Please stop wasting resources on the story

[TheBravery.9615]

Allocate the budget towards aspects that made this game great: the combat, quality of life improvements, endgame competitive content.

 

The story is subjectively the weakest aspect of this game, where everything is explained by MaGiC aNd DraGonS aND GoDs? Please just kill off all the characters in dragon watch or allow me to skip all the dialogue/cutscenes because I can only stand so much.

[Sajuuk Khar.1509]

What does this have to do about lore again?

20 minutes ago, TheBravery.9615 said:

endgame competitive content.

Ahh yes, the aspects that make the game great... which is why so few people do them an thus they rarely get updates. Might as well be saying Raids, Dungeons, and Strikes, are what make the game great.

[Kirana.8305]

What makes this game great IS the story and the rich background world in which the lore is embedded. After all, this is an RPG, a genre that is rooted in lore and fantasy content and not just competitive PvP and Gem Store stuff. If one does not actually want to play RPG content, rush through the game and only butt heads with other players, I suggest playing a different genre.

 

Yet, sadly, the story of GW2 weakens gradually. Much story content has been cut out of the game, which leaves plot holes and incoherencies. New content feels rushed. Why? Probably to attract players who just want to rush to end game and quickly get the flashiest gear, who are content with endless, meaningless grinding for which they spend money on quality of life aspects to achieve said things even faster. But for what? I don't see the point of that... While I understand that PvP and raids and the like can be fun and must be present in an MMO, I personally most enjoy playing through the story, exploring the vast world, talking to the many NPCs and experiencing all the details and nuances that have been put into this game. I appreciate the hard work done for this. Just look at the Sylvari character designs for example or maps like Caledon Forest, Auric Basin, Amnoon,... how detailed and beautiful this world is! What I want is to actually play through all that and become stronger bit by bit, putting my hands down and work for that maxed out character so I feel like I earned it and it has a history. That's the point of the game for me and the fun of it. Can be time consuming but I don't need to rush. If someone doesn't have the time or doesn't want to invest it, that's fine too, but I don't want to see the game ruined for those who do.

Thus, I really don't need MORE mounts, MORE flashy blinky skins, MORE raids, MORE MORE MORE... It saddens me to see the basis of the game, aka the story, suffer for it.

[Nilkemia.8507]

On one hand, this makes sense if you'd rather they not waste resources on poor story content. On the other, pulling out from it entirely is a foolish notion, as it is at least part of what drew people in.

 

Fixing the combat? Great, but they've shown little to no sign of doing that. Quality of life improvements? They've gone through a bunch of those already...some suggestions might help illuminate what might be missing.

 

Endgame competitive content? You'll have to be more specific, but if it's what I think it is, then the answer is a solid no.

 

 

[Blocki.4931]

A story of magic and dragons.. and you complain the story is about magic and dragons lol

[Fueki.4753]

For me, the story is the most engaging part of the game, despite the Grindflood Saga being worse than a middle schooler's self-insert fan fiction.

 

All that AoE, condition and CC spam they are force-feeding into newer encounters isn't all that great and I'd greatly appreciate if they would reduce that stuff.

[Fenella.2634]

7 hours ago, Kirana.8305 said:

While I understand that PvP and raids and the like can be fun and must be present in an MMO, I personally most enjoy playing through the story

I agree with your post in general, but can we please exclude raids from your non-story features? 🙂 Raids actually tell rather good stories themselves and add a lot of depth and interesting details to the lore. I originally started being interested in raids because of their stories that we don't get to play otherwise.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Fenella.2634

[Kirana.8305]

7 minutes ago, Fenella.2634 said:

I agree to you post in general, but can we please exclude raids from your non-story features? 🙂 Raids actually tell rather good stories themselves and add a lot of depth and interesting details to the lore. I originally started being interested in raids because of their stories that we don't get to play otherwise.

You're right, raids have to be included here. My post was focusing more on the main story chapters and seasons but of course features such as raids count into it too. :)

[radda.8920]

the story of this franchise was awesome on gw1.

The level has dropped drastically by focusing only on dragons in guild wars 2 which are uninteresting monsters. But they still managed to give Mordremoth and Kralkatorrik some interest.

But what they did during the saga is unforgivable and will leave an indelible stain on the lore of this game. I hope they won't destroy the full potential of cantha but they are more than capable to do it, unfortunately

Edited May 26, 2021 by radda.8920

[Lan Deathrider.5910]

To be honest. Cantha had better have some good af story, with large and interesting zones, with fun dynamic events.

 

That said I fully expect decent e-specs, along with competitive updates including actual balance and not the fancy of balance we have had since Feb2020.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

On 5/25/2021 at 7:28 PM, TheBravery.9615 said:

Allocate the budget towards aspects that made this game great: the combat, quality of life improvements, endgame competitive content.

 

The story is subjectively the weakest aspect of this game, where everything is explained by MaGiC aNd DraGonS aND GoDs? Please just kill off all the characters in dragon watch or allow me to skip all the dialogue/cutscenes because I can only stand so much.

Why don't we save ourselves some time and just put the game into maintenance mode now, or better yet go and shut down the servers.

Edited May 27, 2021 by The Greyhawk.9107

[Bast.7253]

Don't worry, we didn't get any resources for story the past year either. 

🤣

In all seriousness, it is a little sad that over the past few years it seems like ANYTHING comes at the increasing cost of everything else. I remember the days we used to get full living story maps, story instances, fractals, and minor balance changes.

Then gradually since living season 4, it seemed like they kept tossing things out little by little. Here's a balance patch. Here's half a new map. Here's a vision of the past. Here's a fractal. 

Now we've gone down to... here's "mine 50 ore" and replay these old living story episodes. I mean, I get it. They're working on an expansion and resources have been tighter than usual. But like... "new focus" on Guild Wars 2 instead of other projects and we can't have a live team working on steady living world releases alongside expansion development? Like... is this expansion going to be monolithic or have they already sent off half the studio to work on more future canned projects?

A bit blunt and free is free. I'm sure the devs working on the releases are doing their best. I just have to wonder why it feels like "resources" keep rapidly dwindling more and more over the years. And given the fact that we haven't had anyone step up and say, "hey, I'm in charge of the game now" makes me think they're all just doing the best they can to wing it as a team long enough to push out this expansion and be like... "deuces!"

Hope I'm wrong though. It still has a lot of potential and maybe there is some leadership and solid organization there and they're just living the "be silent" Anet motto to the fullest and not wanting their name out to be publicly blamed for everything wrong in the game. I get it. Just feels weird compared to how communicative Colin and the two Mikes were during their time.

[Bast.7253]

3 hours ago, Lan Deathrider.5910 said:

To be honest. Cantha had better have some good af story, with large and interesting zones, with fun dynamic events.

 

That said I fully expect decent e-specs, along with competitive updates including actual balance and not the fancy of balance we have had since Feb2020.

I think with the way the PoF specs were designed they just... don't know what to do with them at this point and gave up trying to balance them so they're just focusing on the new elite specs in hopes people will switch over to those instead. If they do any balancing moving forward I would imagine they'll just do number tweaks to diminish sustain/damage of the pof specs to the point that you're just better off playing the new specs even if the mechanics of the old ones are still broken. 

And honestly, we'll have to wait and see how the new specs turn out. They may make pof specs look laughable. But at this point they just give every class access to every boon, free barrier, and whatever shiny new combat mechanic they decide to add in that completely changes the dynamic of the game mode. 

I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see a new condition type added. Possibly somekind of "disarm" condition that gets negated by the changes to resistance, that only affects weapon skills like a daze or strike damage instead of all skills like blind currently does.

I'd hope they don't add anything else in like barrier but I wouldn't be surprised to see a new type of boon. 

[Rukia.4802]

18 hours ago, Kirana.8305 said:

What makes this game great IS the story and the rich background world in which the lore is embedded.

I'll have to hard disagree on that.. I can enjoy the game fine without the atrocious story lol its definitely the weakest part of the game. The meat of GW2 is collections/achievements and content that is very well designed to remain relevant and repeatable. I'd like the story to be good as much as the next guy though.. GW1 is rolling in its grave though if you ask me.

[Kirana.8305]

3 hours ago, Rukia.4802 said:

I'll have to hard disagree on that.. I can enjoy the game fine without the atrocious story lol its definitely the weakest part of the game. The meat of GW2 is collections/achievements and content that is very well designed to remain relevant and repeatable. I'd like the story to be good as much as the next guy though.. GW1 is rolling in its grave though if you ask me.

The story has been altered and shortened so much that at this point, especially the latest content of it, is rather weak indeed. And I absolutely agree that collections and achievements are another strong pillar of the game and provide very much enjoyable content. I guess my angle is that I have played GW2 since it launched and back then said story was truly amazing, detailed and so forth. Especially the personal story. Having played the game and knowing how awesome the lore was put together back then, I still see the lore/story as being the backbone of the game, or any RPG really. But yeah, playing the game now has a bittersweet taste to it in that regard. And I totally understand that players who haven't experienced the story back then and only started playing after it was shortened, cannot really find it breathtaking. And of course people immerse themselves to different degrees which is fine. Still, for me the story is the most important aspect of the game, because I have made so many connections with it throughout the years. So I wouldn't want to see it neglected or dumped alltogether. And while I've never played GW1, from what I've heard and read, I agree with you there.

[Rukia.4802]

13 minutes ago, Kirana.8305 said:

The story has been altered and shortened so much that at this point, especially the latest content of it, is rather weak indeed. And I absolutely agree that collections and achievements are another strong pillar of the game and provide very much enjoyable content. I guess my angle is that I have played GW2 since it launched and back then said story was truly amazing, detailed and so forth. Especially the personal story. Having played the game and knowing how awesome the lore was put together back then, I still see the lore/story as being the backbone of the game, or any RPG really. But yeah, playing the game now has a bittersweet taste to it in that regard. And I totally understand that players who haven't experienced the story back then and only started playing after it was shortened, cannot really find it breathtaking. And of course people immerse themselves to different degrees which is fine. Still, for me the story is the most important aspect of the game, because I have made so many connections with it throughout the years. So I wouldn't want to see it neglected or dumped alltogether. And while I've never played GW1, from what I've heard and read, I agree with you there.

I've been playing since beta, I never liked GW2 story, especially the living world but thats mainly due to the entourage always with me. I hate every bit of their dialogue, I could probably enjoy it if they weren't there. It sucks because I loved all the heroes in GW1, nothing was shoved in my face I actively sought their quests and stories and they never got in the way of the main story. They were real companions that complimented the story instead of ruining it by making them the center of attention, none of them were children.. listen I love kids but we shouldn't be bringing one to fight dragons and what not.

 

I admit my hatred of the personal story was probably from my disappointment in the sequel to my favorite MMO, and knowing it was abandoned for this. But I've grown in 8 years Lol I'm gonna replay it with objective eyes soon. My mind won't change with living world.. its straight up trash imo, confirmed that when I did S2 for the event.

 

I like to equate GW1 & 2  to Stargate SG-1 / Atlantis compared to Stargate Universe. The first 2 shows were amazing, then universe was melodramatic garbage with none of the fun exploration or characters we all loved. 

[Kirana.8305]

13 minutes ago, Rukia.4802 said:

I've been playing since beta, I never liked GW2 story, especially the living world but thats mainly due to the entourage always with me. I hate every bit of their dialogue, I could probably enjoy it if they weren't there. It sucks because I loved all the heroes in GW1, nothing was shoved in my face I actively sought their quests and stories and they never got in the way of the main story. They were real companions that complimented the story instead of ruining it by making them the center of attention, none of them were children.. listen I love kids but we shouldn't be bringing one to fight dragons and what not.

 

I admit my hatred of the personal story was probably from my disappointment in the sequel to my favorite MMO, and knowing it was abandoned for this. But I've grown in 8 years Lol I'm gonna replay it with objective eyes soon. My mind won't change with living world.. its straight up trash imo, confirmed that when I did S2 for the event.

 

I like to equate GW1 & 2  to Stargate SG-1 / Atlantis compared to Stargate Universe. The first 2 shows were amazing, then universe was melodramatic garbage with none of the fun exploration or characters we all loved. 

You know, I've been wondering if I should play GW1 or get one of the novels and see if that can fill some plotholes for me. But I dunno if it's actually worth it at this point. Would you recommend it after having played GW2 first? I see why you are/were frustrated though.
I feel like many great franchises get slaughtered due to.. idk, Capitalism, Greed, making money fast mechanisms? Star Wars, Dragon Age. It's a shame.

[Tyson.5160]

It may be rose coloured glasses, I’ve replayed some of GW1 the other day and some of those cutscenes are kinda... meh not so great. I also forgot that they ran out of time near the end of the game as you see the amount of quests become less and less and less. For example southern Shiverpeaks have next to no quests at all and just a bunch of vast zones littered with mobs. Just my thoughts on the matter, as someone who was not overly impressed that my GW1 was getting a sequel.

[Widmo.3186]

On 5/26/2021 at 2:28 AM, TheBravery.9615 said:

Allocate the budget towards aspects that made this game great: the combat, quality of life improvements, endgame competitive content.

 

The story is subjectively the weakest aspect of this game, where everything is explained by MaGiC aNd DraGonS aND GoDs? Please just kill off all the characters in dragon watch or allow me to skip all the dialogue/cutscenes because I can only stand so much.

Did you just try to say that story is kitten outside of competitive sections of the forum? Have you lost your mind? 
Its like going into Harlem and trying to be racist. This cannot end well. 


PS: Personally speaking havent seen more boring and stupid story (or PvE in general) than this in gw2, and at the same time so promising combat system (basically same sentence said by many people over the years, most of them dont play anymore). But it is what it is, in generally people that play PvE, especally casually, spend more $$ on the game and talk less about 'hard-to-do things and hard to swallow truth about the game'. They just kill dragons, let them be and enjoy fauna and flora. 
flies away

[Crono.4197]

Oh hello there WoW player. If you want "endgame competitive content", then this game is not for you. Most people that play this game are here exactly because the game is not like that. You want a game where you get higher level every half a year and better gear every 3 months? Like 99% of all MMOs do that. This game doesn't need to be like all the other MMO. It was already ruined by introducing mainstream mechanics and elitist content just to please a small fraction of the community. No need to ruin it further.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Crono.4197
Small typo

[Bobby Stein.3612]

On 5/25/2021 at 5:28 PM, TheBravery.9615 said:

Allocate the budget towards aspects that made this game great: the combat, quality of life improvements, endgame competitive content.

 

The story is subjectively the weakest aspect of this game, where everything is explained by MaGiC aNd DraGonS aND GoDs? Please just kill off all the characters in dragon watch or allow me to skip all the dialogue/cutscenes because I can only stand so much.

 

I think the less sensationalist version of this is, "I want more attention on these other game types," which is a totally valid opinion. But remember that people ALSO play the game for story and it's a big part of the experience. Always has been. It's not going anywhere.

 

I can't speak for overall product strategy or future plans, but it's safe to say that we're always looking at ways of balancing story along with everything else to hit that sweet spot in the hopes of making more people happy.

Edited May 28, 2021 by Bobby Stein.3612
Fix formatting.

[Elrey.5472]

I love Raids, but after raids what I like most is the story, but what I love of story is actually that we get to see new maps and stuff. Story on existing maps doesn't strike me the same. Story in lws1 was amazing imo, because it created new things like the tower of nightmare or the attack of lions arch (which essentially are new maps) and lws4 has been an amazing story as well because of the gorgeous maps. Also worth to mention that I personally hate pvp or wvsw, and never ever play those gamemodes.

 

Now this is the important part: We all need to understand that there is people like me, which loves an aspect of the game and deny other aspect of the game. That happens because we all are different and enjoy different things. Anet can't focus on just 1 aspect of the game either because it would not make everyone happy, so far so good. However, we are also in a situation where Anet doesn't have a team for every aspect of the game. No Guilds team, no Raids team (as far as I know), no idea if WvsW team or if PvP/Balance does it, etc. 

 

Sometimes, that makes it look like they themselves deny a part of the game because there isn't development on "everything". And that's when people starts demanding "please develop MY preferred part of the game". I personally think that Anet should be able to have development on 4-5 fields and that would improve the quality of the game in all areas, even if it's slowly in small updates. Constant smaller updates ever X consistent months are better than total denial on an aspect.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by Elrey.5472

[serow.6524]

Story earns them money, "the combat, quality of life improvements, endgame competitive content" does not. 

More story, less endgame grind please.

[HotDelirium.7984]

11 hours ago, Bobby Stein.3612 said:

 

I can't speak for overall product strategy or future plans, but it's safe to say that we're always looking at ways of balancing story along with everything else to hit that sweet spot in the hopes of making more people happy.

My only bummer is all of that story content within raids that many players who don't raid will never experience. Sure they can watch a youtube video for the narration but it's not the same and some pretty significant events happen in all these raids. I will always hope and pray for those "storymode Raids." ❤️ 

[Dami.5046]

The problem is, what could be seen as 'crap' for you might be great for someone else. Take IBS gate, everyone moaning about how it ended, that it was too short, etc and I don't give a monkey's.🤣