Flameseeker Chronicles: Charr bags, Elementalist cleavage, Peacekeepers, and a flood of NPCs
It's been an extremely busy week for Guild Wars fans -- for starters, the Massively guild went rampaging through pre-searing again with the goal of unlocking all of the towns in pre, accomplishing this with an extension of the Charr bag giveaway mentioned last week. Instead of a single one, I wound up with a total of five thanks to the generosity of a member of [MVOP]. Once the original bag was given away, I handed out the other four through more random drawings and trivia questions, one in each new town we unlocked. It was a good time and an excellent way to help the group reach all of the towns.
The Ventrilo group had a great time as usual with players assisting one another through various quests, answering questions, discussing other games, and having some hilariously disturbing conversations about what exactly a "Charr bag" is, and how ubiquitous Elementalist cleavage is in Guild Wars. Sera was the exception to this rule, as her Elementalist is entirely composed of bloom and she has no visible features whatsoever. Joking aside, the large-capacity Ventrilo server has added an element of fun to the Massively outings that would absolutely be lacking otherwise. If you've not joined us there on Thursday nights, please jump in and chat with us -- you can find the login information in the [MVOP] guild status window.
All good things must come to an end, though, and most of [MVOP] is ready to move on to the Searing. Next week we're going to go Charr hunting in the Northlands for a bit, then wrap up the evening by going post as a group, so be ready!
What about the other events happening in Guild Wars lately? Follow along after the jump to see what's going on in Tyria.
We've received so very much information about Guild Wars 2 lately that it's easy for War in Kryta to get lost in the shuffle. The last thing we want is for current Guild Wars events to be completely overshadowed by the deluge of talk about classes, dynamic event systems, and skill bars. A chat with several of my Guild Wars guildmates over the weekend gave this column a last-minute change of focus, because so many people aren't aware that the War in Kryta campaign is continuing. You just have to help it along a bit, depending on where in the game your characters are. It can be easy to get lost, particularly if you don't know exactly what you are looking for, so how about some hints to help things along?
The happenings throughout Tyria are beginning to come together -- seemingly unrelated events throughout the continent suddenly have relevance to one another and it can get pretty confusing. You might hear people talking about events happening inside Lion's Arch Keep but find that you can't get in, or wonder why there seems to be so much talk about War in Kryta when events in the Blade Camp are unchanging. The progression of things is based on several different events, so hopefully I can help you sort it out a bit today.
It helps if you consider War in Kryta from a character-based point of view. The events themselves are character-based rather than account-based, so it's entirely possible to have eight different characters and find that each one is at a different point in the progression of events. The best way to keep up with events is to begin by laying the groundwork, so to speak. You'll need a character who has completed either Prophecies or Eye of the North in order to trigger the Shining Blade camp in Talmark Wilderness. That character will also need to have completed all of Kieran Thackeray's quests during Wintersday 2009. Those are the very first steps as we talked about last month, so I'll assume you're caught up to there. You'll also need to have witnessed the Trial of Zinn, as all of these previous events have bearing on what's to come. The Shining Blade Camp is established, Zinn's in disgrace, Kieran is completely fed up with Gwen, and this is where it all starts getting a bit convoluted.
The exciting thing about War in Kryta is that the story is simultaneously expanding across the continent of Tyria and coalescing as the pieces of the puzzle begin to fit together. Once you've done all the prerequisites, pay another visit to the Shining Blade Camp. Now. Here is where you have to perk up and pay a bit of attention. You know that blue NPC dialogue that you ignore? Don't look at me like that, we all do it: "Blah blah, hurry up and say whatever you need to say to make the green exclamation point appear." This is an excellent time to break yourself of that habit, because every conversation you hear in the Blade Camp is very, very significant from here on out. From the very first dialogue, you'll receive clues that tell you where to explore.
Listen to what they say. Bandits attacked Nebo Terrace? The Artisan Etham's wife was killed? I wonder if Etham has anything to say about that. (Hint: yes.) If Evennia and Princess Salma agree that Evennia should approach the Ebon Vanguard, it wouldn't hurt to see whether anything new is happening outside the Eye of the North. Watching what is said and following the clues given is key to progressing in the War in Kryta storyline. Check out the explorables mentioned, Lion's Arch, Eye of the North (specifically Ice Cliff Chasms just outside) -- look around, listen to what they're saying, and you'll find yourself progressing through the events nicely.
One more note on a very important resource: Murro. Murro is a historian who is reporting faithfully on the happenings in Kryta, and you want to watch his reports closely. He's an out-of-game source, but very accurately reflects what's going on in-game. If he reports on an event such as the recent arrival of Princess Salma in Lion's Arch, you'll probably want to head to Lion's Arch and see whether you notice anything different.
The events happening in Guild Wars these days are only the beginning, so it's a good idea to keep up as they happen in order to not get left behind. Keep an eye on Flameseeker Chronicles for the latest information, and I'll see you in pre Thursday night!
