Guild Wars 2

Just as the title says. Forgive me if this has been discussed before, I had to put this down somewhere.

Now before some of you go “BOO HUMAN SYMPATHIZER” (What are you all, Renegades?) I love the Charr race, have since GW1. In that game, the place I spent the most time was the Eye of the North expansion Ebon Vanguard lands, and I just loved Pyre Fierceshot because he represented a whole new take on the Charr rather than the old “Grrr kill all humans durr” outlook.

So when I came to Ebonhawke on my Charr in GW2 recently (One of the very last places I had to do for map completion) I was just overwhelmed by the sheer amount of nostalgia. This was where Charr and Humans have been at war during the past hundred years. And yet, now they are willing to have peace. The dynamic of this relationship could not be more appreciated as my Charr went around the area, being hounded by Separatist sympathizers and convincing them (as a Charr!) to stand down, or going through the Charr camps and having to convince them (as a Charr myself, again) that truce with the humans was a good thing.

I just loved that the areas there had different dialogue if you were a Charr or human or not. I don’t think it would have had such an impact on me if I were, say, a Sylvari, with the Separatist sympathizers. As a Charr, I walk down those streets and the citizens call ME out with insults because I am their ancient enemy. It was the best experience ever. I loved it too when I went to the secret Order of Whispers base there and talked with the Charr in charge. My Sylvari friend got a generic response when he talked to her, but to me she was all “Nice to see you could walk in the front door. I have to sneak around to avoid kitten ing off the humans.” It was all amazing, and it really made me feel… Charr.

So I got myself an Ebon Vanguard staff and now am an unofficial Guardian of Ebonhawke! Separatists and Renegades beware! (Seriously, they kitten me off.)

And now that my self kittening has now finished, what do other Charr users think about Ebonhawke and its portrayal in GW2?

Farran.3607:

Now before some of you go “BOO HUMAN SYMPATHIZER” (What are you all, Renegades?)

ren•e•gade (?r?n ??ge?d)

n.
1. a person who deserts a party or cause for another.

You could argue that Smodur the Flinching and his lackeys in the Iron Legion are the real renegades here. They are all fine and good with taking credit from the Flame Legion’s work (retaking Ascalon), but then they forfeit Charr sovereignty to what are basically multinational corporations (Vigil, Pact) allowing for foreigners to come tromping around in the Charr’s internal politics and disputes.

I agree that a great job was done with Ebonhawk, the atmosphere and all the neat little things in it are very nice… however I vehemently disagree with a lot of Smodur’s leadership actions when it is coming to working with non Charr. However my beef isn’t really with Ebonhawk, its more with the Vigil and Pact having their military forces running around unchecked and interfering with Charr politics and internal disputes… especially so when Iron so proudly takes credit for some of the actions achieved by their foe (Flame) that they have these foreign troops fighting.

I never played GW1, so I don’t know or care much about those events, though some of the lore is fun to hear and read about. And I really don’t like the humans much, all in all. But the atmosphere in Ebonhawk is definitely well-done, and actually getting different reactions on my charr warrior compared to my sylvari guardian was a very pleasant surprise. It’s one of the few areas and situations in the game where it feels like one’s species actually makes some difference. There should be more of that!

In particular, there’s this huge glaring disparity between non-instanced Ebonhawk and doing the Vigil arc of the “impersonal” story, which treated said two characters exactly the same. What a letdown.

Yep, Ebonhawke is really nicely done all around. Seems to have gotten a lot of dev attention too, having a unique weapon set as well as 2 exploration achievements, in addition to all the other details.

There are actually other instances in the game where race gives you different responses, but they’re all more spread out. There’s a Charr in Gendarran Fields working on a farm that gives you a completely different set of dialogue if you’re Charr or not (with the Charr characters asking about her abandoning her warband, while others are just like “Wow, a charr out here is strange”). Just off the top of my head. Ebonhawke is just a big wad of it all at once though, so its easier to notice.

I took the time to rip off all the propaganda posters, got an achievement for it, very sweet. I too love the area as my Human and my Charr. The anger, desperation, and fear of the future really does show in the populace.

I’m glad the peace will give us a respite, because honestly these separatists need to have their heads kicked in.

I felt really good doing the hearts in Ebonhawke as a Charr. I’m a natural peacemaker (despite evidence to the contrary sometimes) so bringing together the Charr and Humans makes me feel good. Kinda like resolving the fighting between Rhytlock and Logan. The whole zone was really well done. It finally brought into focus who the “Separatist” thing that was bothering me until I got there.

I agree with you, it is a very nice place. I’m thinking on setting up there, as it has almost everything you need (crafting,bank, market, lots of vendors…). And the unique weaponset is very nice on the looks.

It was nice to see the Charr admitting that it was their pride that was making them unwilling to back down, and not some military objective. The humans were willing to see that they, too, were being prideful, which just prolonged the conflict. Once their prides could be removed from the equation, they saw they really didn’t have anything left to fight about, and a better enemy nearby to focus their collective attentions on. I think that Ebonhawke is going to end up being one of the Black Citadel’s strongest allies.

Strongest allies or at least a loyal rival.
I just suddenly had a wonderful thought, or possibly reignited the downfall of humanity.
If there’s ever a dueling mini-game or something to that effect I could see Ebonhawke as THE place to do it.

You’ve got Charr and Humans willing to scratch that violent itch, but not ruin the peace. Proxy fights for entertainment would be awesome. It could get aggressions out and might even bring some people or Charr together.

Did you forget about the pit in the bowels of the Black Citadel? That’s where dueling will be popular… and appropriate.

Yes I remember, but how many humans are going to walk into the Black Citadel to fight? Anyways my thought just came from how will Ebonhawke expand in later parts of the Living Story.

Atlas.9704:

Yes I remember, but how many humans are going to walk into the Black Citadel to fight? Anyways my thought just came from how will Ebonhawke expand in later parts of the Living Story.

sneer

Any human walking into the Black Citadel should be looking for a fight.

After reading so much about it and its lore, and having an image of it in my mind from the concept art, it was really quite something to finally walk up the ramp and enter (I intentionally didn’t come from the DR gate for my first encounter).

All the better for atmosphere that I arrived at night time. ANet really does a good job using amusement park style foreshortening to great effect, particularly with Human cities.

Then, all those things mentioned above with regards to interaction as a Charr just made it sweeter. My main dislikes Humans and hates visiting their settlements. It was a perfect match.