Feedback:User/Shai Halud/Ask How the Player Feels About their Race's Antagonistic Group

I am simply proposing that there should be a question in each race's character profile that asks how they feel about the antagonistic group within their own race. It could be as simple as asking whether they sympathize with this group or not or it could go further to ask how strongly they feel about this ("I understand their viewpoint" as opposed to "I agree with their viewpoint")or ask what sort of previous interaction they have had with this group (i.e. they have stolen from me/they have saved my life me etc.).

Just in case there is any obscurity in my language, by antagonistic groups, I mean groups such as the Nightmare Court, Inquest, The Flame Legion, or the Sons of Svanir. Even if we will not be able to side with these groups in the end, our sympathies or malice towards them could play a huge part in the direction of our personal stories. Not only that, but what a character thinks about the countercultures of his people says a great deal about the character and how orthodox or unorthodox his or her own beliefs are.

There are obvious problems, of course. At least one of these factions (the Sons of Svanir) already supports the dragons' awakenings and it is very possible that the others will do so in time. This will mean that this group will not be peacefully integrated into the mainstream culture of their race but will instead have to be crushed forcibly. This will threaten the life of any character who chooses to actively support the antagonistic group (assuming we are allowed to go that far). But think of the opportunity here to tell an amazing story. If the character chose to side with the antagonistic group, then, when push comes to shove, there could be an event in their personal storyline where they must choose to side with the warmongers or the peacemakers, then support their argument towards war or peace in an assembly. Characters who choose to support the rebels with force may, in the end be made to surrender and acknowledge the err of this or her ways after losing a major battle. It would require a major a effort and it may be too late for this, but I believe it could truly add to GW2. After all, if our character is only allow to be unique in the details of his past and in his style of expressing himself, then he is essentially unique only in words and in what is done to him, he is not allowed to take actions which support his own beliefs.

This decision and its effects on personal storyline could also be used to tell us more about the dominant culture of each race. After all, if the antagonistic viewpoint is treated as valid, then it allows for a revealing contrast with the mainstream viewpoint. Even if we do not choose to side with the antagonists, the simple fact that every member of this race must decide whether or not he agrees with this faction allows for that faction's viewpoints to add to our understanding of the race on a game-play level. The choice to follow orthodoxy has meaning and value because, as we fight the enemy faction, we will always know that we could have chosen to be on their side. This changes the very character of the race we are a part of because we must acknowledge this enemy faction as truly part of our own race.

How we feel about our the dragons is a very one-sided thing, but how we feel about our own society is quite a bit more complicated and more revealing in terms of character. Allowing us to side with different factions that are all fighting against the dragon (the Vigil, the Durmand Priory, and The Order of Whispers) really tells no more about our character than the question of dignity, charm, or brute strength. Rather I think we should know how our character feels about the conventions of his or her own society. If no one is given the option of sympathizing with or supporting the opposition, then race becomes even more of a stereotype. Its as bad as trying to explain who a person is by saying he is black, or Japanese. It is extremely two-dimensional and '''if GW2 is really about telling our own story, telling who we are through action, then we should be allowed to sympathize with and support the antagonists within our own race. Otherwise, if we do not choose to fight against them but are forced to, then they are just monsters to kill, not members of our own races who simply vary in their beliefs.'''