Guild Wars 2

For those who aren’t aware of it, there’s a small fishing village on the edge of Viathan’s Arm, which I believe is called Triskell Quay.

I was minding my own business, wandering around the town when I noticed that one of the fishermen by the docks was on the ground, waiting to be revived. I didn’t think much of it at the time, and the fisherman standing next to him was being decidedly unhelpful, ignoring his fishing buddy’s life or death struggle three feet away, so I decided to help out and get myself a small amount of experience, going over to heal him.

Half way through, something happens. I’m not watching it; I’m watching the fisherman’s health bar slowly rise, but I turn to look in a moment. It’s dark and long, and leads all the way out from the water. A split second later, I realize it’s a harpoon, and before I can even stop healing, the line goes taut and the fisherman vanishes beneath the waves.

Cue Event: Fighting off Krait Slavers

I spend the next ten minutes fighting them on my own, since no other players are in the area, but as an elementalist, I simply didn’t have the ability to fight and dodge shots from close to ten krait at once.

I die, and when I come back, the event is over; all the villagers have been captured. They’ve gotten away with the goods, and Triskell Quay is quieter for it. But no, I can’t let this happen. I wasn’t able to protect them, but I won’t let my weakness get in the way of their lives. This simply won’t fly.

So I swim out to the larder in the middle of the lake – once again, alone – And after a good fifteen or twenty minutes, I’m fleeing from three krait as the last slave swims to safety. It feels like a job well done, even if I’m unable to escape before I’m run through.

I have to admit, when a game is capable of shocking a player like that, and then getting them to feel like they have a duty to those they couldn’t protect. Good job, Arenanet. Seriously, good job.