Story is an absolute slog

[Anomander.9347]

Oh my god. I sat waiting for one of the bears to finish his brain numbing story in the intro and I was seriously contemplating logging off and uninstalling, I was so pissed. This is SO boring. It feels like you guys padded everything with boring story exposition followed by: a) clicking on objects b) clicking on npcs c) an ambush. This right here is the absolute worst of MMORPGs. Please do better.

[illuminati.8453]

Oh wow, I had the exact opposite reaction.  I *hated* soto, but this is a return to form imo. After you finish the story, there is nothing but action, farming, metas, etc.  This is a breath of fresh air! 

[Radiancee.6537]

9 hours ago, illuminati.8453 said:

I *hated* soto, but this is a return to form imo. After you finish the story, there is nothing but action, farming, metas, etc.  This is a breath of fresh air! 

Same for me. Secrets of the Obscure was a disappointment for me storywise. I really enjoy JW, especially the new zones.

[Jianyu.7065]

*Sings* you're moooooore than welcome to go play another gaaaaammmeee.....

[Scar.1793]

The intro and every sequence with the Tyrian alliance is definitely boring in my view.
However, the map designs, events are overall really better. SotO maps were... bleh. The demon realm was alright though.

[xDrac.5932]

I agree with the part where they introduce themselves. I thought it'd be a quick introduction but no - they kept yapping and I actually tabbed out to do something else while they finish. As for the rest of the story (not that far in yet) I like it.

[Cronospere.8143]

for me it felt very logical. although there was lots of talking, this was to be expected at this point in the story. Like Illuminati said. i have the complete opposite.. 

 

[coffeemakesmecreative.4291]

I've enjoyed the prologue and first seven chapters better then anything in soto.  Been great so far.

[turin.2468]

My thing is I like the exploration of a new area the most. Finding new hidden areas, new mobs, new strange items, things like that. There's plenty of that so I'm happy.
Granted, some parts in the story are a bit talkative but then again it's a story.
So far I'm overall really happy with this expansion. Good job ArenaNet. :) 

[kiwituatara.6053]

As a WvW player that isn't invested in the story, this was an absolute drag. If you want to bring WvW and PvP players into PvE, at least make it fun, instead, I'm forced to sit through drawn out dialogues that I have no interest in.

[Noidea Incognito.9607]

Quote

As a WvW player that isn't invested in the story, this was an absolute drag. If you want to bring WvW and PvP players into PvE, at least make it fun, instead, I'm forced to sit through drawn out dialogues that I have no interest in.

Eh... wouldn't that be the same like saying:

"As a PVE player that isn't invested in Direct confrontation versus other players, this was an absolute drag. If you want to bring PvE players into WvW and PvP, at least make it fun, instead, i'm forced to fight other players that I have no interest in.

Edited August 21 by Noidea Incognito.9607

[Teppo.9203]

This isn't about about whether one "should" appreciate the story or not; it is simply about a bad bit of game design.   10 minutes of an un-skippable conversation info dump at the VERY FIRST MOMENTS of the game is just mind-boggling.

[Ragnarox.9601]

man this story is boring, I am watching two towers on other monitor waiting for npcs to finish their endless conversation. Feels like FF14 all over again....

Edited August 21 by Ragnarox.9601

[Chaosmade.8732]

story @ beginning is very bad , again doing events, rifts and new house system it feels like a tutorial not a story line
when you not interest in housing system like me you cant progress trough a story lol

[Incurve Giidis.7829]

classic hearts and rifts and really dumb fetch quests as part of main story, these things just never kittening end and participation amounts get lower and lower with each expansion - just give me a pack of mobs to kill as an alternative

addition of housing into main story is unbelievable. youre not even allowed to start a dialogue and go afk anymore. so bad

 

any difficulty in open world is still rando untelegraphed oneshot autoattacks and rando boonbombs and booncorrupts that never stop ticking

 

you "cooked" 2 living world maps and sold it as an expansion kitten this game really is dead

[Amantiel.3542]

13 hours ago, illuminati.8453 said:

Oh wow, I had the exact opposite reaction.  I *hated* soto, but this is a return to form imo. After you finish the story, there is nothing but action, farming, metas, etc.  This is a breath of fresh air! 

Sir, that's literally how EVERY SINGLE MMO PATCH WORKS.

[Lincolnbeard.1735]

When you lack content you've to artificially pump up the gameplay time, they've done it with soto too.

[Ashen.2907]

1 hour ago, Noidea Incognito.9607 said:

Eh... wouldn't that be the same like saying:

"As a PVE player that isn't invested in Direct confrontation versus other players, this was an absolute drag. If you want to bring PvE players into WvW and PvP, at least make it fun, instead, i'm forced to fight other players that I have no interest in.

Conflict with other players is the definition of pvp while lengthy unskippable dialogue dumps are not necessary for pve.

[Dami.5046]

needless to say i would love to know how the story continues considering i'm now at the bugged rift bit . Why? They were annoying enough in Soto but for the love of Faren please make sure they work correctly. 

Oo back at ya.

Edited August 21 by Dami.5046

[Alaia Skyhawk.5064]

6 hours ago, Dami.5046 said:

needless to say i would love to know how the story continues considering i'm now at the bugged rift bit . Why? They were annoying enough in Soto but for the love of Faren please make sure they work correctly. 

Oo back at ya.

The T1 rifts have an issue at present, there's been plenty of tags around who are spawning T2 rifts using motivations. 2x T2 rifts (the pre even of mob spawns + the following boss) are enough to fill the bar and you can continue.

[Luthan.5236]

I am at the point to go to Malice - in chapter 2. Liked the prologue so far. Did not like the lengthy parts in chapter 1 (talks in the camp then escorting the warclaw to the village and talks there). They should have at least cut down on the number of times the warclaw fights back. Not "use the salve", "again use the salve" lol.

Chapter 2 seemed fine at first. Found myself doing events exploring the POI (map completion) but still gaining the exp for the spear mastery felt a bit slow (though it is only tier 1). Would have preferred a bit faster progress in the story there - making that one a talk + unlock like the weaponmaster training. (I think you just had to talk to an NPC there.)

Let's see how this continues. I heard you need rifts (again as if SotO wasn't enough). And T1 supposed to be bugged? Hopefully we don't leed like a ton of them to progress that step lol. 2-3 at max I'd be willing to do.

Edit: I did not pay attention to this but according to the patch notes - recent patch - there were supposed to be issues with adventures not awarding experience. That could have been part of the reason it felt slow to me to just progress in tier one of the masteries to unlock the spear. But we'll see when to day I can focus more on just doing events (+ daily adventures) ... if other stuff feels faster now.

Edited August 22 by Luthan.5236

[Ashantara.8731]

I love the story!

Its presentation is on point, there is (at least for me) never a dull moment, and the missions have been tons of fun so far and make me yearn for more (I will see that I finish up tomorrow, and I can't wait where this is going!). The characters are also well-written, and the chemistry between them is nice to watch, be it the members of the Tyrian Alliance council or the lowland kodan.

The pacing is also on point; it's neither rushed/cut short, nor does it drag on into oblivion.

And the music... fantastic!

My only gripe was with the start of the first map and its mostly boring activities, of which many were copied and pasted from old content. That really had me demotivated and I briefly lost interest in continuing to explore the map, even though its design was pretty, because I got bored. The fact that it had rift hunts didn't help. 😉

Fortunately, the story continued to please, and the second map with its dark and Irish theme had me in awe. And the lore bits and pieces are quite exciting.

I'm curious to discover what will happen next!

[Arya Whitefire.8423]

JW itself is pretty decent for a first play through, but the story is a complete and total slog on a 2nd playthrough.

The game desperately needs a story content pass that adds a proper method of skipping dialog and cutscenes to EVERYTHING.

 

[Dragenstein.2671]

I understand that there has to be a story, but I am sick of the stories being about bickering between npcs.

[Luthan.5236]

11 hours ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

And the music... fantastic!

My only gripe was with the start of the first map and its mostly boring activities, of which many were copied and pasted from old content. That really had me demotivated and I briefly lost interest in continuing to explore the map, even though its design was pretty, because I got bored. The fact that it had rift hunts didn't help. 😉

Fortunately, the story continued to please, and the second map with its dark and Irish theme had me in awe. And the lore bits and pieces are quite exciting.

Looking forward to the 2nd map now. I am still in the first - can't play match atm. More time next week. I agree on the music. Best I have heard so far ... I think. Re-using stuff seems to be a common thing though. At least the hide and seek is a bit different from the previous versions.

I kinda thought a bit about Elrond's council when I saw the map the first time - and the Kodan elders/council. Later after exploring a bit it felt a bit like Sandswept isles (the special monsters to kill and a lot of them and achivements tied to it) ... maybe mixed with Desert  Highlands in Elona. (Terrain-wise.)

I hoped for a secret achievement to jump up near the springer base (and other POI above) - didn't trigger anything though. At the bee cave I already thought they might somehow make us change into a bee to fly to the top lol. (Like in SAB where you can turn into a bee dog.) For a totally new player this all might feel different as an experience.

The adventures seem nice. And I liked the mini JP with the honey collecting.