Guild Wars 2

When Guild Wars 1 started, we met Gwen, a girl who loved to play her flute. That child grew, and had a big part in lore, a lore that expands in Guild Wars 2 (see her grave/descendants ).
In Guild Wars 2, children are integrated pretty bad. There is a single game model, used multiple times, resulting multiple clones. We have no child character/NPC, with a great personality, that could take part in events, including Living World ones.
The question is – Why ?

Each race could have children. Charrs cubs etc.

I guess that developpers fear to introduce them properly because several reasons:

1. The fear of criticism
Do you remember the children implementation in Skyrim ? They couldn’t be killed. I read in a game magazine that hazzardly, some community members made mods to permit this…. This turned in an immorale situation…people were scandalous and Betheshda was put in a bad light. So…this is one of the reasons why devs avoid using complex child characters. In some situations, the script would say that a certain character dies. If it is a child, it would be immorale to die… . Guild Wars 2 is built so the main characters in a story will never die, so I won’t see any problem in implementation…
2. They might consider that most people that play the game want to see mature characters
3. They didn’t tought about this
4. They built another race that could share some of their excitement : Asura

If I am wrong, please correct me.

I would really like to see Guild Wars 2 characters more diverse. This could bring the game more realism, making the game world more cohesive. Each race has its cubs. Where are them ?

I am very certain that Taimi is a child.

We also have interaction with children around the world with heart quests and such.

Aftermath of Battle for Lion’s Arch also involved children and such.

At least one part of the Personal Story have a bunch of children playing (or rather fighting) about Destiny’s Edge.

Taimi is 13, fyi.

In the case of Gwen, you did all of two quests with her as a child. It’s not like she played some major role at that point. It’s not until much, much later that we see her again.

I think writers often have their hands tied when it comes to having kids in video games (or other media). There are a lot more “rules” when it comes to writing kids and how they can be treated, and as you noted, you end up with some problems if the child is present during major events (especially ones involving potential deaths).

That being said, there have been a few kids who have been put in GW2 who are at least partially fleshed-out. Taimi is obviously the only major one. There’s an asura girl (at least I think it’s a little girl) who is being watched over by a big norn in Gendarran Fields; there’s a whole event around her. And the Halloween cubs/kids/progeny, while not complex characters, are pretty well-liked by the community. Plus, the kids who were escorted out of Lion’s Arch during that siege and the ones we saw who survived were part of the plot.

Lastly, I’d consider the sylvari to be much more childlike in their enthusiasm and curiosity than the asura.

Also time on GW2 moves at the same speed as ours. So if we want to see a child grow, we need to wait several years.

I don’t need children as main protagonists, having a teenage Taimi is enough right now. That does not mean that we are not invested in the few fleshed out kids we have (or the kid NPCs)
Who was one of the most important people in LA I was looking for after the attack?
“Raisin”, the little Asura progeny that was in front of the LA bank and that was probably killed or still is missing.

Kind of like how there’s almost no old people in Tyria.

Ayrilana.1396:

Kind of like how there’s almost no old people in Tyria.

To be honest, is that terribly surprising when everything and its grandmother wants to murder you?

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Ayrilana.1396:

Kind of like how there’s almost no old people in Tyria.

To be honest, is that terribly surprising when everything and its grandmother wants to murder you?

The thing that always gets me is the female NPC in Queensdale that does the beehive event. You’d think she’d be old by the voice but she has a very young model.

mahri.8410:

In Guild Wars 2, children are integrated pretty bad. There is a single game model, used multiple times, resulting multiple clones. We have no child character/NPC, with a great personality, that could take part in events, including Living World ones.
The question is – Why?

Each race could have children. Charrs cubs etc.

I’m not sure how, but you’ve missed a lot of children in this game. All races, except the sylvari, have children and they all feature in hearts and events already. For example:

• Asura progeny
• Norn kids
• Charr cubs
• Human children

Those are just the first examples that I remembered, there are many others. There’s also numerous other children who appear at other points, like the group at the start of the Destiny’s Edge reunion instance who are (loosely) re-enacting their fight against Kralkatorrik or the orphans in Applenook Hamlet.

(Sylvari don’t have children because their whole lifecycle is different. They’re ‘born’ full grown from pods and can’t reproduce themselves. But a lot of the newly emerged ones do act extremely child-like, fascinated by everything around them and with very poor judgement.)

Then there are some who do play roles in the story. The most well known is probably Taimi. I’m not sure exactly how old she is, or if asuran ages are equivalent to human ages, but the storyline repeatedly makes it clear she’s not considered old enough to be independent, she’s a ward of Rata Sum and Zojja specifically, and not even old enough to claim ownership of her own inventions.

You’re right that there are limits on what can be done with and to children in video games (unless you’re willing to risk getting your game banned in some countries and an extremely high age rating almost everywhere else). But to go from that to saying there are almost no children in GW2 is a huge jump, and demonstrably false.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Ayrilana.1396:

Kind of like how there’s almost no old people in Tyria.

To be honest, is that terribly surprising when everything and its grandmother wants to murder you?

Why children don’t play a role in GW2?

Two words: Wesley Crusher

Two more words: “Annie” Skywalker

Do you really want to go down that path? The fewer kids in this game the better. (And you thought the writing for Scarlet was bad! I guess you don’t remember these two series-stumblers.)

Danikat.8537:

I’m not sure how, but you’ve missed a lot of children in this game. All races, except the sylvari, have children and they all feature in hearts and events already. For example:

• Asura progeny
• Norn kids
• Charr cubs
• Human children

Indeed, and the children playing out the Destiny’s Edge conflict in LA, and charr cubs in general, get me right in the feels. I love watching them, sometimes interacting with them. Other examples, trick-or-treating kids, and the cub in the Labyrinthine Cliffs that gets to take the stage at the magic show. Ahahaha.

(I like all of these better than Gwen – her purpose, at the beginning, was to guide new players through the tutorial, and frankly, I found her quite annoying early in the game. She reminded me too much of the microsoft paperclip. I’m glad that Gwen got her character development later, but as a kid, uhm, sorry, no love from me.)

Technically, there was (maybe still is?) A way to kill the kids in gw2, which is actually coming up in wintersday. But if you don’t want to wait, get a warrior, take the trait that says apply confusion on interrupt, go to the norm starting area with the kids throwing snowballs, and interrupt them by throwing back. They attack, confusion dmg, dead.

Just not sure if they patched this or not.

Maybe it was just my friends and guild members, but as I remember it most people found Gwen annoying in pre-Searing.

It was only after the Bonus Mission Pack and Eye of the North gave her more character development (years later) that people began to like her and see her as anything more than an annoyance.

(Although the thing that really did it for me is the scene’s in the Underworld with her mother, especially if you complete Hearts of the North and then take both her and Keiran in.)

Danikat.8537:

Maybe it was just my friends and guild members, but as I remember it most people found Gwen annoying in pre-Searing.

It was only after the Bonus Mission Pack and Eye of the North gave her more character development (years later) that people began to like her and see her as anything more than an annoyance.

This is how I remember it as well.

Hamfast.8719:

Why children don’t play a role in GW2?

Two words: Wesley Crusher

Two more words: “Annie” Skywalker

And Boxey from Battlestar, rightly dropped after the pilot in the new reimagined BSG.

I think the children are placed appropriately in GW2.

Except they don’t get your character sick with the flu enough.

GW2 needs more germ spreading.

I jut gave a bunch of candy corn to kids in LA during Halloween.

I also havent encountered a single player character older than 30 months.

Toddlers, the lot of you.

RoseofGilead.8907:

In the case of Gwen, you did all of two quests with her as a child. It’s not like she played some major role at that point.

This is incorrect. Gwen as we know her in Pre-Searing, was a powerful level 80 Mesmer/Elementalist as seen here:

Start at around 1:30. As an aside, it’s hard to believe it’s been nearly ten years since GW1’s launch.

Copestetic.5174:

RoseofGilead.8907:

In the case of Gwen, you did all of two quests with her as a child. It’s not like she played some major role at that point.

This is incorrect. Gwen as we know her in Pre-Searing, was a powerful level 80 Mesmer/Elementalist as seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbkIu2y7Ki8

Start at around 1:30. As an aside, it’s hard to believe it’s been nearly ten years since GW1’s launch.

That was delightful.

There are plenty of children out in the world doing things. Children in caves preparing to have adventures. Charr cubs looking to prove their mettle by sneaking into haunted places. Even schools where saplings are taught in the Grove.

Gwen is far more important in your mind than she was in Prophecies, considering she only appeared in Pre and Prophecies is a long long game.

There were no main children characters in Factions, Nightfall or Eye of the North.

The fact that this topic was even brought up is sort of creepy in an Internet kind of way.

If I remember correctly, there are a group of char cubs ,either in ascalon or diessa?, that have an event tied to them. Some necromancer woman tried to kidnap them or something and you have to stop it. I can’t remember the full details but it’s something like that anyway.

Slightly off topic: In GW1,when you got Gwen as a hero, did you ever take her to see her mom in the UW? I kinda liked that little bit of story.

For some reason it blanks out anything I put inside parenthesis.