Guild Wars 2

Many of you have, in the past, and will continue to, in the future, complain about the character Scarlet Briar, introduced into the living story rather abruptly and for no reason. I also, am here to complain about Scarlet Briar. So, if you don’t want to hear it, and think that this is a waste of time, stop reading now. Go solve world hunger or something instead. In the meanwhile, I and like-minded folks will continue to kitten about digital nonsense. Carry on.
First things first. There is a term in the role-playing community known as a “Mary Sue”. A Mary Sue is generally accepted as a character (generally in fan-fiction) who is perfect in every way, and never fails. Wikipedia refers to this type of character as an author-insertion fantasy persona, while Urban Dictionary defines her as “A female character who is so perfect as to be annoying.” This is what I view Scarlet Briar as.
To elaborate, she was presented literally out of nowhere. There was no build-up, no reason, and no rationalization to this character’s appearance. I do not mean she figuratively came out nowhere, I mean she LITERALLY came out of nowhere. She was abruptly introduced as a super-genius, super-evil wunderkind who controls an army for some reason, can control robots built by humans who have never spoken to her, etc., you’ve all heard this much before. The salient issue here is not what she is capable of (I’ve read roughly a kittenton of arguments about that, and so have you), but why she is capable of doing it.
It is because Scarlet is a Mary Sue. She is the result of a lack of ideas. A lack of creativity and foresight. Scarlet Briar is, as we say in the writing business, an kitten -pull. She was pulled out of some overworked writer’s kitten because he didn’t have time to think of something better. Arenanet, bless their hearts, needed a villain to carry the living story, and they needed one right godkitten now, and it’s all your fault. Yes, that’s right, your fault. You. You did this. You, the consumer. You were the ones who demanded new content. In fairness, it’s also their fault for agreeing to deliver it every couple weeks. That’s a mistake. Take two weeks to create some exciting new content for a large scale MMO, and let me know how that goes. Wait, you don’t have to, we all know how it goes. Poorly. We end up with stupid bullkitten like Scarlet Briar. Really good content takes time to produce, and y’all should just shut the kitten up, give these tired people some real time to make real kitten, and be happy about it a few months later.
But that’s not going to happen. You will never see the same amount of satisfied voices as dissatisfied ones. This is, obviously, because people who are content do not feel compelled to express how content they are. The only voices heard are the voices who speak, and the ones that speak are the ones that are kitten ed. But I digress.
Scarlet Briar. She is a chapter out of the “Book of what not to do in Storytelling”, right up there with a scrolling wall of exposition, a la Star Wars. Don’t be like George Lucas. You’re better than that. When Scarlet’s story arc is done, let it die. Bury it, build a cement building over the grave with no doors, and throw away the key to the non-existent door. Then introduce a villain that makes sense within your own lore. Like dragons or some kitten.

I googled “Book of what not to do in Storytelling”. Lots of interesting reads.

There is a term in the role-playing community known as a “Mary Sue”.

Which applies less and less. She’s not infallible, and we have beaten her. She’s increasingly less “perfect” than she seemed, since all she does is seemingly get bored with her “toys” when things go awry.

She has real, obvious flaws to her which might not matter in game mechanics or such but are incredibly problematic for someone wanting to be as feared as she seems to desire. She’s capricious, she’s dismissive of anyone not seen as her intellectual equal (which is to say, everyone else), and puts a lot of value on spectacle over substance.

Every time we beat her so far, it’s because she essentially left a thread which could be pulled on to unravel things. Most of which is underestimating the assembled opponents. I don’t think she expected the antitoxin to be developed and deployed anywhere near as fast as it was. The last instance for the Nightmare Ends suggests she actually bailed out and left things active in her hidden lair rather than clean it up and escape.

I love all these complaint about her being “introduced into the living story rather abruptly and for no reason”, simply because that is complete bullkitten.

We had hints MONTHS before she turned up that she existed, basically since the very start of the Living Story.
It was not something thrown in just with the QJ release, it was something hinted about in more or less every single release before that.

lordkrall.7241:

I love all these complaint about her being “introduced into the living story rather abruptly and for no reason”, simply because that is complete bullkitten.

We had hints MONTHS before she turned up that she existed, basically since the very start of the Living Story.
It was not something thrown in just with the QJ release, it was something hinted about in more or less every single release before that.

Yes, but the issue is it was BADLY hinted at since the follow up to Frost and Flame left that thread behind and was immediately followed by Dragon Bash, the whiplash throwing a lot of people off.

It wasn’t even a name until the end of “Sky Pirates of Tyria”, with no hint it even connected to the Molten Alliance anywhere. So naturally people weren’t making the connection and when it was revealed she was behind it in her invasions? People thought it came out of nowhere because there was no hint the person involved was Scarlet OR even one of her flunkies (quite possibly Mai Trin as the “city slicker”).

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

She has real, obvious flaws to her which might not matter in game mechanics or such but are incredibly problematic for someone wanting to be as feared as she seems to desire. She’s capricious, she’s dismissive of anyone not seen as her intellectual equal (which is to say, everyone else), and puts a lot of value on spectacle over substance.

I believe the problem people have is that her flaws have absolutely no repercussions.

Yes, she is capricious, maniacal, self absorbed, and a generally narcissistic sociopath. Yet at the same time, vast armies across the world are bending over backwards to give her troops and resources, with the only two motivations being “she gives us nice stuff” and “if we don’t become her suicide soldiers, she’ll be mean to us”.

If the Flame Legion wanted her power, they would have taken it by force and burnt her at the stake. If the Dredge wanted her technology, they would have driven her from their tunnels and reverse engineered it, for they would rather die than be enslaved again. If the Aetherblades needed an extra edge, they would have conned her into believing she was in charge and assassinated her. If the Krait found she held their sacred obelisks, they would launch a holy crusade to seize their holy relics from the dirty heretic’s clutches. That is how xenophobic factions work, but every kooky alliance story has spent its time chipping away at their lore and diminishing what these hate-filled factions are supposed to represent.

And thus, everyone obeys Scarlet ‘cause "she’s just that smart", resulting in an entire year’s time spent fighting a single Sylvari without even knowing what she’s planning. It’s been a complete waste of time, waste of lore, and a waste of perfectly good villainous factions bending over backwards to cater to one maniac who’s long overdue for a good dose of gasoline and matches.

Shriketalon.1937:

Yes, she is capricious, maniacal, self absorbed, and a generally narcissistic sociopath. Yet at the same time, vast armies across the world are bending over backwards to give her troops and resources, with the only two motivations being “she gives us nice stuff” and “if we don’t become her suicide soldiers, she’ll be mean to us”.

I think that’s oversimplifying the matter. From what I can see, the Aetherblades are her suicide soldiers because Mai Trin screwed up and tipped her hand too early. The Molten Alliance was formed, but we don’t know anything about how it came to be. It could have been her beating them around until they agreed . . . or it could have been her demonstrating something for them and some of both sides saying “you know she has a point”. The Toxic Alliance is probably the oddest one but the presence of holy relics makes it hard to say how they’d react.

(It is worth noting none of the factions are wholly changed, except maybe the Nightmare Court, but then that place seemed the province of an entirely different self-centered evil sylvari in the first place.)

Also, at least two of her factions (twisted watchwork and steam creatures) were not “alive” in any sense and appear to just be enslaved through knowing the root operator commands.

And thus, everyone obeys Scarlet ‘cause "she’s just that smart", resulting in an entire year’s time spent fighting a single Sylvari without even knowing what she’s planning. It’s been a complete waste of time, waste of lore, and a waste of perfectly good villainous factions bending over backwards to cater to one maniac who’s long overdue for a good dose of gasoline and matches.

Like I said, it’s not been shown how the two Alliances were put together. You posited one thing, it could be another. Far as I can tell, the Toxic Alliance didn’t really obey Scarlet so much as go “okay, we’ll do that, thanks, now get lost”. Scarlet isn’t there except for voices and the little abandoned lab, much like the Molten Alliance seemed to only have their own people in control of the Weapons Factory . . . and the ones coming out of invasion portals I presume to be remnants being drawn in by Scarlet because she might give them a chance to get a foothold.

Of course, we are comparing Scarlet’s whole arc so far to lore in which another xenophobic race of fanatics listened to outsiders who were exceedingly powerful and thus marched across all the human kingdoms setting fire to everything along the way until the equivalent of a nuclear bomb was set off to turn them back. Or the case in which two warring societies would not stop fighting each other long enough to handle a very serious threat trying to snuff them both out. Or where an entire nation was converted into shock troops for a religious fanatic who didn’t care if any of her human allies lived so long as her god was unleashed on the world.

So it’s not like this sort of thing hasn’t happened before . . .

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

I think that’s oversimplifying the matter. From what I can see, the Aetherblades are her suicide soldiers because Mai Trin screwed up and tipped her hand too early. The Molten Alliance was formed, but we don’t know anything about how it came to be. It could have been her beating them around until they agreed . . . or it could have been her demonstrating something for them and some of both sides saying “you know she has a point”. The Toxic Alliance is probably the oddest one but the presence of holy relics makes it hard to say how they’d react.

You are correct that we don’t know the whole story, but unfortunately the current selection of rational options don’t fit any of the xenophobic factions. If the Flame Legion were willing to be rational enough to say “if we make an exception and don’t sacrifice this particular person on a burning altar, we’d benefit from a deal”….they wouldn’t be the zealots we know and love to hate. Their singleminded extremism is their defining feature, else they would have rationally concluded that they could get by much better by joining the other legions in a unified nation, or at the very least team up with the renegades to gain more furpower. We have seen dredge working with outsiders in Sorrow’s Embrace, but it’s worth noting that this was seen as a betrayal of their society and led to a mass rebellion. That’s because the dredge are defined by their paranoia of being enslaved once again, and subjugation would never be acceptable.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Of course, we are comparing Scarlet’s whole arc so far to lore in which another xenophobic race of fanatics listened to outsiders who were exceedingly powerful and thus marched across all the human kingdoms setting fire to everything along the way until the equivalent of a nuclear bomb was set off to turn them back. Or the case in which two warring societies would not stop fighting each other long enough to handle a very serious threat trying to snuff them both out. Or where an entire nation was converted into shock troops for a religious fanatic who didn’t care if any of her human allies lived so long as her god was unleashed on the world.

So it’s not like this sort of thing hasn’t happened before . . .

And each time it occurred in the past, it made sense for the cultures in question.

The Flame Legion used the Titans just as much as the Titans used the Flame Legion. One got the rampant destruction of the continent, and the other gained dominance over the other legions. Since the power of the Titans gave the Charr an edge in war, their society accepted their worship under the main mantra of their species: victory at any cost.

The Kurzick and Luxon conflict had been raging for centuries when we arrived. Sure, there was a malevolent spirit of a regicidal murderer rampaging around the capital city, but that was far away from their present concerns. And remember, both sides dropped their war the instant the afflicted appeared in the Eternal Grove and Gyala Hatchery. From then on, they fought side by side to fulfill their ancestral duties and helped slay Shiro. Then went back to killing each other, of course, ‘cause that’s how they roll.

And finally, Kourna was a militaristic nation with a leader who just happened to have a little more love for a six eyed god of madness than is healthy. Since the Varesh was already Warmarshal, the armies followed her commands. Do recall that there was quite a bit of propaganda flowing about throughout Nightfall, with Kourna claiming that Istan launched an unprovoked attack and using that excuse to pursue “fugitives” into Vabbi. Also recall that as Varesh’s devotion became more fanatical and she sacrificed more and more to appease her god, even her most trusted soldiers withdrew and rebelled against her.

The Kourna example is probably the closest to what we’ve seen play out several times through this arc, with leaders striking a deal with a malevolent entity and using their own people as pawns in exchange. The core difference? Abaddon was a god, and Scarlet Briar is a plant who’s good with a wrench. That is the problem with this story, granting one single individual so much power, influence, trickery, or resources that she can bend not one, but multiple xenophobic societies to her will simply because the plot demands it.

We used to fight ancient liches unleashing titanic doom upon the world, murderous spirits hellbent on clawing his way back to the land of the living, a fallen deity and his armies of darkness, and legions of dragonspawn consuming the world. Now it takes us over a year to kill an upstart vegetable. How heroic.

Shriketalon.1937:

We used to fight ancient liches unleashing titanic doom upon the world, murderous spirits hellbent on clawing his way back to the land of the living, a fallen deity and his armies of darkness, and legions of dragonspawn consuming the world. Now it takes us over a year to kill an upstart vegetable. How heroic.

We also used to assist the extreme religious fanatics known as the White Mantle, take sides in a civil war we had no stake in, take part in the extermination of refugees who weren’t human just because they were in the way, and help unleash doom on the world twice over thinking we were saving it.

How heroic.

Then there’s the whole “queenmaking” in Kryta, a nation our characters weren’t even native to . . . the ethnic cleansing we assisted in in Cantha . . .

Who are the good guys supposed to be again?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

We also used to assist the extreme religious fanatics known as the White Mantle, take sides in a civil war we had no stake in, take part in the extermination of refugees who weren’t human just because they were in the way, and help unleash doom on the world twice over thinking we were saving it.

I believe that’s known as “leaving humanity’s mark on history”.

AntiGw.9367:

I googled “Book of what not to do in Storytelling”. Lots of interesting reads.

what worries me is Anet’s ‘professional’ writers should know these things already.

WHY is there no regular appearance of Zojja, Caithe and Faolain in all this? Why aren’t they front and center of this saga???? Not to mention the rest of Destiny’s Edge.

Suggestions that they are otherwise occupied does not hold any water since they have not been an indication that they as a group have form a unified course of action. Ignoring the Personal Story is not acceptable in any shape or form. It must be taken into account regardless.

Simply put. the Living Story events MUST be set after the events of the Personal Story and be written as such. And we all know it hasn’t been.

Shriketalon.1937:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

We also used to assist the extreme religious fanatics known as the White Mantle, take sides in a civil war we had no stake in, take part in the extermination of refugees who weren’t human just because they were in the way, and help unleash doom on the world twice over thinking we were saving it.

I believe that’s known as “leaving humanity’s mark on history”.

You do have a fair point. Just pointing out, with the right interpretation of events . . . Tyria doesn’t have “heroes”, it has murderous thugs who run around changing things and letting other people pick up the mess.

So, if the world’s a mess enough for “one errant weed” to stir up this much trouble? I blame great-great grandpa Tobias and all the others like him who did things like, oh, free the king of the dead and leave him in power to take over lands with a power vacuum in them?

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

So, if the world’s a mess enough for “one errant weed” to stir up this much trouble? I blame great-great grandpa Tobias and all the others like him who did things like, oh, free the king of the dead and leave him in power to take over lands with a power vacuum in them?

So the annoyance of dealing with Scarlet Briar is exactly the kind of feeling Palawa Joko endures as he watches heroes rampage around the map? Much as I dislike the weed……I could dig that.

All hyperbole aside, what I don’t like about Briar is the sheer amount of time her story has taken with so little gained. We’ve been fighting one single villain for twelve months with no main plan, no ultimate threat, and no justification why this psychopath causing mayhem is more worthy of our attention than centaurs butchering innocent villagers, jotun murdering homesteaders in their beds, or krait dragging citizens down into enslavement. Sure, the cookie crumbs of chaos crystals and ley lines help point to something bigger….but the Ascalon Settlement is on fire and Caledon is under siege. Tyria is not a tranquil world, but all we’ve done in this living story is fought Scarlet and her minions. Well, that, and playing in a magical box and going to the beach to see Faren in a speedo. That was worth it.

If it honestly takes over a year to slay one single mad sylvari, we’re never going to get anywhere. I would very much enjoy a game that depicts the battle against Kralkatorric, the war against Jormag, the ground pount with Primordius, the high seas showdown with The-Elder-Dragon-Formerly-Known-As-Bubbles, the return of the Mursaat and their invasion of Tyria, the conquest of Palawa Joko and his awakened horde, the piercing of the Mists to find the realms of the gods, the revelation of Cantha’s long lost fate, the discovery of the Pale Tree’s Origin, the opening of the Dominion of Winds, the pact with the Largos, the bond with the Kodan, the awakening of Dhuum, the threat of civil war, the restoration of the Orrian nation…

If this last year was a trial run to figure out how to design two week content, that’s acceptable. The actual mechanics have dramatically improved and the updates become crisper, sharper, more coherent every set. But if this is the kind of storytelling that will continue throughout this game’s cycle, then we’re never going to see what’s beyond that horizon.

The only significant thing that she’s accomplished is to prove that Anet won’t change direction, no matter how rotten the path.