Living story season 3 releasing on July 26

[Edge-]

All of the story from the raids is recaped by talking to Bennett in the new zone and by collecting the scraps of papers which fill out a a few journals which are actual items you can find in your bag after you hit the first scrap which goes with each journal. So you can go back and read the entries in chronological order. Of course the journals go into a ton of detail which was never covered in the raid, also it's not even close to difficult to follow the story and understand what's going if you haven't done the raid. All of the things are covered in the first story you just have to play the whole chapter and pay attention to the dialogues to follow things.

So it's either talk to a dude to get a recap or read a book? : /

I miss when Anet presented almost all the story through the class/living story content with only supplementary info coming elsewhere. Or am I misremembering, because I remember that's how the latter part of S1 and pretty much all of S2 was and IMO that's how the core story should be delivered.

Because I sure as shit don't remember anything blood stone related in the main HoT story questline, unless it was early on and I've forgotten since last year.

[Deleted]

Raiding is the worst fucking thing that's ever happened to this game.

Wholeheartedly agree.

[Arlee]

So it's either talk to a dude to get a recap or read a book? : /

I miss when Anet presented almost all the story through the class/living story content with only supplementary info coming elsewhere. Or am I misremembering, because I remember that's how the latter part of S1 and pretty much all of S2 was and IMO that's how the core story should be delivered.

Because I sure as shit don't remember anything blood stone related in the main HoT story questline, unless it was early on and I've forgotten since last year.

Didn't whole lot of story happen in GW in things which were really difficult and not everyone could do? The stories I've heard about the whole Ascension thing sound like it was really difficult and not everyone could do it. You can watch the raid cutscene from talking to Bennett as well, though I'd think most people who aren't raiding and wanted to see it probably have watched it on youtube already. Also like I said, the journals cover a whole lot which was never covered in the raid. They relate directly to the raid story but even people who did all the raids don't know all of that info.

[PACOX]

So it's either talk to a dude to get a recap or read a book? : /

I miss when Anet presented almost all the story through the class/living story content with only supplementary info coming elsewhere. Or am I misremembering, because I remember that's how the latter part of S1 and pretty much all of S2 was and IMO that's how the core story should be delivered.

Because I sure as shit don't remember anything blood stone related in the main HoT story questline, unless it was early on and I've forgotten since last year.

They haven't changed.

Like Arlee said, you get the gist of the story by doing the content. The details come from the books. You don't miss anything by not doing the raids.
If you want the "complete" story, then you have to read the supplementary items that are found in game, that applies to the core story, ls1, ls2, HoT, and ls3.

The Bloodstone wasn't part of the main HoT storyline because the two weren't related. If there is a connection then it hasn't been established yet.
Living Story 3 is a throwback to GW1, if anything. They were also touched up in LS2, slightly.

[Edge-]

Didn't whole lot of story happen in GW in things which were really difficult and not everyone could do?

Honestly, never got terribly far in GW1 so I couldn't say. I'm basing my comments purely off of GW2.

I mean, we've got enough folks complaining over the years about how different GW2 is from GW1, so I figure the comparison is kinda moot, anyways.

You can watch the raid cutscene from talking to Bennett as well, though I'd think most people who aren't raiding and wanted to see it probably have watched it on youtube already. Also like I said, the journals cover a whole lot which was never covered in the raid. They relate directly to the raid story but even people who did all the raids don't know all of that info.

I'll have to see if I can find this Bennett cat to watch the cutscenes, I've intentionally avoided story stuff online so I haven't caught any of it yet. As for journals, I still have little to no interest. Why they couldn't bridge story gaps through gameplay like they've been doing so far is truly beyond me. Feels super sloppy/disorganized.

The Bloodstone wasn't part of the main HoT storyline because the two weren't related. If there is a connection then it hasn't been established yet.
Living Story 3 is a throwback to GW1, if anything. They were also touched up in LS2, slightly.

I get that Bloodstones aren't part of the main HoT storyline, but that's my gripe. They come up right as S3 starts and while it's more or less self contained, it feels like there should have been some kind of connecting story to bring them into the limelight before they were just thrown into S3.

I'll spend more time playing through the story tonight/this weekend, but them appearing out of nowhere with no explanation (I had no clue what they even were) felt jarring.

[Kazgrel]

To be fair, bloodstones and White Mantle all stem from GW1 and were a significant factor in the main storyline for that game when it first released.

I have no clue how any of it ties in with the raid in GW2.

Does sound like a rather jarring transition to make. If anything, I figured it would pick up where the HoT story left off.

Note: I've only logged on just to update the client and flag my account to have LS3 part 1 for free. Haven't even started on it.

[PACOX]

I get that Bloodstones aren't part of the main HoT storyline, but that's my gripe. They come up right as S3 starts and while it's more or less self contained, it feels like there should have been some kind of connecting story to bring them into the limelight before they were just thrown into S3.

I'll spend more time playing through the story tonight/this weekend, but them appearing out of nowhere with no explanation (I had no clue what they even were) felt jarring.

Ok, I think I see where you're getting at now.

Why the White Mantle/Bloodstone?

Its touched upon in the story instances. The White Mantle is an organization/cult that was defeat but no one knew what happened to the remnants of them. Come GW2 (going back to the core story), theres been traces have been traces of the White Mantle popping up here and there be no one (in the game world) take them seriously, its passed off as conspiracy theory nonsense or a bunch of die hard legacy fanatics that can't get up with the times.

Since the core story we've seen the world have to defend itself from Zhaitan, we've seen Scarlet spread her terror, we've the Pact, pretty much the NATO of Tyria, nearly get wiped out. Meanwhile Jormag, Kralk, and now Primordius are now stirring up. If you're an ancient death magic cult thats been plotting for your return for 250 years, why not take advantage of the weakened state of the world. Added bonus is that is there leyline energy magic leaking all over the place because even if we (the player character) has managed to kill 2 dragons, we have no idea what to do with all the residual magic.

TLDR: The White Mantle is an old death magic cult that has been hiding in the shadows, slowing becoming more active since the beginning of the GW2 story. The decided to take advantage of the unstable state of the world to come out of hiding. It can also be said their hornets nest was kicked when their hideout was stumbled up in the Maguuma Jungle.

[Edge-]

Thanks for that, makes more sense though I guess I have to look into bloodstones a bit as well.

No clue why Anet couldn't have a quick primer on all that shit or find some way to introduce it piece by piece rather than just starting the actual story of S3 by throwing you in the middle of all of it.

[Arlee]

I'll have to see if I can find this Bennett cat to watch the cutscenes, I've intentionally avoided story stuff online so I haven't caught any of it yet. As for journals, I still have little to no interest. Why they couldn't bridge story gaps through gameplay like they've been doing so far is truly beyond me. Feels super sloppy/disorganized.

If you do the new living story the third part (which is what takes you to the new zone) will lead you directly to him. If you're not doing the story and just going to the zone I'm not sure how you expect to follow anything anyway Iirc he's on the ground in the northernish area in a small pact camp.

I get why you don't want to read the journals but I like finding the pages and going back and reading them like a book. It's interesting to me and has pushed me to want to explore even more of the zone to find all the pages. I kind of like when games use different ways of conveying the narrative, keeps things interesting.

Actually the bloodstones have kinda been in the background of guild wars 2 all a long, they are part of why we have magic at all. But for anyone who hasn't really dug into the lore it's been really easy to miss until now.

[Edge-]

If you do the new living story the third part (which is what takes you to the new zone) will lead you directly to him. If you're not doing the story and just going to the zone I'm not sure how you expect to follow anything anyway Iirc he's on the ground in the northernish area in a small pact camp.

Just got to the new zone and completed the first little part of the mission but that's it. So I likely haven't come across him yet.

But it just feels like from the dialogue that players should know about all this stuff, as characters in-game speak as if white mantle/bloodstones are well known subjects. And I'm stuck here scratching my head because this is literally the first I remember hearing about either, unless they were referenced super early on in the base game as minor points and I'd forgotten over the years.

I get why you don't want to read the journals but I like finding the pages and going back and reading them like a book. It's interesting to me and has pushed me to want to explore even more of the zone to find all the pages. I kind of like when games use different ways of conveying the narrative, keeps things interesting.

Yeah, agreed. But IMO that should all be for "further details" type stuff, not core information. I always cite Doom 3 as the best example for how to handle story delivery. Core story information is presented through gameplay and cutscenes, only what's absolutely necessary to get you moving forward and figure out who is who. All the color commentary - the background information, the more personal info on characters, etc. - is provided through the PDA's and the emails/audio logs that are totally optional. They provide a much fuller story experience for those that want it, but they're not necessary to understand anything that's actually going on in-game.

Actually the bloodstones have kinda been in the background of guild wars 2 all a long, they are part of why we have magic at all. But for anyone who hasn't really dug into the lore it's been really easy to miss until now.

Yeah, and that speaks to my point above. It's as if we're supposed to know all this information already, but the only time we could have found out about it is if we dug super deep into the lore or played the previous game. Kinda piss poor planning, IMO.

[PACOX]

I think you might have missed something. I played it on my Asura and she told only of the NPCs (don't remember which - might have been Taimi) that she was only vaguely familiar with the White Mantle. Theres then some quick dialogue about who they are, etc.

[Arlee]

Yeah, but none of that matters since the dragons are completely pointless and overmatched since we have fleets of fucking Federation Starships just waiting to blow them to pieces.

Umm, no we don't. Nearly all of the Pact ships were destroyed at the end of LS2/Beginning of HoT.

[Arlee]

Except all the technology still exists and it's not like video games really closely follow issues regarding production, manufacturing, and so on.

Well there are more then few references in the new story, and during HoT even, about how decimated the Pact is so I don't think they are going the route of "oh look magically more things!"

Not to mention all the heavy hinting in season 2 that killing the dragons may not be the best idea ever

[zito]

Canach also tells you about the white mantle back in the instance with Taimy in Rata Novus

[Svifnymr]

Thanks for that, makes more sense though I guess I have to look into bloodstones a bit as well.

No clue why Anet couldn't have a quick primer on all that shit or find some way to introduce it piece by piece rather than just starting the actual story of S3 by throwing you in the middle of all of it.

I knew who the White Mantle were and what a Bloodstone is, but yeah, it's like the NPC's just start talking about the Bloodstone like I knew where it was and everything even though it was never mentioned before.

Now I'm at a part where I need to get a Mastery level before I can progress... thought they'd gotten rid of these sort of steps?

[Edge-]

Exploring around the new zone, I'm already super annoyed. Tons of large packs of mobs that are a gigantic pain in the ass to get around or fight, most mobs seem to have quarter mile long aggro radiuses, especially while flying, leading to a ton of loss of control of my character.

Bleh, the story and other stuff had better be good. I'm looking forward to trying to complete this zone about as much as I am to completing the rest of the HoT zones. So, not at all -________________________________________________-

Just got to Bennett who's supposed to explain more stuff (he sorta is) and Taimi is in this a lot, which is nice since she's by far my favorite character.

BUT OH LOOK, ANOTHER MASTERY TO WORK ON.

Fuck all this, this is the worst shit. Just give us more god damn levels, I utterly loathe this. a;hefoaehf;oiasef;lkaisef;lisef;lhasd;flhasef

Yes, I'm salty as all hell.

Edit again: Welp, replaying the cutsene about White Mantle told me a tiny bit which is nice. Was hoping for/expecting more, but oh well.

[Nehezbegar]

Ppl are so whiny bitches....

[Deleted]

personally i've already somewhat lost interest. I like the story, but it's way too short. I got through it in maybe 2 hours at most but it was probably less. Also the end was somewhat lackluster.

The new map does not interest me in the slightest. just another dry top / silverwastes / any HOT map. I like the concept of an entire map of people working together and such, but maybe it's just not executed very well in this case. or maybe i've just been burned out of that concept since every single map is like that nowadays

And that already pretty much coveres nearly the entirety of this patch. Haven't tried the fractal yet but I doubt that will swing me back.

[Deleted]

I enjoyed the story but was dissapointed because it ended so quickly.
It serves well as an end to the GW2:HOT story and slowly starts the next step in the story.

The zone itself has lots of mobs but I have had no problems dealing with any of them yet.

Yet I feel like there is no point in playing the zone.

[pansertjald]

The story was WAY to short and really boring at the same time and what is op whit the new map and the mobs. They do even more damage then the old HOT mobs and i really don't get why??????

And why do all the bosses have to have a billion HP. It takes forever to just down normal bosses in Blood fen and that is not something that makes you wanna keep coming back to the MAP