Guild Wars 2

Josh Foreman.8250:

kineticdamage.6279:

Pure target audience strategy. They saw how westerners rejected Asian elements during Mists of Pandaria development, so they took it as a business rule and wanted to surf on the rejection. That is speculation of course, but it is so obvious …

That’s not what happened. This went down long before anyone even know MOP was coming. It was simply a cultural consideration.

I don’t think it’s exactly accurate or fair to say westerner’s rejected Asian elements in MoP, the expansion did really well and many people were very excited for it, it managed to interest people for a while and it still is..I don’t think it’s the new Asian theme has anything to do with why that game is on the (very slow) decline. I think it’s simply age. The notion that westerner’s are relatively resistant to Asian themes in our games I think is a big misconception, westerner’s are cautious when approaching games MADE in Asia, by Asian developers due to the fact we’ve been burned by them so many times just as they have been with other western games. So many times it’s been graphically beautiful games lead on with the mega hype train with very little of the substance in the game that western players prefer. (Story depth, content variety, etc) all of which are things Anet has done a very good job at providing while keeping GW2 an MMORPG, and they have excelled so far. So I think an Asian themed region/expansion (Cantha) would be received at least just as well as any other expansion they will release. I would honestly go as far as to say it would be received more openly because it’s a region that so many people are very passionate about and interested in compared to some of the other ones we’re currently venturing into.

If the only options at the end of the day were that Anet has to make the concession to keep Cantha uniformally one Asian culture moving forward, or never have it then I bet most of us would accept that concession even though it sucks that they have to be “sensitive” to those issues for political reasons. There’s a lot that goes on that we never hear about and never will hear about, and have really no right to hear about at this point in time in regards to the business and relations portion of ArenaNet and the game. As Josh said, many of the developers would love to return to Cantha, I bet many of them would rather do it sooner than later, but there’s probably a lot they have to do in order to move forward with Cantha and I sincerely hope they will and if there’s a way for them to make it happen I am sure they will. It’s good to know we have developers pushing for Cantha along with us and I hope that we can make this happen. Several of my friends who are Chinese, and Japanese were talking about this in vent the other night…None of them would be offended or annoyed by the approach Anet took in the first attempt, either and will probably be posting their points of view here some time..

I want its to return as my RP is riding on it as every one of my characters are Canthans (yes we have like 2-3 faces to use and many adjustments to make some very accurate Asian looks). I fell in love with it in GW 1 as I love all types of Asian cultures and not just one (Japanese) or another (China/Korea.) I also eat seafood voraciously when I can, and I like how those three cultures prepare it along with other foods and I can eat almost anything, also their spiciness of their food is decent. I love how their peoples dress and look visually as well. If I could go back to China in my lifetime and also visit the other two nations, I would. GW 1’s Factions was the closest thing to remind me of my life experiences. Not having Cantha in GW 2, would be a shame to all its fans.

I just don’t like Cantha just because I’m being some random anime nerd/Asianophile fan-type idiot that people throw around to troll others that I always hear in chats in both GW 1 and even 2 (bunch of bigots). I been to at least one of the nations portrayed in the mixing that Factions had and I am a history lover and enjoy other cultures and whatnot. So I have every right to like other cultures. I’m not misguided or misinformed either, and I’m a white guy. HA!

To be one-sided with just your own culture (American?) is just bland and being uninitiated in life.

Elthurien.8356:

vespers.1759:

hey guys let’s leave out anything asian but keep all the christian holidays!

LOGIC!

You obviously aren’t aware that cultures celebrated the changing of seasons and other astrological occurences long before our modern day religions. Everything changes with history but the celebrations remained.

… I’m going to lol if I get infracted for this.

i am aware of this, but the fact is these old pagan holidays were taken and converted until they no longer resemble the originals in much other than their dates.

they are thoroughly “christianized”, so your argument is invalid.

I didn’t like GW1 until factions, prophecies bored me.
Please bring back Cantha, and I want to kill Shiro Tagachi in gw2, make it happen kthx.

Just putting my input in on this, I upvote for the addition of Cantha and hopefully Caromi!!!

jade maw fractal is in cantha…

Ever since I read that there are expansions already in the making, I was quite confident that Cantha would be part of them. Never imagined something like this!
Please bring back Cantha! It had some of the most beautiful places and atmosphere in GW1.

I hope, one day ArenaNet will be able to make their own decisions without being patronized by NCSoft anymore…

I think Cantha is still absolutely feasable, wether as something predominantly Asian, or more mixed in influences. The team at Arenanet has a century of the unknown to work with and who’s to say that the continent of Cantha develops in the vein of the countries that inspired it. The Kurzick’s European Gothic style might find its way into the mainstream, Echovald could easily be a ‘sylvari tree’, someone, somewhere, might invent or innovate something that simply changes the course of how things develop.

My character’s name is Ritualist. Please, ArenaNet, let him go home.

Josh Foreman.8250:

That’s a very good way of putting it. I certainly don’t know where, when, or how the decision was made. I’m just a map artist. So I’m not in a position to critique it. I also don’t know the extent of the decision. For all I know it was some producer in Korea who doesn’t work there any more and the next time it’s brought up there will be no problem. Or maybe there will be one or two tweaks that will fix the problem. Who knows?

Thanks for continuing to contribute to this thread, Josh. We appreciate your replies! Thanks for giving us as much as explanation as you could. That does sound hopeful, at least. Without ourselves knowing the true situation and full extent of the decision, maybe we players shouldn’t fill in the blanks with “NCSoft Overlords perma-banned Cantha!?!?” I for one will try to stay open and keep hoping!

I just wanted to add my voice to the fire, really. I loved Factions, and Cantha, and really want to go back!

I understand the cultural sensitivity needed, especially after a post up-thread pointing out some of the implications, but that could be said of a lot of things in a lot of games. And that it has been a problem in the past does not mean that it is an insurmountable issue! So much dedication has gone into making GW2, and into meticulously designing the elements of it, from art, to sound, to mechanics.

The fanbase wants to go back to Cantha, to see what happened, and how things are now. As Heinel pointed out, the lack of contact with the continent and the 100 year gap gives a lot of license to change things and remove the potential to offend while still letting players return and explore some amazing locations. If the problems before were in part the mixing of different Asian cultural identities but still leaving problematic and recognisable parallels, surely the passing of time gives an opportunity to straighten those out? Cantha is a large place, with plenty of room for multiple cultural identities to coexist. Much has changed in Tyria over the intervening centuries, it would be perfectly natural to suppose that Cantha has evolved considerably as well.

I’m one of those players who is desperate to go back. I fell in love with the landscapes and the art style. While I’m a westerner myself, so don’t really know where things are “wrong”, I don’t see how it would be impossible to present a version of Cantha which is acceptable to everyone. So much attention to detail has been put into other areas of the game, it has to be feasible given enough time. And while I would love to be able to visit sooner rather than later, if it’s a choice between never going back and waiting a little longer, I can wait.

Just let us go back eventually, please! My GW1 main was a Ritualist and my character in GW2 is her descendant and namesake, and she’d love to go “home” someday! (Also, fitting a refurbished Ritualist into GW2 would be lovely as well. Just saying…)

This is very sad news, and it simply can’t happen.
Some of you suggest new areas with new lore, and while that will be greatly appreciated as well i’d much rather see Cantha and Elona again. They were a huge part in GW1 and they are now a part of the guild wars world and lore.
The amazing thing with a sequel is that you can revisit some old places and see how they have changed, just as we have experienced with Tyria. Im very eager to see some of the places from Elona and Cantha again, and having a great diversity of cultures represented in a game is amazing. I really hope there is a way to bring these lands back.

Sincerely
A viking

Honestly, I wouldn’t miss Kaineng City if it was razed to the ground. Sure the architecture was different from the usual European castle type fantasy art, but it was truly horrible to navigate your way around and the tunnels were even worse. It also suffered from Orr syndrome in having too much of the same type of enemy (Afflicted). I wasn’t overkeen on the whole faction system either.

That isn’t about the culture, it’s the area design and mechanics so I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Cantha return in some form. I have much fonder memories of Elona and would love to see it return, but even then, I’d really rather do without those wurm journeys which were the one situation in GW1 where the camera caused motion sickeness.

Josh Foreman.8250:

kineticdamage.6279:

Pure target audience strategy. They saw how westerners rejected Asian elements during Mists of Pandaria development, so they took it as a business rule and wanted to surf on the rejection. That is speculation of course, but it is so obvious …

That’s not what happened. This went down long before anyone even know MOP was coming. It was simply a cultural consideration.

As weird and unjustified as that decision sounds, then I trust your words
(and thank you for taking some time to voice it)

Still, I wrote the silly idea of creating a kickstarter to fund the independancy of ArenaNet earlier, but the more I think about it, the more I don’t find it silly at all, and I’d definitely pay for it. And I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be the only one.

As mentionned in page 1, the publisher did have a creative decisional power. I don’t support that at all. A publisher is a publisher. A creative studio is a creative studio, and castrating such outstanding creativity for shady reasons doesn’t please me at all as a customer.

Still, I understand it’s none of my business as a customer to have a view on such creative decisions powers. But everything people hate in the game actually, or feel there is a lack of, is totally different from what GW2 was shaping to be during the development process.

The manifesto, the blogs … ArenaNet was crystal clear about their vision, and now we’re kind of halfway away from it. I don’t know what or why, but something clearly happened along the way.
Some theories are around the web and I won’t speculate anymore for sanity’s sake, but whatever that real reason is, I’m 75% sure it didn’t come from ArenaNet.
The change was too brutal. And the Cantha story seems to confirm it.

/crazy_tinfoil_hat_time_off

/and_back_to_the_actual_discussion

quickthorn.4918:

Honestly, I wouldn’t miss Kaineng City if it was razed to the ground. Sure the architecture was different from the usual European castle type fantasy art, but it was truly horrible to navigate your way around and the tunnels were even worse. It also suffered from Orr syndrome in having too much of the same type of enemy (Afflicted). I wasn’t overkeen on the whole faction system either.

That isn’t about the culture, it’s the area design and mechanics so I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing Cantha return in some form. I have much fonder memories of Elona and would love to see it return, but even then, I’d really rather do without those wurm journeys which were the one situation in GW1 where the camera caused motion sickeness.

Elona would be pretty awesome to go back to, as well but I kind of worry it will be too much like Orr at this point, given what happened to it.

It’s been 250 years since we last saw Cantha, and Elona for that matter…Elona suffered a horrendous fate wheras Cantha just isolated itself and is probably pretty well intact and given the nightmarish situations on the other side of Tyria, this might actually have saved it. It would be amazing to see both again, rather than focusing soley on going to new areas, in 250 years the whole “afflicted” situation could very well have been gone from Cantha for a long time. And with the new engine, they could make Kaineng easier to navigate and still make it huge and epic considering how amazing the cities in the game are right now, Divinity’s Reach being my favorite by a long shot…Kaineng City, or whatever might be Cantha’s capital now would be incredible.

I actually also kind of liked the factions, and we’ve kind of already got them with the “orders”. I could see having to join a new order in Cantha being a viable way to bring them into the picture and thus creating a whole new system around them rather than going with what they’ve done with the 1st game.

I would be a kitten shame and travesty for the series to not see Cantha in GW 2.

Yes, I understand the thing with corridors, but then again….that was what made Cantha unique. Once you got out of the city there were less corridors.

One of the coolest things I loved about Cantha was you’d find stuff like sewers and underground areas when exploring the map. That lent to the idea of exploration a lot better than an open area.

So this also means no chinese new year festival as well?
Come on this isnt right,thats like tossing 2/3rds of the entire lore straight into trash.
With this engine kaineng would offer so much,like rooftop fights and an urban enviroment.
Why should all maps be a valey with a few hills and a couple holes?
And yes i want to see shiro tagachi back,it was the only straightforward villain this game had.
And list of complaints goes on and on and on….

i dunno, i think cantha should exist, and have some cool developed content, Its already a part of the world, ignoring it now seems more insensitive to me than otherwise

Cantha is one of the most memorable gaming environments for me, even among other Asia themed settings. Please if you guys revisit the city, DONT take away the mazelike corridors! Or at least not completely, because its what made the city feel “real” and added to the exploration.

Cantha or no dollars.

After you release the real Guild Wars 2 ofc.

I heavily support a Cantha release and one that stays true to its roots! That is what made cantha unique! If you change it, you’re going to have to be crazy creative!

I’d would love to visit the luxon and kurzick maps again. The jade sea and its music. Now cantha mainland maybe could be nicer due to the time lapse. Econimic boom so its not so poor looking.

What about the elite dungeons Urgoz and The Deep? It would be great to see a 10 party group.

Cantha was okay, Factions was not. For starters I want to kick whoever thought people would enjoy having to travel to a different town just to interact with a basic merchant.

Yeah I think it would be a good idea for the isolation to have actually been beneficial to Cantha in some ways, and maybe why they were reluctant to end the isolation. But I would still like some crowded populous areas, where the slums used to be and have that genuine feeling of many Asian cities. Not as extreme as the modern day of course, but still give that feeling of the hustle and bustle in some areas. And some of that could be brought on by Canthan’s who moved to Kryta generations ago, returning to the mother land of their ancestors for the first time. It could be a really magical moment in the timeline that we get to live through and experience.

Even though we don’t get to make a real “official” choice of cultural heritage for our characters at this point, maybe it’s something that can be added in a future system and those of us who made our characters the descendants/namesakes of our Canthan toons in the 1st game could officially tie them to it when/if the day comes and obviously for all the other cultures too like Elona etc. Definitely a side item that wouldn’t really be high priority im sure, but a fun idea nonetheless

Technically speaking the Tengu should also fall within this supposedly No-Asia ban. Tengu are obviously based on the Japanese mythical creatures with the same name. So, No Cantha, No Tengu.

Legion.4198:

Technically speaking the Tengu should also fall within this supposedly No-Asia ban. Tengu are obviously based on the Japanese mythical creatures with the same name. So, No Cantha, No Tengu.

They probably didn’t remove tengu because the gw1 playerbase would be livid. I know I would. That was a very influential part of GW1, especially with heroes.

Some of these Decisions companies make are mind boggling…

Cantha and Factions sold so well back in Guildwars..
“Factions helped boost the number of units sold in the Guild Wars franchise to over two million”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_Wars_Factions
http://www.guildwars.com/events/press/releases/pressrelease-2008-02-26.php

yet a few years on they decide its not worth doing, or can’t be done? have these people lost their minds..

Legion.4198:

Technically speaking the Tengu should also fall within this supposedly No-Asia ban. Tengu are obviously based on the Japanese mythical creatures with the same name. So, No Cantha, No Tengu.

You’re half right, but the cause of removing Canthan district is the debate over Chinese and Korean housing design. It has nothing to do with Japanese culture whatsoever.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Indeed. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years and worked with a several publishers including Interplay, Sierra, THQ and now NCSoft. And for what it’s worth, the amount of creative freedom that NCSoft gives ArenaNet is MASSIVE compared to the others. NCSoft is crazy successful for a reason. They recognize the talent here and support us with a very hands-off policy in general. They give us a LOT of feedback and data to work with, but I’ve never got the impression that they are overlords like I have with the other publishers I’ve worked under.

Wow, that is great to know, and major respect to NCSoft for giving you all that kind of creative control. I guess this means we will stage peaceful protests instead of forming an angry mob at NCSoft’s corporate HQ. In light of the powerful and diverse design styles we see in GW2 and the incredible artistic quality of the game, I think the creative freedom you’re describing is not hard to see.

That does make it seem hopeful NC will reconsider their earlier decision and be open-minded. Hopefully they’ll set forth some realistic tweaks/compromises that will make it possible for you all to work on Cantha again!

Thanks as always for sharing your thoughts and participating in this thread! We will keep signing petitions and looking forward (for however long) to awesome new Cantha creations from you in the team one day. And hey, in the short term I hear we have a wicked new JP to look forward to!

:o I accidentally came across this topic and I just couldn’t believe what OP said. Now with an official response it really saddens me.
Factions and Cantha was my initial entry room into GuildWars game and I will always be connected to this piece of heavenly artwork. The starter area of Cantha, Shing Jea Island was the most beautiful place I’ve seen in the whole GW1 franchise… I have no idea why would anyone skip a money maker like Factions. Apparently if that’s what they all care about it definitely should be in the GW2 story.
If it was up to ANet I’d asume we would be making arguments how beautiful lore it had, and the scenery was just amazing. Not to mention that everyone’s waiting to swim in the ex-Jaded Sea and jump around in Echovald Forest. Not to mention that everyone’s intrigued what happened with Luxon and Kurzick

In my opinion, Factions were the reason people payed attention to GW in the first place. From marketing angle I really don’t see why wouldn’t you bring back a successful pat of GuildWars history… I raise a question, are they on drugs???

As a European citizen I had most fun playing factions because in a way it showed me a culture that I did not know a lot about and trust me that every European thinks the same way…

It really saddens me that ANet doesn’t have a say in all of this. I mean you guys can’t let someone ruin the game… someone’s philosophy that you escaped when you created ArenaNet. I mean ANet you guys have so much support and love from us, please return the trust we put in you… and let’s together all make a GW2 a decade lasting game… because if things like this start to happen people will start dropping you out of disappointment.

You made the Tyrian history and should stick with it. I still love you guys very much and appreciate the work you put but this really put me back…

Did FoTM for the first time last night, and going to the Jade Sea again, even in its disjointed fractal form made me nostalgic for the original. So I’m posting just to add another voice to the hope that GW2 revisits Cantha in some form in the future.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Cantha was my favorite GW1 region to work on. And I worked on every GW release. I know a lot of the dev team loved it and would love to revisit it. I kinda agree with critickitten about the negative aspect of tight corridors. Most of that came from hitting technological limits while trying to keep the epic quality of the concept art. I think we could do some really amazing things with those themes in our new engine. Certainly nothing is ruled out. I certainly encourage anyone to express your desire for a Cantha region in GW2 in a positive and friendly way. It could be years away, but it’s worth asking for.

Cantha and pandas MUST be brought back!

Guild Wars Factions is my favorite game, and I’m looking forward to seeing siege turtles in GW2.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Indeed. I’ve been in this industry for 16 years and worked with a several publishers including Interplay, Sierra, THQ and now NCSoft.

Hmm. Did that include Descent 3 by any chance? I have a feeling.

Seeing that this topic has been posted three months ago… has this "rumour " been confirmed since?

Please do add Cantha and Elona to the game.

I am Chinese and Guild Wars Factions was my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE campaign, mostly because CANTHA IS AMAZING.

Not many creative/entertainment entities have reinterpreted East Asian aesthetics as wonderfully as Anet did for Factions. Even my first generation mother loved it!!! GW2 NEEDS to see Cantha! =(

What I’d give to see Mount Qinkai in GW2!!!!!!! (Assuming it stays jaw-dropping beautiful) along with everything else!

I’d just like to throw in another vote for Cantha. I started playing GW through Factions and only later got Prophecies and the rest. Cantha still is my favourite place in all GW lore. A revisit would be simply awesome. Pretty please.

SharDarksoul.3024:

Seeing that this topic has been posted three months ago… has this "rumour " been confirmed since?

Please do add Cantha and Elona to the game.

Sort of, some of it has anyway. But it doesn’t sound as permanent and horrible as it did 3 months ago. We can hope, anyway.

One way that I think Cantha can make a comeback in GW2 given the cultural barriers that has thus far prevented it: COMPLETE TENGU DOMINATION. Hear me out:

The Elder Dragons have thus far been wreaking havoc across Tyria, so what’s to say that Cantha hasn’t been experiencing the same or similar? Let’s say while the Tyrians were getting branded, icebrooded, and zombified, the Canthans have been dealing with an Elder Dragon of their own. I think “Bubbles” would make a good candidate due to proximity and because we know as much about him/her/it as we do about modern Cantha.

So let’s say since we last heard from Cantha, Bubbles has essentially tidal-waved Kaineng City off the map. All the urban areas, the slums, the places where the mixed Asian influences are concentrated in, basically everything that the real-life Asians apparently took offense to: GONE. All that would remain are the Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea, the two places that a good many people in this thread have expressed a desire to return to anyway, versus the cramped maze that was Kaineng City that a good many hated.

So what of the Tengu Domination? Well, since Bubbles’ devastation of Cantha and most of its Human population (whom would’ve undoubtedly been concentrated in Kaineng City), and in the absense of any form of opposition that would’ve existed previously in them, the Tengu would’ve found the opportunity to make a comeback, establishing a multi-racial nation consisting of all the non-Human races that the Canthans disenfranchised and the Humans who survived Bubbles’ underwater fart. This new nation, then, would at once be rid of all of the previous too-close-to-real-life Asian themes, establish a Canthan equivalent of the Tyrian Pact, and include an obvious opposing force of those who benefitted from Bubbles’ destruction of Cantha and its xenophobic Human empire, and whom wouldn’t want Bubbles to be destroyed.

(Shrug) Hey, I like it. :T

Judging by the way we often get crap/pointless content that very few people wanted and how things that people have been screaming for for ages like dueling, guild halls and an LFG tool are simply ignored, I would say that we would be better of NOT wanting to visit Cantha again, as we would then be more likely to get it.

Makes as much logical sence as the topic of this thread.

achensherd.2735:

One way that I think Cantha can make a comeback in GW2 given the cultural barriers that has thus far prevented it: COMPLETE TENGU DOMINATION. Hear me out:

The Elder Dragons have thus far been wreaking havoc across Tyria, so what’s to say that Cantha hasn’t been experiencing the same or similar? Let’s say while the Tyrians were getting branded, icebrooded, and zombified, the Canthans have been dealing with an Elder Dragon of their own. I think “Bubbles” would make a good candidate due to proximity and because we know as much about him/her/it as we do about modern Cantha.

So let’s say since we last heard from Cantha, Bubbles has essentially tidal-waved Kaineng City off the map. All the urban areas, the slums, the places where the mixed Asian influences are concentrated in, basically everything that the real-life Asians apparently took offense to: GONE. All that would remain are the Echovald Forest and the Jade Sea, the two places that a good many people in this thread have expressed a desire to return to anyway, versus the cramped maze that was Kaineng City that a good many hated.

So what of the Tengu Domination? Well, since Bubbles’ devastation of Cantha and most of its Human population (whom would’ve undoubtedly been concentrated in Kaineng City), and in the absense of any form of opposition that would’ve existed previously in them, the Tengu would’ve found the opportunity to make a comeback, establishing a multi-racial nation consisting of all the non-Human races that the Canthans disenfranchised and the Humans who survived Bubbles’ underwater fart. This new nation, then, would at once be rid of all of the previous too-close-to-real-life Asian themes, establish a Canthan equivalent of the Tyrian Pact, and include an obvious opposing force of those who benefitted from Bubbles’ destruction of Cantha and its xenophobic Human empire, and whom wouldn’t want Bubbles to be destroyed.

(Shrug) Hey, I like it. :T

The Asian themes are one of the biggest parts of Cantha, and the culture of the region though and a major part of why people love it so much. I don’t think anyone would receive it’s total destruction very positively on either side of the situation lol. While it would be nice to see a return of the Tengu to Cantha, it wouldn’t make sense for them to have dominated the region since they were quite literally shut out along with everyone else and they weren’t all that populous a species to begin with. The Asian theme in itself wasn’t the problem, either when it comes to the politics of the whole thing. It sounds more like it was the mixing of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in the architecture in the Canthan district of Divinity’s Reach that was received negatively, we don’t know the rest, if there even was a ‘rest’ to the whole thing or if it would even be a problem now as that decision was made a very long time ago, and things have changed since.

I would love to see the Tengu return to Cantha, but only along with everyone else…Can you imagine how lame it would be to finally get there and most of what you loved about it that was part of the lore and everything was almost completely wiped out and now it’s almost unrecognizable and run by tribal bird people? Bleh…Would be a big waste of everything at that point imho.

Not that I don’t like parts of your idea, it would be neat to see a Tengu area/city but it would be much better if it was only in a smaller section to the side of the rest of Cantha or something. It could even be an event where we are helping bring the Tengu home and set up a place for them to concentrate and reunite with their families while they also reintegrate themselves into Cantha. There would undoubtedly be tension between the Tengu and Canthan’s for a while, and would be good for them to have a secure more concentrated area for themselves. But I want Cantha to remain Cantha, and that includes the Asian themes, Human Canthan towns and cities being a major focus and such.

Shanna.4762:

Can you imagine how lame it would be to finally get there and most of what you loved about it that was part of the lore and everything was almost completely wiped out

The only situation that would not disappoint me is if Cantha really had been wiped out by a cataclysm, with only the ruins of a former empire still standing(which I’d hope they could sneak past the asia-censorship). It’d sound a bit too samey to what happened with Ascalon and the Searing, but I would prefer it to a sanitized version of Cantha, or whatever it would be called. For all we know, the Empire might have torn itself apart from the inside until Mordramoth broke out of its Jade prison and wiped out the whole place.

GW2 is GW2. Play it!
GW1 Cantha is that way —-—→
I’m helping out in chasing people away like most did.
Could i have the broomstick mount please please pretty please?

ASB.4295:

Shanna.4762:

Can you imagine how lame it would be to finally get there and most of what you loved about it that was part of the lore and everything was almost completely wiped out

The only situation that would not disappoint me is if Cantha really had been wiped out by a cataclysm, with only the ruins of a former empire still standing(which I’d hope they could sneak past the asia-censorship). It’d sound a bit too samey to what happened with Ascalon and the Searing, but I would prefer it to a sanitized version of Cantha, or whatever it would be called. For all we know, the Empire might have torn itself apart from the inside until Mordramoth broke out of its Jade prison and wiped out the whole place.

It literally is too samey to what happened with Ascalon, and Orr, and potentially everywhere else…Sorry I just don’t think that would be a good direction to go in tbh, some things should stay in the franchise as they were culturally speaking..Cantha being one….I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be changes…I’ve already said there should be. I’d like there to be less slums, I’d like general improvements all around but basically hitting the reset button on Cantha and turning it into something far different, or totally destroy what most people love about it? I can’t see that going over well with anyone, ESPECIALLY in Asia.

Last we heard, Elona got totally ravaged, Orr has been completely destroyed, Ascalon is completely destroyed, Kryta is at risk of falling apart between seperatists, centaurs, and everything else. There has been too much of this “apocalypse” theme everywhere else, to also destroy Cantha and make it something else …I think at that point I might actually question wanting them to do Cantha at all….There can be new threats that come about in Cantha but definitely a big giant NO to destroying it like that.

Shanna.4762:

The Asian themes are one of the biggest parts of Cantha, and the culture of the region though and a major part of why people love it so much. I don’t think anyone would receive it’s total destruction very positively on either side of the situation lol. While it would be nice to see a return of the Tengu to Cantha, it wouldn’t make sense for them to have dominated the region since they were quite literally shut out along with everyone else and they weren’t all that populous a species to begin with. The Asian theme in itself wasn’t the problem, either when it comes to the politics of the whole thing. It sounds more like it was the mixing of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean in the architecture in the Canthan district of Divinity’s Reach that was received negatively, we don’t know the rest, if there even was a ‘rest’ to the whole thing or if it would even be a problem now as that decision was made a very long time ago, and things have changed since.

I would love to see the Tengu return to Cantha, but only along with everyone else…Can you imagine how lame it would be to finally get there and most of what you loved about it that was part of the lore and everything was almost completely wiped out and now it’s almost unrecognizable and run by tribal bird people? Bleh…Would be a big waste of everything at that point imho.

Not that I don’t like parts of your idea, it would be neat to see a Tengu area/city but it would be much better if it was only in a smaller section to the side of the rest of Cantha or something. It could even be an event where we are helping bring the Tengu home and set up a place for them to concentrate and reunite with their families while they also reintegrate themselves into Cantha. There would undoubtedly be tension between the Tengu and Canthan’s for a while, and would be good for them to have a secure more concentrated area for themselves. But I want Cantha to remain Cantha, and that includes the Asian themes, Human Canthan towns and cities being a major focus and such.

Believe me, I have no problems with the Asian themes, and I liked the overall culture and atmosphere of Cantha as they were presented in Factions. However, it seemed like the people that have a say in this matter do have a problem with apparently anything Canthan, and so my idea was largely meant to be a way to circumvent the issue, albeit in a drastic/extreme way (that doesn’t necessarily have to be so). I mean, if even some architectural designs would cause them to outright remove an entire district from Divinity’s Reach and replace it with an abyss, a Cantha as we last knew it would seem to be impossible.

Additionally, as far as the lore goes, if Cantha is still as xenophobic as we last heard, Factions 2 would be virtually unplayable by 4 of the 5 currently playable races. There would be no as of yet conceivable way for any new non-Human characters to be created there, and any non-Human Tyrian characters wouldn’t be allowed in.

As for the whole Tengu Domination thing, I don’t mean I would want Cantha to be infested with them, just that they’d be a significant part of a new multi-racial Canthan nation, since they seemed to be the most organized of the non-Human races in Factions. It would make more sense to me than the Naga doing the same.

And no, I don’t mean wipe out all of the Asian themes from Cantha, I mean allowing it to reboot in such a way that the Asian censors would allow it to exist.

Welcome to NCSoft, where the rules are made up and the stock price doesn’t matter.

Wait, hold on a minute.

Cantha is not the first expansion, and possibly never will be an expansion at all, same for Elona?

I really didn’t see that comming. I was expecting GW2 to stay true to the first game, and it would be a shame to see these places abandoned for simple political reasons.

I remember reading a little while back how a lawyer was trying to sue the makers of Kain and Lynch on the basis of defamation of the Chinese people. This might have something to do with it, though I’ve never thought to go and see what came of it.

Or maybe it has something to do with the amount of spirits and monsters all cultures have and trying to blend them together without offending people who are looking to take offence, could be difficult. Perhaps also why the “Gods” have gone a bit quiet lately.

I’m not really into spirits and gods outside of virtual worlds, but I do enjoy them when they’re there, generally. And it would be a shame if creators felt inhibited writting things like that in on the basis that it reminded someone of something like that and didn’t think it was appropriate, instead of seeing it as fantasy borrowing from fable. Though none of this may have anything to do with the whys of the matter.