Guild Wars 2

Disclaimer:
This is not a feedback topic about Trahearne, plenty of them around. I’m currently working on writing a restructured personal story for the human storyline (as pointless as that may seem) and this is one part of it. There won’t be any sweeping changes that removes characters completely, hence this topic features Trahearne.

Ok, so my reason for writing this, apart from the general dislike for the way Trahearne takes over the story, is also the very evident problem that choice in the personal story doesn’t seem to amount to much. Choice in the personal story is merely an illusion that selects the next mission for you and never really leaves much to do in the way of consequence. My rewriting of these two aspects of the story, Trahearne and Caladbolg attempts to bridge this gap for the last arc of the story (creating the pact and invading Orr). Of course, everything written here is IMO, feel free to disagree, or whatever.

The Problems:
Some of the big problems I feel with the last arc in the story is that although Zhaitan is seen the main enemy of the story, the lack of his presence in the parts leading up to the story makes the story feel like it lacks an antagonist. His lackeys and lieutenants often appear and die in the very same part of the story they are introduced, leaving no real theatre for unfolding drama to occur.

While this is the nature with ‘final bosses’ that don’t need to get their hands dirty we are also left without a sense of drama without and antagonist. Trahearne and the main character don’t have situations to play off each other, hence there is never really conflict of interest to create drama either. They never seem to disagree; Trahearne is basically there to spew expository dialogue, and you, the main character, are his hands in solving matters.

The Pact:
I never understood why your main character couldn’t be the actual marshal of the pact, apart from that weak reason that the marshal should be someone who is not from an order to remain impartial. Whilst this reason is plausible it does seem to reduce the order leaders to the framework of squabbling teenagers unable to see the bigger picture.

If your main character was Marshal, Trahearne would then be your commander, thanks to his abundant knowledge of all things Orr. Think of him as a king’s advisor, your right hand man. From a gameplay perspective the order leaders will then report back to you after each mission, becoming the very source of exposition the game needs in order to move forward. You can then select which mission to partake in after listening to their spiel.

Caladbolg:
Remember that part in the story where Trahearne summons a bunch of flesh golem out of nowhere because some trees trapped you in a cave? That almost touched on Deus Ex Machina IMO, but I always wondered if that could be a properly fleshed out story. The Caladbolg will be redesigned as an Orrian artifact, a sword adorned with runewords only Trahearne is able to read. I will explain why this is so later. He will find this weapon after your first mission that takes place in Orr. Trahearne becomes ever slightly more obsessed with the Caladbolg as time passes. Being the stoic character you are, you’d advise him to take care in using it.

The missions in Orr will continue as what they are; missions that involve the destruction of Zhaitan’s generals and lieutenants. Some will involve saving people from the pact, some will involve defending a base. What is present in the game at the moment is sufficient for the purpose of gameplay; with one major difference. There will now be a small deviation in the story based on the characters performance.

Trahearne will now seek to use Caladbolg to solve major problems the player faces in missions. Just like how he summons flesh golems to fight his way out of a cave, the Caladbolg becomes a swiss army knife of dark magic that will aid the player in difficult circumstances. Some of these events will trigger if the player doesn’t choose to stop Trahearne from invoking the sword’s power. If the player chooses to stop Trahearne, then they will face a more difficult fight due to the lack of aid. Sometimes Trahearne will invoke the sword’s power if the player cannot complete a certain objective in time; e.g. unable to rescue soldiers in time.

Final Encounter
The game will keep count of how many times Trahearne has invoked the sword’s power. Now, we need to remember Trahearne is not the main character of the story. Notice how even in the spotlight of using the Caladbolg’s powers, the scenario happens out of the players choice, rather than something the player cannot control. At this point Trahearne believes that the Caladbolg will be source of Zhaitan’s destruction, regardless if you let him invoke the powers of the sword at all.

If you did not, Trahearne remains uncorrupted, but is overconfident. In facing Zhaitan with the Caladbolg, he is defeated, mortally wounded. Zhaitan mocks your player, telling you that even the greatest of artefacts cannot defeat him. The sword lays on the ground broken and devoid of its magical runewords. Now your character runs his epic hero spiel, he tells Zhaitan that with the power of courage, friendship blah blah blah, is mightier than any artefact, and does battle with Zhaitan, and defeats him.

If Trahearne did invoke the Caladbolg’s power on several occasion, his encounter with Zhaitan will cause Zhaitan to detect Trahearne’s innate character weakness and complete the corruption. Trahearne turns on your player and you are forced to fight him in a duel (because duels are epic). Same as before, he is mortally wounded, Zhaitan mocks you. Blah blah blah.

Epilogue
You clutch Trahearne in his dying moments, he tells you that he was wrong in relying on material things to overcome adversity. He tells you that the Caladbolg is an item that fused with the runewords of the scrolls that caused the Cataclysm centuries ago. He thought that his knowledge could let him control its power, but the reverse happened. With his dying strength he uses the last of the runewords on the hilt of the sword to do that ritual which cleanses Orr.

Well. That’s it.

With regards to the several flesh golems – that was because Trahearne is supposedly a sick-nasty necromancer. I feel it was the only time in the game he was able to display his combat capabilities, as every other time he just spins2win.

This… sounds awesome! I dont think they will do something like this, but still. I wish they would.

Kamahl.3621:

With regards to the several flesh golems – that was because Trahearne is supposedly a sick-nasty necromancer. I feel it was the only time in the game he was able to display his combat capabilities, as every other time he just spins2win.

They may do this in the future but a bit less then the amount Trahearne summons as a new Trait GrandMaster skill.

Don’t forget compared to our character Necros, Trahearne has years of more experience than our character with performing the advance Necro skills. As the storyline progress there will be plenty of openings for Anet to add these kind of features to our characters if they feel like it.

Rewriting Caladbolg would require rewriting the sylvari storyline. Your suggestion also doesn’t account for the fact that Sylvari are immune to dragon corruption. They wilt and die, rather then turn.

Anka.3675:

Rewriting Caladbolg would require rewriting the sylvari storyline. Your suggestion also doesn’t account for the fact that Sylvari are immune to dragon corruption. They wilt and die, rather then turn.

Good point! Easily fixed though, perhaps he just becomes evil. Sylvari are capable of that and Caladbolg has no specific reason it NEEDs to be a weapon from the tree and all that.

EdwinLi.1284:

Kamahl.3621:

With regards to the several flesh golems – that was because Trahearne is supposedly a sick-nasty necromancer. I feel it was the only time in the game he was able to display his combat capabilities, as every other time he just spins2win.

They may do this in the future but a bit less then the amount Trahearne summons as a new Trait GrandMaster skill.

Don’t forget compared to our character Necros, Trahearne has years of more experience than our character with performing the advance Necro skills. As the storyline progress there will be plenty of openings for Anet to add these kind of features to our characters if they feel like it.

This leaves out the fact that Trahearne is 25 years old, and who knows how old your Necro may be. So, while it may work the way you say, If you decided on a more learned and elderly character (if you like to make your character’s backstory that the game never covers like me) they would have far more experience than the cabbagehead.

So, wait, the ending of this scenario both ways emphasizes Zhaitan personally dealing with one necromancer, then talking to you, mocking the death of this one necromancer. Can the Elder Dragons even talk? And why would they talk to us? It’s like squishing an ant that was about to bite you, then talking about it to this other ant next to him.

Rilke Cadmus.6829:

EdwinLi.1284:

Kamahl.3621:

With regards to the several flesh golems – that was because Trahearne is supposedly a sick-nasty necromancer. I feel it was the only time in the game he was able to display his combat capabilities, as every other time he just spins2win.

They may do this in the future but a bit less then the amount Trahearne summons as a new Trait GrandMaster skill.

Don’t forget compared to our character Necros, Trahearne has years of more experience than our character with performing the advance Necro skills. As the storyline progress there will be plenty of openings for Anet to add these kind of features to our characters if they feel like it.

This leaves out the fact that Trahearne is 25 years old, and who knows how old your Necro may be. So, while it may work the way you say, If you decided on a more learned and elderly character (if you like to make your character’s backstory that the game never covers like me) they would have far more experience than the cabbagehead.

I thought the pale tree teaches them a whole bunch of stuff while they are dreaming or what not.

Son of Elias.5420:

So, wait, the ending of this scenario both ways emphasizes Zhaitan personally dealing with one necromancer, then talking to you, mocking the death of this one necromancer. Can the Elder Dragons even talk? And why would they talk to us? It’s like squishing an ant that was about to bite you, then talking about it to this other ant next to him.

No clue whether they can talk or not, but I’d imagine either he can do it, or he’ll have some representative to do it for him in game. The thing is, most stories need an antagonist with a face, not in the physical sense, (i know zhaitan has a face) but a representation of what is the opposing force. Talking is merely the way he engages the player.

Elder Dragon talking to belittle and mock the players.. That sounds like the epic fail D3. In D2, none of the prime evil talks to the players. Even if they do, it’s just a short sentence. However, in D3, all the prime evils are talkative, whiny and noisy female dogs.

So, please do not let the Elder Dragons make the same mistake.

why bother talking to a parasite? Just snuff us off with a poisonous breath is more than enough show of contempt.

there’s also a VERY good reason the Player Character(s) is not the Marshal of the Pact

it’s the fact that the history of GW doesn’t end with GW2 …they need a player-neutral party to serve that role, not an unnamed “Commander” (even Mass Effect had a fixed main char as the PC)

what they could have done, however, is make Destiny’s Edge lead the Pact, with Trahearne as an advisor/new member

Trahearne needs to be demoted to Advisor to the Pact or something a LOT LESS impacting on the story, agreed!

This is not OUR personal story. It is HIS personal story.

FateZero.8536:

Elder Dragon talking to belittle and mock the players.. That sounds like the epic fail D3. In D2, none of the prime evil talks to the players. Even if they do, it’s just a short sentence. However, in D3, all the prime evils are talkative, whiny and noisy female dogs.

So, please do not let the Elder Dragons make the same mistake.

They talk, but they keep it simple. “Not even death can save you from me!” is what Big D himself says when the fight starts.

Thanks for the advice about the talking zhaitan thing. I do think its a bit cheesy now, will rewrite it!

A noble spirit tempted and corruted with power, realizing the error of this ways and does this one good thing shortly before he dies.

You see that can be a compelling stoy. I t was tolled many times before and is still tolled today. But you see there is nothing special about it nothing that sets the story apart from standard fantasy 101. The current story we have is definitly not ground braking but to be honest your story is also not ground breaking.

It isn’t an upgrade of the personal story as it is right now, therefor not really worth the time to implement. The story department has bigger fish to fry imo.

Rhinzual.7861:

FateZero.8536:

Elder Dragon talking to belittle and mock the players.. That sounds like the epic fail D3. In D2, none of the prime evil talks to the players. Even if they do, it’s just a short sentence. However, in D3, all the prime evils are talkative, whiny and noisy female dogs.

So, please do not let the Elder Dragons make the same mistake.

They talk, but they keep it simple. “Not even death can save you from me!” is what Big D himself says when the fight starts.

One of the more epic one-liners in gaming history. Anyhow, the Elder Dragons would have as little reason to talk to us as we have to talk to ants.

yandere.9176:

A noble spirit tempted and corruted with power, realizing the error of this ways and does this one good thing shortly before he dies.

You see that can be a compelling stoy. I t was tolled many times before and is still tolled today. But you see there is nothing special about it nothing that sets the story apart from standard fantasy 101. The current story we have is definitly not ground braking but to be honest your story is also not ground breaking.

It isn’t an upgrade of the personal story as it is right now, therefor not really worth the time to implement. The story department has bigger fish to fry imo.

Well, its not like they’d implement it anyways, whatever is done now is set in stone. I’m quite sure my story would have more coherence however, as well as some interaction with the players, with the choices they make. Personally I don’t think there is anything wrong with being formulaic; GW2’s story isnt formulaic and look where it got itself. Its quite a mess.

Yeah you are right, it is good to stick to basics and try to stay coherent.
I just wanted to point out that a story without twists an turn is pretty bland.

And yeah you have right the current personal story is pretty messy especially the NPC death, were lots of NPCs die where I have almost no emotional investment in and can just quote Trahearne: “Moving on!”

Actually the only death scene which had in impact on my was the mentor and therefore you are right Trahearne would be a good canidate to die if you want to create drama.

It would have also been good if Logan wouldn’t have pulled a deus ex machina and returned with a giant airship, but would have become a Risen and would be the encounter before you smash Zhaitan.

So long story short I understand that you understand how story structure should work, but your story needs an interesting twist or an unexcpected turn to become memorable.

At the very least I agree on moving the titles on Trahearne and you. Even if you keep the entire rest of the storyline and only rewrite accordingly, player as marshall and trahearne as second-in-command, everything would change. As a player you would feel like the master of a triple army while the story can still revolve around Trahearne cleansing Orr under your command. Brilliant suggestion OP.

Also, new voice actor for Trahearne. The original one is more suited for a wizard like Isgarren.