Chained Instances

[crashburntoo.7431]

I'm a slow-rolling player, so I've not completed the episode as of yet. However, I'm curious about the design decision to chain three instances together to begin this sub-story arc. For some, it was fine or even preferred, while for others, being unable to explore the new zone prior to that much story content was not what they were looking for.

 

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to your insight on this.

[FogLeg.9354]

I just want to add that when I did story first time, I was always sent back to the open world between story parts. But when I did same story with second character, all the instances were chained without any break. I am not sure if one run was bugged or was game updated.

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

Hi Crash!

 

Thanks for the comment. We made a note of the length that players were exposed to in our episode and we tend to agree that it may have been a bit too long. We strive to have that balance of initial story and then expose to the new zone and with it, we can't always please everyone. In some cases, like with Ep 2, we had a handful of designs and narrative beats we wanted to tell before the players got to the new zone. Hence the three connected instances.

[crashburntoo.7431]

Thanks @"Clayton Kisko II.1934", it makes sense for the narrative and fits the story line. Exploring the isle prior to our introduction to the Olmakhan would have been difficult to resolve. It's good to hear that you're looking to balance it out and generally keep the instanced, introductory content a little smaller.

[SlothPowah.1072]

I really liked the chained instances. It made the experience of playing through the story more fluid than constantly entering and exiting instances on the world map.

[MakubeC.3026]

I personally don't think the instances or the chapter was too long. It was fine.

[Crunch Bars.4309]

What I liked about these "chained" instances is that the story felt more fluid. It was action-packed in a way that made you feel like you were playing some kinda movie sequence.

[crashburntoo.7431]

I think the chained instances worked very well for the narrative. If I were to look at what I've completed and consider little change to this segment of the story, I think the third instance could have been preceded with some open world content and still flowed. The difficulty would have been in encouraging players to not delve too far into the map before continuing the story arc to allow for continuity. Ultimately, that decision is up to the player and is a factor on almost any other map anyway!

 

While I liked the flow from the chained instances, playing all three in a row was more than I was prepared to do. As a father of four kids that are ten and under, I'm a fan of smaller segments that I can enjoy one at a time. I've read similar posts from others as well as some people that just want to get to the open world and explore. It's their primary mode of play and enjoyment.

 

Thanks again @"Clayton Kisko II.1934" and others who posted... I like this Forum Chat.

[MithranArkanere.8957]

I like what was done to connect Hallowed Ground and Facing the Truth.

 

At the end of the first one, you get the leave instance icon, but you can also enter the portal and go on to the next instance. Players are given the cue that it is safe to take a break at that point.

 

The same could have been done here with the 3 connected instances. Give players some sort of indication. "Checkpoint reached" or something. There's many checkpoints in story that we are reaching without some sort of warning or indication telling us the progress is saved at that point.

[Keriana.9635]

I also liked the chained instances rather than having to complete hearts and such in the middle. It gave a better flow to the story, and I could explore the new map after I was done the story. The length was not a problem for me.

[DiogoSilva.7089]

> @"Clayton Kisko II.1934" said:

> We made a note of the length that players were exposed to in our episode and we tend to agree that **it may have been a bit too long**.

 

No, no it wasn't.

 

I can understand that not everyone will like it, but the 3-chained instances were wonderful and greatly contributed to world and story immersion to me. It felt like playing a story-driven, single-player game to me (in the good sense of the word). Really, exploring the new map felt a lot more satisfying after going through not only the action setpieces, but also through instanced and relaxed exploration of the new charr's tribe, without worrying about nearby events, hunts, player chat and other distraction. By the time I gained access to the map, I was very fulfilled by the narrative.

 

I loved the (new) action setpiece storytelling > calm instanced storytelling > map exploration structure.

[Rune Darkmoor.3269]

As a GW1 player that loved the way missions worked in GW1 I have to say that the way they handled personal story up to PoF was very disappointing to me. It always felt disjointed with the constant in/out of story instances, and they felt very small. While I understand a lot of the reasons why this design may have been used, consistently changing locations, trying to fit world exploration between instances, engine limitations, etc. All the pieces never felt satisfying outside of a few specific instances.

 

I must say that where they have gone with story instances with PoF has made the story feel much more satisfying to me and at times remind me of GW1 in a way.

[CptAurellian.9537]

I really liked the chained instances, since they created a flow that has been quite rare before. And, more importantly, please consider dividing long instances into several shorter ones in the future, just like in this release. I was positively surprised when server crashes in the last part of the story did not throw me back to 0.

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

> @"DiogoSilva.7089" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko II.1934" said:

> > We made a note of the length that players were exposed to in our episode and we tend to agree that **it may have been a bit too long**.

>

> No, no it wasn't.

>

> I can understand that not everyone will like it, but the 3-chained instances were wonderful and greatly contributed to world and story immersion to me. It felt like playing a story-driven, single-player game to me (in the good sense of the word). Really, exploring the new map felt a lot more satisfying after going through not only the action setpieces, but also through instanced and relaxed exploration of the new charr's tribe, without worrying about nearby events, hunts, player chat and other distraction. By the time I gained access to the map, I was very fulfilled by the narrative.

>

> I loved the (new) action setpiece storytelling > calm instanced storytelling > map exploration structure.

 

Excellent! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

> @"crashburntoo.7431" said:

> I think the chained instances worked very well for the narrative. If I were to look at what I've completed and consider little change to this segment of the story, I think the third instance could have been preceded with some open world content and still flowed. The difficulty would have been in encouraging players to not delve too far into the map before continuing the story arc to allow for continuity. Ultimately, that decision is up to the player and is a factor on almost any other map anyway!

>

> While I liked the flow from the chained instances, playing all three in a row was more than I was prepared to do. As a father of four kids that are ten and under, I'm a fan of smaller segments that I can enjoy one at a time. I've read similar posts from others as well as some people that just want to get to the open world and explore. It's their primary mode of play and enjoyment.

>

> Thanks again @"Clayton Kisko II.1934" and others who posted... I like this Forum Chat.

 

You and me both my friend! I have a 2 year old and the life as a father gamer is much different these days. As always, it is about balance and each episode is different and requires different things! :)

[Randulf.7614]

I quite liked the 3 chain experience and how each one differed in style. I also liked how each one did sneaky or puzzle solving, without making it so ify ou weren't proficient at the sneaking stuff for example you didn;t feel you couldn't complete it (I abhor sneaking around - I come equipped with hammers and maces with toons because I want to thwack things not tip toe round them like a wimp!!!). Each instance felt the right length as well individually anyway

 

Beyond the golem boss which slowed everything down and took a lot of the fun out for me, it was a fun experience.

 

Just keep in mind, a lot of players are itching to get into the new maps early (I was happy to play as it came, so it didn't bother me)

[Rauderi.8706]

I'm actually kinda jazzed to see the dev team experiment with chained instances this way. PoF has been good for that.

Making different instances means hopefully having different break points that can be used to make Living World more suitable for replay and achievements.