Guild Wars 2

Now that you’ve saved the world a heavy weight weighs on your heart. Many lives were lost in a goal that has only subdued the indefinate return of an evil that will outlive you in time.

Your heart is darkened, your soul shaken but not yet lost, yet, the linguring temptation wonders in your mind, is there truley a point in stopping oblivion?

Another temptation lingers… can you controll oblivion, can you change it forever, can you truley wipe out the dragons and in such a way they will never return…

…At what cost?

This, is the Dark Side of Tyria, and the temptations that could alure you to a edgier, but more interesting future:

Okay, so introduction aside, this suggestion topic is about the future of GW2 and namely, how we can continue to progress our main character on their journey to legacy in the mists and beyond.

Along the way though every hero has to face a trial, a personal moment when their legend is stained with memories of black deeds and questionable actions, and motivations… can a hero remain heroic forever?

Im talking of course of a new, fresher use of the current in game morality system, but im not really sure how to impliament such a thing, which is why I opened this topic, im trying to promote the interest in seeing alignment pulled forwards and maybe even rewarding it, so here are my fivety cents:

Alignment in the future could be the core of your defining legacy. Based upon actions you take in the living world, good or questionable, you are pulled further or closer to the mists depending on these choices. As a result of your actions your rewarded with variant vendors across Tyria, who serve to offer several features:
- Cosmetic Upgrades for races that allow you to buy hair colours/skin colours based on your alignment, aswell as new faces, eye colours and other features (like tatoos for norn or patterns for charr).
- Armour and weapons vendors that sell items depending on your moral standing, the higher or lower the morality, like the cultural items, they are divided by tiers, but unlike the cultural items, you require a certain moral standing to unlock them.
- Cosmetic changes to skills and abilities that reflect your morality, for example, those with a lighter heart might have a visual change to the thieves abilities, making them seem more misty and airy, while those with a darker heart might have more omnious thief like powers that make their abilities look more terrifying and disturbing (such as nightmarish visages in the smoke clouds gleaming with red light in the darkness).
- You become more assosiated with the “enemy” over time, allowing you to befriend certain npcs, attain new (dark heart) quests that allow you to gain dark karma rewards or exalted karma rewards for doing heroic deeds.
- Your moral standing will affect over time how your former friends view you, you might even grow the enmity of the former heroes of destinies edge and the pact, whom you have been fighting for all this time, as you become more pulled into circles of darker orders, with more neferius purposes for Tyria.
- While not being able to simply align yourself with a dragon for example, you would have access to certain orders that seek to control their power, or the world itself, through underhand actions and malevolant deeds.
- Story quests would reflect your choice in a comming expansion, based on your moral standing, you would be diverged in two different directions and given a chance to redeem or fall from grace over the course of the plot.

These are a few ideas, I try to be realistic and I know they cant all just be added in a day, im talking more about over time, and where they could go. These are things that could be, over time, and could be interesting if they were exploited to their fullest.

If theres one thing im tired of doing, its saving the world, I admit, id like to have a moment when I was tested to see just “how” noble I can be, and weather id be willing to do the questionable and become as bad as my enemies, to save what I love, or rule it with an iron fist.

Darker, edgier, but no less possible to remain true to the perfect hero template within a stalwart effort of heroic firmness, if one chose to be.

Oh GOD yes. I want to be evil. Please, PLEASE let me join the nightmare court! If they do this though, the other option should be available to characters that want to become MORE good. An angelic route to contrast the demonic route, if you will. And I like the idea of certain armor and weapons which reflect your alignment choice unlocked only for those that complete that plot arc.

The devs have stated that Player Characters will not be evil. This is to avoid generating needless division in the community based on alignment. All PCs are heroes.

That said, I wouldn’t mind an antihero option. Basically, make us pick between being Batman or being the Punisher. Do I go with the more difficult task that puts me above blame, or the quick and dirty route that walks a fine line between good an evil.

Make the whole expansion about whether your character believes the ends justify the means. If the story was smaller and more personal, you could even have drastically different endings.

Some kind of expanding on the three “alignments” would be nice. Ended up with full dignity a little before I finished the story and…yay, it’s a yellow bar.

Nittles.1582:

The devs have stated that Player Characters will not be evil. This is to avoid generating needless division in the community based on alignment. All PCs are heroes.

That said, I wouldn’t mind an antihero option. Basically, make us pick between being Batman or being the Punisher. Do I go with the more difficult task that puts me above blame, or the quick and dirty route that walks a fine line between good an evil.

Make the whole expansion about whether your character believes the ends justify the means. If the story was smaller and more personal, you could even have drastically different endings.

Gah! Arrrrgg… guh… but I’ve ALWAYS played evil characters in MMO’s. Hurts… it hurts…. the light… burns!! It burnssss! Fine. FINE! My sylvari will stay with the Pale Tree.

being evil in mmo is very mainstream according to me, it is quite enough being evil in real life, at least in game i want to be surrounded by hero and be one myself.

edit: isn’t already enough that every single male char is a black cof armor wearer?

Nittles.1582:

The devs have stated that Player Characters will not be evil. This is to avoid generating needless division in the community based on alignment. All PCs are heroes.

That said, I wouldn’t mind an antihero option. Basically, make us pick between being Batman or being the Punisher. Do I go with the more difficult task that puts me above blame, or the quick and dirty route that walks a fine line between good an evil.

Make the whole expansion about whether your character believes the ends justify the means. If the story was smaller and more personal, you could even have drastically different endings.

Yes to all that.

Amadan.9451:

being evil in mmo is very mainstream according to me, it is quite enough being evil in real life, at least in game i want to be surrounded by hero and be one myself.

edit: isn’t already enough that every single male char is a black cof armor wearer?

I guess that works if you ARE evil in real life. I’m quite a good person. Thus it’s fun to be the opposite in a game.

I think people are missing the point, its not just being evil, its being the anti-hero (or even anti-villian) so yes, you can be evil, but the actions you take might still save the world, inavertly, your just doing it for a more self-gaining reason than others would.

The idea is to show the devs that a hero doesnt have to be genericly kind and compassionate, and equally doesnt have to be dark and broody and talk about how depressing life is.

Sometimes, you can have heroes whos motivation is more about their own gain in the long term, be they a haggard mercinary, a bounty hunter whos morals aernt conflicted by the job, an assassin who takes pleasure in murder no matter the target.

You could ascend to power with the intention of raising into greatness, or conquering your lesser rivals (in the story) you dont “have” to be “nice” to “save the world”.

Even a bad guy can see the practicality of killing an all destroying force for the greater survivability, they just dont have to do it for altruistic reasons.

Im hoping, A-net will see the benefit in this, why not have an edgier tone, the temptatino to join the dark side and have a little reap of what you’ve sewn in tyria, instead of doing it purley for the greater good.

Entropy.4732:

Amadan.9451:

being evil in mmo is very mainstream according to me, it is quite enough being evil in real life, at least in game i want to be surrounded by hero and be one myself.

edit: isn’t already enough that every single male char is a black cof armor wearer?

I guess that works if you ARE evil in real life. I’m quite a good person. Thus it’s fun to be the opposite in a game.

Mhmm seems like a contradiction How can you be a good person, wanting to be bad?! o_O But yeah actually I’d like to be a bad guy too.