Guild Wars 2

Edit: So apparently the “Human” section is now just an archive you can’t post anything new in there anymore. Who’s bright idea was that? =\

Anyway…

So this is something that has irked me for quite a while now since the game released as a primarily 99% of the time human player and GW1 veteran. And I really am having a hard time coming to terms with this at the moment, more so now then before.

There is a particular personal story instance within the “Missing Sister” plotline where Logan asks if you are Ascalonian (and proud of it), Krytan (save the queen blah blah), Canthan, or Elonian. As a GW1 veteran and someone who has made my main characters descendants of my GW1 main character, I am naturally an Ascalonian and chose that path.

And that is the last time the game gives me any choice into defining who I am as a human. Or lends any credence to the choice in gameplay or development of the player character.

The rest of the game, I am treated as a Krytan, my dialogue makes me sound like a Krytan, and I really have no choice in the matter. In fact, the richness, and diversity that existed within the human cultures from GW1 just seems so ridiculously dumbed down and absent in GW2. We have been replaced with a generic human culture that is supposedly “all human cultures” in refuge in Kryta, but in reality we are some generic Human culture now labeled as Krytans no matter what.

As an Ascalonian character I differ from Krytans in many ways. I do not recognize the queen as the human authority in the same way that the game wants me to. I feel very differently about the Charr/Human conflict, Ebonhawke, the Separatists, Charr in general, Ascalon, etc. And you know what…it would be ok if the game started out and said all humans are Krytans. But that story instance and the choice I made says gave me the choice. It’s there. So where is the rest of it?

So the game let’s me say I’m an Ascalonian, but I sure as heck can’t play like one.

/end rant.

I think you’re reading more into that choice than there is. By the time they offer you a choice of ancestry, it’s already understood that you’ve apparently lived in Divinity’s Reach your entire life and had a sister serving in the Krytan army. I agree that it’s pretty disappointing that you didn’t get any meaningful choice on the matter (I would have loved PS chapter based on my culture instead of my socioeconomic status), but the game pretty much did “start out and say all humans are Krytans”, at least where players are concerned.

As for the Ascalonians, they do seem culturally, or at least politically, distinct where they’re the majority (Rurikton, Ebonhawke, Ascalon Settlement). It’s just an unfortunate aspect of GW2 lore that the main hallmark of that distinction is more firmly entrenched racism.

Every single race faces these issues in the Personal Story. Your decisions have little to no impact on what happens outside of that particular story arc.

As to disagreeing with the position the game puts you in – that’s no different for anyone else or any other video game. The video game has to put you in a specific position and there’s very little wiggle room for you to dissent from that or express a different opinion. RPG’s can get around that a bit because they have the ability to code in a ton of choices (e.g. Dragon Age), but in an MMO they have a far more limited ability to do that.

Someone playing a Sylvari for instance is placed in a position where their character clearly believes in the teachings of Ventari. The player themselves might be more interested in the Nightmare Courts way of thinking, but the game has to place you in a specific PoV, so that player has to play it from the PoV of a Sylvari who is ‘good’.

All humans in game currently, regardless of their ancestry, are the survivors of the major world changing events that have taken place in Tyria.

The bastion of humanity that has (officially) survived is in Kryta.

I see people work their heritage in game all the time. You can tell everyone you’re an ascalonian, and it is an option you can choose in game officially.

You can legitimately be an ascalonian, a luxon, or a vabbian by blood.

Human heritage is massive and spans the entire world, but if you’re in game right now, your cradle and/or bread keeper (for the Ebonhawke folks) is Kryta and Divinity’s Reach.

You’re a Krytan or a citizen of the kingdom thereof.

The fact that you’re alive today and have a place in the world to yourself, a bastion of humanity, is because of Divinity’s Reach and the Krytan crown.

Cantha and Elona are cut off from us. The human kingdom of Ascalon is no more a force in the world.

They’ve successfully carved out and won themselves a place in the land, but we are no longer a power in of ourselves.

Ebonhawke is reinforced by the seraph and supported by Kryta.

Yeah, at this stage Ebonhawke is basically a protectorate of Kryta, a de facto part of the state in all but name with limited autonomy (Jennah even holds the regency of Ebonhawke among her titles). You can see this in how the Seperatists have named themselves – the term itself implies that Ebonhawke has been absorbed into a greater whole and that they feel this should be reversed.

When push comes to shove, your character is a Krytan citizen. As stated above, regardless of how you answer that question, you grew up in Divinity’s Reach and you’re a sibling of a Seraph. The question allows you to choose what your family heritage is, but basically, you’re Krytan.

Furthermore, the fact that this question only pops up in the Missing Sister arc should be a hint that it’s not going to come up again. It’s actually primarily used to determine your sister’s appearance – it’s done so that if someone is aware enough when making their character to make them look like a particular ethnicity, your sister will actually look like a relative rather than having an Asian- or African- looking character with a Caucasian sister.

Another thing to remember is, at least with the Ascalonians, it’s been over 250 years since they came to Kryta. That’s around ten generations. Think of that as your Great Great Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather being Ascalonian. Sure there’s going to be some cultural undertones, but ultimately everyone in DR is Krytan.

The best real world example I can give is the British Empire settling Australia around 250 years ago. Really only 22% of Australians are descended from British exiles, yet how many define themselves by or even know of that? Probably less than 1%. It simply doesn’t impact the culture or the day-to-day life of individuals in the same way being Ascalonian really isn’t a huge deal in Kryta today. You’re Krytan, with Ascalonian heritage in the same way you can be Australian/American/Kiwi/Canadian/etc and have British heritage but act nothing like a British person.

I don’t think many would feel they are Ascalonians after a gap of 250 years. You were born in Kryta, you grew up there and your whole family were also born there. We are simply talking about your ancestors being from Ascalon and honestly speaking, a few people would feel any connection to some anscestors who lives 250 years ago.

The various GW1 human cultures melted into a single “legit” GW2 culture for one reason only: the addition of 4 playable non-human races…Norn just being “larger humans” notwithstanding(they shape-change and stuph).

Had ANet not “dumbed down” humanity, these forums would have been awash in cries of human favoritism. Not a smart move from a marketing point of view.

The only other option would have been to(instead of erasing/ignoring/miniaturizing non-Krytan human cultures) simply add the new races to the periphery of the GW1 geo-cultural map. Given how detailed and beautiful GW2 landscapes are, that would have required much more time and effort on the devs part…the world map would have had to have been 2, 3, or even 4 times bigger for that. It was probably way outside of their developmental scope and scale for a game of this kind.

Well…that and the GW2 devs wanted to forge their own Guild Wars game and story, and not simply add on to someone else’s.

It is a pretty sad thing. I wish I could have done more to honor Ascalon and perhaps help it rise again some day.

It just seems I have to go with “accepting” the Charr and have no say in the matter.

Harper.4173:

It is a pretty sad thing. I wish I could have done more to honor Ascalon and perhaps help it rise again some day.

It just seems I have to go with “accepting” the Charr and have no say in the matter.

I feel the same. I still hate the charr (and all non humans actually).

Maybe if they ever introduce factions to replace servers for wvw, ascalon can be one of the choices.