Main character, commander

[Chaarliee.2307]

Hey so, I don't know if anybody else feels this way, it's been on my mind for a couple of seasons now. But the main character of the story (the one you play with) is so plain, and does not have a background story (the one from the begining doesn't count, its too little, and it's not even mentioned in the last few seasons). And besides, you are supposed to be THE COMMANDER, the most badass character, and yet he/she acts like a little bi***h and every other character in the story boss him/her around.

I hope that in the future anet could give the story more "options", as in what to say, and basically what do you want your character to be like.

[Dawdler.8521]

GW2 isnt an RPG. Its a rollercoaster ride where you sit quietly and take scenic pictures between drops.

[SpyderArachnid.5619]

You're not the commander anymore. You left that role a long time ago. You are a member of your guild now, Dragon's Watch (and partly Destiny's Edge). NPCs only refer to you as commander still because it is familiar and people know you as that name. As for the bossing around stuff, you're not the leader of your guild, you're a member. You all give your input on what to do. You don't tell them what to do, you work together to find solutions.

 

Just because your past isn't constantly brought into the story doesn't make it not relevant anymore. It's your story still. My long lost sister who I thought was dead joined the Pact (you actually see this n your personal story later on). The team you decide to help (Skritt, Quaggan, Ogres, etc), help you out in Orr as well. You run into several characters from your early personal story in the DLC as well. The "commander" has lived a very exciting life if you look at all the things they have accomplished in so little time.

 

What I'd honestly like to see, is in Cantha, if Humans picked Canthan for their heritage, I want to see it mean something when they go to Cantha. Instead of visiting a new land, it should be returning home (in the dead sister story, you get to choose your heritage). I hope they do that for Humans, like all the unique stuff Sylvari got in HoT.

[Quench.7091]

For Dragon's Watch, it makes sense. We're kind of just their peers at this point in time. As for the Charr legions commanding us? It made sense for my character. He is still a Legionnaire of the Iron Legion and felt like he was treated as such. I don't get the other races involvement though, other than the diplomatic measures of the humans. The Order of Whispers, the Vigil, and the Durmand Priory were the reason our personal story branched out into us helping the other races. Other players probably feel like they're just a bunch of cat wranglers in the middle of a cat fight.

 

Is there any differences in the dialogue between Charr, Iron Legion Charr, and the other races?

[Yggranya.5201]

> @"SpyderArachnid.5619" said:

> You're not the commander anymore. You left that role a long time ago. You are a member of your guild now, Dragon's Watch (and partly Destiny's Edge). NPCs only refer to you as commander still because it is familiar and people know you as that name. As for the bossing around stuff, you're not the leader of your guild, you're a member. You all give your input on what to do. You don't tell them what to do, you work together to find solutions.

>

> Just because your past isn't constantly brought into the story doesn't make it not relevant anymore. It's your story still. My long lost sister who I thought was dead joined the Pact (you actually see this n your personal story later on). The team you decide to help (Skritt, Quaggan, Ogres, etc), help you out in Orr as well. You run into several characters from your early personal story in the DLC as well. The "commander" has lived a very exciting life if you look at all the things they have accomplished in so little time.

>

> What I'd honestly like to see, is in Cantha, if Humans picked Canthan for their heritage, I want to see it mean something when they go to Cantha. Instead of visiting a new land, it should be returning home (in the dead sister story, you get to choose your heritage). I hope they do that for Humans, like all the unique stuff Sylvari got in HoT.

 

You never were the commander, you always were (like in almost every game ever) a mindless puppet who simply does as you are told, no will, no opinions, nothing. Just a weapon to be sent to kill and destroy, not your choise, it's just what you are told to do. Of couse they pretend that your character says things but none of the things they say matter in any way. If you play a human or sylvari, then maybe it's not so bad but playing a charr or asura really sucks. Asura is an idiot, charr is a pansy.

 

What i would like to see in Cantha is that, since the ministry of purity is in charge, they would do what nazi Germany tried to do and come to exterminate and/or enslave every "lesser" race. Then you obviously go to war with them and end Cantha, that would be great. It won't happen but eh...

[Yggranya.5201]

Huh, P A N S Y is censored for some reason. Kitten indeed. Also N A Z I.

[Strider Pj.2193]

> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > @"SpyderArachnid.5619" said:

> > You're not the commander anymore. You left that role a long time ago. You are a member of your guild now, Dragon's Watch (and partly Destiny's Edge). NPCs only refer to you as commander still because it is familiar and people know you as that name. As for the bossing around stuff, you're not the leader of your guild, you're a member. You all give your input on what to do. You don't tell them what to do, you work together to find solutions.

> >

> > Just because your past isn't constantly brought into the story doesn't make it not relevant anymore. It's your story still. My long lost sister who I thought was dead joined the Pact (you actually see this n your personal story later on). The team you decide to help (Skritt, Quaggan, Ogres, etc), help you out in Orr as well. You run into several characters from your early personal story in the DLC as well. The "commander" has lived a very exciting life if you look at all the things they have accomplished in so little time.

> >

> > What I'd honestly like to see, is in Cantha, if Humans picked Canthan for their heritage, I want to see it mean something when they go to Cantha. Instead of visiting a new land, it should be returning home (in the dead sister story, you get to choose your heritage). I hope they do that for Humans, like all the unique stuff Sylvari got in HoT.

>

> You never were the commander, you always were (like in almost every game ever) a mindless puppet who simply does as you are told, no will, no opinions, nothing. Just a weapon to be sent to kill and destroy, not your choise, it's just what you are told to do. Of couse they pretend that your character says things but none of the things they say matter in any way. If you play a human or sylvari, then maybe it's not so bad but playing a charr or asura really sucks. Asura is an idiot, charr is a kitten.

>

> What i would like to see in Cantha is that, since the ministry of purity is in charge, they would do what kitten Germany tried to do and come to exterminate and/or enslave every "lesser" race. Then you obviously go to war with them and end Cantha, that would be great. It won't happen but eh...

 

Sooo.... ‘Commanders’ still follow orders. Always have. The more senior the commander, the more they have input into the plan, but the goals are set by people above them.

[Kulvar.1239]

> @"Chaarliee.2307" said:

> Hey so, I don't know if anybody else feels this way, it's been on my mind for a couple of seasons now. But the main character of the story (the one you play with) is so plain, and does not have a background story (the one from the begining doesn't count, its too little, and it's not even mentioned in the last few seasons). And besides, you are supposed to be THE COMMANDER, the most kitten character, and yet he/she acts like a little bi***h and every other character in the story boss him/her around.

> I hope that in the future anet could give the story more "options", as in what to say, and basically what do you want your character to be like.

 

Because we make the character, ANet is unable to give it any background, personality, opinions. Because of story constraints, you can't get any meaningful choice either. That's why you're bland. The commander should be a NPC and you should only be an hireling following the heroes and helping them.

[Taril.8619]

1) We were given the role of Commander by Trahearne, who was Marshal. A higher rank then us.

 

2) We had no real merit to being appointed to this position other than, we knew one of Trahearne's friends and actually paid attention to him.

 

3) Not only were we only Commander in the Pact, thus making that rank irrelevant in literally everywhere else in the world, but we also **LEFT** the Pact after Orr

 

4) We were the "Boss" during LW1/LW2 and HoT in reference to the allies we had gathered leading up to Scarlet's demise in LW1. But after HoT we made a new Guild a la Destiny's Edge (Dragon Watch) and invited all of our friends to join.

 

5) In Dragon's Watch, we are all equals. Though, technically we and Rytlock are the founders/leaders (If I recall correctly, during The Head of the Snake LW3 story it's mentioned during discussions with Queen Jennah about us being the leader of Dragon's Watch)

 

6) We still have no real merit to actually lead anyone. We just smash things good.

 

7) The title "Commander" is really just being used as a generic term for characters to reference us (As opposed to something like Slayer for Norn or Legionnaire for Charr) - Especially since "Dragon Slayer" became awkward during LW3/PoF and "God Stomper" is dumb. (Poo-bah on the other hand...)

 

8) Also, post HoT, we became BFF's with leaders of each city for some reason. But they're still far more influential and with higher ranks than us, so they can still boss us around. I mean, I wouldn't like to have all of the Legions from the Black Citadel after me because I told Smodur where he can stick his orders, would you?

 

9) As far as background story goes, there's limitations with it. From the fact that, unless they add in additional stuff to the original Personal Story, then they simply don't have much background stuff to reference, even more so when many of the events were tied up completely. Then they have to ensure that every character is getting similar treatment otherwise it can be unfair, but also without expending too many resources to add in each characters unique choices they've made throughout their PS...

 

Beyond that... It could be nice to have a bit more influence over things. Even if its the option of a few different lines here and there (Similar to in FFXIV where they've been adding in more options with responses, so you can be generic adventurer or be sassy af). It'd also be cool to see more racial differences pop up, with different dialogue, references to culture etc. It happens on occasion (Also, there's things like that 1 achievement in HoT that requires being a Sylvari...), but having it appear more would be cool (Though, no more race locked achieves plz)

 

It'd also be cool if we could have more choices with lasting effects. Like the choosing of the banners in Amnoon, only if they were in any way relevant again in the story besides like 1 line from Joko in LW4. Or how we picked a tribe to help in PS (Hylek/Ogre/Grawl) but if we also got some more stuff from that choice beyond what nameless NPC's followed us around in like 1 mission. Though, I do however see this as additional work to put in these alternate paths and choices, which might not be sustainable.

[Danikat.8537]

I think not giving your character much characterisation is intentional, so all the different options can fit into the same story and so players can fill in the gaps themselves if they want to. It's not unique to GW2 - the Elder Scrolls series for example all you know about your characters back story is that they're imprisoned at the start of each game. You never even find out why they were there, it's just up to you to imagine something. Then there's the Legend of Zelda series where the player character often has a bit of a backstory but doesn't speak at all, not just no voice acting but no written dialogue beyond the bare minimum needed to give you options (which aren't written out in full, it's just like 'yes' or 'no') which is done intentionally so the player can imagine it for themselves - insert themselves into the role if they want to, or imagine a personality they think fits.

 

Likewise games not giving you much choice over the course of events isn't unusual, especially in MMOs with on-going development because the consequences of those choices can change future storylines and it gets increasingly difficult to accommodate all the options. Imagine if Anet weren't currently trying to write stories for players who had never joined the Pact, had joined the Pact and never left, sided with Braham and went to fight Jormag, never formed what became Dragon's Watch at all and so on. It would be impossible.

 

One way to handle it is to give you the 'illusion' of choice, where the player is asked to make decisions but ultimately the outcome is the same, but that's hard to write and can come off very heavy-handed if it's done wrong. (If you've ever played any of the Tell Tale games, like A Wolf Among Us, they do that a lot, and give examples of both doing it really well and really badly.)

 

I think the problem with the way GW2 does it is they're trying to strike a middle ground and that's harder. Our characters aren't given a detailed backstory and what they have doesn't have to match up, but their personality is often shown quite clearly through the voice acting, which restricts what players can imagine for themselves because they've got to fit what's portrayed in the story and dialogue. Similarly they started off giving us choices, and sometimes give us others but those can't have any real impact and that often becomes apparent (especially as so many people have multiple GW2 characters).

 

It doesn't bother me much, I'll keep filling in the gaps in my own head canon, and adapting it to suit what the game does give us, but then I'll do that even in games where the character is quite detailed (and in books and movies too, if I like it I'll often imagine additional scenes to flesh out bits I'd like to have seen explored more). But I can see why it might be frustrating for other people. Unfortunately however in an MMO I think the only viable solution is to make the player character even more of a blank slate, because otherwise you have everyone going around as exactly the same person and that just gets absurd.

[Obliviscaris.6937]

I've found a place in my own headcannon where I can sit comfortably within the personal story, but one thing I must mention is that, I enjoyed the most recent part of Icebrood Saga **SO much more** because we as a player didn't have an assigned voice actor. I was able to be the character I was in my imagination. It really gelled well for me , I felt more immersed having to pay more attention and having my own character's voice come through my head rather than that of a VA.

 

As for characters treating us like crap, it won't last. The commander does have a thresh-hold for bullshit as demonstrated in Path of Fire, and that limit is approaching fast. I can guarantee it.

 

One thing A-net writing has done very well is making us eventually feel like we've regained control of the situation.

[Yggranya.5201]

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > @"SpyderArachnid.5619" said:

> > > You're not the commander anymore. You left that role a long time ago. You are a member of your guild now, Dragon's Watch (and partly Destiny's Edge). NPCs only refer to you as commander still because it is familiar and people know you as that name. As for the bossing around stuff, you're not the leader of your guild, you're a member. You all give your input on what to do. You don't tell them what to do, you work together to find solutions.

> > >

> > > Just because your past isn't constantly brought into the story doesn't make it not relevant anymore. It's your story still. My long lost sister who I thought was dead joined the Pact (you actually see this n your personal story later on). The team you decide to help (Skritt, Quaggan, Ogres, etc), help you out in Orr as well. You run into several characters from your early personal story in the DLC as well. The "commander" has lived a very exciting life if you look at all the things they have accomplished in so little time.

> > >

> > > What I'd honestly like to see, is in Cantha, if Humans picked Canthan for their heritage, I want to see it mean something when they go to Cantha. Instead of visiting a new land, it should be returning home (in the dead sister story, you get to choose your heritage). I hope they do that for Humans, like all the unique stuff Sylvari got in HoT.

> >

> > You never were the commander, you always were (like in almost every game ever) a mindless puppet who simply does as you are told, no will, no opinions, nothing. Just a weapon to be sent to kill and destroy, not your choise, it's just what you are told to do. Of couse they pretend that your character says things but none of the things they say matter in any way. If you play a human or sylvari, then maybe it's not so bad but playing a charr or asura really sucks. Asura is an idiot, charr is a kitten.

> >

> > What i would like to see in Cantha is that, since the ministry of purity is in charge, they would do what kitten Germany tried to do and come to exterminate and/or enslave every "lesser" race. Then you obviously go to war with them and end Cantha, that would be great. It won't happen but eh...

>

> Sooo.... ‘Commanders’ still follow orders. Always have. The more senior the commander, the more they have input into the plan, but the goals are set by people above them.

 

You are the second in command and all the missions with the pact have some random mook tell you what to do and where to go, you know nothing and you command no one. The mooks just follow the living weapon (the commander) after giving him/her their orders.

I still remember in orr, when you need to choose a mission for one of the orders, the priory one where you go find the searing cauldron. You are the second in command and they can't tell you anything until you choose their mission, because of reasons. "Commander" what a joke.

[Teratus.2859]

> @"Taril.8619" said:

> 7) The title "Commander" is really just being used as a generic term for characters to reference us (As opposed to something like Slayer for Norn or Legionnaire for Charr) - Especially since "Dragon Slayer" became awkward during LW3/PoF and "God Stomper" is dumb. (Poo-bah on the other hand...)

 

Just adding to this as well.

When we joined our order we left our prior titles and achievements behind us.

This is why we owe no allegiance to any racial factions like the Charr legions or the Human royal family.

 

However our characters still remain on good terms with these factions and see them as friends or allies but say if the Charr legions called and told your character to come back there would be nothing demanding you to actually do so, you were released from your obligations when you joined one of the 3 orders and later released from your orders obligations when you became the pacts second in command.

Although you still remain a member of the order you choose they don't boss you around anymore since you pretty much became a free agent once leaving the pact and the orders are far more focused on pact affairs than they are as individual factions now.

[Kulvar.1239]

> @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> > > @"Yggranya.5201" said:

> > > > @"SpyderArachnid.5619" said:

> > > > You're not the commander anymore. You left that role a long time ago. You are a member of your guild now, Dragon's Watch (and partly Destiny's Edge). NPCs only refer to you as commander still because it is familiar and people know you as that name. As for the bossing around stuff, you're not the leader of your guild, you're a member. You all give your input on what to do. You don't tell them what to do, you work together to find solutions.

> > > >

> > > > Just because your past isn't constantly brought into the story doesn't make it not relevant anymore. It's your story still. My long lost sister who I thought was dead joined the Pact (you actually see this n your personal story later on). The team you decide to help (Skritt, Quaggan, Ogres, etc), help you out in Orr as well. You run into several characters from your early personal story in the DLC as well. The "commander" has lived a very exciting life if you look at all the things they have accomplished in so little time.

> > > >

> > > > What I'd honestly like to see, is in Cantha, if Humans picked Canthan for their heritage, I want to see it mean something when they go to Cantha. Instead of visiting a new land, it should be returning home (in the dead sister story, you get to choose your heritage). I hope they do that for Humans, like all the unique stuff Sylvari got in HoT.

> > >

> > > You never were the commander, you always were (like in almost every game ever) a mindless puppet who simply does as you are told, no will, no opinions, nothing. Just a weapon to be sent to kill and destroy, not your choise, it's just what you are told to do. Of couse they pretend that your character says things but none of the things they say matter in any way. If you play a human or sylvari, then maybe it's not so bad but playing a charr or asura really sucks. Asura is an idiot, charr is a kitten.

> > >

> > > What i would like to see in Cantha is that, since the ministry of purity is in charge, they would do what kitten Germany tried to do and come to exterminate and/or enslave every "lesser" race. Then you obviously go to war with them and end Cantha, that would be great. It won't happen but eh...

> >

> > Sooo.... ‘Commanders’ still follow orders. Always have. The more senior the commander, the more they have input into the plan, but the goals are set by people above them.

>

> You are the second in command and all the missions with the pact have some random mook tell you what to do and where to go, you know nothing and you command no one. The mooks just follow the living weapon (the commander) after giving him/her their orders.

> I still remember in orr, when you need to choose a mission for one of the orders, the priory one where you go find the searing cauldron. You are the second in command and they can't tell you anything until you choose their mission, because of reasons. "Commander" what a joke.

 

Worst offender is the last choice in Orr, the Priory is all "We'll tell you NOTHING but please choose us it's really important"

[KerryTT.4792]

My problem with the story is that I tend to start but not finish story lines.... so it leads to some awkward moments..

Uh, right, I am certainly the person that killed that dragon that time ... ( I did eventually finish the main story, but took my sweet time doing it)

Person X is dead.... Uh.. I am pretty sure I saw them a couple of days ago and they were fine. Oh, you say I was there when they died.... man, you would think I would remember that....

As far as people telling me what to do, it's pretty plain that I am very confused and apparently have some huge gaps in memory, so I plainly just follow along with what people say to try to hide it.

 

[Yggranya.5201]

> @"KerryTT.4792" said:

> My problem with the story is that I tend to start but not finish story lines.... so it leads to some awkward moments..

> Uh, right, I am certainly the person that killed that dragon that time ... ( I did eventually finish the main story, but took my sweet time doing it)

> Person X is dead.... Uh.. I am pretty sure I saw them a couple of days ago and they were fine. Oh, you say I was there when they died.... man, you would think I would remember that....

> As far as people telling me what to do, it's pretty plain that I am very confused and apparently have some huge gaps in memory, so I plainly just follow along with what people say to try to hide it.

>

 

Consistency seems to be anathema to all MMO developers. Soon they will add time travel and multiverse to make sure there won't be even a memory of logic/sense left.