Guild Wars 2

So, I enjoyed my ash legion charr thief, and order of whispers quests a lot, I liked the story and characters (Tybalt, Dinky, etc).. but after Claw Island, the story merges and is no longer based on choices you make it seems. I no longer felt like a thief or secret agent in my story (the parts I liked) I felt like some generic “hero” who as a further slap in the face, was just a sidekick to the NPC who was the real hero of the story.

I picked options I thought might be kind of thiefy in the story but for the most part, I was part of the “rear guard” while I sent ahead scouting parties of NPC’s…. shouldn’t I be on the scouting party? My skills are more suited for it.

I also just don’t like it that earlier choices just don’t seem to matter, such as having Dinky in my Warband.

The story was pretty good up until that point but once the storylines are no longer branched but merged… it just falls apart and becomes overwhelmingly generic. Trahearne is just a king of mary sue characters, and it just seems like my choices from earlier in the game no longer matter.

I’m only at around level 65ish in my personal story and I’ve already decided I hate it.

Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to take the HUGE variety of story quests and then make them all converge onto the same stupid plot line? There choices you made in the past DON’T matter at all. They don’t change dialogue, or plot, or anything.

Of course, this is all falling upon deaf ears, because there’s NO WAY Anet intends to remake new personal story paths after release, but still. It’s just disappointing.

SeedsOfYggdrasil.6315:

I’m only at around level 65ish in my personal story and I’ve already decided I hate it.

Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to take the HUGE variety of story quests and then make them all converge onto the same stupid plot line? There choices you made in the past DON’T matter at all. They don’t change dialogue, or plot, or anything.

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This became SERIOUSLY apparent when The Pale Tree didn’t say “Order of Whispers” when I finished the vision quest, but instead she said “Your Order” which stood out as “Oh, whichever order you choose before this point does not matter now either, so lets use a generic qualifier to save time” and that REALLY bums me out.

My brother was Asuran, and he had a personal story which included Gorr the Asura (I think his name is) and he was very happy to see him again in the Order of Whispers quest line… up until the point where I saw him too. And he treated me just like my brother, with the same dialogue. He was really depressed about that. It ruined the experience for him, revealing that his choices did not matter at all.

Of course, this is all falling upon deaf ears, because there’s NO WAY Anet intends to remake new personal story paths after release, but still. It’s just disappointing.

The worst part is that every character will have pretty much the same story past level 50. I was very excited prior to getting the game that the game would have so much variety to the story.

Now that I’ve done the story on one character.. I might as well just skip through all the stuff on subsequent characters once I meat Trahearne.

Agree. Kind of bummed out about it, and not too thrilled about finishing my personal story. My 1-20 quests were the best. Something I would see in a movie. I wish those parts were longer, especially since it had to do choices I made upon character creation. Would of like those to go into more depth.

I don’t really get the criticism that Trahearne has somehow taken over your story. You are still the protagonist but for this chapter, the protagonist has to help the guy who spent a life time studying Orr, who was born with a quest to cleanse Orr and who spent more time in Orr then anyone else, complete his quest.

The story is still about you! Had your and Trahearn’s path never crossed, he wouldn’t really enter the story. But just because it is your story, doesn’t mean you have to be the most important person in every single instance. It doesn’t even make sense! I mean, okay, great! My guardian is a Magister of the Priory. But she’s been a Magister for how long? A few months maybe. What does she know about Orr? Trahearne on the other hand knows Orr as well as he knows The Grove. Probably better! It only makes sense he takes the lead. No one leads a 100% of the time.

However, Trahearne couldn’t have done it without you. Your order wouldn’t be game for this without you. You are still the vital cog in this system and the story is still focused on you and how you helped Trahearne achieve his wyld hunt. I might point out, it’s not just you who will be doing things not in keeping with the characteristics of your order but the rest of your order has to be a bit less like themselves for this part of the story as well. But you know, once the dust settles, you’ll move on and your story will continue as you tackle the other dragons and perhaps figure out any ultimate mystery behind the dragons etc. Trahearne would have exited the story because his story starts and ends with Orr. That’s really the point here.

Orr and Zaitan is one or two chapters in your story. But it is pretty much the whole of Trahearne’s story. So if it looks like it is more important to him then you, it is because it is. For Trahearne, this is his life’s work. For you, it’s just another stone in the monument of your legend.

I love the personal story! I especially appreciate the way the areas the story takes you too are good places to level. The personal story is also intertwined with story of the areas.

This is great for someone like me who is new to the Guild Wars universe. I feel immersed in the lore!

The game has such an easy flow to it, because of the personal story. Thanks

Tinni.4351:

I don’t really get the criticism that Trahearne has somehow taken over your story. You are still the protagonist but for this chapter, the protagonist has to help the guy who spent a life time studying Orr, who was born with a quest to cleanse Orr and who spent more time in Orr then anyone else, complete his quest.

The story is still about you! Had your and Trahearn’s path never crossed, he wouldn’t really enter the story. But just because it is your story, doesn’t mean you have to be the most important person in every single instance. It doesn’t even make sense! I mean, okay, great! My guardian is a Magister of the Priory. But she’s been a Magister for how long? A few months maybe. What does she know about Orr? Trahearne on the other hand knows Orr as well as he knows The Grove. Probably better! It only makes sense he takes the lead. No one leads a 100% of the time.

However, Trahearne couldn’t have done it without you. Your order wouldn’t be game for this without you. You are still the vital cog in this system and the story is still focused on you and how you helped Trahearne achieve his wyld hunt. I might point out, it’s not just you who will be doing things not in keeping with the characteristics of your order but the rest of your order has to be a bit less like themselves for this part of the story as well. But you know, once the dust settles, you’ll move on and your story will continue as you tackle the other dragons and perhaps figure out any ultimate mystery behind the dragons etc. Trahearne would have exited the story because his story starts and ends with Orr. That’s really the point here.

Orr and Zaitan is one or two chapters in your story. But it is pretty much the whole of Trahearne’s story. So if it looks like it is more important to him then you, it is because it is. For Trahearne, this is his life’s work. For you, it’s just another stone in the monument of your legend.

I don’t play fantasy RPG’s to be a sidekick. I hated it in Oblivion, and I hate it here. I accept rising through the ranks early on, but I was expecting my personal story to be about me, not some Mary Sue terrible character. I wasnt expecting all the stories to merge together into one homogenous genericfest that they end up being from claw island on. There were a few individual quests that were still decent the less they had to do with Trahearne the better. The relationship between you and Trahearne feels forced as well.

Dinky it feels genuine, Rytlock it feels genuine, Tybalt it feels genuine. I mean, Dinky grew up in the fahrar with you, and he’s a member of your warband, it makes sense. Rytlock is higher ranked in Charr military hierarchy than you regardless of your legion, he can take over and have you report to him with your legion’s Tribune giving him permission for a mission. Tybalt is an assigned contact for you for the order of whispers, he is then assigned as your partner, again, orders are orders, it makes sense, and you kind of become friends with him along the way, and he’s a well enough written character that you can just go with it, he’s not a Mary Sue, he’s an inexperienced agent when it comes to field work and he just makes it up as he goes along, fumbling along the way.

… Then you have Trahearne and at first it’s okay, “Hi I’m Tybalt’s friend, I’m going to help out on this mission, I agree there’s danger coming from Orr and I’ll help you out” .. okay.. that’s great.

Then he becomes the central figure in the story. you’re revealed prophetic stuff that makes him the all mighty Mary Sue “chosen one” hero, who was destined before he was even born to save the world. Please.

I’m not a fan of a destined “chosen one” type hero.

He’s an expert on Orr, but is not a military leader. I’m a Centurion in the Charr High Legions, I’m in the Ash Legion (Charr Intelligence), and a member of the Order of Whispers, I should be well connected to lead a campaign, Trahearne can be my advisor on Orr. What is wrong with one of the order’s and races taking some precedence in a personal story? It would make the player feel more central to their personal story with their choices mattering, and it would make each playthrough with different races and different choices feel different. Homogenizing them and making Trahearne central strips away all semblence of “personal” from the “personal story”.

Devildoc.6721:

He’s an expert on Orr, but is not a military leader. I’m a Centurion in the Charr High Legions, I’m in the Ash Legion (Charr Intelligence), and a member of the Order of Whispers, I should be well connected to lead a campaign, Trahearne can be my advisor on Orr. What is wrong with one of the order’s and races taking some precedence in a personal story? It would make the player feel more central to their personal story with their choices mattering, and it would make each playthrough with different races and different choices feel different. Homogenizing them and making Trahearne central strips away all semblence of “personal” from the “personal story”.

You are a spy. You are not a general and I can maybe see Charr + Vigil combination is a bit more general-like but most of the other race + order combination does not yield a result more logical then Trahearne. Indeed, the only person I can think of who would have made logical sense as the leader of the pact is Almorra Soulkeeper as the leader of the militaristic Vigil.

However, Almorra Soulkeeper being in-charge means that Vigil is in charge and that might not go down well with the other orders. That’s also why Trahearne makes sense and you do not. You are a member of order X. You being in-charge means order X is in charge. You do not have friends in the other orders. Only people you know in the other orders are the people who you got to meet when choosing your order and you snubbed them! Trahearne on the other hand is well respected by all three orders and he is neutral. He makes the most sense diplomatically and he has enough military people around him who could advice him on military matters should he need it.

I really don’t see how it makes you a sidekick. You are not his subordinate. He’s not your boss. My boss is Gixx and yours is whoever the Master of Whispers is these days. You are Trahearne’s ally, as Trahearne is yours. Neither of you can do this thing without the other. That’s the way I choose to see this anyway. But then again, I liked Oblivion.

Devildoc.6721:

I don’t play fantasy RPG’s to be a sidekick. I hated it in Oblivion, and I hate it here. I accept rising through the ranks early on, but I was expecting my personal story to be about me, not some Mary Sue terrible character. I wasnt expecting all the stories to merge together into one homogenous genericfest that they end up being from claw island on. There were a few individual quests that were still decent the less they had to do with Trahearne the better. The relationship between you and Trahearne feels forced as well.

Dinky it feels genuine, Rytlock it feels genuine, Tybalt it feels genuine. I mean, Dinky grew up in the fahrar with you, and he’s a member of your warband, it makes sense. Rytlock is higher ranked in Charr military hierarchy than you regardless of your legion, he can take over and have you report to him with your legion’s Tribune giving him permission for a mission. Tybalt is an assigned contact for you for the order of whispers, he is then assigned as your partner, again, orders are orders, it makes sense, and you kind of become friends with him along the way, and he’s a well enough written character that you can just go with it, he’s not a Mary Sue, he’s an inexperienced agent when it comes to field work and he just makes it up as he goes along, fumbling along the way.

… Then you have Trahearne and at first it’s okay, “Hi I’m Tybalt’s friend, I’m going to help out on this mission, I agree there’s danger coming from Orr and I’ll help you out” .. okay.. that’s great.

Then he becomes the central figure in the story. you’re revealed prophetic stuff that makes him the all mighty Mary Sue “chosen one” hero, who was destined before he was even born to save the world. Please.

I’m not a fan of a destined “chosen one” type hero.

He’s an expert on Orr, but is not a military leader. I’m a Centurion in the Charr High Legions, I’m in the Ash Legion (Charr Intelligence), and a member of the Order of Whispers, I should be well connected to lead a campaign, Trahearne can be my advisor on Orr. What is wrong with one of the order’s and races taking some precedence in a personal story? It would make the player feel more central to their personal story with their choices mattering, and it would make each playthrough with different races and different choices feel different. Homogenizing them and making Trahearne central strips away all semblence of “personal” from the “personal story”.

I think you missed the point on that one. His point is that while, yes, this section of the story was very Trahearne-centric, it is still very much YOUR journey through his story. Just because this is your journey doesn’t mean everyone has to be licking your boots. And he wasn’t the “Chosen One” if you’re referring to his Wyld Hunt. It’s his purpose for living – his goal. And yes, that would make Lore easy – there were over 2 million leaders of the Pact that took down the dragon. Yeah. THAT makes sense. You know what’s easier? What’ll give us a definite figurehead while keeping the player’s contribution in tact? We join in his army against the dragon. Lorewise, we were still there – but this gives us one definite hero to connect to the event.

And he’s not exactly coming out of left field. Sylvari players learn about him rather early on. Everyone else really doesn’t need to know about him until later.

riku.2091:

I think you missed the point on that one. His point is that while, yes, this section of the story was very Trahearne-centric, it is still very much YOUR journey through his story. Just because this is your journey doesn’t mean everyone has to be licking your boots. And he wasn’t the “Chosen One” if you’re referring to his Wyld Hunt. It’s his purpose for living – his goal. And yes, that would make Lore easy – there were over 2 million leaders of the Pact that took down the dragon. Yeah. THAT makes sense. You know what’s easier? What’ll give us a definite figurehead while keeping the player’s contribution in tact? We join in his army against the dragon. Lorewise, we were still there – but this gives us one definite hero to connect to the event.

And he’s not exactly coming out of left field. Sylvari players learn about him rather early on. Everyone else really doesn’t need to know about him until later.

But it makes all the sense in the world for two million players to all be Trahearne’s most trusted ally and second-in-command? That’s a worst-of-both-worlds approach. The people who want the story to actually be personal are left dissatisfied because it’s so similar for every character after a certain point, but then they also don’t receive the candy that is always associated with that problematic cipher-character approach from single-player RPGs: making the player’s character The Chosen One. Personally I’m sick of candy, but at least it’s something, you know? It’s a whole-hog commitment to a certain approach.

Is there room in sci-fi/fantasy for stories about sidekicks? Of course! But this isn’t one of those. This isn’t a clever, wry meditation on the unique position of being The Chosen One’s maid or squire or bucket boy, or even a more sincere and starry-eyed version of the same. It’s a heroic journey where you’re a second-class hero, and it is quite obviously because your character is plug-and-play into a story that’s not really about them at all.

The fact that the story needed an NPC figurehead to hold it together is a strike against it being a personal story. That’s WoW syndrome all over again: the player needs to be neck-deep in world-changing events because that’s epic and epic is awesome and epic is the alpha and epic is the omega. But, slight problem, it’s not going to go down too well in the lore if we start talking about that time when Warrior and his buddy Warlock took down Ragnaros and then Rogue, Rogue 1 and Rogue 3 joined them to get through Blackwing Lair and slay Nefarian, and they did it once a week for a year and never did get that trinket to drop. You’ll never hear the end of it from Mage, for one thing, and for another, that’s not really a story. So instead, we’re going to add NPCs, and those NPCs are going to have character development and growth and arcs and plot-points and all that good stuff (and usually it’ll be terrible, but that’s not the point of this particular rant,) and Warrior and Warlock and the Three Rogues can be the generic sociopathic loot-hungry mercenaries – er, “heroes” – who perform the legwork. And then somewhere along the line that legwork is going to become less and less impressive. Sure, they’ll start off killing stuff in teams of 40 or 25 or even 10. But then they’re only killing creatures that have already been substantially weakened by previous defeats, and then they’re only further weakening already-weakened creatures so that those awesome NPC’s can come back in for the killing blow, because hey, that makes the story more epic.

Slippery slope.

But hey, that Warrior. So much lore. So much history. And Warlock! I don’t even need to tell you about Warlock, right? Finally being able to confront Ragnaros after all that stuff from back when… well, you already know. Epic. Stuff of legends. Warrior and Warlock. Yeah.

Tinni.4351:

Devildoc.6721:

He’s an expert on Orr, but is not a military leader. I’m a Centurion in the Charr High Legions, I’m in the Ash Legion (Charr Intelligence), and a member of the Order of Whispers, I should be well connected to lead a campaign, Trahearne can be my advisor on Orr. What is wrong with one of the order’s and races taking some precedence in a personal story? It would make the player feel more central to their personal story with their choices mattering, and it would make each playthrough with different races and different choices feel different. Homogenizing them and making Trahearne central strips away all semblence of “personal” from the “personal story”.

You are a spy. You are not a general and I can maybe see Charr + Vigil combination is a bit more general-like but most of the other race + order combination does not yield a result more logical then Trahearne. Indeed, the only person I can think of who would have made logical sense as the leader of the pact is Almorra Soulkeeper as the leader of the militaristic Vigil.

However, Almorra Soulkeeper being in-charge means that Vigil is in charge and that might not go down well with the other orders. That’s also why Trahearne makes sense and you do not. You are a member of order X. You being in-charge means order X is in charge. You do not have friends in the other orders. Only people you know in the other orders are the people who you got to meet when choosing your order and you snubbed them! Trahearne on the other hand is well respected by all three orders and he is neutral. He makes the most sense diplomatically and he has enough military people around him who could advice him on military matters should he need it.

I really don’t see how it makes you a sidekick. You are not his subordinate. He’s not your boss. My boss is Gixx and yours is whoever the Master of Whispers is these days. You are Trahearne’s ally, as Trahearne is yours. Neither of you can do this thing without the other. That’s the way I choose to see this anyway. But then again, I liked Oblivion.

Defend a terrible decision all you want but at the end of the day, you’re the sidekick in the story (he overtly names you as second in command), and even worse, it makes you the sidekick in EVERY story no matter what you pick, meaning every character is almost exactly the same from level 50 on, which is awful.

If your order took precedence in the pact, it would change things, that means if you have 1 order of whispers character, 1 vigil character, and 1 priory character, each one of those characters will experience a different story. Instead making Trahearne the central character and all orders on equal footing, makes the story homogenized and generic.

The Order of Whispers would tackle the task of assaulting Orr differently than the Vigil would, which would tackle the task differently than the Priory. If all resources are funneled under 1 order’s lead, it results in a different experience each playthrough. When all orders are equal, it results in the same experience.

What Arenanet has accomplished is killed replay value of the personal story past level 50. People will do it, for rewards, but the story won’t be enjoyable if it’s always the same.

Having just slogged my way through the armor repair festival that was Claw Island, I’m disappointed to hear of what’s in my future here.

Having all three orders and all origins funnel into the exact same resolution path is very disappointing. Sure, the dungeons follow one story path — that’s expected — but I thought the whole point of the orders were that they approached things differently?

Also having Mr. Treedude Whoeverheis be the main character… bleh. I don’t care if I’m the critical enabler which lets him be awesome, I don’t care one way or another about him and I really hope he sacrifices himself nobly at the end of his story so I can get back to mine.

Trahearne is called a Mary Sue because…it gets in the way of the PC being the Mary Sue? That’s what I’m getting out of this, and it’s kind of a silly argument. Yes, the personal story has problems, but calling Trahearne a Mary Sue because of his role, and then proclaiming that the PC should have taken that role, is kind of hypocritical.

Trahearne, student of Kormir is a mary sue because your story turns into “Trahearne’s Personal Diary, All Accomplished By Me”.

Even when you do things Trahearne still gets all the credit.

Just like Kormir. Stealing my godhood.

Look at the title of this very forum, as written by Arenanet… “Personal Story: It really is all about you.” Except instead, the later arcs are about Teahearne’s rise to power and all the great things he accomplishes and how wonderful he is. It’s not about you at all.

Under the original mandate, I think the player being a Mary Sue would be forgivable. You lead the charge, you save the day, folks thank you, you are awesome, etc. Cheesy? A little, but certainly more fun than you are along for the ride, you obey the orders, you become the footnote.

(Spoilers)

I would agree with all of this, I did not get to see a charracter named Malyck come into my story ever again, after saying he would join me in the fight with the Elder Dragon, and bring others to help. And I only get that charracter with a choice at charracter creation for Sylvari. “I do feel robbed of having a Personal Story” and that story not really being took advantage of, isnt that the point?

So I believe that there should of been other paths leading up to defeting the Elder Dragon, I would honestly change that very ending, his champion faces the players head on. Zhaitan is just flying around and not smashing the ship too kill everyone on it! Hes evil, no care for the world. I guess his minions are more mighty in evil…

What would of been cool is to see a gathering of races at the edge between Hope and Nothing, to rid of the Elder Dragon, because it is a threat to all. NPC’s who have had familly killed by the Krait would exspress the pain. Zhaitan is awfull and I dont see any NPC’s crying over that. I bring it up because the story was not done to it’s full, what it could of been. Trahearne turned it into a plot every player would go through and then the mistake of making the last part with Zhaitan, the Arah Dungeon. “Detaching it from being a Personal Story”

So yeah, I am disapointed it was good but not. And it gose against some things Arenanet said. Wish that one choice really did send a charracter off into a difrent durection from another. I sure dont feel like I forged something, nor my charracter grown from the shadows in the past, or the rights that follow me. So, what other reason should I go kill Zhaitan?

I do admire how hard AN worked on GW2, I believe they could of done more with their master peice.

Grakor.3450:

Trahearne is called a Mary Sue because…it gets in the way of the PC being the Mary Sue? That’s what I’m getting out of this, and it’s kind of a silly argument. Yes, the personal story has problems, but calling Trahearne a Mary Sue because of his role, and then proclaiming that the PC should have taken that role, is kind of hypocritical.

No Trahearne is a Mary Sue because he was predestined to do this, and he has no flaws, and he’s one dimensional. He was born to do this and he does it with a singular purpose, because that is what he was destined to do.

My character has flaws, he let his traitorous father out of jail even though it was a crime to do so and he owed his father no loyalty because his father had shown no loyalty to him, not to mention having a dirty job as a spy, he’s also a liar and a cheat (as shown by cheating in a drinking competition). He is after the dragon for multiple reasons rather than a one dimensional “destiny” reason. He’s after it because he was ordered to and he is loyal to warband and legion and to the high legions as a whole. He’s also after it to avenge Howl and avenge Tybalt (vengeance is NOT a heroic motivator, usually more of an antihero motivation. Wesley was motivated by “true love”, Inigo Montoya was motivated by revenge. Wesley was the hero, Inigo the antihero).

Where Trahearne accomplishes his goal by some mystical hippie ritual, one of the orders would tackle the problem differently, probably with less predestined wishywash and more planning and big guns.

BTW you know how Trahearne is basically immortal in a lot of story quests? Arenanet should just complete the whole Mary Sue getup by renaming the boon that makes him immortal “Plot Armor”. I’m serious too, at least it’d show some self parody on Arenanet’s part.

I don’t understand why ANet did this with the personal story, makeing it less and less personal.

If you have to say what basically amounts “It’s still your story because you are there.”, that’s not too much of a personal story, is it? It’s a story you just happen to be a character in.

I haven’t finished the story, but I thought my decisions would play a small part throughout the game.

As a Norn, I chose the Priory, decided to go study the …frog species (can’t remember the race’s name), and then took the tests to convince them to listen to my warning. One of the tests was a “war of words” where my options were tailored to my previous decisions: from the Hunt up to the defense of the Priory. I knew that the scenario would be the same no matter how I got to that point, but I loved how my choices did come up again.

Now I learn that there is not even that much variation past the Claw Island defense (with the exception of which order you have to defend)? That just does not seem right. I fully expected that the allies you accumulate in the different “chapters” of your story would at least show up with you for the final battle, even if they didn’t appear in the cut scenes.

Though I don’t know if it would work for every story, I know that your Char warband or the Norn allies (I teamed up with the Minotaur and the group that “cleansed” the horn) would work out well as NPC back-up for a final fight. It is quite possible that different stories end up with different numbers of allies and make something “simple” like that a lot more complicated and thus harder to program/test.

(As a side note, I expected something to happen in the story quest because I destroyed the horn and Eir said that doing so and not honoring my ancestors could have consequences. On the flip-side, I would expect that a sealed horn would eventually cause misfortune. Apparently nether currently happens)

Kinda sad that Trahearne took over the story, not so much because I didn’t get to be the hero (I really don’t like the cookie cutter hero I have to be) but because it’s so unsuited for the character. I liked his character okay in the Sylvari starting line. His personality and goal makes a lot of sense with his background, but main character of the story? No, not so much.

He feels much more like one that would be on the sidelines making sure everything falls into place instead of banging his face against the problem.

I don’t necessarily mind that Trahearne’s the leader of the Pact. I do get that this is his life’s work, and even though I play a human, I understand cleansing Orr was part of his Dream as a Sylvari. I just can’t stomach how one-dimensional his character is. His dialogue was voiced terribly, nearly all of his lines are monotone, bored and completely flat. And as I said, I don’t mind that I’m his second in command, but when I save a group of researchers, and Trahearne got stomped by the mobs within the first minute of the fight, I don’t want to see this (see attached) from the NPC I saved. I’m the Vigil fighter, he’s the researcher. I don’t pretend to have the answers to cleanse Orr; I don’t want him getting the accolades for saving these people in mission after mission when all he did was lay there dead waiting for me to revive him.

I loved everything from Claw Island and before with my personal story. I went from running around with Logan stomping centaurs and eliminating threats to the crown to becoming a Vigil recruit training with Forgal, a transition that felt smooth and natural. Forgal was awesome (I miss him… =/). Logan was awesome. Trahearne is comatose at best. Maybe in future content changes/expansions something will happen here. I hope so.

Aside from these gripes about the personal story I’m loving the game and the writing in the quests out in the world at large. Unending fun and adventure… I’m in love! =)

*edit: lmmfao at the reply below mine!

I hate him.

I hate him with a burning passion.

You think you have it bad? Try your personal story as a Sylvari

The motherkitten hijacks it at level 20.

I hate him. I really really do.

My favorite part of any personal story is watching him do thousand blades (because he’s a necromancer) and then dying.
Whenever he dies, I make it a point not to resurrect him. I genuinely get disappointed when he magically revives himself to deliver his lines of dialogue.
Just stay dead Trahearne. Nobody likes you. Nobody.

The problem that the majority of people have with Trahearne is him hi-jacking the story but honestly I don’t think everyone realises that they don’t hate him because of that, they hate him because he does it so incredibly bad. Ok so the stories had to converge by Fort Trinity, I get that, I’ll buy that. Your choice is renamed “your order” too, minor twitch for most people but it would be nice if the stories reflected your choice or even acknowledged it. Could they not make your order have the most amount of NPCs available during battles so you could see like you made a difference?

You get all these choices and it is fun, you feel like you are working towards something but once you move on to the next tier your buddy characters are forgotten about the moment they have no dialogue left for them. You soon become the buddy of the chosen hero and you are then kicked to the side.

He ruins the story but because he takes over though, it is because it is done so bad that an amateur writer could have done it. Previous characters are introduced slowly, with details so they are believable. I personally enjoy the Destinys Edge story, the book gave them back story and introduced you to them correctly. I of course did not expect them to be as whiny as they are in the game but I can forgive that as you don’t want them being so helpful that they are joined back up by level 30 while you twiddle your thumbs. These characters were done well, people still hate some of them, but you can’t argue that they are not developed. Trahearne on the other hand just appears and takes over and as I have stated, this would not be so bad had it been done right.

It would be nice to see more of my order showing up past claw island, it would be nice to get a letter or two from Dinky or whoever my buddy is during the game. Logan, Rytlock, etc. send you mail which keeps you involved in the story at least.

The players couldnt be the general. Generalls dont have the option of going off on their own and running around without support. Rulers in general dont. Trahearne filled all the running an army and coming up with the stratagy. The player was the one who made everything work.

I have to say Ive been very suprised about the Trahearne hate. He certianly wasnt my favorate character but he didnt bother me as he was.

Also you’d find the later quests do reference earlier quests.

True they werent major roles but many of the characters from our earliers stories quite possibly will return in future content.

Trahearne struck me as a talented and experianced necromancer whos goal and drive in life (literally) was to cure Orr but he had no idea how really to begin. When you meet him hes sort of directionless. Thats seems to be the reason he follows you along at the start. Hes capable and is driven to do something but doesnt know what to do.

Its the player who guides him onto that path. Infact the player practically forces him into the role.

Its the player character that makes him see and accept the role he is needed for. Its the player character who suggests and instigates the formation of the Pact. Its the player character that puts forward Trehearne to be the marshal. Its the player character that leads the frontline troops into retaking the tactical sites on Claw Island and then leads the charge against the Plaguebringer.

Its the player character who reassures the doubts of the other pact members and holds the pact together. Its the player character who names Fort Trinity. Its the player character who kills Zhiatan.

The player character, not Trahearne.

Even the Dream of Orr in the Light in the Darkness mission has things aimed squarely at the player character. Trahearne has nothing to do with the gathering of Destiny’s Edge. She was showing Trahearne what he needed to be and showing the player character what needed to be done.

The problem is that for so many that just doesnt seem to be either enough or feel owned by them. I wonder why. Its not something Ive had a problem with.

The strange thing is, the first 50 levels.. I feel like Anet nailed it, i’ve played two characters past level 50 and i’ve enjoyed the differences.. even if the story does follow a formula-like template.

After 50 though.. wtf is this

Well be happy about it!

At least you guys enjoyed 1-50
My personal story started to be a disappointment as soon as I saw queen Jennah the first time. I don’t mind a linear storyline, as long as I am a unimportant bystander all along OR I can chose which characters my PC likes and which not.

So when I saw my character liking Queen Jennah’s boots (She is the character I hate the most in this game), I just stopped caring about the story at all and abused the “Skip Dialogue” button.

It may be the personal story of my character, but when you disagree with your character, the story is just annoying.

I’d rather be Joffrey from “Game of Thrones” than my Guild Wars 2 Character. lol

Uchi.2419:

I hate him.

I hate him with a burning passion.

You think you have it bad? Try your personal story as a Sylvari

The motherkitten hijacks it at level 20.

I hate him. I really really do.

I am a sylvarri on all my characters (sue me, I like glowy plant things) and I share your pain. So glad to see some representation from Sylvarri on these threads. I thought I was the only one. LOL

Trahearne needs to go.

ANet – please kill him in a future expansion (or even just a future patch, retcon him if you have to I don’t care) and give us back our personal story!

Lutinz.6915:

Also you’d find the later quests do reference earlier quests.

I haven’t finished my story, but this is the first time I’ve heard this. Is it possible that these sorts of things need to be pointed out a bit better? Or are the events the same no matter which character you are and you get references to all the personal story quests and not just your own?

Raven.8560:

Well be happy about it!

At least you guys enjoyed 1-50
My personal story started to be a disappointment as soon as I saw queen Jennah the first time. I don’t mind a linear storyline, as long as I am a unimportant bystander all along OR I can chose which characters my PC likes and which not.

So when I saw my character liking Queen Jennah’s boots (She is the character I hate the most in this game), I just stopped caring about the story at all and abused the “Skip Dialogue” button.

It may be the personal story of my character, but when you disagree with your character, the story is just annoying.

I’d rather be Joffrey from “Game of Thrones” than my Guild Wars 2 Character. lol

Heh, yeah. It’s a shame – there’s so much political intrigue at play throughout Kryta and yet our characters are forced and expected to support Queen Jennah…even if they grew up on the streets and no doubt view the rich with contempt.

I enjoyed the early stuff a lot, mostly because it felt personal without making my character get too much glory.

Belian.7846:

Lutinz.6915:

Also you’d find the later quests do reference earlier quests.

I haven’t finished my story, but this is the first time I’ve heard this. Is it possible that these sorts of things need to be pointed out a bit better? Or are the events the same no matter which character you are and you get references to all the personal story quests and not just your own?

Some quests do reference your previous acheivements, one that I’ve done with the Hylek quest chain within your order, and at one point you are required to list off your previous accomplishments. It’s text box only though, so it really doesn’t feel like it means much, especially when your choices still didn’t change anything, you’re just telling them to people.

pyronix.4081
Uchi.2419:
I hate him.
I hate him with a burning passion.
You think you have it bad? Try your personal story as a Sylvari
The motherkitten hijacks it at level 20.
I hate him. I really really do.
I am a sylvarri on all my characters (sue me, I like glowy plant things) and I share your pain. So glad to see some representation from Sylvarri on these threads. I thought I was the only one. LOL
Trahearne needs to go.
ANet – please kill him in a future expansion (or even just a future patch, retcon him if you have to I don’t care) and give us back our personal story!

I need my quote button back.

I couldn’t disagree with you two more if I tried. I have six slots. 3 of them are Sylvari. He doesn’t hijack crap, in my opinion. It’s very organic, and it makes sense that he’s there. He asks you for a few favors. How does that make him bad?

And kill him off? Out of all the solutions I’ve heard, this one has GOT to be the dumbest and the most childish. Which is something I’ve noticed in this game – a lot (not all) of people saying they’re offering “constructive criticism”, then offering stuff like that. “I hate it, it has to go”. Instead of killing him off, why don’t they expand on him, maybe re-do his lines so you like him instead? They won’t change the story, but they sure can improve the way you experience it.

And you know what? When we get to Jormag, I sure as kitten hope we get a Norn that fills the same general role (Pun. xD) as Trahearne. A whole race devoted to killing this one particular dragon, and some human rolls around and does it? That’s just insulting. And the Slyvari opening cinematic shows that they, at least more than the other races, are devoted especially to killing Zhaitan.

Why? They killed off even better characters that we actually cared about =(

While I agree only partially on Trahearne (often misspelled as Trehearne in quest text for some reason) being a Mary Sue, I have found that playing the game with dialogue muted makes it a lot more bearable. It’s his voice that makes me cringe the worst. And then, not the voice itself, since whoever voiced him has a glorious accent and a nice depth to it too, but he cannot act to save his character’s wooden bum.

Even if Trahearne is a scholar, a calm man, apparently somewhat stoic, I think “TO ARMS!” would sound at least a little meant. Any sort of emotion is missing, and not in a cool sort of, “I don’t care” way, which may have sounded interesting.
It’s just being read aloud. And poorly so.

To me, half the problem would be fixed if they could re-do some of the voiced lines, maybe fix the typos… the idea of a scholar becoming a warlord through a series of heavy events, isn’t all that bad, even if the player character turns so secondary it aches at points… but darn, that man’s voice work. Blergh!

You guys will like it much better in the follow-on story where Borehearne gets corrupted and you have to hunt him down and eliminate him like a nasty weed.

An entire race, much less 1 individual of that race predestined to save the world from an ancient evil that has awoken, that lives in perfect harmony with nature in a utopian free-love society….

You could put genies out of business with that much wish-fulfillment.

It does suck that he took over the story. But thats not the worst part of it. It’s the fact that amount of story between 50-80 is roughly the same amount as 2-50. So it like he takes over half of your story, and to boot it’s just a kick in the face that even though you are second in command in the pact, no previous choice truly matters, not of the characters i had in my warmband and actually became friends with, not forced to become friends with because a more interesting character sacrificed themselves for us to succeed, can even be bothered to be allowed to tag along? I mean were talking an important part of charr lore here, they are warbands. After i join the Order of Whispers sure I can understand not taking my warband with me to a place of secrets, however, when I’m dealing with defending the lives of everyone in tyria, would it not make sense that my warband would be my first choice of companions to be with me. Instead of some guy i met who just happens to be experienced in the knowledge of orr, completely slaps class mechanics in the face by being a "profession" and clearly being given a weapon that "profession" should not be able to wield. An even worse slap to the face when you are the same "profession" as him. Not to mention 6 Flesh golems up at once, no wonder he only uses 2 other abilities, he has 6 of them bound to elite minions.