Guild Wars 2 Explores Storytelling for an Open World

Guild Wars 2 recently discussed storytelling for an open world.

The post starts by confirming that to have any impact on the player experience, the story must be meaningful. The player’s actions must mean something and move along the larger story. This naturally extends into the concept of immersion. To that end, the team writes,

“The open world is the most living world of Living World episodes. It’s where the environment that makes up the story really shines through. The look and feel of the terrain, the lighting, the weather, the sounds of life or the lack thereof, all contribute to a player’s experience of the world and set the moods that color the themes of the golden path story.”

The post continues, discussing the presence of other players helping guild the story and flesh it out more. The example provided here is the Metal Legion concert in Bound by Blood where players served as witnesses as part of a larger community.

It’s a fascinating post providing some good insight into the multiple facets involved in telling a story as long and rich as Guild Wars 2, and the tools the developers have at their disposal to bring these stories to life.

You can read the full post here.