I pm’d a number of questions, but that is a busy dev who may not even see forum PMs let alone have time to respond. I posted a lot of questions in Twitch chat during the live stream but none were selected for the Q&A portion. I do not have a Reddit account, I do not tweet, so I will query here in the appropriate forum and hope to get some canon reply whilst the story is still current for our characters. The reason for my interest is the prolific amount of RP stories I am participating in based on the White Mantle attack, given a great desire to stay as close to canon as possible.
So player speculation will not in any way answer these, unless grounded on in-game dialogue and visuals that I may have missed or misinterpreted.
(As this is text and tone of voice is not included, let me clearly state I am not angry or upset at not getting replies yet. But Anatoli commented they were good questions, and BlackDragonGW2 offered to relay them in the next AMA, so I think they’re worth bringing up. The next AMA may not be until the next chapter, though, so perhaps someone could relay them sooner if also intrigued? After all, the RP will move on when the story does, so these are fairly immediate issues).
- How much damage did the city take in the initial fusillade before Jennah’s shield went up? Are we talking a few chairs knocked over or blocks turned to rubble? How much damage after — and how much does the shield cover (in the story instance it peters out at the Upper City’s edge, from Doric’s Landing it falls short of the outer walls, from New Loamhurst it encompasses the walls).
- How much loss of life has there been? I saw bodies in the Park during the first story instance. Per dev comments during the LA invasion, tens of thousands died in LA. Clearly Jennah was ready (the live stream did cover this tangentially, saying she set up defenses in advance and this is why DR hasn’t gotten the LA treatment and the death won’t be on nearly that scale). But how bad are the losses in the initial attack, and thereafter in the battling as the Seraph push back against the Mantle?
- How permeable is the shield? Does it act just like an in-game feedback bubble where only missiles are affected, or will it block people walking through it?
- Lake Doric has an area called Mantle’s Breach, though that looks more like dam wreckage than broken city walls. Has the Mantle poured into the city? Is there fighting in the streets, and if so, how contained is it? (I understand that the story of the Lake Doric Map involves the Seraph taking control and pushing the Mantle back — this question is more about the initial chaos as the attack begins).
- Is there rioting? Looting? What effect has all the propaganda had on everyday citizens? Hopefully most of the Reach is like London in the Blitz, staying calm and loyal, but I’d think there’d be an angry element the broadsides and pamphlets might have persuaded to strike against a perceived despotic Crown.
- Will there be ongoing investigations of the Ministry even during the suspension, to weed out still-unrevealed traitors? How much influence/power will the Ministers retain, even if informally? No legislation or trials, sure, but these are well-off men and women selected by the people of their regions, how hamstrung are they? (Our ongoing RP includes a villainous Minister, y’see ).
Hopefully none of this touches on story yet to come, as I’m not interested in spoilers. I do get the feeling that the arc concludes with the final instance and future story may include mop-up and some aftermath comments, but that focus will be moving rapidly away from DR. My interest lies in the immediate impact and its effects on my many characters’ lives.
Thank you to anyone that can provide canon answers, with sources if you yourself are not part of the ANet team.