Guild Wars 2

Usually in fiction when a scientific organization wants to get cast as the bad guy their actions get cast in a quasi-legitimate light, so you get the drama of dealing with a morally ambiguous scenario. For the Inquest, though, all the in-game dialogue refers to them as being unambiguously evil and all of their actions that we see bend towards the evil side by a wide margin of error. So why on earth (err… `why on Tyria`) haven’t the Asura shut this group down? Seeing as you attack these guys every time you see them, I don’t get why they get to operate unimpeded. Is there any in-game lore that explains why the Asura tolerate these guys?

I know we can make our own opinions, but I’m curious if the official canon says anything. I have similar curiosity as to why the Norn allow the Sons of Svanir to hang out right in Hoelbrak.

The Inquest are evil immoral bookahs. Which is not the same as incompetent. And now and then they actually come up with something that we can.. um.. borrow and use for the benefit of all Asurans.

Ashandar.2570:

…and now and then they actually come up with something that we can.. um.. borrow and use for the benefit of all Asurans.

Great, but is that something an Asuran says in-game?

There are some personal story instances, can’t remember which ones now since it was a long time ago, but you have to steal tech from the inquest to help people. One instance in the early arc and one in the pact arc, though I think they depend on the choices you make, so they are probably not available in all storylines.

As Ashandar says, while the Arcane Council officially does not endorse or support the Inquest, they also turn a blind eye to a lot of their activities because sometimes their research, as cruel and immoral as it may be, is the only way to achieve breakthroughs in certain fields of science. It’s a case of “I’d like to use the results of your research, but I don’t want to be the one to dirty my hands to get it.”

In the case of the Norn and the Sons of Svanir, the Norn believe that each Norn has the right to their own beliefs and their own path in life. So long as they don’t cause trouble in Hoelbrak itself, the Sons are free to come and go. But if they assault or attack anybody, the Wolfborn will come down kitten them. Outside of Hoelbrak, each Norn can do as they please, but they are also responsible for whatever consequences they bring on their own heads as a result of their actions.

Zaxares.5419:

As Ashandar says, while the Arcane Council officially does not endorse or support the Inquest, they also turn a blind eye to a lot of their activities because sometimes their research, as cruel and immoral as it may be, is the only way to achieve breakthroughs in certain fields of science. It’s a case of “I’d like to use the results of your research, but I don’t want to be the one to dirty my hands to get it.”

All well and good, but is this just a reasonable conclusion, or does a character say this? As I mention in my OP, I am curious about the canonical answer, not just player opinions.

Also the inquest directly around Rata sum tend to be a lot more tamer then the inquest farther out.

Such as Sorrow’s Embrace or Crucible of eternity. Those guys were worse then the inquest directly around the Rata rum portal from metrica, who typically just try to steal other krewe’s work and tech :P.

The canonical answer is a mix of what everyone here said. The asura as a society are not “good”. They are devious and calculating, even amongst themselves. One of the personal story options is to save a crew member or leave him to his fate. if you save him you are warned that your sentimentality is a weakness that could get exploited (paraphrase). Also, there is various NPC dialog around the world like an asura asking a charr inventor what kindof inventor doesn’t have expendable lab assistants.

So the answer is really that while there are some asura that detest the inquest and their methods, there are also plenty of asura that support them. To the point that they even have sympathisers on the council.

Dustfinger.9510:

One of the personal story options is to save a crew member or leave him to his fate. if you save him you are warned that your sentimentality is a weakness that could get exploited (paraphrase).

Well, my mentor always told me to “always be loyal to your krewe”, so I followed that advice.

To add to what Dustfinger said above, the Asura value results. There’s an event in Metrica Province where a krewe gets kidnapped by krait, and it’s implied that if you hadn’t come along to rescue them, the krewe leader would simply have left the krewe for dead and hired some new krewe members. As angry as the rescued krewe are over their treatment, they also decide to continue working on the project “because we’re so close to a breakthrough!” The desire to succeed and learn more is so strong among the Asura as a race that there’s a part of every Asura that’s still eager for the results the Inquest obtain, even as they might recoil from the way the Inquest obtained it.

Here is an old interview where devs explain the inquest: http://www.pcgamer.com/uk/2011/09/19/guild-wars-2-asura-interview-part-two-love-and-inquest/

I guess my big problem is the lore presentation isn’t consistent. There is a lot of material that portray Asurans as valuing knowledge and its pursuit as being more important that concepts like good and evil… I think the bit with the Krewe captured by the Krait is a very good example.

So given this context, I would not expect that basically every time the Inquest are referred to in-game, it’s in the context that they are evil, and all of their actions that we see are basically evil (you would think they would do an experiment once in a while that doesn’t involve hurting somebody, just based on random chance). Essentially they should be portrayed as amoral and not immoral, and I don’t think they are.

One thing is though, before CoE storymode, the TRULY evil stuff the inquest was doing was hidden.

Before it’s more of “Ugh, THOSE kittens again.” stealing work and research, sabotaging others, evil but not super evil.

But then Zojja got hold of the data from CoE, and if she actually DID show that to the council, that’d ruin a lot of the inquest ‘power’ :P.

Zaxares.5419:

while the Arcane Council officially does not endorse or support the Inquest, they also turn a blind eye to a lot of their activities because sometimes their research, as cruel and immoral as it may be, is the only way to achieve breakthroughs in certain fields of science.

I wouldn’t go that far. After all, the Inquest is a legal krew AND has a representative on the arcane council itself.

Eggman.1405:

I guess my big problem is the lore presentation isn’t consistent. There is a lot of material that portray Asurans as valuing knowledge and its pursuit as being more important that concepts like good and evil… I think the bit with the Krewe captured by the Krait is a very good example.

So given this context, I would not expect that basically every time the Inquest are referred to in-game, it’s in the context that they are evil, and all of their actions that we see are basically evil (you would think they would do an experiment once in a while that doesn’t involve hurting somebody, just based on random chance). Essentially they should be portrayed as amoral and not immoral, and I don’t think they are.

Well, like humans, you can’t generalize individuals and put them in a box. There’s always the exception. I’ve ran into the ‘typical Asura npc’ who share that sentiment as that Krewe leader. But on the other hand, I’ve ran across several very kind Asura too.

There are some evil Asura who aren’t Inquest. The Inquest are evil… no getting around that. But I’m sure there are those who have enlisted (either not understanding what they were getting into or those who are tired of that lifestyle), and wishes there was a way they could defect.

Dustfinger.9510:

The canonical answer is a mix of what everyone here said. The asura as a society are not “good”. They are devious and calculating, even amongst themselves. One of the personal story options is to save a crew member or leave him to his fate. if you save him you are warned that your sentimentality is a weakness that could get exploited (paraphrase). Also, there is various NPC dialog around the world like an asura asking a charr inventor what kindof inventor doesn’t have expendable lab assistants.

So the answer is really that while there are some asura that detest the inquest and their methods, there are also plenty of asura that support them. To the point that they even have sympathisers on the council.

I totally agree…none of them are “good”. But I still love the Asura the best, and try to play mine as an exception – one who abhors experimentation on other Asura or any other race. My characters see life as priceless and tries to help others, rather than take advantage of them.

Emiko.3217:

Well, like humans, you can’t generalize individuals and put them in a box… …The Inquest are evil… no getting around that.

Zaxares.5419:

But if they assault or attack anybody, the Wolfborn will come down kitten them.

Momentary pause to point and laugh at the profanity filter.

/point
/laugh

You may resume your discussion. I apologize for the interruption.