Guild Wars 2

Just a quick feedback on the new Living Story missions available now. I will try not to put in any spoilers!

Brahman – I instantly liked him. His story is compelling, and made me actually care about what was going to happen in the future. His personality is likeable, and I felt connected to his plight. I just did his mission for a second time, since I enjoyed it so much the first time around.

Rox – To me, she felt like a generic NPC. I couldn’t get involved with her side of the tale, and I didn’t feel like I related to her plight at all. She seemed bland in comparison to Brahman. I have not felt the need to revisit her mission, as I was rather bored the first time.

Overall, I am enjoying the Living Story. Looking back, I can see how the first two installments fit in to what is currently happening. Keep working at it ArenaNet, I think you have something here that could really become something special!

I don’t like either very much. That doesn’t mean I dislike them though, they are both okay except for the fact that Rox looks ugly, she is a disgrace to her prideful race. And of course she is rather generic right now, but maybe she will get more development later (and an in-lore explanation for her mutant eyes!)

Braham on the other hand doesn’t feel all that Norn-y to me yet. I know he is still young, but he behaves way to non-adventurous for my taste. I would expect a young Norn like him to be eager to proof himself, yet he is cautious and even asks for the Charrs’ assistance. That seems out of place for a a young Norn. I believe such a behaviour from Eir since she is old and experienced, Braham however isn’t.

I also hope we find out the reason why dredge and flame legion forged this alliance soon and I pray that it is better than “Hey you are evil! I am evil too, let’s be evil together! huehuehue”

BuddhaKeks.4857:

I don’t like either very much. That doesn’t mean I dislike them though, they are both okay except for the fact that Rox looks ugly, she is a disgrace to her prideful race. And of course she is rather generic right now, but maybe she will get more development later (and an in-lore explanation for her mutant eyes!)

Braham on the other hand doesn’t feel all that Norn-y to me yet. I know he is still young, but he behaves way to non-adventurous for my taste. I would expect a young Norn like him to be eager to proof himself, yet he is cautious and even asks for the Charrs’ assistance. That seems out of place for a a young Norn. I believe such a behaviour from Eir since she is old and experienced, Braham however isn’t.

I also hope we find out the reason why dredge and flame legion forged this alliance soon and I pray that it is better than “Hey you are evil! I am evil too, let’s be evil together! huehuehue”

Braham’s mission is to save his homestead not to prove himself.

What if Braham fails when he tackles the griffon? He loses his life.

What if Braham fails in saving Cragstead? Braham loses everyone he cared for. There is no shame in asking for help to save the people you care for.

I’m not saying it’s not the logical thing to do, I’m saying it’s not something a young Norn would do. Young Norn don’t run on logic. Young Norn need no logic, they are young Norn.

BuddhaKeks.4857:

I’m not saying it’s not the logical thing to do, I’m saying it’s not something a young Norn would do. Young Norn don’t run on logic. Young Norn need no logic, they are young Norn.

I take it you didn’t read the short story written about him then? It’s pretty clear why he wants to save his homestead. And not every human is the same, why would every norn be the same?

I take you don’t know anything about the Norn or their society then? It’s pretty clear how the Norn work mentally. The Norn we see in Living story so far however act more like humans than Norn.
They are afraid to loose their homes, they run away looking for aid. That’s the complete opposite of what Norn are know for. I can accept it though with thinking that those are mostly old Norn or small children that are fleeing (even though it doesn’t look so ingame) with the adults staying back to fight, like the Norn would.
Remember that it took most of the spirits of the wild to conivnce the Norn to flee from Jormag, why would they now flee on their own from a weaker foe?
It’s most apparent in Braham, who acts like a human would, not like a young Norn.

And yes of course the Norn can have different mind sets, but going out to proof your worth is the quintessential trait of the Norn. Take that away and you have a tall human (okay that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point).

BuddhaKeks.4857:

I take you don’t know anything about the Norn or their society then? It’s pretty clear how the Norn work mentally. The Norn we see in Living story so far however act more like humans than Norn.
They are afraid to loose their homes, they run away looking for aid. That’s the complete opposite of what Norn are know for. I can accept it though with thinking that those are mostly old Norn or small children that are fleeing (even though it doesn’t look so ingame) with the adults staying back to fight, like the Norn would.
Remember that it took most of the spirits of the wild to conivnce the Norn to flee from Jormag, why would they now flee on their own from a weaker foe?
It’s most apparent in Braham, who acts like a human would, not like a young Norn.

And yes of course the Norn can have different mind sets, but going out to proof your worth is the quintessential trait of the Norn. Take that away and you have a tall human (okay that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point).

So you completely missed the reason of Braham needing help to defend Cragstead being that the people there didn’t leave then.

I didn’t mention them because the residents of Cragstead are the only Norn so far, that actually behave like Norn. 3 parts in and we finally get some Norn that act like Norn, with the exception of the main character Braham who I said is a out of character for a young Norn.

If the refugees’ homes were destroyed it’s only logical to head to Hoelbrak. And I don’t think Braham is supposed to be a stereotypical norn.

AlexMc.2083:

If the refugees’ homes were destroyed it’s only logical to head to Hoelbrak. And I don’t think Braham is supposed to be a stereotypical norn.

For Norn who can’t fight yet or anymore, yes it is logical. For the the ones that are able to fight, it’s a little out of character to just pack everything and flee. The Norn of the past wouldn’t even let those Molten Alliance guys destroy their homes to beginn with, they would rather play “whack-a-mole” with them.
And I’m talking about making Braham a stereotypical Norn (as a common trait is not a stereotype, it’s just a common trait), I’m saying that he doesn’t behave like any Norn we’ve ever seen, which I just find odd. If you don’t, then it’s good for you. But it bugs me a little that he lacks something that is inherent in every Norn. Some may have lost it through age or a traumatic experience, Braham however is simply to young for that. It doesn’t make much sense to me personally.

Braham’s background does add more potentially interesting plot twists but I ended up liking them both. We need to learn more about Rox to flesh out her character. What happened to her warband? Why is Rytlock willing to give such a weird looking charr this chance to prove herself?

For me, the truly redeeming feature for Rox was her new pet

BuddhaKeks.4857:

Remember that it took most of the spirits of the wild to conivnce the Norn to flee from Jormag, why would they now flee on their own from a weaker foe?
It’s most apparent in Braham, who acts like a human would, not like a young Norn.

And yes of course the Norn can have different mind sets, but going out to proof your worth is the quintessential trait of the Norn. Take that away and you have a tall human (okay that’s an exaggeration, but you get my point).

That is a good point. The norn we’ve seen have tended to demonstrate behavior that humans would consider irrational. That was made them norn.

Perhaps ArenaNet should have emphasized more of the shame the norn who fled are feeling. Or required some Spirit’s intervention again to have gotten them to move.

I had the same sense that they could have emphasized more about how much it hurt the charr to be run out of their homes yet again. I thought there could have been more emphasis of how it reminded them of what the humans once did to them (ignoring how they did it back to humans of course).

Rox – another high pitched, girly voice on a supposedly large, ferocious predator…doesn’t fit at all.

Braham – sounds like the big tough guy you expect.

BuddhaKeks.4857:

I’m not saying it’s not the logical thing to do, I’m saying it’s not something a young Norn would do. Young Norn don’t run on logic. Young Norn need no logic, they are young Norn.

Seriously man. Had to bring stereotyping and racism into a game, didn’t ya?
(Edited so I don’t get infracted again for being “rude”)

BuddhaKeks.4857:

AlexMc.2083:

If the refugees’ homes were destroyed it’s only logical to head to Hoelbrak. And I don’t think Braham is supposed to be a stereotypical norn.

For Norn who can’t fight yet or anymore, yes it is logical. For the the ones that are able to fight, it’s a little out of character to just pack everything and flee. The Norn of the past wouldn’t even let those Molten Alliance guys destroy their homes to beginn with, they would rather play “whack-a-mole” with them.
And I’m talking about making Braham a stereotypical Norn (as a common trait is not a stereotype, it’s just a common trait), I’m saying that he doesn’t behave like any Norn we’ve ever seen, which I just find odd. If you don’t, then it’s good for you. But it bugs me a little that he lacks something that is inherent in every Norn. Some may have lost it through age or a traumatic experience, Braham however is simply to young for that. It doesn’t make much sense to me personally.

Attention – some possible spoilers included

I really don’t understand what you mean by saying he behaves “un-nornish”. Norn might be very occupied by their legend and they so not hesitate to fight if necessary, but they are not mindlessly killing themselfes “for the legend”. In my personal story I got constantly told, that dieing in a fight might guarantee you an awesome legend but that you should be carefull as well because beeing dead is beeing dead.

Braham from what I understand does not want to flee but he is looking for help to defend his home and his people because he clearly sees that he can’t win without help. And that’s part of the problem, that his people do not want to leave but to stay in their place.

But he is not as dumb as to go on a fight which he clearly can’t win without even trying to get some help and succeed. So he goes through Diessa to the Black Citadel (not a very safe journey with all that dredge and flame legion etc. around) and when he doesn’t get help he goes to Hoelbrak to find help. But for him it is never an option not to fight the molten legion, but he rather wants to succeed instead of dieing uselessly without beeing able to do something. They decide to go to Hoelbrak when he sees that his home is already overrun by molten legion and that they captured his people.

So I would say Norn may be brave and do not mind a tough fight but they are not dumb or suicidal. And they do not seem to mind to die if necessary but they do not kill themselves in a fight if they see other options to win.

I personally like Braham the way he got respresented instead of beeing a complete idiot who only cares about fame instead of using his brain first.

I like them both, dont like Rox’s eyes either…dont understand why somebody went so far as to give her anime eyes, but… I am just relieved that the story finally started. It took too long to unfold, even if the first installments were appropriate.

Somewhere I read that one of the main NPC eventually dies. I really dont want that to happen to either.

I think Rox is my favorite because she really likes animals and she is loyal to her warband. That makes her deep enough for me.

I like Braham too, and Im happy with him being serious instead of brassy. The races need a lot of filling out in my opinion and this helps. I’m very tired of seeing Norn as Viking bikers. I happen to have a norn character who is very serious and one that is like a big puppy. They are still norn. Sometimes it seems Norn totem animals have had more personality than they do. Charr also need some filling out… maybe Rox can help. (Can’t they just gradually change Rox’s eyes?) And don’t kill off one of them. I’ve had enough pain, losing Tybalt. T.T

I thought Braham was extremely generic. Oh really the son of Eir, how original. His presumed feud with his mother isn’t even properly developed, Eir just acknowledges him while she never talked with Rytlock about him. Just doesn’t click.

Rox is just a charr without a warband. That’s just a Guild Wars lore hook and not a cliché like Braham. As for Rox’s look … that’s what female kitties look like. She does have more up her sleeve than the shallow Braham.

The thing that bothers me about Rox is that she’s named after a golem.

Different strokes for different folks. I liked Rox’s story best.

Katz.5143:

Different strokes for different folks. I liked Rox’s story best.

What exactly is it about Rox’s story did you like? Did you like it just because of how she looks? Did you think the baby devourer was cute? Did you find defending a hatchery (that you and your NPC ally had no personal connection to) from nameless Alliance members (honestly, they could have been drakes and the story would have been almost the same) a compelling narrative?

So far the only development Rox has is that she’s a female charr (I’d say this is 90% of her identity atm), her old warband was killed in a mining accident (it’s probably not a coincidence that the Molten Alliance like tunnels), she wants in on Rytlock’s warband and she has a new ranger pet.

Braham has a legendary mother, he is unusual for a norn in that he seeks aid from the charr because of his past history with Eir, he didn’t agree with Hoelbrak’s inaction on Cragstead, he lost his father (who made an interesting decision to keep him separate from Eir), he is loyal and protective of his home village and willing to risk his life (in defiance of his mother and Knut Whitebear) to save it and a girl he likes has been kidnapped.

Of the two characters, Braham has been set up far better than Rox. He’s got a lot more going for him, his story is more personal and involving, his relevance seems greater. I suspect Rox’s old warband has something to do with the Molten Alliance and the meat in her story will come out in the next update, but so far, aside from her appearance, I think Rox is fairly light on substance.

I loved Braham too. He was honestly the first NPC in this game that I felt compelled to help. Hopefully he has more involvement in GW2 in the future!

Wierd, because I tried to guess who you would like more before reading your entire post and I guessed you would like Rox more like I did. To me, the Brahman storyline was a bit cliche.

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

Braham’s background is fleshed out in more detail in this story, in which it’s revealed exactly why Braham and Eir are not close: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/brahams-story/

I know, Regina, but Braham is so boring in game, that I couldn’t bother reading the short story. I’ve got thousands of pages of world literature under my belt. If Braham’s so boring I can’t be bothered with his short story, that’s telling something.

Sorry about that, can’t please everyone.

Other then the utterly horrid decision to make Rox’ eyes gigantic, I vastly preferred Rox to Braham. She’s confident, stays on task, and doesn’t give away all her life’s story, unlike Braham. Sure, she’s standard, but she’s a fun standard.

Meanwhile, Braham’s a cliche – by the time we’ve finished his instance, we know where he’s from, who he’s in love with, and what his ambitions are. And he keeps breaking up clustered enemies with his dang shield skill. And his hair piece is like a topee. And WHY is his concept art the wrong ethnicity, incidentally?

At the bottom of it all, the most important issue is the combat dynamics. Rox stays out of the way and helps. Braham breaks up aoe, and has no noticeable DPM. The instances they are in further heighten this problem – in Rox’, they come in in groups of 3, close together and you can wiped them out as they come. In Braham’s, enemies dribble in from far apart spawn points which allow them to disperse in addition to Brahams help in that regard.

TLDR: Rox stays professional and is helpful, Braham whines and is actively a hindrance.

I did like that Braham bringing up a point about his people – they’re hunters first and foremost – not an army. Thus, they failed against Jormag, and they failed against the combined armies of the Flame Legion and the Dredge.

I did wish they had a bit more survivability as per usual, especially in the dungeon. It’s a little lore-breaking that they spent most fights unconscious. Isn’t there a way to make certain NPCs get increasing toughness and resistance to conditions the lower their health is, to make an impression of “they’re on their last legs, go help them”.

Alternative, give them a dodge evade like how some enemy NPCs can do it.

the moidart.3612:

Other then the utterly horrid decision to make Rox’ eyes gigantic, I vastly preferred Rox to Braham. She’s confident, stays on task, and doesn’t give away all her life’s story, unlike Braham. Sure, she’s standard, but she’s a fun standard.

Meanwhile, Braham’s a cliche – by the time we’ve finished his instance, we know where he’s from, who he’s in love with, and what his ambitions are. And he keeps breaking up clustered enemies with his dang shield skill. And his hair piece is like a topee. And WHY is his concept art the wrong ethnicity, incidentally?

At the bottom of it all, the most important issue is the combat dynamics. Rox stays out of the way and helps. Braham breaks up aoe, and has no noticeable DPM. The instances they are in further heighten this problem – in Rox’, they come in in groups of 3, close together and you can wiped them out as they come. In Braham’s, enemies dribble in from far apart spawn points which allow them to disperse in addition to Brahams help in that regard.

TLDR: Rox stays professional and is helpful, Braham whines and is actively a hindrance.

Brahm revived me several times. He was pretty helpful in our instance.

I don’t dislike them, I still need to know what story goes with them to decide if I like them and why Braham has ugly hairthat looks like Gary Oldman in Fifth Element. …

I like Frostbite :P

Wagnard.4027:

I like Frostbite :P

I d’awwwed when I saw she had named him.

I dunno. I kinda just want to backhand Braham and tell him to pull it together. I don’t think I could reach that high though.

After all this months, my vote goes to Rox. Braham is a simple minded guy.
Rox is really good. Yeah, her eyes are wierd, but her personallity is great. Braham is ugly and dumb.

I really like Rod, I actually want to know more about her. I’m only going off of what’s in game, not any outside sources. It seems like she’s got a great deal of history and experience and regret. I’m thinking she was with her warband and caused an explosion while mining and killed them making her a Gladium. This is my speculation of course, but it seems like she’s trying to move on from it, and Braham is giving her some hope from his naive attitude and idealized courage that comes from inexperience.

Yep. That settles it. Rox is DEFINITELY my favourite of the two.

I didn’t listen to podcast yet, so my opinion is based just on game.
I can’t shake impression of Braham being a bit whining baby. Everybody had their hands full during attack of molten alliance and he still insisted on sending additional troops in the field. Truth be told other character could explain him that, but still he didn’t strike me as much of a long-term-plan kind of guy.
Rox despite being a bit generic is more interesting. She is focused on task, she understands what is happening around her. I think I liked her character more.