But no matter how much ArenaNet pokes and prods, nudging players towards merry fellowship, no one is forcing players to resurrect a stranger off the well-trodden path. No high council watches from the mountaintops and dispenses judgment on those that ignore the needy. If you run right by a fallen player without helping, the Guild Wars 2 community will not care. It’s just a game.
Perhaps the sight of a fallen player reminds us of our own failures in the world of Tyria. When your character has been defeated on some far off trail, the sight of a fellow adventurer is like an oasis in the desert. That mysterious stranger represents hope. When we consider that feeling of need, that bated breath for a stranger’s charity, we may be more inclined to help someone else, somewhere down the line.
hen again, maybe some Guild Wars 2 players are just honest-to-goodness saints. As I struggled to survive in the frigid beauty of Lornar’s Pass, a fellow adventurer explained that he was just “preserving the niceness in the world,” punctuating our short chat with a smiley emoticon.