Guild Wars 2

The simplest way to improve the mirage would be the following:

Ambush skills replace Mind Wrack and CoF. Each mainhand weapon would have two ambush skills performed by both the mesmer and all clones, which inherit all standard shatter traits. This allows the ambush style to have more synergy with the core mesmer trait lines, and emphasizes the clone onslaught style.

When a clone dies, it spawns a Mirage Mirror. Mirage mirrors explode when an enemy touches them. The Mirage doesn’t have an answer for how to deal with AoE pressure that destroys illusions. To fix this problem, bring back clone death and use the extremely pretty but flawed mirror mechanic to give the Mirage area control and pressure. If the enemy leaves your clones alive, you unleash ambush skills. If they kill your clones, they create a mirage minefield of detonating mirrors. Allow explosive mirrors to also inherit all shatter trait effects, and you’re good to go.

Remove phantasms from the weapon bar. This mechanic has frankly outlived its usefulness, and doesn’t serve a primary purpose on the core mesmer, chronomancer, or mirage. Remove it, and bring back classic Mesmer skills like Energy Surge, Backfire, and Blackout. By reducing the damage of NPC pets, the mesmer can have more powerful shatters/ambushes and stronger weapon skills, which everyone should enjoy.

Are we talking a realistic design, or a pie-in-the-sky reboot?

Realistically, I would go with a slight variant of apharma’s excellent suggestion. Removing phantasms will help bring damage back to the player character and remove the flawed design of two contradictory mechanics (long term illusions versus short term shatter).

The one change I would make to the suggestion above would be to not add clone creation to the new weapon skills. Instead, the first minor trait of every core trait line should be a clone generator. “Create clone on dodge”, “create clone on block/evade”, “create clone on interrupt”, “generate two clones from weapon skills instead of one”, and “create a clone every third auto attack” should be spread across the core lines. Balance accordingly, and the mesmer will generate enough clones to fuel their shatters appropriately.

With clone creation on the minor traits, weapons can focus more on creating powerful and interesting effects for the mesmer herself. The shield is so much more interesting than the standard offhands specifically because it actually provides the mesmer with two skills. The less summoning on our weapon bar, the better.

Pie in the Sky redesign?

bearshaman.3421:

But I mention that to say this: Elite specs won’t fix the class. And it needs fixing. I don’t know what it should be fixed into, but I hope they give some serious thought to it. Smarter people than I can figure that out.

Elite specs could fix parts of the profession if they involve reworking old mechanics.

Phantasms are a good example. Their current implementation is a spectacular failure due to the simple fact that shatters contradict phantasms. The idea of creating a living hex that provokes the foe is a great idea, but it doesn’t work when destroying your illusions is mandatory to play the profession. Furthermore, the fact that mesmer DPS is held back under the assumption of triple phantasms just handicaps the class.

Phantasms could easily work, however, as a specialization. If they were removed completely from the default mesmer and a future specialization focused on living hexes, both playstyles would improve. A simple mechanic like “shatter your clones to create a phantasm. The more clones you shatter, the higher the phantasm’s maximum health” would allow the F1-4 keys to generate living hexes instead. Shatter mesmers would benefit from streamlined play, and phantasm mesmers would thrive due to an entire trait line built around their style. It would take reworking to balance the spiderweb, unfortunately, but the result would fix at least one aspect of the mesmer ideal.

That being said, it’s the unfortunate truth that redesigning the mesmer from the ground up would likely improve it based upon the new technology they have developed. Most of the problematic mesmer mechanics can be linked to lackluster design decisions before the game was released, and the technological advancement since that time period would solve quite a few of the class’s core conundrums. But the amount of effort it would take ensures it will almost certainly never happen.

Since people love the float (and rightly so, it’s hysterical), how about the following change to gravity well. Rather than have three pulls in a row, have a combination of three effects…

1st pulls.
2nd knocks down.
3rd floats.

The net effect will be similar (three CC effects, no more, no less), but it will feel a lot more thematic appropriate for gravity. Gravity pulls them in, gravity pins them down, and reverse gravity sends them flying. More fun, same balance.

If they want to clean up the Mesmer weapon sets, they need to go back to the drawing board on some of the skills that just don’t function properly. Illusionary Leap, for example, has massive technical flaws, and tweaking the numbers around won’t save it. Other skills are just too cumbersome, such as the scepter autoattack. A streamlined setup would look something like this…

Scepter
Ether Bolt: no longer a projectile, acts like Necro scepter. Torments.
Counterspell: channeled block, negates attacks for a brief time and confuses attackers.
Confusing Images: flick your scepter and spawn a clone that casts the beam, then autoattacks.

This cleans up the scepter by switching clone production to Confusing Images, allowing the Mesmer to make clones on demand rather than relying on clunky 3rd attacks and the counter. Similarly, Confusing Images is now more flexible, since the Mesmer doesn’t have to be the one channeling the beam. Reduce the amount of direct damage and allow this weapon to thrive as a pure condition weapon.

Sword
Mind Slash: all skills in the chain should have the “more damage against foes with no boons” effect to give it teeth.
Blurred Frenzy: rename this to Flourish. Mesmers do not frenzy, it’s undignified. Frenzying is for peasants and products of inbreeding.
Illusionary Leap: when cast, spawns a clone behind the target who executes a crippling attack with a built-in evade. This will protect the clone for ~1 second, thus allowing the mesmer time to Swap, and ensure that there’s no bad pathing problems to the target. 900 range.

Cleaning up iLeap and solving the damage issue will go a long way towards streamlining the weapon. Add a mainhand pistol as a ranged direct damage option, and we’re golden.

Dondagora.9645:

Now, MH Pistol isn’t that important. More importantly is what Mesmer’s next Elite Spec will be, and will a pistol fit in there. Work on ideas, people, for the specialization with a pistol instead of just a pistol.

There’s a reason they call it “bullet time”. We’re talking about a class that can use spatial distortion, teleportation and portals, temporal shifting, and the direct manipulation of reality. That means that a mesmer could easily, easily find some thematic skills. Say…

1a) The Nick of Time: fire a bullet into the air, which immediately vanishes. A split second later, it emerges from a tiny hole near the opponent, piercing them from an oblique angle and vanishes out the other side. Sequences into…
1b) Deja Vu: the same bullet emerges from yet another portal to pierce them again.
1c) Deja Vu: the same bullet hits them a third time.

2) Split Second: phase backwards and create a clone at your new location, directly next to you. Both of you immediately fire at your target.

3) Eleventh Hour: Channeled showdown attack. Twirl the pistol in a dextrous display, firing wildly into the air. Bullets hang suspended in time as you fire, building up the longer you channel. Whenever you release the channeled attack, all the bullets immediately hurl towards the target. Thus, the longer you wait, the more damage you deal, but the more obvious your final burst.

Taken together, that’s a simple array of solid ranged skills (base attack, evade, damage spike) with room for a condition or two to spice things up. But it can easily come across as a highly thematic skillset with a little animation and flavor, turning the Mesmer into a master of mystical gunplay performing absolutely impossible shots. Similarly, it carries the theme of moment-to-moment gameplay and the idea of precise timing intrinsic to the specialization.

I mean, seriously. It’s a class that can manipulate space and time. It’s not that hard to make thematic weapon skills, and Anet could easily do so if they tried.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• What do you feel the Mesmer is currently lacking ATM?

The ability to choose a playstyle and have every single skill on my bar support my chosen style.

Every single mesmer is required to take phantasms and the exact same four shatter skills, despite both of them being polar opposite playstyles. You cannot become an interrupt mesmer without carrying around vestigial illusion mechanics, and you can’t choose between shatters and phantasms without the other cluttering your bar. Mesmers just don’t have enough trait points to make both of their mandatory mechanics effective, nor can they spec into something else without leaving their two different illusion mechanics underpowered.

We should be able to choose our playstyles and have the mechanics support us 100%. There is absolutely no logical reason for anything less.

Chaos Archangel.5071:

• What is your one (reasonable) Mesmer wish?

Separate Phantasm and Shatters through the specialization system.

The default Shattercaster Mesmer should have the ability to choose which shatters they bring along (allowing wonderful mayhem such kittenters that torment, chill, create pulsing AoE pools, grant you stealth, immobilize the enemy, etc). Deceptive Evasion should become an innate property of the class, not a trait, and they should also consider allowing all weapons to use the Scepter’s “clone after X attacks” power.

The Dreamweaver Mesmer should be a completely separate specialization aimed towards bringing the enemy’s greatest nightmares to life. They should have a pool of possible phantasm choices on the F1-F4 keys geared around punishment, just like the hexes of GW1. Along with phantams that maintain constant effects, the dreamweaver should have utilities that let them manipulate these illusions to skillfully navigate the environment. For example, a utility that grants all your phantasms distortion for a few seconds would allow well timed counters to huge boss AoEs, and the power to destroy all your phantasms and resummon them on a new target would make life so much simpler.

Along with the Chronomancer, we should eventually see other specializations geared directly towards other classic playstyles. Interrupts deserve their own specialization, for example, geared towards dazing, stunning, boon stealing, and every other form of stopping the enemy in their tracks and stealing their precious energy to fuel your own spells.

Arkinos.7245:

The question is: what would jewelers do?

After all, ascended rings have been devalued by throwing them out like candy in high level fractals and the fact that you can buy them for various currencies.

Salvage ascended accessories for a new item. Use this resource to construct accessories with the legendary weapon’s stat swapping property.

The resulting accessories would allow more build variety, take up less space, and serve as a better backbone for agony resistance and infusion since they aren’t bound to a specific build. All the convenience, none of the hassle, and it even makes those extra ascended accessories worth something due to salvage.

Donari.5237:

Nice as always, Shriketalon, but I’d like something to explain how Mai Trin had an army that wasn’t a known factor. No one had heard of the Aetherblades before they first attacked, but they were far too sizable a force to just camp in the woods undetected for the months/years it would take to recruit and train them. No deserters? No loose lips in taverns? No rangers out hunting and going zomg it’s a fracking army out here? No sightings of non-Pact airships? No odd caravans of supplies going out into the wilds?

That would actually be pretty easy to explain, as long as we’re going by “totally not retcons” additive storytelling. The idea of the Aetherblades was supposed to be essentially the Sinister Triad from the Brisban Wildlands stealing a bunch of Pact equipment and recruiting the more nefarious pirates into their armada. The set pieces are already there, it just requires a little more work to put it into the actual game.

1) Add an episode to the beginning of the season where the player character takes a sabbatical from the Pact. We then head to Southsun, where all that wonderful karka stuff happens, then the Molten Alliance attacks.

2) After the Molten Alliance, the player is called back to the Pact for a meeting. Trahearne decides to appoint several commanders, each geared towards researching and planning a battle against a different dragon. This explains why we are no longer Supreme Commander Dude, but in a way that doesn’t treat us like a forgotten afterthought. While this episode is occurring, some very odd things happen at the Pact camp, and several conversations indicate that equipment is being “lost”. Several NPCs should show up here that are later revealed as Aetherblade infiltrators.

3) The assassination, investigation, and dungeon delve already serve as a good backbone for a complete episode with a nice story arc. The Aetherblade force shouldn’t appear that big during this time.

4) During Clockwork Chaos, the Aetherblade army should be swelling. Pirates hostile towards LA are recruited in massive numbers after the attack, and the booty and plunder from their raiding makes the group even stronger. The lost Pact equipment, including several airships, starts showing up all over the place and the story calls attention to the fact that they’re jacking our ride. Mai Trin’s character arc will help reveal all this information quite easily without sounding too much like exposition.

This shouldn’t take much time at all to set up, but it will mean that by the time the story reaches the Aetherpath, it’s perfectly obvious why the Aetherblades have suddenly gotten strong. They’ve got tech, they’ve got booty, and they’ve got a number of victories against the people all the bandits and brigands hate. Rather than try to present them as a massive army that’s been around for ages without anyone noticing, the story can do much better depicting them as a small fringe group that has suddenly swelled to dangerous proportions.

The way to fix Season 1’s poor storytelling is through addition, not subtraction.

In order to improve the overall narrative, there are three main problems that need to be fixed. First, the alliances seem completely unrealistic, with only flimsy justifications for why all these powerful groups would grovel before Scarlet. Secondly, the aforementioned shrub’s resources and abilities seemed nearly infinite, but the story played it completely straight, which broke any sense of verisimilitude. Finally, Scarlet’s corruption was extremely weak, basically a throwaway audio log rather than an actual descent into madness. All of these can be solved by adding story elements which should have been there from the start.

Season 1 needs interesting NPCs from each of the five factions in the alliance. We need a Flame Legion shaman who is far more erudite and educated than his fellows, who recognizes that clinging to the ashes of their former glory isn’t working. We need a Dredge commissar looking for solutions to their technological deadends, blind to the ways of the surface world but eager to gain its riches. We need Mai Trin to have an actual personality, deciding to wager her army on the chance of plundering the banks and vaults of the Big Mango, even if it means sacrificing some grunts. We need to a krait priestess to reject the xenophobia of her fellows in favor of bringing the prophet to life, and we need a Nightmare courtier on direct orders from Faolain to cause mayhem while keeping an eye on this interesting blip on the sylvari radar.

If these characters are interesting and dynamic, it will justify Scarlet’s obscene resources. The dredge commissar will bring manufacturing, the Flame shaman has brilliant tactical sensibilities, the Aetherblades have an elaborate scouting network, etc. Rather than explaining every single detail with Scarlet Ex Machina, the NPCs of the alliance can demonstrate their skill and acumen to make the story seem more grounded.

And finally, these NPCs will allow us to see Scarlet’s corruption play out. In the beginning, she’s three steps ahead of anyone in negotiations, an expert at ferreting out dissent, and adept at playing each side against each other to keep them in line. But as her madness takes hold, the advantage shifts, and soon the alliance begins using the mad inventor, rather than the other way around. By the final battle with Lion’s Arch, each faction should be treating it like a heist aboard a runaway train, trying to accomplish their own goals before everyone blows up.

Adding and expanding side characters will help the early stages, which lack focus, and allow Anet to tie up a lot of loose ends and round out the finale as the alliance tears itself apart from within, or gets butchered by their own people who believe they have betrayed their ideals.

Azrael.4960:

For legendary trinkets, the gifts are going to have to be involved. What you’ve suggested is something far more OP than any of the legendary weapons we have now given the ease of obtaining them using your process.

The gifts would only be involved if there is some degree of prestige associated with the jewelry.

Since there is nothing “OP” whatsoever with a simple stat item that is completely hidden, the legendary change is purely a quality of life improvement. If no one can know that you are wearing legendary accessories, there is absolutely no reason to demand incredibly high costs. In the outline I describe above, it is purely a functionality buff for the sake of pure convenience, and therefore no reason to give it a massive price tag.

Now, if legendary accessories DO carry an aesthetic component such as auras or shading, that would justify a price hike. But that is its own separate system to be debated.

Legendary weapons involve gifts and runestones because of the prestige factor of their skins. Stat swapping was added later as a bonus. If there is no prestige factor, there is zero reason to demand an absurdly high price tag for a pure quality of life boost.

Despite ascended trinkets being the first ascended gear to ever be rolled out, Jeweler has lagged behind all the other gear crafting disciplines when it comes to reaching level 100. The reason for this is obvious; ascended trinkets are deeply integrated into fractals, guild missions, and other content to make them a viable reward.

Yet at the same time, all is not well with ascended trinkets. Carrying around spare sets to switch stats is extremely tedious. Spare duplicates that can’t be salvaged clog up inventories. And the infusion system binds vital elements such as Agony Resistance to particular stat spreads, preventing players from changing builds without losing AR. There is a simple way to solve all the problems in one simple method.

Allow Grandmaster Jewelers to salvage ascended trinkets for a new item, which is used to make stat-swapping Legendary trinkets.

It would go something like this…
1) Break down ascended gear into Inscribed Secrets.
2) Combine gold, silver, and platinum into a Xunlai Electrum Ingot.
3) Take five of any Exquisite Jewel and a Lesser Vision Crystal.
4) Combine together to get a legendary accessory that can swap attributes.

Simple, easy, efficient. Ascended trinkets are still rewarding, even moreso because extra trinkets provide fuel for further legendary crafting. Inventory clutter is reduced so players don’t have to haul sets around or transfer them between alts to swap builds. Your agony resistance set is no longer bound to a particular stat spread, allowing you to respec at will or hand it to an alt with a different attribute spread freely. And finally, Jeweler gets its Grandmaster rank after spending far too long at the bottom of the pile. Everyone wins.

If Anet is feeling extremely ambitious, they could even have some aesthetic bonuses entwined with the update. Items like the Preserved Queen Bee have already experimented with adding aesthetic buffs to accessories, but they have been haphazard at best. They could easy add an Aura tab to the wardrobe that hosed all your aesthetic buffs (rime-rimmed waterbreather, colored refractor, etc). Different Legendary jewel sets could unlock different effects based on their gem type, but all of them would be optional thanks to the wardrobe.

And finally, while we’re feeling bold, they could add Grandmaster Chef with 24 hour food buffs. Just saying.

If specializations do change the main class mechanic, their best bet would not to use the standard “one clone and one phantasm” method. Phantasm mesmers and shatter mesmers are already opposed to one another, and it doesn’t make sense to try to cram in a third ability while still forcing everyone to use their traits to supply the former. They’ve been trying over and over to make the interrupt mesmer viable, so it makes sense that they would create a specialization that discards some of the current baggage and lets them flourish as hard control casters.

If they are allowing main mechanic customization, it would be better to go like so…

Shattercaster: default shatter mesmer, make and break clones. Streamline clone creation across the board and allow shatters to vary based on your weapon (ie condition/direct damage).
Dreamspinner: weaves phantasms out of their target’s nightmares. Skills allow manipulation of phantasms after casting, so they aren’t fire-and-forget.
Chronomancer: absolute lockdown. No illusions on the weapons, no shatters. Instead, six utility slots, and utilities use a shared mana pool like thieves instead of cooldowns, thus creating the perfect mastermind mesmer.

Zaxares.5419:

I do agree that there are a lot of instances where the NPCs take center stage in scenes that don’t really advance the main story (key case in point, Belinda’s spirit katana), but I’d much rather have the Biconics with me rather than the other NPCs.

It’s the exact opposite that bugs me, the Biconics taking center stage in scenes that DO advance the plot yet have nothing to do with them.

When Aerin is revealed to be one of the Soundless who went insane, we have five NPCs sitting around saying “does anyone know who the Soundless are?” When we had to rally the races of Tyria, the Biconics huddled together planning how they could ask their moms and senpais for help while our silent protagonist cried in a corner for bygone glory. When the Master of Peace died, we didn’t have a single party member who cared in the slightest. When the big reveal for the whole season hit…it didn’t matter for anyone in our party, since not only were they not sylvari, they didn’t even have close sylvari friends. Without a cast that are actually invested in the plot through their own character arcs, the story can’t deliver the same emotional punch as a really well outlined heroic epic.

To explain it another way, imagine for a moment, Season 6. The Blitzkrieg on Kralkatorric.

The lightning war with the crystal dragon is a pure Ascalonian story. The Brand is energized with power after the death of Zhaitan and Mordremoth, leading to a surge in dragon minions. With the Pact destroyed, it’s up to the Charr legions and the Ebon Vanguard to save their people from annihilation. We’re talking all-out, heavy metal warfare, with the entire Charr war machine wheeling out all the firepower they’ve got, and the humans pulling every trick, every artifact, every ounce of historical power they’ve got.

Massive tanks? Check. Hundred-strong units of soldiers? Check. Subverting the foefire as a weapon against the Brand? Check. Striking a horrible deal with Palawa Joko and his army of awakened undead on the far side of the Branded army for a pincer movement? Check (don’t worry, he totally won’t betray us, he’s trustworthy). At the end of a long campaign, it all culminates in a final showdown at the Tomb of Primeval Kings for Destiny’s Edge Vs. The Elder Dragon Kralkatorric, Round 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Who would you cast for this story, given the following choices…

A: Charr and Ascalonian humans. One charr from each legion with different perspectives on war and duty, thus allowing the story to show each of the three sides at their best and at odds with one another. Several humans from Ascalon fighting for the homeland they hold dear, at odds with their feline neighbors who are temporary allies at best, butchers of their kin at worst. To add to that ensemble, at least one foreign human (bonus points if she’s Elonian, thus contrasting with Palawa Joko and setting up that prophecy about leading the return) and one outcast charr (such as a shaman or sorceror to counter some of the more supernaturally psychotic Branded strategies). This group provides the best set of characters to explore all aspects of Ascalon, including the Charr/human conflict, the perspectives of the two races, the importance of duty and heritage, etc, etc, etc. Their friends will die. Their homes will burn. Their lands will be ravaged by war, but they will stand against the draconic horde to safeguard everything they hold dear.

Or…

B: The Biconics. Rox gets called back by a friend to go fight, and the other four tag along. Five out of six of them (assuming Canach has joined) have absolutely no connection to Ascalon, no idea about its lore, no friends or compatriots in the area, and no significant skills that set them apart and above other soldiers. During the course of the war, they tag along and get into trouble, counting on you to bail them out. Marjory binds ghosts into her sword. Kasmeer’s unexplained powers give her random visions. Taimi solves all the magical problems with asuran gadgets and technobabble. Braham does nothing, and Canach questions his life decisions. They banter their way through the lightning war, and at the end of it all, cheer because they were along for the ride that took down Kralkatorric.

Which of these sounds like the foundation for better storytelling, more dramatic scenes, and greater character growth? One should cast characters who matter to the plot because it means the plot matters to them. They care, and therefore they can have a character arc and meaningful growth. They are involved, therefore they can contribute towards moving the plot along with their unique skills. They matter, so they resonate with the story that’s being told.

TL:DR?

1) Be careful about biting off more than you can chew. Unpolished and lackluster content can turn a good idea into a bad implementation.

2) Don’t use cheap cliffhangers. Seriously.

3) Character deaths lose their dramatic weight if we all know they’re going to die.

4) There’s a difference between building a story hook and leaving a plot thread dangling.

5) Be careful when writing magic. Avoid technobabble and obvious plot devices.

6) Pacing is absolutely critical to building dramatic tension. Don’t let it drop.

7) Cast characters that are relevant to the plot for better storytelling.

8) The storytelling elements need to mix with the multiplayer experience in order to enrich the game in the future. You need to combine the MMO and the RPG to allow the game to grow.

I hope that helps, in some small way. The storytelling is definitely improving, and the writing team should be quite pleased at their current progress. There are still plenty of aspects which require polish and improvement, but the future of the Living World and the upcoming Hearts of Thorns are starting out on the right foot.

Greetings and Salutations.

As Season 2 comes to a close, it is a good time to take stock of where the Living World currently stands. It is quite pleasing to see that things are getting better. The world is becoming more vibrant and interesting, the story is blending history and lore into its plot threads quite nicely, and the future is shaping up to be an extremely interesting place. The cinematic finale and foundation for Heart of Thorns was especially uplifting, and the writing team should feel proud of the current state all things Tyrian.

But there are still some…quirks…which need to be ironed out. Season 2 is trying a very different approach to Season 1 in terms of permanent content while simultaneously forging new ground in the draconic war, and sometimes things don’t turn out quite as one might hope. Hopefully, there is some sliver of wisdom here that may help future stories.

I hope you enjoy Eight Lessons From Eight Releases of Season 2…

How do you account for the fact that other races are already part of the force that defeated Zhaitan?

We’ve met tengu members of the Pact (Izu Steelshrike) and Largos (Sayeh al’Rajihd) serving in prominent roles, as well as lots of miscellaneous races (quaggan, grawl, etc) chipping in. Therefore, it requires no great suspension of disbelief to assume that a player character of a new race could join the Pact. All it would require is for the personal story to address things differently, sending the PC out individually rather than having the entire race chipping in to the dragonslaying effort.

The only disagreement would be saying that it would retroactively be adding a story component to something that happened several years ago in game. But that already happens every time someone makes a new character. They spring into existence before the proper formation of the Pact, and their story describes the events that lead up to it. Whether an Asuran Savant or Norn Slayer becomes the commander of the Pact is completely open to the individual story, so a Tengu, Largos, or Kodan could fill the exact same role in the exact same way.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Shriketalon.1937:

It’s worth noting that a “proper cast” doesn’t mean the ideal people to solve a problem, but a group who’s character arcs enhance the overall plot and narrative.

That’s not what I said about “proper cast”, exactly. Honestly the best people to solve a problem are player characters (and always will be that way since we are the ones who are the active force in moving the story).

We are clearly talking about different things. Let me phrase it another way. The author greatly enhances the story when selecting a cast who’s individual character arcs are relevant to the main plot and help push it along. If a character doesn’t have any influence over the story or their individual arc has no relevance to the main plot, they become a distraction rather than an asset. Otherwise you end up with the Belinda ghost scene, a mission that takes time, effort, and resources to produce that does absolutely nothing for the main plot and serves only to shine a spotlight on the author’s personal favorites.

Likewise, the rushed development process. You see it as pushing out content as fast as possible, thus resulting in content that isn’t well paced or polished. I see it as trying to juggle too many balls at once between plot advancement and irrelevant character arcs, and as a result they end up rushing the content. At the end of the day, it’s pretty much two sides of the same coin.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Also, again, I support the idea of mesmer mind-magic being able to sort through things. I’ll note it’s not unheard of to do it without the aid of magic, and is pulled off in real life to great effect after all. I played through that scene a few times and it seems Kasmeer’s ability isn’t 100% accurate to sniff out an exact lie, but she can catch when someone is hiding something and can use that and reasoning to figure out what part stands out as “incorrect”.

Pixar Rule of Storytelling #19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great. Coincidences to get them out of trouble are cheating.

Likewise, Brandon Sanderson’s first of three laws of writing magic: An author’s ability to satisfactorily solve a problem with magic is directly proportional to how well the reader understands that magic.

You never, ever introduce a previously unknown mystical ability to solve a problem, and that’s exactly what Anet did. They needed to introduce the plot point that the Zephyrites were up to something and that Aerin was acting funky, but since they were relying on characters who knew nothing about the ‘rites or sylvari, they pulled a bunny out of a hat and used complete coincidence to push the plot forward simply because "it’s magic." It’s strongarming the plot rather than allowing it to flow smoothly.

This would be the equivalent of Destiny’s Edge being unable to solve a problem, and Eir turning to the player and saying, deadpan, “It’s alright. I can talk to bees.”

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Rox isn’t a gladium anymore, she’s BFFs with the charr’s greatest hero and advising the imperator of an entire legion.

Let’s be honest, my charr warrior also rescued people from being gladiums, and is a BFF with the charr’s greatest hero and can maybe mouth off to the Tribunes a small amount with the rank of Warmaster to back himself up.

But your charr isn’t Rytlock’s BFF anymore! There can only be one Best Friend Forever! He gave you matching friendship bracelets, Tobias, and now he’s found a new BFF to pal around with and eat ice cream and go to gladiatorial matches. Doesn’t that wrack your very soul?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Very agreed, and this is why I said it really needs to be better laid out than this. I said it last season about Scarlet – she could have been better handled if they’d laid the tracks and details out better rather than rushed into the arc showing her off.

Absolutely agreed. What this all comes down to, though we sometimes talk in circles, is planning out exactly what is necessary for the core parts of the story, and prioritizing those elements above all else. We’ve seen a lot of good ideas in Season 2 poorly executed primarily due to lack of time (gathering the races, the crown of Ascalon, etc), as well as a lot of filler content that didn’t serve any major purpose (most of the Biconics stuff). There needs to be more central planning to iron out what’s actually important, and build the cast and scenery around what will make that solid plot feasible. At the moment, the resource priorities are all out of whack, and it’s resulting in rushed content and haphazard storytelling.

Delays keeping me from proper replies. Real world issues, how inconvenient.

The What is simple. A good story needs a proper cast to move smoothly, and a good character needs a relevant tale to grow and change.

A good story doesn’t need a proper cast, it just makes it neat and simple. The classics of fantasy literature are full of “improper” handlings of characters. I’ll level the spotlight right at the easiest, biggest elephant in the room: Lord of the Rings, Merry, Pippin, Legolas, and Gimli.

Season 2 has incredibly awkward moments as a direct result of relying on irrelevant characters.

Yeah, and I have a ton of issues with the general handling of things . . . the story is nicer and tighter but no less rushed than the Personal Story was in getting through the necessary Plot Hoops. There’s not enough time spent actually developing things, just making them so and rushing to the next point. And from what I hear about the last two parts it’s still happening.

It’s worth noting that a “proper cast” doesn’t mean the ideal people to solve a problem, but a group who’s character arcs enhance the overall plot and narrative.

In regards to your later point, I completely agree. The story is rather rushed and hurtles through major plot points, but I would further dig myself into my fortified position by asserting that the rushed plot is directly linked to the bad casting.

In Season 1, they deliberately designed the Biconics as smaller scale underdogs because they were trying to ensure players could participate in the season without finishing the personal story. As a result, we got a cast of characters that were designed for smaller scale adventures and more minor conflicts. By making the mistake of using this crew as the main cast for future seasons, they threw street level heroes into a grand adventure to save the world…and it doesn’t work.

Now they’re rushing to power up the Biconics to the point where they can stand toe to toe with world leaders on the epic stage, and the result has been hamfisted and ludicrous. Marjory has stopped being a detective and is now a front line shocktrooper wielding an artifact blade (take a drink if Jory and Belinda end up being the key to defeating the Shadow of the Dragon). Kasmeer is no longer a down and out ex-noble, and is now the pinkie finger of the queen’s hand using her lie detecting super powers. Rox isn’t a gladium anymore, she’s BFFs with the charr’s greatest hero and advising the imperator of an entire legion. Taimi isn’t a random kid with a very, very bad obsession, she’s a kid who’s device singlehandedly saved one of the most iconic inventions of her race and was prominent enough to be stolen by one of their top governing officials.

But none of these plot details are directly linked to the rise of Mordremoth with the exception of Taimi. As a result, they’re rushing to include the Zephyrite intrigue, the backstory of Glint, the Pact war effort, the Inquest machinations, the corruption of sylvari, the fate of the Pale Tree, and the side events like Rytlock’s little misadventure and the politics of Kryta and the White Mantle without a core cast that actually moves those plot points forward. So we have an erratic juggling act instead of a smooth story.

What they should have done is sit down and build a cast based upon what they wanted to accomplish with the story. For instance, three Pact characters (Laranthir of the Wild, Halvora Snapdagger, and Wynnet Fairhaired), one outside consultant (Professor Gorr), a down-to-earth character (Belinda Delaqua), and a reluctant hero (a new Zephyrite character) would have been a perfect mix, since it allows every character to bring something to the table, and for every single situation to showcase the personal connections or capabilities of the main cast.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Shriketalon.1937:

….Tobias, my friend, I disagree with your statement with every fiber of my being.

No one ever has no other place in life than simply existing for a brief moment in another’s story.

Funny, that expresses my life quite thoroughly. A fact I have come to accept after countless years of feeling worthless, just because it means I have a purpose.

And yet here you are, with your own thoughts and opinions, your own insights and ideas, enjoying a hobby completely separate from your main vocation. You have depth, just like every other human being, nuances and history that make you a unique individual.

You are special, Tobias! I believe in you!

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Nope. Sorry, you’re losing me here. I’m not going to agree with this on a fundamental level. You could have said they have no right to exist and I’d still debate you over it.

I’ll say why in a simple phrase which should make more sense when you step back. Just because he’s not doing anything of consequence now doesn’t mean he never will. No hero starts off that way, and those who do aren’t real people, they’re walking plot devices.

My problem with this whole Braham issue is that I can spot tracks being laid down for him, and nobody seems to want to have the patience for them to let the character be immature in other meanings of the word. He is young, brash, and he has not made himself awesome yet.

So. Freaking. What.

The What is simple. A good story needs a proper cast to move smoothly, and a good character needs a relevant tale to grow and change.

Season 2 has incredibly awkward moments as a direct result of relying on irrelevant characters. When Aerin went ballistic, the entirely meat based Biconics were left looking at each other asking “Does anyone know anything about Sylvari? ….No?…Well, okay then.” When we investigated the Zephyrite crash, no one had any connection to their people or history with their expedition, so the writers had to make Kasmeer spontaneously grow a third eye and develop mystical lie detector super powers just to point out that the Zephyrites were up to something. And the entire arc up to the conference was horribly cast because the Biconics weren’t supposed to be A-list heroes who have the ear of the world leaders. If they had actually cast characters relevant to the plot as their main crew, the story would have flowed smoothly and expediently as it relies on their expertise and character arcs that coincide with the plot.

Similarly, a character needs to be relevant to the plot to have a tangible arc where they grow and improve. You say that Braham has plenty of potential, and that you see the trails of his future heroism? Why doesn’t it bother you that he hasn’t had a character arc in an entire year’s time?

It’s not like it’s that hard to give him something to do. All it would take is a scene where the Biconics are trekking through the Maguuma wastes, they get into a tight spot with the sandstorms and supplies, and Braham turns and says “Okay, we can use the east faces of the canyon walls for cover when the sandstorm builds, those cacti can provide us with enough water for nourishment, and we need to use light cover against the sun in the daylight and warm garb in the evening when the temperature drops.” And as the city detective, former socialite, university student, and miner-turned soldier stare at him a moment, he can quip “What? Didn’t anyone else learn anything about desert survival before coming out here?” Ta-da! Braham is suddenly relevant, and in a way that highlights his concern for others as well as the Norn race’s specialty as the supreme survivalists of the world.

And if they don’t want to make a specific scene for Braham, they could have easily allocated the screentime evenly across the board. Marjory, for example, has so far lead the group into the wastes to talk to her sister, investigated the crash site, worked on her relationship with Kasmeer, spearheaded the battle against Aerin, dealt with her sister’s death, journeyed to the Priory to delve into the history of Glint, and gained an artifact blade drawing strength from the Power of Heart. And that’s from three months worth of updates (intermission aside). I’m pretty certain they could spare just a little bit of time for Braham to have a scene or two where he had the answer to a given conundrum, and his direct involvement moved the plot forward and allowed him to grow. Instead they had him reunite with his mom and have an adventure offscreen, and later informed us that he was impressed with her. “Show, don’t tell” is a basic rule of storytelling, but they aren’t bothering to show Braham develop at all.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

You know that cliche where a female character exists solely to support the efforts of the more interesting and more proactive males? It’s terrible characterization that crops up in a lot of media…and Braham is just the reversal.

You know, it’s cliche and people don’t like it, but it’s something which is actually . . . realistic. Some people have no other place in life than to lend a hand to those around them.

….Tobias, my friend, I disagree with your statement with every fiber of my being.

No one ever has no other place in life than simply existing for a brief moment in another’s story. Trite and cliche writing will make a character who is entirely defined by one single thing, especially when it’s to fulfill a gap in the narrative. The old sage shows up, delivers a moral lesson, and disappears. The helpful soldier will arrive to aid the hero, then die a moment later and be completely forgotten. The damsel in distress will swoon and wail until the savior arrives, then promptly lavish affection as a reward for the rescue without any other wants or needs in life. In each situation, these characters exist solely for what they can do for another, more interesting individual. They have no depth of personality, no wants and needs of their own, no purpose beyond their role as a puppet in the stage play.

And the simple reason that it’s bad writing is that living beings don’t act like that. All things strive. Everyone wants something. The sage had decades of life before his pivotal scene. The soldier had hopes and dreams, family and friends. The damsel has a personality and plans, likes and dislikes, quirks and mannerisms. Even the most humble advocate for the welfare of others has entire worlds floating around in their head, their own personal narrative. There isn’t a single being in existence with no other place in life than a cameo in someone else’s tale. Everyone is the hero of their own story.

Now, in regards to Braham himself (sorry, I got off on a tangent, but characters who aren’t written as if they had their own motivations and desires really, really bug me)…camaraderie and compassion for one’s fellow beings is a very nice motivation. When it actually leads to them doing something. Which leads us to the crux of the problem…

Mada.5319:

Shriketalon.1937:

stuff about Braham

So what if he doesn’t have his own motives? So what if he’s just there to support?
Why do people always need to have their own agency to be a part of the story?
He had his story, back in flame & frost, and he’s now made some friends. Friends help each other right? Does he need a reason to help his friends beyond the fact that they are his friends?

Because a character who brings nothing to the table has no reason to be invited to dinner.

If you cut Braham out of the story, absolutely nothing changes. He has been a central figure for the entire Living Story, constantly showing up throughout episode after episode as part of the main cast, but for the past year there isn’t a single moment where he contributes anything to the plot. And the simple reason for this is that the writers haven’t bothered to give him any agency.

If the story is a moving vehicle, agency is the force that pushes it along. Characters act upon the plot, nudging it or shoving it this way and that, and the various vectors of all the different characters exerting themselves moves the narrative along. But a character without agency is just along for the ride. They aren’t moving things along, and in some cases, their deadweight is actually making things harder to move.

In other words, why is there a member of the main cast who doesn’t do anything to drive the plot forward? Why is one of the main crew reappearing in every single episode never pushing the plot along or providing a unique contribution? Why is a protagonist without any agency worthy of screentime? Every single member of an ensemble cast needs to bring their own dish to the potluck dinner that is their story, because that’s how you get a balanced and varied meal with enough food for everyone. A character without any meaningful contribution is just eating up screentime without providing anything in return. And that’s bad manners.

If the writers cannot be bothered to give Braham the agency required to actually do something meaningful for the story, then they cannot justify Braham’s role as a main character. They need to prove that he isn’t just deadweight along for the ride, that there is more to him than just lending a hand to a more interesting character’s tale. And the way to give him that agency is to stop writing him he has no other place in life than to lend a hand to a more interesting character’s story, and to start thinking from Braham’s perspective about what he is striving for, and what he can do to make a difference.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

That’s how I see Braham, and why I think he is better for what is not stated explicitly and is more evident in his actions and reading around how he talks about things. I think the potential would be ruined if he started explaining all this stuff rather than letting you have to see it like a Magic Eye. (That is, relaxing your eyesight so your mind can make better sense of what looks like garbage.)

That doesn’t address the core problem. Braham has absolutely no agency.

Ever since the end of Flame and Frost, Braham has had no individual motivations beyond the vague concept of “forging a legend”. Every single time we see him, he is playing the supporting role to someone else’s more interesting goal. We’ve seen the various members of the Biconics striving for personal respect, for a better life, for the discovery of forbidden knowledge, for military promotion, for a redemption for their family name, for vengeance over a lost loved one, for romance, and for the Greater Good. But Braham hasn’t had a single moment where he is being proactive and actually striving for anything beyond the support of another character’s motivation.

You know that cliche where a female character exists solely to support the efforts of the more interesting and more proactive males? It’s terrible characterization that crops up in a lot of media…and Braham is just the reversal. His entire role is that of a support character, existing solely to make other people’s lives easier, without any individual purpose of his own. He basically doesn’t exist outside of his capacity to help other people complete their own agency, for he brings absolutely none to the table on his own.

This also plays out on the micro scale. When was the last time Braham actually brought anything to the table beyond a meatshield? We’ve seen Kasmeer undo enormous glamours, do plenty of Thinking With Portals, and solve problems with her completely-out-of-thin-air magical Liar Detector super powers (whatever that skritt was all about). Jory has used her necromantic powers to solve several conundrums, done a bit of detective work, and used contacts and affiliations to get things done. Rox has done some fantastic demolition work, and Taimi has played the walking exposition and plot device role for half her screentime. When was the last time Braham did anything? How many problems has he solved, what dilemmas has he unraveled or demons slain?

Considering he’s one of the five main characters for the last two years as well as the only male in the Biconic cast, it seems utterly ridiculous for him to have absolutely no agency to drive the plot or provide a unique storyline. He’s got some funny interactions with Taimi and has a decently sympathetic point of view, but from a plot perspective he hasn’t brought anything to the table for over a year.

I think the issue is linked to two different aspects: the number of male characters in the story, and the relations between the two genders.

For a very long time, Braham has basically been the only dude. But Braham himself isn’t in an awkward place because of lack of males, but because the story is constantly making him subservient to superior females. He’s gone from following Rox around like a puppy, protecting Taimi like a guard dog, and running back to his mother with his tail wagging when he discovered she’s actually good at her heroism job. Similarly….isn’t it interesting that when Canach was reintroduced, the very first thing the authors did was leash him to Countess Anise, and later transfer that control over his metaphorical collar to Caithe?

Now, that being said, this isn’t the case 100% of the time. There are a few good male characters who get screentime and development, many of whom are done quite well. Rytlock Brimstone is probably the Supreme Dude in the male roster, and he completely breaks the mold described above. Coincidentally…people really seem to like him.

So I agree with Konig and Draxynnic. The ideal is numerous strong characters of both genders, and it’s important to make those characters stand on their own and provide compelling characterization of their own merits.

Wouldn’t the simplest solution be option 3, combining a bit of the code you already used for both material bags and the piles of sand? You have some items that you double click when they reach a certain stack size to become something else, and you have other items which become a pile of objects when you double click them. Taken together….

Bandit Crest
Can be traded to Silverwastes merchants. Double click on a stack of 100 crests to bundle them into a Bandit Crest Satchel.

Bandit Crest Satchel
Double click to unpack into 100 bandit crests. Stacks like a material bag.

No wallet expansion, no material storage, no further code. Now a single inventory slot can hold the equivalent of 25,000 Bandit Crests without the developers lifting a finger. Every time 100 crests pops up, the player can freely convert them into their stacking Satchel pile without any further worries, and the entire currency can never take up more than two inventory slots. Everyone can easily see how many crests they currently hold due to the convenient 100 number, and they’ll only need to unpack them at merchant stalls.

The only thing this system couldn’t do is provide a nice way for alts to all mix their crests together, but that should be reasonably handled through the bank tab if the player is bringing multiple characters through the Silverwastes on a constant basis.

Leah Hoyer.9382:

Hi folks! Now that I’ve settled in a bit at ANet, I wanted to check in again on this thread. The first Living World episode that I was involved in, “Echoes of the Past,” has now been live for a few days. We’ve all been really pleased that people seem to be enjoying the story and content a lot. But I’d love to ask you all for more specifics. What were your favorite narrative moments? What did you like about the content? About the way it was told? And of course, I want to hear what you think we can still do better on.

First and foremost, this is a fantastic leap forward when it comes to integrating the story into a larger, deeper world. The Pact feels like its doing exactly what it is meant to do and the Priory acts like a massive scholastic organization brimming with artifacts and history. The set pieces were exactly what we needed to feel like we’re part of an epic narrative. Using historical elements to drive the plot was excellent. Returning to Glint’s sand realm was especially fun, and the prospect of protecting her offspring is a great plot hook.

As for the room for improvement…

The pacing was nonexistent. You dropped us into Marjory’s big moment with her sister without any buildup whatsoever, and then immediately yanked us out and sent us to Pact headquarters for a brief skirmish, then rubberbanded us back into the heart of the Priory to go talk about lore. I understand you’re trying to set up plot threads for the future events, but it didn’t feel cohesive. None of the individual episodes had any relevance with one another. Similarly, the Belinda ghost bit felt like it was supposed to be a climactic moment, but its brevity followed up with two completely different sets of rising action made it feel almost unnecessary.

And secondly, the constant attention to the Biconics felt like a distraction from the plot that was actually relevant. Marjory’s big moment was nice and dramatic, but the player character had absolutely no involvement. We showed up, walked through a ruin, watched a cutscene, and were left wondering why we were there. Taimi’s long exposition about training in new skills felt like navel gazing, giving her screentime purely for the purpose of giving her screentime (and it didn’t help that Braham is still acting like a lost puppy clinging to more interesting characters).

The really big offender for me personally, however, was Marjory and Kasmeer spouting exposition while we try to explore Glint’s cavern. This was a tragically missed opportunity to use the concept of memories and visages to tell the story of Glint. You introduced the idea of crystals holding the echoes of the past, but most of them did nothing. Instead, we got two characters without any major connection to Glint having a Maid and Butler moment introducing the dragon to the player.

The player just left a library full of brilliant references and historical oddities, a love letter to Guild Wars 1 in museum form. The journey through Glint’s lair would have been so much more powerful if you had kept that format. The player interacts with crystalline memories, and actually witnesses history. Imagine the Flameseeker Prophecies enshrined across the wall, along with other sibyllic inscribed throughout the lair. Rather than tell us that Glint nearly fought and then allied with Destiny’s Edge, why not show us the memory of their interaction? This was a classic case of Show, Don’t Tell, and despite the wondrous library and the nostalgic moment of seeing the Lair redone, it could have been something far more powerful.

You don’t need to make the Biconics the center of the world. This isn’t their story, and the more you break away from those five characters pretending to be the protagonists of the entire franchise, the better.

What I want to know is simple. What happened to Glimmer?

Ogden says it’s the last egg, but we already had a perfectly healthy baby dragon hatch in GW1. We protected it from harm during Glint’s Challenge. Unless something happened to the little tyke (named Glimmer by someone else on the GW Guru forums), she should still be around. 250 years older, of course, but still a toddler by dragon standards.

We’ve already got a baby oracle dragon. Why are we hatching another?

FlamingFoxx.1305:

A lot of people don’t want player generated content, myself included. One of the reasons to play a themepark MMO is that everything is done by the developers which ensures complete consistency.

And in a perfect world, you would be absolutely correct. Developer content is the right choice. But the problem with the current state of the game is that we’re in an imperfect world. Arenanet doesn’t have enough time, resources, and employees to ensure that the seasoned hand of a developer crafts every single thing players ask for. People want SAB, refined dungeon bosses, new fractals, new WvW maps, new explorable zones, new minigames, new PvP modes, new armor, new weapons, refurbished armor without clipping, precursor quests, upgraded dragon champions, new world bosses, etc, etc, etc, and they want it yesterday. How much of that is going to get done anytime soon?

So I would ask this question in reply. Is it better to get new content that is decent, but not superb….or no content at all? Is it better for SAB to remain closed for another two years, or for the next three levels to be assembled by hobbyists under the watchful eye of a developer? Would you rather have dungeon bosses be left the way they are, or allow someone with time and talent to take a shot and try to make them more interesting than the current Defiant v. Berzerker setup? Are you content with the rate at which new armor and weaponry are obtainable through in-game means, or would the game be improved by more items being added outside of the gemstore, even if they’re not crafted by Anet’s hands? An imperfect world requires imperfect solutions, and sometimes the mundane incremental improvements provide the sustenance the game needs.

Now, that being said…

CureForLiving.5360:

At the very least ANet would have to provide tools with which we players can produce content and although I’m sure they have in-house tools those tend to be horribly slap together and not user friendly. It might take months for ANet to steamline and polish their in-house tools to allow players to use it (a badly design tool would serve only turn players away and that’s not what you want in the player generated content).
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I think the easiest way that this could occur is as follows: ANet produces the tools and opens it up to the community. Regularly ANet creates competitions where players can produce content using the tool and then submit it to ANet for review and possible inclusion into the game (in return for gems or in game items or something).

You are absolutely correct that this sort of thing greatly depends on the tools available, the company culture, and the integration of player creations into the game. Caution is well warranted, especially when it may cost resources to get something running when the outcome is uncertain.

However, I’m glad you brought up the idea of competitions. See, back in the day, Arenanet ran a pair of Design a Weapon competitions during Guild Wars 1. The results were quite nifty, and a few of the designs were even brought over to Guild Wars 2. The best way to test the waters of community content with absolutely no negative repercussions whatsoever would be to bring them back. Since Skyrim, Kerbal, and Star Citizen all prove that players can create assets, the competitions could shift from concept art to actual model work.

Bring back Design a Weapon. Release the technical details that are required for the items in question, and go from concept phase to actual 3d modeling within a single competition. If it goes well, expand the project, from the more technically complicated (Design a Cultural Armor Set) or the straight upgrade (Design a Legendary Weapon), to the fun and whimsical (Design a Guild Emblem, Design a Minipet, Design a Musical Instrument).

Since these competitions would be straight asset creation, there’s pretty much no possible downside (as long as all art is documented to show the submitter created it, etc) or complications. But from a project standpoint, they serve as an excellent way to gauge how well the community can create content for the game, even if it’s just one particular realm. And from there, the future is what we make of it.

All eight teams I mention above are completely possible. Every single skillset or ability have emerged in one or more modding teams across the gaming medium, and each of them relies on existing frameworks within Guild Wars 2’s engineering. Arenanet themselves have constantly said the mechanics under the hood were conceived as foundations, ideal platforms for additional content down the line. The system was designed for incremental improvements!

But bless your hearts, Arenanet, you are more interested in treading new ground and making shiny new systems than sitting down and giving the current foundations the simple, mundane, unsophisticated love and care they need to rise to greatness.

We can.

We’re not experts. While there may be diamonds in the rough with talent that rivals the developers, many of us are only amateurs and hobbyists. Yet even a slight sliver of talent polishing a small piece of content can contribute to the game, and a hundred tiny efforts can snowball into something greater. Something amazing.

I realize that what I propose is insane. There are a thousand complications related to logistics and coordination, not to mention security and quality control. A decision of this magnitude would require a great deal of consideration and discussion within Arenanet itself, since it requires no small effort to distribute tools and integrate content into the game as a whole. Caution is well warranted in the face of the mad ramblings of a deranged fan.

But Arenanet has walked the path of madness before. It was insanity to reject the subscription based service of MMOs and launch Guild Wars under the buy-to-play model. Lunacy, to forsake the Holy Trinity and focus on positioning and individual skill use. Psychosis, to upend the common wisdom of enormous skill lists and scrolling hotbars and streamline the experience into a few solid abilities. Mania of the highest order, to declare that the gear treadmill was a false god and design a game around a power plateau. And delirium rivaling only the cackling laughter of the Elder Gods themselves to commit to growing a game outward through iterative content updates, bringing the world to life without ever requiring payment from the playerbase. But this madness, this glorious spark of creative insanity is what gave Guild Wars life, defying the stagnant conventions of the genre while whimsically whispering “Let’s try it.”

As developer and community both question how to proceed in the coming years, know this. The answer does not lie in the safety of sanity, nor the long-walked halls of conventional wisdom. The only thing that will keep up with the voracious appetite of the player base is that same burning hunger channeled into creative zeal.

Because that desire, that need for more content and experiences, it all originates from love. Love for the game, for the community, for the amazing adventure brought to life by the developers’ will. We are here because we believe in the wonder that is Guild Wars. And if you, the developers, grant the talented and the tenacious among us the means to make this game better, we will work, and toil, and strive, and strain, and sweat, and ache, and bleed for you. For the game we love.
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I realize how much this post is asking, how absurdly audacious this request may be. But mull it over. Give it time. Consider what you would want to put in the game, all the wonders and adventures that could be done if you only had the time, the resources, and the sheer number of hands on keyboards to get it done. All those labors of love you wish you had time to create, but just don’t have a high enough priority to work. From Polymock to SAB, dashing capes to King of the Hill, dungeon Challenge Modes to Canthan fractals, consider all the dreams that you know simply won’t get into the game under the current pace.

And the next time you’re sitting down to a cup of coffee, or relaxing after a hard day’s work, or spending a few minutes brushing your teeth (and flossing!), consider what could be accomplished with fifty, a hundred, a thousand eager helpers just waiting to make those dreams become reality.

If you give us gear and the order to march, your army stands ready.

Hear me out. Numerous games have flourished as a direct result of allowing fans to tinker with their mechanics on many different levels.

Skyrim is the poster child for a wide range of modding efforts. Immersive Weapons and Immersive Armors are classic examples of 3d modeling talent, alongside the hundreds of hair models, magic effects, and atmospheric upgrades across the community. The Skyrim Script Extender is a brilliant example of programming expertise, without which a hundred excellent overhauls and enhancements would be impossible. And on the voice acting front, Interesting NPCs forms the golden standard in RPGs, all done by dedicated fans bringing interesting characters to life. In fact, the entire Skywind Project to recreate Morrowind in the Skyrim engine is a perfect example of the sheer brilliance of modding communities. Just spend ten minutes examining the Nexus and you’ll see what kinds of wonders arise from the fans’ labors of love.

ARMA 2 is an excellent example of the programming improvements players can produce, with its modding community featuring numerous addons and modules. Mount and Blade hosts numerous total conversion mods which completely overhaul the units, terrain, mechanics, or setting of the conflict, providing a rich and engaging experience. Kerbal Space Program provides hundreds of hours of whimsical science, expanded by its dedicated modding community.

It’s also worth mentioning just how amazing something as specific as fan-made 3d art can be. Star Citizen recently held its Next Great Starship competition geared towards allowing hobbyists to craft a ship in game. The results were considered superior to many of the professional company’s own ships, and a few of the hobbyists have recently shown up on the company’s employee roster. Just saying, the hobbyists have skills. To paraphrase one of Cloud Imperium’s lead artists in response to the fan competition, “we need to step up our game.”

And finally, one has to mention that player-made content has already been utilized in other MMOs. Cryptic implemented The Foundry in both Neverwinter and Star Trek Online to allow player-crafted missions. While these tools are far more public than what I propose, it is worth recognizing how the MMO sphere is not devoid of community driven content.

These works prove that fans have the talent and the passion to bolster a game they love through programming, 3d modeling, voice acting, writing, map design, and in-engine enhancements. Now imagine, for a moment, what they could do for Guild Wars 2.

The Krewe would have to be application based, in order to ensure that everyone involved already possesses a skill or ability that can help. Something as wide open to the public as The Foundry wouldn’t work for any advanced projects or serious content. But a simple network of applications and invitations can reel in plenty of eager hobbyists hoping to enhance the game with their abilities.

Based merely on what other modding communities have accomplished, consider the following hypothetical krewes (now edited to remove obscene verbosity)…

Greetings and Salutations.

We are all well aware of the current state of discontent with the pacing and rollout of content in the game. The second anniversary of Guild Wars 2 came and went with a whisper, and many question whether we are significantly better off now than we were a year prior. Numerous posts highlight the last time any attention was paid to fractals, to dungeons, to SAB, to WvW, to guild content, and to every other aspect of the game that spark the players’ passion.

I am not here to dismiss these concerns, nor to add my own lamentations to them. Instead, I would like to offer a simple proposition. It is completely understandable why Arenanet has done what they have done. China’s release yielded enormous revenue, an excellent business decision despite its enormous consumption of developer resources. Likewise, one can easily appreciate that the company would have difficulty catering to a hundred different player desires at once. Everyone wants something different, and the only thing we players have in common is that we think Anet should drop everything and cater specifically to our niche.

Yet despite both the business decisions and resource allocation being reasonable, it is also perfectly understandable for players to be dissatisfied with how their needs are being addressed. So many Arenanet posts describe a new feature or mechanic as “a good foundation for the future”, but these platforms remain underused and underdeveloped. Even the most innovative systems become monotonous if they never receive tender love and care, for no amount of planning and well-wishing to revisit a beloved mechanic some day in the future will match actual effort.

And so I offer this judgment. The Living Story has not failed. But it needs help.

The Living Story is the answer for a growing and changing world. It is the perfect way to gradually expand the game outward, taking us beyond the borders of the current game and discovering new lands, new plots, new challenges, and new heroics. The Living Story will one day take us into the Crystal Desert to challenge the mighty Kralkatorric, delve into the depths to confront the Destroyers, hunt the mighty Jormag in the Far Shiverpeaks, walk with the Tengu and dive with the Largos, and perhaps even return to the lands of Elona, Cantha, the realms of spirits and gods, and so much more…

But it cannot sustain this game alone, not at this current pace. With so many mechanics starving for attention, the bi-monthly seasonings of the Living Story simply lack the necessary meat. The voracious hunger of the player base howls for more content to sate so many different tastes. No matter the brilliance of Arenanet’s masterful chefs, the sheer number of plates demanding so many different orders keep piling up. When the restaurant becomes overcrowded and begins spilling out into the street, a good manager knows the answer is not more brilliant chefs.

It’s minions. Lots and lots of helpful minions.

So consider, if you will, a Community Content Krewe.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Interestingly enough, doing the World Summit instance now. It’s interesting watching Canach casually find the one thing which makes Countess Anise lose her veneer of civility for a second, and leverage that into a more honest conversation.

. . . though it makes me wonder a lot about why Anise responded with such venom.

Honestly? I suspect the quick and venomous reply is a deception in itself.

When someone makes a jab at Anise about her age, she seems to drop her guard completely and lose her poise. The answer is obvious, she is using a glamour to conceal what she really looks like. Petty, perhaps, a bit vain, but the investigator gets the smug sense of satisfaction of outdoing the deceiver.

Assuming, of course, that is remotely what it is all about. It’s much easier to deceive someone who thinks they’ve already solved the mystery. A red herring, a false reveal, a taste of victory are all it takes to make someone confident that they’ve uncovered the truth. A good con artist will fool you once. A great con artists will deceive you thrice. A master of deception will convince you that you can’t be fooled again.

Anise would be far more dangerous if she was exactly the age she says she is.

draxynnic.3719:

I think there are other interpretations than the two you suggest. The appearance of the Pale Tree in the vision is making her somewhat more of an “important cog in the Eternal Alchemy” – but keep in mind that it’s possible that Scarlet initially saw the Pale Tree because it was important to her. When we go through, Scarlet’s experience has at least influenced our own: we even hear some of the things she said or thought as she was going through. So she seems to have left an imprint on the Device – it’s possible that if a non-sylvari was to go through the device, they might see something different, or nothing at all.

Fair point. Declaring that there are only two possibilities was a bit melodramatic and simplistic. Your words ring true.

draxynnic.3719:

Still, it would be nice to see the Pale Tree not being the sole source of prophetic visions.

You know the funny thing about this?

The visions, portents, and other possibilities were already built into the character selection for several races. Human beings chose a favored god, Norn pick a spirit, Asura and Sylvari choose a mentor based on their professor or cycle. Charr are a bit less glamorous with their survivor choice, but at least that actually makes an impact. There seems to be room for an additional personal storyline that either never got implemented, or was supposed to be a minor flavor change to other stories (such as the Sylvari luminary showing up in one personal story mission). It would be quite interesting to see those choices have an impact somewhere, especially if the story can find a way to work in a slightly different option for each race.

If that is too broad or requires too much time, it would still be nice to get glimpses of what is happening on the spiritual plane for other entities. The spirits are living beings with purpose and agency, and they should have a tangible impact on the world. The gods are out there somewhere, and hints of a diving mystery would make a wonderful payoff years down the line. And finally, some of the old school forces of the world would make great plot devices, ’cause there should still be some Seers and Forgotten running around somewhere out there. Not to mention Razah.

draxynnic.3719:

Shiren.9532:

@draxynic I’m tired of the human filled plots. Two of the five biconics are human, Belinda was human, Jennah has been the most prominent racial leader despite the Pale Tree being the most relevant to both Mordremoth and Scarlet, Anise got a lot of screen time last year and this year, the Master of Peace is human and the Zephyrites are almost exclusively human (their survivors make this increasingly so) and Ellen Kiel was the primary NPC protagonist for a long time. I agree humans as a race seem less impressive than the other major races (and I do like the idea of emphasising human’s magical history), but I am so over human NPCs as the status quo for Living Story. We are dealing with a sylvari heavy plot atm (Mordremoth, Soundless, attack on the Pale Tree) and we literally don’t have a single major sylvari protagonist with a voiced line in the first half of the season.

Sure, I’d be happy to propose a trade – more important NPCs that aren’t humans (sylvari and asura are probably pushing beyond their fair share as well, compared to charr and norn) in exchange for more importance for humans (and norn) as a race rather than just a couple of special individuals the story is focusing on. Doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game, after all.

The funny thing about the state of humans in the game is that the steps they took between the games were necessary and appropriate…but they forgot them elsewhere.

In Guild Wars 1, the humans were the most important thing in the world. They had the gods who created magic and the world, the nations that stretched across all known continents, and the most important events all hinged around humanity. Scaling them back was necessary to avoid making Guild Wars 2 “humans and the other guys”. The gods went silent, and the idea of divine creations was declared an interpretation, not fact. The monk was removed from the class selection, and the nonthiest guardian rose in its place. The other continents were cut off, and only Tyria remained. This was the right thing to do, because it made humans equal to everyone else.

But the Living Story has let that slide and forgotten that no race is supposed to be better, no viewpoint absolutely correct.

According to the way the story is being written, Asura are 100% right. The Eternal Alchemy is a cold, hard fact, and anyone who doesn’t agree with their interpretation is simply wrong. Every single anomaly and mystery in the world can be analyzed, cataloged, and dissected by their formulaic and logical approach, and all the mysticism and mumbo-jumbo of the other races is simply primitive superstition before the might of Asuran intellect.

Likewise, the Sylvari are looking like pretty much the center of the world. There are only two possibilities for the Pale Tree, that she is a minion of Mordremoth gone rogue or that she is a manifestation of Tyria itself. The former would be good writing, because it forces the Sylvari to confront the difference between their idealism and reality. But visions and portents have often pointed towards the latter, and if Sylvari really are the children of an all-good, all-benevolent spirit of Tyria, they have replaced humans as the Chosen Ones. Their race would have the mandate of heaven, and everything moral and ethical would hinge entirely upon them.

That, and they introduced the Engineer, which is basically “The Charr Class”. ‘Cause it’s not right to have a monk if no charr would become one, but it’s totally okay to have a guns and gears engineer despite the fact that no Asura/Norn/Sylvari/Human would ever use their tech over the chance to be a golemancer, shaman, druid, or dervish.

….I miss my monk.

Regardless of petty bitterness, the Living Story needs to ensure that different perspectives on the world are valid. There are mysteries that the Asura cannot solve with their alchemical analysis, fantastic aspects of reality that demand the spiritual intuition of the Norn or the divine attunement of humanity. Likewise, no world leader should be right all the time. There should be disputes where each party has a valid point but also flaws to their approach. That is how fantasy should work. The world should be bigger than any one individual interpretation, more complex and amazing that a single perspective. That’s how you make a work with enormous breadth and depth that stretches beyond the scope of an individual or culture into something epic.

Leah Hoyer.1983:

Thanks for the feedback, folks. I appreciate your comments and will say that consistent, complex, nuanced characters and storytelling are absolutely my goal as well. I’m soaking up all the existing story that I can, via gameplay, wikis, our novels, and lots and lots of conversations with my coworkers who have great insights (and opinions) on our expansive lore. I really love the game and am excited to be a part of it moving forward.

The red banner is strong with this one.

Keep the comments coming!

Well, if you absolutely insist. These are a bit rushed, since the thread caught me a bit unprepared, had to create them on the fly without editing. Thus, they lack silly cartoons for embellishment.

The three main concerns for the moment lie in the role of the player character and the resulting perspective, the way the story focuses almost exclusively on a small group of people at the detriment of the bigger picture, and the integration of gameplay mechanics and incremental improvements with the actual story content itself. I’ve omitted going into too many examples to avoid a ridiculously long list of potential characters, and I’ll hold off on the assemblage of short stories and campaign arcs. For now.

That said, hopefully these three points will help…

Leah.1983:

Hi all. Thanks for the welcome notes. I’m excited to be here.

I’m eager to hear what you think is working and what you think needs improvement, so let me know. I look forward to more chats.

First and foremost, welcome!

It is excellent to hear that Arenanet is stepping up their efforts to deliver a solid narrative, especially when it comes to bringing all the various storytelling elements together. I hope you enjoy your stay and do excellent work bringing the world to life.

We will likely be holding you to that last sentence, though. Fair warning.

Regina Buenaobra.6193:

Just a question here because I am curious. The idea of the Living World is that there is a storyline that you take part in, that you are involved in events that shape Tyria in permanent ways—how would you all convey the sense of progression and change without also making changes to the landscape? I see a couple of comments regarding creating things, not simply destroying. Do you all have any other ideas?

There are plenty of ways to demonstrate a changing world without relying on pure destruction.

First, you have character progression and reaction. Anet’s current attention has been lavished almost entirely on the Biconics, which means very few other characters have done anything remotely worthwhile throughout the second season. But if you broadened your scope and focused on more character progression, it would help demonstrate a growing and changing world. You’ve got hundreds of good characters. Use them.

Likewise, characters should actually react to the growing and changing world. When Kessex got nuked, people should have noticed, and that means it should show up in topics of conversation or discussion. Not only would ambient dialogue help, but key figures should have responses to current events that indicate they know what on earth is going on. If the Grove gets attacked, Niamh should be launching a crusade. If there’s trouble in the Shiverpeaks, Sigfast and Skarti should be at the front of the hunting party. To bring the world to life, it must react to the changes across the realm. Embellish the movers and shakers of the world, and they’ll help bring the nations to life.

Another way you can indicate change is making minor alterations. Most of the creatures across the world stay exactly in the same place every day, every week, every year. That’s not very lively, but you could alter that by making alterations to normal routines. Perhaps the dragonspawn encroach on a particular stretch of land, displacing its normal residents. Or maybe the opposite occurs, and we reclaim some land to allow the natural creatures (which are hostile, of course) to flourish. Do some beasts migrate during the winter months? Do certain flora only grow in the summer? Did the shift in magic from the laylines spark a change in elementals? Do the battle lines between the Legions alter over time? Tweaking the world could provide a sense of change, especially if it is coupled with story segments or ambient dialogue.

And finally, we need a sense that the civilized and benevolent parts of the world are actually proactive, that they are doing something. There is far too much stagnation across the world, as if every single race was just holding the line and seeing what happens. If you want to make it feel alive, you need to be able to allude to what is going on in every nation. This should often take the form of constructive work, not pure destruction. The developer giveth and the developer taketh away. You can’t just rely on taking.

If you want a Living World, you need to be able to describe what Cool Things happen every single year. Sit down and plan out what nifty things happen throughout the year, from the big deals (the Renegades are stamped out, the centaurs make a bargain with one of the last titans, the vaettir emerge from the northern Shiverpeaks, etc), to the minor details (Eilye Jeyne and Benn Tenstrikes get hitched, Professor Gorr gets nominated to the Arcane Council, Evon Gnashblade sues the Consortium, Job-o-Tron accidentally becomes a golem cult leader, etc). Bring them to life through small updates and little enhancements sprinkled throughout your normal schedule, and always keep an eye on which portions of the world aren’t getting any love.

Allow life to grow throughout the entire world, and where life goes, so shall we.

kta.6502:

— The Norn really need to claim their identity back.

Indeed.

The core problem Norn suffer right now is that the writers really aren’t interested in their perspective. The current narrative drastically favors Asura for explaining everything about the world and analyzing anything weird or magical. Likewise, Sylvari are the main focus of the moral aspect of the game, and Ye Old Dichotomy of Good And Evil is framed almost entirely through their machinations. Humans get a few bones thrown at them in the social story department, but not enough to really sink our teeth into the meat, and the Charr war isn’t going anywhere. But the ones really left starving for attention are the Norn, who are far too often portrayed as enormous idiots.

I think giving them back their mojo would require a threefold approach.

Number 1, play up the danger of the Shiverpeaks. Surviving in the hostile reaches of the cold is supposed to be extremely difficult, but it can’t do that by gameplay alone. The MMO world is full of dangerous creatures by default, so giving the ’peaks an edge will require some storytelling expertise. Frostbite, blizzards, vaettir, beasts, and brood are everywhere, and the frozen wastes should feel like they are constantly trying to kill every single warm body that strolls in the snow.

This hardy lifestyle in turn toughens up everyone as they cope with the hostile environment. This means that typical leatherworkers, tavern wenches, doylak herders, and herbalists have strength and fortitude similar to soldiers of another species. Your typical Norn is extremely tough, but also extremely competent, since survival requires a certain set of skills. If most Charr understand military expertise and most Asura navigate the magitech world with great alacrity, the vast majority of Norn have honed their skills in enduring hostile terrain and surviving and thriving in extreme environments. The ones lacking that skill and ability are dead.

Number 2, amp up the role as guardians of the Mists and Spirits. Humans are religions and Sylvari are empathic, but no one should be more attuned to the innate magic of the world than the shamans and havrouns of the Norn. Every Norn hero can shapeshift, and that implies a very strong connection to the spirits of the wild.

It’s a terrible shame that everything magical is currently solved by Asuran perspectives, because their viewpoint should be limited. The idea of the Eternal Alchemy should be one perspective on the nature of reality, not an accurate analysis of all reality in itself. It’s just like the way the human mythos of the Gods isn’t accurate, but neither is it entirely false. To the Asura, the world should be a vast and complicated machine meant to be analyzed and inspected, and primitive superstitions only interfere with scientific thought.

But to a Norn, the Asura should seem like fools using dead equations and sterile labs to attempt to comprehend a living song of life. Magic is alive in Guild Wars 2. The Spirits prove that. The mere existence of normal animals spontaneously gives rise to sentient avatars of their greatest traits, beings that are one with their kind yet independent at the same time. The spirits are fantastic, and the Asuran approach to magic has no room for fantasy. Only science.

Tyria needs both.

And Number 3, bring out the skalds. Legend, renown, and glory are cornerstones of Norn culture. Artifacts, places of power, legendary creatures, and sagas of ancient powers should be common knowledge among their people. Might and magic run deep in the history of Tyria, and only the humans should rival the Norn when it comes to knowledge of all that has come before. And let’s be honest, half the reason the humans are better is due to their enormous List Of All The Things We Used To Own.

Taken together, the skald, shaman, and survivalist aspects of the Norn are absolutely necessary to embody just how competent the race is supposed to be. Norn aren’t dumb. Norn aren’t brutes. Norn aren’t fools. Norn are the intersection between Viking raiders, Mongol steppe nomads, and Native American shamans who happen to be nine feet tall and turn into bears.

If they aren’t being @#%ing bad$%^ in the story, the story is being written wrong.

Palador.2170:

Would it help if, between LS2 and LS3, we had a series of small story arcs that focused on each of the biconics so we could get to see them as their own, separate characters better?

I don’t believe so. Sorry.

See, the problem with the stories described is that it means an enormous amount of time spent solely on making five character more important. If you give each of them their own release, you’re looking at several months spent solely on fluffing out the Biconics (unless each story takes multiple releases, in which case you’re looking at nearly half the year). And at the end of it all, the only thing we’ll get out of it is more fluff for the five characters given the spotlight. In other words, the reason to give them center stage is so that they can get character development, and the reason to care so much about their character development is that they’re the ones at center stage.

The game should be much bigger than that, and the story should encompass far more of the living and breathing world in order to bring it to life. Not only that, but it greatly benefits the game when the stories coincide with tangible gameplay improvements. To pull a few short story examples out of a hat…

The Secret of the Sorceror’s Spire
The eldritch tower hanging over Kessex Hills has remained a mystery for centuries…but no longer. As elementals break free of their bonds and rampage across the region, it’s up to wandering heroes brought together by circumstance to reach the top of the shining spire and unveil Isgarren’s great enigma. Introduces the Isgarren’s Spire dungeon.

Featuring: Crusader Hiroki, Sergeant Bigsby, Professor Gorr, Peacemaker Gezzi, Iowerth, and Firstborn Niamh.

Ghost Ship of Lady Glaive
A dark wind blows across the Sea of Sorrows. Wreckage of trade vessels litters the coastline, and terror-stricken survivors whisper of a horror stalking the sea lanes, the ghostly flagship of the deadliest corsair in history. But specters do not return to the lands of the living of the living after hundreds of years of their own accord. Something has brought the Lady Glaive back from the dead, a weapon of greed and avarice that will drown the coast in a sea of blood. Finishes the revamp of LA and updates and expands the Bloodtide Coast.

Featuring Marjory Delequa, Captain Ellen Kiel, Captain Magnus, Evon Gnashblade, Commodore Marriner, and Captain Anne Reid.

Into The Gray
The bitter cold of the Icebrood’s grip still clenches the ancient Norn homelands, where four spirits stood their ground to save the race against Jormag’s wrath. But whispers in the wind have revealed a great secret to the Havrouns of Hoelbrak. One of the four still lives, though any attempt to rescue the great spirit would be utterly insane. Fortunately, this band of heroes is fresh out of sanity, and a mad plan is hatched to reactivate a long-lost Asura gate, cutting straight to the Hall of Monuments. New northern map.

Featuring Wolfborn Sigfast and Skarti, Havroun Valda, Dougal Keane, Shaman Ulgadis, and the Wolverine Spirit.

The Magnanimous Seven
An isolated little town in Ascalon is engulfed in a Blightstorm, completely cut off from the rest of the world. Desperate for supplies and shelter, the starving forces of the Renegade and Separtist bands turn hungry eyes and sharpened blades towards the small hamlet. The peaceful ranchers and craftsman are ill prepared for the looming conflict that encroaches upon their doorstep and turn to seven heroes brought together by pure circumstance to save them from annihilation. Updates and improves Ascalonian regions.

Featuring Ember Doomforge, Laranthir of the Wild, Wynnet Fairhaired, Sayeh al’Rajihd, Genzhou Talonrend, and Eilyne Jeyne.

The Fancy Feline Finalists Have Been Catnapped!
Travesty! Despair! Lamentations! Bandits have attacked the Faren’s Fancy Feline finale and absconded with its prize felines! This is truly Divinity’s Reach’s darkest hour! But as our heroes stumble upon agents of the Shining Blade deploying across the city, this seemingly simple catnapping caper shows a far more sinister undercurrent. The fancy feline’s would-be saviors must first unveil a strange secret….why does the Shining Blade care so much about cats?

Featuring Lord Faren, Exemplars Mehid and Salia, Demmi Beetlestone, the Minister and Lady Wi, and Chauncey von Snuffles III.

Ignoring the cliches and quality issues of the stuff I just wrote, the story shouldn’t be about one single character. By using the world of Tyria itself as the main source of inspiration, the writers can tell numerous tails across the realm that expand on gameplay and flesh out interesting nuances of the game, combining them with brand new mechanics and improved content. Because that’s how we’ll get beyond just five characters and actually see what is beyond the literary horizon.

Arghore.8340:

But I still somewhat agree, the scope feels somewhat narrow, and I personally suspect that as the general story progresses we will loose some people in our group… Taimi likely to go back ‘to school’, Kasmeer being reinstated and Marjory choosing to stick close to her. Giving some room for fresh blood, it mean, it has to, or else the story would go stale…

Indeed. Incidentally, this would actually be the perfect time for the Biconics to bow out of the storyline.

Kasmeer now has a place in the royal court. Marjory would be an ideal candidate for this investigative task force the Queen is crafting. Taimi has been horribly shaken from her recent ordeal and needs time to recuperate, as well as a chance to prove her intellect in order to one-up Phlunt and prove she created her device. Braham is coming into his own and realizing he can be proud of his heritage in the Shiverpeaks, and Rox has a potentially epic quest searching for her senpai/possible sibling.

Meanwhile, we return to the Pact just in time for it to get wiped out by a dragon. But that’s another story suggestion entirely.

Sarrs.4831:

Y’know what bothers me about the living story?

We had maybe a dozen characters introduced in season one which have simply fallen off the radar. We have an entire destroyed city which is still not having anything change in it.

I agree 100%.

My personal favorite example would be Ellyna Graidy. After rescuing her from Lion’s Arch and promising to return to help her father, who stayed behind to help guide more refugees, discover he perished in the attack. His teachings as a priest of Dwayna instructing his daughter in the same path clash with her profound sorrow and bitter hatred not only of Scarlet, but of all Sylvari by affiliation. So now we have a character driven by terrible loss to question her previous beliefs, the ideals of compassion and caring instilled by her teachings clashing with malice and resentment brought on by tragedy. If ever there was an embodiment of the crisis of faith within humanity in the silence of the Six Gods, it is Ellyna.

Shpongle.6025:

I don’t get it, but, it looks intelligent so I support this post.

…….I’ll….take that as a compliment? Thanks.

I have been gone far too long, much to catch up on. Will start with the recent.

Arghore.8340:

Now I will have to say that you could do the same analysis on an approach where you change the characters every time. As not binding with them, not having enough time to flesh them out, etc. And we did sort of get introduced to Kasmeer during the Karka ordeal. The other characters sort of jumped on the bandwagon as the story progressed, so to me it feels somewhat natural asto how our band formed. I take the whole ‘boss’ thing for granted, as I can see how it would make it impossible to address us differently in voice acting…

I also find it nice that the characters are developing to a point where they can stand their own. Like, hopefully after this LS, we get paired up with some other assemble of people, but then, as that story unfolds, I would find it very natural to ask Braham along as a scout in the shiver peaks, or go to Taimi over ‘Zoja’ when some sort of technological device is concerned. If I wasn’t in the order of whispers (or maybe still), and the story hadn’t already escalated to a major proportion, I would ask Marjory to accompany me to some shady bar for some observational detective work. Or get into contact with Kasmeer where it concerns dealing with human politics and royalty. Or goto Rox for anything related to the Charr.

All of that would have been rather impossible to do, given these characters were not so extensively introduced and formed, as they are now.

To a certain extent, I agree with you, yet the problem is not bringing along these characters when they are relevant, but the inverse.

Bringing Marjory to a crime scene or a murder investigation makes perfect sense. Relying on her as a shock trooper to storm a battleground does not. Taking Kasmeer to a political event to ferret out lies is a great use of her talents. Bringing her into a rugged survival situation against the biting elements, not so much, given her habit of running into dangerous terrain unclothed. Taimi is not suited for a combat zone, as her recent behavior proves. Rox is not suited toward anything requiring actual command, nor does Braham demonstrate any intellectual prowess that involves literacy. No offense, Braham, but seriously. Way to represent the great skalds of the north, man.

Thus I would add two caveats to your statement about these characters being seeded in to develop character. The first problem is that we are bringing these people along in situations that make no sense, purely on the justification that it gives them character development. That isn’t a good premise in the slightest.

But more importantly, we’re not developing connections with anyone else.

If you are correct, and the storylines where the characters were at their most relevant would be impossible without dragging them along for the last year to every little plotline across Tyria….we’re going to have severe problems whenever we try to get outside their comfort zone. What are we going to do when we go to Ascalon, and none of the characters no anything about the region? What happens when we try to delve into the mysteries of the Six Gods, or the Spirits, or the dark history of the Asura before they were driven from the depths? We’ve already seen what happens when we confront a mystery regarding the Sylvari in the first parts of Season 2. We turned to our panel of experts and they had nothing to show for it, because not a single one of them had any connection to Sylvari lore whatsoever. That’s going to happen across 90% of Tyria as long as “our team” consists solely of these five minor side characters.

If the Living Story spent more time developing characters the likes of Evon Gnashblade, we could have connections and contacts all across Tyria to deal with any situation. Havrouns, Sentinels, Seraph, Peacemakers, Wardens, Wolfborn, Lionguard, Shining Blade, Fallen Angels, Magisters, Lightbringers, Crusaders, Druids, Seers, Forgotten, Dwarves…the realm is just too full of so much magnificent potential to possibly believe that these five minor individuals are enough to breath life into the world.

Kain Francois.4328:

The player character is actually Vincent Van Ghoul, from the 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.

Let the nostalgia commence!

Perhaps that is more accurate, but if there is any justice in the world, we should be Batman.

As the saying goes, always be yourself. Unless you can be Batman.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I get what you’re saying, but a rotating cast like you describe? Wouldn’t appear that much far off from how things are happening now with other characters – they come in, they do their roles, and then leave the focus.

About the only difference is the biconics existing . . . which is largely, from what I see now, so we can have allies to do solo instances with instead of forced grouping. Mechanically speaking, of course, not thematically or narratively.

Mechanically, you are absolutely right. The NPCs in the instances are basically there to act as failsafes to revive you if you’re downed and meatshields to take a few hits.

But it’s the narrative and thematic hook that I would assert is the core of the discussion. The story being written depends upon who is pushing the buttons, pulling the levers, finding the clues, networking with allies, and moving the plot forward. As long as the Biconics are the main party, they’ll be writing stories exactly like everything in Season 2 thus far. And while it is only my opinion, I really don’t want to see that happen for Seasons 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Kasmeer and Marjory would have been better served as a support team rather than “in the action”. Researching and campaigning for aid would have been a better niche to put them into, and probably would have made the story stronger . . . even if it would definitely have invited criticisms about females being made to be nothing but support characters.

Now this? This is an excellent point.

You are absolutely correct, we aren’t building a support staff. We can’t keep stumbling into every single situation and hoping we luck out with a random person onhand who can decipher what is going on. We need proactive information gathering, scouting, research, a bit of skullduggery, and perhaps someone very good with a billy club in back alleys. We should be making friends with smiths and engineers, allying with commanders and centurions, extending our feelers into numerous pies across Tyria.

But to do that, we’ll need storytelling time. And coincidentally, we’d probably get it if we broadened our character horizons just a bit by widening the lens…

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Yes, but then you have a ton of characters who have no relevance and then no reason to get attached to them. You have things like the mentors who barely have time to become characters before they are ushered out by diablo-ex-machina, or Demmi Beetlestone who vanishes completely for having something of terrible and paramount importance to have a very involved field mission made up to get her safe.

I would vastly prefer a smaller cast we can relate to than a vast cast of nobodies who filter in and out a revolving casting call. Because, let’s be honest . . . that’s pretty much what our characters are anyway.

….I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing.

A rotating cast doesn’t mean that characters are treated like tissue paper, pulled out of nowhere and then thrown away to be never seen again. I concur, a bunch of nobodies wouldn’t work at all. But a rotating cast isn’t about that, it’s a stage where multiple characters can enter the spotlight for a brief time, return to the wings, and then do it all over again in other story. Rotating casts can and do have recurring characters going through a distinct development arc, but no one individual or group become the center of the entire play.

For example…take Demmi Beetlestone.

I’m glad you brought her up, because she’s an excellent side character with tons of potential. Her connections to Krytan politics, her new role in the Order of Whispers, the familial connection to a sinister villain, all storytelling gold. But if the current pace keeps up, Demmi’s tale will never be told, or worse, it will get wrapped up in a single episode when Kasmeer uses her super lie detector power to figure everything out.

But imagine, if you will, a rotating cast alongside (trite and cliche) stories….

In one episode, the Vigil and Whispers might collaborate to aid the struggling peace conference in Ascalon from renegade and separatist insurrection. The operation is spearheaded by Demmi Beetlestone, Korukhan the “Blacksmith”, Eilye Jeyne, and Gahn Towerbreaker, reporting directly to Commander Samuelsson on behest of Halvorra Snapdagger and Almorra Soulkeeper.

Later on, the Consortium attempts a hostile takeover of the Black Lion Trading Company’s holdings in Lion’s Arch as the community struggles to rebuild. In a surprise turn of events, Ebon Gnashblade proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement with the Order, calling for Whisper agents to expose the Consortium and bring the iron fist of the Lionguard crashing down. Agents Ihan, Batenga, Ifwyn, and Cai are on point, with Demmi and Valenze acting as support.

As politics in Kryta deteriorate, Demmi reluctantly returns to her home alongside Lady Wi and Doern Velazquez in order to root out the source. Together with Countess Anise and Exemplars Mehid and Salia, they uncover evidence of everyone’s favorite group of fanatical cultists…

And finally, in a major feature for the entire Krytan region, the White Mantle attempts an assault upon the palace itself through their agents and saboteurs. The story focuses primarily on the major players of the city and a very old enemy of the Krytan bloodline, but also features the confrontation between two generations of Beetlestone nobles in the heart of the burning capital.

Cliches aside, this is an example of a rotating cast. While several of these stories would be far shorter than the current season (or be part of a larger arc, such as an Ascalonian focused season for the first) and would likely have to be far more intricate and interesting in practice, these kinds of tales can bring out the nuances of Tyria and the characters within it. None of the stories are specifically about Demmi, but her inclusion in the stories provides a unique perspective. Likewise, her interactions with various other characters like Whispers agents, Ascalonians and Krytans, and other nobles helps reveal her personality far more elegantly than shining a massive spotlight on her for months at a time. These stories could be extremely far apart, and Demmi may only appear once in the span of a year, but over the course of Guild Wars 2 we will watch her arc unfold alongside so many others as part of a living world.

Now, one could claim that it wouldn’t be enough to really give these characters any personality, but we know that isn’t the case. Ambient characters have already been brought to life by the Living Story, and this is simply expanding on that concept in order to delve into more interesting facets of Tyria. Every single one of the characters I mentioned could have their own perspective on the world and their own development in the years to come, provided we got beyond the notion that we need a main cast following us around and soaking up all the development time.

Anairellan.6285:

I think what the OP is pointing out could be described as a lack of an operational theme in the writing of Guild Wars. It bothered me in the personal story, and in LS season 1.
…
The writing of the stories in Guild Wars pays lipservice to the world’s larger ideas, and skirts the edge of true conflict in favor of broad strokes stuff.

That article was a good read. Thanks for linking it.

And I think your point about lipservice is proved all the more fully by the most recent update. We’ve been scrapping the surface of interesting stories underlying each of the races, but we never get anything of substance. If a simple minigame can defeat the political intrigue of Kryta, it’s hardly a real threat. The story requires focus on its particular theme, and a cast that embodies that theme and brings it to life. We don’t have that right now, only the slightest hints of what could be a very good tale.

Palador.2170:

More time needs to be devoted to making the biconics OUR team, and explaining why these people are the ones we would choose.
…
Lately, the only one acting in any way skilled is Taimi, and there’s good reason to ask why the asura are letting so much rest on her shoulders. We need to vouch for her as the Commander of the Pact, and we need to make an official team of the biconics.

Why would we ever make these people “our team”? We already know better soldiers, wiser scholars, wilier rogues, and more loyal friends. Forcing our characters to defend a choice that we as the players cannot even make only highlights how contrived the situation is in the first place.

For example, take Tiami. She’s hilarious, and I am extremely fond of her as a character. She’s also the only one you listed as serving a major functional purpose on the team, and therefore the most credited member of the Biconics.

She also needs to be sent home. She’s incredibly reckless yet needs others to get her out of trouble, completely naive about the consequences of her actions, and utterly disobedient even in dire circumstances. It’s only by sheer luck that her actions in the chamber didn’t get us killed, and we’re supposed to laugh it off because our hair was sticking up.

Taking a child soldier to war is an atrocity. The only thing that would possibly prevent Taimi from getting killed in the battle to come is sheer plot armor, contrivance by the authors to make their pet character immune to consequences. If we’re approaching this from a remotely realistic angle, putting Taimi on the team to fight Mordremoth would be a death sentence. I don’t know how others pick their teams, but this Commander of the Pact doesn’t believe in leading children to their deaths.

Likewise, the rest of the team just isn’t special. They aren’t veterans of war, and the idea of constructing an elite team out of complete novices makes no sense whatsoever when we have better assets at hand. Then there’s the storytelling time issue…

PopeUrban.2578:

I think the biconics can be valuable allies, but to date they haven’t been given time to stretch their legs.

I feel I must disagree completely. We have spent time with them, ludicrous amounts. All of Season 1 was spent on their rise and Scarlet’s silly machinations. We’ve done backstory work, dramatic interactions, side by side battles, inner demons, boss fights, and fireside chats. Sure, our character hasn’t had direct voiced dialogue due to technical limitations, but the Biconics have hogged the spotlight for over a year.

Meanwhile, the rest of the story suffers from neglect, as demonstrated by the plot threads and concepts within Dragon’s Reach that glossed over far deeper and more meaningful undercurrents of each race and the days to come.

To echo Shiren’s excellent point, do you honestly want to be focusing on the Biconics when we go up against Kralkatorric? Or would you rather see a storytelling combination of Destiny’s Edge gathering for round 2 with the Elder Dragon, alongside Ascalonian characters like Eilye Jeyne, Commander Samuelsson, Galina Edgecrusher, or Snarl Backdraft? Do you think the inner drama of the Biconics should take precedence over Almorra Soulkeeper leading a final crusade against the forces that started the Vigil, or the lost daughter of Glint lending her fledgling gift of prophecy to aid the heroes against her mother’s murderer?

And in the days to come, the hunt for Jormag, the war with Primordius, the battle with Bubbles…are these five really all the story should aspire to? This world does not exist to tell these side characters’ story. Every character is secondary to the fate of the world, and when they aren’t relevant, they leave the stage and let the show go on.

Djinn.9245:

Regarding the OP and following posts: Hear, Hear!!!

I would like to say “no offense” to the Anet writers, but that would be disingenuous: I wish Shriketalon was lead writer for this game.

While I appreciate the sentiment, I assure you that this would be utter disaster.

It is far easier in this world in which we live to destroy, than to create. To craft a fine work of art takes great time and effort, meticulous care and devotion, yet it is easily torn asunder for its faults by the barbs and criticisms of the audience. But the ability to critique and analyze a work does not necessarily translate into a mastery of the art itself. I assure you that my work would prove highly flawed, full of my own obsessions with pet characters and unwarrented attention to certain aspects of the lore at the expense of others. That, and about four months devoted to a Fancy Feline Festival’s finalsts being catnapped.

The shrike is a swift flier and cunning hunter who impales its prey upon the thorns of its lair. But just because it slays a songbird does not mean it can make music of its own.

But thank you nonetheless.

kta.6502:

I agree that DE 2.0 has gone the way of DE 1.0. Calling them a Scooby rip-off is a really accurate analogy. As I’ve said in couple recent posts, the writers are writing about characters that they have no interest in. When a writer is not creating what they love, the characters become one-dimensional and the story falls flat.

Hmm. Perhaps it is just the opposite.

I full agree with you in regards to the characters being a problem, but sometimes I wonder if a few of the flaws of the Living Story come from loving particular characters too much, rather than not at all.

For instance, the Arenanet writers loved Scarlet Briar. Obsessively. They loved her attitude, her army, her intelligence, her machinations, her steampunk theme, and her backstory. And that’s where we got the entire Scarlet problem in the first place: they always let her win. There’s a good Pixar storytelling quote that says that people admire a character for their efforts, not their success. We see struggle as a valiant effort, regardless of the outcome, and Scarlet never struggled at all. When she needed an army, humanity randomly invented the watchknights. When she wanted minions, random xenophobic factions fell all over themselves to kneel before her. When she had to have krait, suddenly she had obelisks. And when she attacked LA, suddenly the council didn’t think she was threatening enough to prepare a defense. She was spoon-fed victory because the authors were so enamored with her that she just had to succeed. And without putting in any effort, her victories rang hollow and forced.

And now we have a favorite cast who are randomly getting VIP status with higher ups, complete mastery of complex exposition, the only character development in the world, and one of them’s apparently getting super powers. I don’t think this is indifference. It sounds more like a bad case of infatuation.

Of course, you’re quite right about aspects of the game being completely ignored because they are unloved. We can see lots of different avenues of the gameplay that receive virtually no interest at all, sitting in the background or advancing at a glacial rate while the favored plots and characters leap ahead. Rather depressing.

Kalavier.1097:

Honestly, reading the OP, I kinda agree but at the same time kinda don’t agree. While a rotating cast would be neat, I think the bits would HAVE to tie together, or else we’d get the feeling of jumping between storylines and possibly raising more questions then answers.

Ahh, let me clarify that.

You are absolutely correct, there would need to be elements that tie the plot together, characters that don’t simply vanish, and motivations and story hooks to bring the character to a given tale without simply being “you’re bored, something’s happening, check it out.”

The best way to handle it would be to subdivide the rotating cast into two groups. Certain pillars of the community like Countess Anise and Commander Samuelsson appear whenever stories involve a particular location (Divinty’s Reach and Ebonhawk, respectively). Meanwhile, certain characters tend to roam around and show up when appropriate, such as Dougal Keane, Crusader Hiroki, Agent Batenga, Sayeh al’Rajihd, etc. These characters can be recurring, much like Job-o-Tron, so in the years to come each one gets enough development to have an arc of their own dotted throughout the game. The pillars ground the story in the context of the larger world, and the wanderers help bring it to life by binding the elements together.

I can go into more detail in a further post, ’tis late and the character limit chafes.

Sorann Peace.9056:

You’re right when you say that the Commander should be considered as much more influential in the story than it has been, but to say that we are “above the biconics” and that “we are friends with better people” for example, just… no._

Ah, perhaps I should clarify that point. It may have come across as way to condescending. I was aiming to make it a little bit humorously elitist, but perhaps it fell flat.

I did not mean to imply that characters who are something less than world-shaking figures are not worthy of notice, nor that the story should never include anyone less than paragon in stature. Far from it, a living world should depict individuals from all walks of life, and good characters are always welcome in all shapes, sizes, personalities, and perspectives.

What I was referring to is specifically the way the story values our relationship to the Biconics above all else in the current narrative. We can see this when we go talk to the Pale Tree. We’re trying to gather together an army to fight the forces of an Elder Dragon rising in the west. When we offer her greetings, she recognizes us as commander of the pact, and we turn around and say (paraphrasing):

“I used to be the commander. I lead a new group now.”

This statement is absurd. We’re not some aging general who’s been in retirement for decades. We killed an Elder Dragon not two years hence, and we are the single most qualified individual on the planet to command a fighting force in a campaign against the dragonspawn. Yet with the shadow of war looming on the horizon, the top line on our resume is that we’re with the five misfits standing in the corner.

I do not mean to imply that side characters or smaller scale heroes are not worth storytime. What I am asserting, however, is that when world-shattering events are in motion, the smaller scale stories take a backseat to the pivotal moments that alter the entire setting. We should be gearing up for full scale war alongside the massive army that is fully trained for exactly this situation, but instead the narrative is obsessing over the Biconic’s melodrama. And thus, my complaint.

Sorann Peace.9056:

The Biconics are nothing like Scooby Doo. And the parallels the OP draws are nitpicky at best, but the context just isn’t the same. You don’t see a human being strangled horrifically by a vine in the most heinous way possible in Scooby Doo, nor do you see entire cities get destroyed and the members of the Scooby Doo cast saving the city..

The Scooby thing is a minor joke and not remotely accurate, but allow me to use exactly the situation you describe to note why the joke is made.

That moment you described was an excellent example of the horrific savagery of the Elder Dragon. It wasn’t an ideal scene due to Belinda’s lack of prior characterization and other minor quibbles, but let’s ignore that. It was a dark and brutal moment in the campaign that drove home the ferocity of the enemy.

Immediately after that, the next mission led us to the nexus of the Leyline chamber, where Taimi’s recklessness endangered the lives of everyone in the area and subjected us to a potentially mind-shattering device…….whereupon we emerged from the chamber and all our companions laughed about how our hair was standing on end. That is a Hannah-Barbara joke if there ever was one, and that’s the tone the Biconics are setting. Dark despair and lighthearted shenanigans don’t mix.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I’d dissect this point but I think it’d be a waste of space since you’re already dead set on taking it this way. I’ll leave it at “I strongly disagree with your reasoning”.

Tobias, my friend, one cannot simply dismiss an argument like that. ’Tis not logical! While I respect your opinions and agree with you on many circumstances, you will have to do more to prove your side of the case.

Allow me to succinctly put it thus, with a comparison. Odysseus is the main character of the Odyssey (Captain Obvious statement of the day). He is the driving force behind the plot, he is the one who confronts and solves the dilemmas they face, and the narrative revolves around his adventure.

In the story of Jason and the Argonauts, Hercules joins the crew of the Argo on its journey. Despite being more renowned and powerful, his role in the story is secondary to the protagonist. Jason is the one determining their course of action, and Hercules is simply the brawn tagging along (until his friend and lover Hylas attracts the affections of some water nymphs who pull him into their spring to drown, causing Hercules to wander in anguish in search for the lad and the Argo to sail on. Standard Greek myth stuff).

So tell me, do you think we are playing the role of Odysseus in Season 2….or Hercules merely assisting Jory and the Biconauts?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

They have the spotlight, but because they’re around us, rather than us being in the spotlight because we follow them. Therefore, they are not the main characters, we are.

I fundamentally disagree with the assertion. We are not the main characters of the story the authors are telling. Two reasons.

First and foremost, the way the story is outlined is based entirely around the Biconics: their motivations, their capabilities, their connections, and their way of solving problems.

When faced with a horrible threat of the unknown, we didn’t call in air support. We relied on five amateurs to handle the situation. When we discovered a murder mystery revolving around the apparent insanity of a sylvari, we didn’t bother to make inquiries towards any sylvari we knew. We just went with the gut instinct of a small group who didn’t know anything about our favorite resident plant people. When we encountered what looked to be dragon minions, we didn’t investigate using the expertise of the Priory team who were already in the area, nor sent for reinforcements from our dragon-fighting subordinates who have a particular set of skills, skills which are honed for this purpose alone. No, we let a child figure out what was going on.

When we discovered Mordremoth’s vines were infesting the world and hunting down magical artifacts…we didn’t share that information with anyone. No missives, no sharing intel, no frantic messages on down the chain of command yelling “THERE’S A DRAGON COMING FOR YOUR SHINIES, GET THE SWAG ONTO AIRSHIPS NOW!” As a result, our people got killed. We lost lives because we didn’t command.

When it became clear that an Elder Dragon was rising, our first reaction was to turn to the five amateurs beside us and say “anyone have any idea what to do?” They put together a scrambled plan about begging their parents, mentors, and teachers to intervene….intervention which was entirely unnecessary, because we have already met half the leaders in question. And we have famous hero friends to connect us to the other half.

Every single plot point is being phrased with the question “how would the Biconics handle this?” They’re the main characters.

And if you don’t believe that’s the case, I’d put forth the second point, one that’s a bit shorter.

Angel McCoy.1832:

The whole “Commander” topic is another discussion entirely.

Bottom line is that, at the beginning of the Pact (almost 2 years ago in-game time), you were “The Commander.” After Zhaitan was killed, the Pact continued on and you went off into the world to do stuff. At that point, other commanders were brought on, and you become “A Commander.” And you became a commander who had lots of other things to do besides running an army that was repairing, preparing, and stocking up for the next big battle with the Elder Dragons. We could not build a story on that alone, not a good one that made sense, not considering where we want the story to take you. Any time anyone calls you “The Commander” now, it’s someone being nostalgic. It’s perhaps more correct to say you were “The First Commander.”

That’s one of the main writers, Angel McCoy, in the other thread. And what she says is, in my mind, perfect proof that your assertion is incorrect.

Our character development happened offscreen. No, seriously. Our character development happened completely offscreen. We went from grand commander in charge of the entire pact to a wandering has-been, completely without the game actually showing that scene or giving us that character development. The head writers are telling a story where our transition from one pivotal role in history to a nostalgic figurehead is something they don’t even need a cinematic or story instance to gloss over.

Now, I know that’s not entirely fair, and the fact is that the inability to do proper cutscenes with the player character speaking is restraining the writers. And heck, I’m still mad that this “change in role” doesn’t actually happen in game, it’s just an idle forum post.

But that’s the story they’re telling, and the degree to which our character development is relevant to their plot. How much time have we spent on Biconic melodrama, from their romances and camaraderie to their loss and despair? Because according to the head writers, they are delivering a very different perspective for our PCs than the end of the Personal Story…but baby-feline if they can spare the slightest effort to actually put it in game.

We aren’t the focus of the Living Story thus far. We’re a strong and silent has-been trailing along for the Biconic Power Hour. And that’s not how it should be.

YeOldeMoose.8716:

I usually don’t write stuff like this out because I don’t think anyone really cares about my opinion, but here we go!

This is some good constructive criticism, right out of the gate. You should write more often.

I suppose I’ll have to respond equally in kind, beginning in the silliest place…

YeOldeMoose.8716:

6. The biconics are literally The Scooby Gang.

This is really just a cheap metaphor that you are using for laughs. It was funny, but I don’t really see any point in discussing it.

Humor me a moment as I extend the metaphor and hopefully answer the other points.

It is extremely important for an author to be genre savvy. You don’t tell an epic legend like you do a buddy cop comedy, nor a thrilling suspense flick, nor a heartrending romance. But as Season 2 of the Living Story rolls out, we appear to be running into a major genre problem.

See, the Biconics are street level underdogs. They are a spunky group of relatively unknown do-gooders who uncover mysteries that escape the authority’s notice and defeat cartoonish villains who would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids. As the sixth member of this group, we are mostly just a blunt instrument, a scrappy fighter who can shepherd the team through trouble due to our sheer combat prowess. Not exactly glamorous, but it passes the time. And they’re pretty fun to be around on a good day. They have witty dialogue, amusing interactions, and lovable charm. After a harrowing ordeal in a horrible war, they have been a welcome vacation from misery and despair.

But the vacation’s over. Mordremoth is rising in the west and Tyria must once again ready itself for war. Corruption is spreading across the continent, strongholds falling before the eldritch onslaught of a botanical bane. But to counterattack the coming doom, the vanguard of heroism that will safeguard the world from the apocalypse is….the Mystery Machine?

Street level heroes don’t save the world. That’s part of the definition of street level conflicts. But instead of returning to the massive paramilitary organization which we command, we’re stuck dealing with petty melodrama and and family crisis of five acquaintances who will not be able to withstand the coming war. Kas and Jory are way too emotionally compromised to serve as soldiers. Taking Taimi onto the battlefield would be criminal negligence. Rox and Braham may be able to fight, but they are nowhere near the paragons of martial prowess have bought beside in the past. So we must come to grips with a simple fact: we don’t have to stay with these people. We are not Scrappy Doo bound by family bonds to these meddling kids. We are the Dragonslayer, and the Dragon has returned. We may not be able to force other Powers That Be to agree with us…but we walk through the front door like every other leader when we want to negotiate.

Winter has come. The songs and laughter of summer must fade, and the defenders of home and hearth must shoulder arms once again to stave off the dying of the light. The time has come for the underdogs to return to the sidelines, and to loose the hounds of war. We must leave the Biconics behind and reclaim our mantle as a defender of Tyria.

And in so doing, maybe we’ll discover that we never really needed these people in the first place (the heroism was in you the whole time!). After all, do you really think Season 3 of the Living Story should center on the Biconics? How about Seasons 4 and 5? Or maybe, just maybe, there are other interesting people that we could meet across the world for glorious adventure. Perhaps we will adventure with a Vigil crew as they take on a mighty beast in the Shiverpeaks. Or maybe we’ll help the Ebonhawk delegation and partner up with members of the Legions and Fallen Angels for a time. Perhaps the Peacekeepers and Wardens will want our help against the threats of Maguuma, or the Whispers agents combining forces with Shining Blade require assistance against unseen foes. Because we do need friend and allies in our adventures…but no single set of heroes is more important than the rest of the world.

The Biconics are interesting people, but they’ve had their moment in the spotlight. It’s time to move on. We’ve got things to do and dragons to kill, and the change in genre from underdog crime fighting to massive war story requires a change in cast.

….Oh, and one more thing.

Just saying Grechen is dead

…………..I knew I forgot something. Perhaps she is only mostly dead?

In summary, the constant focus on the Biconics is not doing the world any favors. The authors’ favorite band of underdogs is not enough to carry the Guild Wars franchise, and the constant insistence that they claim the spotlight in every story is simply not a good narrative foundation.

This is not to say they are bad characters. Far from it, they are well developed side characters who breathe life into a different niche of Tyria than the traditional frontline hero. But they are still side characters. They are not the fulcrum upon which the entire Guild Wars franchise pivots, and we need to grow beyond their perspective in order to move forward.

If the authors want to write a novel for the Biconics, go for it. It will probably be excellent.

But a massively multiplayer video game is not a novel, and the world of Tyria does not revolve around this small band of insignificant adventurers. It’s a far grander and magnificent realm, full of vibrant stories and fascinating characters. But as long as the authors believe that they have to have a “core cast” in order to tell a good story, we will never go beyond their diminutive role in the world and see what is beyond the next narrative horizon.

A rotating cast can give us that freedom. It can mean stories of intrigue and deception as we accompany Doern Velazquez and Halvora Snapdagger on direct orders from a certain Master of Whispers. Travel with Dougal Keane, Ember Doomforge, and Gullik Oddsson on daring adventures of discovery! Fight side by side with Laranthir of the Wild and Warmaster Efut. From Galina Edgecrusher and Snarl Backdraft to Demmi Beetlestone and Lord Faren, the Havrouns Weibe and Gretchen to Gorr and Occam, Ogden Stonehealer to Sayeh al’Rajihd, Followed By Night to Izu Steelshrike, the world is filled with hundreds of fascinating characters and compelling storylines (many of which I can’t mention due to the word count limit on posts). All it requires is the will to reach out and grasp it.

We cannot be the main protagonist, because the player character must be enough of a blank slate to let people project their own motivations and personality onto our actions. But that does not mean the world needs a core cast, especially ones that are so obviously side characters in the living story of the realm. The cast for a particular story should depend on the setting: Ascalonian stories require Ascalonian characters, Priory stories require Priory characters, political stories require nobles and statesman, and so forth.

And so I conclude this simple piece of advice. Let the Biconics step out of the spotlight, and use a rotating cast to explore the fascinating facets of this world. Because at the end of the day, there is only one core protagonist for the Guild Wars Franchise…

…and her name is Tyria.

Greetings and Salutations!

As the second season of the Living Story progresses, there are numerous advancements in the mechanics to celebrate, but also some troubles and tribulations. One particular burr in the sandal of the storyline shows no sign of ceasing, and thus it seems fitting to talk about a lingering problem with the narrative. The Biconics.

My thesis is simple. The story should stop treating these side characters like protagonists.

The Biconics are not bad characters. Far from it, they are fairly witty and amusing most of the time, and their interactions can be quite enjoyable. But the Living Story has decided that they are the focal point of the entire game, shackling our main characters to these five strangers and declaring them to be the protagonists of the franchise. This is flawed. It does not make sense from a narrative perspective, and it won’t do the series any favors in presenting interesting and compelling stories in the days to come.

In keeping with my oddball format, I’d like to present six reasons why the Biconics are a problem, and offer an example from the Living Story Season 1 of magnificent storytelling as a model for future tales. Rather than interject any of my own speculation or fanfiction into the mixture, I’d like you to solely consider the characters from the game itself who could be at the forefront of the narrative between these two posts.

Ready? Here we go!

Miku Lawrence.6329:

Am I the only one that thinks it’s way too complex and thus way too unfair for others class mechanics? A lesser version of this is the engi’s toolbelt.

I doth protest!

While it is certainly true that what I propose is complicated, that’s because the Mesmer’s illusion system is a complicated mechanic. If you take a look at what we already have, the five pillars I propose are already integrated into the game. Mesmers are supposed to be able to shatter illusions for offensive attacks, shatter illusions to exert nondamaging control over the battlefield, create persistent hexes to harm foes, punish foes who destroy their illusions via retaliatory effects, and support their allies through certain buff and control based illusions. The problem is that some of these concepts aren’t fleshed out. Punishment is especially neglected, existing only as traits that cause your clones to harm attackers.

Mesmers are a complicated profession. The proposal is far from perfect, but it isn’t trying to make things even more convoluted or expand into realms not already deemed Mesmer mechanics. Instead, it’s attempt to take the tangled skein that currently exists and reweave it into something more elegant.

DuckDuckBOOM.4097:

A current struggle that most mesmers have is that we often need to sacrifice a lot of damage for team utility or sacrifice a significant amount of sustain for spike dmg. AoE is dependent on illusions living and you haven’t changed that so wvw mesmers would still struggle. Looking at your proposed skills, I think a rework like this would actually make the problem worst as there are clear winners in damage and then clear winners in utility while still being shackled too much to illusions. Since most of our bugs are tied to illusions, I think giving mesmers more illusion would also make things worst.

Now this note of caution, I agree with completely. But I don’t think it can be solved without rewriting everything.

See, the Damage vs. Utility conundrum occurs with a lot of different professions, primarily due to the way damage is king in so many aspects of the game. But it’s especially problematic for the Mesmer due to the way the illusion mechanic is already tied into damage dealing. A typical mesmer builds themselves around how they want to use their illusions to do harm, and the core pillars of Shatter, Phantasm, and Punishment are all based on dealing out damage.

It creates two conundrums. On the one hand, the illusion system can be reorganized in a way that just focuses on dealing damage. Problem is, that requires taking out nifty and cool options for battlefield control, things that actually use the concept of ephemeral creativity to make the mesmer more interesting.

On the other hand, the system can drastically reduce the amount of damage illusions deal and focus on battlefield control. Unfortunately once again, this ends up with a problem, since it means taking the core pillars of current mesmer gameplay and reducing them drastically. At that point, you may as well rewrite the class entirely (I have a draft for that two, somewhere in my hypothetical brainstorming exercises!).

I appreciate the problem of control and support versus dealing damage, but I don’t think it can be solved via a single profession’s main mechanic reorganization. If anything, the better option would be making the simple combat modes in a lot of the game that heavily favor Full Berserker gameplay more complex and intricate, thus allowing control to thrive.

…
…
…
Oh, and my system did already account for WvW Mesmers via A Touch of Guile. If a facade is immune to damage but dies in around seven seconds, it can be tossed directly into an oncoming zerg to punish anyone who strikes it. Which would happen quite a bit for those few seconds. Just thought I’d mention that.