Curse

SpeedyKQ · Apr 07, 2006, 03:08 PM // 15:08

Sure, neither side seems morally upstanding, and to join one side or the other, you sort of have to role-play being a bastard. But I'm OK with that. It is supposed to be a role-playing game after all.

Rayne Nightfyre · Apr 07, 2006, 08:31 PM // 20:31

Yes, that's pretty much the bottom line. Either way you go, you'll spill innocent blood (well not exactly "innocent"...). I guess up 'till now I've always been used to roleplaying the right and just side of things and staying out of pointless feuds. But that'll change. :/

Rayne Nightfyre · Apr 07, 2006, 08:46 PM // 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Lozza

Rayne, I'm in the opposite position. I want to go Kurzick, but it looks like my guild will be going Luxon. Since I've already got 10,000 Kurzick factions I did the Luxon quest on my characters.

For me the Kurzicks are a highly cultural society. They have an appreciation of music and art, and the 15k armour for the mesmers would look lovely on Luned.
IMO the Luxons seem more primative and barbaric, and I'm not much of a fan of the beach anyway

I love forests though, and the gothic architecture is lovely and reminds me of when I was living in Spain.

I LIKE the idea of choosing sides, but what I don't like is the idea that our ALLIANCE will be able to choose the side with ZERO input from its members. Oh and having only ONE armour (not confirmed) when you have been placed in a side - eek - I seriously would quit my guild if I was stuck with Luxon armour for my mesmer.

I understand you, I do like the culture of the Kurzicks. I guess it's just the constant darkness that would get to me after a while. But from the perspective of a leader, it is indeed possible to just pick a side regardless of what everyone else in the guild may say. And that is downright wrong. I could see guilds splitting up simply over their views of the two factions. I tried to get input from all our members, but the general attitude was "Whatever, doesn't matter to me, it's your decision." Yeah..that's a lot of help. So I'll be going with what suits our theme, and whose culture interests our majority. So eventually we may feel better about allying ourselves with the Kurzicks. But at this point, where at least in my opinion all the negative aspects of each side are being made apparent, it's easy to feel apathetic about the upcoming expansion.

Mordakai · Apr 07, 2006, 08:48 PM // 20:48

The only thing is... we've never been really good. [SPOLIERS]

We killed the Shining Blade before we knew they were good.

We helped the Lich King, before we knew who he was.

I'm sure there are other examples...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lady Lozza

I LIKE the idea of choosing sides, but what I don't like is the idea that our ALLIANCE will be able to choose the side with ZERO input from its members. Oh and having only ONE armour (not confirmed) when you have been placed in a side - eek - I seriously would quit my guild if I was stuck with Luxon armour for my mesmer.

We don't know for sure yet how this will work. I expect that our characters can be a separate "faction" from our Alliance or Guild... we won't be forced to spend our faction for Luxon, for example. You could spend it for Kurzick Amber to get your armor. (Unless that somehow prevents you from playing in PvP Alliance events, which would be pretty lame).

EDIT:

Ok, thinking about this a bit more, this is how Amara justifies killing the Kurzicks: (of course, this is knowledge she doesn't have, but hey, no GM to call me on it!)

Kurzicks killed baby turtles. This is just sad. (Never mind little turtles grow up to be huge siege engines destroying Kurzick encampments)

Kurzicks kill the Luxon child in "Kill All the Luxons" quest. Well, that's just evil, right?
___________________________________________

On a lighter note, does anybody else wish we could kill both factions' camps?

That way, we could go back to "Romeo and Juliet", and tell them:

Me: "Hey, good news, the wedding is on."

Them: Oh, you got permission from our families?

Me: Not exactly. I killed them all.

Them: [shocked speechless]

Me: What? Oh, you didn't want your parents dead? Gee, sorry about that. But, hey, look at the bright side, your wedding got a whole lot cheaper! So, uh, do I get a reward or anything for this?

Them: ..........

demon dantes · Apr 07, 2006, 08:58 PM // 20:58

well u r missing the aspect here in a way u don t need to pick a side . But on the other hand u do need to pick a side. Lets say u want a specific ar u need to build ur faction up with that side, and so far not really sure how much u need to build to get the stuff for the ar. Are u really going to spend all that time just to switch cause which ever one u have more faction in is who u r aligned with. but what ruins the game is look at it like this what if all the best players are luxons and the lux s own all the land what do u do as a kur lol. Its under the same lines as phrophecies europe always has fav lol and america has it from 10pm est to 9am est r americans really up that late at night lol. I agree with the 3rd party thing as always in world conquest u have always had more then 2 even if it was a alliance there has always been more then 2. Until the story line unfolds a lil and allows us maybe to see alil more of what really is going on in the world then maybe it will b easier for ppl to choose. I for one choose a side were i decide what happends i can control my own destiny not b under the rule of 5 elders with no way to change that lol lil tell that im lux all the way lol

Rayne Nightfyre · Apr 07, 2006, 09:24 PM // 21:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordakai

On a lighter note, does anybody else wish we could kill both factions' camps?

That way, we could go back to "Romeo and Juliet", and tell them:

Me: "Hey, good news, the wedding is on."

Them: Oh, you got permission from our families?

Me: Not exactly. I killed them all.

Them: [shocked speechless]

Me: What? Oh, you didn't want your parents dead? Gee, sorry about that. But, hey, look at the bright side, you're wedding got a whole lot cheaper! So, uh, do I get a reward or anything for this?

Them: ..........

That would be just awesome if we had the choice to fight against both factions to keep them both in line. Or leave them both alone. Maybe if we keep this thread going, A-Net will go back and rework Factions!

(Kidding, of course

)

TheMosesPHD · Apr 07, 2006, 09:43 PM // 21:43

Well I'm pretty sure that switching sides temporarily won't be too hard. I think the way it works is that your guild leader chooses what side your guild will side with. This is the side you'll have to fight with whenever you do Alliance battles. As far as you personally though, I think your side has to do with how much faction from either side you currently have. So like, if you had 1000 Luxon, the Kurzicks wouldn't like you too much, and if you had 5000 Luxon, the Kurzicks might ban you from town or start attacking you in outside zones. But since Faction is there to be spent, you can just use your Luxon faction up, and then head over to the Kurzicks to get what you want out of them. Of course I'm sure you can't experience ever single aspect of being a Kurzick/Luxon without staying with them for a long time, as there will probably be another factor in your standing with the alliance other than your current alliance faction. There might be a string of quests that you might have to redo if you ever switched sides and then tried to come back. But, since from what I've seen so far, you don't need much faction to purchase stuff from the alliance traders, it probably won't be too difficult getting armor from another alliance.

Align · Apr 07, 2006, 10:02 PM // 22:02

I like being given a choice between empires/sides/factions. Though seperate forums may have to be created.
It was pretty cool how, in PlanetSide, you actually hated the other sides. Unless you're the lazy type who just makes another account(character?) and play on all empires. Damn WTJs...

Lady Lozza · Apr 08, 2006, 02:49 AM // 02:49

***Spoiler Warning***

Those of you who did the first Kurzick mission during the FPE weekend might remember the cutscene - unless you skipped it. Since I did it with henchies I didn't feel the need to and indulged in a snippet of the storyline.

It seems that no matter what side we choose, we have to convince the Luxons and the Kurzicks to fight together against Shiro. To quote my character at the end of the mission:
"Do you now believe that Shiro is back?"
Danika and her friend (a Count of some sort I believe) say yes and that they will work with their old enemy to defeat Shiro.

Alliances - it seems - will be for fun, pvp matters only.

posmo · Apr 08, 2006, 03:05 AM // 03:05

Stormfall:

The Butter Battle Book! Dr Seuss! :P

Hanok Odbrook · Apr 08, 2006, 02:30 PM // 14:30

Mordakai: ROTFL. That's just great.

As Mord knows from other threads, I have been critical of this whole choosing the sides thing. Although I wasn't overly impressed with the FPE (the Yu Gi Oh hairstyles have got to go among other things), my initial impressions were still favorable. However, there is still much we did not get to see, nor really have time to get a feel on how they will play out in the long term.

Right from the start, I think it's pretty stupid to have both sides giving your character the cold sholder if you have no Faction points, or an equal amount on both sides. From that standpoint, I wouldn't want to support either side. If someone wanted me to support their cause, they would have to show at least the littlist modicum of hospitality, therefore, if our Faction points don't support one side over the other, we should be able to use the NPC's and access the quests/missions for both sides. I would find it more challenging to play the game trying to keep my points "neutral" than to just pick a side and hack away.

Another problem is that at some point, it still seems that we will have to pick a side to access content in the game (be it quests, missions, items, etc.). Looking at it from a game play standpoint, this is a much more limiting mechanic than we encountered in Prophecies, and one of the reasons I have problems with Factions. The main selling point on GW for me was the sub free MMO bit, and the freedom to play the game the way I like to play - I had the choice of how to explore the world, even despite it's rather linear game play; I had the choice of going solo or teaming up with other players to PvE; I had the choice to avoid PvP altogether (aside from the Pre to Post crossover, but even that small bit can be skipped), or play as much PvP as I desired. Looking at Factions, it seems obvious a lot of this freedom is being nipped in the bud, and that's what I don't like about the game.

One of my whole issues was the fact that some content will be locked out in the game unless you choose a side and participate in one of the various forms of PvP. While I don't mind PvPing, the fact that I can't play 100% of the content that I paid for in the playstyle that suits me best is a little aggravating. Many people (myself included) find the Favor system in Prophecies a pain in the arse, but even that only involves waiting it out until your region has favor in order to access the locked content - my playstyle does not have to change. The initial look at Factions, however, doesn't support that idea, and I think that's why many people are having problems with the concept. At this point, I am glad that Anet has included a "war" option that so many others wish they had in Prophecies, and suits the MMO genre well. But, they still should have made it an option like the PvP/PvE portions of the first game are - we can choose how much or how little of either we want to participate in, yet still access 100% of the game we paid for.

Hanok Odbrook
Real Millennium Group Guild
Truth * Knowledge * Peace

gabrial heart · Apr 08, 2006, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Well, from as far as i can tell of the FPE, there is a neutral side. The entire city above is neutral and you can get armor and weapons there at anytime, regardless of which side you're on. Also, from what i understand, that entire city area will be opened up for exploration as a neutral area (possible fending off luxon and kurzick invasion/battles)...

Also, choosing to side with either force provides the option of gaining territory through guild alliances. This means as you win battles your alliance controls that territory for a time (factions is said to degrade over time), which also allows that alliance to reap the benifits of otherwise unexplorable areas inside that *owned* area, have acccess to weapons, mods and armor otherwise not available, etc...

Since PvP and GvG have become quite popular here in GW, i would have to say this is an excellent, well thought-out next step for the game. The 12v12 battles are increadibly fun (take 4 guildies and ramp it up!)... It took me less then half a day to earn back my 10000 luxon faction just 12v12 battling, which doesn't include all the side questing you can do to earn faction. So switching sides shouldn't be a major undertaking.

So far, basically 3 groups are running the show in Cantha and you can choose where you (your guild) fall into nicely, sounds like a good plan to me!

gabrial heart · Apr 08, 2006, 04:26 PM // 16:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayne2550

I understand you, I do like the culture of the Kurzicks. I guess it's just the constant darkness that would get to me after a while. But from the perspective of a leader, it is indeed possible to just pick a side regardless of what everyone else in the guild may say. And that is downright wrong. I could see guilds splitting up simply over their views of the two factions. I tried to get input from all our members, but the general attitude was "Whatever, doesn't matter to me, it's your decision." Yeah..that's a lot of help. So I'll be going with what suits our theme, and whose culture interests our majority. So eventually we may feel better about allying ourselves with the Kurzicks. But at this point, where at least in my opinion all the negative aspects of each side are being made apparent, it's easy to feel apathetic about the upcoming expansion.

Actually, your guild leader can't "just pick a side". Side choosing without the faction points to back the decision would prove to be totally pointless. So unless the guild leader plans on earning all the faction points needed to gain a territory, earn all the points needed to unlock a certain area, then he mine-as-well go solo and let someone else take up his position.

Group efforts are specifically that *group efforts*, where the leader leads a group of like-minded people toward a task or idea. Even though GW offers you a way to go solo, the game is pretty much a group effort game, if you don't like the way your guild is going, change to another one you do agree with. Otherwise, you can sit at home with a console game and play sologames all day long!

dreamhunk · Apr 08, 2006, 11:57 PM // 23:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by rayne2550

I understand the game is not out yet, and a lot of speculation and rumors have been going around. But my following argument is based soley on what I have seen in the FPE and in these new quests around Kryta. So first, I'd like to define the word "dilemma" for better understanding:

"a situation in which somebody must choose one of two or more unsatisfactory alternatives; a situation with unsatisfactory choices."--Encarta Dictionary: English(America)
rel. predicament, impasse, catch-22, tight spot.

This concept of warring factions really sucks in my opinion. Everyone I'm close to in this game feels this way also. Honestly, I hate both sides. The Kurzicks seem like a pale gothic version of the Puritans, and with the Luxon's Romantic/Transcendentalist vibe...both are very unappealing to me. They in part represent extreme opposites on the religious/political spectrum. I wish that A-Net had come up with different concepts for the two factions, many people cannot decide since neither side truly suits them.

What sucks ever more is the following. Our guild will be siding with the lovely Kurzicks, basically because it fits our guild's theme better, and the majority wanted to be part of a highly civilized and religious culture. After checking out a few of the Kurzick's towns, they're all dark and depressing. And so far, I have to say I like the look of the Luxons more than the Kurzicks (armor especially). So it's stupid second guessing myself simply because the armor appeals more to me on one side or another. Also, in siding with one faction, you will miss the content that the other side has to offer(such as armor skins). Yes, you can switch, but if you've spent your time and gold into building your guild around one side, switching to the other will be starting at ground zero.

So basically it seems that the game will force us to embrace one side in this pointless war based on hatred alone, whether we like it or not. It also seems that both sides fight each other for no reason other than the fact they hate each other. They probably have long forgotten why they started fighting in the first place, blinded by hatred. The Kurzicks say the Luxons are filthy and evil, and the Luxons say the Kurzicks are filthy and evil. So us we as players are forced to join in this fight, whether or not we feel it is just. Notice this screen:

I wish it was possible to play the game while saying "This is your war, not mine." But to access any content, you can't go around choosing that option with every NPC quest-giver.

So our point is that it is below us as players to be involved in a hatred-fed fued, and that it seems unfair that in choosing a faction, you miss out on whatever the other side has to offer. I know we can't expect ArenaNet to go and change it so that both the Luxons and Kurzicks are in perfect harmony, but we feel the need to express the dilemma we're facing. Thank you for considering this.

I agree. the next chapter looks less and less worth getting for me.

GranDeWun · Apr 09, 2006, 12:12 AM // 00:12

Check your factions tab under 'H'. Faction is by totaled by account, so it appears you can maintain a balance if you have at least two chars...

Loviatar · Apr 09, 2006, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by dreamhunk

I agree. the next chapter looks less and less worth getting for me.

then dont get it until you find out for sure.

chapter 3 by a completely different team is due in about 6 months so there is not a super long wait.

Son of Urza · Apr 09, 2006, 12:15 AM // 00:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mordakai

Kurzicks killed baby turtles. This is just sad.

That fact made the choice quite easy for me. I love turtles. Nothing about either of the factions appealed to me, but when I heard about the Luxons, I was like, "OMFG GIANT TURTLES!" I actually farmed the supply running quest just so I could enter the Gyala Hatchery and save the cute baby turtles. I love turtles, especially the gigantic ones that the Luxons build their houses on. It's the way they just sit there, blinking majestically at you with eyes the size of your head . . .

Nevin · Apr 09, 2006, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Luxon Filth, they should be slaughtered like the swine they are.AEHAHEHAE

Andy_M · Apr 09, 2006, 01:08 AM // 01:08

I must admit I am not getting Factions straight away. Am going to leave it for a few weeks after release so I can judge more accurately whether it's what I actually want out of Guild Wars. At the moment it's not. But I am adopting the 'wait and see' policy.

Funny thing was I was perfectly happy to get Factions, then the FPE weekend happened....

Rhedd · Apr 09, 2006, 04:27 AM // 04:27

Well, then, I'd say that the FPE was a success.

You got to see what the game was like, and if you found nothing that made you say, "Whee!" (like I did), then maybe it's not for you.

Frankly, two customers are better than five, if the three extras are just going to be dissatisfied.

By the way, those baby turtles are good eatin'. And, as an added bonus, they don't grow up to have CANNON strapped to their backs that blow big holes through your children and other innocent loved-ones.

If the Luxons really valued strength as much as they're always spouting, they'd carry those cannon on their OWN backs, instead of mistreating poor innocent turtles.

Oh, and Lady Lozza; We'll have to get together sometime and discuss our childhood memories. ^_^