Guild Wars 2

This is a very low priority with the wealth of concerns major and minor at hand. I don’t mean at all for such a small affair to distract from them and urge their foremost attention. So the idea isn’t meant with any degree of extreme urging. However, the locked armor types really hamper heavy armor wearers (and to a lesser extent medium) into an absence of anything approaching social clothing.

Probably less of a concern to non roleplayers but with the abundance of social clothing worn by npcs of all races it stands to reason it’d be ‘easy’ to produce an NPC that lets you buy such clothing (even if race-locked).

Sycophancy does not make for good criticism, critiquing, or general observations. All it does is facilitate a group-think mindset where everyone toes the party line and any and all straying is met with hostility and locked ranks. Insulting critics by dismissing them due to a lack of professional participation is poor behavior. It’s what has gotten Bioware in a lot of trouble when their ardent fans consider any dissagreement to be dissident which much be squashed.

If this forum exists simply to be an echo chamber of applauds…well, it wouldn’t. Arenanet are good developers who want an engaging audience, and not simply to hear empty and pleasing words. And you are doing absolutely no good by coming in and challenging dissidents to silence because they aren’t simply singing empty praise of Arenanet. We wouldn’t be here, playing and offering views on the game if we weren’t fans.

One cannot point to the magntitude of writing as an excuse for the widespread disappointment in the Trahearne/endgame story. If anything, that should be the most important and prioritized part of the personal story. Yet as Belian says, the promise of choice is diminished rather than enhanced as time goes on.

There’s no dancing around the fact – Trahearne is horribly presented as a character. Those who have expressed approval are in the minority and many have even taken to unfairly mock the “This is your story” theme by joking “This is Trahearne’s story – not yours. You don’t matter”. Which is a strong impression given in the later levels. The term Mary Sue is thrown around absurdly, yet he really fits the bill to a T:

1) He shows up randomly (even for Sylvari who interacted with him, he treats them he never met them) in medias res to the storyline. Despite this, we are told, not shown (Like Greyfeld notes) how he is this awesome super special firstborn who is widely respected and beloved by everyone who ever meets him. As my friend noted, he is “a character whose overimpressive qualifications and forced heroism detract from the story rather than enhance it”. Compare this to characters we meet and get to watch develop and prove themselves (Tybalt, Magister Sieran), or the Destiny’s Edge characters we are very familiar with the exploits of.

2) He’s destined to cleanse Orr. From what I understand Sylvari player’s Wyld Hunt of killing Zhaitan is marginalized, while Trahearne’s wyld hunt is magnified. So the player is mitigated at the cost of Trahearne.

3) Despite being a scholarly study of Orr, he’s randomly chosen for the almighty position of Warmarshal. Then he suddenly develops ‘brilliant’ warmarshalling and everyone applauds his speeches and strategies. You, however, are constantly given doubt (both self, such as fighting the Mouth, and external, from the Asuran Explosive’s wive) to your performance.

4) He always has some superpower perfect for the situation at hand from his necromacy.

5) He’s given Tyria’s equivalent to Narsil.

I am at the cusp of completing the campaign so I cannot comment further. But I’ve met only one individual who liked Trahearne (and he’s practically a Sylvari nationalist) and another who was ambivalent. I don’t mind a setting which has the character not being the great big hero. However, those settings don’t shove a great big hero in the player’s face and let them claim the player’s glory. This feels like one is playing Seleucus I Nicator while Alexander the Great takes all the glory, or some minor Arthurian Knight who plays Dr. Phil to getting Arthur and Lancelot and the rest of the round table back together. Ultimately, the experience reminds me of how many depicted Kormir.

I’m personally also not a fan of how important Destiny’s Edge factors into the story, how we are quite literally told we’re nothing more than “A catalyst” to their re-creation. We’re also given very little means to like the members of Destiny’s Edge prior to their patching up. I find Thackeray and Zojja to be loathsome. Eir’s spinelessness is tiresome, and I am only sympathetic to Caithe and Rytlock because they have to deal with those three buffoons. All the likable and engaging characters Among others, the asuran explosive experts (Tomm?), each of the Order representatives usually end up dying.

How I would have done it? Caithe and Destiny’s Edge realize they cannot be put back together again. They facilitate the player’s development of a new Destiny’s Edge. It would consist of the Whisper’s Tybalt, Priory’s Magister Sieran, Vigil’s Warmaster Forgal, then maybe Zojja or another Asuran.

Thus, you would feel like you are going on your own adventure, rather than hitch-hiking on another’s group.

I will be buying Guild Wars 2 expansions in times to come. I am praying that we will not have Destiny’s Edge, and I’ll even offer sacrifice to Abbadon to keep Trahearne from joining us. The story should be the player’s. Not Trahearne’s. Not Destinty’s Edge.

Thanks Qelris. Understand now.

I should note there is a similar issue with Right Hand Strength. It doesn’t show the 15% bonus to crit chance with a 1 handed weapon.

Given other signets do show their intended effects (we can see bane signet adding about 75 power), I believe this isn’t a case of “invisible benefits” but in fact an acute lack of the intended bonus.

Recently reached the ability to have 30 in Radiance. Took the Perfect Inscription trait, but it seems to be bugged to me.

Perfect Inscription: Signet Passive Effects are improved.

You can see the stats on both Bane Signet and my overall powers (at level 70) with and without Perfect Inscription: http://i.imgur.com/rRay6.jpg

As you can see, the power contribution is noted without PI. With it it disappears (but is still counted). Furthermore, the listed bonuses are For active, not passive. And what bonuses to active are very minimal for a trait 30 skill: A mere 30 or so more damage and 1 more second of knockdown.

If it’s intended for Active, not Passive, to be boosted, the trait should reflect that. Otherwise it looks as if the passive bonuses are not given.