[SPOILERS]Story Feedback

[Glaurung.1076]

Hello, i just finished the story and i loved it. I felt that some characters that we havent seen in along time where introduced too rushed (like Logan) and others were completely absent (Where is Majory?) The cinematics where next level and the fight mechanics were super enjoyable. I feel the map is more than a big event/story instance than a real piece of Tyria but i understand the limitations of the medium. My questions is, where you worried going for that ending that people might be so devastated that they wont be able to play the game till the next story step comes up? Cause i legitimately feel that way :persevere:

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

We were very cognizant about what emotions the ending would elicit. I think the impact is a result from the talented narrative team we have and their ability to build weight to that moment. It’s heavy and people may need a breather afterwards but after a bit I’m positive folks will be itching to explore the new map and fractal. There is a lot of great gameplay and stories told in there.

 

And just one last thing. The whole team really just knocked it out of the park. From effects, to cinematic, to props, design, environment art, programming, etc. Everyone was working in harmony to make that moment special. So I just want to say hats off to the team and a thank you to you and the community for sharing it with us.

 

 

[Teleoceras.1298]

I agree, it isn't Dragon's Watch without Marjory and Kasmeer! Are we going to see them again?

[Mike Zadorojny.7058]

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Given budgets and line counts sometimes we gloss over character introductions to get right to the action. This can come across, like in Logan's case, as them being introduced quickly. It also means that we can't include every character in every scene. We try to do call outs or side comments that let you know they're still with you, even if they aren't directly involved.

 

>! Any time you create a story that resonates with players it can effect them emotionally greatly. We knew that the ending was going to touch players at different levels. We've seen reactions commenting on how much the ending as pulled them in, we've seen players shed tears, we've seen frustration and many other reactions. These are all emotions that internal members have shared during development as well. It will take varying amounts of time for people to process the final events of the episode, and that is ok! We knew that some people were going to feel as you currently do, but we also know that the community as a whole is going through the experience together. And even in the most troubling times, having friends to share your emotions with is a boon. So I recommend that you take some time to processing your thoughts and we will be here when you are ready.

[Glaurung.1076]

Thank you for the answers!

[Donari.5237]

I really appreciated the long walk. The whole presentation was -- wow. I had tears in my eyes, which doesn't happen much in computer games for me. I ... just ... I ...

 

This was epic.

 

Maybe later I'll have critiques and what-ifs and speculations but right now I'm just immersed and feeling it. Kudos!

[Andrew Gray.5816]

Marjory and Kasmeer

>! stayed behind in Elona to help evacuate civilians in response to Kralkatorrik's Rift invasions. There are a couple scenes that touch on that. Mesmer portals OP for evacuations.

[LinseyMurdock.4165]

Working closely with the narrative team on the story for this season has truly been a highlight of my career. I am so incredibly proud of the teams that brought it to life. It was such a tight multi-discipline collaboration and we absolutely could not have pulled this off without that. I'll never forget the experience of today and seeing our players reactions. The whole Living World team were hopping from stream to stream watching as our partners played through the end. Hearing our whole room break out into laughter, cheers, and clapping while we collectively experienced that real-time feedback was genuinely magical. My heart soars. I couldn't be happier.

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

> @"LinseyMurdock.4165" said:

> Working closely with the narrative team on the story for this season has truly been a highlight of my career. I am so incredibly proud of the teams that brought it to life. It was such a tight multi-discipline collaboration and we absolutely could not have pulled this off without that. I'll never forget the experience of today and seeing our players reactions. The whole Living World team were hopping from stream to stream watching as our partners played through the end. Hearing our whole room break out into laughter, cheers, and clapping while we collectively experienced that real-time feedback was genuinely magical. My heart soars. I couldn't be happier.

 

I can’t echo this enough. This was truly a highlight of my career!

[folk.8190]

**Absolutely stunning story!** From the very beginning of the episode, I felt some sort of hopelessness. That feeling when you know that nothing good will end. The ending of the episode..... touched the depths of my soul. Music in this episode is superb.

 

_And one more thing ...... death of Avengers, then the deadly Taimi disease .... now Aurene. How to live on after all?_

[Lauren.3061]

I can't even right now. I just got out of the final story instance.

 

>! That whole fight sequence was one of the best things I've played through in any game, ever. Can I just say how amazing the Zephyrite choir is? Those incredible chords swelling up as we charge the crystal to blast Kralk, just incredible. Whoever did the audio designs for all of that, it was resonating through my headset like crazy. Such ear candy! And just the sight of Aurene battling Kralk, weaving back and forth in front of him while all that was going on was so impressive. I felt so proud of her. But then to realize she was gone after all that planning? Bringing all of our Tyrian and Krytan allies together?

 

 

I'm still struggling to process it, and I can't handle this cliffhanger I'm left with! It's killing me, I've gotta have the next episode! And that's a huge credit to the story team. <3 Amazing!

[MHaastrup.6978]

>! I was horrified when Caithe was branded, especially when Aurene talked through her. I thought her mind had been destroyed like with dragon minions.

>! How could the commander possibly recover from the loss of Aurene? The nearest friendly dragon is in Cantha, and the gods have left.

[Urban Grimmblitz.4291]

>! Honestly, this is the first time the plot of the GW2 story gave me so many mixed feelings. At the end, I felt surprised, happy, sad, disappointed and expectant, all at the same time. I don't know if that means I like the plot or not, I guess I still need time to digest it. But a "thanks a lot" to all the developers who worked on this, they did a good job.

[Clayton Kisko.5207]

> @"Urban Grimmblitz.4291" said:

> >! Honestly, this is the first time the plot of the GW2 story gave me so many mixed feelings. At the end, I felt surprised, happy, sad, disappointed and expectant, all at the same time. I don't know if that means I like the plot or not, I guess I still need time to digest it. But a "thanks a lot" to all the developers who worked on this, they did a good job.

 

Thank you! It’s been our pleasure to share this experience with you all!

[luxymonsteri.1078]

Just as a general question, have the narrative team been thinking about the long-term cause of what constant character death causes with people's ability to care and be attached to the characters in the game, when really the only predictable outcome of them being there is that they'll most likely be killed off? Not only have I personally found it very difficult to bring myself to like any of the characters and because of that, the story too, since Heart of Thorns because of this, but so have several game veterans in my guild.

[Ba air.1372]

> @"luxymonsteri.1078" said:

> Just as a general question, have the narrative team been thinking about the long-term cause of what constant character death causes with people's ability to care and be attached to the characters in the game, when really the only predictable outcome of them being there is that they'll most likely be killed off? Not only have I personally found it very difficult to bring myself to like any of the characters and because of that, the story too, since Heart of Thorns because of this, but so have several game veterans in my guild.

 

Same for me really. It's extremely hard for me to keep investing myself in the story when every update brings anxiety over who will be killed. I didn't play the game activity for a year around Heart of Thorns, I found it so upsetting and now... I have trouble caring about anything that goes on in each update. It's become so predictable that characters we like and our commanders will just suffer without end.

[ZTeamG.4603]

>! The map and story for this episode were extremely well done--I daresay they're my favorites of all so far. I loved the design of the map. Not only is it very beautiful, but the highly vertical nature of it is extremely fun to traverse with a griffon. I especially loved the throwbacks to GW1, from the memorable design of Thunderhead Keep and its surrounding area to the small things like the aptly-named PoI "Stonefall," right where Dagnar Stoneplate died and the Ice Caves of Sorrow. I also enjoyed finding the killer Jackalope, but was a bit disappointed that stun-locking kitten only gave regular champ loot and didn't have an achievement tied to it. The story...wow, it took my breath away, and this is probably the first time I've felt really invested in how the story went at the end. However, I do have one bug to report: my Deus ex Machina dragon is dead and not waking up ( jk :'( ).

[MHaastrup.6978]

The only thing that bugs me is that we seem to fail constantly, even when we succeed. We failed to kill Joko for example. That was Aurene.

[Phaede Knight.4705]

I too am getting tired of emotionally investing in characters that just seem to get the GoT treatment ...though to be honest...anyone of Dragons Watch could have died and atleast it would have felt like they sacrificed themselves to save, Aurene and the commander and I would have sad but ok with the loss...but to kill off Aurene like this was shocking, angering, depressing and yes like others I feel like i'm heading down a road where I'm becoming completely apathetic about characters in the game I wont lie I even almost uninstalled I was so angry after finishing the story. Over 5 yrs of time spent 250yrs ago in Tyria and I only buried a few friends … now 250yrs later I've buried sooo many...

[Gomoratoad.9867]

> @"Ba air.1372" said:

> > @"luxymonsteri.1078" said:

> > Just as a general question, have the narrative team been thinking about the long-term cause of what constant character death causes with people's ability to care and be attached to the characters in the game, when really the only predictable outcome of them being there is that they'll most likely be killed off? Not only have I personally found it very difficult to bring myself to like any of the characters and because of that, the story too, since Heart of Thorns because of this, but so have several game veterans in my guild.

>

> Same for me really. It's extremely hard for me to keep investing myself in the story when every update brings anxiety over who will be killed. I didn't play the game activity for a year around Heart of Thorns, I found it so upsetting and now... I have trouble caring about anything that goes on in each update. It's become so predictable that characters we like and our commanders will just suffer without end.

 

Same @ both of these posts. I severed any attachment I had to the characters and story after Heart of Thorns because I don't play games to get sad. I don't think the story needs to be sunshine and rainbows 100% of the time, but I feel like y'all really go too hard with this endless misery and hopelessness stuff, and as a result I can't bring myself to even play through story content beyond the bare minimum to unlock maps anymore. :/

[Leigh.6083]

^ I have to agree with you - the balance between good and bad events in a story is really important. Too much of _either_ can lead to boredom and apathy.

 

GW2 began with a theme of hope in the face of a great challenge, and I really want that theme of hope to be preserved. There’s been so many losses!

 

Defeating Mordremoth, Balthazar and Joko didn’t have the same satisfaction as defeating Zhaitan. Everyone was so happy after Zhaitan’s death - remember how the characters all celebrated in Fort Trinity? - we need that again!

[Sephirus Drakonis.6903]

I just need to make sure of something, because i've seen a lot of different people talk about it, and I want to know... is this next season, season 5, the final act of Guild Wars 2? Will we be getting more stuff after that? The story has reached such incredible heights that it kinda feels like that, this being the last season of episode 4.

[uropygid.3402]

I have to agree with the handful of others above me, in both being unable to get invested in any story/characters at this point, cos it feels like as soon as I get attached to any character they're probably just going to be killed off later ~~or forgotten about for several episodes~~

 

I also feel the stakes have just been too high for too long as well. when every single episode is "THE SKY IS FALLING" it's... really hard to care about the latest world-ending crisis. I personally haven't played GW2 for any kind of investment or interest in the story for at least two years now, I just play to enjoy my characters/fashion wars/new content/gold farm/grind for legendaries.

[MHaastrup.6978]

> @"uropygid.3402" said:

> I have to agree with the handful of others above me, in both being unable to get invested in any story/characters at this point, cos it feels like as soon as I get attached to any character they're probably just going to be killed off later ~~or forgotten about for several episodes~~

>

> I also feel the stakes have just been too high for too long as well. when every single episode is "THE SKY IS FALLING" it's... really hard to care about the latest world-ending crisis. I personally haven't played GW2 for any kind of investment or interest in the story for at least two years now, I just play to enjoy my characters/fashion wars/new content/gold farm/grind for legendaries.

 

The developers have previously stated that they sometimes can't get the voice actors to do voices for each episode/expansion. A notable example is the voice actor for Zojja, who apparently refused to voice that character any more.

[uropygid.3402]

> @"MHaastrup.6978" said:

>

> The developers have previously stated that they sometimes can't get the voice actors to do voices for each episode/expansion. A notable example is the voice actor for Zojja, who apparently refused to voice that character any more.

 

I understand this (although Felicia Day has said she would like to return for Zojja, actually, and [indicated she has not been contacted to reprise the role](

"indicated she has not been contacted to reprise the role"))... and I would understand simply recasting the actors for some characters if they've grown out of ANet's budget, if that is the case. it's that we keep getting new characters introduced, only for them to inevitably be killed off later - if ANet instead chose to introduce a new cast of characters (like, erm, Dragon's Watch) and keep them to voice actors with more open schedules, that'd be fine... I just ask that we know they won't be around to get attached to only to be cacked off later for drama. :'(