Guild Wars 2

Warden Arondele – An NPC Who Made My Early Days
(The original topic title – changed due to length issues)

As someone who always keeps a character slot available for a leveling character, I was crestfallen to hear the NPC who got me so excited to get stuck into this game at launch had her speech clipped short.

Amongst all the recent changes – from losing the ability to wear my pirate outfit with my aviator cap or my wintersday outfit with the earmuffs, to being forced to sit watching my level one auto-attack through the intro of the game – this one felt like a low blow just to spite. Who would have thought that one line would make all the difference?

Warden Arondele was there to greet all the new sylvari who emerged the Dream. As I (and many others, I can imagine) fumbled about with the exciting and overwhelming chaos of a game with so many features that I had read about and was eager to try, Warden Arondele was there to help me get started. My wife and I had been unlocking our attacks, thrilled with a seldom used concept of “practice with weapon = get better with weapon = unlock weapon abilities”. Now we just needed some direction as to what to hit/shoot at.

A warden gave us our clothes and pointed us in the direction of the nearby scout, and this is what she said to us:

_"Welcome to Astorea. As you journey forth into the unknown, know that you are not alone. Seek guidance from those who make their homes here and help them in their time of need. The path ahead is yours to choose.

As you journey outward, you’ll encounter amazing asuran waypoints that—for a small fee—allow you to rapidly traverse the land.

I’m excited for you. You’ll find challenges out there that will help you grow and increase your skill. Enjoy the adventure!"_

This was our first encounter with Warden Arondele, and her speech set the tone for the game for a long time after that. I eventually recorded it because her last line really struck a chord. Every time I rolled a new sylvari, I took the time just listening to her introduction. I couldn’t believe it when I heard it again and it had been edited out – talking to her isn’t even part of the story progression.

I know that these recent changes were made to make things easier for new players, but what really confuses me was that this NPC (and if I recall, pretty much all the scouts in the starting areas) give such a clear run down on the basics of how the game works, so why are they removed? After listening to them when I first installed the game, the response was generally “Oooh! Shall we try a heart first? Or what about that skill point thing? I’ve nearly finished unlocking my pistol 3 attack – let’s go to the heart and I’ll unlock it while I’m there.”
After making my first character since the changes, I was left with that….“so what should I do until level 10?” feeling. Then I lazily went and “killed stuff”.

Anyway. This post was just me mourning one of the less noticeable things that were changed with the latest patches. I know its not game breaking, but she was just an NPC that made my day every time she wished me well on my adventures. I’m not sure if anyone else has had an NPC edited or removed that you used to look out for whenever you were in their area. If you did, feel free to post about it here.

That said, I am so glad I made that recording of my warden’s sound clip.

Actually it matter because these small things give flavor to the game (your character story) and make it more interesting. It may not look much for the developers but for a player it is part of their character journey.

Sorr y you feel that way to be honest , early stuff does not matter except new players and the new NPE is been buffed

Kasemdria.7138:

After listening to them when I first installed the game, the response was generally “Oooh! Shall we try a heart first? Or what about that skill point thing? I’ve nearly finished unlocking my pistol 3 attack – let’s go to the heart and I’ll unlock it while I’m there.”
After making my first character since the changes, I was left with that….“so what should I do until level 10?” feeling. Then I lazily went and “killed stuff”.

This eloquently describes my first experience a year and a half ago, and what happened when I tried the NPE a week ago. Before, it was a big sampler of things I didn’t know if I was allowed to do, but the game invited me to do them (and shock, I could! I was surprisingly strong for fresh out of the pod lv2!).
Now I felt more like I was being set on rails. Like I was supposed to be going somewhere specific, huge emphasis on leveling up since everything is locked until I do, and if I didnt enjoy that i’d just have to get through it to get further because as a newbie i’m too weak to go off the rails. It feels more like I can’t actually play the game until I level up enough. It’s not about the journey so much now but getting to the destination fast.

Man, the work that went into finding an example to complain about here is epic!

Windsagio.1340:

Man, the work that went into finding an example to complain about here is epic!

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. Nonetheless, NPE changed things it should have left alone, and it changed them for no good reason. It was a bad thing for anet to do. GW2 is a lesser game because of it.