When Guild Wars 2 first released the Living World, its mid-expansion content update series, it did so in episodic installments. While this meant frequent updates for the game, events of previous chapters were made unavailable when subsequent entries were released. Because of this, a formative section of the game’s story — Living World Season 1: Scarlet’s War — was unavailable for players beyond video summaries. Now, after nearly nine years, Guild Wars 2 is remastering and re-releasing the elusive chapter of Tyria’s history.
Game Rant conducted an email interview with ArenaNet advance game designer Joe Kimmes about Living World Season 1. Kimmes shared his experience with the labor of love that is Living World Season 1’s revival, and why ArenaNet worked so hard to bring it back after so long. He shed light on the highlights of the Guild Wars 2 re-release, including some pivotal characters and events that appear in Scarlet's War.
The Importance of Characters in Guild Wars 2
The personal story of the base game of Guild Wars 2 introduces Destiny’s Edge — a band of heroes who failed to defeat an Elder Dragon once before, and who players help unite once again. While these characters continue to play major roles in the story in later Living World seasons and expansions, Living World Season 1 introduced a bevy of new characters who will later go on to form Dragon’s Watch — a group lead by none other than the Commander themselves.
However, with how Living World Season 1 was released, the introductions of these characters were limited-time events. Because of its episodic release, it was easy to miss out on content if players were unable to play during the episode’s run.
“In the original run, if you had missed sections you’d always be playing catchup on who characters were, their motivations and plot teasers,” Kimmes explained. “Players who jumped in part way through would have different impressions of the events than those who were following every detail and theory beforehand.” While the concept of the Living World — a constantly-updating story and setting — was fascinating for an MMORPG, it also created an exclusionary narrative which became cumbersome as Guild Wars 2 evolved its design philosophy towards storytelling."
Braham and Rox are two Dragon’s Watch characters introduced in "Flame and Frost," the first chapter of Living World Season 1. Before, players who missed Scarlet’s War had to count on video summaries to introduce these characters, and were forced to imagine the foundation of friendship built up between them as they went into Living World Season 2. “Providing recaps or reintroductions helped a bit,” Kimmes explained, “but especially the further we went from Season 1, the more players felt the story gap.” The story journal re-release of Scarlet’s War will give players the opportunity to meet these characters the way ArenaNet intended.
“If you didn’t meet Braham in his up-and-coming days in Flame and Frost, it’s harder to understand him in Heart of Thorns and harder still to empathize with him as he faces internal struggles in later seasons. You’ll also have missed the origins of his catchprase, if nothing else!”
According to Kimmes, being able to bring back these pivotal moments has been a passion project for ArenaNet. “I’m excited to see new players experience the story with those gaps filled, and be able to chart the growth of the iconic story characters over the years.” Many of the characters introduced in Scarlet’s War are fan favorites, and now players can see defining moments in their stories, like Rox meeting her devourer companion Frostbite, or Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade’s first kiss.
Filling in the Blanks for a New Era of Guild Wars 2 Players
As it stood, Guild Wars 2 players who completed their personal story would go straight into Living World Season 2 with minimal context. This caused no small amount of whiplash for players as they progressed through Guild Wars 2, as their characters spoke with unfamiliar faces about unfamiliar events. “A recurring point of feedback as early as Season 2 was ‘who are these characters, and how do I know them?’” Kimmes reported. It felt as if they were missing a piece of the story, and had to struggle to catch up even with video summaries.
Perhaps none of the missing stories from Living World Season 1 were so impactful as the tale of Scarlet Briar. The titular character of Scarlet’s War is the primary antagonist and catalyst for several events throughout the game, from the sacking of Lion’s Arch to the awakening of Mordremoth. Without being able to access Living World Season 1, the rise and fall of Scarlet Briar, and the ripples her actions cause, could never truly be experienced, barring crucial context from the game for new Guild Wars 2 players.
This became even more prevalent in Guild Wars 2 the longer it went. “We've seen a lot more of Scarlet and the after-effects of her actions ripple even as far as End of Dragons,” Kimmes admitted. Captain Mai Trin and the Aetherblade Pirates, both of which first appeared in Living World Season 1, played major roles in the End of Dragons. But without fully understanding the actions of Scarlet Briar or Mai Trin, some scenes in End of Dragons fall more flat than they would have with full context.
Now, Guild Wars 2 fans can finally get that context. “Going back to [Scarlet] with years of future knowledge in hand, we can present more of her motivations and struggle without worrying about giving away too much of what the future holds,” Kimmes said, “and hopefully give players who missed the original a memorable first encounter with an infamous villain.” New players will finally be able to experience a complete, unbroken version of the Elder Dragon saga all the way through End of Dragons, existing players can fill in the gaps of the story, and the lucky veterans who experienced Living World Season 1 the first time can relive those events in a more linear, streamlined fashion — and unlock any archived achievements they missed.
“Seeing some of their formative moments for the first time in years brought a lot of nostalgia for me, and I hope everyone feels the same whether it’s their first time ever or a long-awaited chance to revisit these stories.”
ArenaNet can't wait for Guild Wars 2 players to see the passion they put into Living World Season 1 as they play through it, be it for the first or second time. The remaster of the season as a persistent chapter in the game is a victory for players as much as it is for ArenaNet, who has worked towards making it a reality after a decade of work. The first chapter, “Flame and Frost,” is available for all players, and Guild Wars 2 will be releasing subsequent chapters over the next months free of charge.
Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons is available now on PC.