Self reflection: Knight of the Thorn

[Calvsie.3675]

This maybe the best sidequest I have seen in an MMO for me personally.

 

I do a lot of this game with my wife, but she had expressed disinterest in the Knight of thorns side story as it did not have any mastery points (her current big push).

So over this weekend I pushed through the two collection and suddenly found myself fighting these shadows from the past.

Somehow these battles did nothing to prepare me for the final fight. Once completed I had the sword, but further more I felt a fantastic sense of closure for the HoT expansion that the main story line had failed to give me.

 

Thank you ArenaNet, I am so happy you made this side story.

[Urud.4925]

I'm particularly attached to Trahearne, despite several players hate him because he obscures the player's role (why every story must be egocentric?). I also enjoyed this quest and "the departing", they both left me stunned for few moments. Don't play with my feelings ANet!

[Danikat.8537]

I really enjoyed this too, especially because I did it on my sylvari first so she got the full version, as I thought she needed the closure more.

 

The main storylines all tend to leave things hanging, because they end with the death of the 'big bad' and we don't see the after effects and catch up with people until later on. Some of the things in HoT have only really started to be resolved in Season 4, like Braham and Eir (although that storyline has really been going on since Season 1, shortly after Braham was first introduced). I do think that's more realistic - it's rare that a whole set of problems are introduced and resolved all together - and it can allow each to have more time to develop.

 

But then you run the risk of people missing it or not noticing. I'm not sure how many people who completed HoT actually went on to do the Caladbolg quest, and I know some who did saw it strictly as an item collection to complete for the sword. But I guess that's their choice, the story is there if they want it, they just need to find it (and pay attention).

[Alga.6498]

This was indeed the best "Side Story" of them all! I was of course playing as a Sylvari character too, since it was about Mother and a fallen brother.

We got to know what happened to the Pale Tree after she got attacked at the World Summit.

Trahearne's statue as the pride of the Sylvari people and to his Pact leadership work.

And beautiful done weapons and about the famous Caladbolg sword was finally completed. :)

[Calvsie.3675]

I'll admit I don't heavily play as a Sylvari. I play a Charr Ranger as my primary these days.

Not sure how much it changes the feel of the thing, but for me it was almost the Gimli/Legolas relationship we got from the LotR movies.

We had come from drastically different backgrounds and our philosophies occasionally clashed but in the end we both wanted the same thing.

The death of Eir hurt, but Trahearne was the one that messed me up. Its the same reason I think the moment Taimi freaked me out in the current living world season.