Originally posted by MindTrigger Question: If you "jump in" now for the final parts, but didn't see the previous parts, can you still go back and do the story from the beginning? Isn't the Living Story content temporary?
You can't go back to the beginning, no, much of that content has come and gone (like a TV series for example). Some elements remain behind, but in it's entirety, no. However, you can jump in now and ride the story from this point on... this one is supposed to begin giving insight into what makes Scarlett click.
This is the reason I can never get back into GW2. If I take a break from the game it feels like I miss all the content the devs produce and I'll literally never get to play any of it!
It's such a dumb system. I have no desire to see the conclusion to this story since I have missed most of the story now and there is no way for me to experience what I have missed. I much prefer regular expansion packs to this because I can always have access to the content in those unlike in GW2 where a lot of the content is temporary...
This is exactly how I feel.. I haven't played GW2 in months, and missed all this "living story" content, and I'm feeling lost.. I was never a fan of storyline MMO's.. It plays too much like a book and too linear, and this isn't any different.. I prefer a straight up expansion of zones, skills and levels, and forget about the story BS..
I was an uber-fan of the game at release. I got over 1,800 hours of play from it and hadn't felt that the game had exhausted it's ability to offer me a lot more. Things started to go down hill when they started the Living Story concept. The first four months showed some potential, but they completely blew the payoff, which rendered the entire effort not much more than some shallow, meaningless and sparse content dressed up in a pretty wrapper.
Then, things started to go seriously down hill. Rather than learn from the mistakes of the first arc, Frost and Flame, they threw out everything about the concept that had real potential and embraced the absolute worst elements moving forward.
It has remained just as meaningless, just as vapid, but it has also turned the game from one of exploration of a dynamic world into one of adventure by checklist, temporary content and time limited carrots for those who can complete the checklist in the allotted time. If they had done this crap along side of permanent new Dynamic Event content across the game world, which was the original concept they sold us on, that would have been one thing. However, it has siphoned away all development on the actual game world so they could focus on the worst kind of Junk Fast Food MMO content.
To be honest, they have made me loathe the game, the studio and the Living Story to such a degree that they could spell out a strategy for these last four chapters that actually moved them back in the right direction and I still wouldn't participate because I hate what has led up to it so deeply.
Knowing that the next four installments are still stuck on the Scarlet storyline just means that's another four installments worth of content I need to avoid.
I wish I had some hope for where they might go when this heap of crud comes to an end, but they recently stated that the game would probably have to continue it's slide for another year before they would have to look at abandoning Living Story for something different.
I realize some very key people have left Arenanet, but I still can not fathom a studio taking such steep a dive after producing one of the best at launch MMOs the genre has ever seen. I fear that the current content team leadership is just utterly incapable of even comprehending the depth and scope of their failure, let alone ever fixing it.
Eventually, heads are probably going to have to roll if this game is to have any chance at regaining even a portion of it's once lofty potential. The sad thing is, though, that the MMO industry is chock full of developers who would probably make the same exact mistakes, so it may end up that those key people Arenanet failed to keep in the fold were truly irreplaceable.
Originally posted by KhinRunite Anet just keep at it. Keep producing living story content and keep creating this feeling that Tyria changes. Keep making events that are temporary, and improve on the permanence part. I enjoy this experience that when I log in the world is different, because certain events took place while I was away, and I like it when I see imprints of those events carved in the world.
Majority of people here have no problem with changing world however they would like to have an option to play through the living story. This option isn't going to take away your precious 'living world'.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.' -Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid." -Luke McKinney
"Changing What It Means to Play an MMO" - grinding for months for ascended gear and legendaries? no change at all, we have grinding in too many games. Rift has a living world too (rifts) this is not new at all, GW2's 2-week updates are mainly about fluff items
"I think the biggest thing that gets me excited is when I go in game, and I see people talking about (the story) everywhere." - weird, when I go in game all I see is talk about other MMOs (the MMO chat fight, we have it in every games) and random GW2 gameplay questions (from newbies), nothing related to the story. rarely when we talk about the story it's about how we hate Trehaerne
I think that people complaining about missing out on content should be classed as a great and wonderful thing. After all, that means they are "missing" it. And those poor, unfortunate souls can either spend their time playing the current content or add to the growing list of content they missed out on.
Having the ability to say that you were there when something monumental happens, is completely defeated if it happens every day. If you had watched them tear down the Berlin wall , itwould have been a fantastic opportunity, but if it happened every day it would be meaningless. I think it's great that a game would try to offer a once in a lifetime chance for something. PLEASE ANET, do not ever give in or change this.
THIS.
I like what Anet is doing, sure there plenty some problems there, but i gladly accept this than your same ol' same ol'
now: GW2 (11 80s). Dark Souls 2. future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord. "Bro, do your even fractal?" Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
I was an uber-fan of the game at release. I got over 1,800 hours of play from it and hadn't felt that the game had exhausted it's ability to offer me a lot more. Things started to go down hill when they started the Living Story concept. The first four months showed some potential, but they completely blew the payoff, which rendered the entire effort not much more than some shallow, meaningless and sparse content dressed up in a pretty wrapper.
Then, things started to go seriously down hill. Rather than learn from the mistakes of the first arc, Frost and Flame, they threw out everything about the concept that had real potential and embraced the absolute worst elements moving forward.
It has remained just as meaningless, just as vapid, but it has also turned the game from one of exploration of a dynamic world into one of adventure by checklist, temporary content and time limited carrots for those who can complete the checklist in the allotted time. If they had done this crap along side of permanent new Dynamic Event content across the game world, which was the original concept they sold us on, that would have been one thing. However, it has siphoned away all development on the actual game world so they could focus on the worst kind of Junk Fast Food MMO content.
To be honest, they have made me loathe the game, the studio and the Living Story to such a degree that they could spell out a strategy for these last four chapters that actually moved them back in the right direction and I still wouldn't participate because I hate what has led up to it so deeply.
Knowing that the next four installments are still stuck on the Scarlet storyline just means that's another four installments worth of content I need to avoid.
I wish I had some hope for where they might go when this heap of crud comes to an end, but they recently stated that the game would probably have to continue it's slide for another year before they would have to look at abandoning Living Story for something different.
I realize some very key people have left Arenanet, but I still can not fathom a studio taking such steep a dive after producing one of the best at launch MMOs the genre has ever seen. I fear that the current content team leadership is just utterly incapable of even comprehending the depth and scope of their failure, let alone ever fixing it.
Eventually, heads are probably going to have to roll if this game is to have any chance at regaining even a portion of it's once lofty potential. The sad thing is, though, that the MMO industry is chock full of developers who would probably make the same exact mistakes, so it may end up that those key people Arenanet failed to keep in the fold were truly irreplaceable.
This. Exactly. Funny how long I was defending GW2, and now closest I get to this game is their forum.
I am still not getting the negative reactions on GW2
This game has:
- fairly good storyline (personal AND event story are not too bad imho)
- for once....a world that actualy changes......name me 3 other mmo's that have a ACTUAL changing world plz?
- classes are funn to play, how is reacting with blocks, reflect missiles and dodges in a game NOT fun? What else do you want??
- no armor/weapon sets are overpowered compared to lower lvl set.
- healthy community (alot of players).
To those talking bugs in GW2 (maybe there are a fiew but....) bitch plz!
i played the ESO beta and altough i find it a very good game......the combat is just boring compared to GW2 imho.
if there is a better game out there then GW2 at this time then PLZ enlighten me and name them plz........i dare you, hell a double dare you
My issue isn't GW2 overall
I rather enjoy the game
It's the Living Story. It just doesn't do it for me. I don't think it accomplishes the same as with other AAA games when they have fewer but bigger releases.
I'm fine with the idea of small frequent releases, but the way GW2 is done......well, it's been discussed here at length already.
I don't like the writing in GW2, so I'm not itching to see new developments in its living stories. Combat makes up a lot of today's mmorpg's activities, for better or worse, and the fact is nothing new has been added on that front. I'm talking new skills and weapon varieties. When they can crank something out to that tune, I'm in.
Umm, no, just no. GW2 is pretty much the same as every other MMO out there. The difference is that the whole game is free other than the original purchase.
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
[mod edit] Korean cash shop grinder? Really? That's a good one considering the cash shop is full of cosmetics and fluff. The optimization is greatly improved and the game runs smooth as silk, these mythical game-killing bugs seem to get mentioned but never with specifics, the classes are fine and the game-play is a blast. What grind there is is optional, ascended gear takes time if you want it but you never need it to access content.
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
Perhaps it is the juvenile interpretation and not the story. What I get so far is for a year a Terrorist has been creating what seems to be unrelated plots around the world, hashing one catastrophe after another. She's nearly killed the queen twice and her army of pirates and molten men have grown stronger, yet show a strong allegience to her. Some plots we've managed to stop and others we have not.
My only issue with the story is i'm waiting for it to tie in with the Dragons. Which I'm betting it will at some point. Is it War and Peace. No! But it is an engaging plot if you're into the mythos of the land.
I"m baffled as to how someone playsa fantasy game and then begins to diss the fantasy game for its fantasy elements. Perhaps you should wait for KIngdom Come so you can play something more grounded in realism.
Just because Anet hasn't delivered on everythign doesnt mean they still havn't created a fun engine. The only things they'd have to do to me during this next living campaign is learn from the mistakes. What I'd like to see
1. Keep the biweekly schedule but structure it a bit more. Once a month introduce something that involves instances the next month take a region and change out all dynamic events for it. So far, Anet has somewhat lived up to this by instituting temporary monsters in zones (the aether monsters, pirates and recently the gift boxes come to mind) but I'd like to see these completely replace the monster.
2. Introduce new weapon quarterly. GW1 players miss options. Or finally allow for the choosing of weapon abilities.
These simple things would go a long way to making the living story coincide with the things that are still left on the to do list.
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
Perhaps it is the juvenile interpretation and not the story. What I get so far is for a year a Terrorist has been creating what seems to be unrelated plots around the world, hashing one catastrophe after another. She's nearly killed the queen twice and her army of pirates and molten men have grown stronger, yet show a strong allegience to her. Some plots we've managed to stop and others we have not.
My only issue with the story is i'm waiting for it to tie in with the Dragons. Which I'm betting it will at some point. Is it War and Peace. No! But it is an engaging plot if you're into the mythos of the land.
I"m baffled as to how someone playsa fantasy game and then begins to diss the fantasy game for its fantasy elements. Perhaps you should wait for KIngdom Come so you can play something more grounded in realism.
I didn't diss the game for its fantasy elements, I dissed it for having a crappy, juvenile story. The excuse that it's a fantasy game and therefore a poorly written story full of comic book tropes should be acceptable is getting a little shop-worn. Even within the context of fantasy the plot has to pass the smell test and having yet another stereotypical cackling villain bent on world destruction for no apparent reason fails that test miserably. We are supposed to be given some clue as to Scarlet's motivation in the next chapters, but the sultry, cackling villain is still too much, as are the comic book heroes and stilted dialogue.
Man I love the complaints and moaning from the non-players who simply refuse to accept that GW2 does not follow their idea of a set MMO-mold.
The biggest problems Anet has faced in GW2 was when they tried catering to exactly those people.
Havent played much for a while but most people i meet ingame say positive things about the living story and some of the parts I have missed. Anet does actually listen to its players.
How I feel about WoW or FFXIV is utterly unimportant since I dont play those games. The same goes for how GW2 non-players feel about GW2
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!! (repeat ad infinitum)
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
Perhaps it is the juvenile interpretation and not the story. What I get so far is for a year a Terrorist has been creating what seems to be unrelated plots around the world, hashing one catastrophe after another. She's nearly killed the queen twice and her army of pirates and molten men have grown stronger, yet show a strong allegience to her. Some plots we've managed to stop and others we have not.
My only issue with the story is i'm waiting for it to tie in with the Dragons. Which I'm betting it will at some point. Is it War and Peace. No! But it is an engaging plot if you're into the mythos of the land.
I"m baffled as to how someone playsa fantasy game and then begins to diss the fantasy game for its fantasy elements. Perhaps you should wait for KIngdom Come so you can play something more grounded in realism.
I didn't diss the game for its fantasy elements, I dissed it for having a crappy, juvenile story. The excuse that it's a fantasy game and therefore a poorly written story full of comic book tropes should be acceptable is getting a little shop-worn. Even within the context of fantasy the plot has to pass the smell test and having yet another stereotypical cackling villain bent on world destruction for no apparent reason fails that test miserably. We are supposed to be given some clue as to Scarlet's motivation in the next chapters, but the sultry, cackling villain is still too much, as are the comic book heroes and stilted dialogue.
And there lies your problem. You equate Poorly written with Comic book style. Comic Books are a 10 billion dollar industry, so obviously somewhere, someone likes this style of villian and plot progression. The best villian of all time IMO is Kefka, and I can tell that Scarlet is somewhat inspired by her. Also, the Joker is constantly voted as the best villain ever in many a poles. You can google both of those if you'd like.
If you're going to talk bad story, talk about elements of the plot you actually don't like, don't diss the style, because its obviously not for you. I play a lot of RPGs, and many I've played has this type of villian. This goes for books, movies and tv shows.
As a writer, the age old adage goes that there is no original story only different approaches to it. I may be crazy, but few people want to play a game where the only thing at stake was a kennel of puppies. So most peoplew ant to play games where the world is in danger.
As I've said, the actual Story of Scarlet is pretty layered and much better story telling than the personal story. She's attempted to, and has maniplulated political deals for her purpose and attacked key places. Shes built up alliances and created new weapons. Basic story structure dictates the introduction in Act 1, the danger in Act 2 and the resolution in Act 3. As Anet stated this is Act 3, we'll get the mystery of her machinations answered and hopefully can resolve the plot.
Man I love the complaints and moaning from the non-players who simply refuse to accept that GW2 does not follow their idea of a set MMO-mold.
The biggest problems Anet has faced in GW2 was when they tried catering to exactly those people.
Havent played much for a while but most people i meet ingame say positive things about the living story and some of the parts I have missed. Anet does actually listen to its players.
How I feel about WoW or FFXIV is utterly unimportant since I dont play those games. The same goes for how GW2 non-players feel about GW2
Most people that don't have positive things to say about the Living Story no longer play the game. But that doesn't mean they didn't play it at some point. And it doesn't mean their opinions should be dismissed.
Originally posted by KhinRunite Anet just keep at it. Keep producing living story content and keep creating this feeling that Tyria changes. Keep making events that are temporary, and improve on the permanence part. I enjoy this experience that when I log in the world is different, because certain events took place while I was away, and I like it when I see imprints of those events carved in the world.
Majority of people here have no problem with changing world however they would like to have an option to play through the living story. This option isn't going to take away your precious 'living world'.
They do that by putting modified versions in fractals AFAIK. Granted, they don't preserve the actual events, but doing otherwise will greatly reduce the value of "being there when it happened", which is the point of the Living story.
And to clarify, I missed Flame & Frost, Dragon Bash, Sky Pirates, and the original SAB.
The user and all related content has been deleted.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.
Comments
There is little to do in GW2.
It's the shallow and twitch based gameplay that got me to abandon GW2.
Even if I liked twitch games (and I don't) the gameplay is really shallow both in combat and out of it. (crafting, AH/trading, harvesting etc)
The progression line is way too linear. Other than their characters physical appearance everyone ends up with "GW top level player clone 44356B"
Wish they'd stop adding content and fix that. I might give it another go then.
But I don't think they plan on fixing that. GW2 is a big step in the dumbing down cycle and that's what the devs wanted it seems.
As for a better game.
WoW and EvE are both Waaaaaaaaaay better - Hell SWtOR and STO are better IMO
This is exactly how I feel.. I haven't played GW2 in months, and missed all this "living story" content, and I'm feeling lost.. I was never a fan of storyline MMO's.. It plays too much like a book and too linear, and this isn't any different.. I prefer a straight up expansion of zones, skills and levels, and forget about the story BS..
I was an uber-fan of the game at release. I got over 1,800 hours of play from it and hadn't felt that the game had exhausted it's ability to offer me a lot more. Things started to go down hill when they started the Living Story concept. The first four months showed some potential, but they completely blew the payoff, which rendered the entire effort not much more than some shallow, meaningless and sparse content dressed up in a pretty wrapper.
Then, things started to go seriously down hill. Rather than learn from the mistakes of the first arc, Frost and Flame, they threw out everything about the concept that had real potential and embraced the absolute worst elements moving forward.
It has remained just as meaningless, just as vapid, but it has also turned the game from one of exploration of a dynamic world into one of adventure by checklist, temporary content and time limited carrots for those who can complete the checklist in the allotted time. If they had done this crap along side of permanent new Dynamic Event content across the game world, which was the original concept they sold us on, that would have been one thing. However, it has siphoned away all development on the actual game world so they could focus on the worst kind of Junk Fast Food MMO content.
To be honest, they have made me loathe the game, the studio and the Living Story to such a degree that they could spell out a strategy for these last four chapters that actually moved them back in the right direction and I still wouldn't participate because I hate what has led up to it so deeply.
Knowing that the next four installments are still stuck on the Scarlet storyline just means that's another four installments worth of content I need to avoid.
I wish I had some hope for where they might go when this heap of crud comes to an end, but they recently stated that the game would probably have to continue it's slide for another year before they would have to look at abandoning Living Story for something different.
I realize some very key people have left Arenanet, but I still can not fathom a studio taking such steep a dive after producing one of the best at launch MMOs the genre has ever seen. I fear that the current content team leadership is just utterly incapable of even comprehending the depth and scope of their failure, let alone ever fixing it.
Eventually, heads are probably going to have to roll if this game is to have any chance at regaining even a portion of it's once lofty potential. The sad thing is, though, that the MMO industry is chock full of developers who would probably make the same exact mistakes, so it may end up that those key people Arenanet failed to keep in the fold were truly irreplaceable.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Majority of people here have no problem with changing world however they would like to have an option to play through the living story. This option isn't going to take away your precious 'living world'.
"The problem is that the hardcore folks always want the same thing: 'We want exactly what you gave us before, but it has to be completely different.'
-Jesse Schell
"Online gamers are the most ludicrously entitled beings since Caligula made his horse a senator, and at least the horse never said anything stupid."
-Luke McKinney
Bit of a grandiose title to describe the Living World concept, isn't it? Lol.
"I think the biggest thing that gets me excited is when I go in game, and I see people talking about (the story) everywhere." - weird, when I go in game all I see is talk about other MMOs (the MMO chat fight, we have it in every games) and random GW2 gameplay questions (from newbies), nothing related to the story. rarely when we talk about the story it's about how we hate Trehaerne
says the guy who has a forum name after a character from GW2.......you funny skritt you
THIS.
I like what Anet is doing, sure there plenty some problems there, but i gladly accept this than your same ol' same ol'
now: GW2 (11 80s).
Dark Souls 2.
future: Mount&Blade 2 BannerLord.
"Bro, do your even fractal?"
Recommends: Guild Wars 2, Dark Souls, Mount&Blade: Warband, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.
This. Exactly. Funny how long I was defending GW2, and now closest I get to this game is their forum.
My issue isn't GW2 overall
I rather enjoy the game
It's the Living Story. It just doesn't do it for me. I don't think it accomplishes the same as with other AAA games when they have fewer but bigger releases.
I'm fine with the idea of small frequent releases, but the way GW2 is done......well, it's been discussed here at length already.
The "story" thus far is so juvenile it would make a 3rd grader whince. It's lame and childish with comic-book, cackling villains and ludicrous and improbable heroes. The word "schlock" comes to mind. It mostly serves as a platform to carry the game's relentless and tedious grindfest model forward. The much-vaunted story just isn't fun or engrossing. If it was a TV series you'd change the channel after 15 minutes.
Anet betrayed their promises to their player base by introducing a frustrating, time-gated grind for Ascended gear which requires ridiculous amounts of mats and time invested to achieve. To say the game isn't gear-based is not accurate.
Don't get run over by the bogus PR circling the bandwagons to protect this game. GW 2 is a typical Korean cash shop grinder with all that entails: game-killing bugs that never get fixed, poor optimization, lack of class balance and lackluster gameplay. This game did some things right, but broke no significant new ground in any meaningful way. The philosophy that grind keeps players playing rather than fun is well-represented in GW 2, and in that it is no different than the rest of the stale and repetitive MMO market.
[mod edit] Korean cash shop grinder? Really? That's a good one considering the cash shop is full of cosmetics and fluff. The optimization is greatly improved and the game runs smooth as silk, these mythical game-killing bugs seem to get mentioned but never with specifics, the classes are fine and the game-play is a blast. What grind there is is optional, ascended gear takes time if you want it but you never need it to access content.
[mod edit]
Perhaps it is the juvenile interpretation and not the story. What I get so far is for a year a Terrorist has been creating what seems to be unrelated plots around the world, hashing one catastrophe after another. She's nearly killed the queen twice and her army of pirates and molten men have grown stronger, yet show a strong allegience to her. Some plots we've managed to stop and others we have not.
My only issue with the story is i'm waiting for it to tie in with the Dragons. Which I'm betting it will at some point. Is it War and Peace. No! But it is an engaging plot if you're into the mythos of the land.
I"m baffled as to how someone playsa fantasy game and then begins to diss the fantasy game for its fantasy elements. Perhaps you should wait for KIngdom Come so you can play something more grounded in realism.
Just because Anet hasn't delivered on everythign doesnt mean they still havn't created a fun engine. The only things they'd have to do to me during this next living campaign is learn from the mistakes. What I'd like to see
1. Keep the biweekly schedule but structure it a bit more. Once a month introduce something that involves instances the next month take a region and change out all dynamic events for it. So far, Anet has somewhat lived up to this by instituting temporary monsters in zones (the aether monsters, pirates and recently the gift boxes come to mind) but I'd like to see these completely replace the monster.
2. Introduce new weapon quarterly. GW1 players miss options. Or finally allow for the choosing of weapon abilities.
These simple things would go a long way to making the living story coincide with the things that are still left on the to do list.
I didn't diss the game for its fantasy elements, I dissed it for having a crappy, juvenile story. The excuse that it's a fantasy game and therefore a poorly written story full of comic book tropes should be acceptable is getting a little shop-worn. Even within the context of fantasy the plot has to pass the smell test and having yet another stereotypical cackling villain bent on world destruction for no apparent reason fails that test miserably. We are supposed to be given some clue as to Scarlet's motivation in the next chapters, but the sultry, cackling villain is still too much, as are the comic book heroes and stilted dialogue.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GigglingVillain
Man I love the complaints and moaning from the non-players who simply refuse to accept that GW2 does not follow their idea of a set MMO-mold.
The biggest problems Anet has faced in GW2 was when they tried catering to exactly those people.
Havent played much for a while but most people i meet ingame say positive things about the living story and some of the parts I have missed. Anet does actually listen to its players.
How I feel about WoW or FFXIV is utterly unimportant since I dont play those games. The same goes for how GW2 non-players feel about GW2
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!!
(repeat ad infinitum)
And there lies your problem. You equate Poorly written with Comic book style. Comic Books are a 10 billion dollar industry, so obviously somewhere, someone likes this style of villian and plot progression. The best villian of all time IMO is Kefka, and I can tell that Scarlet is somewhat inspired by her. Also, the Joker is constantly voted as the best villain ever in many a poles. You can google both of those if you'd like.
If you're going to talk bad story, talk about elements of the plot you actually don't like, don't diss the style, because its obviously not for you. I play a lot of RPGs, and many I've played has this type of villian. This goes for books, movies and tv shows.
As a writer, the age old adage goes that there is no original story only different approaches to it. I may be crazy, but few people want to play a game where the only thing at stake was a kennel of puppies. So most peoplew ant to play games where the world is in danger.
As I've said, the actual Story of Scarlet is pretty layered and much better story telling than the personal story. She's attempted to, and has maniplulated political deals for her purpose and attacked key places. Shes built up alliances and created new weapons. Basic story structure dictates the introduction in Act 1, the danger in Act 2 and the resolution in Act 3. As Anet stated this is Act 3, we'll get the mystery of her machinations answered and hopefully can resolve the plot.
Most people that don't have positive things to say about the Living Story no longer play the game. But that doesn't mean they didn't play it at some point. And it doesn't mean their opinions should be dismissed.
They do that by putting modified versions in fractals AFAIK. Granted, they don't preserve the actual events, but doing otherwise will greatly reduce the value of "being there when it happened", which is the point of the Living story.
And to clarify, I missed Flame & Frost, Dragon Bash, Sky Pirates, and the original SAB.
Exactly. New stories are simple, easy to do.
Somebody, somewhere has better skills as you have, more experience as you have, is smarter than you, has more friends as you do and can stay online longer. Just pray he's not out to get you.