Please Stop Killing Characters (spoliers)

With the death of Blish and the probable death of Taimi… It's honestly very close to becoming old hat.

Death should mark major turning points in a story. It feels almost casual to me at this point. I'd not even be surprised to see Caithe written out ( which would be an epic mistake. )

How can I develop affection and comradery when those around me are dropping so fast?

Here's my suggestion: Mark the next major turn of the story with the wedding of Kasmeer and Marjory. That would even follow the legacy of GW1.

"dropping so fast?"

A very few dead characters (of note) over the course of more than six years of constant war doesnt seem excessive to me.

I am not specifically asking for Caithe to die, but I would love to see her written out of the story.

The evidence doesn't support the assumption made by the OP: major deaths aren't casual. They are major turning points in the story. Eir's death transforms Braham and causes a rift that almost buries Dragon's Watch before it gets started. Blish being swallowed by a dragon (and his presumed death) causes Taimi to unburden herself to the commander, and affects the rest of the crew.

There are tons of "main characters," the vast majority of whom are alive and well.

• LS1: proto Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other allies: alive. Main villains: 1 dead, one escaped from prison, one joins us (later).
• LS2: Traveling companions: all alive. Destiny's Edge: all survive. Belinda dies, but she's a redshirt. Zephyrites: oops, but all redshirts.
• HoT: The Pact: Trahearne becomes compost; the rest survive. Destiny's Edge: Zojja loses her voice; Eir dies; the rest survive. Proto Dragon's Watch: all survive.
• LS3: Dragon's Watch: all alive. All of the other primary protagonists remain alive. The primary villains are dead.
• PoF: Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other characters: all alive (well except the Queens, but they started off dead).
• LS4: Dragon's Watch: all alive. Only one of the other protagonists is believed to have died. One primary villain died; the other lives.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to see a wedding. It doesn't have to be justified by imagining things that haven't happened.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:The evidence doesn't support the assumption made by the OP: major deaths aren't casual. They are major turning points in the story. Eir's death transforms Braham and causes a rift that almost buries Dragon's Watch before it gets started. Blish being swallowed by a dragon (and his presumed death) causes Taimi to unburden herself to the command, and affects the rest of the crew.

There are tons of "main characters," the vast majority of whom are alive and well.

• LS1: proto Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other allies: alive. Main villains: 1 dead, one escaped from prison, one joins us (later).
• LS2: Traveling companions: all alive. Destiny's Edge: all survive. Belinda dies, but she's a redshirt. Zephyrites: oops, but all redshirts.
• HoT: The Pact: Trahearne becomes compost; the rest survive. Destiny's Edge: Zojja loses her voice; Eir dies; the rest survive. Proto Dragon's Watch: all survive.
• LS3: Dragon's Watch: all alive. All of the other primary protagonists remain alive. The primary villains are dead.
• PoF: Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other characters: all alive (well except the Queens, but they started off dead).
• LS4: Dragon's Watch: all alive. Only one of the other protagonists is believed to have died. One primary villain died; the other lives.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to see a wedding. It doesn't have to be justified by imagining things that haven't happened.

Zoja is implied to be dead. The ghost of Snaff mentions talking to her while speaking to Taimi. (This could only happen if Zoja were also in The Mists. )Taimi claims to be in the process of dying.

That's 3 of Destiny's Edge down + Trahearne. ( One additional incapacitated and in an administrative job. ) and one of Dragon's Watch.

I see a desire to write-in the player as Guild Leader of Dragon's Watch. However, there's no need to exterminate Destiny's Edge in the process. Death is dramatic but, like any spice, it should not be over used.

I, personally, am beginning to feel jaded when Blish sacrifices himself and my reaction is …blah. There are other potentially better ways to tell the story.

Technically even the commander died. Although I personally liked how that was done (minus the too-long Balthazar-just-toying-with-you fight).

Guild Wars Season 5 preview: A Game of Dragons. Everyone dies! :p

@Ithilwen.1529 said:Zoja is implied to be dead. The ghost of Snaff mentions talking to her while speaking to Taimi. (This could only happen if Zoja were also in The Mists. )Snaff mentions speaking to Zojja, but not when. It could have been before he died and when Taimi would have been a kid.

Taimi claims to be in the process of dying.Yes, she's been ill since we met her. She believes her disease to have become terminal, something she doesn't appear to have thought when we first encountered her. But all the same: she is not dead. As there are reasons to believe she might find a way to keep her mind alive in an artificial body, as Blish did.

That's 3 of Destiny's Edge down + Trahearne. ( One additional incapacitated and in an administrative job. ) and one of Dragon's Watch.Since the game began, from Destiny's Edge, only Eir actually died. Again, we don't know Zojja's status; ANet has been deliberately vague about it.

But more important, Destiny's Edge is the old world, not the new one. It's about what happened before GW2, except that its members become quasi-mentors to the PC.

I see a desire to write-in the player as Guild Leader of Dragon's Watch.The player is the GL of Dragon's Watch.

However, there's no need to exterminate Destiny's Edge in the process.And again, only Eir died during GW2.

Death is dramatic but, like any spice, it should not be over used.The evidence is that, despite all the character living in violent & dangerous times, very few are dead.

I, personally, am beginning to feel jaded when Blish sacrifices himself and my reaction is …blah.I get that. But you've still assumed facts not in evidence.

There are other potentially better ways to tell the story.There are oodles of problems with the shape of the story, with the epicness, with writing, with small details and large ones, with character development. The question is: are any of them important enough to get in the way. Clearly you think death is overused as a storytelling tool, but again, that's based on very few actual deaths.

edit: clarified the context_

I don't know why people think death has to be a big thing, or why it can only happen to characters we love at "just the right time". Death isn't so convenient; It's just something that happens.

Whatever the argument.... Please make it Disney ending.. as happy as and as joyful as please… if we want to kill a character.. pick the bad guy‼ ?

I'm not asking for a "Disney" ending. I feel, as I said at the beginning, that death of major characters is too frequent and too casual.

@"Boysenberry.1869" said:Technically even the commander died. Although I personally liked how that was done (minus the too-long Balthazar-just-toying-with-you fight).

Guild Wars Season 5 preview: A Game of Dragons. Everyone dies! :p

Yes, the whole "hero's journey" to The Mists and back was truly legendary. Joseph Campbell would have been proud. That was great story telling.

@Ithilwen.1529 said:

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:The evidence doesn't support the assumption made by the OP: major deaths aren't casual. They are major turning points in the story. Eir's death transforms Braham and causes a rift that almost buries Dragon's Watch before it gets started. Blish being swallowed by a dragon (and his presumed death) causes Taimi to unburden herself to the command, and affects the rest of the crew.

There are tons of "main characters," the vast majority of whom are alive and well.

• LS1:
  proto Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other allies: alive. Main villains: 1 dead, one escaped from prison, one joins us (later).
• LS2:
  Traveling companions: all alive. Destiny's Edge: all survive. Belinda dies, but she's a redshirt. Zephyrites: oops, but all redshirts.
• HoT:
  The Pact: Trahearne becomes compost; the rest survive. Destiny's Edge: Zojja loses her voice; Eir dies; the rest survive. Proto Dragon's Watch: all survive.
• LS3:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. All of the other primary protagonists remain alive. The primary villains are dead.
• PoF:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other characters: all alive (well except the Queens, but they started off dead).
• LS4:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Only one of the other protagonists is
  believed to have died
  . One primary villain died; the other lives.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to see a wedding. It doesn't have to be justified by imagining things that haven't happened.

If the only way it is possible for Snaff to have spoken to Zoja was for her to have been in the mists, then how did he speak to Taimi who is not in the mists?

They're just pixels put there to act as plot devices. I could care less. I have played a myriad of mmorpgs over the last 20 years, read many, many books and watched a vast amount of TV series and films, and I've yet to get even slightly worked up over the death of a fictitious character.

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Ithilwen.1529 said:

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:The evidence doesn't support the assumption made by the OP: major deaths aren't casual. They are major turning points in the story. Eir's death transforms Braham and causes a rift that almost buries Dragon's Watch before it gets started. Blish being swallowed by a dragon (and his presumed death) causes Taimi to unburden herself to the command, and affects the rest of the crew.

There are tons of "main characters," the vast majority of whom are alive and well.

• LS1:
  proto Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other allies: alive. Main villains: 1 dead, one escaped from prison, one joins us (later).
• LS2:
  Traveling companions: all alive. Destiny's Edge: all survive. Belinda dies, but she's a redshirt. Zephyrites: oops, but all redshirts.
• HoT:
  The Pact: Trahearne becomes compost; the rest survive. Destiny's Edge: Zojja loses her voice; Eir dies; the rest survive. Proto Dragon's Watch: all survive.
• LS3:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. All of the other primary protagonists remain alive. The primary villains are dead.
• PoF:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other characters: all alive (well except the Queens, but they started off dead).
• LS4:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Only one of the other protagonists is
  believed to have died
  . One primary villain died; the other lives.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to see a wedding. It doesn't have to be justified by imagining things that haven't happened.

I'd like to point out that it is not said that Snaff have talked to Zojja about Taimi.The relevant dialogue goes:

Snaff: You're quite precocious, aren't you? What did you say your name was?Taimi: Taimi. Sir.Snaff: Ah! Zojja's apprentice. That explains it.Taimi: Uh...explains what?Snaff: Oh, I've heard great things.Taimi: Eeeh!(My emphasis)Note that this says nothing about Snaff's sources.

I will go on hunger strike if taimi.. ...Die???(I'm kidding)But I don't wanna see Taimi die. /Beg

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:Since the game began, only Eir actually died. Again, we don't know Zojja's status; ANet has been deliberately vague about it.

Thank you for being the voice of reason on this matter (as usual).

I didn't (and don't) think it is implied that Zojja is dead. Nor did I think Snaff spoke to Zojja in the Mists.You know, I once thought 'farming' meant planting crops...but, it turned out to be something entirely different from what it sounded like.Who knew?

Who knew fighting against forces of nature, human gods, and undead liches could be dangerous?

@TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:Since the game began, only Eir actually died. Again, we don't know Zojja's status; ANet has been deliberately vague about it.

Didn't trahearn also die?

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Ithilwen.1529 said:

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:The evidence doesn't support the assumption made by the OP: major deaths aren't casual. They are major turning points in the story. Eir's death transforms Braham and causes a rift that almost buries Dragon's Watch before it gets started. Blish being swallowed by a dragon (and his presumed death) causes Taimi to unburden herself to the command, and affects the rest of the crew.

There are tons of "main characters," the vast majority of whom are alive and well.

• LS1:
  proto Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other allies: alive. Main villains: 1 dead, one escaped from prison, one joins us (later).
• LS2:
  Traveling companions: all alive. Destiny's Edge: all survive. Belinda dies, but she's a redshirt. Zephyrites: oops, but all redshirts.
• HoT:
  The Pact: Trahearne becomes compost; the rest survive. Destiny's Edge: Zojja loses her voice; Eir dies; the rest survive. Proto Dragon's Watch: all survive.
• LS3:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. All of the other primary protagonists remain alive. The primary villains are dead.
• PoF:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Other characters: all alive (well except the Queens, but they started off dead).
• LS4:
  Dragon's Watch: all alive. Only one of the other protagonists is
  believed to have died
  . One primary villain died; the other lives.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to see a wedding. It doesn't have to be justified by imagining things that haven't happened.

Snaff: You're quite precocious, aren't you? What did you say your name was?Taimi: Taimi. Sir.Snaff: Ah! Zojja's apprentice. That explains it.Taimi: Uh...explains what?

Snaff: Oh, I've heard great things.

Taimi: Eeeh!(My emphasis)Note that this says

nothing

about Snaff's sources.

What Blackfeather said and also: Rytlock, Balthasar, the PC and companions, Norn in the early personal story etc. The point is, there have been a ton of people in the mists which came back. So, Zojja finding a way into the mists and back woulnd't even be impossible. Sure, speculation (a bad one at that) but Zojja being dead is too. It's not implied that she is dead. The only thing we know for sure about Zojja are things of the past and nothing about her now.

To get back on the topic of this thread: Death happens and we have so few deaths if you keep the situation in mind: we are fighting forces of nature itself, literal gods and ancient creatures. What would one expect? Only a few dying? Well, that's what we got. An unrealisticly low death count.

@yann.1946 said:

@TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:Since the game began, only Eir actually died. Again, we don't know Zojja's status; ANet has been deliberately vague about it.

Yes. He was part of the pact, not destinys edge

Taimi's illness may kill her in the end, but that's not really the point right now. The real reason her sickness is coming back is to limit her. We've seen her easily solve a lot of complex problems, and honestly had to ask why she wasn't solving more. Well, now we have a reason why we can't turn to her all of the time. If she's having a bad day, then we'll have to find a solution without her, and if we push her too hard on a good day that could still cause a "crash" from the stress.

I've noticed that Taimi is trying to bond with Aurene, as well. It's possible that Aurene may grow attached to Taimi, and start to worry about her. Thus, a seriously ill Taimi could take Aurene out of the picture for a while as well, removing our second "easy fix" every now and then.

I don't think of Blish as being dead at all...he intentionally shut down his processes in order to power the Kralk tracker, but if you recall he was also without all of his senses once before, and yes, he said he would never want to experience that again, but in this case I think the greater good outweighs his sense of self. Of course you can have your own opinion on the matter, but that was how I saw it...even with his last words.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@yann.1946 said:

@TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:Since the game began, only Eir actually died. Again, we don't know Zojja's status; ANet has been deliberately vague about it.

Right, the quote from me above was in reference to who has survived Destiny's Edge.

People here say that Zojja is dead, but in truth she isn't!Her condition is unknown and if she were dead we would've known/informed about it at some point.

I like to get rid of annoying characters by slaughtering them. Though the forced drama should be replaced with the pure joy of getting them slaughtered. I'm looking forward for Caithe, Braham and Taimi to get killed.On the other hand I would have liked Joko to stay with us for a bit longer. I enjoyed him. Though they could have gotten even crazier with his self-staging. I'm looking forward for an epic musical with Joko as main actor.