I completed main story but what's this.

[wilykcat.5864]

Is living world a seasonal story? Is it required?

[Linken.6345]

@"wilykcat.5864" said:Is living world a seasonal story? Is it required?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World

[Randin.5701]

Living World is the elements of the main story that are added as part of the regular patches, rather than being part of the launch game or expansion stories. If you log into the game whenever a given episode of the Living World is most recent, you get access to it for free; if you don't log in in that time, then you need to buy the episode in the cash shop if you want to play it. In-game, if you press H and go to the story journal, it'll show you the order things are to be done, but to give it to you here:

Personal Story (the story the game launched with, which ends with killing Zhaitan)Living World Season 1 (which due to the way it was structured, isn't actually playable now; you instead get directed to an NPC in Lion's Arch that gives you a summary cutscene)LW Season 2Heart of Thorns expansionLW Season 3Path of Fire expansionLW Season 4Icebrood Saga (which, in spite of having a proper name, is actually LW Season 5)

[Trejgon.9367]

@"Randin.5701" said:Living World is the elements of the main story that are added as part of the regular patches, rather than being part of the launch game or expansion stories. If you log into the game whenever a given episode of the Living World is most recent, you get access to it for free; if you don't log in in that time, then you need to buy the episode in the cash shop if you want to play it. In-game, if you press H and go to the story journal, it'll show you the order things are to be done, but to give it to you here:

Personal Story (the story the game launched with, which ends with killing Zhaitan)Living World Season 1 (which due to the way it was structured, isn't actually playable now; you instead get directed to an NPC in Lion's Arch that gives you a summary cutscene)LW Season 2Heart of Thorns expansionLW Season 3Path of Fire expansionLW Season 4Icebrood Saga (which, in spite of having a proper name, is actually LW Season 5)

Technically speaking "Living World" was a concept of having story that alters game map in bi-weekly releases. Because ya know "world of tyria lives", after the first "season" ended (with the Battle of the breachmaker) the "Living World" releases have ended as AN decided that after all it was not a good format.

Then they rebranded it as Living Story, and this is what we are getting in seasons atm, and what You described.

There is no LW Season 2, it's LS(S)2 (Living Story Season 2) similary for LS3 and LS4.

Icebrood Saga is called this way because AN hoped they can merge expansion stuff with living story delivery, and to underline that difference they called it a saga, buuut it turns out it didn't quite work out :)

[Danikat.8537]

The living world or living story continues the story of Guild Wars 2 after the personal story ends.

The full order of events is:

1. Base game personal story from level 1 - 80
2. Living World Season 1
3. Living World Season 2
4. Heart of Thorns
5. Living World Season 3
6. Path of Fire
7. Living World Season 4
8. Living World Season 5, also called Icebrood Saga
9. End of Dragons (not yet released)
10. Probably Living World Season 6, maybe something new, we don't know yet

The difference between expansion stories and Living World stories is that an expansion story is released all together and must be played in order, but Living World stories are released as individual episodes, like a TV show, and can be played in any order. If you want to understand the story it's obviously best to play them all in order but if (for example) you didn't care about the story of Season 3 but you wanted a skin from episode 4 you could play just that episode without doing any of the stuff which comes before it.

(Also Season 1 is no longer available because it was done as one-time events, like festivals. There's a short re-cap video in Lion's Arch which the game will direct you to after you finish Victory or Death, the last step of the personal story. The playable story starts with Season 2.)

[Fueki.4753]

The Living World basically is GW2's equivalent of the X.1 and X.2 (etc.) patches in WoW and FF14 (and probably many other games, too).

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

@"Randin.5701" said:Living World is the elements of the main story that are added as part of the regular patches, rather than being part of the launch game or expansion stories. If you log into the game whenever a given episode of the Living World is most recent, you get access to it for free; if you don't log in in that time, then you need to buy the episode in the cash shop if you want to play it. In-game, if you press H and go to the story journal, it'll show you the order things are to be done, but to give it to you here:

Personal Story (the story the game launched with, which ends with killing Zhaitan)Living World Season 1 (which due to the way it was structured, isn't actually playable now; you instead get directed to an NPC in Lion's Arch that gives you a summary cutscene)LW Season 2Heart of Thorns expansionLW Season 3Path of Fire expansionLW Season 4Icebrood Saga (which, in spite of having a proper name, is actually LW Season 5)

Technically speaking "Living World" was a concept of having story that alters game map in bi-weekly releases. Because ya know "world of tyria lives", after the first "season" ended (with the Battle of the breachmaker) the "Living World" releases have ended as AN decided that after all it was not a good format.

Then they rebranded it as Living Story, and this is what we are getting in seasons atm, and what You described.

There is no LW Season 2, it's LS(S)2 (Living Story Season 2) similary for LS3 and LS4.

Icebrood Saga is called this way because AN hoped they can merge expansion stuff with living story delivery, and to underline that difference they called it a saga, buuut it turns out it didn't quite work out :)

Actually, the official term is Living World, rather than Living Story. Players named it 'Living Story' rather than ArenaNet.https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World

[Trejgon.9367]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

@"Randin.5701" said:Living World is the elements of the main story that are added as part of the regular patches, rather than being part of the launch game or expansion stories. If you log into the game whenever a given episode of the Living World is most recent, you get access to it for free; if you don't log in in that time, then you need to buy the episode in the cash shop if you want to play it. In-game, if you press H and go to the story journal, it'll show you the order things are to be done, but to give it to you here:

Personal Story (the story the game launched with, which ends with killing Zhaitan)Living World Season 1 (which due to the way it was structured, isn't actually playable now; you instead get directed to an NPC in Lion's Arch that gives you a summary cutscene)LW Season 2Heart of Thorns expansionLW Season 3Path of Fire expansionLW Season 4Icebrood Saga (which, in spite of having a proper name, is actually LW Season 5)

Technically speaking "Living World" was a concept of having story that alters game map in bi-weekly releases. Because ya know "world of tyria lives", after the first "season" ended (with the Battle of the breachmaker) the "Living World" releases have ended as AN decided that after all it was not a good format.

Then they rebranded it as Living Story, and this is what we are getting in seasons atm, and what You described.

There is no LW Season 2, it's LS(S)2 (Living Story Season 2) similary for LS3 and LS4.

Icebrood Saga is called this way because AN hoped they can merge expansion stuff with living story delivery, and to underline that difference they called it a saga, buuut it turns out it didn't quite work out :)

Actually, the official term is Living World, rather than Living Story. Players named it 'Living Story' rather than ArenaNet.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World

I remember the blog post going on how this "living story" is supposed to be different than "living world" but I have rechecked in-game and indeed in-game they are listed as "living world" seasons so I stand corrected :)

[Ashantara.8731]

@Linken.6345 said:

@wilykcat.5864 said:Is living world a seasonal story? Is it required?

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World

In addition, this might be of interest to the OP: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Release

@wilykcat.5864 said:Is living world a seasonal story? Is it required?

If you want to get the full story then yes, it is required. Living World, unlike the expansions, is an episodic release and direct continuation of the game's story. It does not exist independent of the expansions.

[Teratus.2859]

I would say it is required but only in the sense of story continuity.

While you can't play living world season 1 at the moment due to how it was designed as active not repeatable content.Living worlds after that as others have said are repeatable content you can play at any time and they are involved in the progressing story of the game.

If you do not play living world 2 for example, then you may be confused about how you got to where you are when you start Heart of Thorns.Living world 2 basically sets up Heart of Thorns and the same is true for Living world 3 setting up Path of Fire.So if the Story is something you are invested in and want to enjoy in Gw2 then yes, the living world is important and it is worth investing in.

If you don't care about the story though and just want more stuff to play then the living world is not that important..While there are new maps and content etc in the living world to be enjoyed you don't need it to enjoy Gw2 overall.

[Abelisk.5148]

Living world is the in-between story/maps/patches of major releases (base game, expansions)

They offer unique gameplay and experiences so I'd say they're worth checking out. Especially the third and fourth seasons.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

If your parents forbid you purchasing items in the Gem Store, then you will need to farm Gold for some time to acquire the Living World Episodes.

Good luck.