Before I go any further, here's the links to the update pages for these...
F&F The Razing: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/march-2013/
F&F Retribution: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/april-30-2013/
Secret of Southsun: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/may-14-2013/
This is another thing that's kinda cool - they have all their releases in a timeline so you can see things progress even on their website. But yeah, so this Living Story thing. I played Guild Wars 2 a lot when it came out, and started falling off as I started reaching 80 because all my friends quit playing. Recently I got into an actual guild with people in it, and I've started playing some more. The thing that keeps me around is that I want to keep experiencing this world ArenaNet has created, which means exploring more of the map and playing out these Living Story updates. When I finally sat down and decided I was gonna do this Flame and Frost thing, I jumped into Rox's mission first, because I kinda hate the Norn (maybe I just need more experience with them?) and the Charr look cool. At first it was just another mission, but near the end Rox gets a little devourer companion that, despite Rox's best efforts, won't leave her alone. I just couldn't get over how adorable that was. Here's a young Charr trying to prove herself and basically be all tough like all the other Charr, and she's got this adorable baby devourer following her around. You realize that this is who she is though, and I think it's compounded when you look at her eyes - they've got larger irises and she's almost designed to look "cute". This really starts to hurt just a little when you read a recently posted short story of Rox's past, and why she's trying so hard to get into Rytlock's warband: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/roxs-tale/
Dem feels D:
Once we'd finished and she said to meet up with her later (aka in Retribution), I realized I definitely wanted to. I was all-in with this story. And I still had another one to do. This time I headed off to the land of the Black Citadel to meet Braham, who is apparently the (hidden?) son of Eir Stegalkin, who was one of the members of Destiny's Edge, a legendary adventuring group. This is pretty much the only reason I know who she is, because again, I'm not interested in the Norn. Still, they made a big deal about it by having Rytlock (another former member of Destiny's Edge) completely and totally not believe Braham when he said who his mother was. Even just kinda knowing who Eir was, I realized this was a big deal. Destiny's Edge was huge and famous and all that. As seen in a Personal Story quest, kids are still playing pretend as them (although it was kind of depressing to see how they're remembered now). This was a big deal, someone's going around saying he's Eir's son! Well, upon following Braham to Hoelbrak, you find out it's true, and they don't seem to like each other much. So what's the deal? Anyway, Braham can't find anyone to help him with his problem - including his own mother and the leader of the Norn. That's where you come in. Braham just wants to protect the people that he actually grew up with - which, very specifically, was apparently not his mother. So you go help him out, but find out that prisoners were taking. Braham's not going to rest until he tracks them down, so you're to meet up with him later (aka in Retribution).
Okay, so this guy's kind of a mystery and has ties to one of the most famous people in Tyria - although no one believes him. Yeah, I'm into that. Let's check this out. So, after finishing off the other achievements relating to the F&F updates (oh my gosh finding those Dirt/Snow-Covered Objects was torture) I made my way to the Molten Facility dungeon. Inside, you find that Rox and Braham's stories have come together as they find this place. Together with both of them - and Rox's newly named devourer Frostbite - the players fight they're way through the facility, rescuing prisoners, and eventually blowing the whole place to kingdom-come. Following up with both of them you see that they're stories are finished for now, but obviously not over. I can't wait for them to show up again.
Like I said, there's not a ton of story here, but it's one where the more you put into it, the more you'll get out of it, which can sometimes be the best ones. The best part is, we're not just finishing this big Frost and Flame event - of which the world-based event is that tons of refugees are fleeing their homes due to the Molten Alliance attacks - and suddenly it's just gone. No, their next update is about the ramifications of Frost and Flame's over-arching event: the sudden gathering of people on Southsun Cove. This brings the story back to a one-off event that introduced the island early on in Guild Wars 2's lifetime - in fact, it was the first real update to/event of the game. I really didn't like this update because it was full of one-time events that I constantly missed and had no seemingly interesting parts anyway. It was just kinda... there. But now they're utilizing it for a story that makes sense. What happens when a bunch of people are shoved out of their homes and end up in a strange place? Well, some people decide to "make the best of it", and by "make the best of it" I mean start stealing from people. At least that's what's implied by the teaser site linked above. So yeah, I'm super excited to see where they're going with this, and how future Living Story updates/events will tie in together and how Guild Wars 2's story evolves. ArenaNet really seems to be hitting the nail on the head for MMO storytelling. No, it's not like an RPG's storytelling, it can't be, it's an MMO. If you want that, go play an RPG. For an MMO, I think ArenaNet is doing a great job.
And this is why I'M SO EXCITED!
Such examples of cross profession combos can be seen between an Elementalist class and a Warrior, per say. The Elementalist casts ice on the ground and the Warrior, on cue stomps the frozen earth. This cooperation grants frost armor on allies. Other cooperative combos the Elementalist and Warrior professions can achieve is delivering burning damage to the enemy. This works out by the Elementalist casting Lava Front on the enemies. The Warrior can leap into the fray and stomp the earth. The achieved effect is granting additional damage to the enemy on top of their current scorching state.
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