Guild Wars 2 Diary #2 : New Wave of MMO Story-lines

Quinn is a reminder of your past, an opportunity to see how things could have been had you made different decisions. Your childhood friend, he’s never really seemed to get beyond his roots and still makes a living as part of a less than honest gang let by Two-Blade Pete. As soon as you’ve recovered after your run in with the Earth Elemental from the tutorial, you’ll be sent a message from Quinn who asks you to come and see him. What could he be after? How is it going to get you into trouble? Can you ever escape your past? The first few single player instances in Guild Wars 2 shows just how far the game pushes to be more than “just” an MMO, and in this week’s Guild Wars 2 Review I’m going to walk you through the ups and down of dealing with Two-Blade Pete and Quinn, and through stepping on the right side of the law.

If you have missed the episode #1 of Guild Wars 2 Diary, read it here->

The Perils of Friendship

The Perils of Friendship is one of the first story quests in the game. If you’ve done nothing but followed the quests and helped the farmers, it’ll also be your first trip into the vast city of Divinity’s Reach. Divinity’s Reach truly is massive, a brief reminder of how much has changes in MMOs over the last ten or so years. No longer will it take you a few minutes to see everything this city has to offer, but every turn offers a new surprise, every back alley a variety of people to meet and mix with and each building a new style of architecture to watch out. It’s truly breath-taking, a sight that too few video games can offer.

Guild Wars 2 : Crusher Dan

When you meet with Quinn, things seem fairly casual. If you’ve ever seen an episode of Roseanne, you’ll notice how worryingly similar he looks to an older DJ, a fact that no doubt will just add entertainment value to everything that is about to come. Before long the conversation is interrupted by our old friend Two-Blade Pete. An acquaintance of his has been captured by a rival gang and Quinn is to blame. It would seem we’ve appeared at just the right time.

Saving Quinn

The only way to save Quinn’s life is to rescue the captured girl. It’s simple enough, you know where she’s being kept and a quick fight with some local thugs nets you the password in. The ruse doesn’t last long though and the battle begins. There are a lot of miscreants to hit, and they tend to fall with only a little effort. After a few minutes of slaughtering brigands, you can take your chance to rescue the damsel in distress (although she isn’t much of a damsel and she doesn’t look in too much distress.)

You’ve saved your friends life, for now anyway. Two-Blade Pete isn’t finished with him though, not yet, and a raid on an apothecary in a small village could spell the end for your childhood friend, who practically volunteers his services for the job.

The mission isn’t over though. The law know exactly what is going on and is going to break up the raid. You’re given a chance to try once again to talk Quinn out of his misdeed, but you have to be quick. If he’s caught and surrenders, he’ll end up in prison. If he’s caught and fights, he’ll end up dead. Time is of the essence.

Out of the Norm

If you’ve read everything that has happened so far, you might be surprised to learn that it’s part of an MMO. Of course, instanced play is nothing new and games like The Old Republic have perfected the art of instancing to a tee. What strikes me isn’t that there’s a single player story, but that it plays so much like a console game. If you’ve ever played Fable, you’ll feel right at home rescuing Quinn during this quest. Things aren’t as simple as follow an arrow, kill a monster, claim a reward. Ealier in the week we ran an article about MMO developers catching up with single player developers and the difficulties that they face in doing so. ArenaNet have out done themselves, creating an MMO experience that isn’t only exciting as part of a group, but is equal (if not better) to single player counterparts in the instanced arenas as well.

"Guild Wars 2 is beautifully polished, and it makes playing it such a joy."

The Apothecary

After a quick run across Divinity’s Reach, you find yourself in a small village in uproar. Bandits have attacked and decent, honest folk run for their lives at blade point. This just won’t do, especially considering you know your friend is part of the gang terrorizing these poor people. Thankfully, he’s not as unscrupulous as perhaps we’d first thought.

The bandits have emptied the apothecary and have taken anything of value. Two-Blade Pete has given the order to have the owner killed, but Quinn has had a pang of conscience. He won’t allow the bandits to kill her and, in return for his sudden show of good nature, they try to kill him. Once again, we’ve shown up at exactly the right time. Together, you and Quinn not only manage to defeat the bandits still attacking the apothecary, but you manage to wipe out all of the backup bandits as well.  The village is saved, but not everything is as it should be. The bandits have taken a large supply of poison, and there’s no tell what they plan to do with it. Quinn sees the error of his ways and decides to stay away from Two-Blade Pete. The law shows up, and Quinn is even less impressed to see them.

Killing the River Drake in Guild Wars 2

The Mesmer

Thankfully, we have a chance. Two-Blade Pete and friends know exactly what you look like and what you’ve done at the Apothecary, and they won’t be happy. That’s not going to stop you though, not when there’s a Mesmer at your disposal. Countess Anise has been serving the queen for years, and today she’s going to get you out of a bind. Using her mystical powers, she makes it so that the bandits won’t recognise you. When you’re in their hideout, you’ll be able to move around as one of them. Your job now is to convince them that you’re one of the bad guys and earn their trust. From there you can discover what’s happening with the poison and, hopefully, save the day.

Back to Dan as we have completed the quest

Conclusion

The events in this week’s Guild Wars 2 review diary take place over the space of about twenty minutes, but are an important indication of just how deep parts of this game are. The phrase “MMO storylines” can sometimes be something of an oxymoron, with quests usually either standalone and not very interesting or related to the wider world. Rarely do you come across characters, with actual development and actual interesting things to say and do. Rarely do you feel an important part of events. That’s why Guild Wars 2 is so important, I think, as part of the transition into the next generation of MMO games.