Does anyone else not do the main story?

[darkwombat.3695]

I played Guild Wars 2 when it first came out and off and on for many years. If its one thing I never got into was the main story. Whats funny is when the game came out I didnt mind it. I did the character story and found my parents or sister etc... But somewhere along the line I just couldnt stomach it. Ive tried like half a dozen times.

It might be the "living story" or whatever it is but something just does not sit right with me. I dont know if its the pacing or what, it just feels like the story parts dont fit the game well. It drags the pace way down and I dont find many of the charcters interesting.

I even tried Path of Fire and by the time I get to the Casino early in the main sotry I am so bored I stop. Done this several times on different characters.

Part of my issue is I prefer "lore" over "story" in an MMO. I like to explore and find my own story. I had the same issue with ESO but did finish the initial story and Morrowind but after that again, bored.

I do LOVE exploring however and the hearts and events.

I just bought End of Dragons so I have two questions...

• Is there anyone out there who feels like me regarding the way Guild Wars 2 delivers its story?
• Can I skip the story and still enjoy expansions?

Thanks!

[Zera.9435]

I'll be the first (but not the last) to tell you that, yes, there are parts of the story that are just kitten all kinds of duck. One of the things that annoyed me in story (particularly LS stuff) was the unavoidable eves-dropping on Kasmeer and Marjory's relationship drama. I mean we were literally in the middle of sifting through a wreckage of Zephyrite airships, and all those two would talk about was how they couldn't bear to live without the other. We get it, you're in love, young, and dumb. That same couple, later on as you prepare an ambush against a certain 'not-a-Mursaat' that can most certainly kill you without much effort, you are forced to once again listen in on the relationship drama between them talking about 'checking in with your girlfriend'. You are minutes away from possibly kittening dying, and THAT is what you are wanting to talk about?

So no, no one should fault you for feeling this way about the story. No game is perfect, and the key thing is that you still find enjoyment in the game despite some of its flaws (which every game has). If anyone does fault you, tell them to talk to me, and I'll tell them to kitten the right off, because constructive criticism is valid. This game's story does have issues, no doubt, but it's still an enjoyable story (mostly) for those who enjoy this type of game. You gotta take the good with the bad. Because for every "... check in with your girlfriend" there is also a

Spoiler

Aurene kittening died.

and also a

Spoiler

You kittening died. No really. YOU. DIED.

 

Edited February 9 by Zera.9435

[DanAlcedo.3281]

I only play the story on my main. 

 

[Zera.9435]

1 minute ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

I only play the story on my main. 

 

To be fair, you kind of have to do the story stuff at least once...

[LSD.4673]

Besides amongst die-hards, GW2's story is notorious for being just...bad, in every way. Don't sweat it, and don't bother persevering -- it only gets worse.

You need to do the first chapter of each story to unlock the maps (for LW, it's the first chapter of each episode), but beyond that, you're missing nothing...at least until/unless you reach a point where you want/need to do collections (like for legendaries). Until then, just ignore it and be happy.

[Zera.9435]

20 minutes ago, LSD.4673 said:

Besides amongst die-hards, GW2's story is notorious for being just...bad, in every way. Don't sweat it, and don't bother persevering -- it only gets worse.

You need to do the first chapter of each story to unlock the maps (for LW, it's the first chapter of each episode), but beyond that, you're missing nothing...at least until/unless you reach a point where you want/need to do collections (like for legendaries). Until then, just ignore it and be happy.

Story definitely needs work, sure. But there are certain moments in the story that are a kittening gold mine. I mean, have you not played as a female Sylvari on the main original story prior to level 30 when you are trying to decide which order to join? Jennifer Hale, who does the female Sylvari voice, does a kittening AMAZING job delivering the lines in the Order of Whispers parts of that chunk before you actually join. She delivers again if you join the Order of Whispers and your character get drunk. How about...

Spoiler

When Eir was kittening impaled. Surely you felt something?

or perhaps when

Spoiler

Aurene kittening died. Still felt nothing? You sure you actually paid attention to the story or even bothered to give it a chance?

I don't know, man. The story does have flaws, yes, but I wouldn't say it is bad in EVERY way. It has its amazing moments too.

[LSD.4673]

16 minutes ago, Zera.9435 said:

Story definitely needs work, sure. But there are certain moments in the story that are a kittening gold mine. I mean, have you not played as a female Sylvari on the main original story prior to level 30 when you are trying to decide which order to join? Jennifer Hale, who does the female Sylvari voice, does a kittening AMAZING job delivering the lines in the Order of Whispers parts of that chunk before you actually join. She delivers again if you join the Order of Whispers and your character get drunk. How about...

  Reveal hidden contents

When Eir was kittening impaled. Surely you felt something?

or perhaps when

  Reveal hidden contents

Aurene kittening died. Still felt nothing? You sure you actually paid attention to the story or even bothered to give it a chance?

I don't know, man. The story does have flaws, yes, but I wouldn't say it is bad in EVERY way. It has its amazing moments too.

Even if we disregard the issues with pacing, the gameplay of the story instances, or issues with the overarching story, there's still the complete and utter failure that is the writing. It's like an American soap aimed at teens. 

[Zera.9435]

6 minutes ago, LSD.4673 said:

Even if we disregard the issues with pacing, the gameplay of the story instances, or issues with the overarching story, there's still the complete and utter failure that is the writing. It's like an American soap aimed at teens. 

No arguments from me there. The writers recently fell in love with the overuse of ellipses. Despite that, in prior years there are some good moments worth experiencing.

Edited February 9 by Zera.9435

[Mell.4873]

The story isn't for everyone which is why most MMO have none. I am just grateful they tried and put together something coherent enough to follow. 

New story map says we need to kill/stop/investigate X. That is good enough for me, rather that than tiny pockets of story like ESO has. 

[Obfuscate.6430]

Short answer: Yes, you ABSOLUTELY can play and enjoy the game without playing through the story for the most part. 
I have a friend who exclusively plays wvw and has a profound hatred of pve. So - it definitely is possible to play and still enjoy the game without doing the story!

However: Certain rewards and unlocking certain things are directly linked with playing through the story. Also whether we like it or not, the story helps give context for what is happening in each chapter. Playing through the story at least once is probably a good idea. 
 

 

[Morvran.8265]

GW2 writing is everything that's wrong with modern entertainment all rolled into one. Writers draw inspiration from sinking ships like Disney.

You kind of have to do it for rewards and unlocks but I'd suggest muting dialogue and doing something else while characters are going on and on for minutes at a time.

[Fueki.4753]

3 hours ago, LSD.4673 said:

Besides amongst die-hards, GW2's story is notorious for being just...bad, in every way.

It's not bad in every way.

For example, the cinematic with Joko, before Aurene swoops in and ruins the day, was great.

The cinematic with Jormag possessing the corpse of the Fraenir was a nice try, too.

[LSD.4673]

13 minutes ago, Fueki.4753 said:

It's not bad in every way.

For example, the cinematic with Joko, before Aurene swoops in and ruins the day, was great.

The cinematic with Jormag possessing the corpse of the Fraenir was a nice try, too.

I was trying to think of a good part of the story, and that's actually it: that pretentious, pointlessly long Joko speech being interrupted by the guy being eaten. That was good. The speech, though...

[Chichimec.9364]

For me, the story line is the weakest part of GW2. I find long stretches of it to be boring and even tedious. It took me years to finally bother finishing it. At this point, I've got it all done through the latest SotO drop. However, that's on my main account. On my 5 alt accounts the only story I've bothered with is what's needed for some basic unlocks like the beginning of HoT to unlock gliding and the beginning of PoF to unlock mounts. Some people love the story line and immerse themselves in it. If they enjoy that, good for them. I don't and I get along in Tyria just fine.

[Urud.4925]

Eh, everyone has their own tastes if we talk about the story, so it's a good thing to avoid lines like "if you don't skip anything, you'll fall in love with the story after 100 hours" or "the whole story is garbage, you can skip everything without losing anything".

The thing about your parents/sister that you say at the beginning, those are random mini-chapters, pulled based on what you choose when you create a character, as you know. They are very disjointed, some of them are interesting, some others are quite silly, and in general give a quite weak impression to a new player. But I understand the point: to give your character some background, like when you create a new character for your D&D campaign. Not everyone is a fan of RP though.

I liked the story in HoT and also PoF though, it was quite well paced, with moments of dialogues and fights that didn't seem put there just to break the flow. Something that I cannot say for the 2 following expansions (and the new LW1), clearly more focused on talks, where you just sit and listen, or go afk if it's your second playthrough, with some weak fight (especially in SotO, between Peitha's monologues. Like in FF14 basically). But even a "bad" or boring saga, like IBS, had good moments (like the fight of 2 parents vs their son in DS, that stole me some tear).

About EoD and your question... right now I don't remember any memorable moment that would be a pity to miss, if you skip the story. The whole story is not bad, some character is interesting, like Rama, but most of the dialogues are again about personal affairs, love relationships, redeeming old evil characters that you are supposed to feel sorry for them now, non binary characters that love to shout "I'm your mostly friendly agender engineer", like if people would shout their sexuality like that, dialogues about "I think brotherhood is a not inclusive term, there are also women in our organization"... I mean, nothing against inclusivity, but it should be done with interesting topic and characters that have something to say, not shovelled it in the face like this, like if you should like a character BECAUSE they are non binary, rather than being interesting as person.

TL;DR if you found PoF boring, you can skip also EoD. It has more story than lore, and the few new lore has been added to justify some wrong decision we (as Commander) did in the past, so it seemed (to me) put there as patch than as natural consequence (see the whole void). Knowing the story would let you understand the meta events better though, if you care.

[Teknomancer.4895]

8 hours ago, Zera.9435 said:

literally in the middle of sifting through a wreckage of Zephyrite airships, and all those two would talk about was how they couldn't bear to live without the other.

(snip)

You are minutes away from possibly kittening dying, and THAT is what you are wanting to talk about?

This is the entire problem with the story post-Scarlet, and it's not just those two characters (although they are the biggest sources of it). It's like the game turned into a long series of personal crises instead of the big world-ending cataclysm we're actually supposed to be paying attention to, whether Jory & Kas, Taimi's condition, Blish's entire character arc, Braham's whatever the hell he had going on, etc. etc. etc. The bit about the teenage soap opera pretty much hit it on the nose; that stuff starts up and I'm just like "can we maybe focus on the big thing that's currently trying to make us all dead, please?"

[KerryTT.4792]

I tended to start things but not finish them. So, at one point I had mostly finished with the main storyline, had only done a little of HOT and had done about half of POF. Due to not finishing them, I had not taken part in significant aspects of the storyline. Which continually come up in dialogue... like killing a major creature, or being there when someone died. (I mostly caught up to things when the Return event happened.)

At times, I tried to rationalize the differences between the dialogues and my actual situation. I do get into combat a lot.... maybe I got hit in the head and have amnesia. Or maybe I am assuming the identity of the hero who did those things. 🙂

[kharmin.7683]

I've done the core story all of the way through once on my main.  I also use my main to open the new maps and do most of the story for those.  I think that my other dozen or so toons are all stopped at the first attack on Claw Island step because I really don't care beyond that point.

[Dayra.7405]

If you don’t play the story once you miss a lot easy mastery points. You also miss the background that glue maps and their events together.

[Super Hayes.6890]

It is difficult to play through the story again on my alts because of how slow the pacing is in the beginning. There are also some encounters in the LW seasons that are just overly long without reasonable break points to pause. I do enjoy replaying some of it though. I'm another one of those who does it all on my main. Every time I try to play through on another character I burn out usually in LW season 2.

[Lucy.3728]

I suggest you look for other people and play the story together. Best with voice chat for entertainment and distraction from the story. That's how I played through all but the core story (which I already had). I found a community forum and there was someone asking for help with the story and I and some other replied and we formed a group (in Discord too) and stuck together since then through all releases up to SotO.

To me story is not something Anet did well. Not in GW1 and not in GW2. I like those games for other things like the competitive parts (Kurzick/Luxon missions/alliance battles in GW1 and WvW in GW2).

And opposite to the majority, the stories I actually liked while playing, are the ones ppl usually dislike like Icebrood Saga and End of Dragons.

[evilcat.6817]

I havent finished the last chapter on main story. But i am slowly doing expansions and living world. The main story... the rewards from that are really underwhelming for lv80 char. The mastery point is something to look for.

I am somehow curious about doint 36 combos of personal story the first 2 chapters. Just to see what is up.

BTW does anyone know if there is a chapter of living world/expansion which is worth to repeat on alts? Like you get 3x mystic coin and 5 rare gear and stuff?

[Cuks.8241]

Its 2/5 for a computer game story imo. And delivery really varies, from acceptable to a complete drag.

Also a cool cinematic and a cliche shocking moment is also just that. Doesnt really have much to do with the story.

If it was a book it would  be in a 1/10 dont read category.

The best part was imo the start of LS5. We actually had real characters with real personal motivations and tangible relationships. But it only lasted for 2 or 3 episodes and it was taken over by cliche twists that were never deserved and did nothing.

[Widebody.5071]

Leveled my main on the main living stories and got world completion. On the other toons I just knocked out the hero points and ensured all masteries were taken to max level.

The main story provides decent content, there's allot to be earned doing living stories. better then buying everything. 

Don't mess around with raids, strike missions and such due to the hassle of finding a group. But it's all good I like being able to explore the world of Guild Wars without too much repetition.

[Teknomancer.4895]

Skipping the story will bypass dialogue like this:

Quote

    Taimi: Commander, I'm getting an odd reading from the communicator. Your temperature seems to be fluctuating. Wildly.
    <Character name>: Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I was given a heat barrier from one of the Spirits of the Wild down here.
    Taimi: Sure. Yeah. Perfect sense. But seriously what's happening?
    <Character name>: I told you. These voices spoke to me.
    Taimi: Uh-huh.
    <Character name>: Then the ghost tree things told me I should free them.
    Taimi: Uh-huh.
    <Character name>: And in return, they grant me protection from the high temperatures.
    Taimi: Sure, sure... So... You're clearly suffering from heat stroke. But don't panic; I'll send help your way!
    <Character name>: Taimi, I'm fine. Or will be. As soon as I liberate more of my magical ghost friends.
    Taimi: Oh, boy.

Whether skipping writing like that is a good thing or a bad thing is in the eye of the beholder, I suppose.