Guild Wars 2

I had this problem too. I was literally seconds away from finishing Forging the Pact when my connection dropped for just an instant. I lost the entire mission and had to start over, including the running back and forth playing telephone for Trehearne part at the beginning. Very frustrating. I also got disconnected and dropped during Battle for Claw Island while I was trying to aim the trebuchet shot, and got booted from Estate of Decay once but fortunately that was at the beginning and I didn’t lose much.

GW2 really needs a feature like GW1 where it will hold your progress in memory for a couple of minutes in case of a connection drop, at least when you’re in an instance. It doesn’t have to be for very long, just long enough that you don’t lose everything because of a two second internet hiccup.

It diminished my enjoyment of the game somewhat – not just during the particular mission where I was losing progress, but every time there was a long mission I had at the back of my mind, “Is my connection going to drop? I’d better memorize this in case I have to do it over!” rather than just being in the moment. I didn’t love spending my recreation time having to worry about something like this. (Although I did enjoy most aspects of the game.)

I really like this idea. That would pack a lot of emotional punch.

I kept expecting to have to fight my mentor in Risen form, but it never happened. The Sovereign Eye claimed that Forgal was waiting for me with Zhaitan, but it just never went anywhere.

Some closure there would be nice, and it could add meaningfully to the story.

I find that time of day makes a huge difference. If possible, choose a peak time when the most people will be online.

I tried to find a group for this on a Thursday afternoon, no dice. Then I tried again on Friday evening, and had a full group after a few minutes of LFGing at the entrance.

The more people who are actually playing when you start, the better the odds that some of them will want to do the same thing as you.

Drakenvold.9761:

i agree tho that Forgal was best suited for a platoon level leadership ^^

Even though Forgal was my favourite character, and I interpreted him and my character as getting along really well in a mutually gruff and bantering way, I would agree with this too.

I actually think Forgal himself would agree. I saw no indication that he had any aspirations toward top-level leadership, or that he considered himself suited for such. It seemed to me like he was pretty much where he wanted to be, and felt that he’d reached a suitable endpoint for his career at his present level in the chain of command.

I don’t think Forgal would actually have wanted to be offered the job of Pact Marshal in the first place. I haven’t played through the OoW storyline, but from what I’ve heard from others, I can’t imagine Tybalt would have wanted the job either.

Yumae.7256:

1) What is your age? Gender?

29/Female

2) How important is a game’s story to you? Why?

It is the most important aspect of a game for me.

3) Within a game’s story, are you more interested in individual characters, or in bigger events and groups?

I think that individual characters add a human/personalized element to the stories of larger events and groups, so I don’t actually think they’re separate for me.

4) In regards to your own character, do you identify with them? In other words, do you view your character as yourself? Or do you view your character as a separate entity which you created?

My character is a fictional entity I created. She is not me. She has some qualities that I admire, but she also has some qualities I see as flaws.

5) Do you view your character’s progression as something you create/determine, or something the game itself creates/determines?

Both, but primarily self-determined. Even when the game provides plot elements, I see myself as determining my character’s reactions.

6) What do you view as your character’s ultimate goal? Is it different from the goal of defeating the final dungeon or raid boss?

My character’s ultimate goal is to help bring peace and stability to the (fictional) world, and to be happy with her family when the battles end. This sometimes incorporates elements of game mechanics, but also far transcends them.

7) How effective do you find personal story in MMORPGs (usually done through personal instances/quests)? Do you find it disjointed from the rest of the game, or do you feel it fits well with the rest of the game?

Um… varies? I think this really depends on the MMO. Often somewhat disjointed, but see question 8.

I think this is an area GW2 could stand to work on, because the story transitions are often jarring rather than smooth – but that’s true between steps of the personal story, too. I think this is something the writers will figure out better over time.

8) How do you view the idea that many other players are also playing through the same personal story?

I separate it in my mind. It’s simply not possible for everyone’s personal stories to fit together, so I don’t try to make them mesh. I just compartmentalize my own.

9) How do you view your character’s personal story in relation to the larger stories in the game, or the lore of the game? Do you see a difference between individual story and group story in the game?

When I think of my character’s story arc as a whole, I would include both personal stories and the larger stories. When looking at them abstractly (not from the perspective of a single character,) I do think there’s a difference in that you have to compartmentalize as I mentioned above.

Good luck in your research!

EdwinLi.1284:

Becoming bland in personality doesn’t require combat but most of the time end up being caused by reaching the point where you are about to believe yourself that your goal is hopeless.

But that brings us back to the main point, though… if he’s truly one nastily aggressive chicken away from considering the situation hopeless, why does he feel qualified to lead people toward the goal?

I actually don’t mind Trahearne’s blandness. I agree he’s bland, it’s just not an aspect that particularly bothers me. I know it drives other people crazy, though.

That dinner comment made me chuckle, for the record.

Baron of Winters.5697:

I see your point – though you the player character (as either his 2nd in Command or his Sgt Maj equivalent) would be his only real confidante for his second thoughts. So from the player’s perspective, it should actually be acceptable behaviour.

Have you not finished the storyline yet? I’m not saying that in a sarcastic way, I’m just a little surprised to hear you say this if you have. Spoiler tag just in case.

During a number of missions he makes those comments in front of other NPCs, but it becomes most painfully apparent in Against the Corruption.

In front of a large group of soldiers. In response to a fairly minor setback.

ETA: I also viewed Forgal very differently than you did. He was actually my favourite character, because I was interpreting it as us bantering back and forth before getting down to business. My character seemed to be giving as good as she was getting. I don’t think there’s a right or wrong when it comes to that sort of view of a character, though – it’s just personalities responding to different personalities.

EdwinLi.1284:

Meh his kill lines and battle lines goes off on my like Trahearne has spent too long killing things and he is just use to it. Compared to everyone else in GW2 Trahearne has been fighting and studying Zhaitan’s army since the day he was born so while everyone else can get emotional over the horrors of the Elder Dragon Trahearne has seen these Horrors his entire life.

One of the main things he says, though, is “This isn’t going to end well.” That doesn’t really fit with what you’re saying.

I can’t buy him as a battle-hardened killer when he told me we were going to lose when we were fighting – to give just two examples – a fish and an unfriendly chicken.

Baron of Winters.5697:

So my question to all who dump on Trahearne: What do you think would make him a better military leader? What characteristic does he lack, (or show too much of)?

I think he would be a better leader if he didn’t put his own insecurities on display so much of the time. It’s fine to have insecurities – he wouldn’t be a normal person if he didn’t. I think, though, that he needs to develop the ability to table his own personal problems for a little while when there’s a mission at stake. The constant need to pat the leader on the back doesn’t exactly do wonders for my morale as one of the led.

I also think he would be a better leader if he kept his morale-killing thoughts to himself. Hearing at the start of combat encounters that “This isn’t going to end well” makes it seem like he either doesn’t trust me when things are actually going fine, or makes the situation worse when we’re struggling.

I wish he wouldn’t react to things like a colleague sacrificing himself with a glib “Moving on.” I realize that’s randomized, but that particular line came at wildly, offensively inappropriate points twice in my own story, and if the developers don’t want the character to seem like a sociopath, they need to think about when those lines could trigger, and whether the implications are horrible if they do.

I think he needs to stop avoiding the troops at important junctures. There were multiple times when the Pact members obviously needed him, and I had to go track him down and pep talk him before he’d even go see them. Meanwhile, they’re just milling around wondering where their leader is. I realize he’s caught up in his own thoughts at those times, but it comes off to me as him caring more about himself than the rest of us. He’d be a better leader if his default response to anything major going down wasn’t to go off and brood by himself.

To sum it all up: I think Trahearne would be a better leader if he wasn’t quite so self-focused. I realize that he had a lot of responsibility, but I think when someone takes a leadership role, they need to prepare to stop making their struggles everyone’s problem, and develop some internal coping skills rather than relying on a near-constant stream of external validation.

Lucretia.8507:

Yes, lets keep all the personal stories the same, that way we can see what a huge difference our choices have made!

No, I’m not saying keep all stories the same, I’m saying keeping them equal.

What’s being suggested is that the Whispers storyline have additional plot development at the point where the other two stories just end.

Our choices shouldn’t all have the same outcome, but giving one story branch a noticeably better outcome gives an incentive for that choice, and makes the other choices less desirable.

Rewarding certain story choices and – by the same token – punishing other ones is the exact opposite of encouraging us to make meaningful decisions.

As someone who chose Vigil, I wouldn’t be too happy if Whispers players got to keep their mentor and no one else did. I don’t see how ANet could do this without seeming to favour players of one storyline over the rest of us.

The way things are now, the stories are all sad but equal; it wouldn’t seem too fair if Whispers got a plot continuation but the story just stopped for everyone else.

Quaz.4931:

Try swapping the races around in the lore, and see if you feel the same way.

Why be hypothetical about it? Another race is already doing just that, population expanding rapidly (at a much faster clip than even humans did, actually) and moving outward into other races’ settled homelands.

That would be the Sylvari.

If we need an example of another race being “swapped”… well, all you have to do is consider your feelings about the Sylvari we already have.

It’s based on killing a certain number of giants in particular, not just enemies in general. While the tank is obviously the easiest way to do this if it’s working, you can achieve the objective other ways. I killed two with mortars and took out another just using my standard ranged combat, in addition to using the tank.

Focus as many of your attacks on the giants as possible. Taking out the other Risen doesn’t advance the quest no matter how many you kill, so try to leave them to the NPCs.

If the tank is bugged for you, bringing a second player to help you go after the giants may help, as a lot of your NPCs will die.

Khyron.8735:

Clearly it’s all the Charr’s fault because they’re a war like race. Yes, let’s completely ignore how warlike humans were before the Charr made their move like when the humans attacked the Charr to claim Ascalon or when the human nations were at a full blown war against each other for the hell of it or when the humans kicked the centaur off their lands too or how the nobles of Kryta are trying to kill off the other nobles of Kryta in their political mindgames or how the people of Ebonhawke wanted to continue the war. Or how their most popular gods are that of war, lies and death. Totally peaceful and honest folk, them humans. Clearly innocent right?

I don’t think anyone is trying to claim that humanity as a species never committed atrocities or acts of injustice. You’re arguing against a point that (as far as I have seen) no one is actually making.

What we’re saying is that individual humans can be innocent victims of acts of aggression, even if other individual humans have been perpetrators of acts of aggression.

Theories of collective guilt don’t justify slaughtering and enslaving civilians.

The Searing was wrong, no matter what happened in the human/Charr history.

It would be equally wrong if the humans unleashed a Cauldron of Searing on the Black Citadel tomorrow and started taking the survivors as slaves, no matter what happened in human/Charr history.

Saying that humanity is perfect would indeed not fit the lore – but no one is saying that. We’re saying that what the distant ancestors of the humans did to the distant ancestors of the Charr does not put any level of violence the Charr want to engage in on the table for any time in the future. It has to stop.

That’s the same reason what the Charr did to Ascalon is unjustified, and the treaty is the right thing anyway.

Rannug.2731:

I like it too, LEAVE IT.. .. hey, you are playing a female .. no HUAH and UGG there .

Are you, by chance, a male?

Just wondering, because as a real-life female, I can vouch that we don’t necessarily make dainty and delicate sounds when we’re engaging in physical activity or when we get hurt. Women are capable of grunting and bellowing too.

Dustfinger.9510:

First of all, I don’t think it’s been confirmed that the charr conquered that specific land first. If they had it wasn’t from humans so yes, that is my response because thta’s exactly what the humans did.

I can see why we may be talking at cross purposes, then. From the official source material:

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/The_Ecology_of_the_Charr

Secondly, that standard was acceptable by the humans. Acceptable by the charr. ANY sympathy you would give to the “innocent civilian humans” you will have to give to the charr when the humans got there. So, now wether it’s right or wrong is dependant upon whether it happens to the humans. hmmm.

Assuming the humans committed atrocities like the Searing rather than engaging in a peaceful Sylvari-like expansion (I don’t think we have the details on that,) then yes, what the humans did was wrong too. My guess is the humans did commit atrocities, and those should be a source of regret and the species should increase in enlightenment after those bad times.

Harming Charr civilians would be equally wrong. That just didn’t seem to be the subject of current discussion, so I figured it would just be assumed from what I said about an equal standard. I guess I should have been more specific.

My point has never been that humanity as a race has never engaged in wrongdoing in Tyria. That’s not true at all. Humans have done some wretched things. I just think the collective guilt thing often gets taken too far – especially when it involves blaming present humans for things that happened a thousand years ago.

The Herald freaked my character out. She didn’t like being watched that closely, and felt like she was being spied on.

Orion the Cursed.1206:

Its not exaggerating. I know how to do dungeons. You forgot the event needed to open the door to Arah? You are basically acting smug although you basically skipped the hardest part of the “personal story”. Can you open the doors with only 5 players?

I didn’t skip it, I just did it a lot earlier than the last story step, so I didn’t understand that that was what you were talking about. How have you been doing missions up to that point if you hadn’t opened the door to Orr? Maybe if you were a little clearer about what your issue was, it would help – you said the problem was the last story step, not opening the gate, and there’s quite a lot of story left after the gate.

But honestly… yeah, it doesn’t take that many people to open the door. I didn’t count, but there can’t have been more than ten of us when we were doing that run.

I also didn’t have to get a group together for it, because I didn’t even know in advance it had to be done. I just thought, “Hm, I’ll follow this DE,” and it just happened. I didn’t really think of it as a massive undertaking, I guess.

I’m sorry it’s bugged on your server, though, and I hope you get to do it soon.

I’m just concerned you’ll find it a bit of a letdown when you do it, because you seem to have it built up in your mind as something much more challenging and dramatic than it is.

The human nation set a standard of might makes right.

Wait – your response to my pointing out that the Charr were the conquerors of Ascalon first, was that humans set the standard that might makes right? That doesn’t even follow. Did you mean to say the Charr did and just made a typo? Because if we’re talking about who took Ascalon by force first and established (if it exists) a “law of the land,” that would be the Charr.

Either way, I don’t think that standard ever reaches a workable conclusion. By that standard every nation has set the principle that might makes right by some action someone did somewhere back in history, and it is thus right to destroy the civilians of any nation for any reason at any time. Moral issues aside, that’s impractical.

Also, if all that matters is the spread of a population and the means are irrelevant, the biggest current offender nation is… um… the Sylvari. They’re moving into territory at a very rapid clip, taking in a generation what other nations took in centuries. Morally, though, the Sylvari just existing doesn’t compare to a deliberate attack like the Searing (or the Foefire.)

I will be honest that what this discussion often seems to boil down to is people suggesting that the Charr should be held to a different standard than anyone else, and that whether something is right or wrong depends more on whether the Charr are on the giving or receiving end rather than the action itself.

Two other pieces of advice I belatedly thought of for Ossuary:

In between stopping points where Trahearne makes his observations, return to the centre of the wheel, then take another raised path to get to where you need to go… do not take the circular path around the edge. That way you avoid most of the tough foes entirely. The circular path is a shorter distance, but it pretty much guarantees that the NPCs will aggro something. (Or that something will run into you.)

Also, beware of knockback. The first time I tried the mission, I was too close to the edge and got knocked out of the instance area and kicked. That’s a pretty frustrating way to lose progress. If you fall off the outside of the rim, there’s no recovering the mission. Bear that in mind and don’t stray too close to the edge, take it from me. :P

Orion the Cursed.1206:

Why is the very last step NOT SOLO-ABLE??? Do i have to get 30+ people just for 1 completion? Oh wait, its bugged anyway

It’s a five person dungeon – you only have to find four others. When I was doing the Arah dungeon, I just LFGed at the entrance and we had enough people in a few minutes. I know finding a group can be challenging on some servers and at some times of day, but I don’t think exaggerating things this much really helps.

Nope, that’s a dungeon, not part of the personal story.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the dungeon either, though. The mail comes when you reach the appropriate level. My guess is your friend leveled up when he/she claimed the XP for mission completion, and you will get it too once you hit the next level.

Yeah, keep the NPCs well back, and try to stay on the main raised paths when you can to minimize wandering or extra aggro. Remember that the NPCs have wider aggro range than a human player does. The monsters move quite slowly, so stay well away, then go for it once they’re past.

Timing is really key.

I soloed Ossuary too.

Here’s what worked for me, hopefully it’ll help you too: You don’t need to fight the majority of the Abominations and Veteran Knights. Just wait until they pass. They move slowly enough that you can get through their path before the next one comes. If you stop to fight, you end up taking too much aggro because it’s hard to kill them fast enough to be out of the way before more monsters come. If you just run by their patrol route after one passes, you’ll find things much easier.

I don’t think this mission is designed for you to fight everything – I think the trick is to time your moves into the next area to avoid combat when possible.

Forgal was by far my favourite character in the game. I loved his gruff but fatherly style of leadership. I really missed his presence once he was gone.

I’m glad there’s a thread giving him some love, because it seems like he often ends up in Tybalt’s shadow on the forum. Forgal deserves lots of praise of his own, though.

Would gladly trade Trahearne for Forgal’s return. Please, ANet?

The choice only comes up if you selected Dead Sister as your story branch (regardless of other background choices.) The only way the game uses the information is to select how Deborah will look for the player.

People who chose a different regret will never be asked the question.

If you chose Dead Sister had haven’t been asked, you probably just haven’t gotten far enough. It comes up after the story branch is already in progress.

Where Mira happens to die makes a huge difference in the difficulty of the Claw Island mission. That single factor pretty much determines whether you will die half a dozen times trying to get her rezzed in the middle of an endlessly spawning mob of Risen, or whether you can just slip around behind and get her back to the fort.

I really think the mission needs to be adjusted so that she either dies in the same place every time, or else make the mob not respawn when it’s directly above her.

So once the Shaman Caste was overthrown, the charr could portray themselves as they truly are.

I think reality is a lot more nuanced than this.

Remember Pyre Fierceshot? Who led that rebellion? Has this to say about the Searing:

“My father was a great soldier. Without him, Ascalon would not be the smoldering ruin it is today. I will honor his memory.”

“Yes, mouse. Your people will retake their homeland… when they can eat ash and sleep in flame.”

This is the guy who led the effort to overthrow the shamans, I will point out again. So no, it’s simply not true that all the other Charr felt absolutely awful about what the shaman caste had done and were against it all along.

I will stand by what I said, that the Charr alive today are not responsible for what their ancestors did.

They are, however, responsible for their own attitudes about it – and that attitude seems to be for the most part about justification and insisting they were somehow the true victims. That is a problem, and is exactly why I said before that I’m not a fan of the Charr.

Their ancestors also took charr lands from the charr.

Land the Charr themselves conquered in the time of the first Khan-Ur. They weren’t the original inhabitants of Ascalon, either.

I don’t think that’s a contradiction. If I recall correctly, the point was that gargoyles disappeared from Ascalon. Even assuming they disappeared from the entirety of Tyria… the Mad Realm isn’t part of Tyria, it’s part of the Underworld.

It’s interesting that they look so different from the ones we’ve seen.

I’ve only gotten that far on a character with the Human Sister option chosen, but if I’m understanding my guildmates correctly, the NPC would still be there but simply wouldn’t have a previous connection to the player character.

I think you’re right about the dialog being designed to accommodate that.

i get that all the players cant be the saviors or tyria at the same time nor lead the Pact.

But all the players can’t be Trahearne’s second in command, either, by the same logic.

Nor can we all have the same sister or parent, the same warband, the exact same small handful of life experiences, etc.

To make the personal story work at all, you have to separate it from everyone else’s personal story in your mind. If you try to make everyone’s personal story fit together, you get gibberish.

When it comes to the historical record, it would make the most sense to say, “The Pact defeated Zhaitan.” Because… it’s the truth. None of us acted alone – not the PC and not Trahearne. Pinning anyone’s name to the battle exclusive of everyone else is creating problems that don’t even have to exist if we accept the story we actually saw play out. Everyone helped, and that’s exactly how canon ought to reflect it.

We’re all heroes for being part of the fight. We don’t need a special chosen one.

Spoilers for Human Sister:

Gab Superstar.4059:

I will never forgive the Charr. Althea? All those Ascalonians you saved from the cages that had been imprisoned for years? Throwing a little kid into an arena for fun and sports?

Disgusting, cruel creatures.

To be fair (and I’m not much of a Charr fan myself, to be honest with you,) none of the Charr currently alive in the GW2 era had even been born yet when all that was happening.

Zoe.6230:

Sure it’s their character to make fun of but he was a very likable, adorable character so…bad taste.

That’s the point, though… the Mad King has bad taste. He’s not a nice man. He’s a monster.

This is the same guy who had one of his wives murdered and burned another at the stake, tortured and dismembered peasants, and was responsible for the deaths of a whole lot of people.

Yeah, what he said about Snaff is mean… but being mean is very much in character for the Mad King.

I don’t think what the Mad King says should ever be read as how ANet truly thinks and feels. King Thorn is a villain in the story, even though he’s part of the holiday celebration. I think sometimes people forget that.

The humans of Ascalon were judged by their own rules of conquest.

Many of the humans caught in the Foefire were just civilians who had no part in any conquests. In the book, we see ghosts who were shepherds and farmers in life, and in the game there are plenty of ghosts marked “peasant.” Not all of them were even soldiers.

And are you talking about when humans originally conquered Ascalon? None of the humans alive at the time of the Foefire (or even the Searing) had even been born then. It would have been their distant ancestors.

As I keep pointing out on this forum, Charr also were not the original inhabitants of Ascalon – they just took it in a somewhat earlier conquest, during the time of the first Khan-Ur.

It’s not a fair standard to hold people responsible for the deeds of their ancestors which they had no control over. Nor does it make practical or moral sense to say any group has the right to take back any land their nation ever controlled, by whatever means are expedient. If we are arguing original habitation as the primary claim, the Charr have no claim on Ascalon either.

Most of the Foefire victims did nothing to deserve their fate.

I think if they’re going to do this at all, they need to have equal options (including same sex options) available to all characters and races. If that is too difficult for whatever reason, the developers should just leave it out period.

I should also point out that this is a fairly easily thing to do yourself, whether or not ANet builds it into the game. See an NPC who would suit your character as a mate? Write that into your character’s story for yourself in your own mind or in some fiction, and it’s done.

It’s one of those things where “historical” accounts of the same event differ, with each trying to put their own side in a better light.

It seems to me that after what we read in Ghosts of Ascalon and what we’ve seen in the game, the Adelbern did it on purpose theory is probably the correct one.

I’m not sure that the Kitah Manse is closely related to Kitah from GW1.

Kitah appears to be a family name in the mission at the manse. (You come across a Lord Kitah, seemingly title + surname.) Whereas the GW1 Mesmer seems to have just one name.

It may be that the change to Kitah being a surname came later – possibly Canthan Kitah is their ancestor? – but I don’t think the connection is direct.

I wouldn’t even mind Trahearne leading the Pact as his in-character role, if he had more of a supporting role in the plot itself (like General Soulkeeper, for example) instead of being the star.

My problem wasn’t that he was leader – we were led by NPCs the entire plot, and most of them were fine – but rather that the leader seemed more central to my story sometimes than I did myself.

I picked the Gear Warband because it was more clear to me how they would benefit the war effort in a way we didn’t already have covered, two strong Charr was numerically better than one strong Norn, and I wasn’t sure I was ready to get attached to another Norn so soon after losing Forgal.

I think I have some screenshots of them, but I’ll need to find them when I get home. I’ll add them if/when I do.

I would have no problem with that being an option… as long as it was optional. I prefer to come up with that sort of thing myself rather than have the game come up with it for me. (My character as I’ve created her is already happily married, so it would be awkward to say the least.) I think it could be cool for other players as long as I’m not required by the storyline to take part.

I felt the same way; the ending was bittersweet because Forgal wasn’t there.

I think ANet did a good job of getting us attached to our mentors.

The Mad King is intended to be a cruel, unfeeling character. Some of his jokes are just lame, but others are pretty mean. He’s not one of the good guys, and his words should not be taken as representative of ANet’s real opinions.

What area of Sparkfly Fen was this? (Which waypoint were you near?) I’d like to go see this too and will screencap it for the thread if I can reproduce it.

My main issue with Trahearne is that he’s forced into the spotlight so much of the time in ways that feel contrived, rather than taking a more natural supporting background role.

When it comes to being unsure, though… in most circumstances, I agree with you. Not, however, when you’re a major military leader with the lives of soldiers in your hands. People who would fight and die for the Pact were looking to Trahearne for guidance, and he was so often wringing his hands or entirely absent brooding about his own problems. When you agree to take on that sort of leadership role, you have to be able to table your own problems for the sake of your followers’ morale, but Trahearne came off to me as absorbed in his own issues the majority of the time.

I haven’t seen anything in normal PvE, but it did come up in a later mission, and it was a well-played gut punch.

Vigil spoilers:

My character was not happy, and was even more determined to pummel that thing for daring to use her mentor’s name like that.

Ascalonian Deborah is at right in the attached picture. (My PC is to her left.)

It’s not really clear in that picture but her eyes are purple.

ETA regarding Elona: Yeah, it’s based on Africa, with the three different nations – Istan, Kourna, and Vabbi – representing different geographic and cultural aspects of that continent. It’s where GW1 Nightfall takes place, so if you play that campaign you’ll see a lot of it. There’s a variety of skin tone, hair type, and features among the Elonian population, so the Elonian Deborah looks believably Elonian, but not all Elonians would look like her.

My biggest laugh out loud moment was unfortunately unintentional.

We’d just cleansed the Source of Orr, and as the beautiful cinematic was winding to its close, at the moment when we saw the pure flowing fountain that represented the result of so much hard work and sacrifice…

Trahearne’s random dialog triggered, and he loudly announced over the cinematic, “Moving on!”

Wow, way to kill the mood. Glad you care so much about this mission, Trahearne. :P

I didn’t chose particularly funny story options, but some things out in the open world are hilarious. For example, one of my favourites was when the harpy pheromone potion had led to a kidnapping, and an NPC asked something along the lines of, “Who would buy a product that gives you harpies?”

I don’t see much indication that the Charr as a society have much negative feeling about the Searing, actually – at least not in regards to the people killed and enslaved. (I’m sure some individuals do.) I see more justifications and attempts to position themselves as somehow the true victims in the whole thing than any sense of regret.

I’m not convinced it wouldn’t happen again if those currently in power saw an advantage to mass destruction of civilians and the land itself again in the future.

Charr society has advanced a lot technologically and socially, but I don’t see a whole lot of evolution in moral thought. (Again, speaking on a societal level; individuals will differ.)

I forgot to add that some of the Seraph refer to the centaurs derogatorily as “ponies” if you listen to their dialog, which also indicates that they have a clear concept of what horses are.

(As an explanation for those who aren’t horse people: although there are exceptions for some breeds, in general the difference between a horse and a pony is a height cutoff. In most cases they’re the same type of animal, which is why I’m referring to horses and ponies interchangeably in my posts.)

Romke’s Final Voyage takes place in Desmina’s Hallows (Cursed Shore) in Orr.

The reason the quest marker is doing that, is it automatically shows you the closest route – but it doesn’t take into account whether the Asura gates involved in the closest route are actually accessible to your character, so it sometimes directs you to a route you can’t take.

You don’t need to use the gate, though. It just shaves off some distance. If you can get to Orr (or even just Fort Trinity,) you’ll be able to walk to the instance area and the quest marker should start pointing correctly.