Live, Love, Laugh” if I’m feeling down and tell myself negative thoughts only deter the healthy postitive thoughts that are the true essence of being happy. I would take small steps to make myself happy, little goals each day until I built myself up to make a larger goal possible. If you need to clear your mind, take a short walk. Might sound pointless at first, but as soon as your out and about it will be good. Don’t surround yourself in dark rooms, or negative atmospheres. Windows, light, good smells, happy sounds (good tunes, not sad ones) all play an important role in being happy. I would also change my eating habbits honestly, make me feel good about myself and the choices I make. You cannot control your wifes decisions, but you can take ahold of your own. Make yourself your own role model and everything else will fall into place. You are not alone and there are always people who want to help.

Cheers man!

Personally I just say random stuff in map chat just to stir the peeps running around, regardless whether they want to chat or not. If I am near someone who has been active in the same event as me, I will give them a shout. I will join a guild and respond to everyone, try to join in on the convo; even if I’m a complete stranger to everyone. I agree with some above that VOIP is the way to go, however jumping into a group VOIP convorsation as a stranger can be awkward for some (Unless you’re drunk, then it’s fun) but honestly you just have to be bold and social on all aspects, regardless if people respond or not.

My tip though; If I say something to someone and don’t get a response I usually end it with “Aiiite denn” or “Cold Beer”

If I recall, Mike O’brien left Blizzard because of the threshold of corporate decisions. Hopefully with player backing, ArenaNet will still be able to hold true to their roots and fight back corporate jargon. Realistically speaking, adding Cantha and Elona themes is the fairer, balanced approach. Leaving them out is biased (imo).

The only title I normally display is “God Walking Amongst Mere Mortals” (GWAMM) from GW1 simply because I spent countless hours in that game. The memories and friends I made in that game were simply not like any other. So unlike most GWAMM holders, it was more sentimental value to me.

But the original purpose for going for the title was to have some sort of “closure” to the game, as growing up in a competitive household and being the younger brother, I always wanted to beat the games I played. My goal was the same in GW1 but little did I know, this was much harder than your standard console game.

Cheers

Lionguard Inspector Kiel is my guess.

I’d have to agree with majority on the subject that Trahearne was made an iconic character too fast and was hard to connect with. Depending on how you chose your personal story, you have to work your way into being a respected ally to the races whereas Trahearne was put in that position initially. If it had to be a sylvari, I would had preferred someone with more historical relevance, such as Caithe or even Dougal Keene from the first GW2 book.

I beat the game mostly ignoring his presence because I never connected with the NPC. If he would had saved the player in a crucial point on the storyline maybe it would had been different.

If you played GW1 you can remember how the storyline would have drastic turns and twists. It was exciting (if you are into lore) not to know what was going to happen.

I will be honest, the way they played Trahearnes story and the end story in general, I knew what was going to happen when it was going to happen. Just kinda generic.

I personally loved the Canthan theme and enjoyed it’s unique style. If I wanted a break from the world of tyria I could easilly go and enjoy a different aspect of Guild Wars 1. Wish there was a way to change the course of games, movies, books, music, society etc., from becoming “Universal”. I watched Guild Wars 1 start out unique but slowly stride to be more generic for everyone to enjoy. Guild Wars 2 is now what the mass of the Anet team and community wanted; which is okay. Ultimately the pendulum swings back and people will want to strive to be different and stand out from the rest.