In a livestream, the minds behind Guild Wars 2 discussed the introduction of the Story Journal. With this feature, it will be possible to play individual episodes of the Living World even after they have disappeared from the world of Tyria.
Joyful Anticipation and Delight: Live Stream Shows Excited GW2 Devs
Even within the first minutes of the livestream, a certain satisfaction and exuberance could be seen from the presenting trio.
This is also confirmed by Steve Waller, the Associate Game Director of GW2. Since the announcement, there has been a general joyful anticipation. Colin Johanson’s blog post, the Game Director, where he extensively explained the feature, was received with joy. The comments already indicated that players were really looking forward to it.
Colin Johanson then explains that the idea for the new Journal developed from ongoing contact with the community. They were constantly “out there,” on Reddit, in-game, in forums, in all possible outlets, listening to the players. This input and the experience from the first season of the Living World were then the reasons to work on the new Story Journal.
For a year, they have been working on a strategy to make the second season even better. That’s why they are now “ecstatic” about how excited players are about the idea.
Our Endgame is the Story
In other games, the endgame, said Johanson, consists of getting better gear and then doing the next raid and the next and the next… In GW2, however, the story is the endgame, with the constantly evolving and expanding narrative of the world of Tyria at its core.
Steve Waller sees the ability to replay previously played episodes as a great potential to re-engage with the story. When you are already deep into the story, you can take the time to go back and look at what happened in the early episodes. What led to this point in the story.
Johanson added that he has now played Living Story 2 multiple times and is excited about how many little story gems, references, and hidden hints Waller and his team have hidden in the second season. Fans of Guild Wars 1 will also get their money’s worth here. Just today, he found three new details, references to the first Guild Wars, that were simply “awesome.”
And it Costs Nothing
Another point that apparently makes the developers proud is that players do not have to pay anything for the Story Journal. Anyone who logs in for even two seconds during a running episode unlocks it for all their characters.
All you have to do is stay within the time window until the next episode goes live. This also allows for experiencing the Living Story with more than one character, even with characters that were not at max level when the story first appeared. Although the blog post mentioned a time window of two weeks; it may well be that some episodes last a bit longer, thus extending the time frame. An episode is considered active and can be unlocked until the next one begins.
If you miss this time window, you can still unlock the episode later for 200 gems. You can either buy them for real money or exchange your gold in-game for them.
Second Major Pillar of the Living World: Open-World Events
In addition to the introduction of the Story Journal, they want to continue focusing on large Open-World Events in Guild Wars 2, where the world evolves and changes. Everyone will be able to participate, regardless of whether they have unlocked the concurrent episode or not. Open-World Events will be designed, according to Waller, in a way that best serves the story.
The episodes of the Living World will, on the other hand, be experienced more frequently in instances. There, the best environment for “character moments” and personal developments is provided, Waller further explains.
Living Story Becomes the Continuation of the Personal Story
Johanson considers the current Living Story to be a continuation of the personal story. Therefore, similar rules also apply: players who have not unlocked an episode can accompany a friend experiencing it, but they will not receive any rewards.
First Season of the Living World Would Need Significant Adjustments
Long-term, they are considering integrating the first season of the Living World into the Journal, so players can experience these episodes later on. Much of the second season directly results from the first. But even though that would be nice, it currently has no priority. “No one is working on that at the moment,” says Johanson. All resources are currently focused on the second season and on some features that they are currently not allowed to discuss.
If the first season of the Living World finds its way into the Journal, it would need significant adjustments, especially the group content would have to be scaled down so that it could be mastered by a solo player.
Story Will Now Be Told More Like Current US Series – Episodically
Waller mentions an interesting aspect near the end of the livestream. With the now episodically experienceable Living World, GW2 is also looking to current US series like “Game of Thrones.” Series that tell a seemingly “endless” story in episodes that strongly interconnect and relate. With the Journal, Guild Wars 2 now has, in a sense, video recorder qualities. Players can experience the whole story on their own terms.
Players could – as with a TV series – simply tune in when it is currently happening or watch a replay later or enjoy an episode multiple times because they liked it so much.
Perhaps they also modeled the television format for successful series after completing a season of the Living World. Because in television, entire seasons are then released as DVD box sets. This, Johanson suggests, could also be an interesting option for the first season of the Living World, but they don’t want to commit to that just yet.
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[intense_testimony_text]Mein MMO says: Wow, you can really see during the entire livestream how relieved and happy the three of them are that their ideas have taken root. Apparently, the whole team has been working towards this moment for a long time.
The Story Journal could be exactly the boost that Guild Wars 2 has been missing for the past few months. What do you think?[/intense_testimony_text][intense_testimony_author image=”https://images.mein-mmo.de/magazin/medien/2014/01/Logo-022.png”][/intense_testimony_author][/intense_testimony][/intense_testimonies]
