Living World: why the game has a story you do not own

Sooner or later you hit a wall: the story stops and the game tells you the continuation has to be unlocked. That is Living World, the most confusing piece of how this game is put together.

What it is

Living World means story seasons between expansions. Each brings new maps, story chapters, masteries, sometimes mounts.

These are not small patches. Between expansions they take up as much space as the expansions themselves (what the expansions contain).

The seasons in order

Season	Years	Requires
Season 1	2013–2014, re-released 2022	free for everyone
Season 2	2014–2015	base game
Season 3	2016–2017	Heart of Thorns
Season 4	2017–2019	Path of Fire
Icebrood Saga (Season 5)	2019–2021	Path of Fire

The chronology runs base game → S1 → S2 → Heart of Thorns → S3 → Path of Fire → S4 → Icebrood Saga → End of Dragons.

Season 1 is entirely free. It vanished from the game for years, because it had been built as temporary world events, and only in 2022 was it rebuilt as proper instances.

Season 1, and the thing ArenaNet did that almost nobody does

For eight years, Season 1 did not exist.

It ran live in 2013 and 2014 as events that happened once, changed the world permanently, and then were gone. Lion’s Arch was destroyed in front of the people who were logged in that week, and everyone who arrived afterwards got the ruins with no explanation. If you started playing in 2016, the first chapter of this game’s story was a thing other players talked about and you could not see.

Then ArenaNet went back and rebuilt it. All of it, as playable instances, years after the fact, for content that generated no new revenue.

Since 8 November 2022 it has been free for everyone, whether you own an expansion or not.

Studios do not usually do this. Live content that expires is normally left to expire, because rebuilding it costs money and the people who missed it have already made peace with missing it. Play the reconstructed Season 1 and you can feel that it was made by people who were unhappy about what had been lost.

🔴 The trap

Season episodes unlocked for free only while they were current. Log in during an episode’s window and it stayed on your account forever.

Arrive later and you buy it with gems.

This is why two players who own the same expansions can have different amounts of story. One logged in during 2018 and has everything; the other started last year and has holes.

The window, and what missing it costs

Every other season works on a rule that is generous and quietly ruthless at the same time.

If you log in during an episode’s release or re-release window, that episode is free forever, permanently attached to your account. Miss the window and it costs 200 gems through the Story Journal. The season packs bring the price down, with the wiki putting the baseline at 160 gems per episode.

So a fortnight away from the game in the wrong fortnight has an exact price. Two hundred gems, for logging in on a Wednesday and doing nothing else.

Veterans keep a habit because of it: when a release lands, you log in once, click into the story journal, and log out. Thirty seconds, and the episode is yours whether you play it this year or in four years when a friend finally talks you into catching up on the plot.

If nobody told you this before, and you have been playing for a while, go and check what you own. Some of it will surprise you in both directions.

What this means today

After End of Dragons in February 2022 the separate seasons ended. Content released between major launches now ships inside the expansion itself.

So Secrets of the Obscure, Janthir Wilds and Visions of Eternity are bought once, post-launch content included. The “I missed an episode” problem only affects the old seasons.

Which ones are worth unlocking

Season 1 is free. Take it for that reason alone.

Season 2 needs only the base game. It bridges into Heart of Thorns, and without it the jump to the jungle feels abrupt.

Season 3 is the most useful of the paid ones. Its maps are still among the best for materials and gold.

Season 4 holds the mount maps, and it is where the skyscale unlocks.

Icebrood Saga has the weakest reputation, and it opens access to strike missions (what those are).

What it costs

Each episode is 200 gems, and a full season is cheaper as a bundle.

Gems are bought with money or exchanged for gold (current rate). So the game can pay for it: a full season comes to a few dozen gold, which a week or two of ordinary play covers (where to start).

Advice for a newcomer

Buy nothing right away. Play the personal story, reach 80, pick up your first expansion. Living World makes sense once you know whether you are here for the story or for the maps and rewards.

Check your account before paying, too. Some episodes may already be unlocked if you happened to log in during the right week years ago.