Talk:Biography

Archive

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• 2010-2011

Mesmer

Someone noted on the Mesmer page that mesmer question concerns what mask they start out with. Ramei Arashi 17:28, 17 December 2011 (UTC)

AMA Q&A listing. Question 126's answer was partially copied verbatim and added to the article as per accurate observation above. - Infinite - talk 14:58, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Other Biography Questions?

In an article on the official GW2 site here: [1], it says there will be other questions (like what lesser race you sympathize with), can someone add these? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 173.76.220.66 (talk).

That's an old article, and recent biography stuff hasn't included those questions. If it's still in the game, it isn't included in the initial biography quiz. --ஸ Kyoshi 04:11, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

The options still exist in the game, but they are not part of the biography. They're chosen later during the personal story - it was said in the past that they reduced the biography and had the options as part of the game to make the bio easier for those more intent on playing rather than the story. Konig/talk 04:32, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Guardian questions

I updated the guardian section to reflect the questions shown in the recent beta. Does anyone know why they were changed though, what happened to scarves and capes? I don't think we've seen them in the game at all yet. WinterSnowblind 10:40, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

Mike on Reddit just confirmed there are no capes or similar items in the game, so I guess that explains it.WinterSnowblind 16:49, 24 February 2012 (UTC)

What exactly are pauldrons? --178.11.222.12 15:50, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

A pauldron is a large shoulder guard, part of a late medieval plate armor.Tuomir 16:02, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

Panscopic Monocle

the engineer question for this shows Obscuring Veil icon... also, there is no ~~ Kiomadoushi 02:08, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Probably cuz no one caught an image for it from the demo... Or no one bothered. Konig/talk 03:10, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

that's ignoring the problem that there's a wrong image tied to it. what's the format on displaying it properly? just [[File:Biography Panscopic Monocle.png|20px]] ? ~~ Kiomadoushi 03:50, 3 March 2012 (UTC)

Number of storyline variations

Yesterdays post states that we have 30 possible storylines until we get to level 10, when it branches even further. This seems low can it be wrong? The profession bio question only effects your starting gear (helm, pet etc.), your personality question only affects your starting personality. So your three racial questions determine your personal storyline? Leif's math was 5 races times 3 bio choose options times 2 sub lines = 30 starter storylines. Now it seems he forgot that the three racial questions have 3+ answers each. So at a minimal there are 27 different combos of racial bio answers. So shouldn't the math be 5 races times 27+ bio combos times 2 sublimes = 270+ storylines? --Moto Saxon 21:00, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) He was talking about the first ten levels. If you think about it, the greatest thing to affect the very first steps in your story is "where you come from," be it a house of nobles, a legion of assassins or that certain college of Asura you studied in. Each of those three divide to two branches (which you don't pick at character creation), but during story), and since there's the five races, the math comes from there, as you said. I'm kinda doubtful that what kind of helmet you wear or what happened when you were last drunk have -such- a major impact right away. But yes, of course there's more variations of storylines when it comes to progress from 1 to 80 - countless variations. Mediggo 21:06, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

My whole point is that from the 3 racial questions (that determine the start of your personal story) there are 27+ combinations per race. so either his math of the 30 possible lines is wrong OR only one of the bio questions actually determines the start of our storyline. --Moto Saxon 23:38, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

Reiterating what Mediggo said: it makes a lot more sense for your character to begin their story from their "heritage" (heritage could be from the nobility, Ash Legion, College of Synergetics, Bear Lodge or Cycle of Dawn). After that quest arc, then you have two options (i.e. orphanage v. hospital). So in all, there are somewhere between 3 and 5, so average 4 x 5 races x 2. Of course, we don't know where the level 10 point in the story is, so its hard to assess... Aqua (T|C) 23:59, 20 March 2012 (UTC)

(Edit conflict) All the choices matter to some extent, possibly most notably when thinking of the "five choices" question for charr characters, as the warband members closest to you will hang out with you throughout at least first levels of the personal storyline. I believe Leif wanted to impress the importance of "three choices" racial question during the first hours of personal story. Of course it could be possible they've changed the entire system but that seems unlikely as the personal choices we know seem like such a fine options of affect our stories. Mediggo 00:00, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

I don't remember where it was (maybe an AMA), but it was mentioned that not all of the bio choices have immediate impacts. So the first 10 levels might only be dependent on your Race, the where you were raised/college/warband/etc. question and then a choice you make during the story that splits those to make up the 30 different storylines. Then in later levels we might get to storylines that change depending on some of the other bio questions we picked. 00:45, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

Based on the charr personal storylines we've seen: Personality, gear, and warband member do not affect personal story arcs (the latter affects the NPC joining you, and perhaps dialogue, but not what you're doing). Based on that, I would assume that the biography options that affect story arcs on a whole are the racial 3-option questions. That is: Legion and Sire for charr, college and experiment for asura, vision and teaching for sylvari, social status and regret for humans, and quality and moot mistake for norn.

In turn, this means that warband member, teacher, cycle, god, and spirit affect something that doesn't determine full story arcs.

We also know that, thanks to the charr personal storyline, that Blood Legion affects the whole of ten levels (up to Operation: Bulwark) and the following one An Unusual Inheritance is of questionable biography question origins (most seem to think it's for sire, and unrelated to legion, but impossible to tell atm). Besides all this, to assume each of the five biography options affects each of the story arcs (even just beginning ones) seems off, anyhow - and @Mattsta, it was Gamescom in 2010, I believe, which said that some options for the personal story will be in game and that the biography only affects some (this was done because they didn't want the biography to be too large and wanted to give people the chance to chose on the spot rather than have things set in stone before they even realized what they were answering - this to me tells me that the bio options only affect the beginning).

In the end, my math is that the first two story arcs are based on biography options, each hitting 10 levels each (based on Operation: Bulwark and the origin of this discussion), and the third story arc (lvl 21 to 30?) is not based on the biography. Beyond this, each story arc may or may not have at least one in-game division. So 30 story arcs (15+a mutually exclusive choice in the middle of each story arc) is not unreasonable for the first two story arcs (if the biography only affects the first two story arcs, that is). Which would thus mean lvls 1-10 have 30 options, and lvls 11-20 have 30 options. Konig/talk 01:53, 21 March 2012 (UTC)

(Reset indent) "From level 1-10, there are approximately 30 different storylines; those are based on character race, Biography and pre-game background choices. Continue that in tens through 80 levels; then add in the various different combinations based on internal story choices, choosing an order, and continued in-game Biography questions, and you can see that the aggregate numbers somewhere in the upper thousands," - Ree Soesbee said. - Infinite - talk 17:19, 22 March 2012 (UTC)

Answers

Should we turn the answers into links, and have them go to a page that describes the consequences of making that choice? I ask because I for one, and I'm sure many others, come here to find out more about the decisions I make in my personal story, but that often requires a lot of linking around. So what I'm asking for is to click on "commoner" and have it take me to a page titled "Commoner" or "Commoner (Human storyline)" or whatever and have it list the different story line steps, so 1. "On the Mend" 2. "Desperate Medicine" 3. ... and to also have a brief describing the effects on the home instance or the general flow of the story. --Indigo121 04:16, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

The consequences of biography answers are probably pretty multi-faceted. All I've ever known about how they affect personal story in practice is that racial choice #1 is split into two paths during first ten levels of storyplay. Personal story is also largely affected by choices you make during the story, and because we seemingly don't have any information on how that works, I'm not sure if we can quite get to work on it. It's a perfect suggestion to implement later, though, when we know more about personal stories. Mediggo 08:11, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Eh... such pages aren't ready to be made yet. And there should be something similar to GWW's gw1:List of Prophecies missions and primary quests for the personal storyline - we can't make such due to lack of knowledge atm. But all the links would just go to different parts of the same page. Instead, what we could do is have above each question "this affects xyz" - for instance, above the charr legion question "This affects the first personal story arc, covering the first ten levels." whereas the warband member is "This affects which NPC joins you during your personal story."

Either way, atm, we don't know what each does exactly. Konig/talk 10:42, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Yeah I was pretty sure we didn't have enough info. I just figured I might put the idea out there, and they might be made like the current zone pages, a long long list of red links--Indigo121 10:55, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

Class-Specific Answers

Will these only affect story, or will they grant extra attributes along the way (Or a one-time bonus, etc)? I haven't seen anything specific anywhere, but I was wondering if anybody has. It would make sense for some of them, at the very least.

Or maybe I'm thinking too hard. :) --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.26.110.157 (talk).

Neither, to our knowledge. They only affect the starting gear, to our knowledge (might affect how people approach you, your personality, and/or how your PC reacts to others though - but this is complete guessing on my part). Konig/talk 20:25, 10 April 2012 (UTC)

Pets are wrong

I played a human ranger over the weekend and my options for pet were Bear, Stalker, and Drake. 13:57, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Yeah, I can attest to that; I captured (or thought I captured) all the pet icons and then subsequently wondered why I didn't have the moa or dog pictures. That would probably be the reason. Aqua (T|C) 13:58, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Links

Why are there links from all the options to various quests? Most of the quest arcs branch more than just at character creation? Aqua (T|C) 14:00, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

See User_talk:Rudhraighe#Personal_choices to find out why, as well as the discussion that followed regarding it. - Infinite - talk 14:03, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

the character Biography has consequences! those consequences need to be documented and noted in and from the Biography page with links to the items AND story chains ALL of those consequences AND Storylines or items should be linked from the Biography page to the page where they are described or Start for users to follow and locate even before creating a character Konig Des Todes's removal of all the work i put in to locate and link to those chains was irresponsible for the utility of the Wiki the removed links to Items, Persons of note or philosophies of interest, or Story Chains need to be replaced. Rudhraighe 21:19, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

The links I removed were all either red links (e.g., non-existent pages), redirects to self (Engineer non-redlink ones), speculation (asura teacher - we have no indication how those bio options will alter the personal story), or duplicate links which lead to something not directly related to the outcome of the biography options. You are basically saying "we need to document what the biography options do everywhere - which is incorrect. I am not opposed to linking to the first personal story quest/mission/whatever-we-wanna-call-it from here, but "The Green Huntsman" should not link to Dream of Dreams. Similarly, "Lost an Heirloom" should not link to Template:Norn storyline. I did not remove every link, as you can note. But personally, I think this is the wrong place to note these things, and the right place are in articles currently non-existent but could, with our current knowledge, be made existent - I am referring to articles akin to gw1:List of Prophecies missions and primary quests.

The links I removed did not reduce any quality at all - again, I merely removed redlinks, self-redirecting, speculation, or incorrect linking. Konig/talk 21:28, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Starter Weapon

A note on this page states that "Your personal choice determines the starter weapon you start out with." However, In my beta experience all rangers started with an axe, warriors a sword, and guardians a mace. That, combined with the vagueness of the note, leads me to question its validity. Does anyone know better? Thunderduck 00:28, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

I also question it, and was going to test it next chance I can. Konig/talk

It's more like your personal choice determines a piece of starter headgear/look/tattoo/or other single piece of armor this is what i have been trying to document since the first BWE but all my screen shots did not capture the mouse over text i hope to resolve this with a out of game capture program. It would be nice if several people could choose a different profession and document the 3 different responses to the equipment question (First Question) for each profession. I did notice that with the Engineer it determined whether you wore goggles, monocle or the backpack but i did not notice it as "equipped" and if so what the "stats" are. With the Guardian and the Warrior it definitely determined headgear or pauldrons appearance but i will attempt to capture the "Stats" as well as appearance today. You can press the back button after answering the first question to screenshot and to color the chosen piece of equipment/tattoo/etc. Rudhraighe 12:28, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

The engineer gear definitely was equipped. Same for all professions I played during beta. I also think that there are no racial differences when it comes to starter weapons. Or perhaps it's not implemented yet. Dunno. Mediggo 12:41, 14 May 2012 (UTC)

I have not documented that the Personality question determines starting WEAPON tho i have no data either way Rudhraighe 18:28, 19 May 2012 (UTC)

The profession choice determines 1 piece of armor, mostly headgear, some shoulders (i don't know for sure if the engineer backpack is equipped in the shoulder slot). Except for the Ranger where it determines the starter companion. Starter weapons where in the beta's always the same regardless of choice. Sjacie 06:36, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

For Starting Equipment and location for the human female please see the project started at User:Rudhraighe/Sandbox#Character Starting Equipment By Profession ty Rudhraighe 22:48, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Change of strength, cunning and instinct?

I noticed that Chadarian uploaded a new pair of images for the norn racial questions, "Defeat our Ancient Foes", "Honor the Spirits" and "Defend the Mists". Currently there exists a divide between where these, and the original three are being used; Chadarian's are being used in the personal storyline infoboxes, whilst the others are used in the norn storyline template. Should we keep it this way or be consistent, and only use one of the two? — d r e a m | 09:19, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

I think consistency takes priority. I updated the template, but couldn't find a quick way to fix width of the columns. I'll just leave it as it is until somebody with more knowledge on tables and templates can take a look at it. Mediggo 09:39, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

I tried to make a little quick fix, tell me what you think? — d r e a m | 09:47, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

Funny, I tried the same thing, but just messed the whole thing up in preview. Good job both noticing the outdated icons and fixing the navi. Makes me wonder what I'm needed for here... Mediggo 09:51, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

There were a couple of widths one could tweak with, you just probably chose the "wrong" one, easy mistake. And besides, if nothing else, I love your tales! I hope you'll continue making them, so I can secretly adore them. — d r e a m | 11:58, 27 June 2012 (UTC)

How many of these decisions do really affect the storyline?

Do all these decisions really affect the storyline? I'm talking about profession options, and the last race question, too.--Lon-ami 09:27, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

I can only speak for the Charr. Yes, all decisions affect the storyline, more or less. Except the profession one, which only determines one of your starter gear pieces. Gnarf 09:46, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

See the following tutorials for more information on the racial storylines.

• Charr characters begin with the tutorial Fury of the Dead.
• Human characters begin with the tutorial Defending Shaemoor.
• Norn characters begin with the tutorial The Great Hunt.
• Asura characters begin with the tutorial Explosive Intellect.
• Sylvari character tutorials will take place in the Dream of Dreams.

The Sylvari and Asura storylines are incomplete at this time. Rudhraighe 11:13, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

As far as everyone can tell, the equipment you chose at the beginning (is that the "profession option" you speak of ?) doesn't affect anything except your appearance. The last race question determines the third chapter of your personal story, which isn't yet available in the beta. First question, first chapter (lvl 1-10), etc. 213.166.194.139 11:21, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

The first profession question determines a Piece of Starting equipment. and does/can affect your starting Armor Class as well as appearance Rudhraighe 16:58, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

While human and norn do map directly 1→1, 2→2, (3→3), for charr, it's 1→1, 3→2, (2→3). —Dr Ishmael 12:58, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

The top of each section in the biography explains whether it affects the personal storyline:

• Profession: no, only the starting equipment.
• Personality: no, only your initial personality.
• Personal questions: yes, every one affects your storyline.

– Tennessee Ernie Ford (TEF) 15:44, 12 July 2012 (UTC)

The Green Knight

I updated the Sylvari biography section to reflect the current BWE choices. On a related note, I believe The Green Knight biography option is a reference to the story Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, especially since it literally involves a green knight that comes back to life upon being killed. - 05:59, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

Kinda figured that reference since ages past, but it should go on a more relevant page than this. (if it's an actual NPC, then on that page, I wouldn't know cuz I'm avoiding that bio option's story for spoiler-prevention purposes) Konig/talk 06:40, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

Except that Sir Gwain is a female sylvari which the Green Knight is infatuated with. Ramei Arashi 23:57, 22 July 2012 (UTC)

Why are biography options being linked to personal story? Clicking on Ash Legion for example should take me to the page on the Ash Legion not to a personal story. Ramei Arashi 06:40, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

They are being linked to personal story because it it the Consequence of selecting that biography option. if you want to look up Ash Legion you may type it into the search bar Rudhraighe 07:36, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Redirect confusion

Ok, let me get this straight. Eagle-Eye Goggles links to Obscuring Veil; Panscopic Monocle links to Eagle-Eye Goggles and the actual Eagle-Eye Goggles and Panscopic Monocle are redirects to ...Biography. I know all about the icon confusion, but good grief... --snograt 21:18, 19 August 2012 (UTC)

Textual changes for Asura spcific questions?

I must say, I did not really pay much attention to the specific text, when selecting my Asura biography. But it seems there may be changes between the BWEs and the final state. When your first invention was the wether changing device, it is called during the story quest "Variable Atmospheric Conditioner" (short VAC). This page says it's "Transatmospheric Converter". Does anyone have actual information how this is called right now in the biography? Balwin 09:12, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

Missing info on consequences

So, what this page is really missing are detailed descriptions of the consequences of each choice. This is largely why people would come to look at the wiki, so... is there a proposal on how to properly format it? If not, I would suggest that people start entering this info as notes so that those who work on formatting have something to work with. 76.253.0.17 01:45, 5 November 2012 (UTC) Actually, it would make more sense for this info to show up where the choice is documented, but the current table format makes it difficult to do this in a visually clean fashion. So that will need to be addressed. 76.253.0.17 01:49, 5 November 2012 (UTC)

Unique Wardrobe Skins

There should be a mention of which Profession-Specific gear items actually unlock Unique Wardrobe Unlocks. To my knowledge, I'm pretty sure the three Mesmer Masks can't be unlocked through any other item, nor the Necromancer faces and the Engineer's Multitool (dunno about the two helmets). It'd be a good idea to clarify this, now that the wardrobe is here.

It wouldn't really contain all that much, and it would just be repeating this page. The page has a professions question section, and every choice (except for rangers) will give you a unique skin. --Ventriloquist 10:06, 17 July 2014 (UTC)