[GW2] Philosophy and Religion in the New Tyria

The history of religion is unavoidably a history of conflict; when sincerely held beliefs necessarily rub against each other, sparks are sure to fly. Tyria is no different in this regard; the events of Prophecies and Nightfall being particularly focused on our relationships with gods and those who serve them.

With the introduction of new races and new religions, the new Tyria is a landscape where old and new philosophies will collide.

Changing Relationships with “the Gods”

The races which have felt the greatest changes in their relationship with their Gods are undoubtedly the humans and the charr. Both relationships seem to have gone somewhat downhill – the humans noticing a marked absence of the gods since the events of Nightfall; and the charr renouncing all faith in deities altogether; after having been burned (sometimes literally) one too many times by Titans, Mursaat and most recently the Destroyers.

For the human race, this drift away from reliance on the Six Gods for aid has forced them to look elsewhere for support and solace. The disparate peoples of Kryta, Cantha, Elona and Ascalon have had to put aside their differences in order to survive. The absence of their gods has bonded the human race, rather than dividing it like the zealotry of the White Mantle or Varesh Ossa. You only have to look to the destruction wreaked by Abaddon and his Margonites to see how disruptive it can be when the affairs of Gods and men rub against each other. It could be that the Gods have intentionally stepped back from interfering in mortal matters to allow the human race to flourish and grow in these difficult times.

Where the absence of divine guidance has had a galvanising effect on the human race, it seems to have caused more disruption to the charr. The charr are a warrior-race, divided into warbands and trained for war almost from birth; their entire lives appear to be dictated by the movement of their enemy. When they were at war with the humans (under the banner of their Titan or Destroyer Gods), their race was able to band together against a common enemy. Since their rejection of any and all gods at the end of Eye of the North, their eye has now turned to an internal threat. Now the atheistic bulk of the charr force has turned against the Flame Legion, the only remaining charr to still follow a deity: a charr named Gaheron Balefire, whom they revere as a god. Their choice to abandon the Gods has driven a rift between the charr populace and the shaman caste who became the Flame Legion.

It is interesting to note, however, that while the charr seem to have no interest in reconnecting with their gods, the humans still seem to crave guidance from higher powers – and have placed their whole society very much within Divinity’s Reach.

Whether the absence of a divine presence has had a positive or negative effect on these two peoples will undoubtedly be a storyline explored in the game at large. Similarly, it may come to pass that the problems thrown up by the tumultuous shift from theism to atheism pale in comparison to the very real threat displayed by the Elder Dragons.

Ps. I want to cover the new philosophies of the sylvari as well as how the old thinking of the Eternal Alchemy of the asura and the norn Spirits of the Wild will fit into the new world, but I might save that for another time. ‘tis getting a little long!

Changing the Game, and Letting the Game Change You

ArenaNet’s latest blog post talks about the adventure (in-game and out) taken by Katy Wells – a girl inspired by the game she loves to bring the journey from the screen into the real world and go on her own voyage of discovery.

I know that for many people being a gamer is something about which they can be loud and proud. Accepting or ignoring all chides and criticism, they balk (or embody) the ever-present “basement dweller” stereotype and wear their gaming passion on their sleeve.

But I believe that, for many of us, gaming is something which we might never feel comfortable sharing with our co-workers, family or (less likely) friends. I work in an office where I can almost 100% guarantee that if I revealed my fanaticism for GW2 I would be met with raised eyebrows and sniggers followed by “but you’re 24, not 14!”. It isn’t that they aren’t nice people, I just don’t believe they’d understand (I told a couple of my co-workers last year when I covered Eurogamer for Talk Tyria – and I’ve still not really heard the end of it). It’s a shame that I don’t feel comfortable enough to share my passion with the people with whom I spend most of my time.

I’ve talked about the stigma attached to gaming before. I think what I said was “Gaming is our crossdressing”. Katy’s adventure is just one example of the many ways in which games can not only enrich our lives, but also be great vehicles for positive change, I hope that such examples can help to not only reverse the negativity which other people attribute to our passion, but also help us to re-evaluate our own acceptance and perpetuation of the stigma as gamers.

Thankfully, this September I have the chance at a new start. I’m quitting my job and embarking on my own 4 year adventure (and at the end I’ll be Dr Knight). I will be starting a PhD course at the Horizon Digital Economy Research Institute in Nottingham. Aside from doing very interesting, multi-disciplinary research in a field which I am really interested in, I also have the chance to start again personally – to approach this new group of colleagues/fellow students with an openness which I don’t feel I have with my current job. Gaming and blogging has been a secret part of my life for so long, I’m not sure how I’m going to change, but for better or worse I think it’s time to bring my passion into the open.

Out with the Stats, in with the Feel

They say that only three things are certain: lies, damn lies and statistics. Numbers and statistics bind you to a constant quest to get that +1, that extra little bit on top of what you already have. Often this quest comes at the expense of enjoyment. How often have you heard people on forums and in game groan about the need to grind to attain this, or to farm to obtain that?


Statistics are an easy fall back concept, they provide that drive for players to keep playing and to keep striving to attain the "best stats". It's not just a compunction held solely by MMO players; having spent the past few weeks playing FIFA Ultimate team, I've realised that those little numbers mean a whole lot to gamers.

1.85m? That's like a WHOLE lotta game time.

My point isn't, I suppose, that statistics and numbers are a bad game mechanic. Of course they have their plus sides. I do, however, wish there was more of an emphasis on how a character/player feels. Perhaps you stumble across a lower league Norwegian player who, in your hands, is a complete goal-scoring machine. This would be the kind of emergent gameplay discovery which would inject some enjoyment back into gaming for me.

Guild Wars 2, of course, is trying to put a bit of "feel" back into gaming. By doing away with the trinity and allowing players to create ad-hoc groups, I'm really hoping that GW2's players will appreciate how their character feels as opposed to what armour rating their +5 helmet of sarcasm is.