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1fhqwhgads: So the Charr have been officially stated to have the most advanced mundane technology of any of the races. How in the world did this happen? What about Charr society could possibly have allowed them to surpass everyone else? For example, Charr society is a hierarchical military organization with four competing factions, likely inspired by the Mongol Empire post-Genghis Khan. The first of them to divert resources away from arms and troops towards research would be pounced upon by the others. Furthermore, research is fundamentally unreliable, and any useful invention requires years and years and years of study into the fundamental principles behind it before anyone can even imagine its applications nevertheless make something useful. All those prerequisites would be a huge drain to any Charr faction wanting to invest in research before they would be able to see any actual returns. Even if the Charr managed to discover those principles, there's no guarantee that they'd get anything useful out of them either, and even if they built, say...a model T car, their military society and lack of a free market economy ensures that it would never catch on since it's slower, weaker, and more expensive than an ordinary horse, even if it might eventually be refined into a tank. The only reason it caught on in the real world was because it was a novelty and a display of wealth, things that wouldn't exist in a military society.
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3In order to make the advances in technology they did, the Charr would've had to have diverted large amounts of potential forces into research that's sure to never give returns for 20 years, and might not produce anything at all. The nature of research is also problematic to the Charr. Since all fields of research are interdependent, the Charr's military society and thus inherent lack of focus on individuality would prevent them from researching in all fields to satisfy individual interests, or simply researching for research's sake. This narrows their research to things with immediate military use, thus severely constricting potential leads and innovation.
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5The fact that Charr are conscripted into the military shortly after birth also presents a problem. Only one of the four Charr factions has an explicit focus on technology and engineering, which immediately cuts the Charr's stock of researchers to 1/4th what it could be. After conscription, young Charr are then placed into a "warband" which they rarely ever leave. The fact that the warbands are assembled before any of the young Charrs' aptitudes can be determined means that it is near impossible to assemble a warband whose members have an appropriate balance of talents for a research project, and the rarity of Charr leaving their warband makes it that much harder to extract potential researchers from current warbands. A Charr's potential aptitude in research may never even be recognized if they're not given the opportunity to try it, and that's assuming that their superiors even care about research at all, which they should have no reason to since research is expensive gambling that's sure to not pay off in the short run, and each faction needs all the resources they can get to be in top shape to compete against the others.
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7If anything, human society would be much more apt towards research since humans are free to pursue whatever fields they are best at or are interested in, ensuring that those who have an aptitude in research are much more likely to discover it and take up research than the Charr. Humans are also better equipped for communication which is central in the scientific peer-review process and also have a greater degree of room for independent thought and opinions, which a military structure would strike down immediately. Not to mention that successful inventors could become very rich.
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9This is simply bad writing in an attempt to include a redeeming quality in a race which should not logically have it. The Charr should at best be at an equal level to the other races by stealing their technology, but should not be able to improve it without all the knowledge and skills that were used to create it. Charr society is fundamentally opposed to the forces of independent thought, personal curiosity, individual desires, and free communication, which fuel research.
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11** Warbands aren't exactly insular entities, though. More close-knit, tightly bonded groups of individuals who have grown up and fought together. Think of it more like a military platoon or old-world phalanx. These are groups of individual warriors who know each other forward and back, how to best support each other, and can seamlessly coordinate in battle. If one is particularly innovative, they are entirely able to work with others outside the warband to expand and perfect a new idea. Using the Charr PC as an example, if, say, Reeva had come up with something brilliant, she could easily team with Iron Legion research groups to perfect the idea, but her heart is still with the band, and she would still live and fight with them.
12As to the Charr themselves, they have focused on and prioritized military tech, but have also gotten other technology to the point that it works. Agriculture? The Legions are fed, and there's material to fuel the engine of war. Architecture? They can build structures hardy enough to survive battle, and big enough to send a message. So on and so forth. They get to where everything works, then focus on military research unless something comes along to improve non-combat functions.
13* The conclusion reached on the GW2 Guru forums is that the Humans could handily outpace the Charr if they wanted to, but don't because along with all of their absurdly modern ideals they are very environmentally friendly, and an industrial revolution doesn't bode well for the environment, and that the Asura are focused pretty much exclusively on magitech, so the Charr just don't see any competition from either of them.
14** Wouldn't say it's environmental friendliness. It's closer to magi-technical stasis. They've had such successful results from things like praying to the God of [X], or getting a few mages to do something, that they haven't really had any NEED to expand their technological work, where the Charr have no gods, and a general disdain for magic, and so have had to work on the mechanical/technical front to balance that out.
15* Perhaps the Charr have changed in the last... what is it, two thousand years or something?
16** It's 250 years, and my references to the tendencies and practices of Charr society were based on [[http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ecology_of_the_Charr this]] [[WordOfGod official source]].
17*** Oh, also, the Charr were already using elliptic curve cryptography in GW1 (Eye of the North), which wasn't proposed in the real world until 1985...
18* Why assume the Charr don't have the resources or willingness to advance technology in the name of war? As your official source itself states, the Charr do ''not'' let their power struggle affect the end goal of the entire Charr race--that is, conquering and dominating the entire world. So, the Ash Legion doesn't just go around killing enemy Charr leaders, because even if the Ash Legion wants control, crippling the other three Legions in the process is detrimental to their overall goals. Simply put, there's no reason to believe that the four warbands are unwilling to share combat theory, technology, magic, or assassination techniques with one another, because they value strengthening the full military might of their race over even their independence.
19** fhqwhgads: That's not what it says. "They each prefer to follow separate paths, but no legion is so foolish as to ignore the single goal of the Charr..." It's saying that each of their paths furthers the goal of Charr domination, not that they're willing to work together. In fact, as far as willingness to work together, it says the opposite. "Perhaps one day the legions will have an enemy so great they will once again put aside their differences-or perhaps one day a single legion will conquer the entire nation and unify the Charr." And I don't assume that the Charr are not willing to perform research. I'm saying that their social structure is entirely counterproductive to research while the Human social structure is much more conductive towards it. You also missed it when I explained how their focus on military might is a BAD thing when it comes to research. Research requires that you study EVERYTHING. Every field is interconnected. You can't just research "weapons", you have to research all aspects of reality, even ones that have nothing to do with war. If the Charr are not willing to perform civilian research as well as military research, they'll fall behind in the long term. The fact that they have no internal economy to drive such civilian research is problematic, as I explained with my example of the Model T car. The fact that all Charr are conscripted shortly after birth is also problematic, as it prevents them from freely communicating, thinking of new ideas, pursuing their own interests, and discovering their aptitudes. How will the Charr inform one another about the latest experiments or freely propose hypotheses when their society is hierarchical? How will Charr researchers stay with their warbands and perform their research when it's unlikely that any of their other bandmates are inclined to research?
20*** The Charr don't just research "weapons". They research "military science". Medicine, chemistry, architecture, metallurgy, etc, all miltary application science.
21*** The Charr do research other fields, just as a utilitarian means to an end. They understand alchemy/chemistry insofar as it gets them technological edges. They understand agriculture as far as sustaining the war machine. They will research something to get it to a point of functional, but most of their R&D goes into military applications. They likely will falter and encounter serious trouble IF the world quiets down, but for the time being, there's a BIG war going on, and they are GOOD at what they do. Think of them as the Spartans. Great at fighting and military applications, but not as strong when it comes to non-military fields. They might have to suck it up and work with the Norn, Sylvari, and Asura to really advance there.
22 As to the idea of the warband, the warband is NOT the entire world. Their warband might be THEIR world, their siblings, their family, but they are entirely able to go out and work with others, or present promising ideas to their superior officer, for research consideration. They have a strong independent streak, and so would likely not reach out to others to help with the development, but they will share the idea once it's done (see the Iron Legion PC's Ghostbore Musket being presented to the brass). While their other bandmates might not be as keen on research and development, they will unfailingly support their bandmate in their work, and sometimes can provide outside perspectives.
23*** Also, regarding the Legions, it's not that they DON'T work together. It's that they don't LIKE it, and will, given a chance, do things THEIR way (Iron Legion will create tech, Ash will go for subterfuge and covert work, Blood will go for direct combat). But they ARE working towards the same goal. Just not harmoniously. It's similar to how humans will work together, but each group wants to do things their way and put themselves on the top of the heap.
24** fhqwhgads: The Charr's focus on war above everything else should pull them into something of a Chinese finger trap. If you try to go straight to one goal, such as weapons development, you'll make a little progress, but eventually stop. You have to go around and look at other fields before the answers become clear and more progress can be made.
25*** Nick: Except official sources also state that the Charr legions work together to maintain and expand their empire. Research, development and industry are all an integral part of expansion, are they not? And since the Charr raise and school their young, it's entirely possible they form warbands that specialize in engineering and chemistry from a young age. Sure, they don't have the freedom to let anyone who wants to create something do it, but if they have Charr who were trained in technology from a young age, all a Charr has to do is see an idea delivered to them, and to give ''them'' ideas in turn. Considering their culture, the idea of the Charr specifically developing the minds of their young for chosen purposes is not far-fetched.
26*** fhqwhgads:You can't just "develop" the minds of a young Charr for a chosen purpose. You can train them, but what if they're completely incompetent at it? They ''could'' pick and choose the ones that are good, but then you run into the warband problem and the fact that Charr come as a package deal. So either you go around breaking warbands and picking out good engineers or you have mathematics warbands half of whom don't understand anything the others are saying, or you have a frontline combat warband brought into the city so a few of their members can do chemistry.
27*** Nick: So, you're going under the assumption that a person who studies nothing but math from the age of roughly a year old, all day, every day, under the guidance of someone who probably made multiple advancements to mathematics themselves, would not be competent in the field of mathematics? Environment plays a role in developing a person's intellect, and in a society like the Charr where everything is for the honor of the warband and the Charr nation, it seems a likely outcome. Or, in short, the Charr have the mental focus and drive to learn a field even if they don't have a natural affinity for it.
28*** Another point is that Warbands don't HAVE to be kept together. They would prefer it, as they've grown up together, trained and fought together, and are intensely familiar with each other, but if one or two are recalled to a stronghold to focus on a project, the Warband can still be fielded. If anything, a good comparison for a Warband is a modern Military Squad. They're close knit, comfortable together, and well-versed in each other's strengths (knowing where each fights best, knowing who works best in concert (using the players warband, knowing that Eurayle and Dinky are a strong pair, or that Clawspur is at his best with Maverick and Reeva pulling eyes), etc).
29** I would like to point to the advancements in military technology the Soviets and Germans, hardly states that fosters 'the forces of independent thought, personal curiosity, individual desires, and free communication' made during the 10 years around [=WW2=], while their lands were being ravaged by war, just like the Char lands are under attack from the dragons' minions. You would not want to go to war with the tanks, planes and to a lesser extent guns they had in 1938 against an opponent armed with the tools of 1948. From bolt-action rifles, tin-cans and the occasional bi-plane to assault rifles, main battle tanks and jet planes. And that's in 10 years. In 250 years, I'm willing to buy they advanced quite a bit. And game balance ensures they still won't be much tougher than the mages and warriors they already had anyway.
30*** Many of those threats also resist traditional [[MurderIsTheOnlySolution Murder-based]] solutions, either being unmurderable (such as the Ghosts of Ascalon), causing or being caused by corruption, or simply being really nasty, while the Charr physiology and social structure means that 'military use' is a much broader term than humans would consider. The printing press, for example, seems like a uniquely scholarly pursuit -- but the Charr came up with it and popularized it, and given that they train their warriors in large groups, there's a place for book learning. Many of the precursor metallurgical and architectural techniques for modern Charr buildings might not be directly usable against an enemy's face, but the Iron Legion's metal buildings are probably a big part of why the Black Citadel isn't overrun by ghosts -- and a major step toward permanently downing ghosts, if the containment unit works. There are actual in-game Charr that are members of the Priory, an archaeological group, as well as merchants and tailors and scholars and crazy engineers.
31* As for the humans not being technologically advanced, you're looking at the humans as they are regularly shown--the well-rounded, highly adaptive "Marios" of the RPG world. These are not those humans. These are highly religious humans who trust in their gods to aid them and show them the way. They're more like the elves of most [=RPGs=], really--very traditional, very unchanging. They're practically the same as they were in the original Guild Wars. Might be FridgeBrilliance, actually--the Charr were humiliated when they realized they had been worshipping false gods, so it makes sense that they would turn to technology. The Human gods, on the other hand, are very much real--they even replaced one of them they weren't happy with. Why should they doubt their worship then?
32** fhqwhgads: I don't buy the idea that the human gods are preventing them from research. Even if the gods are real, they haven't interfered directly in human affairs for quite a while, so they certainly aren't something which would make physical engineering unnecessary or obsolete. You also can't make the argument that the gods themselves discourage research since there's a god of truth and reason which would certainly be a good patron deity of scientists and engineers.
33*** I think you may have misunderstood my point. I'm not trying to say that the human gods are trying to prevent technology, I'm saying that the humans may simply not see a ''need'' to research and develop technology when their religion served them so well for so long. Besides, if they're the third most advanced race, we're comparing them to the Asura and the Charr, both of whom are advancing their technology hard, something the humans may also simply not have the luxury to do, what with being down to one major city left in the world. Remember, the Charr have a lot more control over a larger area than the humans, who have been pushed to the edge and are still having to deal with centaurs and the like. Of course, the Asura have been hammered hard, pushed from their homes, forced to find a new power source...but their society is built from the ground up on research and development, too. I'm fairly certain they will eventually overtake the Charr in terms of technology.
34*** Technically, the Asura HAVE overtaken the Charr in technology. The key distinction is that Asuran tech is 1) much more diverse (everything from military and combat functions to home automation and the kitchen sink), and 2) VERY experimental and unrefined in comparison (they tend to get to the "it only explodes 45% of the time, that's adequate, on to the next thing" stage). Charr tech is less advanced, but it's also designed to be sturdy, reliable, and effective. Think an AK-47 to something like the XM series of guns.
35*** Well, you can build a complicated machinery to do thing X, OR, you could pray to your god, clap your hands and thing X will happen. Humans were explicitly stated to be so backwards because the influence of gods and the magic that is routinely used. Most of their newer technology is pilfered/traded from Charr.
36* There's a fan theory that the Charr in GW1 weren't nearly as primitive and bestial as they appeared, it's just that in GW1 we only got to play as humans, so we're seeing everything through their unreliable narrator eyes.
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38However, it ''is'' confusing to me at least that the humans are less technologically advanced than the Sylvari--the druidy, hermitlike plant-people race that only cropped up into existence like 25 years ago. What's up with ''that?''
39* fhqwhgads: sorry, my mistake. Fixed the OP.
40** Sylvari tend towards bio-replicas of tech that one or more of their members has seen, and that was added to the Dream itself. Thus they might not have the tech savvy that an Asura or Charr does, but they have imprints of advanced tech that they can adapt to their needs
41*** Proof please on where it says that the Sylvari are more techincaly advanced then Humans? I'm pretty sure their either even or the Sylvari are behind.
42*** fhqwhgads:You're a bit late. If you'd look at the post you responded to, you'd see that that claim was a mistake and has been fixed.
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44To be honest, I think the real headscratcher about the Charr "Why aren't they all at least partially deaf?" Admittedly, I might just not understand how sound and hearing work very well, but according to the GW2 official wiki, the charr have two sets of ears, one for high frequency and one for low frequency, and they apparently have difficulty hearing mid-frequencies, which is apparently part of why they have trouble with humans (can't hear them speaking well) even though their own vocal frequencies sound mid-range. Also, the Charr now live in an industrial society and a militant state, a place that would be a cacophonic symphony of high and low frequency noises, and not entirely useful once but deafening ones. So I just ask: Why aren't Charr deaf by the time they're adults
45** Point A) the Charr might have built-in adaptive protection against hearing loss, developed over time as both predators (losing hearing to a screeching bird would just be bad) and as engineers. Point B) As to why Charr vocalizations tend to sound similar to human, perhaps they're speaking in said frequencies only when actually speaking to non-Charr, while simultaneously communicating in ultra/infrasound ranges
46* While a lot of real-world human engineering is designed to minimize mid-frequency (15 Hz to ~20 KHz) noise, that's not a fundamental attribute of mundane technology; quite a bit of engineering goes into avoiding vibration in that range. Higher-frequency sounds are easier to block with foam or baffles, but the underlying problems are going to be similar. Of course, this might mean that their technology, until redesigned, is designed to be loudest in normal human hearing ranges and thus be less comfortable for humans or other similar species to use... but that might well be Fridge Brilliance.
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48* The entertaining thing here is that the simple answer is usually the most accurate one, and if we weren't so very vainglorious, we wouldn't be able to overlook it so easily. Firstly, the charr have a very socialist culture, they have no need for capitalism. In that world, socialism was successful and worked as an ideal for technological development. If you don't believe that, then read up on the most recent charr lore. The other element that's painfully obvious is that the humans are not the most intelligent race on Tyria, far from it.
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50All it takes is one sylvari to understand asura magicks, then they all do via their hivemind. The charr have a higher level of objective thinking and a greater critical capacity, leading them to make advancements in the physical sciences faster whilst humans are still bogged down by religion. (Remember that episode of Family Guy where Stewie took Brian to a world where religion had never existed, and thus humanity is one thousand years more advanced? Yeah.) The asura dabble in high-end magic, they're basically the high elves of that world, despite being so short, and they do things with magic (not technology, check the race pages) that most of the races couldn't dream of, and are somewhat insufferable geniuses because of their command of magic.
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52And then you have the norn, the norn are endlessly wise, and this has been demonstrated by Gullik in Ghosts of Ascalon, and apparently this is a common element of the norn, they carry some of the wisdom of their spirit animal with them, so they're always good with advice and thinking things through before diving in.
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54Essentially the humans in Guild Wars 2 are the impetuous youths and the least intelligent race of the lot, which is why (despite any and all delusions of grandeur) they've had, what, 8 of their cities destroyed? They have one left now and they're on the brink of extinction.
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56There you have it, humans of Tyria? Just not very bright. Charr? Asura? Norn? Sylvari? All incredibly intelligent in their own ways.
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58The only reason they got as far as they did was due to the divine powers of their gods (as mentioned in many lore entries), but their gods abandoned them a while back, and since then they've been on a downward spiral, with some humans still being crazily co-dependent and refusing to believe that the gods are gone (see any human intro for Guild Wars 2).
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60The reason the charr have achieved what they have is due to raw intelligence and the drive and verve to see it through. the reason humanity hasn't achieved much is because... of everything I've just explained. Humanity is hanging by a thread in that reality. (Compare and contrast with the successful charr, who have four major cities at least and are still expanding.)
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62* "Charr society is fundamentally opposed to the forces of independent thought, personal curiosity, individual desires, and free communication, which fuel research." Really? Tell that to Pyre Fierceshot and Kalla Scorchrazor, both of whom were fiercely independent and individual. It seems to me like you're forcing a very narrow view of the charr which the lore doesn't support and then basing your logic on that, and by doing so your logic is flawed. And this quote in particular - "This is simply bad writing in an attempt to include a redeeming quality in a race which should not logically have it." - makes this 'headscratcher' sound possibly like a case of [[FantasticRacism fantastic racism]]. You're coming over just a wee bit too xenophobic for your own good to me, here.
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64* Umm to person that mentioned Dream letting the Sylvari master everything: The Sylvari Dream doesn't work that way... Each Sylvari only get a small portion of the collected memories, which in turn are vague, They'll know it, But will still have to do it themself and learn it fully. Lore has states that Humanity have the most well documented history, Norn are individuals so while one is Wise like Eir, another can be like Gyda, obnoxious and ignorant. The Charr are highly intelligent but also have as a whole a distrust of magic especially defensive magic that is almost downright silly. Every Race in GW2 has good and bad points, That is the whole point of the plot, That the races have to -band- together and use their skills. Humanity is just as needed as others and it wasn't so much a case of being not to bright but simply being seriously unlucky between Gw1's time and Gw2.
65** Vague imprints can still give a particularly enterprising Sylvari ideas. They might not know the specifics, but they know what a turret or elevator is, and can set about shaping something that does similar.
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67"And then you have the norn, the norn are endlessly wise, and this has been demonstrated by Gullik in Ghosts of Ascalon, and apparently this is a common element of the norn, they carry some of the wisdom of their spirit animal with them, so they're always good with advice and thinking things through before diving in."
68Not to be rude, but this statement has a huge hole in it. The Norn may be wise, but as a race the Norn are individuals. Period. Their entire "society" if such a term can even be applied to them since they do what they want, when they want and are as organized as a bar-room brawl, is to be [[FamedinStory Famed in Story]]. They drink till they bust a gut, climb mountains and take on the biggest damn monsters they can, alone more often than not, for the sake of living forever in legend. Many of them are wiser than they lead on or are very attached to the spirits, but to other races much of what they do is suicidal and extreme. They throw themselves into life seeking glory and consequences be damned. The same Gullik who is wiser than he looks or comes off to be is also the same guy who screwed up an honor duel before he grasped the bigger picture, and threw himself axe-first at a monster the size of a hill on his own, Leeroy Jenkins style. Granted he's a 9-foot-tall,badass, but the point is that while norn like Eir seek wisdom and fame through their craft, many norn aren't viewed as overly wise or overly brash, just hungry for prestige in what they do. For all other questions see [[http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Norn The Other Wiki]] in fact all other questions can basically be solved with GW2 wiki for anyone actually wanting to do their research.
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70* Where are the playable Tengu? I always wondered why the devs decided to develop new races (Norn, Sylvari, Asura) and make them playable, rather than the existing ones like the Tengu? Yeah, they certainly went with Charr, which people have wanted since ''Prophecies'', but why were the Tengu given the short end of the stick?
71** According to WordOfGod, they originally plan to make Tengu a playable race, but held out on it. The may consider it in the future when they release expansions.
72* The Tengu are busy hanging out in the Dominion of Winds. So their probably either going to be an expansion race or A-net just don't see the Tengu as playable race?
73* I think another important reason is that areanet wanted to make its own races, which is why the dwarfs who [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame were made in the same mold as Tolkien's dwarfs]] got the shaft in Eye of the North. Tengu, similarly, are named after Japanese mytholical creatures, just as centaurs are based on Europian mythology and will also not be playable.
74** Despite that they took a ''lot'' of creative liberties with it to make them stand out...and you know that this is indeed the ''perfect'' opportunity to develop them more - I mean, they don't see anything wrong with Shapeshifting vikings (Come on, ''how'' many societies are we going to see based off of Nordic culture?) or plant people that look more like nature sprites from popular mythology. The Centaurs in Guild Wars were actually not so much half-man half horse but were half ''gazelle'' and were ''african'' - something that's ''very'' underrepresented in {{RPG}} settings. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter They wasted a few perfectly good societies]].
75* I believe Word Of God stated that the Centuars can't be made as a playable race due to the coding nightmare of having to make armour that'd fit not just them but the other races. For other bipedals, Expansions are planned so who knows, Aparently players of the beta have noticed that the Tengu wall is large enough to house say Oh one starting area...
76** In the Making Of book that comes along with the collector's edition, it's explained that the tengu were, in fact, originally planned as a player race and that the Tengu Wall was, in fact, put in the game to house their city and starting area, but the idea was scrapped fairly late in development. The head developer does go on to say that the tengu have "great future potential", so don't be surprised if they get added later on. Hopefully after they start selling additional character slots.
77----
78* So, Locust Swarm gives you swiftness. Why do you gain swiftness from a locust swarm?
79** The locusts push you in the direction you're going to go? It ''is'' magic, after all; it might also just be a side effect of some more fundamental aspect of a spell that summons winged insects.
80* In the Charr personal story quest, after you take control of the warband, Rytlock orders you to refill your ranks after two members desert. You're given the choice between two honorable gladium, a veteran thief who's warband was wiped out, and a talented necromancer who was wrongly accused of being a flame legion traitor. You can only pick one of them. Technically speaking, your warband is down by three men after you kill/banish your old legionnaire and his two cronies go AWOL. Why can't you recruit both of them? You need the manpower, and depending on your class selection and who you picked as your sparing partner it's fairly easy to end up in a situation where your warband is in need of both stealth and magic.
81** You have to actively go find and complete a mission for the gladium you select (the thief's about to commit StupidSacrifice revenge on his warband's ghostly killer), so there might just be a time limit thing. On the other paw, between the ghosts and dragons and military conflicts, there's also a surfeit of Blood Legion warbands down several members, and Rytlock might only give you the option of one because he knows other warbands that would be in need of a good Necromancer or Thief. Or Charr of Rytlock's ideology might have cultural reasons to not want multiple 'untrustworthy' gladium in one warband.
82* I haven't gotten to the racial sympathy portion of the storyline yet, but I'm curious as to whether or not they give a reason why races such as Kodan, Centaur, and Jotun aren't available to rally?
83** Kodan don't have anything to spare. They're locked in a war to the knife with Jormag the ice dragon and barely holding on. And I should note that one of his champions is the only multi-phase fight outside of dungeons in the entire game. Also, there is no way to bring troops in and out. They live in iceberg cities, which the dragon scattered.
84*** Each of the races recruited is locked in a battle with the elder dragon's forces at the time; that's how you recruit them, by helping them weather the storm.
85*** The difference is in how the races are faring. Humans, Norn, Charr, Asura, and Sylvari are all reasonably holding on. The Kodan are just barely surviving and losing any significant number of their own to go off adventuring could be the difference between life and death
86** The centaurs are busy attacking Kryta and Lion's Arch. No point in trying to ally with them when they're actively attacking you. Just getting them to back off would be a major improvement.
87*** With the addition of Dry Top and the Silverwastes to the game, we now know that there are centaur tribes that are friendly, or at least neutral, to humans, quite possibly having been influenced by Ventari's teachings; remember that Ventari himself originally hailed from that region. It's entirely possible that in the upcoming Heart of Thorns expansion, the player character will be able to recruit these tribes to help fight Mordremoth.
88*** With each recruitable race, you only recruit one tribe. Centaur live beyond Kryta; there are centaur in the shiverpeaks being threatened by Jormag, same as anyone else.
89** The jotun are scattered as all hell and about stone-bronze age. Not remotely worth the resources.
90*** The grawl are every bit as primitive and arguably as scattered, and the ogres aren't much better than them.
91** Basically, the minor races you can recruit are the ones that are not universally hostile, have some sort of unique trump to bring to the table, and have decent sized societies. [[spoiler:In the later phases of the game, we see that the hylek, the skritt and the quaggan have all been recruited into the cause against Zhaitan.]]
92** I map-completed Frostgorge Sound recently, which meant a lot of interaction with [=NPC=] Kodan. I think the reason the Pact doesn't try allying with the Kodan is because the Kodan aren't interested. Oh, they're interested in taking back the territory Jormag stole from them, but we're talking about a race whose top complement to a member of another sentient race is to tell them they might be worthy of being reincarnated as a Kodan. As far as they're concerned, they're the top of the developmental chain, the most enlightened race on Tyria. They might be willing to lead "lesser" races against the dragons, but an equal alliance like the races in the Pact have? Not happening.
93* Is there any particular reason why Rytlock chooses to handicap himself by fighting with only a single, onehanded sword? A very badass sword, I'll grant you, but would it kill them to give the man a shield or a warhorn?
94** I could have sworn that I saw him fighting with a pistol in the Ascalonian Catacombs.
95*** He definitely does wield a pistol in his off-hand.
96*** So he does. Why does he get to wield a pistol and my warrior doesn't?
97*** He's a giant feline Creator/SteveBlum. Are you going to argue with a giant feline Steve Blum? No? He gets a damned offhand pistol.
98*** A Charr racial utility skill is an off-hand pistol shot, so his use of a pistol may reflect that instead of normal weapon equipment. He doesn't use a pistol regularly in the tie-in novel. He may just be waiting to get the other half of his set of swords. :) Plus, he's weird. Even, if not especially, for a Charr -- normal Charr don't go sauntering away from their warband and befriending runty humans. He may not have a reason.
99* Why can't human rangers start out with a Krytan Drakehound?
100** Maybe it's because, in the human starter zone (Queensdale), Krytan drakehounds are found mainly in Beetletun, the fief of Minister Caduceus. They might have originally been bred especially for the Caduceus family, as several dog breeds in our own world were originally created for the aristocracy.
101* While walking through Fort Trinity, I suddenly realized something. How in the world did the Pact manage to build such an impressive structure ''in front of a Risen infested Orr?'' The builders wouldn't have the time or patience to build Fort Trinity when there's hordes of undeads right nearby, ready to kill them at any second. Maybe if Fort Trinity was actually built beforehand as pieces and then put together like a puzzle at Orr it would be more understandable, but nobody in the game indicates such a possibility.
102** If you listen to the discussion, they actually mention that it's a RUINED fort. So most likely the foundation and much of the structure was already there, it's more the addition of Asura and Charr tech, and their own other additions to turn it once again functional.
103** This point is clarified if you play the personal story. The Pact didn't build it, they reclaimed a ruined fort, repaired and fortified it.
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105* Am I the only one who finds it weird that I can never go a day in Mapchat without hearing people saying "They should add a monk". Isn't one of the point of Guild Wars 2 being that there ''aren't'' any healers?! Especially since every other MMORPG with dedicated healing and support classes have problems with people constantly choosing DPS or Tank classes because guess what? Healing is boring.
106** I blame the Holy Trinity. So popular in the MMO genre that people from these [=MMOs=] who gets GW2 expects it to use the Holy Trinity system unless they looked it up beforehand. While it's possible to admittedly heal and tank in-game, trying to do it 100% of the time will just get you killed (Just try to tank any bosses in the dungeons). Unfortunately though, there's people who wants ''Guardians'' to only heal and nothing else.
107** Personally, I find the issue is not with the holy trinity, but with the lore of it. I see it as this: As Assassins became popular in Tyria, monks became in much worse shape, they were high priority targets and could be killed almost instantly. So they learned to fight in suits of heavy armour. The end result is the Guardian. They are your monk and they are badass. So remember, if you see anyone complain about the game lacking monks, let them know, the Guardians are the monks and they are badass.
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109* Separatist Snipers deals more damage to moving targets. Why? Shouldn't it be still targets?
110** Perhaps their training emphasized sniping a target on the move, so they're better at hitting vitals by leading a shot? Either that or it's due to a moving target being less able to deflect an incoming shot
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112* So anyways, I'm playing on a high population server and have a character in the 20s. I try to tackle some of these region-wide events and am disappointed to find like three or four people ''tops'' going after them. I try to do some of the local quests and find myself pretty much on my own for those. I walk into cities that're practically ghost towns. Where the hell ''is'' everyone? Am I just playing during off hours, or are they all clustered around the starting areas like ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes''.
113** There's some concentration of players in the WvW areas, or in Lion's Arch, but most folk tend to spend more time in higher-level zones like Frostgorge or the Orr zones -- you can level through the lower zones very fast, and the higher level zones tend to have better rewards.
114*** The problem that I myself am having is that the game seems to offer more events and invasions depending on whether or not people are in the zone or not. I'm in a level 40 zone... and I pretty much had to backtrack to other races' starting zones so I could have something to do. Wherein lies the problem with how it doesn't give me any better gear.
115** The lowest-level zones also have consistent populations due to being easy places to get daily achievements. This has especially been the case since they updated the champion foe loot tables and inspired a huge wave of ZergRush farming. AbridgedArenaArray is in play here; either the absolute highest or lowest level zones will have the most activity. Everything in between is going to be a ghost town, even on the most populated servers.
116*** Well ''that'' was a flop, wasn't it? I remember Anet wanted to avert the AbridgedArenaArray by making the game practical at every zone. Yet it's ''just'' like every other MMORPG... no reason to even leave the capital city. Good going making the events ''balanced around the assumption that there will be other players participating'' too, Anet.
117** Hopefully this became better with the megaservers they integrated. Now players across all the servers will all be on the same map if it's a low population zone.
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119* How do mesmer illusions do real, tangible damage? [[AWizardDidIt Magic]]? YourMindMakesItReal?
120** Why not both? You can say the Illusions of even make Clones or Phantasms's action feel like it happening to them and then the Magic would add the damage afterwards.
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122* Okay, so, we've seen a ''letter'' written by a female Dredge, but so far, every single Dredge voiced in the game has been by a male actor, many of them by the ''same'' actor. Is it just a case of all of them being sounding alike and not being able to tell them apart, or did something actually ''happen'' to the females after they refused to back down?
123** Still no explanation as to why we never meet any in the core maps, but female Dredge ''are'' apparently still around, as the collective in Thunderhead Peaks not only have several, but are ''led'' by one, Varya.
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