141 replies to this topic

[Castellan]

What I mean is that from what I've played (three different personal stories)... Story is not that engaging due to a lack of violence and truly heinous acts. If the story was a bit more wicked, I think that the player would feel more emotional towards the events that are occurring.

(Warning spoiler contains info on a storyline)

Spoiler

For example, in the Norn personal storyline, the player was supposed to help
the minotaur spirit. While I was doing this... I felt no drive to do it and
what's more... there were no shocks and twists that caught me off guard.
Everything felt predictable. I basically beat the bad guy(Son of Svanir) save
the spirit and so on.
Now, the reason why the Minotaur Spirit was in trouble was that the Sons of
Svanir were trying to feed it to a creature who has been already eating
minotaurs as it is. This wasn't depicted as something to get angry about.
If anything it's a reason to stop the Son of Svanir but it's not reason to do it
with passion, if you know what I mean.

It feels as if a 9 year old can play this game. If that's what Anet was going for then job well done. But I don't believe this is the case.

Now, if the story gets better as it goes then I'm fine. But I have yet to see it.

[Sovereign]

I'd love to have the storyline a bit more 300-esque. And I'm not even joking, presentation already reminds me of it.

[Milennin]

I haven't played story yet, except for 1 mission on my norn character, so I can't really say how bad it is. I'll just say that my expectations for story are bottomlow. Guild Wars 1 had a horribly bad story, and I'm not expecting much more from Guild Wars 2.

[Zefiris]

Adding random violence does not make a story more mature. Sorry. What you are talking about is inherently immature, in fact - the assumption that brutality or "heineous acts" make a story inherently better is the assumption of a teenager.

I don't hate violence in stories - my avatar is from a story where, in episode 7, a family gets butchered, and their inards removed, replaced with candy, as a macabre halloween greeting. I'm a fangirl for that story.
My point is merely that your point is complete nonsense.

(not that I don't think the personal story needs some work. But adding violence? Nah, not particularly needed. More choices to be less-than-heroic would suffice. Non-dark stories can still be non-predictable and engaging)

[Anastaziel]

As with everything else it comes down to taste. I personally cannot understand what Milennin is talking about. In my opinion Guild Wars 1's lore was one of the best I have ever encountered. Saying that random violence adds to the story or a game is like saying that special effects add to the plot of a movie. Which reminds me as to what crap of a movie industry we have now: The sound of a door closing or opening is louder that the sound of the dialog. What you want are bright lights and big bangs. Even if you quality hit you on the nose you would have no idea what had happened. This does not mean that the personal story in Guild Wars 2 does not need work, but adding random violence to it is pointless and immature.

Edited by Anastaziel, 19 June 2012 - 12:27 PM.

[Fiery Lily]

Personally i really liked human story (with my choices, ofc it can be really different and i dont know about the rest). Adding violence or sex to a story doesnt really appeal to me, i suppose that is a matter of taste. Thing is PROBABLY they intend gw2 to be a pegi 12 so i really doubt they will add resident evil elements

[KartoonHead]

I think the personal storyline shown in the beta weekend is a poor reflection of what the storyline of the entire game will be like. For a start it bears little-to-no relevance to the whole elder-dragon story, it's just there to introduce the characters from your race who'll be important later on. Remember that these story missions only occurred within the first couple of starter areas.

[ShezuTsukai]

You might check out some of the other races story line and lore. The charr is quite a bit darker with traitor/renegade pinings. The human has kidnapping and lost family members.

The norm have already lost so many spirits to Jormag that even a mundane one like Minotaur would be a great loss.

In the end I agree the story line is a little weak but I'm willing to give Anet the benefit of the doubt because we haven't seen the whole story yet. Bit of a cliff hanger for some.

[Sovereign]

Anastaziel, on 19 June 2012 - 12:26 PM, said:

As with everything else it comes down to taste. I personally cannot understand what Milennin is talking about. In my opinion Guild Wars 1's lore was one of the best I have ever encountered.

While I'd say the story was fine and I still enjoy it to this day (and the mere fact that an ORPG has an actual storyline), presentation was hilarious.

Anastaziel, on 19 June 2012 - 12:26 PM, said:

Saying that random violence adds to the story or a game is like saying that special effects add to the plot of a movie. Which reminds me as to what crap of a movie industry we have now: The sound of a door closing or opening is louder that the sound of the dialog. What you want are bright lights and big bangs. Even if you quality hit you on the nose you would have no idea what had happened. This does not mean that the personal story in Guild Wars 2 does not need work, but adding random violence to it is pointless and immature.

Special effects definitely add to the perception of a movie. Story-driven movies with great actors have special effects and complex sound effects as well. It's almost like saying color doesn't add to a picture.

[TheyCallMeIgi]

Unlike some people here, I haven't beaten the game yet, so I have a hard time giving my opinion about the story in the game.

[Milennin]

Toby_from_Midgard, on 19 June 2012 - 12:34 PM, said:

While I'd say the story was fine and I still enjoy it to this day (and the mere fact that an ORPG has an actual storyline), presentation was hilarious.

Heheh, yeah. I have more of a "problem" with the presentation than the actual story.=p

[Chalky]

"Tutorial story line in not jaw dropping shocker" I guess.

Seriously, I think you may not have enough knowledge of the story line to make a judgement like that just yet.

This is basically the same as complaining that pre-searing GW1 story line wasn't dark or jaw dropping.

Edited by Chalky, 19 June 2012 - 12:42 PM.

[Sovereign]

Chalky, on 19 June 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

"Tutorial story line in not jaw dropping shocker" I guess.

Seriously, I think you may not have enough knowledge of the story line to make a judgement like that just yet.

This is basically the same as complaining that pre-searing GW1 story line wasn't dark or jaw dropping.

You can play the storyline up to lvl 20. It gives you a pretty good idea of what's around the corner.
I played some of the human storylines though and I loved them. They were very engaging and kept me motivated.
But I hope the next quest after the cliffhanger contains one of the draw-artsy-cinematics - because I love them and find them much more engaging than the dialog cutszcenes. :>

[Plutonsvea]

I agree with you.
And also, the cut-scenes are terribly slow. I always decide to skip it, just to get on with the game.
If there is a suggestion that is definitely needed for Gw2, it would be a quest log.
Just so when we have no idea of what I am doing, I can read it and find out why I am doing it.

I know some of your might not care about that, but I'm one of the people who love to be immersed in the storyline, without wasting a whole lot of time.

Toby_from_Midgard, on 19 June 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

You can play the storyline up to lvl 20. It gives you a pretty good idea of what's around the corner.
I played some of the human storylines though and I loved them. They were very engaging and kept me motivated.
But I hope the next quest after the cliffhanger contains one of the draw-artsy-cinematics - because I love them and find them much more engaging than the dialog cutszcenes. :>

Correction, up to level 15.
I distinctively remember it as this, because it was a milestone that I reached, when I realised I had to go without the storyline to gain exp.
Cheers.

[viper11025]

Read a book?
Bland and pasty in some parts, well I agree the story seems lacking in some points, however I doubt it will be a big deal on release.

[Sovereign]

Plutonsvea, on 19 June 2012 - 12:52 PM, said:

I agree with you.
And also, the cut-scenes are terribly slow. I always decide to skip it, just to get on with the game.
If there is a suggestion that is definitely needed for Gw2, it would be a quest log.
Just so when we have no idea of what I am doing, I can read it and find out why I am doing it.

I know some of your might not care about that, but I'm one of the people who love to be immersed in the storyline, without wasting a whole lot of time.



Correction, up to level 15.
I distinctively remember it as this, because it was a milestone that I reached, when I realised I had to go without the storyline to gain exp.
Cheers.

For me it was lvl 20.
Btw. there is a personal storyline history, where you can check what you have done and what your task is.

[Gilles VI]

Chalky, on 19 June 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

This is basically the same as complaining that pre-searing GW1 story line wasn't dark or jaw dropping.

These are the most true words in this thread.

[chase128]

So you've played a small fraction of the storyline and are already complaining?

/facepalm


Also, "heinous acts" does not make a story "engaging".

[Sovereign]

Gilles VI, on 19 June 2012 - 12:55 PM, said:

These are the most true words in this thread.

Yet it created the right impression: The Prophecies storyline was not very "dark"

[Plutonsvea]

Toby_from_Midgard, on 19 June 2012 - 12:54 PM, said:

For me it was lvl 20.
Btw. there is a personal storyline history, where you can check what you have done and what your task is.

Thank you for this sudden revelation. I'll make sure I check that out on BWE3.
But I still come to think that the storyline cut-scenes are too slow. I read a lot faster than I watch, so a "Quest Log" type of option would be great.

[Naqaj]

Chalky, on 19 June 2012 - 12:41 PM, said:

This is basically the same as complaining that pre-searing GW1 story line wasn't dark or jaw dropping.

What? There was a little girl that turned from innocent child into terrifying psycho-stalker bitch! She drove my first character into suicide before he even chose a second profession! If that isn't dark I don't know what to tell you.

[Jairyn]

I could understand wanting more options for characterization, as humans are irritatingly squeaky clean, but "violence and heinous acts" that is not. Nor does "darkness" necessarily improve a story.

My complaint would be that, while I can accept that we all have to be "good guys." I don't want an especially dark story, I like being heroic, but it'd be nice to still reflect some multitonal options. Lawful good, neutral good, chaotic good (personal favorite), etc. This is prohibitive with voice work, but I don't understand what's so wrong with written dialogue. I can read way faster than those cutscenes take.

Where are the Cadrachs, Han Solos, Robin Hoods? It's not much of a personal story if we're all Dudley Do Right.

[Kazraan]

I haven't had the pleasure of playing through all of the story lines just yet, but having experienced that Charr and Norn (the beginning part anyway) storylines I both agree and disagree with you.

No, the story wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever heard, with a fairly predictable direction, but I can understand why Anet developed the story in such a way.  With what I understand, the personal storyline is supposed to help direct you towards zones that are level appropriate, not so much as to dominate your gameplay, such as it was in SWTOR.  However, having the personal story does give a bit of extra flavor to your character.  I choose to view these as racial stories, what I mean is that how each race has special abilites, in your "home zones" you have an extra questline to develop GW2 lore, which is a bit of an upgrade over a system like WoW's, which had the same quests regardless of race/class.  (neither of the previous statements were meant as an attack on WoW or SWTOR, just using them as a comparison.)

Ulitmately, it seems that with the system of dynamic events, plethora of exploration options, and the personal choices involved in GW2 dungeons, "your" story in GW2 is almost what you make it.  Reading reviews, talking with fellow players, and even sublte hints from the developers seem to leave the understanding that your GW2 story is going to be a derivative of what you put into it, completely seperate from the actual pre-developed storyline.

So while I do agree that the pre-developed story isn't groundbreakingly amazing, it will do its job to keeps players guided, both older players and the younger players looking to get a start in Tyria.  I did however, enjoy the simple story present to me by both races (Norn and Charr, I am avoiding the Human until release), Yet, I still disagree that the story WONT be dark of jaw dropping, because if you want it to be that way, you can probably make it so, either through personal choices in the storyline, or involving other gameplay aspects.

Edited by Kazraan, 19 June 2012 - 01:10 PM.

[Chabby]

I was disappointed with the human storyline so far, played it up to lvl 20.
In the bio, I selected that my character grew up in the street as a street rat and never recovered her sister's body.

... Then there was my character, in the tutorial, with a kinky armor full of gold ornaments, way too beautiful for a street rat armor. I do random missions where a character I don't even know is dumb enough to get in trouble three times... I'm fully friend with Logan (as a street rat?) who sends me to random cave to supposely search for a traitor, the story progression isn't fluid and my character is way too heroic, never mad/angry... And my long dead sister

Spoiler

finally ends appearing in another random cave as a prisonner with bandits in Kennex Hill. So much for the long lost sister, after only 4-5 missions she was near the city? The mystery around it was ruined in my opinion. It was way too easy, go to this icon, do this, do that, go in there, go there, go there again, here is your supposely dead sister, happy ending".

I didn't have the feeling of really searching or involving myself in Tyria, just following the green icon and its directives.

Anyway, I'm supposed to roll Asura, so maybe their storyline is better.

Edited by Chabby, 19 June 2012 - 01:31 PM.

[Chalky]

Toby_from_Midgard, on 19 June 2012 - 12:47 PM, said:

You can play the storyline up to lvl 20. It gives you a pretty good idea of what's around the corner.

No, it really doesn't.  It's the tutorial.  You're running round the starting zone doing race specific flavour missions.  The thing that's around the corner is "dragons come everyone dies" and you're screwing around killing some bandits who are trying to steal the farmer's cattle.

Edited by Chalky, 19 June 2012 - 01:13 PM.

[Biz]

If you want grimdark then you are looking in the wrong place. There are MMOs out there that do it... Secret World for one would be a better fit - both in setting and acctual game mechanics. GW2 has nothing to gain and a lot to lose if you start making everything darker.

Edited by Biz, 19 June 2012 - 01:20 PM.

[Chabby]

Biz, on 19 June 2012 - 01:19 PM, said:

GW2 has nothing to gain and a lot to lose if you start making everything darker.

Well, you know, they presented GW2's storyline as the awakening of the Elder Dragons and the fact that Tyria is now in chaos. I was hoping to get involved in the dragon issues faster. In the end the lands are at peace with small bandits and sunshine. lol. We'll see at release how it goes, I just hope it gets better after lvl 20.

[InfiniteRetro]

I know they want to make it personal story, but by christ open the goddamn game with an epic video of the entire world being f#$ked up by the dragons. Cataclysm had a nice opening and the starting zones either showed the change based on the race you chose OR you were already a part of it and the world and npcs reflected the change.

Explaining why the land is the way it is and the urgency of the dragons flapping around ripping up shit is lost when the first renown heart i did from the city was...feed pigs LOL i mean, theres no EPIC.

Tyria has had an enema and for once i'd like to see how that happened.

[Tregarde]

I didn't get very far in the Personal Story for my human and Norn, but I thought there was certainly some darkness to both, more so on the human side.

Certainly, this isn't Dragon Age, with it's very mature themes and choices. But at least there are choices, and I was actually enjoying how the stories were turning out.

Would I like for there to have been more choices, especially at character creation? Absolutely, there were plenty of times I'd have made a different choice if it was available. But ArenaNet has already crafted Personal Stories with hundreds of variations for an MMO. I think Star Wars The Old Republic is the only other MMO to have done that.

And who knows, maybe the Personal Stories get more mature as we progress in the game.

[Gilles VI]

Toby_from_Midgard, on 19 June 2012 - 12:57 PM, said:

Yet it created the right impression: The Prophecies storyline was not very "dark"

eh? I could say the Searing was like the most depressing that ever happened to me in a video game..