Guild Wars 2

Scarlet is the best enemy we could possibly have at the moment, aside from maybe the Elder Dragons.

Seriously, she rejected her place in Pale Tree’s dream, decided that only SHE would decide where or what her path was. She studied for eight years in the Grove, with Sylvari engineers and realized she wanted more.

So she went to Hoelbrak to study under the Norn smiths, to learn the art of metal working so she could build her creations. She became Beigarth’s pupil and apprentice, his forge tender. Learning the art of metal working. But she realized it wasn’t enough.

So she moved on, and began to study under a gladium of the Iron Legion. She wanted to know more, and more. She learned all his secrets, everything she could. But it still wasn’t enough.

She went to Rata Sum, and she wasn’t just accepted in automatically, she wasn’t some instant genius. So they tested her, and she impressed them, time and time again. The Asuran colleges begrudingly allowed her to continue studying. Because she was dedicated. They were fascinated with her and they were intrigued by her ability to learn. She STRUGGLED at synergetics, but refused to give up. Headmaster Omadd took her under his wing, because he saw something in her. He introduced her to the eternal alchemy. The Arcane Council even rejected her thesis, though it was 100% backed by Omadd.

Afterward, she joined the Inquest to learn from them. But she was eventually thrown out by the Arcane Council, when she broke into the city’s archives with a fellow classmate who abandoned her. But still she perservered. Because she wanted to know more.

After she was thrown out, she learned alchemy from the Hyleks, so she could stay close to Rata Sum.

Headmaster Omadd, seeing her potential even tracked her down and offered her a chance to the see more of the Eternal Alchemy, to know as much as possible.

Inside Omadd’s machine, the Pale Tree reaching out to her tried to convince her not to stray from the path. But Scarlet was too interested in seeing the way things worked, the way everything was put together and the design of the world around her.

So much knowledge, she learned so much everywhere she went and from everyone she studied.

Some want Scarlet to just “up and die” and be done with. But they probably don’t even know her story.

Scarlet is here to stay for quite a while, and I’m entirely interested in seeing what she is going to do next. She saw something in Omadd’s machine no doubt, she saw what was coming and even if she isn’t a Dragon Minion, Scarlet is not going to disappoint.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/short-story-what-scarlet-saw/

I loved Scarlet already when I saw her in game, but reading the backstory of hers is simply wonderful.

She wasn’t just some “instant genius who excelled at the Asuran colleges and was suddenly a genius.” She worked hard, she persevered, she pressed for every grain of knowledge she could. Scarlet is dedicated, and dangerous.

And I really hope Anet continue to develop her and don’t let her die by the wayside. Scarlet is a Villain in the making. Right now she’s still a bit of a nuisance, but she could be a real Villain in the making. There is no telling what she saw in Omadd’s machine, or the extent of what she has learned.

Even the Pale Tree tried to convince Scarlet to stop, even the Pale Tree is worried about what she knows, and what she is doing.

Well at least there is someone else out there that has read the short story Anet released. I agree she is an amazing villain! Most of those who don’t are just uninformed (which tbh is the fault of Anet because of how they keep these stories in a separate place from the actual game). Thanks for the rehash for all the people out there that want to say “Scarlet is the Joker……hahaha hurp hurp.” Although I don’t think that this part of the living story has anything to do with scarlet (besides the glow in the obelisk that suggests something like asuran tech is holdin it together), I think its going to be a great story!

Still not any great villian. She’d fit to Rayman Adventures or Lego Series with PEGI +6, but not to actual MMO.
Most of the playerbase is very fed up with all that magitech and salad all around, I tell you.
Give us a villian like Vizier, Shiro, Palawa Joko from GW1, Vilgefortz from Roggeven from The Witcher Saga, or Azar Javed from The Witcher 1 game, something grim, villian that we actually respect…not a mad salad lady who appears everywhere in every plot, runing it due to her middle-age crysis and menopause…

Rym.1469:

Still not any great villian. She’d fit to Rayman Adventures or Lego Series with PEGI +6, but not to actual MMO.
Most of the playerbase is very fed up with all that magitech and salad all around, I tell you.
Give us a villian like Vizier, Shiro, Palawa Joko from GW1, Vilgefortz from Roggeven from The Witcher Saga, or Azar Javed from The Witcher 1 game, something grim, villian that we actually respect…not a mad salad lady who appears everywhere in every plot, runing it due to her middle-age crysis and menopause…

Its a fantasy game fantasy can include any amount of technology or magic based powers and ideas in any shape form or fashion

Problem is, most players aren’t aware of that stuff because it isn’t packaged inside the game as it should be.

The biggest problem we got is that the the living story is so disjointed that it doesn’t progress her as a character.

I’ll pick on you OP since you decided to post such a loaded topic (for me).

Ashadow.6874:

Scarlet is the best enemy we could possibly have at the moment, aside from maybe the Elder Dragons.

Seriously, she rejected her place in Pale Tree’s dream, decided that only SHE would decide where or what her path was. She studied for eight years in the Grove, with Sylvari engineers and realized she wanted more.

This is of course, a subjective opinion, but compared to many, many characters in literature (all literature), she is objectively badly written. When you start off your character without a basis for her motivation, you should stop, rewind and rethink what made her take the action she took.

No exposition was made as to why she rejected the Pale Tree. Without some fundamental conflict that the reader/player has to know before the character acts, Scarlet is no more than a token villain thrown in because “we need a villain”.

Ashadow.6874:

So she went to Hoelbrak….snip.

So she moved on, and began to study under a gladium of the Iron Legion. snip

She went to Rata Sum, and she wasn’t just accepted in automatically…snip.

Afterward, she joined the Inquest…snip.

After she was thrown out, she learned alchemy from the Hyleks…snip.

Headmaster Omadd, seeing her potential even tracked her down and offered her a chance to the see more of the Eternal Alchemy, to know as much as possible.

Think about what you’ve written here in the scope of Guild Wars lore and the relative youth of the Slyvari. Explain why would one of these groups/people accept Scarlet into their trades, have enough time for her to master said trades and then never mention anything to anyone about this virtuoso who just so happened to move on from their cultures within the current timeframe of Guild Wars 2.

Ashadow.6874:

She wasn’t just some “instant genius who excelled at the Asuran colleges and was suddenly a genius.” She worked hard, she persevered, she pressed for every grain of knowledge she could. Scarlet is dedicated, and dangerous.

Even the Pale Tree tried to convince Scarlet to stop, even the Pale Tree is worried about what she knows, and what she is doing.

This is an example of exceptionally obtuse writing (not from you OP). We have nothing to have a basis that she did indeed, “work hard” or persevered through anything. If she was present in our personal stories for example, and was a ‘prodigy’, where we as players saw her potential, saw her disappear, her re-appearance would have a tremendous impact.

As it is, she’s, to me, the very epitome of a “Villain Sue” and a lazily written one, again, not being mentioned once by any of these groups she joined and excelled at.

It’s perfectly fine to enjoy a badly written character, it isn’t fine to pretend that character is anything else hoping that further ‘light’ will be shed on her motivations.

What I think of most when I think of in game Scarlett:
“DIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIEDIE HEHEHEHEHEHEHE”
and that’s absolutely horrible writing in Tara Strongs’ ‘all my voices sound like baby talk’ voice…

My theory is some new threat, greater then Scarlett, will arise and she will be forced to team up with us to defeat it. She will be the only one who can defeat it though, and she will sacrifice herself to save everyone.

I just don’t see her as the game’s long-term villain, and we do still have the Elder Dragons to take care of.

personally I have read all the short stories and I dislike her for the same exact reason I dislike Trehearn, they are both more scholarly type ppl who somehow gain a strong army with no experience as a general and have no idea how to lead it, meaning they cause tons of extra casualties to their own side because they don’t seem to even have a basic understanding of tactics…

Ashadow.6874:

She wasn’t just some “instant genius who excelled at the Asuran colleges and was suddenly a genius.” She worked hard, she persevered, she pressed for every grain of knowledge she could. Scarlet is dedicated, and dangerous.

So the sylvari firstborn are 25 years old (see http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pale_Tree).

Scarlet is not a first born and does not seem to be a second born. Where did she find the time to a) learn and b) master all the things listed by the OP, each one of which seem to take a lifetime to do?

Why dont they acknowledge her?

1. “Beigarth tried to dissuade her, eager to pass along the full slate of his smithing knowledge to such a unique and promising student, but she left him with a wave and a breezy smile. She didn’t need to be a master smith to forge the kinds of creations she envisioned.”

2. The gladium she studied under tried to kill her, when she decided to leave.

“declared her intent to continue her studies elsewhere, the charr veteran cursed her for a feckless cub and threatened to gut her with a rusty blade. Ceara gracefully avoided Asagai’s wild swings and bid her a respectful farewell. Firearms and artillery were fun, but they were far too simple. Knowing there was only one place that could expand her knowledge as broadly and as quickly as she required, she set out for Rata Sum.”

3. She was practically considered a heretic for her theories by the Asura Collegiate, why would they even want to acknowledge her?

“It was here, under Headmaster Omadd, that Ceara first began to grapple with the Eternal Alchemy. The deeper she delved into it, the more convinced she became that the pinnacle of asuran thought was not a metamagical engine or a transcendent equation, but a key that allowed one to access the basic fabric of reality itself.

Though backed 100% by Omadd, Ceara’s thesis was not well received by the colleges or the Arcane Council. “Unsupportable conjecture,” they called it. “Unsubstantiated claims that border on academic heresy, or at very least, criminality.”"

4. The Inquest practically banished her for breaking into the archives.

Finally, why she disagreed with the Pale Tree and refused her?

She became disillusioned with what being born Sylvari meant. Being born with a dream to follow, with little to no choice in the matter, other than becoming Nightmare and being hated for it.

“She soon saw a vague, glowing shape ahead. A tree, she thought…the Pale Tree. Its great off-white trunk connected a broad network of branches and leaves to a root system below. Instead of nuts or berries beneath its leaves, there were sylvari. Thousands of her people hung from the tree’s boughs like ripe fruit ready to fall. Their bodies did not move, but their eyes shifted and rolled, eagerly taking in their surroundings.

Some dropped like autumn leaves, slowly drifting down to root level. There they stood, stretched, and then set out into the void, disappearing as they cleared the spreading canopy. Some never made it that far, staggering, falling, and withering within the shade of the great tree.

Disappointment soured Ceara’s fascination. Was this it, then? Were the lives of all sylvari so easily encapsulated? Birth, travel, experience, death, all played out under the dictates and philosophies of the godlike entity that created them?
She refused to accept that. Everything she had learned said that no system, no matter how complex, can perpetuate itself indefinitely. Those that did not evolve inevitably failed."

To me almost none of that is true and did not take place Ashadow, if it did not happen in game then it did not happen at all. If it has to be explained out of character outside the game, then Arena Net are not doing a good enough job with her story and events in game, something has to change.

Plus Scarlet is not a good villain, when I think of all the great villains in games and movies, she does not even come in on the top 100. She is more of a nuisance rather than anything else.

Palawa Joko, who is a bit of a joke undoubtedly is a better villain, even the Mad King has more of an awe/fear inspiring aura about him.

Aedelric.1287:

To me almost none of that is true and did not take place Ashadow, if it did not happen in game then it did not happen at all. If it has to be explained out of character outside the game, then Arena Net are not doing a good enough job with her story and events in game, something has to change.

Plus Scarlet is not a good villain, when I think of all the great villains in games and movies, she does not even come in on the top 100. She is more of a nuisance rather than anything else.

Palawa Joko, who is a bit of a joke undoubtedly is a better villain, even the Mad King has more of an awe/fear inspiring aura about him.

Thats a little like saying, “If I didnt experience it first hand, it never happened.”

Yes they dropped the ball a bit, but her story is out there, and it remains her story. If you refuse to accept it, that however is on you and not Anet. If you refuse to let yourself immerse in story, whatever format it is in, its your loss. So complain to yourself, when you cant enjoy it.

I am simply trying to spread her story, so hopefully those dont know it exists, can learn a bit more about Scarlet.

Believe it or not, I wasnt as much of a fan of her as a villain, before I read that. And I really wish it was in game, it makes her less flat of a character.

And still, having so much knowledge, she acts like a party pooper destroying Queen’s and Lion’s Arch parties.

Finally, why she disagreed with the Pale Tree and refused her?

She became disillusioned with what being born Sylvari meant. Being born with a dream to follow, with little to no choice in the matter, other than becoming Nightmare and being hated for it.

The sylvari character storyline belies this. The dream seems to be a guide. A sylvari’s life is not set by the dream as Scarlet perfectly demonstrates. Her own life is a refutation of her premise.

I made my own character up that’s even cooler.

He mastered the universe, he went to an alien planet and conquered it after learning and mastering telekinesis, then went to another alien planet and learned how to control the universe/reality with his mind, now he controls the universe.

He’s pretty amazing, look at what he did!

Playing devil’s advocate here … because, unfortunately, I’m one of those of the opinion that Scarlet could at any second say, “This town needs an enema!” And then blow a party horn.

Ashadow.6874:

Why dont they acknowledge her?

1. “Beigarth tried to dissuade her, eager to pass along the full slate of his smithing knowledge to such a unique and promising student, but she left him with a wave and a breezy smile. She didn’t need to be a master smith to forge the kinds of creations she envisioned.”

This, actually, seem to suggest even more that her name would have been mentioned if she was such a “unique promising student” to whom he would pass along the “full slate of his smithing knowledge”.

2. The gladium she studied under tried to kill her, when she decided to leave.
“declared her intent to continue her studies elsewhere, the charr veteran cursed her for a feckless cub and threatened to gut her with a rusty blade.

Here as well — there’s nothing to suggest her name wouldn’t have been mentioned, perhaps even moreso, as an example to everyone, as in “Are you going to dedicate yourself to your training, or act the feckless cub like that sylvari?”

3. She was practically considered a heretic for her theories by the Asura Collegiate, why would they even want to acknowledge her? “Unsupportable conjecture,” they called it. “Unsubstantiated claims that border on academic heresy, or at very least, criminality.”"

Heretics aren’t usually hushed up — they’re usually put to death in grand spectacle form, to serve as an example to anyone else who would even be toying with similar thoughts.

4. The Inquest practically banished her for breaking into the archives.

And here, like the Charr, would be an example type category — “Don’t you go poking your nose into places it doesn’t belong, like the archives. You saw what we did to that sylvari who made that mistake …”

I won’t go so far as to declare her a Villain Sue (tho I’m sure others certainly will), but to declare her amazing makes it sound as if she was Heath Ledger stepping into the Joker’s shoes and essentially redefining him as a villian. And yes, that was another Scarlet-Joker reference.

I hope what Matt Visual and WoodenPotatoes said should happen to her.

She stands there talking, sounding boring and cliche as usual. And suddenly a big Elder Dragon just lands on her, crushing her or impaling her on its claw, or whatever.

- and that’s how Jormag/Kralkatorrik/Bubbles/Mordremoth/Primordius is introduced.

Farzo.8410:

I hope what Matt Visual and WoodenPotatoes said should happen to her.

She stands there talking, sounding boring and cliche as usual. And suddenly a big Elder Dragon just lands on her, crushing her or impaling her on its claw, or whatever.

- and that’s how Jormag/Kralkatorrik/Bubbles/Mordremoth/Primordius is introduced.

I thought we would see Bubbles in the bath.

Boring. 15chars

I think assuming that people only disagree with you due to their own ignorance is the height of arrogance. Whether a villain is “good” or not it subjective.

To me, Scarlet is a cliche right out of the cartoons I watched in the 80s/90s. She giggles maniacally while telling us how sadistic and cruel and chaotic she is. And yet this clearly mentally unstable person is capable of amassing an endless army to serve her every whim. She wouldn’t be out of place on He-Man, or the old 60s Batman TV show.

Can’t stand Scarlett or Trehearn for that matter. Can we have something besides a twig and a pumpkin headed comedian added as a villain?

Farzo.8410:

I hope what Matt Visual and WoodenPotatoes said should happen to her.

She stands there talking, sounding boring and cliche as usual. And suddenly a big Elder Dragon just lands on her, crushing her or impaling her on its claw, or whatever.

- and that’s how Jormag/Kralkatorrik/Bubbles/Mordremoth/Primordius is introduced.

Believe me, I’m not of the mind that she is the best thing since the invention of toast. But she also isn’t as terrible as a Villain sue.

The thread title, honestly, was more an attempt to lure people in who might not even know about the Scarlet story, either out of curiosity, or their hatred of Scarlet. It was also a jab at all the “just let Scarlet die” threads.

I’m hoping some people who end up in the thread, will take a moment to at least learn a bit more about her.

If they still hate her, I have no problem with that.

Farzo.8410:

I hope what Matt Visual and WoodenPotatoes said should happen to her.

She stands there talking, sounding boring and cliche as usual. And suddenly a big Elder Dragon just lands on her, crushing her or impaling her on its claw, or whatever.

- and that’s how Jormag/Kralkatorrik/Bubbles/Mordremoth/Primordius is introduced.

I think I’d clap for that perfect landing. Waving the signal ligts could be a part of her final fight.

Tenebrous.2451:

Ashadow.6874:

She wasn’t just some “instant genius who excelled at the Asuran colleges and was suddenly a genius.” She worked hard, she persevered, she pressed for every grain of knowledge she could. Scarlet is dedicated, and dangerous.

So the sylvari firstborn are 25 years old (see http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pale_Tree).

Scarlet is not a first born and does not seem to be a second born. Where did she find the time to a) learn and b) master all the things listed by the OP, each one of which seem to take a lifetime to do?

Time travel.

But that’s a good question, I also now wonder how fast time passes in Guild Wars 2.

Ashadow.6874:

Tenebrous.2451:

Ashadow.6874:

She wasn’t just some “instant genius who excelled at the Asuran colleges and was suddenly a genius.” She worked hard, she persevered, she pressed for every grain of knowledge she could. Scarlet is dedicated, and dangerous.

So the sylvari firstborn are 25 years old (see http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pale_Tree).

Scarlet is not a first born and does not seem to be a second born. Where did she find the time to a) learn and b) master all the things listed by the OP, each one of which seem to take a lifetime to do?

Time travel.

But that’s a good question, I also now wonder how fast time passes in Guild Wars 2.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Mouvelian_calendar

Each “year” in Tyria lasts 360 days. It’s unclear how long a “day” is but it’s generally understood to be roughly equivalent to 24 (Earth) hours.

I think Scarlett is best described as a distraction from some force bigger than herself. She’s just a cover.

This thread just seems like troll bait to me.

if OP is that impressed with Lollet and the Herpblades imagine what will happen when they actually see a decent villain with flaws a tragic past and drive.

This particular character op is discussing, who shall not be named is flat, one dimensional and apparently a prodigy at any vocation they pick up this does not impress me.

Astralporing.1957:

If i wanted to do a summary why she’s such a cartoonish cliche villain and why it would be better to just forget about her, i couldn’t have done it better. Thank you OP.

Agreed. The Back story just helped to cement how utterly ridiculous & Sue this character is. it’s not surprising that some MMO players like her, she’s the epitome of the teenage Deviant Art style character who is awesome at everything, has the stupid modern-stlye annoying sassy character that is incongruent with the setting & “bucks the system” for some “i’m great & unique” reason like every teen does in their half-informed wisdom.

Farzo.8410:

Farzo.8410:

I hope what Matt Visual and WoodenPotatoes said should happen to her.

She stands there talking, sounding boring and cliche as usual. And suddenly a big Elder Dragon just lands on her, crushing her or impaling her on its claw, or whatever.

- and that’s how Jormag/Kralkatorrik/Bubbles/Mordremoth/Primordius is introduced.

I think I’d clap for that perfect landing. Waving the signal ligts could be a part of her final fight.

would be amazing. Although they’d probably try to play the scene off like Scarlet new it would happen the whole time & wanted it so & thus making her death yet another thing that makes her “so awesome”.

DarksunG.9537:

Astralporing.1957:

If i wanted to do a summary why she’s such a cartoonish cliche villain and why it would be better to just forget about her, i couldn’t have done it better. Thank you OP.

Agreed. The Back story just helped to cement how utterly ridiculous & Sue this character is. it’s not surprising that some MMO players like her, she’s the epitome of the teenage Deviant Art style character who is awesome at everything, has the stupid modern-stlye annoying sassy character that is incongruent with the setting & “bucks the system” for some “i’m great & unique” reason like every teen does in their half-informed wisdom.

Yup. “Scarlet was too pretty and awesome and smart so society hated her, but they couldn’t kill her cuz she was too pretty and awesome and smart.”

DarksunG.9537:

Astralporing.1957:

If i wanted to do a summary why she’s such a cartoonish cliche villain and why it would be better to just forget about her, i couldn’t have done it better. Thank you OP.

Agreed. The Back story just helped to cement how utterly ridiculous & Sue this character is. it’s not surprising that some MMO players like her, she’s the epitome of the teenage Deviant Art style character who is awesome at everything, has the stupid modern-stlye annoying sassy character that is incongruent with the setting & “bucks the system” for some “i’m great & unique” reason like every teen does in their half-informed wisdom.

I think the Scarlet haters can’t seem to agree on anything other than their shared dislike of this character. Cartoonish villains are almost always full of glaring flaws that always ends up causing them to lose in the end. It’s where the whole concept of Saturday morning cartoon villains stems from. Every episode the villain has some dastardly plan and at the end the hero always manages to foil their plans through some obvious flaw. They are far removed from this so called “villain sue” that is seemingly perfect and free of flaws or weaknesses.

Lmao — I think it’s safe to say Scarlet is the most copy/paste Antagonist in the entire game.

I think most Scarlet haters just want something original and unique to the series.

Everyone, this is clearly a troll thread. Nothing of value to see here. Move along.

Where is all this information in the game?

The OP is a bad summation of the short story “What Scarlet Saw” and almost every discussion of Scarlet that takes place on the forums takes that into account. Nothing new to see here, just trolling.

Scarlet sucks in every aspect from the very beginning and this thread has already told why. Get rid of her soon™.

She’s poorly written.

And I must agree with those who (more or less) said the Short Stories shouldn’t be taken as canon.

Guild Wars 2 is a game, NOT a multimedia installation.

Any content ArenaNet wants us to experience, should be found somewhere within the game. The website is for news, discussion, client-support, and merchandise.

We should never have to come here to experience actual content.

At minimal, they should have edited NPCs around Tyria (and a few Personal Story instances) to mention her. If they couldn’t be bothered to do that, it means she truly is no better than Kudu or Gaheron.

To me, she’s merely the excuse ArenaNet needed to drop their good ideas into the game with any level of context.
- Got amazing molten-models to show off, but no context? Scarlet
- Want to orchestrate a political assassination, but no context? Scarlet
- Have great dungeon design/mechanics to use, but no context? Scarlet

They need to retroactively etch her into the original chunks of the game if they really want her to shine as a character. I sincerely doubt that will happen… I expect them to layer *2~3 more releases about Scarlet, then her plot-presence will drop like a brick, and she becomes Tyria’s “Carmen Sandiego”:

• Her purpose of existence is to give ArenaNet an “in” on how to introduce good content and mechanics into the game without seeming random.

Hilariously enjoyable? Of course
Enriching for the game? Absolutely
Well-written? Nuh-uh

Arena Net’s shortcoming has always been their story-telling.
Their lore, top-notch. Their game-design, excellent. Their aesthetic style, pleasing to say the least. But their story-telling… Ref: Trahearne.

You are quite right DreamOfACure.

zeromius.1604:

DarksunG.9537:

Astralporing.1957:

If i wanted to do a summary why she’s such a cartoonish cliche villain and why it would be better to just forget about her, i couldn’t have done it better. Thank you OP.

Agreed. The Back story just helped to cement how utterly ridiculous & Sue this character is. it’s not surprising that some MMO players like her, she’s the epitome of the teenage Deviant Art style character who is awesome at everything, has the stupid modern-stlye annoying sassy character that is incongruent with the setting & “bucks the system” for some “i’m great & unique” reason like every teen does in their half-informed wisdom.

I think the Scarlet haters can’t seem to agree on anything other than their shared dislike of this character. Cartoonish villains are almost always full of glaring flaws that always ends up causing them to lose in the end. It’s where the whole concept of Saturday morning cartoon villains stems from. Every episode the villain has some dastardly plan and at the end the hero always manages to foil their plans through some obvious flaw. They are far removed from this so called “villain sue” that is seemingly perfect and free of flaws or weaknesses.

Well, she’s both. She is described as being perfect and free of weaknesses. Even her madness is being presented as her strength. And yet, at the same time we, the heroes always manage to foil her plans. Which causes her to appear in the next chapter with a new perfect plan. Which we will defeat again. But of course, that is her plan all along, apparently.

DreamOfACure.4382:

Hilariously enjoyable? Of course
Enriching for the game? Absolutely

Oh yeah, little dark genius Sylvari who takes giant club in the middle of the fight just for fun. That’s not hilarious. That is kittening stupid. Unless target audience is 11 years old.

I’m tired fighting a wack-a-mole laughing salad…
GW2 takes place in Tyria, not in Disneyland.

I was hoping that the Living story would build towards the awakening of another Elder Dragon

To be completely honest I watched the video and it was unquestionably not an SB voice over, she may be involved in the thing but that is entirely conjecture on our part. The specific wording of the “dark allies” (and I forget what it was) really didn’t indicate that it was SB’s cronies (MA, AB, take your pick).

I’m going to take the safe route and say I really don’t know. The video and the article has far too little information about whether it’s SB involved or not. Either way if SB is involved I am going to stop caring about lore-related stuff: the Sylvari are retconning established lore left, right and center.

Rym.1469:

mad salad lady

I remember suggesting that giving us a salad person to hate might fix our perception of the Sylvari. I was wrong. While ANet have done a lot of good with this game, that race is completely broken – while I always try to provide constructive feedback I simply can’t see how that race adds anything to the lore/game at all. /rant

Need more villains like Sephiroth…

You want to beat them cause they are evil and plotting to ruin the world, but at the same time they are so sinister and cool(in a weird kind of way) that you don’t want them gone either.

Sorry, but no. She’s the ultimate villain/Sue, she has a ridiculous and rushed backstory that’s been done countless times (I saw the past, the present, and the future…. so I’m gonna go CRAZY! And invade places! For no reason at all! Huehuehuehuehue!)

She’s incredibly annoying, has an awful concept…. Anet just screwed up. Why aren’t we focusing on the threat of the Elder Dragons? Give us a new villain that MAKES SENSE, like Shiro, or Vizier, or Abbadon, or Palawa Joko…. Nope, Anet decides to throw in a few wee little hints towards Scarlet that nobody noticed, especially new players who missed out on most of the LS content, and WHA-BAM! A wild Villain/Sue appears!

Stop with the salad-focus. Kill Scarlet. Weave together an interesting story that people like.

/rantends

Actually, reading the short story made it worse as villain to me.

Also, she’s the embodiement of a major flaw in LS – especially in current schedule setup.

She had 0 build-up. Apart Mai Trin saying “Scarlet will kill me for failing” or something like that, even on stories on blog, her appearance was like ""Hi, i’m popping out of nowher i’m behind everything even if it doesn’t make sense and i’m your major villain since…now".

Presentation and background that defining poor would be a compliment.

She’s a huge plot and lore hole. Mastering 3 asura schools, charr and norn smithing better than the 3 races stuffed together AND then have a look at dream/eternal alchemy/whatever she saw?

No, Scarlet is one of the worst villains i’ve ever seen.
Shame because the VA is quite cool.

But story – or lack of thereof – and background are simply not working, and a huge credit to this is due to how LS work – disorganic, rushed and overall, dull.

Ya know what would’ve made Scarlet more interesting to {nearly} every player?

If we had gotten to know her through all of those stories in the OP.

If she had been in the grove since betas, learning.

If she had then moved on to Rata Sum, telling all of us all about her amazing discoveries.

..et cetera, et cetera…

Speaking of things like that… whatever happened to the female sylvari NPC that was put into the game to represent the girl that traveled the country on foot with her dog in order to experience a real world adventure?

RustyRhino.9854:

Well at least there is someone else out there that has read the short story Anet released. I agree she is an amazing villain! Most of those who don’t are just uninformed (which tbh is the fault of Anet because of how they keep these stories in a separate place from the actual game). Thanks for the rehash for all the people out there that want to say “Scarlet is the Joker……hahaha hurp hurp.” Although I don’t think that this part of the living story has anything to do with scarlet (besides the glow in the obelisk that suggests something like asuran tech is holdin it together), I think its going to be a great story!

She still terrible and the Mad King needs to burns her while his son bleeds her. It isn’t just her back story, her character is just terrible and failed to suceed is making something that is threatening also comical. I expect to see her in Power Puff Girls, not GW2. Again as stated several times outside this thread, the Mad King is comical but also evil and actually disturbing, Scarlet is not. Mad King was a sucess while Scarlet was a failure in the category of Comical yet evil and serious.