Guild Wars 2

Note: do to title limits, it should be: Charr Innovation + treaty+ Asura+ dead dragons = GW 2’s Industrial Revolution and Scientific revolution?

I was Role playing last night on my Guardian Hikari Kyoko Ishida and due to her personality and her RP, she is doing her own in character theory crafting (which I want to bring up here as the topic).

She surmised after all the dragons are defeated (or dead, whichever you prefer), that a new age will be made where traditional social classes (streets, commoner, and nobility) will cease and the charr ideas of mass production of things other than weapons and war machines will be prevalent and be shared with all so that things will be easier to be made and obtained by others that are not nobility or filthy rich in lore or w/e. Its not that she is against the nobility (she is one herself ICly) its just she has a heart on her sleeve and wants the world to be better for all any way possible.

Now what I am getting at here is it possible for Charr to just partially give up their war driven ways to help the rest of the world advance in technology and also economically?

The same can be said for the Asura. Can they offer their vast intellect to create a new wedge in society that is equivalent to the real world known as the Middle Class?

I know for certain that the game’s lore and current time frame is on the verge of these sweeping changes, sans the dragons getting in the way and halting this tidal wave of progress.

My character sees it, does anyone else?

I can see this. The fact that the charr are already making treaties, even with humans, shows that they are not only thinking of war. One of the charr in LA even says, during a conversation that commerce beats combat. I would be cautious, however, as anything the asura are involved in would be very dangerous, especially if it’s mass produced… Imagine if Tixx’s toys were even more numerous!

whil Charr definitely have a military bend to them (in fact, they are almost entirely military based from what i have seen) they are smart enough to know there are other means to victory… and other ways to define victory as well.

not to mention that after seeing what cooperation can do for them, the races of tyria will probably find it easier to work together, especially if a new outside threat arises

so yeah, a social reform of the world of tyria would not be out of the question. as long as the asura don’t go for the whole world domination thing. waypoints and gates are too much of an advantage for any society

Well, an industrial age – in and of itself – wouldn’t necessarily cause a social shift away from nobility and commoners. Especially if the money from all the industrial developers enriches the nobility in the first place.

It would also cause as many problems as it would solve. An industrial age requires fuel. What would be the norn and kodan reaction to large-scale mining and drilling in the Shiverpeaks? What about waste pollution in the lakes and ocean, where the quaggan and hylek live?

Not to mention that many industrial advancements we experienced, in the real world, are already obsolete in Tyria. Why employ workers for an assembly line when you can use golems? If they become mass-produced, you’ll be seeing mass-unemployment. The same with Asura Gates: right now, trading caravans are still a thing because the gates are fairly rare. If they become commonplace, that’s more jobs eliminated.

If anything, an industrial age would enforce the nobility/commoner class system instead of eliminating it.

If there is such an industrial revolution, it’s going to come from the charr rather than the asura – it’s the charr who are preoccupied with moving forward as a culture, while asura are more interested in showing each other up rather than making advances for collective asurakind, let alone the bookahs. In fact, some asura go to great lengths to ensure that their inventions never enter the public domain.

In terms of improving equality… history is against it. For working class people, living and working conditions actually generally became worse with the onset of the Industrial Revolution – that’s why around that time you had things like crime being so rampant that convicts were shipped off to other continents and the rise of anti-technology movements like Luddism.

Look at Evon Gnashblade the ol’ Black Lion himself.
He applies the same strategies to trading that more charr apply to combat and warfare. I think this is a pattern that will continue and charr will become known for their fierce trading skills.

Firstly, the idea that Tyria will progress in that direction is based a little too strongly on the assumption that it will follow our world’s history (specifically European history, really) for my tastes. Not to say it wouldn’t, but merchant classes leading in time to consumption, then a free market, is not an inevitable ‘progress’.

Secondly though, it’s absolutely possible. The charr are warlike but (despite what some human roleplayers may insist!) that doesn’t mean they’re bloodthirsty beasts. They will fiercely protect the interests of the High Legions, whether that means war, the acquisition of land, industry, or peace. The fact that Smodur and the Iron Legion are dominating to some extent right now reflects this in my opinion. The Legions won’t seek out war just to satisfy their pride if it’s not in their interests (wars they’re continuing from centuries ago don’t count :P)

The asura as a race aren’t too keen to share their tech, but if Tyria ended up with the kind of peacetime market-based society you suggest, I doubt the asura would hesitate to make their fortunes in selling gadgets (if other races don’t know how to build or fix them, so much the better!). If money is power, you bet the Arcane Council will set their considerable intellects to the task of becoming millionaires!