Guild Wars 2

My main reasons for not liking Trahearne very much are largely tied to how he/the story is written:

1. The Sylvari player character gets to retrieve the uberpowerful sword Caladbolg from the jerk who stole it after betraying its former owner. After retrieving said sword, we hand it over to the Pale Tree . . . who later gives it to Trahearne, right in front of the same player character. That’s cold, Pale Tree. So cold.

2. The voice acting for him is pretty . . . bad. I’m glad they seemed to have removed his former catchphrase (“This won’t end well”) from the game, though.

3. My main problem with him is that he doesn’t come along for the final mission. Once he cleanses Orr, his Wyld Hunt is over, which apparently means he gets to take a vacation. Meanwhile, every other member of the Pact (and Destiny’s Edge) goes to actually finish the job of taking out Zhaitan.

4. After we kill Zhaitan, we have to go coax loner Trahearne to come down off of his little airship and mingle with the common folk. Yes, that was phrased a bit over-dramatically. But it’s just annoying that Treeface is hiding on the airship during the celebration and that we have to go fetch him to get him to come down and join in.

Ardid.7203:

That said, I thing people shouldn’t blindly hate Threarne, but instead vocally hate the whole second half of the Personal Story. Threarne is just a symptom of the real problem.

This is pretty much the heart of the issue. The initial and the Order arcs where really well done, then going into the Pact arc was just bad. So not only do you have the character flaws, but added into a bad story arc made the whole thing just unbearable. However at least they were consistent, because the final mission and killing Zaitian was one of the most uneventful and unfulfilling endings I’ve played through.

I don’t have anything against trahearne really…but he was just boring as sin. His voice actor sounds like he was forced into doing the role, and doesn’t really put any emotion into the character. I mainly play a human, so have no idea what his role is in the sylvari story, but he just shows up at Claw island out of the blue, and we have no idea who he is or what he’s done other than he’s a scholar that studies oer and the undead, and he’s a firstborn, meaning he is automatically super important.

Then, he doesn’t even show up for the final battle with zhaitan, great your wild hunt is done, I know your tired but we still have a massive undead dragon soaring above Arah that we need to kill! The least you can do is show up!

With my priory mentor, I felt so dang sad when she died, and when she stayed behind to buy you time to get away, I just wanted to beat down the dang gate, bit of the same with my vigil mentor, didn’t like him as much but least he showed he was pretty BA. Trahearne, I didn’t feel any attachment, as a friend, commanding officer, or fellow adventurer. He was just thrown in to fill the companion void they left from killing your previous mentor.

I don’t mind Traeharne at all, but then I’ve always been a very patient person and not easily bothered.

I like Trahearne, you guys are just mean and discriminating.

They still need to add a Sylvari face that’s similar to his as well. He’s too pretty to die.

Ardid.7203:

People doesn’t hate threarne because “he” is a bad leader or because “he” took credit from the player. People hate Threarne because the story fails to deliver focus on the player, puting instead the interest in Threarne.

His role in the whole story IS bigger than the role of the PC. The player make some chices, but it is Threarne the one that offer those choices. The player influence the world, but is Threarne the one that make that call. At least in the second half of the PS, the story revolves around him, much more than around your character.

That said, I thing people shouldn’t blindly hate Threarne, but instead vocally hate the whole second half of the Personal Story. Threarne is just a symptom of the real problem.

And do you know why that’s the case? It’s just a symptom of an MMORPG storyline.

This game has five races to play as, all with the same storyline end goal, the fight against Zhaitan. With a lengthy story like GW2 launched with, that’s a lot of potential differences. Asura, Charr, Sylvari, all those races should wind up handling things different ways. While the low level stories focus on those individual races and have a lot of character as a result, it winds up becoming an unfeasible level of voice acting/story writing to have the story remain diverged at the higher levels, not to mention the question of “Which one is canon” if each race winds up with their own way to slay Zhaitan in their own dedicated story. So instead, the player character does not take the primary leadership role, which makes it easier to write the story coalescing at higher levels, first via the Order mentors and then via Trahearne.

But even so, is it really that different from the low levels? You had Destiny’s Edge then to guide you along, they were always more important than your character then.

And what about Guild Wars 1, which so many people look back fondly upon? We’ve already seen people mention Kormir, but it’s not just a Nightfall thing. In Factions, you’re following the orders of Togo and Mhenlo all the way through. In Prophecies, you’re following the orders of a series of people, from Prince Rurik to the White Mantle to Evennia to Vizier Khilbron. The changes of “Who’s giving us orders in this mission” often wind up being very quick and arbitrary, too. For all the complaining about the “Trahearne was just introduced at Clawr Island, and now he’s replacing our mentor”, the introduction of Khilbron in the middle of Sanctum Cay is even more sudden. “Good, you’ve made it to me with the scepter. But Evennia’s just been captured. Lets go to the docks to escape.”

At the end of the day, it’s an MMORPG. Some shortcuts need to be taken with the story because it’s being designed for many different characters, and having some NPCs around to serve as a focal point is one of the tried and true ways to handle that. I’m curious to see what they’re coming up with for Heart of Thorns to try to alleviate some of that. Even some of the little things like giving the player choices for how to handle a given mission, or just extra dialogue while moving around in the world, should help. But the NPCs are going to remain, just because it’s easier to provide plot hooks with consistent characters than via the PC who is by nature incredibly inconsistent. If my main character is an Asura Warrior, he’s going to be very different than your Charr Elementalist, but Braham and Rox will be our adventuring buddies regardless so they’re key to the story.

imo, his sudden addition derails the character’s progression. You start off as doing low ranking tasks and the personal story. You’re quickly recognized as being valuable and promoted to higher ranks. It’s reasonable for the player to think this will continue, all the way to becoming the top person. However, suddenly Trahearne appears (out of nowhere for non sylvari’s), he takes over and you stop at second in command with him becoming the top person (essentially taking over the player’s storyline progression in power and importance).

Now, I’ve read the objections to the player becoming the top person, that we all can’t be the Leader of the Pack. The problem with that objection, to me, is that “I” am the Commander, the second in command, and so are you, and you, and you and you. With this in mind it hardly feels like a valid storyline objection that “I” can’t be the Leader as well as you and you and you and you.

If it was a problem after the killing of Zhaitan for the player to continue to be the Leader, they could have had the player step down afterwards and let your second in command, Trahearne, become the top person.

I wouldn’t mind him so much if he could do the kitten job.

He was brought into the story as someone who knows all about Orr, and he worked wonderfully as our go to guy for information.

He has zero leadership skills though, and is really poor in a fight. He couldn’t inspire me to make a bowl of oatmeal. Hell, he only has a special weapon because his mom gave it to him.

Simply put, he didn’t earn his position and I have no respect for him. The fact that we, the players, need to take all the risks and do all the heavy lifting for him just makes it worse. And what happened at the end of LS 2 showed his incompetence as a tactical leader.

He is badly written. His addition to the story is poorly managed. He is a hindrance in play.

I don’t have a problem not being in charge of the Pact. I would much rather be out in the field completing missions than sitting in an office reading reports and writing orders.

He replaces a character who is part mentor, part partner and part co-conspirator in our adventure and you turn into part mentor, part lackey and part of his adventure. Then again, at the end of the personal story I was like that crazy guy screaming that it’s not over, we need to finish the job, why are all of you celebrating?

Haha, I actually like that my character isn’t always the glorified leader in the limelight that all NPCs revere and report to. It’s kind of a refreshing, more realistic take on the hero cycle IMO. That said though, while I personally am pretty impartial to Trahearne, I can see how people might find him dull and uncompelling as a character that supposedly inspires the masses.

And yeah, I also hope Trahearne hasn’t been built up just for him to be corrupted, with us having to kill him and take his place or something. There was a speculation post sometime ago about Trahearne’s cleansing of Orr as an unconscious nod to helping Mordydad (esp. with the glowing vines growing out of the zombieland). But we’ll see! I believe in ANet’s creative juices!

To give our commander a little respect:
His name is Trahearne

Rebound.3409:

Personally i don’t like him because (summed up):
- Some of the most terrible voice acting i’ve heard in any game. Even picachiew has more depth and feeling then him.
- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

I bolded the part of why I hate him, too. Isn’t supposed to be YOUR story? Not Traeharne’s? Ugh.

Doggie.3184:

I like Trahearne, you guys are just mean and discriminating. :(

They still need to add a Sylvari face that’s similar to his as well. He’s too pretty to die.

There was a Trahearne during the LA event – he was a player and looked like Trahearne – and just stood around. I have a screenshot somewhere.
So it must be possible to create a character just like him ;)

I See No Tomorrow.7302:

Trahearne never stole credit for killing Zhaitan or anything.

I’m looking through my screenshots and the only thing he says is “The world owes you a great debt, Commander. As long as I am Marshal of the Pact, I will see that debt honored. My only regret is that I was not there to see Zhaitan fall. But I shall look forward to the skaalds celebrating your triumph.”

??? Where does he take credit for everything the player does? If anything, players want to take credit for forming the pact and leading it when they did no such thing.

Star Ace.5207:

Never. Those instances where people felt he took the credit don’t’t exist. Only in their minds, really.

This won’t end well.

’Nuff said.

I tell you all what. The way Trahearne was given the role of Marshall and does practically NOTHING but stand there and make decision based on Players feedback is what kills his character.

As for taking credit, I am not bothered by it. He even said as it was all thanks to the players that Zhaitan was defeated. He didn’t tell the whole world it was him that took down Zhaitan. And it was reflected in the ending cut scenes where everyone else acknowledge that you the player is the one that took down Zhaitan.

Now, the think it with HoT, I think Trahearne is actually a mole of Mordremoth that was sent to kill Zhaitan. Mordremoth had already sent Scarlett to wake it up. So, it is possible he also sent Trahearne to make sure the big bad leader of the Elder Dragon is dead before it awakes by Scarlett. Isn’t it weird that Scarlett only appears AFTER Zhaitan is dead? Why wait until Zhaitan is dead? She could have do all this things when Zhaitan is still around, but that would tipped Zhaitan about Mordy’s plan and Zhaitan would have make it’s move first on Mordy.
And it was never mentioned or said that the Elder Dragons are buddy buddy with each other. They may be at war with each other too.

One of the first born who managed to cleanse Orr which left the entire region ripe for an attack. Without him, zhaitan would still be alive? and kicking.

@sir

It was mentioned that the dragons have an insatiable appetite tyria’s magic. Its quite possible that they simply didn’t want to compete.

I believe the reason why most people disapprove of Trahearne is because the game’s mantra “this is my story” ends up referring to Trahearne instead of the intended player-character. Nobody wants to be a side character in their own game.

The voice acting is horrible. In some instances is bearable, but good lord, there are some in there that make me physically cringe every time he utters the words. Its as if they surprised the voice actor with a series of lines to read at 4am and just recorded him one time, cold, then put it into the game.

As a character, there is no reason in the game to like him. He whines about being put in charge of the pact, but then sits back and lets you do all the heavy lifting along with the rest of the pact then is all like “we wons”. No “we” didn’t. YOU sat there playing Calad with your bolg while we fought our tushies off.

Please make him kindling.

SirDrygan.1823:

I tell you all what. The way Trahearne was given the role of Marshall and does practically NOTHING but stand there and make decision based on Players feedback is what kills his character.

As for taking credit, I am not bothered by it. He even said as it was all thanks to the players that Zhaitan was defeated. He didn’t tell the whole world it was him that took down Zhaitan. And it was reflected in the ending cut scenes where everyone else acknowledge that you the player is the one that took down Zhaitan.

Now, the think it with HoT, I think Trahearne is actually a mole of Mordremoth that was sent to kill Zhaitan. Mordremoth had already sent Scarlett to wake it up. So, it is possible he also sent Trahearne to make sure the big bad leader of the Elder Dragon is dead before it awakes by Scarlett. Isn’t it weird that Scarlett only appears AFTER Zhaitan is dead? Why wait until Zhaitan is dead? She could have do all this things when Zhaitan is still around, but that would tipped Zhaitan about Mordy’s plan and Zhaitan would have make it’s move first on Mordy.
And it was never mentioned or said that the Elder Dragons are buddy buddy with each other. They may be at war with each other too.

Sorry, but this doesn’t work thematically. Trahearne is a first born. He is one of the first handful of Sylvari that the Mother Tree ever created. If he was actually working for Mordremoth she would have been able to sense it, especially considering how close they were during so many cut scenes.

While it’s an interesting conspiracy theory, it’s not feasible.

Velimere.7685:

I believe the reason why most people disapprove of Trahearne is because the game’s mantra “this is my story” ends up referring to Trahearne instead of the intended player-character. Nobody wants to be a side character in their own game.

This sums it up perfectly. It is not longer the PC’s story so why bother.

I would prefer delete the story quest after I get into the order and get the armor. After that, I don’t care to see the same thing with 10 characters.

Tere.4759:

Velimere.7685:

I believe the reason why most people disapprove of Trahearne is because the game’s mantra “this is my story” ends up referring to Trahearne instead of the intended player-character. Nobody wants to be a side character in their own game.

This sums it up perfectly. It is not longer the PC’s story so why bother.

I would prefer delete the story quest after I get into the order and get the armor. After that, I don’t care to see the same thing with 10 characters.

why does it make it less the PCs story, when it has other major characters in it?
The story is still told out of the PCs Point of view, you see what your character is doing not necessarily what Trahearne or Majory is doing. the PC is still the main focus, since it is the one that connects the Story elements, the orders, the Pact, the different NPC races and the DE1.0 and 2.0. without the PC this wouldn’t been possible, so the PC ist still the no.1 Hero.
Trahearne, in my opinion, doesn’t make it less of the PCs story…he’s not the mostly likable, but I think he’s not that bad.

as you no he is a book wurm he never had any experience with battles
like caith she is a killer

but both are first born and have a role to do

Trahearne is completely terrible in every way. It’s just not so apparent in GW2 because all of the other characters are completely terrible as well.

Rebound.3409:

- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

He literally takes credit for only one thing as far as I’ve seen, and that’s purely because it’s a case where he HAD TO. Otherwise, he and Destiny’s Edge credit you with everything.

My last story run through, at one point my character was told “Charr, Norn, and Sylvari are singing songs in YOUR PRAISE/honor.” Not Traehearne, My character.

To OP. His introduction was weak, but the bulk of the hate comes from people jumping to conclusions and not actually paying attention (which is where this credit stuff comes from). Some people demand that they be commander of the pact (despite the fact their character is literally an unknown figure for the most part, where Traehearne is respected by the three orders already), and focus purely on that.

Kalavier.1097:

Rebound.3409:

- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

He literally takes credit for only one thing as far as I’ve seen, and that’s purely because it’s a case where he HAD TO. Otherwise, he and Destiny’s Edge credit you with everything.

My last story run through, at one point my character was told “Charr, Norn, and Sylvari are singing songs in YOUR PRAISE/honor.” Not Traehearne, My character.

To OP. His introduction was weak, but the bulk of the hate comes from people jumping to conclusions and not actually paying attention (which is where this credit stuff comes from). Some people demand that they be commander of the pact (despite the fact their character is literally an unknown figure for the most part, where Traehearne is respected by the three orders already), and focus purely on that.

His introduction was weak and the reason he was chosen was weak. It wasn’t because he was the best or first choice, it was because the the orders couldn’t choose a leader from amongst themselves because they were afraid of favoritism.

“Gixx: Logic dictates that it cannot be a member of any of our orders, lest one be seen as above the other two. Quite a conundrum!”

In other words, in spite of the need to pull together and select the best amongst themselves to lead, they were forced to choose a scholar with no military training because they were unwilling to commit completely to what needed to be done and were afraid of in fighting. Not the best choice or for the best reasons. They could have chosen a leader amongst themselves and had him as an adviser.

I don’t get all the hate, why are people mad that he’s the leader of the pact and not the player? how would that even work? all of the players are the leader of the pact? it wouldn’t make sense.
Besides many of us don’t like being the leaders, and prefer to be on the field, in facto probably most of us. He’s more of a tachtical leader.

We are not Trahearne, yet we are all Trahearne.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Kalavier.1097:

Rebound.3409:

- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

He literally takes credit for only one thing as far as I’ve seen, and that’s purely because it’s a case where he HAD TO. Otherwise, he and Destiny’s Edge credit you with everything.

My last story run through, at one point my character was told “Charr, Norn, and Sylvari are singing songs in YOUR PRAISE/honor.” Not Traehearne, My character.

To OP. His introduction was weak, but the bulk of the hate comes from people jumping to conclusions and not actually paying attention (which is where this credit stuff comes from). Some people demand that they be commander of the pact (despite the fact their character is literally an unknown figure for the most part, where Traehearne is respected by the three orders already), and focus purely on that.

His introduction was weak and the reason he was chosen was weak. It wasn’t because he was the best or first choice, it was because the the orders couldn’t choose a leader from amongst themselves because they were afraid of favoritism.

“Gixx: Logic dictates that it cannot be a member of any of our orders, lest one be seen as above the other two. Quite a conundrum!”

In other words, in spite of the need to pull together and select the best amongst themselves to lead, they were forced to choose a scholar with no military training because they were unwilling to commit completely to what needed to be done and were afraid of in fighting. Not the best choice or for the best reasons. They could have chosen a leader amongst themselves and had him as an adviser.

No they couldn’t, because if they did ANet would have had to effectively written three different stories from that point forward dependent on which Order you joined. Then your Order might actually matter and people could have widely different experiences. It would be uncontrollable madness.

Despise that character. Trying to finish personal story on my alts, and just thinking that I have to be in the same room as that guy puts me off from it.

(Potential Spoilers)
The whole Trahearne taking credit thing isn’t necessarily him taking the credit himself. It’s him receiving credit from other NPC dialogue or writing that he doesn’t deserve. Like in The Source of Orr. As everyone who’s done it knows, Trahearne contributes very little to the fight against the Eye of Zhaitain, being little more than a distraction. But then when YOU kill it, it’s all “Your sword! Why does it gleam so brightly? Ahhhhh!” He does nothing in this fight, but he’s essentially credited with killing the thing and releasing the king’s spirit.

Not really an example of him stealing credit, but just him thinking himself so great, he does some things that made me dislike him more. With the “Dishonored by allies” storyline, you get constantly assaulted by illusions that looks like enemies but are really allies, all to make you look bad. Then when you go take to Trahearne in Marshaling the Truth, he’s says, “You’ve been the primary focus of these attacks so far, but it’s clear that I am the real target.”
That response comes across as slightly egocentric, especially with the voice acting.

One part that makes me dislike him as well is more of his mechanics and not character, but still. He doesn’t help in fights and has poor pathfinding. In Against the Corruption, you’re supposed to escort him to the Royal Tombs. But does he follow you? Nope. He leads the way, or doesn’t move at all until you get behind him. Or in Early Parole (OoW) when you rescue Benn Tenstrikes. Beetletun is full of guards, and Trahearne says, “I’ll stay with Tenstrikes. You move ahead. Signal us when the coast is clear.”
Can you signal him? No. He follows right behind you and usually gets a guard’s attention.

There’s also the issue where despite not really caring for him, our characters are made to like him. We have to be his friend.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

“Gixx: Logic dictates that it cannot be a member of any of our orders, lest one be seen as above the other two. Quite a conundrum!”

^ THIS.

This is the exact reason why the PC couldn’t become the leader of the Pact and Trahearne had to be chosen instead. The three orders of Tyria didn’t trust each other at that point in time, so choosing someone who was a high ranking member of one of the orders as the supreme commander of the entire alliance would have made the other two orders feel like they had become subordinates of the order the PC was in. They would have never accepted that. Choosing Trahearne at that point in time was really the only reasonable option, since he was respected by all of the orders while being a member of neither of them. So, please, stop complaining like the evil Sylvari suddendly appeared out of nowhere only to steal the PC rightful position. It’s not true.

Now, after the victorious war against Zhaitan i assume the three orders have learned to trust each other, so at this point in time there might not be any vetoes to the PC becoming the next Marshal of the Pact (IF Trahearne dies, of course). Expecially after all the credits the PC has earned for him/herself during the battles against Zhaitan and Scarlett. But at that point in time before the battle of Claw Island, Trahearne was the only option.

Vayne.8563:

Rebound.3409:

Personally i don’t like him because (summed up):
- Some of the most terrible voice acting i’ve heard in any game. Even picachiew has more depth and feeling then him.
- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

Can you give me a single example of where he “takes credit” for anything you’ve done? I ask because looking at the actual dialogue, usually he’s going out of his way to build you up, not knock you down.

many people complained that he took the center spot during the personal story. Anet interpreted that the player base was composed of spoiled brats wanting praise 24/7 and over reacted filling the ls2 dialogues with stupid flatery to the point it really gets annoying.

as for trehearne, i think there’s some npcs far more irritating.

Marshal Trahearne Glorious Leader and The Chosen One!!

Kal Spiro.9745:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Kalavier.1097:

Rebound.3409:

- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

He literally takes credit for only one thing as far as I’ve seen, and that’s purely because it’s a case where he HAD TO. Otherwise, he and Destiny’s Edge credit you with everything.

My last story run through, at one point my character was told “Charr, Norn, and Sylvari are singing songs in YOUR PRAISE/honor.” Not Traehearne, My character.

To OP. His introduction was weak, but the bulk of the hate comes from people jumping to conclusions and not actually paying attention (which is where this credit stuff comes from). Some people demand that they be commander of the pact (despite the fact their character is literally an unknown figure for the most part, where Traehearne is respected by the three orders already), and focus purely on that.

His introduction was weak and the reason he was chosen was weak. It wasn’t because he was the best or first choice, it was because the the orders couldn’t choose a leader from amongst themselves because they were afraid of favoritism.

“Gixx: Logic dictates that it cannot be a member of any of our orders, lest one be seen as above the other two. Quite a conundrum!”

In other words, in spite of the need to pull together and select the best amongst themselves to lead, they were forced to choose a scholar with no military training because they were unwilling to commit completely to what needed to be done and were afraid of in fighting. Not the best choice or for the best reasons. They could have chosen a leader amongst themselves and had him as an adviser.

No they couldn’t, because if they did ANet would have had to effectively written three different stories from that point forward dependent on which Order you joined. Then your Order might actually matter and people could have widely different experiences. It would be uncontrollable madness.

Not necessarily. Why did the [player character] chose the leader at that point? imo, it was inappropriate for us to choose Trahearne also as we were too new and junior to make such a decision for the heads of the 3 orders. It made them look like indecisive incompetents. In real life, do you think the heads of 3 important military/information gathering groups would have allowed some junior officer to pick who is over them all? Not likely.

The NPCs could have talked amongst themselves at that point and chosen a leader for themselves. If they themselves had chosen Trahearne that would have been more acceptable than us picking him. We simply didn’t have the political clout or the knowledge of the people who had been leading their orders to make such a step. It’s bad story telling.

Hmm.. because he acts as the full soberan of the pact, the major expert in everything, while the pplayes do all the dirt work and everything else while taking the rank of..

2nd in command? SERIOSULY?

Valderius Rex.4108:

your choices quickly devolves into Trahere’s story that he so graciously lets you follow around and watch.

He leads the pact and you answer to him.
He gets the legendary sword and you watch.
He purified Orr and you watch.
You kill Zhaitan yet vegetable marry sue is in charge of the mordrem assault…never mind neither he nor his precious pact play hardly any role in season 2.or most of season one.

It sounds like you and half of the other complainers hate Trahearne purely because you weren’t allowed to be that Mary Sue character instead.

Trahearne was necessary. He did all the hard work of uniting the pact, giving orders, organizing troops, drawing up the plans to invade Orr, overseeing production of the weaponry, and dealing with all manner of responsibilities and pressure … which is a bunch of “grown-up stuff” that’s not fun and would have no place in a video game. And while he’s being responsible with all this boring “grown-up stuff”, this gives the player character the freedom to do all the fun stuff like blowing huge undead dragons out of the sky with Pact airship cannons.

Nevermind the fact that, as others pointed out, you cannot take Trahearne’s place because you belong to one of the orders, and that would be sketchy due to internal politics between the three orders.

Nevermind the fact that the ONLY thing he “steals” credit for is the naming of Fort Trinity, which was most certainly a simple writing slip-up and not intentional because Trahearne is a very humble character, if anything. Aside from that, Trahearne is always deferring to the player character’s opinions, giving the player character credit, and telling the player character that none of this would be possible without their help.

But even that wasn’t good enough for some people, it seems.

News flash: Guild Wars 2 is bigger than your character. It’s about stopping the Elder Dragons, and no one person can do that. The single most defining theme of the story is that people from different races, backgrounds, and cultures must put aside their differences to unite against a common foe. You’re but one piece of a very large puzzle, and no one person should get all the glory or attention, because it was a joint effort by many, many different characters.

If all that bothers you, because you want to play as “the chosen one” where literally the whole world revolves around your actions and you get all the glory and attention and credit for everything that ever happens so you can stand on your pedestal and feel special, then go play an Elder Scrolls game.

EDIT: I apologize for the saltiness, but I’ve read these complaints about Trahearne for years and I find them so self-centered that it really annoys me.

Many players wouldn’t play a true RPG (no offense to GW2) from the standards drawn in this thread, as they care more about their “heroic character” more than the story. It is your story, but also that of many other player characters and NPCs.

let me just put this here….

I love how nobody is acknowledging the complaint that Trahearne is shoehorned into the story at level 50. He literally comes out of nowhere and is all of a sudden the leader. You don’t meet him until Claw Island and by then the fight against Zhaitan is already in full swing.

Mary Sue writers can take lessons from the peeps who wrote the personal story. I like how some “fixes” came in lately. First time you get to claw island, Moronurne goes on about how he studied Orian creatures for years. Then in the “dream” where you and him gets taken to Orr, he goes… or at least, used to say something like; Oh Mother, they are horrible. I have never seen such creatures.

Wait… what have you been studying then?

Now he says something like; oh, those things are formidable.

Sorry, Anet, but that does not fix this pathetic character, or this very very bad storyline. You need to do a little more than that.

Plus… knock-backs! REALLY! You had to give him…. KNOCK-BACKS!??

What’s really funny to me is how Trahearne expresses shock when an abomination appears during the Further Into Orr mission. This is after at least one mission with a number of abominations. And then he seems surprised when a couple of risen quaggan appear later in that same mission, despite having studied Orr for years and having traveled to Orr . . .

RoseofGilead.8907:

What’s really funny to me is how Trahearne expresses shock when an abomination appears during the Further Into Orr mission. This is after at least one mission with a number of abominations. And then he seems surprised when a couple of risen quaggan appear later in that same mission, despite having studied Orr for years and having traveled to Orr . . .

Yeah, this inconsistencies int he story is appalling. It is as if the whole thing was written by 5 different people, who worked in 5 different offices, in 5 different counties, and never talked because they hate each other.

The whole storyline is full of plot holes, logical fails and facepalm worthy statements. As a key runner I’m especially fond of the moment where I run to save the Hospital/Orphanage, only to find that not only have the bad guys set the buildings on fire, but they’ve barricaded themselves inside a burning building. I’m like, seriously? Who does something like that? Especially since all they had to do was lay down their weapons outside, surrender, and later get released by Commander Serentine.

Sir Alric.5078:

Choosing Trahearne at that point in time was really the only reasonable option,

No. Actually it was an entirely unreasonable option.

He had no command experience, no military experience at all as near as we can tell. He actively demonstrates a complete lack of tactical acumen in play. He also admits to having no understanding or experience of Orrian creatures after claiming to have studied Orr extensively.

The idea that there was not a single combat trained and experienced military officer available to fill a command position, any one of which would have been a better choice, is ludicrous. This is particularly true in a continent in a continuous state of war.

Ashen.2907:

Sir Alric.5078:

Choosing Trahearne at that point in time was really the only reasonable option,

No. Actually it was an entirely unreasonable option.

He had no command experience, no military experience at all as near as we can tell. He actively demonstrates a complete lack of tactical acumen in play. He also admits to having no understanding or experience of Orrian creatures after claiming to have studied Orr extensively.

The idea that there was not a single combat trained and experienced military officer available to fill a command position, any one of which would have been a better choice, is ludicrous. This is particularly true in a continent in a continuous state of war.

In complete agreement.

Rebound.3409:

Personally i don’t like him because (summed up):
- Some of the most terrible voice acting i’ve heard in any game. Even picachiew has more depth and feeling then him.
- He quite literally takes credit for everything you do.

The flat voice acting has been fixed/redone.

He NEVER takes credit for anything you do, despite popular belief. The only crime he had of this was not giving you credit – but he never claimed credit himself – and this was done once with the name of Fort Trinity (asked for your opinion in one story mission, told others he decided upon the name you suggested in the next – but he never said he came up with the name, just that he decided to use it). However, a few other NPCs do give him credit for deeds you did – but they also give you credit as well, treating it as a joint effort (which it rather is – you leading the front lines, him managing the forces’ deployment).

And even those two cases might have been altered with the story rework last Tuesday.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

The flat voice acting has been fixed/redone.

As someone who recently finished the story on another character, I can say that the voice acting has not been fixed. It’s still just as dull, unemotional, and condescending. Some phrases do have more inflection with the voice, but they still lack the emotion. Though even with fixing his voice issues, I doubt anything could be done to repair his public image.

He’s dull as dirt, his dialogue stinks and his VO is even worse.
Also the gameplay dosen’t really synch up with he story. What i mean is gameplay wise he’s utterly useless and lies dead on the ground 90% of the time while you do all the work, but storywise everyone thinks he’s amazing because reasons.
He’s just forced down your throat at the end of the first half of the story and I just feel he hasn’t earned any of the status he’s supousedto have, which makes me hate him even more.

MAGpie.7962:

Mary Sue writers can take lessons from the peeps who wrote the personal story. I like how some “fixes” came in lately. First time you get to claw island, Moronurne goes on about how he studied Orian creatures for years. Then in the “dream” where you and him gets taken to Orr, he goes… or at least, used to say something like; Oh Mother, they are horrible. I have never seen such creatures.

Wait… what have you been studying then?

Now he says something like; oh, those things are formidable.

Sorry, Anet, but that does not fix this pathetic character, or this very very bad storyline. You need to do a little more than that.

Plus… knock-backs! REALLY! You had to give him…. KNOCK-BACKS!??

He still tells you how he’s been studying Orr for years, and the first thing he says in the dream is still basically, oh look we’re in orr, look at all the undead that are in orr. When he says the bit about not having seen them he’s talking about the fantom weapons that are only in very specific locations in Orr.

He couldn’t possibly have pushed into Orr as far as he would have needed to see them all by himself. He’s only ever been on the outskirts of Orr before this. Despite that he’s still more well informed than anyone else aside from Zhaitan.