Guild Wars 2

I think the Living Story, as a tool, is an amazing thing, really. Arena.net is putting out great amounts of content at a fast pace, and its remarkable and breaking all preconceived notions that have been ingrained into players from other MMOs. I mean, this is a subscription free game, and it puts out more content than Blizzard does with WoW at 5x the speed. That’s something amazingly impressive.

If anything I’d like to see some living story content a bit like the Bazaar of the Four Winds. It was non-combat, purely for fun, had a lot of fun mini-game type events and such, and it introduced a new map that wasn’t too big or too small; a perfect size.

I’d like to see some living story that changes the existing world in a permanent way. It’d be great to see Orr slowly coming back to life with some adventurous people settling there, maybe trying to restore and rebuild the old kingdom, or build something new.

I’d like to see a new permanent dungeon come out. Maybe Wizard’s Tower south of Garrenhoff in Gendarren Fields. That looks like it’d have an amazing story behind it.

It’s nice that the Living Story up to now has little dots that we can connect and see a pattern or greater story with, but I’d rather see something like that with the main story of the game; the Elder Dragons.

Wetpaw.3487:

Maybe I will be able to elaborate later, but I would like some LS chapters to have focus on individual professions like Lore, balance, quests revolving around the nature of the profession, leaders, etc..

This would be pretty interesting to be honest. It’d be nice to see something like a Holiday for certain professions, perhaps.

Granted I’d also like to see something like the Restoration of Orr. Concentrated efforts for clearing out the dead, growing new plants, bringing in new animals, and building up a new Kingdom or something.

[Edit]: Another Living Story I’d -really- like to see is Wizard’s Tower, and involving Isgarren. I remember going to Garrenhoff early on into my first character and thinking to myself, “Woah, awesome! This place must have an amazing story! I bet that flying castle will be a new Dungeon down the line!”

Atlas.9704:

Target the Pale Tree by not even attacking its children.
Her targeting computer is a bit off.
At the moment she has hit:
-Norn and Charr territory with the Molten
-Lions Arch with the Aetherblades
-Humans during the Jubilee and Toxic Alliance

If anything she’s got her fascination towards the humans more than her own people.
She needs to point those silly guns that a way (Points to the Maguuma areas)

And that’s really the sad thing to me about her.
Had her plans and releases hit the Sylvari areas more she might have been a more compelling character.

I think she’s targeting other races because they’re more complex and defined in terms of being systems, compared to the Sylvari. The Sylvari are still a child race in a lot of ways, while Humans, Charr, and Norn are very old races that have well defined, complex cultural systems. Taking them out, or damaging them, might just be more of her testing her abilities in preamble for what she hopes to do with the Sylvari.

I’m certain the end of her story will probably be attacking the Grove and Pale Tree though.

Thobek.1730:

No Scarlet – check. I like it already.

Also those quests make sense. Its a first nice chapter.

Glad you liked it!

I know it was kind of a dull example, something that’s probably a little -too- obvious or what have you, but I was going for an example really. Doesn’t connect to Scarlet at all. Just gets back to addressing the main story of the game; the Elder Dragons. Which is something I’ve disliked about the Living Story, its hard to remember the Dragons exist at this point. That and the Pact is doing nothing while all this stuff is going on, not that I expect them to do anything, but it still begs the question of what they -are- doing.

I think the addition of Dailies counting towards the Living Story Meta-Achievements is a big help and a step in the right direction. I kind of wish there were some other ways it could also be done though. I can’t really think of any off the top of my head that don’t involving grinding or RNG though. At best maybe something like a Crafting Category?

So a Living Story comes with a few small things you can craft with smaller crafting achievements. Make some special sharpening stones, oils, focus crystals, food, etc… out of stuff like the Spores we collect. Make 10 and earn another point towards the Meta Achievement. That kind of thing. That’s already +8 achievements towards meta if each profession could have something minor to make.

If it helps I’ll toss out one as an example. Its all for fun, after all.

The Daughters of Jora

As the months pass, a growing rumor spreading through Hoelbrak forms into a movement. Spearheaded by Aurora Joradottir, the founder of the sisterhood, their goal is to end the threat and disgrace of the Sons of Svanir through force.

“Blood washes blood. As Jora slew her brother, we shall now slay our own to restore honor to our kin.” – Aurora Joradottir.

Achievements:
Rise of the Daughters - (Meta – 25 Points) Complete the Three Story Missions for the, ‘Daughters of Jora.’
The Purge of Hoelbrak - (10 Points) Complete the Story Mission, ‘The Purge of Hoelbrak.’
Sibling Rivalry - (10 Points) Complete the Story Mission, ‘Sibling Rivalry.’ (Requires, ‘The Purge of Hoelbrak,’ to be completed first)
Blood Washes Blood - (10 Points) Complete the Story Mission, ‘Blood Washes Blood.’ (Requires, ‘Sibling Rivalry,’ to be completed first)
Fratricide - (15 Points over 3 tiers) Slay 30, 60, 90 Sons of Svanir.

Events:
The Purge of Hoelbrak: (Instanced) The Sons of Svanir have launched an assault on Hoelbrak from their lair in the city, The Veins of the Dragon. Join Aurora Joradottir, Braham Eirsson, Skarti, and the Wolfborn in purging the Sons of Svanir from Hoelbrak. Upon completion, the Veins of the Dragon are collapsed and the Lodge of the Daughters is created over the ruins (New Point of Interest).
Sibling Rivalry: (Instanced) In retribution for their defeat at Hoelbrak, the Sons of Svanir have targeted the statue of Jora in the Wayfarer Foothills. Defend Crossroads Haven and the Statue along side Aurora and Braham.
Blood Washes Blood: (Instanced) Join Aurora and Braham in delivering a mortal blow to the morale of the Sons of Svanir by launching an attack on the Barrowstead in Frostgorge Sound, and slaying the Shaman of Dragon.
Svanir Raids: (Spontaneous across all Shiverpeaks Maps) Groups of Sons of Svanir attack various homesteads across the Shiverpeaks. Join the Daughters of Jora in repelling their assaults.
Scale of Jormag: (New World Boss – Snowden Drifts – North of Oros Spurs) The Daughters of Jora have gathered to lure a minion of Jormag into the open and slay it as a sign of the dragon’s impotence.

Environments:
Lodge of the Daughters - New Point of Interest in Hoelbrak built over the collapsed, ‘Veins of the Dragon,’ Point of Interest.
Scale Fall - New Point of Interest in Snowden Drifts and location for the new world boss, ‘Scale of Jormag.’

Characters:
Aurora Joradottir - (New!) A self-proclaimed descendent of Jora who has gathered together other Norn women seeking to end the corruption that is the Sons of Svanir. A Guardian, she holds a fierce hatred for the Sons who slew her elder sister.
Braham Eirsson - At first answering the call to defend Hoelbrak from the Sons of Svanir, he takes an interest in the Daughters of Jora, admiring their strength and conviction.
Skarti - Leads the Wolfborn to aid the Daughters of Jora in protecting Hoelbrak, while his brother Sigfast protects the Great Lodge. Impressed by the zeal of the Daughters and grateful for their aid, he convinces Knut Whitebear to grant them a place in Hoelbrak in place of the Sons of Svanir.

Aftermath:
1) A new World Boss who will stick around indefinitely.
2) A new Lodge in Hoelbrak, complete with a new faction; the Daughters of Jora.

So there’s a lot of discussion on the forums regarding frustrations and burnout regarding the Living Story aspect of the game. Personally I think its a good idea in theory, but that in practice so far, it’s coming up a little bit on the short end. I can go into various reasons for that, but its not what this topic is for. So, on to the topic, and this is purely for fun.

Let’s say Arena.net came up to -you- and asked you to design a living story event. -You- decide the stories, create the characters, think up what kinds of events and achievements it would have, and the rewards. So, here’s some hardline rules:

Achievements:
1) There must be at least 5 Achievements, including the Meta Achievement
2) There must be no more than 15 Achievements, including the Meta Achievement
3) Achievement Points total should be between 0-100.
4) Rewards should be either Aesthetic or functional in one’s Home Instance
5) Titles are acceptable within reason (Nothing Grandiose like, “Savior.”)

Events:
1) There should be at least 5 Events related to the Living Story
2) There should be no more than 15 Events related to the Living Story
3) There should be at least 1 storyline series of events
4) There should be no more than 3 unique events in a single zone
5) New Enemy NPCs are not allowed; use existing enemy factions

Environments:
1) Changes to existing zones should be kept within reason
2) New Zones or Maps are not allowed

Characters:
1) Use of Existing Characters should be kept to what is sensible (Ex: There’s no reason for Countess Anise to show up at Zojja’s ascension to the Arcane Council or something)
2) Creating new characters is not required, but no more than 3 should be made
3) Killing off existing Arena.net characters is not allowed
4) Major changes to existing Arena.net characters is not allowed

Aftermath:
1) The Aftermath of the Storyline should be somewhat lasting (Scarlet’s Minions continue to invade various maps, for example, or the hole in Divinity’s Reach no longer being there)
2) Permanent changes to the environment should not affect existing game play (interfering or conflicting with aspects such as map completion, exploration, and so forth)

I’ll leave the formatting for ideas up to players to have fun with. And remember, its for fun, so have fun!