*SPOILERS* Anti-climax.

Okay, I just beat the game.

I have a few questions (story-related).


1) Ascalonians... I guess I completely ditched them after getting them to set up camp in the middle of horrible monsters, with no effective guards or walls. I guess Rin/Ascalon City/ et al were completely forgotten and abandoned and left to their fate.

2) White Mantle... It seems that their continued onslaught of the Krytans can continue unhindered. I killed a lot of Mursaat, yes, but to my knowledge, I did not eliminate them.

3) The Shining Blade... Goddamn hippies, I don't even know what to say about them, or why they exist. What happened to them? I just gave them the middle finger after I did the smash-and-grab for the Scepter of Orr, which the White Mantle had been properly safeguarding for years?

4) The Vizier... I must have missed the reason why I was taking this to him. Is the Shining Blade in league with him? What? I don't know.

5) Ascension... What..the..****.. Okay, so, let's break this up further.
a) Orrians. They man the "tournament games" that you go through to try to "ascend". They're this ghostly race that all FAILED to ascend. So... who the hell was running the trials when THEY were trying to ascend? What WERE their trials??
b) The Forgotten. Who were they? What did they do? Where did they come from? Why were they running ascension trials? Are they in league with the orrians, despite constantly trying to kill them?
c) Okay, so I killed my doppleganger. "You have ascended!" Nothing changes. What happened, did I just have like the gods come by and have tea with me and clap me on the back and say "Great job, buddy."
d) I don't get "Glint". What's their deal? Why do they exist? I was going to the southern shiverpeaks anyway.

6) The dwarves. Did we kill or not kill off an entire race of stone summit dwarves? I don't know if they're gone or not. If so, it seems like the Deldrimor dwarves are the only race that benefitted from anything I did.
ALSO! Why the hell can King Jarlis Ironhammer and Brechnar see the Mursaat? I thought only I could, because I was somehow "special" from ascending and having true sight. In this regard, why can people who have not ascended still see the Mursaat?

7) Isle of Fire. Everyone knows about it, it seems, but they don't know that it's a place swarming with Mursaat? Did this random alien race just come and set up camp on the volcano? What's the deal with that? Also, what's with the OTHER alien race, the Seer, and his eidolon pet? It's like "the Cthulhic gods are invading your planet. Merge with this GOOD cthulhic god to combat them!" It's very whacked.

8) So, the one thing I do is unleash the fire titans for the undead lich to control and destroy the world with. Then I kill him off and the titans, presumably, die off with him? Then I go back to the world and claim to be a hero, for fixing a threat that I created?

9) Conclusion. Everyone gets ****ed right in the ass by my half-hearted antics as a "hero", except perhaps the dwarves, who will live in peace now that their rival dwarves have met only genocide by my axe.

10) I am a horrible, horrible person. Alternatively, the Guild Wars story is completely lacking on all counts.

I like 9 and the first part of 10. Very funny

Howdy,

1) I'm dissapointed on this count, too. I wish there were some closure on Ascalon. Glint says -something about Ascalon during the ending cinema, but it's.. really vague.. and you don't actually see anything come of it.

2) Ditto. You've apparently crippled the White Mantle, but no resolution is actually displayed.

3) Actually, this is something I can correct. The Shining Blade are rebels of a sort, fighting against the White Mantle in an effort to disrupt their alliance with the Mursaat. The White Mantle did -not- control the Scepter of Orr, but instead retrieved it prior to your arrival in Kryta.. or something.

4) The Vizier comes to the Shining Blade promising them assistance in exchange for the Scepter of Orr. Being that they're stupid and need help, they trust him. After all, what's not to trust about an all-powerful mage who somehow survived the entire destruction of the Orr civilization?

5) The concept of Ascension was simply a plot concept to imply a sort of change was required to be able to beat the Mursaat.
a) The Orrians did not man the tournament.
b) They.. are.. Forgotten. If I remember correctly, the Ghosts are men who came long ago to Ascend, settled the Crystal Desert, and met the race of snake-men known as the Forgotten.. who they started to fight with. You never actually see the Ghosts and the Forgotten working together, save in a few rare instances. Normally, they're trying to kill your Ghostly Hero.
C) Plot device. You're challenged yourself, been through your own crucible, and come out on top. After all, if your greatest enemy is yourself, what more can beat you after that?
D) Glint.. is simply some all-knowing figure who offers some advice and shit.

6) I think they're still alive. Crippled, but still alive. A shame, though. The evil dwarves were a lot cooler than the good dwarves. Look at all those creative weapons.
a) Why.. should they not be able to see the Mursaat? The 'True Sight' refers to being touched by that prism you handled in the Divinity Coast mission. It has nothing to do with being able to see the Mursaat. I figure it was more of a expression. "You have the gift of True Sight" should be read as "You have the ability to fulfill the Flameseeker Prophecy."

7) Who didn't know the Mursaat swarmed the Isle?
a) The presence of the alien-seer is weird. The eidolon is not her pet, though. I.. think.. the alien-seer has some tie to Glint, and is there on her beckoning, waiting--like Glint--for someone to fulfill the Flameseeker Prophecy. Also, considering the Seer describes some sort of war with her race against the Mursaat, it can also be suggested that she's a refuge hiding from the Mursaat.

8) The Lich dies on the Bloodstone. His death on the Bloodstone recreates the seal which supports the shield which holds back the Titans. The reason the Mursaat were killing off Chosen was to (a) charge the Bloodstones to hold the shield (b) and also keep the Flameseeker Prophecy from being fulfilled.
a) On.. the prophecy. Had.. the Heros not come along, the White Mantle no doubt would have conquered the Continent and handed it to the Mursaat. I think the whole Flameseeker Prophecy is a "means to an end" deal. Sure, lots of people died because you helped hand the Scepter of Orr to the Vizier, helped in unlocking the seal.. but, hey, you ultimately (so we assume) crippled the Mursaat and the White Mantle.. and.. I guess.. helped.. Rin?..

9) Sort of. But, hey, the Mursaat and White Mantle.. ;P

10) I wish the story were more tight, too.

I dunno. I take one look at Lion's Arch and can't help but think that the White Mantle/Mursaat have the right idea. Every other city in the game is kind of scum, comparatively. If they just have to kill like 6 krytans every so often to keep things going, then so be it.

Anyway, about the Mursaat, the reason I thought they were invisible was they were called the "unseen gods" a number of times. They also had no presence until you ascended. I didn't think that the Shining Blade knew anything about the Mursaat until later.

Also, how did the Orrians get destroyed, and when? And where is 'Orr' anyway?

With ascension, yeah, I was confused. Not the orrians, the ghost race. How did they fail, and what were their trials?

I know that the eidolon and the seer are not "friends", really, but I can't help but wonder what is with both of them existing...

Orr is the place where the Visier came from, he sunk it to kill the Charr.

But where is it, and when was it destroyed?

it was probably off the coast of Maguuma or it could be one of those big lakes in the map.

Oh my. Things sure don't make sense when you skip the cines, do they?

I viewed all the cines, SisterMercy. That's why I'm confused.

arnansnow: Hmm, ok.

There is a fair amount of helpful lore in the instruction manual. Read that for some background on the Forgotten, the Gods, and so forth.

Story still makes no great sense though.

Some of you lot really need to read the lore book, it expalins all about Orr and where it was, amongst other things.

But I bought the game and license online, so Lore Book is not for me. I am sad, now. I will have to see if they have this info on their website.

Remember they will be releasing chapters for GW.....

franning: I hope so. Currently there are only loose ends, and a lot of them. And many of them make no sense, since they deal with ALIENS.

Lol, interesting perspective but a little bit of stretching on damning every single group in the game.

Ok, some input that might help.

For rant #7: My idea of the ring of fire is that it use to be Orr and that the ring of fire is what the Vizier had created in destroying the Charr, how they got so deep I have no idea, but that was what I got.

As for being a horrible, horrible person, well that's about right for this type of fantasy era piece. I doubt any war is really that "just" and on the side of good, think of it as an exercise in reality.

Glint, well hey, it worked for the Matrix series, right?

Finially regarding why there are so many loose ends, well that's the best way to ensure that you don't ever tie yourself down for future expansions. They covered all the major races of Tyria and I wouldn't expect to solve all the problems in one pass, so leave room for a second story to pop up. Maybe in the next one the Mantle are the rebels and need help from the oppressive Shining Blade, who knows.

I guess point is this, enjoy the action and if yout hink too mucha bout the plot, then maybe watching the Sundance channel might be the better alternative since the summer blockbusters and GW are more like swiss cheese in plots to entertain you.

Good luck!

-DW

In the lore book, Vizier tried to use death magic to destroy the Charrs, but it backfired and destroyed the kingdom of Orr instead. The Orrians should be the undeads.

I'll have to check.

It didn't backfire, it destroyed the Charr, but it also destroyed Orr.

There's a story? The attempt at a broad, sweeping epic left me relatively confused and was rather nonsensical.

Shining Blade - Narrow minded egocentric fools who either don't realize that their actions will have catastrophic effect to the land or don't give a damn and are only interested in seeing things as far as their arms can reach. Never mind that saving a few "chosen" can potentially open the proverbial gates of hell.

White Mantle - Narrow minded sycophantic fools who cow-tow to the Mursaat and deliver them fresh meat to the slaughter for what they believe is the greater good. Apparently they haven't considered any alternatives to slaughtering "chosen" and are quick to utilize their lack of fashion sense to disarming their opponents who they gleefully slaughter.

Mursaat - Pompous, arrogant "superior" beings who think that being an ancient race make them "all that" and thus morally and intellectually superior and have no compunctions about sending "lesser beings" to their deaths. Gee, do they realize that their little sheeple might actually revolt against their kind of genocidal policy?

The Chosen - Cattle. Moooo.

You're not a horrible person. Actually you're one of several million people who probably thinks that George Lucas has taken one to many hits of meteor dust. The "story" - I'm being kind here - appears to be the product of an either very unimaginative individual or a very confused committe of creative directors. Suffice to say that it's probably impossible for things to get worse but then after seeing Star Wars II I thought the same thing. Don't hold your breath for a "Batman Begins" tour de force. Just be glad that the coming explorable areas are not narrated by Keanu Reeves.

Yeah, I was kind of irked at how you just kind of abandon Ascalon to go off on some adventure with the Mursaat and White Mantle which seems to have absolutely no relevance to saving Ascalon at all.

If it were up to me I would have stayed to the end in Ascalon fighting to protect it from the Charr. I did not agree with the prince's "Ascalon is a goner, let's skip town" mentality.

I just beat the game for the 2nd time and yes the story is very subpar. The only impressionable thing that happened was the death of Prince Rurik. I imagine seeing him at the end boss would have been climactic as well but unfortunately I had that spoiled by some a-hole shouting how you got the Hundred Blades elite. Thanks again, di-ckhead.

I have several specific problems with the story:

Ascension granted you nothing. I ascended with my first character before the 50,000 xp and I literally got nothing for all that grind and work. No new powers, no new armor, no shining sword, nothing. It should feel like you're more powerful after Ascension in SOME WAY, but it most definitely does not.

Saving Ascalon was the centerpiece of the story and soon just drops off the face of the Earth. What's the point of going through the trouble of saving the Chosen when the poor Ascalonians back home are still getting slaughtered by the Charr, lol.

The two Shining Blade amazon leaders were most definitely lesbians. Maybe some animated muff-diving might have saved the story. Rofl.

I seriously hope they find a new writer for the expansion.

White Mantles weren't crippled by you, they chased your sorry butt from Lion's Arch to Sanctum Cay and wiped Henge of Denravi. You are the one who is running away from the "wrath" of White Mantles and escape to Crystal Desert. Recall the conversation between you and Vizier on your way to Anmoon Oasis.

Ive gone through the game with 4 characters, and still dont know whats really going on. At most im more confused each time. Whats a rpg without a story? Oh... yeah.. my life.

lol, Read the book that came with the game, the story is in there and makes alot of points not explained in the game make sense

lol, perhaps the person who wrote the "story" should have read the same book. Afterall, isn't the "story" a critical part of an RPG?

Ascalon is done for after the searing, King Adelbern does not realize they cannot hold the Charr and Prince Rurik wanted cut the losses, some people gone with Prince Rurik but others stay behind with King Adelbern.

You dont save Ascalon, at the end of the Ascalon missions you stop the Charr conquest of Rin but thats a long way from removing the Charr from Ascalon.

The dwarves are the same race (were you got they were diferent races?), Deldrimor is the name of the nation of Shiverpeaks and the Stone Summit is a splinter group that is lead by no other that King Jalis Ironhammer cousin, Dagnar Stonesplinter.

And the White Mantle is pretty done for, we eliminated their leadership and exposed what they were doing with the Kyrta chosen ... also we put back into the throne the pricess (if you done the quest in Fisherman's Heaven).

Another thing the Mursaat were seen by the founder of the White Mantle (the book descrives then).

Also if you read the book then you sould know that Orr was "situated on a peninsula south of Ascalon and west of the Crystal Desert" and that is were the guildhall islands are now located (I think even the game says that the guildhalls were ruins of Orr), I dont know were people get the idea orr was located in the Ring of Fire since the book says its were the gods dropped the Bloodstones before leaving Tyria.

There are things that are not explained ... the Mursaat objectives (after all what they did was keeping the seals), what are the Seer race and their objectives (if it turns out the Mursaat are good and they were simply trying to keep the Titans away), what the Flameseeker prophecies really are (that I take being the chosen open the gate looking at the Lich dialogue as a part of) but those are not plot holes, also we will get expansions were perhaps we see the results of what we did in the game (perhaps pushing the Charr away from Ascalon with new missions) and see more of the story, this is simply Chapter 1.

Also, there's some kind of tie between the Charr and the Titans, because if you step outside of the keep in the Nolani Academy mission, the Charr have erected a huge, smouldering statue of a Titan there...in retrospect it's actually closer to life-size ;p

lol dude the Vizier is the Lich. sheesh. you must have skipped some cutscences. lol anyway, as far as beating the game. NO one has done this. Chapter 1 is not even finished yet. so its not possible to have Beaten the game. the end has not been written yet. all you did was go as far as you could with the existing missions.

that is why there are loose ends with some of the races in the game. And I would expect all of them to re-appear to some extent in the upcoming chapters.

""How deep is the river if you can not see the bottom?"

you forget that the charr also have one other flaming effigy found all over in the lowlands- mursaat looking ones they have a connection to the charr as well.

Good point, Jwh, and to answer Ingram's question... "Too deep" :P

That was pointed before but I really cannot see it and I dont think it makes much sense ... I can see the Charr worship the titans on a basic level but mursaat ... no, read the book and realize Charr simply cannot worship then, there is nothing that supports it and we can only think of the Charr worship the Titans because the Titans do fire damage and live in lava.

I thought Orr was the part of penisula to the west of the Amnoon... at least I got that from reading the book... but I just sorta skimmed it

I figured Orr was the Peninsula west of the Crystal Desert and East of the Ring of Fire. You know, the one that look like some one put a giant flaming fist through it?

Orr sunk, dont bother looking for it on the map because its no longer there.

hey, if you guys actually read the stuff the npc's said.. when you talk to them with the green chat bubble options..then you would understand the entire story

no one ready all that crap that they were saying

Did anyone notice the White Mantle turn out to be the good guys, and the Flameseeker Prophecies are bad?

The White Mantle spend their lives protecting the rest of the world from the Titans, and thats all. They made quite the living doing it too, nice cities, nice armor, had the monsters under control, protected the Sceptre of Orr, etc.

and what happened to the sceptre at the end?

Oh and I agree that the Charr worship the Titans. There is a carving of a Titan in Presearing if you do the north of the wall quest.

that's just ONE thing they worship, what about the angel/humanlike burning things with 6+ black spokes sticking out like wings?
THOSE are supposed to represent the mursaat

Maybe the game will evolve like the Star Wars Trilogydid .

Maybe were playing part 3 and we will go backwards and forwards in the story.

Vizier Khilbron shaped his plan through the Flameseeker prophecies, of which he and you were also a part of...

Self-fulfilling prophecies always reek of plotholes.

The Mursaat wouldn't have been killing chosen had the prophecy not existed, because then they wouldn't fear them.
Vizier Khilbron would not likely have access to the Titans or the Sceptre of Orr.
You wouldn't have gotten into a fit of righteous ire and set out to destroy the Mursaat had they not been killing people.

Until the Mursaat's motivations for infiltrating the world and the exact prophecy in its entirety are revealed, there's not a lot to go off of.

Perhaps it was the path of least bloodshed, that ended with the best possible ending, but whatever the case, I find that most of the trouble stems from the prophecy itself.

Perhaps Glint is not quite so benevolent, sowing such dischord through a prophecy such as that...

Guess we'll have to find out, but I can't say I think it'll be worth the wait. The entire story just screams slapped together.