Guild Wars 2

I agree that it doesn’t feel like there is a huge amount to do. It isn’t just being motivated by fights, but the rewards for are much less defending than attacking.

My suggestion would be to allow someone inside a location to become the Tower/Keep/Castle officer. While within a radius of this location, the officer has options and abilities open up. These benefits could include:

a) The ability to call upon the nearby NPC camps for reinforcements. If they are not friendly, then you can send guards/scouts on missions to bring them on your side. Tiers of friendship affects how many reinforcements they send. High tier local NPC camps also provide supply.
b) A moral system – the officer can provide buffs and shouts to player and NPC defenders. Equally if he/she dies, this adds a penalty to friendly players and NPCs.
c) Sending out scouts. This allows the local-commander to send out scouts to provide more warning of incoming attackers/zergs. Scouts also lay traps to slow down or interrupt enemy players.
d) The officer’s party. Those joining the officer’s party receives perma-buffs while within the location.
e) Set priority-status for the location. This helps other nearby players know how they can help. Whether it is to get more supply, capture camps, and so on.

Still bugged for me too (after mantainance today); NPCs do not follow to south gate, which subsequently does not unblock.

On a moot point, Trahearn is a terrible NPC, despite a huge devastating sword he dies constantly. Giving a scholar a melee weapon wasn’t the Pale Tree’s best idea.

Same here! I left a bug report and attempted the quest 3 times now, but I still can’t get past the south exit