In Guild Wars 2 new content is coming. With the third new story episode “In the Grip of the Dragon (Part 1)” the action shifts to the home front.
The third episode of the second season of the Living World for Guild Wars 2 is coming. This new and improved form of storytelling in Guild Wars 2 has been running for several weeks and is receiving positive feedback. Compared to earlier, when the individual events seemed rather scattered and arbitrary, a red thread can now be recognized, guiding the narrative like in a television series from point A to point B to point C.
The plot of GW 2 shifts inland
This time, another trick from television series is employed, declaring a two-parter, with the first part supposed to go live on Tuesday evening to Wednesday in Germany. After exploring the area “Dry Top” in the first two episodes and players gradually understanding the threat that awaits them here and what lies behind the mysterious events in the desert zone, this episode goes back to the home front. To prepare for the fight against the new “big bad”, old disputes must be settled, acute problems eliminated, and the buried powers recalled. But we don’t want to spoil the tension with careless chatter. We are not Asuras.
Guild Wars 2 cleverly leverages advantages in storytelling
But as an example of how ArenaNet has improved in narrative techniques: A player has been meticulously noting over the past weeks how the vines continue to crawl towards Ascalon. Every few days, they come a little closer. They move along the ley lines and crawl towards the waypoints. When a waypoint is reached, the vines attack it and render it unusable. The NPCs around these attacked waypoints also react to the vines. A great idea from ArenaNet, we think. What happens in the new area affects the whole world of Tyria. An interesting concept that we could also imagine and wish for in other MMOs. With the episodic narrative along events, Guild Wars 2 has an advantage in storytelling, and ArenaNet seems to be increasingly understanding how this advantage can be utilized.
