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Guild Wars Lore

IrusIrus Member Posts: 774
in Guild Wars 2

I was wondering if anyone could point me somewhere to get acquainted with Guild Wars lore. I checked out the Wiki for GW2 but it seemed very sparse on the subject.

I assume with so many GW1 releases, a lot of stuff happened there, + there's some time gap between GW1 and GW2, I presume. And I don't really know what's going on. I know Charr used to be a non-playable race, and there were humans in Ascalon, and they warred with each other, now they're OK for some reason...

I really don't know how good GW is considered in the lore department?

Comments

  • DistopiaDistopia Member EpicPosts: 21,183

    There are a couple novels I've heard are pretty decent reads.

    For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson


  • ValkaernValkaern Member UncommonPosts: 497

    I would absolutely check out Woodenpotatoes youtube channel if I were you. Not only does he cover GW2 lore, but also explains its relevance in GW1 as well for those of us that weren't fans.

    I don't think you'll find a more complete and well put together collection of lore (with the bonus of watching GW2 videos as he explains all the various aspects).

    There's a lot to dig into, here's one of the more recent ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPpFiVr__i0 , but you'll likely want to go back to the start or search his videos for topics that you're interested in.

    Edit: Wrong link

  • ReskaillevReskaillev Member CommonPosts: 157

    You also might want to check out the Guild Wars 1 wiki? Seeing that the lore is consistent throughout the games and all...

    best start here then: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Timeline

    "Isn't a raid plundering villages in WoW or something like that?" - Robert Desable

  • ValkaernValkaern Member UncommonPosts: 497

    The novels will paint a pretty loose picture of what's going on over all, but they're painful to read.  They're just very poorly written with extremely wooden and one dimensional characters.

    I read them anyway, but I've read more vibrant instruction manuals.  

  • grimm6thgrimm6th Member Posts: 973

    This covers the basics of what happens in between the games.  http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Movement_of_the_World

    as for the lore for GW1, look here.  http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Lore

    I used to TL;DR, but then I took a bullet point to the footnote.

  • ReskaillevReskaillev Member CommonPosts: 157
    Originally posted by Valkaern

    The novels will paint a pretty loose picture of what's going on over all, but they're painful to read.  They're just very poorly written with extremely wooden and one dimensional characters.

    I read them anyway, but I've read more vibrant instruction manuals.  

    Lol..that's exagerated... While the characters could ideed use a little bit more flesh to them, I don't really see how they are painfull to read :p

     

    I enjoyed reading them, seems like a matter of taste to them. And ain't it only natural to not expect literary masterpieces from game lore books?

    "Isn't a raid plundering villages in WoW or something like that?" - Robert Desable

  • SilverbarrSilverbarr Member Posts: 306
    Originally posted by Irus

    I was wondering if anyone could point me somewhere to get acquainted with Guild Wars lore. I checked out the Wiki for GW2 but it seemed very sparse on the subject.

    I assume with so many GW1 releases, a lot of stuff happened there, + there's some time gap between GW1 and GW2, I presume. And I don't really know what's going on. I know Charr used to be a non-playable race, and there were humans in Ascalon, and they warred with each other, now they're OK for some reason...

    I really don't know how good GW is considered in the lore department?

    http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodenPotatoes

     

    This guy is amazing and makes videos of GW Lore, not only that but if you really wanted to you could watch his Let's Plays of each of the GW campaigns!

     

    M

    "Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!"
    - Sun Tzu, the Art of War

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  • ValkaernValkaern Member UncommonPosts: 497
    Originally posted by Reskaillev
    Originally posted by Valkaern

    The novels will paint a pretty loose picture of what's going on over all, but they're painful to read.  They're just very poorly written with extremely wooden and one dimensional characters.

    I read them anyway, but I've read more vibrant instruction manuals.  

    Lol..that's exagerated... While the characters could ideed use a little bit more flesh to them, I don't really see how they are painfull to read :p

     

    I enjoyed reading them, seems like a matter of taste to them. And ain't it only natural to not expect literary masterpieces from game lore books?

    It's a book based on the lore of a videogame, I had pretty low expectations to begin with. I will say Ghosts of Ascalon did pick up near the end, but I just found it pretty flat considering the quality of the in game writing and even the quality and depth of lore snippets elsewhere. It was great for getting a feel for how various factions and races feel about eachother though.

    Maybe I was a bit harsh. Although I only found one character that I (mostly) liked and she wasn't involved for as long as I would have liked. I think my main problem may have been that I just didn't like most of the main characters.

    I'd also just finished one of the best trilogies I'd read in a very long time, so that was a pretty tough act to follow :)

     

  • IrusIrus Member Posts: 774
    Originally posted by Silverbarr

    http://www.youtube.com/user/WoodenPotatoes

    This guy is amazing and makes videos of GW Lore, not only that but if you really wanted to you could watch his Let's Plays of each of the GW campaigns!

    Originally posted by Valkaern

    I would absolutely check out Woodenpotatoes youtube channel if I were you. Not only does he cover GW2 lore, but also explains its relevance in GW1 as well for those of us that weren't fans.

    I don't think you'll find a more complete and well put together collection of lore (with the bonus of watching GW2 videos as he explains all the various aspects).

    There's a lot to dig into, here's one of the more recent ones: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPpFiVr__i0 , but you'll likely want to go back to the start or search his videos for topics that you're interested in.

    That's pretty cool, I think I'll be watching those, thanks!

    This must have taken the guy a lot of work...

  • DJJazzyDJJazzy Member UncommonPosts: 2,053
    Originally posted by Valkaern
    Originally posted by Reskaillev
    Originally posted by Valkaern

    The novels will paint a pretty loose picture of what's going on over all, but they're painful to read.  They're just very poorly written with extremely wooden and one dimensional characters.

    I read them anyway, but I've read more vibrant instruction manuals.  

    Lol..that's exagerated... While the characters could ideed use a little bit more flesh to them, I don't really see how they are painfull to read :p

     

    I enjoyed reading them, seems like a matter of taste to them. And ain't it only natural to not expect literary masterpieces from game lore books?

    It's a book based on the lore of a videogame, I had pretty low expectations to begin with. I will say Ghosts of Ascalon did pick up near the end, but I just found it pretty flat considering the quality of the in game writing and even the quality and depth of lore snippets elsewhere. It was great for getting a feel for how various factions and races feel about eachother though.

    Maybe I was a bit harsh. Although I only found one character that I (mostly) liked and she wasn't involved for as long as I would have liked. I think my main problem may have been that I just didn't like most of the main characters.

    I'd also just finished one of the best trilogies I'd read in a very long time, so that was a pretty tough act to follow :)

     

    The GW novels are decent for what they are, video game books. I have yet to read any novel based on a video game that was anything above mediocre. The GW novels are no different in that regard. I mean if you are expecting a game of thrones type of novel, well yeah you will think they suck pretty hard.

    But for decent read to learn a bit about the GW universe, they aren't too bad.

  • IrusIrus Member Posts: 774

    I'm on episode 10 atm, some pretty crazy stuff in there...

    I recall playing GW1 long ago and I spent a lot of time in Ascalon city and never left and this guy just goes ahead and activates the Searing and I'm like "wtf". How big is this game? Kinda wonder what was beyond the wall (where you need another player to open a gate). I kind wish I got into it back in the day.

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