User:Blacksheepghost/Prediction

This page is dedicated to an experiment that I am trying. It outlines the order in which I will create all 8 of the Guild Wars 2 professions based on the order that I created my Guild Wars 1 characters in and the thought process behind that choice. In order for this to work correctly, I will need to write this page, then forget about it, not re-reading it at all (although others may if they so desire) and then, when I have created all 8 professions, come back and read it. It works kind of like a time capsule.

FINAL DRAFT -- Unedited since 2/22/12

Guild Wars 1 Characters (in order of creation, striked out if deleted)

Akim Shiaphin (Dervish)

The basic idea with Akim was to put myself in the game world and see what happens. This is pretty much my standard approach to every RPG game that I encounter, especially when I know very little about the game/world/lore. The dervish class in GW1 looked interesting to me when I first got the game and read the manual. Mainly I identified with the faith-based lore and the concept of assuming the form of a god appealed to me. At this point, I didn't know about of the Guild Wars Wiki, had no in game experience and no knowledge of the mechanics, so pretty much the manual was all I had to go on at that point.

Serafa of the Mists (Warrior/Elementalist)

Serafa was a failed character concept which attempted to carry over a character concept from another game (Spellforce: The Order of Dawn). The character at this point in Spellforce was a warrior mage character wielding a two-handed sword, sporting medium to heavy armor and with an arsenal of fire spells. Her name was Serapha and she was very effective in Spellforce. This led to me creating a Warrior/Elementalist with a fire magic build. I had also tried an elementalist/warrior variant, but I didn't yet understand how to play a caster correctly yet, which ultimately led to me dying all the time every time i picked up aggro. The W/E build that I used kinda worked at lower levels, but didn't get any better as I leveled up. At this point, I knew about the wiki and was learning about the mechanics, but still didn't know enough to realize that this character will epic phayl. And after it did, the concept was too rigid to adapt to a true warrior build, so the character eventually was deleted. Despite the fact that the final build was a bit finicky and did ultimately fail, looking back, I'm actually quite impressed with how well it did work considering the severe limitations.

Aislinn Cadhla (Necromancer)

I made this one pretty much as soon as I learned of the minion master. Never heard or seen anything like it and I thought (and still do think) it is one of the coolest aspects of GW1. Still didn't know about spirit spam, which is much easier and useful in many more situations. Aislinn was the character that I really learned how to correctly play a caster on, which opened up the possibility of me playing casters without them getting smashed in the face and dying.

Caoimhe Driscol (Ranger)

At this point, I am learning a lot more about the mechanics (enough for me to stop making decisions like Serafa), but still didn't know the meta very well. I created her for the Legendary Defender of Ascalon title and because I thought the pet mechanic was cool.

Xian Maylin (Elementalist)

Sort of an offshoot from the concept of Serafa, but still a unique concept in her own right. My first attempt to create an ele after I created Aislinn and, therefore, learned how to correctly play a caster. One of the downfalls of her was that the concept still retained the 'strictly fire' aspect, another being that she was a PvP only character. In the end, I had bad experiences and gameplay wasn't as fun as I'd hoped, so she eventually got the axe.

Neala Kerr (Assassin)

She was initially a throwaway character for a guild session of noob island factions and a chance for me to better understand the profession. Several times I deleted this character and, upon my guild asking where she was and still wanting to include her, I needed to recreate her and play through the quests very quickly to catch up. This idea of "catch up, quick" led to me racing through all the content and finishing Factions in 2 months and Nightfall and Prophecies in another 3. This propelled her into being my most experienced character to date and ultimtely earned her the right to become the love interest of my primary character, Akim Shiaphin, and the namesake of my first GW2 character, Neil Shiaphin.

Togashi Kosaku (Monk)

Ah yes, my presearing character. Created because, at the time, the only way to get healing breeze was to play a monk primary. Made for presearing from the start and never will leave presearing.

Muirgheal Cadhla (Ritualist)

Made as soon as I found out about, and had seen how effective spirit spammers were. Also combined with the Survivor title.

Malachi Kavanagh (Paragon)

Made to become an imbagon. However, he probably never will become one due to the fact that I don't really like the playstyle. He originally was supposed to be a smite monk, but I really hate the playstyle of heal monks (which, needless to say, is the industry standard).

Tomas Ackart (Warrior)

Long standing concept for making a warrior that was actually a warrior and not an elementalist. Created when I finally got around to actually making one.

Kyla Ackart (Mesmer)

Sort of an offshoot from Aislinn's Spiteful Spirit build, but also I had never created a mesmer character myself.

Sorcha O'Dorchaidhe (Elementalist)

Almost 9 months after creating Tomas and Kyla I looked over my characters and thought, "I like playing DPS roles, so why don't I play an ele?" The answer: Bad experiences.

GW2 Character Creation Process as of the Writing of This Page

At this point, in my GW2 character creation process, I have 3 concepts in various stages at the moment.

Neil Shiaphin (Mesmer)

The first concept, Neil Shiaphin, will be a mesmer and I have his biography already filled out. Neil will pretty much definitely be my main character. He follows pretty much the same idea as Akim followed where I place myself in the world and see what happens. Once again, fairly standard approach for me. It should also be noted that Neil was initially a Thief, however when the mesmer profession was released, I was extremely surprised that it looked so much more appealing than the thief. (Also, being a thief brought in the idea of questionable morals and values, which was one of the main things I didn't like about the thief).

I also have 2 other semi-refined character concepts, one Sylvari Elementalist named Sadhbh (pronounced like "Sheev") and one Asuran Necromancer whose name is currently classified. Neither of these characters are currently as defined as Neil is.

Sadhbh (Elementalist)

The sylvari elementalist was initialy planned to be second, however looks like it will be delayed due to the fact that the character concept is not coming along as quickly as my Asuran Necro. Also, when Neil switched from Thief to Mesmer, it brought about the idea that Sadhbh could then be a thief (since I don't want to have several characters with the same profession). Also, it should be noted that with the redefining of pets, a ranger is also an option, abeit a less likely one atm. This uncertainty is causing the concept to be delayed and has the potential to evolve into something else entirely.

Necro Redux (Necromancer)

The asuran necromancer has, from the start, been a continuation of Aislinn Cadhla. In Aislinn's backstory, she becomes a great necromancer, however the power that she acquires starts to snowball out of control and, as a result, she lives to be extremely old (think the end of The Green Mile). After nearly 250 years of watching everyone that she knows and loves die around her, she begins to scout for a solution, eventually finding a young asuran necromancer that is willing to attempt to dispel the ancient magic, and, eventually, succeeds. Thus the story transfers over to the young asuran necro.

I have a few other basic ideas, however none are as fleshed out as these three are right now.

Analysis

Right now, I can see my thought processes following a similar pattern as my original GW1 characters. I already know which profession appeals most to me, and this will become Neil Shiaphin in pretty much the same way that Akim Shiaphin evolved. Moving on, I see the Sylvari Elementalist concept being changed and delayed the more I look and think about it. While this is different from how Serafa was created and ultimately deleted, I'm also taking into consideration that I know the mechanics of GW2 now much better than I knew the mechanics of GW1 back then. Therefore, I'm analyzing it more to assess how viable the character is before I create and play it. I also (potentially) have time to test viability on one of the Beta Weekend Events before the game is released, assuming of course that I get in one (as I write this I find a legit signup sheet at beta.guildwars2.com!!!!! /nerdgasm). And finally, of course, the Asuran Necro concept will most likely end up being the spitting image of the final product of Aislinn Cadhla. Beyond that, where the rest goes has yet to be seen.

Prediction for the Order of GW2 Professions

Bold is an idea that is already taking shape and strike out is one being delayed.

• Neil Shiaphin (Mesmer)
• Sadhbh (Elementalist)
• Necro Redux
• Ranger
• Elementalist
• Thief
• Engineer
• Guardian
• Warrior