Guild Wars 2

The new Lion’s Arch is pretty, and for the most part I like it better than the original.

However, the name now doesn’t match the theme at all, which I find to be a little bothersome. Are there any plans to at least bring the Lion fountain back?

What is with all the lion references in this game anyway? I’ve never seen a lion in the game. :s

Vephar.8475:

What is with all the lion references in this game anyway? I’ve never seen a lion in the game. :s

Lions Arch was the city’s name for over 250 years. You would not have seen a lion in GW2 (yet) as lions are mostly found in Elona south of the crystal desert. If you go to the ruins of Old Lions Arch that was flooded when Orr resurfaced, you’ll find plenty of lion status. Many city’s look different to when they where first named. The same way as most of the maps where renamed too. Only one I can think of right now that is the same is Loners pass, but then its swallowed dreadnoughts drift and part of snake dance too.

As Belial notes, cities can grow past their names. New York isn’t that new any more, nor does anyone really pay attention to its vague connection to York, England. Are there angel statues all over Los Angeles?

That said, I’m surprised the rebuilders of LA didn’t do anything really iconic. On the other hand they were Consortium and possibly didn’t care a fig about the city’s history so long as they could turn it into a tourist trap.

It’s called Lion’s Arch because it was originally established as a colony of Elona and was their ‘gateway’ into Tyria. (There are lions in Elona, or at least there were in GW1.)

But it only stayed that way for 58 years before Kryta became an independent nation and the name became inaccurate, but stuck around. In game time that was 971 years ago.

I do agree it would be nice to have some of the lion statues back, but I do also think it’s more realistic for the name and appearance of the city to develop independently over time.

Thanks for the interesting insights!

But if we don’t have a lion statue anymore, what will get destroyed now?

That statue served as an important safety measure / lightning rod, and it’s foolhardy not to rebuild it. You mark my words!

We do have a lion statue, head down to Fort Mariner and look in from the north entrance.

Redenaz.8631:

But if we don’t have a lion statue anymore, what will get destroyed now?

That statue served as an important safety measure / lightning rod, and it’s foolhardy not to rebuild it. You mark my words!

Hopefully the entire place. I really loved the original Lion’s Arch because it had that Caribbean 16th century pirate theme going on. Now that it lacks character, substance, culture, and is way sterile I don’t like it anymore. At least Divinity’s Reach and Rata Sum maintain a special character to them. You have some nice plants and color in Rata Sum at least so there’s no reason to chill in Lion’s Arch over it.

Agemnon.4608:

Redenaz.8631:

But if we don’t have a lion statue anymore, what will get destroyed now?

That statue served as an important safety measure / lightning rod, and it’s foolhardy not to rebuild it. You mark my words!

Hopefully the entire place. I really loved the original Lion’s Arch because it had that Caribbean 16th century pirate theme going on. Now that it lacks character, substance, culture, and is way sterile I don’t like it anymore. At least Divinity’s Reach and Rata Sum maintain a special character to them. You have some nice plants and color in Rata Sum at least so there’s no reason to chill in Lion’s Arch over it.

If you move away from the centre of Lion’s Arch I think it has a lot of character.

The area around the bank and TP is pretty bland, it feels more like a theme park with novelty buildings made of concrete than a real city to me. But the buildings and the little winding streets around the waterfront, Commodore’s Quarter and Western Ward look very authentic to me. It reminds me of European seaside towns, not any one in particular but more like a fantasy mash-up of a lot of different ones. (And yes I have seen them in real life, I lived in one for 3 years.)

BrotherBelial.3094:

Vephar.8475:

What is with all the lion references in this game anyway? I’ve never seen a lion in the game. :s

Lions Arch was the city’s name for over 250 years. You would not have seen a lion in GW2 (yet) as lions are mostly found in Elona south of the crystal desert. If you go to the ruins of Old Lions Arch that was flooded when Orr resurfaced, you’ll find plenty of lion status. Many city’s look different to when they where first named. The same way as most of the maps where renamed too. Only one I can think of right now that is the same is Loners pass, but then its swallowed dreadnoughts drift and part of snake dance too.

Thank you Historian Belial! I never played the original guild wars game.