At some point over the last year of fortnightly “endless storyline” updates, Guild Wars 2 became an interactive HBO show. And so it seems only right to bring “DVR-like” replay functionality to the game on the eve of its second Living World season.
Released alongside the Living World Season 2 premiere on July 1, ArenaNet’s new journal feature will allow players to load up and replay every future episode in the series. Episodes have previously only been available for short periods before being absorbed into Tyrian lore.
Each new Living World release will be accessible to any Guild Wars player, regardless of level. Log in during the two-week period an update is live and it’ll be logged in your journal, ready for you when you have time. Miss the log-in slot and you’ll need to pay a small amount of in-game currency to access a past episode.
Future Living World episodes will be a mixture of new story steps in the style of Season 1, and open world updates that’ll permanently change Tyria in some fashion.
“The Living World exists to drive the story of Guild Wars 2 forward and create a sense of speculation, wonder, and intrigue around the world of Tyria and its characters,” said Guild Wars master and commander Colin Johanson.
“We want to create the feeling that anything in Tyria can change and get players looking forward to what might happen next. A natural system that provides story and context for these changes makes sense when we regularly expand the experiences in our game.”
It does make sense! Thanks, Colin. Unfortunately, the stories told in Season 1 will be lost to time.
That’s a real shame – Guild Wars 2’s first Living World season chugged along at a rate unprecedented in MMOs, introducing and developing new storylines and characters across more than two dozen updates.
Living World Season 2 will begin precisely where Season 1 left off – in the ruins of Lion’s Arch, face-to-face with a brand new threat. Will you be back to tackle it?