Excuse me? Did you say that the races are essentially equal at least at the start of the events of GW2 the game? Seriously?
Yes. I DO believe that the 5 races are more or less equal in the current lore setting.
1. The Asura are on the top of the heap when it comes to technology and their monopoly on the Asura gates, but they have no real military force to speak of. The Peacemakers are primarily a police force, not an army, while the Arcane Eye is equivalent to special ops that handle sensitive matters for the Council. Their race as a whole is heavily dependent on golems to handle much of their heavy lifting and security, and many events in the game show that golems are far from completely reliable servants.
As a race, they are also largely hampered by the fact that individual krewes do not really cooperate with each other, and the largest (and arguably most effective) krewe, the Inquest, is regarded as a dangerous quasi-terrorist group. They would struggle to put up a united front in the face of a serious threat. As Vekk once says back in EotN, “get 3 Asura in a room and you get 4 opinions”.
2. The Sylvari are extremely new to the scene. Their numbers are likely nowhere near as numerous as the other races. They can be found everywhere in Tyria, but they are not the majority anywhere except in the Grove. They also have no real primary industry, selling mostly niche goods. Individual sylvari artisans or workers might be in high demand, but as a race they do not have a stranglehold over a particular trade like the other races.
Like the Asura, they also have no real military force to speak of; the Wardens are concerned primarily with protecting the Grove and their small number of outposts from the Nightmare Court (which I’ve been told accounts for up to 15% of all Sylvari), their biggest threat aside from the dragons and their minions.
3. The Norn are perhaps the least powerful race when taken as a nation. They are highly individualistic, and do not seem to be especially populous. They do not have a cohesive military force; the typical mentality of a Norn when confronted with a threat potentially too big for him to handle is “HAH! This will just make my legend greater!” They don’t even really have a true leader. Knut Whitebear is one of the most well-respected Norn around, but his authority basically doesn’t extend past Hoelbrak. Other Norn outside of Hoelbrak do as they please.
A single Norn might be a force to be reckoned with, but they lack the kind of unity and cooperation that gives the other races such influence in the world.
4. The Charr are the only other race that have the sense of unity and cooperation necessary to achieve world dominance. They also have a huge advantage in their advances in mass production and black powder technology, but even they have their problems. The Flame Legion is an ever-present threat, as are the ghosts of Ascalon and now the Branded. There’s also the not-inconsequential threat of Renegades and Ogres (I doubt the Grawl have the organisation to really be a threat to the Charr).
5. Finally, the Humans. Despite appearances, they still control considerable areas of land, much of which is excellent farming land. That likely means they are the biggest food producers in Tyria, which gives them considerable economic clout.
Their biggest enemies right now are the Centaurs and the Bandits, and the latter is primarily a self-inflicted problem. The storyline makes it clear that the Bandits are largely funded by elements within the Ministry that may have ties back to the White Mantle. Minister Caudecus is their leader (or at least a significant figure within their ranks), and the events of the CM Story Mode make it clear that he’s now largely neutralised. Meanwhile, the players can strike significant blows against the Centaur forces as part of the Ulgoth world boss chain. (Were it not for the fact that it were a repeating event, it might actually signal the collapse of the Centaur war effort, since the Modniir were the real drivers behind the war.)
Were it not for Scarlet’s attack on Divinity’s Reach, I’d say that the events of the game show Humans conquering or gaining the upper hand against their two biggest threats, leaving them poised to start solidifying their position and strengthening their power base.
The Commanders I most enjoy following in EotM are the ones who do this precise strategy. Go out and capture poorly or undefended targets, but if the enemy comes calling at our Keep, we head back and defend it.
Ah well.
Definitely Farmville-ish, but I always love ideas that inject more life and purpose into our Home Instances.