Guild Wars 2

Daerian.6523:

I personally would be very happy for my Asura to be able to have some special dialogue with Taimi about her golem or College choice, even not personalised with my character own personal story.

This is one of those instances where you must have missed it. We did put some in. You may have even seen it and not realized that it was different from what others were getting.

One way to ensure you’re getting the full conversation is to make sure you click all the way through, including the exit. We put progress bits on the exits that will determine what future conversations with these characters will be like.

Keep your peepers open. We’ll definitely be doing more with Taimi and the asuran PCs having special moments.

Yes, please. Do report anything you think is a bug. You can do so via the Game Bugs forum: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/bugs .
Or, you can report them in-game from the Support Menu. Thanks!

LOL! Stinky warriors.

Hi, guys…and Veron in particular. I just wanted to let you know that I hear you. In-studio, we talk a lot about how to make the experience unique to each player via branching conversations and the like. I’m sure you understand that this is much more complex than it looks on the surface, especially because it’s impossible to account for every possible combination of PC history.

It has gotten even more complex with the Living World. There simply isn’t enough time to write, edit, voice, and localize a branch for every possible thing you may have done or title you may have received, and so we have to pick our battles.

We apply branches based on your order quite often, and we have branches on the main characters based on whether you already know them or are just meeting them. There is also a ton of content out there to congratulate you if you killed Scarlet. We worked extra hard to make sure this was so. We couldn’t go through and change all the NPCs, however. That would have been a monumental undertaking.

Sometimes, the number of branches we include are invisible to people because they only see one of the branches.

I do hear you, though, and I agree. We do as much of this as we possibly can. We’re always discussing strategies for how to do more. Going forward, you will find that the Living World content is much more in-line with your experience in the Personal Story. Thanks so much for your well-thought-out feedback.

We made Rubi taste them first. (just kidding)

Om nom nom nom nom… Oh good cookies! Thank you, Christina. I could taste the love in them. I had one of each! <3 You are so thoughtful.

Gwylen.3462:

Overall, yes lore is very, very important to me

Me too, Gwylen. And thanks for all the kind words.

Why did the krait agree to work with Scarlet? Why did they not just take the obelisk shards, perhaps enslave some of her minions, with the ruthlessness that they are known for? More so after their “prophet” died? Why do her alliances (krait, dredge, and Flame Legion particularly) continue working for her?

That’s actually 4 questions. Can’t fool me. Hehe. Konig, we devs walk a fine line between giving too much lore, thus spoiling players’ in-game discovery, and not giving enough. If I’m cagey about something, it’s because I don’t want to give you spoilers, and I’m confident that when you activate your superpowers, you’ll find the right conclusions yourselves—and have a lot more fun than if I had spoon-fed it to you in a forum post.

That’s the key. It’s all about you and your experience. Eight hours a day, five days a week, and often more than that, we’re all here, working to make your in-game experience as good as it can be.

Here are some concrete answers for you. Activate imaginations now!

1. Why did the krait agree to work with Scarlet?

Warning: The following is paraphrased in out-of-game language and doesn’t even pretend to be polished writing.

Imagine with me for a moment….

Scarlet sends a missive to the krait in the deeps there. It says simply, “I have shards of one of your obelisks. And, I know what it will take to bring back your prophet.”

The krait replies: “Take a hike. You’re lying. Prove it.”

Scarlet sends the smallest shard with a note: “There are more.”

Krait: “Give them all to us or we’ll kill you and enslave all your friends.”

Scarlet laughs. “You’ll have to get to me first. Can you fly? Of course, if you don’t want your prophets, then I totally understand.”

Krait (after much cussing and killing of slaves): “Hm. What do you want from us?”

Scarlet: “I’ll be sending a Nightmare Court posse along with further proof that I can bring back your prophets. Listen to them. If you kill them, I’ll assume our deal is off, and I’ll turn the shards over to your enemies. You do take your religion seriously, don’t you?”

2. Why did they not take the obelisk shards, perhaps enslave some of her minions, with the ruthlessness they are known for?

See above.

3. More so after their “prophet” died?

As you may have noticed, these krait were profoundly changed during their interaction with the nightmare plant and Scarlet. They are no longer the same creatures they were. They acquired a new look, new skills, and new behavior. Scarlet gave them their prophet, as promised—and may be able to do it again one day. Who was it that killed the prophet? Hmmmm.

4. Why do her alliances…continue working with her?

Each has its own reason.

Krait: They’ve been warped by Scarlet and the Nightmare Court. By the end, the scenario had changed. Scarlet proved she could bring back a prophet to their satisfaction (whether it was actually a prophet or not, no one really knows, but the toxic krait believe it was). And they can’t exactly go join other normal krait. How do you think regular xenophobic krait would feel about these toxic ones?

Dredge: They want power and magic. This group of dredge see an opportunity to add magic to their repertoire. Given their history, this would be a huge feather in their caps. Besides, how often do you get the opportunity to atomize a city like Lion’s Arch? Now that’s fun!

Flame Legion: They want technology and power. This group of FL is taking a huge risk. If they can go home with awesome swag, then they’ll be welcomed, but if they can’t, then they’re likely to be killed the moment they arrive. A large body count (especially the charr and human ones) along with whatever weapons technology they manage to acquire is an inspiring reward for them. And, they get to say they helped bring down Lion’s Arch. They hope to be lauded as heroes when they return to the FL.

You will, of course, have noticed that the three alliances don’t work in very close proximity to one another. There’s a reason for this.

You’ll also have noticed that Scarlet was extremely elusive in the tower of nightmares. Can you imagine why?

1. No really, what happened to their ability to shape-shift?

They can still shape-shift. This was one of the features about them that drew Scarlet to them. Their ability to shape-shift makes their forms more malleable and thus a better subject for the transformation in the nightmare plant.

2. Is it still true that the Oratuss invented the prophets to control the krait people?

This is ancient history. No one knows the truth behind this, not even the krait—although most krait would not take kindly to the implication. If and when we reveal the truth behind this, you’ll hopefully be there to discover it in-character.

3. Does “not anytime soon” in reference to joining the pact indicate that you’re willing to change their ‘black hat’ status if the story demands it and that the possibility that they can change exists (it’s a living world after all cough) or is it just your way of saying never? :P

I’m always willing to make changes to characters if it makes sense with the story. I learned long ago to never say never. I mean…look at the charr.

4. Last but not least – need moar krait interaction ingame. Preferably without the annoying whining Quaggan middle-(wo)man. ;(

They’ll be around for a long time.
:)

1) Does this mean the Kraits were driven out of the ocean homes by the elder sea dragon 250 years ago, so they were forced to live on land?

2) If the Kraits were xenophobic 250 years ago, and as of today they are no longer xenophobic, does that mean they are no longer the force of pure evil that we thought they are?

The answer to your first question is in this wiki page: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unending_Ocean

Keep in mind the “about”. There’s a wiggle factor of 10-15 years either before or after that number that you should keep in mind. In other words, that number isn’t exactly correct.

As to your second question—the krait are evil. I don’t see them joining the Pact any time soon.

The krait are still xenophobic. But, xenophobia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenophobia) is a fear of or hatred for any person or group that is not like the accepted group. It’s racism. In the same way white-supremicists are xenophobic.

They’re not so xenophobic that they won’t even consider taking slaves. They do take slaves. A lot. So they do deal with other races on a regular basis. No, this isn’t an alliance with them, but it is using them. They have proven they’re willing to use other races, if it suits their purposes.

With regard to the article by Ree Soesbee, that particular article was written on May 4, 2011, while we were still developing the game (launched over a year later).

The article provides a general description of krait based on their personality profile and history. You might call it a preview. We (Ree, Jeff, and the entire team) did more development of the krait after that article went live.

Ree even says in the article, “The krait were featured in the original Guild Wars game, and we very much wanted to continue their story in Guild Wars 2. We knew so little about their culture and society; as we were expanding the game into new underwater regions, it was exciting to add new depth (pun intended) to an existing race.” Though she speaks in the past tense in this article, the adding new depth didn’t stop there.

You’ll find references in-game to how quaggans were driven from their homes by krait that had been driven from theirs.

The narrators are not intended to be any particular character you would recognize. And I can tell you that one of the narrators is talented Julie Nathanson (http://www.julienathanson.com/).

I’ll tell you a little secret about the krait, that’s perhaps not so secret, but that may help you understand how and why they’ve changed since GW1. The krait once believed themselves to be the top of the food chain.

But, in these intervening years, they’ve been attacked, driven from their deeps, scattered into smaller groups, and forced to move into more shallow waters. The rise of the dragons gave them a little taste of humble pie. (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Unending_Ocean)

This group of krait are hungry to regain their previous level of power and confidence, and they believe that the one way they can do it is via their prophets. And Scarlet offered them a chance to take back what they’ve lost.

As the wiki says, “Krait doctrine fortells the return of the obelisks’ prophets, bringing with them massive armies to flood the surface of the world and destroy other species.” (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Krait)

They may have wished they could do it a different way, but this particular group of krait agreed to Scarlet’s offer of obelisk shards and the chance to “grow” a prophet.

Christina, we want everyone in Guild Wars 2 to feel like a hero in the game. But, it’s good for us to be reminded that there are those who exercise extreme bravery and strength every day in their real lives. Thank you for taking the time to share your feelings. It means so much to us. We believe strongly in the power of diversity, not just as a tool for telling good stories, but also as one of the things that makes our REAL world so interesting and inspiring. You’re very much a part of that. BIG HUG!