Guild Wars 2

The first time I went to the Crown Pavilion this year, I heard snippets of dialogue between Heal-O-Tron, Braham, and Rox.

I was wondering if anyone was able to catch the whole conversation. No matter how long I stay there, I can’t seem to get it to pop.

I think it is “bugged” to not trigger when Boss Blitz occurs, which is going very often. So you’d have to find an instance with slow triggering.

I did see all of at least one interaction screened elsewhwere (a Ministry Guard tries to take o-Torn away for singing fir Scarlet, but Rox and Braham defends him), but I know there is more than the one conversation with Rox and Braham. Again, seems to only happen when Boss Blitz isn’t active.

Same thing here. Reported it and promptly the thread got buried and ignored. I stayed a long while when it was working and got to see the conversation between the Ministry Guard and the rest, and then one where Braham dares and insists that Rox hits his leg, and so she commands Frostbite to do so.

We’ll probably have more chances to record it as the event goes on and interest in the Pavilion wanes. To all lorehounds in the Pavilion, keep your PrintScrn button handy!

Ya, the ambient dialogue seem to have more specific triggers this go around. I usually try to spend the first couple of days trying to listen to all of them, but it was only yesterday when I heard one between Kasmeer, Marjory, and Taimi on Cliffs I haven’t heard before. The one where Kasmeer and Marjory promise Taimi they’ll somehow sneak her and Scruffy on board the Sanctum, so she can take some more accurate readings.

It may even be that they’ve set it up so that more dialogue is added later on, because the first day Kasmeer and Jory did not go to the beach at all – but they did the following day and since.

Trader Aerin has also gotten new lines the third or fourth day in.

Rox: For the last time no. I’m not going to try to hit you.
Braham: I’m fully healed, and I can prove it. Take a shot. I insist. Come on, hit me. Hit me!
Rox: (sigh) Fine. Frostbite?
raham: Okay, maybe I’m not ready for the Pavilion. But I took that better than I thought I would. I’m almost fully healed.
Rox: Burn me, you’re just not going to let this go, are you?
Braham: Just stop your whining and hit me again. Come on! Hit me!

Heal-o-Tron: Your information is outdated, constable. I have already paid my social debt to Divinity’s Reach.
Heal-o-Tron: The Lionguard has recruited me as an emergency relief worker. I am here today in that capacity.
Ministry Guard: Tell that to the tribunal. You’re a known collaborator. You sang for Scarlet. Come quietly or I’ll dismantle you.
Braham: Whoa there! Did you just threaten a hero of Lion’s Arch?
Rox: If you want him, you’ll have to go through us. And afterward you’ll answer to Magnus the Bloody Handed himself.
Ministry Guard: I … er … Grenth’s teeth! If your story doesn’t pan out, I’ll be back.

Heal-oTron: Thank you for your assistance. Returning to Divinity’s Reach was a concern, as I was not sure I’d be allowed to leave.
Rox: And the fact that you came anyway proves you’re worthy of respect.
Heal-o-Tron. I had to come. Lion’s Arch still needs help that I am in a position to provide.
Braham: Stick close. If the law hassles you again, I want to be there to set ‘em straight.
Heal-o-Tron: Agreed. And if the local authorities do incarcerate me, I hope you will buy my billet.
Rox: I don’t think they do that here. But rest assured. If they lock you up, we’ll get you out. One way or the other.

Braham: Tell me the truth. Was Rytlock furious you chose to help me over killing Scarlet yourself?
Rox: It’s hard to tell. Rytlock mad is a lot like Rytlock overjoyed. Or Rytlock sleeping.
Braham: Well, did he say anything? Offer congratulations? Threaten you?
Rox: All I got was a dispatch from him after it all went down. It said “Interesting choice. Now live with it.”
Braham: Oh. So, uh, is that good or bad?
Rox: Your guess is as good as mine.

Rox: How do you think Jory and Kas are doing with Taimi?
Braham: I figure by now Kas wants to adopt her and Jory wants to stuff her in a bag. Or visa versa.
Braham: Either way, each will stop the other from getting what they want.
Rox: You miss the little squirt, don’t you? Never really pictured you as a willing babysitter for someone like her.
Braham: What can say? Norn love a challenge.

Was going to post the above. That’s all I saw (and during Boss Blitz so maybe that was just a bug or they’re very, very slow in cycling through?). Didn’t see any other lines but those were all subsquent and I didn’t wait a very long time (maybe only 30 minutes).

That’s all I saw. The Hobo-tron is less fun now he’s honest. Tiami needs to give him a reboot. A lot of the chat just seemed like a character update but since most players aren’t going to be interested in Braham’s frequently mentioned leg, it might be relevant to something later. The talk may also be introducing a billet storyline, the obvious person with a billet being Canach.

I’m just getting tired of Heal-o-tron (and probably the minstrel) CONSTANTLY being harrassed about ‘working for Scarlet’

I mean, don’t they have better things to do then go after somebody whose kittening ‘aiding Scarlet’ was SINGING, and JUST that? Somebody who no less actually has already had the trial and during wintersday donated money to DR?

You have to keep in mind something though.

The ones going after o-Tron this time is the Ministry Guard, whom only answer to the Ministry – most to Caudecus himself. Caudecus is no ally of the other races (especially charr), so I see going after o-Tron and the Minstrel as a means of defaming Lion’s Arch and sylvari indirectly (how, I’m not really sure, for the initial part – though in o-Tron’s case it may have been more of trying to get a golem to reverse engineer, knowing how the asura are with their inventions; now though, it may be a political pull of “see this ‘hero of Lion’s Arch’? It’s a villain whom aided Scarlet! Can you trust LA officials knowing that they let those who aided Scarlet, the one who destroyed your homes, run free?” and try to pull a subterfuge-version of Prince Edair in trying to get LA under Krytan control). Though previously it was the Seraph going to recover o-Tron, it was under Ministry orders I believe.

Theorycrafting though.

I think it has more to do with “I don’t know what to do with this character anymore, but the players love it so it must be in the game!”

True about the different person trying to arrest this time.

I think it’d probably be better if instead of somebody trying to arrest him… it was some angry citizen or adventurer trying to cause trouble.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I think it has more to do with “I don’t know what to do with this character anymore, but the players love it so it must be in the game!”

I’m so glad you added that last part, reading the first part was a thorough display of lore, but really, they just throw the robot in there as fan-service now. I think Scott specifically likes o-Tron as much as many of the players.

I thought it was weird Braham telling the Ministry Guard what they can and can’t do within Divinity’s Reach. I kinda assumed if the Ministry is going after o-Tron in their own city some random norn wouldn’t make a difference. A tribunal is just a trial (sure in Divinity’s Reach it’s unlikely to be a fair one) but circumventing a trial because a norn said so (with the threat of Magnus, a guy who holds no power in Divinity’s Reach) seems silly. Then again, all of o-Tron’s appearances are silly.

Do the Seraph and Ministry Guard really hold so little power? The thread about national boundaries seems so very relevant right now. What’s the point of having a Ministry Guard if they can’t exercise their authority inside their own city? I get the whole event is to raise funds for Lion’s Arch and Braham and Rox are heralded as notable heroes (along with thousands of player characters) so arresting the three of them is something even the Ministry would be cautious of (I don’t think it’s stated Braham and Rox are in the Pavilion in any official capacity), but I think Braham has overstepped his authority here.

An interesting point about the billet:
Heal-o-Tron: Agreed. And if the local authorities do incarcerate me, I hope you will buy my billet.
Rox: I don’t think they do that here. But rest assured. If they lock you up, we’ll get you out. One way or the other.

This might indicate that the buying and selling of billets is a Lion’s Arch (read: pirate) thing and not a Krytan thing. Going back to the argument about billets as a form of slavery, this could indicate that it is somewhat distasteful in human politics, but in pirate politics it’s not so bad. I want to believe this because portraying Lion’s Arch as a pirate city with loose morals is something I really want to see more of.

Ministry guard’s job is to guard the ministry, not actually police people or fight wars. It’s probably another case of the Ministry used to having more power then they should.

Either way, in a previous update (wintersday or the one before that), Heal-o-tron mentioned being in a trial, found guilty, and then assigned community service (which was raising donations for DR)… which he did and completed. So why are they STILL trying to arrest him? This is either a case of them being stupid, or perhaps news of the tribunal/social debt paying hadn’t spread through the ranks yet.

Either way, a single norn vs a single human is a one-sided fight. A Norn and a charr combined is enough to physically be scary for him.

Yeah, the blog post pre-launch laid down that there are pretty clear divisions of power between the Ministry Guard and Seraph. The Ministry Guard has no power to make arrests unless a Minister was involved. I don’t think the guard backed down because he felt threatened by Braham- it was because he was the one flaunting the law at that point.

There’s also the fact that, unless Heal-o-Tron’s case somehow involves the Ministry, the Ministry Guard technically has no jurisdiction. As stated above, the Ministry Guard has gotten used to overstepping its jurisdiction, either directly or by subverting the Seraph in more remote locations (which might have been what was going on in the camp during Escape from Lion’s Arch).

However, in Divinity’s Reach, in an event sponsored by the Queen, then the person with jurisdiction is probably going to be Logan, and he almost certainly knows that Heal-o-Tron played a role in taking down Scarlet (which is about as thorough a demonstration that it has no loyalty to her as you can get). And the Ministry Guard, while possibly genuinely ignorant of Heal-o-Tron’s true loyalties, probably knows that if he makes a big deal of it, it’ll go to Logan.

Thus, I think there’s two possibilities here:

The first is that, somehow, the Ministry Guardsmen is genuinely ignorant of the full situation. He saw someone he recognised as a criminal, attempted to make an arrest (the various orders are allowed to make arrests outside their jurisdiction, but are supposed to pass the suspect over to whoever does have jurisdiction) and when presented with evidence that he might be mistaken, is going to corroborate that evidence.

Alternatively, it was a kidnap attempt making use of the illusion of authority to make it look legal and above board to bystanders. In which case, he backed down because he knew he couldn’t take down Rox and Braham himself, and because he knew that if a ruckus was made, it would most likely be Logan’s Seraph who intervened.

Why would anyone from the ministry want o-Tron though, if not for dealing out further punishment nor making it a political move to prosecute a hero further?

I suspect it would have something to do with o-Trons nature, specificly being a golem. It has been near Scarlet, in the midst of her activity on various occasions, sometimes as a victim, other times helping us against her, and it is also a Consortium product. Looking through whatever it picked up on its journey could yield some interesting insight on various topics. Scarlet’s designs, the wounds her minions and her weapons inflicted (and o-Trons treatment of the wounds), something about the watchknight modifications…

If anything has a chance to remember something precicely as it happened, it would be a synthetic, and knowledge is power, especially in the age of technology humanity is progressing toward. There is also little moral conflict about dismantling/disecting a masterless golem for whatever reason, be it an ambition of a nobleman or the betterment of mankind.

Stooperdale.3560:

-snip-

That’s the one I was looking for, thank you. I only heard the part right when the Ministry Guard left.

The talk around the Heal-o-tron might just be a recap for the new players in China. He probably wasn’t covered anywhere else.

From the Escape from Lion’s Arch ambient dialogue:

Heal-o-tron: Negative. I—paid—my—debt—to—the—people—of—Divinity’s—Reach. I—raised—thousands—of—gold—for—them—during—Wintersday.

Heal-o-tron: I—overheard—Seraph—talking—about—using—this—unit—to—

Seraph Sergeant: Enough. Come along right now. You have nowhere to run.

Notice how the Seraph silences him. Seems to me like there is something shady going on with the Heal-o-tron situation. No idea why it’s a Ministry guard this time who is after him, but there is definitely someone in Divinity’s Reach who is really interested in getting their hands on the little golem. Heal-o-Tron knows why and is willing to risk his “life” (by joining the battle with scarlet) to get out of it.

It’s possible that someone else is pulling the strings and just sending corrupt elements of the Seraph/Ministry Guard after him, but that’s just speculation.

@Asgar He expands on that later in the same conversation line. The Seraph basically just planned to keep him as their own personal golem. Golems being rare outside Rata Sum, and golems with personality rare even there, I think they just didn’t fully comprehend that Heal-o-tron was capable of objecting. Note that at the point where the conversation ends, they are two armed Seraph with orders to bring him in against one unarmed golem with no backup (at that point the Lionguard had withdrawn her support)… and they listened to his objections and didn’t push the issue.

At this point, I think I agree with Stooperdale. There is dialogue all over this update with no purpose but to bring new players up to speed, and dredging up an old conflict that has already been more or less concluded seems to serve the same purpose.

I thought it was said they would dismantle him (either during Wintersday or Escape from LA). Which goes to why it was a Minstry Guard after him this time. Caudecus has shown interest in asuran works indirectly, so dismantling a golem legally procured and reverse engineering it to one-up humanity – and Queen Jennah – would be if great interest to him.

On the one hand we are talking about an individual and on the other hand it’s just a golem. Don’t you see were the real problem is? If not, then let me introduce the speculation that we can talk about (accidentally created) life forms and not golems anymore. O-Tron is the best example (but there are more like Mr Sparkles) and whatever the Krytan government wants from him, it may be tied to this special circumstance.

Synthetic life-forms, Artificial intelligence, the debate of what makes a person, the existence of a synthetic soul, these topics are high up in the usual sci-fi genres, and i think are too serious for Anet to take on, especially considering that (if you are right Horst) they would try to go that way via a comic relief character.

As for the krytan government going that way lorewise, it would be quite unwise from them. If anything, the humans of Divinity’s Reach would be wary of any artificial constructs after what the watchknights did, and even more so of anything with such abilities and a personality to boost. A kind of personality and characteristics that are too alien to them, or to anyone for that matter. Even the asura dont usually allow their golems to get such levels of sentience.

Kalavier.1097:

I’m just getting tired of Heal-o-tron (and probably the minstrel) CONSTANTLY being harrassed about ‘working for Scarlet’

I mean, don’t they have better things to do then go after somebody whose kittening ‘aiding Scarlet’ was SINGING, and JUST that? Somebody who no less actually has already had the trial and during wintersday donated money to DR?

As Scarlet is a mass murderer, I’d say that logic and reason doesn’t really come into play when she or her possible collaborators come into play.