Curse

CagedinSanity · Jan 07, 2007, 05:39 AM // 05:39

WARNING - may contain spoilers.

Some of these leave unanswered questions (Especially on the prophecies) so please, if you reply, make it tasteful instead of blurting "omg u r noob proph is t3h best0r!"

Also note I've also only been playing for 6 months so some of this may just be uneducated opinions - so please keep that in mind before flaming me.

On Prophecies:
I know this is the favorite of most people, but I must say it is aweful. I am usually good with keeping up with storylines, but the Proph one makes no sense.
First, you're in Pre-searing ascalon. You do quests for kids, actors, and princes. A hostile army comes alone and bombs the place. So far, so good. A generic "fall of the empire" template storyline. Unoriginal, but decent and popular.
So now you're in post-searing Ascalon, apparently your mission as a band of heros is to stop the invasion (or at least postpone is some more?) Kill as many charr as you can, and perhaps even save ascalon.

So far, so good.

Then this is where the game loses me. After the discovery of stormbringer, you make your way into the shiverpeaks and end up getting all in the dwarves business. I fail to realize why. You muddle through their little civil war to gain passage to kryta (even those there's plenty of water underneath it all. It would have been as simple as getting a boat ride from ascalon to kryta.) rorik dies, and you make your way to Kryta. Suddenly you're taking orders from a fanatical religious group called the White mantle, for some reason that escapes me. Suddenly, they turn evil (yay for killing innocents?) you escape, and BAM suddenly the undead want to kill you as well, for a reason that escaped me as well.

WHAT THE CRAP?!

Somehow I did make it to the desert, again I have no idea what I'm doing there, only to ascend for some reason. And that's as far as I've gone in prophecies, at killing the dopplganger. I never want to make a prophecies character again due to the nonsense and complete boredom the campaign gives me.

On the actual economy, And I do not blame this on anyone, it was extremely difficult to get any decent items/armor as I was constantly broke and it was way too hard to get money altogether. Maybe it's just me, but somehow I think the best moeny making areas are deep into the game, far past the desert or something. (I've made it to the desert before, the drops suck.) I only had one prophecies character once upon a time, I got my armor in cantha when i got factions >_>

On Factions
I was extremely excited when I got this. The storyline is most definately a lot more original, but the entire thing is obviously PvP based, as one could get to level 11-15 in a day of gameplay. I honestly don't think Factions is good for new players, even during the tutorial, I bet most of them chat with party members rather than paying attention. As the game pins you against level 8's and 11's in almost no time. (The leveling speed in prophecies to me is a tad slow, but I think it was too speedy in factions. Call me picky.) Which I don't think is healthy for new players, it may even discourage them, "omg level 11's already! I'm only level 7!"

all in all, the storyline is decent and it flowed throughout the whole game. In prophecies the main enemy shifted way too much for me to keep up. Charr? no wait, the stone summit! damnit no, it's the mantle! CRAP NOW THE UNDEAD? At least in Factions you knew who the enemy was the entire time. Shiro. although the lack in enemy diversity wasn't that great.

On Nightfall
I do believe, they finally know what they're doing.
The storyline flows, a central enemy is established while still giving you plenty of side-enemies to worry about. The storyline is a political war-time debate that everyone of all ages can relate to. Are you, as a sunspear, working for the greater good? Or have you just taken orders from a mad leader who wants a war? It's hard to tell, which I think is brilliant.
Although the question shifts quickly when you discover the famous Warmarshal Varesh want's to, uh, for lack of a better way of saying it, end the world in this event called "Nightfall" And thus revealing the source of the expansion title.
Short, simple, to the point. Awesome storyline.

Nightfall also introduced heros, which are henchmen on crack. Which is good, mind you. Each player/party member can equip 3 heros each of their choice, which are generally unlocked as you progress through the storyline. you can equip weapons of your choice, customize their skill bar, edit their attributes, and install runes into their armor. You cannot change their actual armor, but it does improve as the heros level. You can order them around making them attack, guard, or avoid combat altogether. You can order them and the heros to stop and stay in a certain area, too, untill you cancel the order. BRILLIANCE?

Let me take a second to comment on the armor that nightfall gives. In prophecies, the armor was relatively bland, and only the best looking armor went to the high levels who are deep into the island of fire and farm a hundred ectos a day or something. And in factions, you had a couple more creative types, but you were stuck with one style or another throughout most of the same (That much I didn't like.) In nightfall, you almost WANT to end the game with starter-styled armor. The armor is just beautifully crafted. Sadly, there is only two types again but that doesn't matter much as the armor is wonderfully created.

The nightfall storyline is so innovative and fast paced, that I've progressed farther in the NF campaign in a week or two than I have in any others over the course of 6 months.

I hope they take the best of all worlds and put it into Chapter4. Prophecies with their slow and easy pace for learning, nightfall with the leveling speed (Heros would be nice but I'm not worried about them too much) and nightfall again for their perfect storyline.

Pjstaab · Jan 07, 2007, 05:52 AM // 05:52

I agree with you on factions because we all know that one sucked. Prophecies I thought was really good. Sure you leveled pretty slow but the story was almost completely unpredictable and I liked that. If you watched the cutscenes and didn't skip any missions I thought it told the story quite well and wasn't hard to follow at all. There are still 6 missions in prophecies after beating the doppleganger and I highly recommend doing those six missions.

CagedinSanity · Jan 07, 2007, 06:00 AM // 06:00

I would, but my prophecies character is long gone. Had them for 2 weeks after the ascension, with no clue on where to go next. I never found any runners that were all "running to next mission area" or anything like that, sO i never found out where to go.

And not only was it unpredictable, it was nonsense and pathetic. It changed way too often and didn't flow at all.
As I said in a quote in my review:

Quote:

Charr? no wait, the stone summit! damnit no, it's the mantle! CRAP NOW THE UNDEAD?

And I do watch the cutscenes if I haven't seen them, regardless of how many people want to skip. (7/8 want to skip? screw you guys.)

-Site is lagging, sorry if this post ends up getting double posted, I'll try to delete if the lag lets me.

GWaddit · Jan 07, 2007, 06:00 AM // 06:00

About your proph rant, dude watch the cut-scenes more and pay attention to what your doing, you don't just go to the shiverpeaks and then to kryta w/o reason.

I read the rest of your post, but it was so biased to nf and untrue i just felt compelled not to reply about it.

CagedinSanity · Jan 07, 2007, 06:02 AM // 06:02

Bias? Isn't that what opinions are? Who said opinions HAVE to be true or factual?

Please, enlighten me. I'm not trying to be sarcastic, I want to know more about the campaigns I really do.

escoffier · Jan 07, 2007, 06:17 AM // 06:17

wow i can see this one getting ugly fast but anyways to the op play and learn like we all do. if you must know before you play check guildwiki.

CagedinSanity · Jan 07, 2007, 06:28 AM // 06:28

I did say much of it was uneducated opinions. If people can't read it's not my fault.

Cacheelma · Jan 07, 2007, 06:28 AM // 06:28

I think he's right about Prophecies. Seriously, don't you agree that Prophecies's story is a bit......off? "We must protect Ascalon, Save Rin, Save the King" and then "We can't stay here, we have to leave for Kryta",

Now....this "leave for Kryta" part would be very understandable if Rurik wants to go there and ask for help. But instead he just wants to go and live there instead....Ok I guess. Leave your father and the rest of your people to burn. Who cares, right?

The Northern Shiverpeaks part is fine. You're travelling to Kryta and Shiverpeaks is in the way. Then, Rurik got killed while you're on the way out of Shiverpeaks, and you've arrived at Kryta. Guess what? Nobody gives a damn about Rurik. "The prince is dead", "uh, that's too bad I guess. Let's go to LA and do some trade, Ascalonian fellows!"

Where is the story between that? You don't just forget about your prince like that. And as an Ascalonian, you'd stay with your fellow Ascalonians instead of wandering around, following White Mantle's orders. Never, ever, unless you take some crappy fantasy books into account....

DarthGreg · Jan 07, 2007, 07:04 AM // 07:04

I think Prophecies has the best story of all three by a mile. The way you moved across the continent from one locale to another felt really epic, and the twists and question of who is the real power controlling who was complex and interesting - if you were paying attention that is. Most people rush through PvE not giving two shits for the story, and for those people I'm sure Prophecies made no sense at all. Factions PvE really disappointed me: simple and short, wasn't much to it. So far Nightfall is great (havn't finished quite yet) and has a really nice polished feel to it that Prophecies and Factions lacked; however it seems to lack the kind of diversity that spiced up the two previous campaigns.

Pjstaab · Jan 07, 2007, 07:17 AM // 07:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cacheelma

I think he's right about Prophecies. Seriously, don't you agree that Prophecies's story is a bit......off? "We must protect Ascalon, Save Rin, Save the King" and then "We can't stay here, we have to leave for Kryta",

Now....this "leave for Kryta" part would be very understandable if Rurik wants to go there and ask for help. But instead he just wants to go and live there instead....Ok I guess. Leave your father and the rest of your people to burn. Who cares, right?

The Northern Shiverpeaks part is fine. You're travelling to Kryta and Shiverpeaks is in the way. Then, Rurik got killed while you're on the way out of Shiverpeaks, and you've arrived at Kryta. Guess what? Nobody gives a damn about Rurik. "The prince is dead", "uh, that's too bad I guess. Let's go to LA and do some trade, Ascalonian fellows!"

Where is the story between that? You don't just forget about your prince like that. And as an Ascalonian, you'd stay with your fellow Ascalonians instead of wandering around, following White Mantle's orders. Never, ever, unless you take some crappy fantasy books into account....

You do though come back to ascalon and other places with the titan quests.

Phenick · Jan 07, 2007, 07:29 AM // 07:29

Ok I respect your opinions... Here is my understanding of the story in Prophecies up to where you are with a little I may have had to figure out on my own...

You are an ascelonian soldier who first needs to prove himself within the eyes of ascelon... In the process you come to side with the prince who wants to go over the shiverpeaks and seek help against the invading charr army from the people of Kryta now known as White Mantle... You have some trouble going over the mountains as you have to travel through the heat of a civil war... When Rurik dies your now to settle the ascelon refugees in kryta...

Here in my mind is a hint at some things they do not mention... It seems that Rurik may have known ahead of time that all the refugees including you are Chosen and are important in order to fulfill the flameseeker prophecies which is old and famous enough for any of them to know about...

So now your a high up soldier of ascelon in kryta where you need to gain the trust of the white mantle.... in the process you find that the undead are trying to kill the chosen so you get them back from, not the undead bu the shining blade... for the white mantle... as you chase the shining blade through the maguuma jungle(the chosen are ascelonians you are trying to save your own people) you find that the white mantle seek to sacrifice the chosen and the shining blade mean to save them...

now you are fighting t ostop the white mantle who you then find out are just puppets being used by the lich who is in cohorts with some crazy ass wizards called the mursaat... you also find out that you are the chosen and must travel to the crystal desert in search of a great power within yourself if you ever hope to stop the mursaat and the lich...

in the desert you do many things including ascending.... once you have gotten the power you need your next goal is to go help in the war in the shiver peaks as the white mantle have trapped the shining blade there and are going to take them out....

FoxBat · Jan 07, 2007, 07:55 AM // 07:55

It makes more sense than the op lets on, but all the twists and turns are a bit lame. I especially dislike how useless ascension was, you'd think *that* should be the thing to let you fight the mursaat which would've made it worth the effort, oh no you need to go run through a mission to see some stupid seer to infuse your armor instead. Every single time you change your armor too. The origin and purpose of the muursat is not really explained by the end of the game very well, nor why Glint has you go through all of this for.

Nonetheless, it's still 200% better than Factions, which has a 5-minute story stretched over hours and hours. You think stupid plot twists are predictable? Try no plot at all.

coldplay · Jan 07, 2007, 08:00 AM // 08:00

good writing, I dont agree with you on some parts but I always respect ppl who read storyline. I know bunch of guys beat Prophecies many times still dont know shit about the story

Cow Tale · Jan 07, 2007, 08:10 AM // 08:10

? nf = bored after a week. someday i might finish it. maybe. proph isnt just about the story. look at how beautiful they made the landscapes it owns the other two games.

Faith Angelis · Jan 07, 2007, 09:14 AM // 09:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by CagedinSanity

I would, but my prophecies character is long gone. Had them for 2 weeks after the ascension, with no clue on where to go next. I never found any runners that were all "running to next mission area" or anything like that, sO i never found out where to go.

And not only was it unpredictable, it was nonsense and pathetic. It changed way too often and didn't flow at all.

I don't want to knock holes in what you're saying, but if indeed you ascended in Prophecies, you finished the acsension in the next mission area. Beating the doppleganger drops you at Dragon's Lair, which in turn drops you in the southern shiverpeaks where the unseen gods of the White Mantle are revealed.

I can't help but feel that if you've used runners to get to the next mission areas, you've probably missed out on quite a lot of the primary story arc, which is made up not only of missions, but quests also.

I can understand some confusion with the storyline, not because its awful and it makes no sense as you say, but because you haven't finished it. I wont ruin it by telling you how it all fits together; but it does. And it's all the better for totally confusing you before explaining why everything; just as with many classic fantasy epics in literature and screenplay, you're dumped in the middle of the story, and the process of discovery makes the story great.

I want to encourage you to give it another chance, from the top, all the way through. I think it may just change your mind!

Redfeather1975 · Jan 07, 2007, 09:35 AM // 09:35

They are all trying to be different and appeal to different tastes. That's a good thing. A lot of people hate factions and love prophecies, but some people, like myself have it the other way around.
I think because each game appeals to different people, that they are all decent.

Also for others to see, I'm tired of hearing people say factions sucked! They know darn well that there are people who like factions, but totally ignore other people's tastes. Games are like movies and music and any type of art. Everyone has their own preference. It won an award for crying out loud.

Cacheelma · Jan 07, 2007, 09:54 AM // 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Faith Angelis

I don't want to knock holes in what you're saying, but if indeed you ascended in Prophecies, you finished the acsension in the next mission area. Beating the doppleganger drops you at Dragon's Lair, which in turn drops you in the southern shiverpeaks where the unseen gods of the White Mantle are revealed.

I can't help but feel that if you've used runners to get to the next mission areas, you've probably missed out on quite a lot of the primary story arc, which is made up not only of missions, but quests also.

I can understand some confusion with the storyline, not because its awful and it makes no sense as you say, but because you haven't finished it. I wont ruin it by telling you how it all fits together; but it does. And it's all the better for totally confusing you before explaining why everything; just as with many classic fantasy epics in literature and screenplay, you're dumped in the middle of the story, and the process of discovery makes the story great.

I want to encourage you to give it another chance, from the top, all the way through. I think it may just change your mind!

Your whole reply is based on the assumption that he uses runners.

I've played, and repeat, the whole Ascalon > Kryta > Maguuma chains of missions/quests over and over and over ever since I've started playing Guild Wars back in Holloween 2004 WPE. I can't believe how someone would come up and say that Prophecies's Story is good.

Let's face it; It's FAR from good. And this is coming from the biggest fanboy you'll ever find. There're so many holes in the story. Why leave Ascalon? Did you leave because the prince told you so or you want to help Ascalon? Why didn't you return to Ascalon and help the king once Rurik is dead/You killed the Lich? (Leaving Ascalon because the place is ruined and there's no hope to survive there would be a BAD reason, story-wise, so please don't pull such stuff on me)

And don't even get me start with Rurik's death. So much for a prince and his fellowers, really.

MerLock · Jan 07, 2007, 10:06 AM // 10:06

I enjoyed factions the most.

And yea, prophecies was good because it was original but the story line was really confusing. It skipped around a lot and whatever did happen with the Charr? Seems like we were fighting one enemy after another without resolving any of them. Just running away from one fight to another. Only one that had some sort of closure was defeating the lynch but then what happens to the mantle? Who really are the mursaat? What happens to the undead? /shrugs

Maria The Princess · Jan 07, 2007, 10:12 AM // 10:12

to OP: you never really completed prophecies, if you would the story line would come all together for you. ascension is only half throgh the game, and if you did ascend, and beat your dopple, the game automaticly takes you to a mission called dragon lair, which takes you forward to the place where the other half of the game begins. the exciting half. before complaining about the story, finish it first, it will come all together.

about factions, the story was too "generic". i would call it a cookie cutter story. a bad guy came, destroyed everything and now we gotta kill him. but honestly i enjoyed the game rythm much more then NF, it was dynamic and straigh to the point.

about NF, that story was great, ya! but if you would complete prophecies first it would be even better cuz it explains much about the 2 previous games.

my advice: make a prophecies character (or brng over a character from nf?) and play till the very end of it. youll be surprised how the story comes together

Bellucci · Jan 07, 2007, 10:39 AM // 10:39

how you do not understand what went on in the prophecies campaign is beyond me... ill start with the first thing you didnt understand... the humans became the dwarves business because the only way to get to kryta is to go THROUGH their land... second, grooble's gulch is the shortest route to kryta. However, the beacons to let the King ironhammer know its safe to open the doors are gaurded by the stone summit (they are at war, the dwarves and summit, because they pretty much worship different gods). The humans, (us), killed the summit gaurding the beacons. The dwarves were happy about that, so they showd us their hospitality. We did them good by looking out for ourselves cuz we were trying to get to Kryta. it was win win. We killed summit and took the beacons, they gave us passage. And as they stated in the cinematic, the dwarves and humans used to have an old alliance. Probably against the charr. As abck in the day, the Charr invaded Kryta, Ascalon, and Northern Elona (Orr).

I really think you need to actually listen to the words spoken during the cutscenes. I found it very difficult to "get lost." Everything was explained so simply. There was nothing complex about anything. Factions was probably the worst explained, but still, i found it difficult to get lost. The only think i dont understand is what was so dangerous about Shiro trying to become mortal again. However i do understand that the emeperor never wanted to kill Shiro, and that Shiro was a good guy, who was tainted by abaddon's Fortune Teller. That Fortune Teller was the means by which Shiro became touched by abaddon and became one of his "officers" so to speak