The whole Guild Wars 2 story....

[xXMapcoXx.9614]

...

[green plum.7514]

In my opinion the writing quality actually improved in LS3. As to the story, sure, its bad. Simply because it really tries hard to push this heroic nonsense. I believe that the entire story would be much more believable and natural if the player character would merely a witness to the unfolding events instead of the hero. Then again, I understand that they wanted to use the story to cater to players who don't care that much about the MMO aspect and want to feel special.

[ScottBroChill.3254]

I just get annoyed that they always seems to switch the direction of the story and its seems not very cohesive. Like I feel like they decide they want something different from the story and realize they could have done better so they cop out and use some kind of science/magic explanation as to why the original direction doesn't matter anymore and it feels cheap. And the problem is that the old parts they ignore are still part of the story and lore, and really clutter up what the lore is about. Too many things are going on without us, the hero, ever really completing other aspects.

 

I have a feeling the introduction of balthazar is a way to scrap the whole dragon thing. Not scrap it as in ignore it really, but to give us another cheap band-aid fix as to not deal with the dragons. We'll find out what is really going on in Tyria or the god realms/mists, there will be some kind of one shot attempt to diffuse the threat of the dragons and instead it will be a God focused story from here on out. I'm totally ok with gods, I prefer it over the no personality dragons. But it doesn't get rid of the fact that this whole dragon thing is in the story and basically means very little.

 

 

[Pax.3548]

What is the point of creating threads like this? ppl come to discuss lore and such things I'm sure but what do you expect with this? There isn't anything to discuss, You don't like it thats too bad, I think the only thing anyone can say to that is good luck finding the story you're looking for, I guess.

 

 

[pah.4931]

You should at least list concrete examples of WHY you think the story is bad. Respect for coming out and saying it's a rant, and sometimes you just gotta rant -- I get that -- but you might cultivate a better discussion if you list some bullet pointed issues you have with the story. Other than single-player one-off games (i.e., not MMORPGs), I am rarely impressed with story quality in games.

 

My biggest gripe with GW2 story is that it made the same mistake WoW did ... and that is the Player Character became the "Ultimate Hero" far too quickly. I would much much much much rather be a small fry in a big world than a big fish in small puddle. It goes against that "Random Adventurer" aesthetic.

 

I would rather save a village from a horrible villain and then move on, instead of saving the world over and over. It's bad story-telling. There needs to be a range of threats, but at this point we are stuck in a "save the world" spiral that is impossible to get out of because ... the Pact Commander is not going to help wrangle cattle and find a lost sheep... :(

[xXMapcoXx.9614]

 

 

> @Pax.3548 said:

> What is the point of creating threads like this? ppl come to discuss lore and such things I'm sure but what do you expect with this? There isn't anything to discuss, You don't like it thats too bad, I think the only thing anyone can say to that is good luck finding the story you're looking for, I guess.

>

>

 

well ill take a page from your book "if you dont like it thats too bad?

[xXMapcoXx.9614]

 

> @pah.4931 said:

> You should at least list concrete examples of WHY you think the story is bad. Respect for coming out and saying it's a rant, and sometimes you just gotta rant -- I get that -- but you might cultivate a better discussion if you list some bullet pointed issues you have with the story. Other than single-player one-off games (i.e., not MMORPGs), I am rarely impressed with story quality in games.

>

> My biggest gripe with GW2 story is that it made the same mistake WoW did ... and that is the Player Character became the "Ultimate Hero" far too quickly. I would much much much much rather be a small fry in a big world than a big fish in small puddle. It goes against that "Random Adventurer" aesthetic.

>

> I would rather save a village from a horrible villain and then move on, instead of saving the world over and over. It's bad story-telling. There needs to be a range of threats, but at this point we are stuck in a "save the world" spiral that is impossible to get out of because ... the Pact Commander is not going to help wrangle cattle and find a lost sheep... :(

 

Ok, ill point out some things that I find lacking in the story. One we are told through the story how dangerous the elder dragons are but when you look around the world seems they are doing as much damage as the story is telling you, they come off as more as an inconvenience than a real treat( now i understand a lot of that is game mechanics but when your story is saying just how dangerous these are then you look around about how sunny and safe most of the world kinda undermines the story) second we have so many plot threats just hanging out there probably never going to get answer like rythlocks sword that we shall never know how he got why scarlet need to wake up mordremoth the existence of another pale tree, what happen to glints other baby gloss i mean i could go on and on.

[Rognik.2579]

Now here is something we can actually discuss! Let me try to break it down topic by topic.

> @xXMapcoXx.9614 said:

> Ok, ill point out some things that I find lacking in the story. One we are told through the story how dangerous the elder dragons are but when you look around the world seems they are doing as much damage as the story is telling you, they come off as more as an inconvenience than a real treat( now i understand a lot of that is game mechanics but when your story is saying just how dangerous these are then you look around about how sunny and safe most of the world kinda undermines the story)

This is a tricky balancing act. One thing I do appreciate about Tyria is that it's not "realistic brown", and it's a place that actually feels a bit lived-in, rather than random characters just strewn willy-nilly. Now, there's only so much they can do without completely wiping out a level 2 character, but there are several places where Risen are regularly taking over a settlement and you need to fight to get it back. The Iron Marches were pretty boring before Mordrem started to invade it. And any place near the Brand is constantly under assault. Yes, none of the capital cities are ever under attack (unless by plot, such as in "Head of the Snake"), but people have to be able to sleep somewhere. The threat is out there, and I'm sorry you don't see that reflected in the in-game events.

>second we have so many plot threats just hanging out there probably never going to get answer like rythlocks sword that we shall never know how he got why scarlet need to wake up mordremoth the existence of another pale tree, what happen to glints other baby gloss i mean i could go on and on.

The sylvari storyline was 2 years in the making. It took them 5 to tell us that Livia is indeed still alive, and what she's been doing this entire time. They will get to it, even if it feels like an abandoned storyline. The exception to that are any personal story steps where a character could possibly have died. My charr helped free her honorless gladium of a father, but because the other choice was to execute him, I will never see him pop up in the story again. But Rytlock is going to discuss his sword Sohothin in this story (although probably more how he got it while in the Mists, rather than its initial acquisition, but who knows), and we might meet Glint's first scion during the Path of Fire storyline.

We do know why Scarlet felt the need to wake up Mordremoth: Omadd's machine opened up Ceara's mind and she turned into Scarlet Briar when he activated the mordrem subroutine program in her brain. Scarlet then proceeded to launch an elaborate plan to drill into the leyline and awake her master, but she died before she could ever see the fruits of her work.

[Pax.3548]

> @xXMapcoXx.9614 said:

>

> > @pah.4931 said:

> > You should at least list concrete examples of WHY you think the story is bad. Respect for coming out and saying it's a rant, and sometimes you just gotta rant -- I get that -- but you might cultivate a better discussion if you list some bullet pointed issues you have with the story. Other than single-player one-off games (i.e., not MMORPGs), I am rarely impressed with story quality in games.

> >

> > My biggest gripe with GW2 story is that it made the same mistake WoW did ... and that is the Player Character became the "Ultimate Hero" far too quickly. I would much much much much rather be a small fry in a big world than a big fish in small puddle. It goes against that "Random Adventurer" aesthetic.

> >

> > I would rather save a village from a horrible villain and then move on, instead of saving the world over and over. It's bad story-telling. There needs to be a range of threats, but at this point we are stuck in a "save the world" spiral that is impossible to get out of because ... the Pact Commander is not going to help wrangle cattle and find a lost sheep... :(

>

> Ok, ill point out some things that I find lacking in the story. One we are told through the story how dangerous the elder dragons are but when you look around the world seems they are doing as much damage as the story is telling you, they come off as more as an inconvenience than a real treat( now i understand a lot of that is game mechanics but when your story is saying just how dangerous these are then you look around about how sunny and safe most of the world kinda undermines the story) second we have so many plot threats just hanging out there probably never going to get answer like rythlocks sword that we shall never know how he got why scarlet need to wake up mordremoth the existence of another pale tree, what happen to glints other baby gloss i mean i could go on and on.

 

Well that wasn't that hard was it? Now you leave room for discussion rather than post a random tantrum. I myself like the story mostly because I play it in my mind alongside the events going around the world. Like HoT, as our character progresses in story and move on the maps he helps the pact regroup and launch a counterattack (all the events that play around each map offer its own piece of story) that way I feel the world more alive than just playing the main story parts and thinking thats all there is to it.

[drkn.3429]

Stories in games need to be perceived as just a part of the world at large, not the be-all-end-all of the game from narrative perspective.

 

GW's story, in itself, is not the best out there: agreed. The setting, though, the world, all the bits and pieces of lore and information you get from doing hearts, from talking to scouts, from random NPC chatter - the story has a place in it; the story is only one of the narrative devices in a game, and should not be perceived in total isolation from the other narrative devices that are used.

 

Have you talked to every heart NPC before and after completing the heart? Have you talked to every scout to pick up on what's actually happening in the given location and why are you there?

 

Focusing only on the main story and ignoring the rest of the narrative setting in a game is as if you read only every fifth page of a book and complained it doesn't make sense.