Guild Wars 2 Living Story So Far - Part 2

So with the completion of Flame and Frost, the players were immediately presented with a new set of challenges - the unrest around the refugees that the Consortium had convinced to settle in Southsun Cove. The events in Southsun played out over two updates, and during that time we encounter some familiar faces, old friends, and hidden enemies.

Guild Wars 2 Living Story So Far - Part 1

So if you're playing Guild Wars 2, and I would image that if you're here then you are, then by now you're quite familiar with ArenaNet's experimental, and somewhat controversial methodology of rolling out their content - the Living Story.  Personally I'm a huge fan of the attempt, and it has done a pretty good job of keeping me hooked in a game that I otherwise might not have been.  But it's not been without it's share of criticism, and a significant amount of the criticism relates to the story itself.  People are saying that the story - such as it is - is difficult to follow.  It's unclear who the players are, what they're motivations are, and even if you know who they are, they're not doing very much to make you care. 

Now I for one have been enjoying the story itself.  I'm not talking about the mechanics of the changes - which could be the subject of an entirely other blog, but the actual lore itself.  And the reason is - it's about ordinary people.  The story isn't about extraordinary characters destined at birth to do amazing things, and then fulfilling that destiny.  It's about people like you and I - ordinary folks, tasked with some unpleasant tasks, and making the best of it that they can.  The other reason that I'm enjoying it so far is that it is, for the most part, a human story.  That's not to say that is has only humans in it - far from that.  But that it is based on human interactions.  Greed, deceit, betrayal, and of course, some politics for good measure - these are the notions upon which the story is being built so far.

But I will agree that the story itself has been somewhat hard to follow so far.  So to that end, I thought I'd start putting together some recaps.  A summarization, if you will, of each chapter of the Living Story, as it unfolds.

Guild Wars 2 - A Recounting of Flame and Frost

In which Syrene Harmony, she who fought alongside the members of Destiny's Edge to bring down the dragon Zhaitan, recounts the events leading up to and through the Molten Alliance Uprising.

The War in Kryta

So it took a bit longer than I had anticipated. It turns out, some of the missions in The War in Kryta are, well, as hard as anything The Eye of the North or Nightfall is going to throw at you. Once again, I found myself scrambling to find the right build for my character, and more importantly, the right makeup of heroes, in order to succeed in many of the missions.

Lion's Arch - 250 Years Later

The Lion's Arch of long ago was gone, its only remaining memory consisting of the battlements that survived the great waves from the rising of Orr.  When Zhaitan, the undead Elder Dragon, brought long-sunken Orr back to the surface, all lands surrounding the Sea of Sorrows were awash in great waves.  Lion's Arch was almost utterly destroyed, and it its place was left a swamp of broken ships, snapped trees, and dead creatures.