I Wish I Could Start in First Ward

I waffled over whether to start this thread here or in Suggestions. But I came down here because, honestly, I know that it's not a serious suggestion, because it's not going to happen. But here's something that I would find really cool, whether or not anybody else did:

I want a level 1-20 version of First Ward.

It's always struck me as kind of "off" that you can roll a magic-origin Praetorian; I was under the impression that the Cole Administration was really hostile towards magic. (Official excuse: "Magic is chaotic." Unofficial reason: Cole is vulnerable to magic.) So I always felt like, when I was thinking of creating a Praetorian version of one of my Primal magic-users, like I had to shoe-horn the character in, had to come up with some kind of an explanation as to how that character ended up in Powers Division instead of either dead or exiled. And then ...

Then came First Ward. Which, I still insist, even after seeing the Dark Astoria makeover, even after seeing Night Ward, is still hands-down the most beautifully detailed single map in the entire game. I just can't get tired of it. And I love the factions, too: the Eltentowners, the Dregs, the Shepherds, DUST, the Forlorn, the Carnival of Light, Apparitions/Possessed, the Awakened, the Talons of Vengeance, and the left-overs from the capital-city arcs, the Ghouls and the Seers and the Resistance - it dawned on me that there are more factions in that 10 level range, more variety in that 10 level range, than in the entire 20-level range that comes before it on the gold side. That's twelve factions, when the entire level 1-20 range makes do with only seven (PPD, Resistance, PPD, Seers, Clockwork, Ghouls, Destroyers, and Syndicate). And the artwork, and the open-air spawn dialogs, and the plaques, all suggest that all of the unique First Ward factions have their own history, history that we never see and never will see. All that back story, all wasted.

So I wish we could kill two birds with one stone: give magic-using Praetorian Earth characters a more plausible origin (make it optional for the other 4 origins) and tell the backstories of First Ward. I wish they would make a copy of First Ward exactly as it is, except without the vortex and the shadowed paths, repopulate it with level 1-20 versions of the Citizens of First Ward, DUST, Ghouls, Shepherds, and Carnies and tell the stories of what those groups are doing there, the sub-factions within each of them, and how they relate to each other.

We're getting the NPC factions in AE next issue; if we can get some extra art assets, some of the maps, it might be fun to team-write those backstories ourselves. Have one person tell it with the viewpoint of your character being an Eltentowner, have another tell it with the viewpoint of your character being a Shepherd, have another tell it with the viewpoint of your character being Resistance, have another tell it with the viewpoint of your character being a Carnie; show how they ally with or fight with each other and with the DUST and the Ghouls and the Dregs. Anybody interested? We'd have to set up a thread somewhere to thrash out our own version of the backstory, a story bible to follow, then we could start rolling them out when i23 goes live.

But what I'd really love to have instead is an actual official zone: First Ward (1-20).

I posted a thread in the Beta forums suggesting that they add a black market and abandoned lab to First Ward (both of which certainly fit the theme); they are two things that would add a lot to FW, which- I agree with you- is an amazing zone. (Someone even suggested making the lab into an abandoned D.U.S.T. facility, which, with just a few map changes would make it even more fitting.)

I hate that FW's arcs ended before really even delving into the southern part of the zone, and I think your suggestion of making it a 1-20 would be kind of cool, actually; there is plenty of room there to expand things for characters. You'd have to either move some of the current assets/story arcs around a bit, but otherwise, it might be a really cool idea.

Story-wise, it'd make alot more sense for a Praetorian character to start in some sort of First Ward tutorial. At the end of that tutorial, the PCs would get roped into joining Powers Division in Nova Praetoria - normal story follows. Finally, at level 20, instead of going through the portal to Primal Earth that Dr. Science mcguyvered from the lint in his pocket, they'd be forced to flee back into First Ward because the IDF and the Praetors have declared them outlaws or something. It'd serve not only magic characters, but also psychics, robots, kheldians, Primal heroes, SoAs and everything else out of the norm that you'd be hard pressed to explain as a typical Praetorian, plus ease in the transition from Praetorian to Primal.

We can always dream