Guild Wars 2

If the Pale Tree dies, I would have a wake for her. She had had a special place in my heart since I met her in EoTN in 2008. I really hope that someone else gets picked off in the next episode. I would rather see Queen Jennah get killed because she doesn’t do anything in this game. With the level of writing that the Anet staff exhibits, I don’t think they have the ability to create a good Sylvari comeback should the Tree die. Psychological, political, and social drama just isn’t their forte. I dont’ think they will ever get to the level of Suzanne Collin’s Hunger Games or GRRM’s Game of Thrones. I can tell that type of stuff isn’t in their interests or passions. And I’m saying that as a writer / artist. I’ve noticed that they like to touch the surface of the subject, but they refuse to delve deeper into the story.

I also hope that this isn’t an attempt to remove the Sylvari from the game. Mama Tree is the only person who protects the Dreamers from Mordremoth’s influence. I know we have a vocal minority that wants them gone, but none of the other races have an interesting storyline like these guys. I’ve tried playing the other groups. Their stories don’t have a good hook.

Only a good storyline will keep me engaged in this game if I were to lose all my hardcore & semi-hard RL friends. I already have gotten to lv 80, and I’m slowly ticking off achievements as I go. . BTW the regular gamers are leaving this game right now because they can’t farm, champ train, get gold in legit ways, or have anything to do after lv 80 . PvP, Guild Missions, Dungeons, and Fractals and WvW can only keep one’s attention for so long. Many of the gamers I’ve been hanging out with have done these things thousands of times, so they’re choosing to leave. Rp and chatting with other gamers is the only thing I have left.

In GW1, the storyline kept me playing the game when my guildies and friends left due to content issues. Now 10 months into this game, the same thing is happening again. The only thing that keeps me engaged is the Sylvari storyline.

The humans & Charr are in a truce, so they’re boring. Asuras have let Inquest integrate into their society, so there isn’t any story conflict. The Norn are just standing around instead of doing something about the Svanir problem. Elona & Cantha aren’t in this game. There is no way to play a Zephyrite. For all we know, Zephyrite culture might not come back after the recent events.

As for the Tengu, it would be great for this group to be reintroduced to this game, but I don’t see any signs of that happening soon.

I guess I’m going to have to create a backup plan in case the worst happens.

Shotgun Sonata.5017:

This one sentence is why I kept playing two months or so after my guild collapsed and I wasn’t having fun. This one sentence:

“I am Litany Duskbreaker, and this is My Story.”

Same here. The intro sentence got me addicted to this game instantly. Well, the intro sentence AND the white stag Sylvari storyline.

Shotgun Sonata.5017:

You see, after about thirty or forty levels of personalized story (which was amazing) the game’s tale began converging. No longer were you the Asura’s most promising upstart, or one of the most promising hunters among the Nords… you became a fledgeling in one of the three huge organizations in the guild. Then you became Trehearne’s right hand man. It didn’t matter where you started, but in the end, you always ended up in the same place. A story that didn’t really belong to you. Ultimately, the story was about another group of adventurers that you had to harangue in to doing the right thing. Then, though, it got worse with Living Story. From one group of NPCs to another, you’re still “the main character’s friend”.

In one of the message forums complaining about how the living story was spotlighting the “GMPCs” too much, BobbyStein’s comments perfectly summed up why I quit GW2, and why I probably won’t be reinstalling unless there’s some pretty major changes.

“For you, the game should be about the PC at the expense of the open world content and ambience. For me, and for Guild Wars 2, it’s about the world as a whole since it’s a cooperative, shared environment. Neither approach is wrong, but we decided to put more of our resources into bringing the world to life. I don’t regret that at all.”

Read more at: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/lwd/Enough-of-your-GMPC-please

Issues with the PS / LS are the reason I got involved in roleplay (RP) as well as writing my characters’ memoirs. I felt there are additional stories that can be told as well as different character views of a world event. For example: The current romances aren’t to my liking. So I made up a romantic relationship between two of my PCs. That may seem funny or weird to some. I just couldn’t stand by and do nothing. The only other romance I cared about in this game was Faolain x Caithe, but Anet ixnayed the relationship in TA story dungeon.

Thanks for finding that quote, Sonata. I’m going to add it to my LS2 review which I will post sometime after the next update. That quote proves that GW2 really is a Role Playing Game. It’s not just another kill-the-monster-and-get-loot game (like Ragnarok Online, Perfect World, and MapleStory). In RPGs, players create their own role and storylines. They also define their own characters’ realities.

IF that’s the case, it would be in the devs’ best interests encourage more RP in this game. No, I’m not suggesting RP server. I ‘m suggesting that they make it friendlier to RPers. The next time I hear another dev object to that idea, I’m just going to refer them to Bobby’s official words. I’m screenshoting those words for posterity.

I like this idea! Two thumbs up!

To the OP: That hypothesis is possible since the Pale Tree was a sapling during Eye of the North. The whole storyline of Eotn is about Primordius’s awakening.

There is pre-GW2 lore that seems to indicate the possiblity that Sylvari existed in the past. Check this out:

“And it was that a tribe of godless humans wandered the land. Where camped did they lay waste, senselessly destroying everything nearby.

And so the tribe set out to find another camp, when suddenly sprouted a wall of thorny branches, which blocked their exit.

Then saith Ewan, leader of the tribe, “Know ye our ways. Whosoever does magic in this tribe shall be put to death.”

Yet none comes forward. Then, from the earth grows forth a large tree, and unfurling its branches, reveals the upper torso of a woman. Saith She, “I am Melandru, the Mother of earth and nature. Henceforth I bind ye to these lands. When they suffer, so shall ye suffer.”

And as She saith, so was it done. From their limbs sprouted branches, and the blood in their veins was the sap of trees. Then was Ewan and his tribe converted, and became they stewards of nature."

— Scriptures of Melandru, 48 BE

I got this tidbit from http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Melandru AND http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ewan

Of course, this bit of Melandru lore was written from an ancient human’s POV. It sounds as if the writer had encountered Sylvari that exhibited similar behavior to the Nightmare Court.

Also, back in GW1, there were humanoid vegetable monsters in the Meguuma area. I wonder if those guys are related to our GW2 Sylvari.

Yumiko Ishida.3769:

Thank you for this. This is kinda what I try to do as well. You weren’t in RPCD guild were you?

You’re welcome! No, I’m not in RPcd. I’m still in Apocalyptic Armageddon [AARM].

BrunoBRS.5178:

…though going by my contact with a certain RPer yesterday, they dismiss stuff such as “lore” and “logic” in order to fit their weird story. i pointed out to them that sylvaris don’t have surnames, they got mad that i didn’t know the backstory, and that when the sylvari was a child it got adopted by a family of humans.

…sure.

#BlameNCSoft

NCSoft pushed this game out the door before GW2’s lore was solidfied.

The lore problems with this game is the main reason I don’t run RP campaigns in my guild. GW2 RPers have too many different interpretations of the current lore. I recently was told by another RPer that the Dreamer and Nightmare Sylvari aren’t related. I said, “To me, all Pale Tree sylvari are related genetically. They all have the same mother. The major difference between Dreamers & Courtiers is their ideology.” When the other person disagreed with me, I just let the conversation drop. I hate getting into lore arguments. Debating over the canon is divisive. It also sucks the fun out of the game for me. I log on to GW2 just to have fun. I’m not here to argue. .

GW lore isn’t as comprehensive as WoW’s& Wildstar’s stuff. It’s short bits and pieces everywhere. In WoW, the lore only covers the major events in Azaroth in detail. Same with WS. I remember when my characters would discovered books in-game that described important events in both WoW and WS. If there was any confusion over lore, I would refer people to the in-game books.

In GW2, if I click on a book in the Priory library, I only get a summary of the book’s contents. There are no books with tons of details for the hardcore lore lovers who do take the time to read the stuff over lunch . Those summaries just leave alot of lore gaps and create confused RPers over time.

One of the best examples is the Mordremoth controversy. So.. Anet, how do our non-Asura PCs know about Mordie? Don’t worry. Take your time. I’ll wait for the answer. In the meantime, I’ll just come up with my own explanation for RP purposes. I can always retcon if my idea doesn’t match with GW2’s lore.

Ariella Goldstein.3562:

My eleven year old has started to express interest in MMORPGs, she says she wants to play WoW, but I keep thinking she might enjoy GW 2 better.

Any thoughts/advice?

If I were you, I would let her play the game she is interested in. WoW is a lot more cartoony and has more stuff that appeals to kids her age (esp. the Maple Story pandas … er… Pandaria). Plus it will be easier for her to find a guild filled with tweens. I know someone in this game who is a minor and it took them a very long time before they found an appropriate guild.

WoW has better moderation for minors. Heck, even MapleStory has better in-game moderation than GW2. I’m saying that after playing GW2 for about 10 months.

LIke other people said, there are overtly aggressive players in Dungeons, Fractals, PvP, and (sometimes) RP. Most of these gamers are either older teens or adults. As an adult myself, I can hold my own against the bullies, but I’m not so sure a tween would do the same thing.

When I was 11, I wasn’t into realistic animation either. GW2 is meant for the older teen who likes realistic animation as well as teens who watch anime.

The final decision rests with you. I thought you should know the state of the game before making such a decision.

AuroraW.7149:

My char has been around Tyria looking for Canach, without any success. At least, he is not in DR, LA, Grove (incl Caithe’s instance), Gendarran (Vigil Keep), Iron Marches, Mt Maelstrom, Brisban Wildlands. Did anyone see him? There have been rumours that Canach joined the Shining Blade. Anise mentions something about being on her way to a Shining Blade boot camp (see pic). =8-] When I am on it, haven’t found a trace of sweetie Riot Alice either since the vines attack on Prosperity … any ideas?

I don’t think I’ve seen this dialogue before.

Could you please translate Riot Alice’s words into English? I don’t read or speak German…

Mork vom Ork.2598:

A big thank you to Anet for another great looking backpiece.

Oh wait…

Aww… Asuran Engies look so cute! Must… hug… and…. cuddle…

IncognitoP.1648:

mai trin still exists?

According to the wiki, Mai Trin is supposed to be alive. See: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mai_Trin

I’m not so sure. The info in the wiki sometimes is changed by fans. Unless I get confirmation about Trin’s status in-game, I’m just going to take the wiki info with a grain of salt.

dkspins.4670:

BobbyStein.2315:

Rouven.7409:

Imagining Bobby sitting in his office, a flower in his hand, picking off the petals:

“We kill him…”
“We kill him not.”
“We kill him…”

That’s exactly how it happened.

Please don’t take my buddy Trahearne, take that hag Queen Jennah who “called” Logan away from his obligation to his fellow DE characters, despite the fact that she could conjure up a dragon. <smile>

I have a better suggestion: Kill off Logan instead of Trahearne. Then have the awesome and interesting Lord Faren take his place. Logan is one of the most pointless, boring characters in the game anyways. He’s a shame to the Thackrey name. If he were more like Gwen, I would like him. Since Logan is not like his extra-great grandma, just kill him off.

Bobby, don’t even think about harming the Pale Tree either.

Edit: I originally didn’t want to see Queen Jennah killed but now I changed my mind.

starlightx.3728:

Sighs I heard Arenanet purposely removed the cut-scene dialogues because it was uninteractive.

It was actually one of the reasons I enjoyed GW2 so much, because it was one of the few MMO’s that gave the player character a true voice. GW2 is actually the only MMORPG I’ve played where I actually pay attention to the storyline and is actually quite immersed in it, and a big part of that were due to the cutscenes.

To me, the cutscenes made it possible for my character to truly interact and converse with the other characters, it feels like he/she is really part of the story, developing real relationships with other characters in the story.
.

Cutscenes cost money. Did you know that the starting wage for computer animators in the Seattle area is $80,000 per year. I know this because I’m a animator myself. Many of the companies in the area hire animators for a short time because of the cost. Animating in Maya is challenging and time consuming. The cost of the animator goes up when the artist gets more experience. I had a teacher at Art Institute of Seattle that charged one local company half a million dollars (at the bare minimum) for making one commercial. That’s because he actually had experience in Hollywood with the big blockbuster films.

I believe that Anet cut out the PCs’ voices due to cost.

Making realistic video games is not cheap. I dare anyone who says otherwise to download a copy of Unity 3d and create a game that has the size and scope of GW2. It’’s a huge task for an individual game developer to take on.

As for the Personal Story cutscenes, those had to be removed. It’s not appropriate for the US market due to how folks in this part of the world communicate. We Americans are dependent on body language and tone of voice to communicate our messages in American English. It’s the reason why we look a person in the face while talking to them. Thanks to the influence of religious groups like the Amish and the Quakers, our language was created with directness, simplicity, and truth in mind. It’s not designed for communicating ideas in a few simple words or characters like Japanese. IMO, the personal story cutscenes were the reason NA players couldn’t understand a complex character like Trahearne. We really needed to see him in the scene talking to our PCs and interacting with the environment.

For me, the current cutscenes communicate the necessary information that I as a player need to know about the storyline. I really like the stuff.

I hope Anet clears up the whole Mai Trin situation soon. I’ve heard rumors that she was in the Edge of the Mists, but I never saw any evidence of her when I’ve been on the map.

I’ve been wondering what really happened to her since the last part of Season 1:

—What really happend to Mai Trin after the Aetherblade broke her out of jail? Anet, give us the details please!
—If Mai Trin is alive, does she know that Scarlet died a few months ago?
— If she is alive, what is she doing now?

My biggest fear is finding out that this Aetherblade pirate was subjected to one of Scarlet’s unethical and immoral science experiments. Like all Engies in this game, Scarlet knew alot of about Alchemy, and I’ve always thought that she worked with the Toxic Alchemist to create the infamous Sylvari / Krait hybrid known as the Toxic Hybrid (http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Champion_Toxic_Hybrid) It’s not very far-fetched idea either. It is possible that Scarlet subjected Mai Trin to surgery and change the human pirate to look exactly like her.

How I came up with this idea:

Near the end of the battle of LA, the Scarlet we fought says, “Tyria will bow to a new master.”

My first impression was “This doesn’t fit. Why would a selfish, domineering Sylvari even claim that she serves someone? That’s only fitting for lackeys and weak villains.”
During the EOTM update, Canach even confirmed Ceara was like a bully. Plus, he was born in the same generation as her. He remembered her before she became Scarlet Briar.

I even reviewed available lore online to check for any evidenced that Ceara would even serve someone. I didn’t see anything that was a tell-tale sign of Ceara changing her behavior to serve a stronger entity.

Plus, the Scarlet we fought in LA had electrical attacks that were similar to Mai Trin’s attacks in the Mai Trin fractal. The Scarlet we fought also had the Teleporting Shot ability that is one of Mai Trin’s signature attacks. You can look up Mai Trin’s attacks here: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mai_Trin

So what was Scarlet’s real attack style? She was a condition damage engie (aka Rabid Engie). My main was a Rabid Engie during between Nightmare Tower and the Battle of LA updates. I remember constantly removing conditions from myself and others when we fought her. Plus she and her machines were easy to slow down and destroy using condition attacks (like the Elixir gun).

After examining all this evidence, I reasoned that the Scarlet we fought in Battle of Lion’s Arch may not have been the real Scarlet.

FYI — I have another possible hypothesis about Scarlet in Battle of LA, but it doesn’t apply to this conversation.

Anyways… going back to Rytlock & Mai Trin. I don’t know if they will meet in Mists due to my thoughts on previous. updates. We will see what happens in future updates. Anything is possible

Kalavier.1097:

Scarlet was in the machine for days, players were not.

I"ve heard people mention this to me recently. Could you please cite your sources? I’ve never seen anything in-game that says that Scarlet was in Omadd’s machine for several days.

Jawbreaker.5968:

I wanted to discuss with anet and fellow rpers about Omadd’s machine existing inside the main map of Tyria, and how it should/should not be addressed by characters ICly…

…Okay, must resist head canon. Let’s start discussing how it should be treated ICly and hopefully a dev can help, because it’s going to be annoying trying to ignore something that’s clearly in the main world.

I’m an RPer on the TC server. Let’s see if I can help clear things up!

There is an unspoken “Anti-Snowflake Rule” on the TC server. A “snowflake” in GW2 RP terms is a RPer who creates a character whose storyline follows the PS / LS exactly without any deviations. In the eyes of the community, this is considered bad form because it expresses lack of creativity on the part of the RPer.

Some of us are of the opinion that the Fair Use Rule should apply to PS / LS. Nolo.com, a law website, defines Fair Use in this way:

“Under the “fair use” rule of copyright law, an author may make limited use of another author’s work without asking permission. "

You can read more about the Fair Use definition right here: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-rule-copyright-material-30100.html

Now here is my personal opinion (as an RPer):

Anything that happens in GW2’s open world is fair game for RP (including Omadd’s machine). World events can affect characters in zillions of different ways.

Using the NPCs for your character’s profile or for an RP campaign is a sticky subject and a grey area. The same goes for using information from the story instances. When it comes to this stuff, use common sense. For Example: If you play Sylvari, it makes sense that your character would know Trahearne because he is an elder brother to every PC salad. If your character is not Sylvari, you would have to come up with a very, very convincing explanation for why and how your character personally knows Trahearne. If your story isn’t convincing at all, alot of RPers won’t Rp with that particular character.

Keep in mind that not everyone in the RP community shares these opinions including some RP guilds. If your not sure if you should use references to PS/LS then ask permission from the RP group that you’re involved in.

Due to the lack of in-game moderation, the use of PS / LS references can cause one to become the target of elitist RPers and lore police. This is especially true for the Tarnished Coast server.

Be prepared to use your block list if an RPer starts bullying you via whispers in-game. I was subjected to these type of players during the Battle of Lion’s Arch because I tried to organized an in-game RP event that involved dynamic (or mobile) Rp while working on the meta. Many of these lore policemen never RPed with me before and they bashed the event before knowing all the details. I still managed to pull off my event in secret with other Random RPers. Some of the non-RP gamers saw what we were doing and wanted in on the action. At the end of Battle of Lion’s Arch, I got so many thank you mails and whispers from regular gamers because I helped to bring life to the event.

If you are an RPer from the Tarnished Coast server and see me on the map, feel free to interact with my characters at any time. If I’m too busy atm, I’ll whisper you. Most of the time, I’m open to random RP (esp. stuff that is related to the Living Story). I play two Sylvari characters:

(1) Lapis N. Lazuli — His profile can be found here: http://www.guildwars2roleplayers.com/home/m/2737230/viewthread/14016844-tc-lapis-n-lazuli-wip

(2) Sweet Lazuli — Her profile can be found here: http://www.guildwars2roleplayers.com/home/m/2737230/viewthread/10233986-tc-sweet-lazuli-wip

FYI — Lapis’s profile does reference the events in LS. If you need to ideas on how to integrate the current events into your character’s profile, feel free to check out his profile. Lazuli, his wife, is also used for LS-related RP. She hasn’t been affected as much by the world events, but she is interested in studying those vines. The Mordie vines seem so similar to the stuff found in TA and the Nightmare Tower!

biofrog.1568:

Sylvaries (Sylvari’s?) had a pretty different chat with the Pale Tree at the beginning of this episode.. Much more about her ‘protecting’ all her children from the magic of Mordremoth.

Say no more, in case someone is about to go through it

Now that you mentioned Mama Tree….

With the way the LS is going and Anet’s love for Game of Thrones, I fear that the devs will find a way to kill her off. I hope that doesn’t happen. Seriously.

TIP: The events on the Henge of Denravi server are working perfectly. If the event isn’t working on your server, guest on HoD. That’s what I did to finish Episode 3.

Okay. Here are my predictions:

— Mordie will break into COE and gobble up all the energy in there.

—Rytlock’s ritual will fail. Why? If Rytlock succeeds, Anet will be breaking their own lore. According to GW lore, only a human can cleanse ascalon of the ghosts.

— Mordie will devour the ghosts of Ascalon because we all know ghosts are energy. Adelbern & company will not die. They will become one with the dragon, and see Mordie as their ally. In this way, Anet can get rid of the ghosts on the map without breaking lore.

— I agree there will be more hits that Trahearne (aka Tree Jesus, Tresus, Fern Boy, Spinach Head, etc) will be returning to the story! Bring him in, Anet!

Sorann Peace.9056:

Steven Kk K C.9413:

I wouldn’t be too sure the murkvale waypoint in Brisban is completly shattered you can look at the shattered parts on the ground if you go visit.

That is true, but I don’t think ArenaNet’s going to stumble into a deep, dark hole and be like “GG. Have fun with no waypoints, guys! ”

You do realize that you’re talking about the folks who gave us Scarlet and destroyed LA.

If Anet does away with the waypoints, I say we should demand that they give us mounts. Walking is okay, but it could take hours just to get from one end of Tyria to another. I should know. I’ve run with RPers who don’t use waypoints.

Take a look at the screenshot I’ve posted. Look at my Engie’s response to Rox. Sound familiar? Now I’m scared…

Did any non-Engies get this message?

When I first ran through the story with a group of RPers two weeks ago, I don’t remember seeing any of the non-Engies get this message. I could be wrong tho…

I’m going to run through with my Sylvari Ranger and see if the same message pops up.

UPDATE: Added an Episode 3 comment here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/lwd/Concerned-for-all-the-Sylvari-Engies/first#post4251013

I’m not able to talk to Tactician Art after the battle with the vines in Concordia. I pushed the F button several times. I even double clicked on the NPC, but I’m not getting a response at all.

This happened in this IP shard: 65.25.33.58:0

After what happened in Season 1, I’m going to say “NO”.

Back in Season 1, people complained that there was no story for the events. These complainers never bothered to search for the various NPCs and other story-related events on the open world maps. The current system was created as a remedy for the complaints.

Manasa Devi.7958:

Before wondering if anything Scarlet said might be profound, meaningful or prophetic, consider that she once tried to cook Faren in a giant pot before gleefully coming at us cartoon-style with a giant hammer. I never did figure out how all of that contributed to her masterplan.

I think I can help clear this up.

This event happened for two reasons: (1) to illustrate her character and (2) Faren was her test subject for creating the toxin that was later used in the Nightmare tower.

Re: Reason 1: During the Nightmare Tower, Scarlet brags to the PC about her conquests. In the cutscene, she says, “I do miss the charming Lord Faren and his fancy panties!”

If you haven’t seen the cutscene at the end of the Nightmare Tower event, you will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbFVUI_aqbU

To me, that line implied that she was obsessed with him. She could of commented on anything else about him. Instead she mentioned his “fancy panties”. What goes through your mind when a person mentions another’s person’s underwear? The thought thru my mind is that she had a crush on him. That crush became her obsession. Then she started stalking him. The she caught him and tried to… “get it on” with him. (Apologies to the adults reading this. I refuse to go into detail. Use your uncensored imagination, people!) This incident reminded me of the Stephen King movie, Misery. (If Misery had a sexualized element in it that is… God, I love the innuendo in this game! LOL! Moving on… )

As a female in RL, I do find Lord Faren to be very cute and goofy. If he were real, he would be boyfriend material. It doesn’t surprise me that a female character in this game would have the same admiration for him.

RE: Reason 2: Scarlet used Lord Faren in her alchemy experiments. That’s why she had him in oil in a cage while she was handling a flamethrower. In the gameplay videos I watched, I saw Scarlet try to light the wood at the base of the cage. I think she was doing an experiment to see how fast Lord Faren would die. This experiment was a mini version of what we experienced later in the Nightmare Tower.

(Unrelated NOTE: Sure the kiddies thought the whole thing with Scarlet was boring, but that’s due to the fact that they’re not seeing the situation through adult eyes. BTW I’m always going to miss that cute, crazy plant. R.I.P Ceara! Thanks for the good times!)

Iarkrad.8415:

I’m going to play off the theory that the Giant Marionette was a consulted cry for help, Caera’s control of Scarlet’s identity was failing, but before that point she set plans against her ‘master’. Or something. These are just baseless theories that might be confirmed in the weeks to come. Take them with a grain of salt, but don’t discount them completely.

I don’t see this as baseless theory. In RL, I trained and have worked as a medical assistant. I’ve come across many mental illness patients, and I’m currently caring for one such patient as a caregiver. I know the signs when said patients are asking for help in odd ways.

Ceara was asking for help by leaving her journal and other clues in her lair under the Durmand Priory. The fact that her clockwork monsters dropped the keys to her DP lair during the Marionette event said that she wanted the PCs to enter the locked area.

I do think Ceara and Scarlet are two different entities. You can read more about my idea here: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/s2/Secret-lair-hologram-dialogue-spoilers/first#post4231994

BTW, I use that “baseless theory” as part of the background of my RP character, Lapis. I still think it has some merit. We will see in the updates to come.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Stormy Dragon.9210:

OtakuModeEngage.8679:

when I suggested we have an audience with the pale tree, they rebuke that I’m ‘reknown, but not that famous’, and ourcharacters replies something along the lines of ’we’ll find a way.’

To be fair, the rest of the gang wasn’t with us then, so they probably don’t know we met the Pale Tree before.

This. There will probably be a moment with the Pale Tree saying “We meet again, my child,” at which point the rest of the team will go, “You know the Pale Tree?”

To which Lapis, my main character, will respond: “Of course I know her! How can I not know my own mother?” Then he’ll turn towards the Pale Tree and say, “Mother, meet the fellow adventurers I’ve been working with recently: Marjory, Kasmeer, Rox, Braham, and Taimi!”

nightwulf.1986:

Spoiler reminders again. Did anyone else stick around for the hologram dialogue after Taimi breaks down the door to scarlet’s apartment? That was an interesting and, after a certain point, freaky look into Scarlet’s experiments. It was after Scarlet started talking about having gone through Omadd’s experiment, there was what sounded like…another voice. The crazy tree was talking with two voices! That had to be one of the most chilling bits of audio I ran across so far. Was it just audio distortion or…something else?

Yep! I stayed and I noticed the two voices as well. I’m banking on the fact that Ceara and Scarlet Briar were two different entities. I kept a copy of her diary from the Origins of Madness update, and Ceara wrote that she was possessed by the voices of the forest.

There is really good chance that we’re dealing with demon possession. Actually we should call this “dragon champion possession”. Let’s assume for the moment that this is true. That means Ceara is dead but Scarlet is still alive. It also makes Scarlet Briar the champion of Mordremoth, and her real body probably doesn’t look like a Sylvari at all.

BTW, don’t forget that Angel McCoy (one of the Anet writers) is a horror / science fiction author. Something like this would be up her alley.

EDIT: I forgot to add this: During the Battle of LA update, Scarlet did mention that “Tyria will bow to a new master”. At first, I thought Anet had retcon the lore because those words are not consistent with Ceara’s personality. The real Ceara was too independent and selfish to willingly serve anyone. When I found out about Angel’s writing background, I realized that Anet used the final battle to imply that Ceara and Scarlet were two individuals in one body (aka demon possession).

111% Thanks to WvW!

Keep salvaging stuff so you can raise your magic find level!

Mid Season break???? That’s ridiculous! We just started Season2! They’re going to frustrate the player base if they go on break now!

We already had a super long break between season 1 and season 2. Enough with the breaks and get on with the story!

Garambola.2461:

It is also perhaps a discussion Mother Tree has been fearing must take place sometime. Maybe she needs a little time to prepare herself.

On one hand, I feel so sorry for her! On the other hand, I must satisfy my curiosity! It is the Sylvari way after all. :P

Mama Tree does have alot of kids. As a work-at-home mother, she probably has to take time out for two things: (1) spending time with her children (esp. the saplings) and (2) getting some R&R for herself.

Sorann Peace.9056:

It reminds me way too much of people who click accept on a quest prompt in WoW and don’t even read what the window says. What, you expect to get a story when you don’t even READ IT?

And keep in mind, ArenaNet has said that they did away with the old fashioned two people talking against a background splash screen format from the PS. Because of that, your character only converses in click dialogue for the most part now. So, for the people who complain about the lack of your character speaking I have four words:

Read. The. Dialogue. Window.

Thank you! I’m going to add something to this:.

Play. The. Episode. More. Than. Once.

Yep. That’s right. You can’t play through the episode once and say you’ve seen everything. Those achievements for each episode are Anet’s way of encouraging us players to play the episodes again.

Whenever I team up with people, I notice that there are too many players who rush through the story in-game. It’s not just speed-loving hardcore players who do this. Roleplayers tend to do this too. There is so much information in each episode. It is very easy to miss something important.

Also, when a player plays different classes and races, there is a chance of getting different info. I’m basing that off of personal experience.

Synesh.1094:

Last time i heard of a character that was killed or destroyed because of the community hate, was Garrosh Hellscream from world of warcraft. A brute orc, chosen to be the new leader because the army liked him as a general.

You can add another character to your “Destroyed because of community hate” list: Scarlet Briar.

Like Trahearne, this character suffered from poor presentation in the game. She was presented as a one-dimensional cartoonish figure from Queen’s Jubilee 2013 to the end of 2013. To make matters worse, Scarlet and her minions were everywhere in the game. Even in the Mists!

Last Christmas season, people created the “We Hate Scarlet Briar” thread (and simillar threads) because of the presentation problem.

Some gamers, like myself, pointed out things that needed to be fixed such as:

(1) her voice actress needed to get rid of the fake 19th century British accent.
(2) introduce her background story (which would help give the character depth)

Anet did those changes, but it was too little too late. There were too many players who insisted that Scarlet should die. The only reason we got Battle of Lion’s Arch was because the majority of players wanted to peg her to the floor.

Anyways, I think I’ve gotten off-topic. Back to Trahearne…

No, I don’t think Fern boy should die. Why? Because an Roleplayer dared to RP Trahearne in Lion’s Arch during the Aftermath: Lion’s Arch update. There is an unspoken rule in the GW2 RP community against RPing NPCs. This player was brave enough to break the rules and create one of the most memorable fan-created moments in the game. If only Overwolf worked for me that day. I wish I could of recorded this moment.

I used to be against Trahearne 1000%. That RPer helped me to realize that Spinach Head just suffers from poor acting and presentation.

For those who don’t know Lapis, he is a RP character who loved Scarlet alot (like Taimi does), and he was the only RP character who mourned for her when she died. During Aftermath, the Trahearne RPer saw my post about Lapis quietly mourning for Ceara in the crowd. He came over to Lapis, and he mentioned how he missed Ceara as well. That moment changed my view on Trahearne (IC and OOC).

I don’t want Firstborn Trahearne to die. DON’T kill Trahearne!

Kain Francois.4328:

Zhaitan BETTER be alive, at least, some form of him.

ANET owes us a real final battle. And I want it to be a solo instance where we get to personally strike him with our sword.

I hope Zhaitan is alive too. He is an undead dragon after all, and I don’t think Trahearne’s necro abilities are powerful enough to stop him. And yes, Anet does owe us an epic Teq-styled battle with this guy.

At the end of season 1, myself and other players called on Anet to gives us a memorable Zhaitan battle. The current battle with Zhaitan isn’t a battle that requires skill and strategy (like Teq, Wurm and Marionette). It’s more like a collection of cutscenes and a short time firing a gun on the airship. There have been alot of players who felt cheated with the final battle in the Arah dungeon story.

Let’s hope that Anet does retcon and give us a Zhaitan battle to remember!

For those who insist Zhaitan is dead: The living world concept does give Anet the right to retcon the lore at any time. Unlike World of Warcraft or other games, the lore in this game is MUTABLE. As a roleplayer, I have to be constantly vigilant to lore changes in every update and adjust my characters accordingly. Sometimes, the Priory discovers something new or we finally learn the truth about a character.

For example: In LS2 Episode 1, we learned that Scarlet wasn’t an 8 year old Sylvari like what was implied during the Orgins of Madness update last January. We found out that she was born in 1304 and died at age 23. That makes her about 2 years younger than Trahearne AND a Secondborn.

spinder.7154:

Just had to replay the story on my engi just for this..

ROTFLMAO!!!

I’m keeping a copy of those pics. It’s funny and cool at the same time!

Another character that should return to the storyline: Caithe.

Her Wyld hunt is to fight the dragons alongside the Sylvari PCs, and I’m itching to know what her secret is. Caithe needs to get back in the game!

Donari.5237:

I want more Lord Faren. I had such hopes for him in the beginning, and we have indeed gotten more of him in the LS than any other starter buddy.

Beyond him, I’d love to have all 5 racial starter buddies showing up. Maybe only in the PS parts of the LS, since character creation choices determine just who you have (hmmm, guess Human Street Rats would have to see Riot Alice, and she IS in Dry Top).

Yes! FAREN FANS UNITE! We definitely need more Lord Faren. He is the Joxer of GW2. For the young people on this forum, Joxer was a character from the tv show Xena: Warrior Princess. His personality and goals were simillar to Lord Faren’s. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if the two were related.

If at all possible, the Anet composers should create a parody of the Joxer song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gIGk9PATvs

If the composer can’t do that, then they should make a song for whenever Lord Faren shows up on the screen to save the day! This character really deserves his own soundtrack.

Lord Faren is one of the few human NPCs that I love in this game. The other human NPCs I like are the Master of Whispers, Doern Velazquez, and Demmi Beetlestone.

Having these guys back in the game would give me a reason to play my human PC more often.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Lady Amthyst Sandelwood (my human character): “Lord Faren, therapy time is OVER! Get out here and fight like a man! The world needs Lord Faren the Mighty!”

Nilkemia.8507:

….No. While your other points make sense, that hypothesis is countered by…well, everything we’ve seen of her in the Personal Story and onward.

Now I’m curious: What do you mean by “everything we’ve seen of her in the Personal Story”? Could you please elaborate on your points? Come on, guys, don’t keep me in the dark about this! I really want to know.

I played through the Sylvari storyline 2 times. I played the white stag storyline with a dusk bloom first. Then I played the moon storyline with a Dawn bloom the second time around. I’m not sure what you guys are referring to.

Are you a dev? How do you know if this is a bug or not?

I don’t see any proof that you are a dev. Unless you write your answer using the red highlighted message (to indicate that you really work for Anet), I think it’s safe to assume you’re another player.

Then the RNG needs to be fixed. I’m not a dev. I dont’ know what is going on their end.

I do know that I need poultry meat for cooking food. Poultry meat costs too much on TP, and it’s more fun to farm for meat. It’s not fun when one has to buy the stuff on TP.

Meat needs to be a COMMON drop. It is a problem when I get armor and weapons from a moa instead of meat. I can always get armor and weapons from kills in WvW and monsters. I can also earn tokens from dungeon runs for dungeon armor & weapons.

If we have the same magic find and we’re getting different results, that means this problem really needs to be fixed.

I prefer to create my own pots of food instead of buying off the TP. Gotta keep those guildies happy and healthy when fighting Teq and the Mist War!

I’ve been randomly killing moas and raptors in hopes of getting some meat for creating Saffron Scented Poultry soup and Lemongrass Poultry soup. I’ve noticed that the birds drop armor and weapons instead of meat. I spent a half hour early this morning hutning countless numbers of moas and raptors on this list: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Slab_of_Poultry_Meat

All I got was armor & weapons despite my hard work.

This situation has caused the price for poultry meat to jump to 8 silver. Last night, the price of poultry meat was 11 silver.

I’m not sure if my magic find level is affecting the drops. My magic find level is 109%.

All meat and eggs need to be common drops. Please make poultry meat more common so the TP price can drop permanently.

I agree with this. There are lag issues with Dry Top on Tarnished Coast. I have witnessed lag during the sandstorm events. There is also skill bar lag that happens randomly. Sometimes, the wind aspect crystal doesn’t work when I push the button. People in my guild (AARM) have also mentioned that there are lag issues when they’re on the map.

In my case, I’ve put my graphics on the lowest settings, and I’m still experiencing lag.

I’ve also been getting 20-25 fps.

My current computer’s specs:

Model: Hewlett Packard HPE-400y
Processor: AMD Phenom II x4 945 (4 cpus) – 3.0Mhz
RAM: 8 GB
Graphics card: AMD Radeon HD 5450
HDD: 2TB

Internet Provider: Comcast
Router: Linksys AC 1200
Modem: Wireless Gateway 1 (Model #TG862G) — This phone service / modem machine, and it’s required if one has Comcast’s phone service. The router part has been turned off by Comcast so I can use my private router instead.

This bug started after Tuesday’s LS update.

I’ve noticed that my Engie’s speed buffs aren’t working in the dungeons. I see the animation that indicates that my character has a speed buff, but I’m not able to keep up with the rest of the group when I’m on a speed run.

My engie has the Power Shoes trait and the Speed Kits trait on. I’m also using the Drop Stimulant in the Med Kit.

I usually run AC (p1 & 3), TA(up & forward), and COF (p1 &2).

I have found an unusual bug. Whenever I pick up money from the TP, I noticed that it doesn’t show in my inventory (in the coins section). Despite the fact that I’ve made at least 4 gold in TP today, my inventory still says 66 gold, 49 silver, 45 copper. I want my money! Please help!

BTW, I’m on the Tarnished Coast server.

Siren Aradia.5863:

Player sylvari are still connected to the Pale Tree though, right? I mean excusing roleplay situations of course. But canonly, aren’t they all connected to the dream or whatever? (you can tell I don’t play sylvari much XD)

Yep! All Sylvari are connected to the Dream whether they like it or not. Not even the Soundless can disconnect from the Dream permanently.

At the end of Battle for Lion’s Arch, I had my main character, Lapis, return to the Pale Tree, and the tree’s confirmed that Ceara had been “rescued” and returned to the Dream.

PopeUrban.2578:

Ayrilana.1396:

Maybe the assassin in Mai Trin.

I hadn’t thought about it before now, but where IS Mai Trin? I assume she either escaped or was killed during the fighting in LA, are there ingame sources to confirm either?

According to the lore, Mai Trin supposedly escaped to the Edge of the Mists, but I haven’t seen her there at all. I personally feel that Scarlet did something more sinister to her (like used the pirate in one of her weird alchemy experiments). Maybe the crazy plant turned the pirate lady into a Scarlet clone and the Scarlet that we killed wasn’t the real one? Anything is possible.

Snowmoon.1758:

Warning: Story Spoilers
======

This was sent via an observation by someone via PM. (Thanks ZeftheWicked!!)

Anyone noticed that the victims on Dry Top were killed via a blade.
YET during Aerin’s fight, he used grenades exclusively against us.

Abit of a clue that maybe Aerin wasn’t the one behind it?
Or did Anet fudge that up?

Interesting huh?

I noticed that too! Everyone is so quick to blame the salad, but the human guy is suspicious too. Zephyrite master, my a…. He’s probably wanted by the Seraph. That’s why he didn’t want to go back to his people.

I think the Master of Peace was behind the murders, and I have a feeling that he has connections to the White Mantle (the old cult group that has connection to the Meguma area).

PopeUrban.2578:

I think it merits further investigation. Maybe we should go have another chat with the tree and ask what she knows? I mean, it’s not that out of line for the (functionally former although still technically current) commander of the pact. We’ve done it before.

In fact, how come nobody ever asked the tree about scarlet? Or did we? I don’t seem to recall ever quizzing the tree on that subject.

Recommendation: Every update, have your Sylvari PC go to the Pale Tree to get more info. She doesnt’ give this info to non-Sylvari. You’ll also notices that your salad won’ t give this info to Jory and Kasmeer either. (evil LOL)

During Battle for Lion’s Arch, Sylvari players could go to the Pale Tree and ask her about Scarlet. After Scarlet died, PC Sylvari could go to the Pale Tree and get a response about the situation.

For this update, Sylvari PCs can go to Mama Tree and ask her about the elder dragons.

BTW, I was one of the players who did notice Aerin on the Zephyrite ship as I was collecting crystals. I remember following the guy around and laughing at his antics. GJ on getting all those screenshots!

Taimi and Scarlet! It was so funny and cute to see Taimi gushing all over Scarlet’s stuff. It was even crazier when she started telling my Sylvari Engineer how to do his job! LOL.

It was also great to watch the Scarlet hologram at the end of the episode. I’m not going to spoil it. You guys have to watch the hologram. It contains alot of great information for lore junkies and awesome fodder for fanfic writers!