Guild Wars 2

I don’t understand the abandonment of Cantha for this reason. So you want to shy away from it looking too “Asian.” Fine you have 250 years of history to change that. To me the only thing that looked specifically Asian was Kaineng City. Kurizck looked strangely gothic and Luxon looked, well I dont know. To me it would be logical that Kaineng would have been destroyed by the rising of Orr and the higher elevations would have not been affected. Just have “Ruins of Kaineng” and evolve the Luxon and Kurzick areas into the cities?

Edit: Forget Golems, I want Siege Turtles.

Well, I for one surely would miss if Cantha didn’t make it back in the game. Heck, I’m still logging in GW occasionally of an hour or two just to roam a bit on the starter isle or the Jade Sea. I love the lore and the absolutely amazing design. And while Ascalon always felt like “home” Cantha and its storyline was my very favourite one. Please bring it back!

Camaro Charr.2805:

I don’t understand the abandonment of Cantha for this reason. So you want to shy away from it looking too “Asian.” Fine you have 250 years of history to change that. To me the only thing that looked specifically Asian was Kaineng City. Kurizck looked strangely gothic and Luxon looked, well I dont know. To me it would be logical that Kaineng would have been destroyed by the rising of Orr and the higher elevations would have not been affected. Just have “Ruins of Kaineng” and evolve the Luxon and Kurzick areas into the cities?

Edit: Forget Golems, I want Siege Turtles.

Mmmm, the majority of Cantha was specifically Asian looking. Luxon was sort of Russian, mixed with Asian (much like south eastern Russia always has been). I think the Asian theme is a lot of what made Cantha so amazing, though. They don’t need to change that at all they may need to choose a more uniform design for Cantha, or at the very least each region within Cantha. Plus, Cantha being so isolated would have only made them stick to their aesthetics more. The rising of Orr is sort of recent, and I don’t think it would have destroyed Cantha at all. Orr is closer to Kryta than it is to Cantha which is very far south west of everything else. This is part of why I think it will be a long time til we ever see it again, if we ever do. It’s so far away from everything else that it’s not even on the world map in GW2. I know that doesn’t necessarily mean anything but it sort of is indicative that they didn’t really consider Cantha too strongly during development of the game.

As long as ther’s a panda animal companion that can die in combat, I’ll be happy.
^ That one was an insider for GW2 veterans. :P

I can’t possibly express how much I want Cantha back in the world. Factions was the strongest expansion pack, in my opinion. It struck me emotionally more than mmos ever did before. It’s ironic that universal means ONE culture and artstyle. That’s the antonym meaning of the word. (curious, since there are Elonians in the game, and the Ossan Quarter is not hiding anything)

Even my character, a Vasburg, is devoted to Kurzick culture and lore; a story that was compelling and interesting. The Luxons and Kurzicks made their way into the heart of many players.

Isn’t NCSoft Korean? I have so many puzzling unanswered questions.

Crossing my fingers for rationality and a reborn Cantha.

Superpal.4961:

I can’t possibly express how much I want Cantha back in the world. Factions was the strongest expansion pack, in my opinion. It struck me emotionally more than mmos ever did before. It’s ironic that universal means ONE culture and artstyle. That’s the antonym meaning of the word. (curious, since there are Elonians in the game, and the Ossan Quarter is not hiding anything)

Even my character, a Vasburg, is devoted to Kurzick culture and lore; a story that was compelling and interesting. The Luxons and Kurzicks made their way into the heart of many players.

Isn’t NCSoft Korean? I have so many puzzling unanswered questions.

Crossing my fingers for rationality and a reborn Cantha.

Bit edgy to name your character Vasburg. I have a character whose family swore fealty to the Vasburgs, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go with that. I don’t want people to think I’m bending the existing lore too much. Also, as the main-house Vasburgs (and the Turtle Clan) were likely the first to die when Usoku set to work on the Kurzicks and Luxons, I’d like to know the story of your character.

Personally, I felt that Elona was stronger than Cantha in many ways but both were stronger than Prophecies. I want both back. I want to visit Echovald and the Jade Sea and see the ruins of these places and peoples that I loved. I want Kaineng to be reminiscent, but not identical to the Kaineng of old and one hell of a jumping puzzle.

I would pay a lot of money for such content. I doubt I’m the only one.

Safer Saviour.9685:

Superpal.4961:

I can’t possibly express how much I want Cantha back in the world. Factions was the strongest expansion pack, in my opinion. It struck me emotionally more than mmos ever did before. It’s ironic that universal means ONE culture and artstyle. That’s the antonym meaning of the word. (curious, since there are Elonians in the game, and the Ossan Quarter is not hiding anything)

Even my character, a Vasburg, is devoted to Kurzick culture and lore; a story that was compelling and interesting. The Luxons and Kurzicks made their way into the heart of many players.

Isn’t NCSoft Korean? I have so many puzzling unanswered questions.

Crossing my fingers for rationality and a reborn Cantha.

Bit edgy to name your character Vasburg. I have a character whose family swore fealty to the Vasburgs, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go with that.

If that works for you.

I don’t recall any official number on the House members. There’s a gap in time after the end of Factions, where logically new members were born. Who’s to say a father or mother, or both, weren’t adventurous and went on to Kryta with House Ulrikar? Yes, there were infighting between the Houses, but with the Ministry of Purity and the short time of peace after Shiro’s second death, it leaves a time open for questions on whether immigrating is a better idea or seeking a stronger political standing with the other houses; and potential roleplaying. There’s a lot of speculation that rules nothing out. Especially because, as previously mentioned, there are no numbers. You’d have to think that the families were marginally bigger than represented in the game, simply because it is a video game. Vasburgs were also the second most influential House, and likely the second or largest one considering they were purely the military vanguard.

Completely off topic here, but I imagine seeing people discussing 7 year old lore is a positive effect.

Well, considering even to this day Canthan’s are sporadically showing up and making their way into Kryta, it isn’t a long shot to assume that somewhere between all of this many Canthan’s from all regions and affiliations ventured out to other parts of the world either prior to the isolation (which from my understanding happened decades after the campaign ended)

Most of my characters are based off my GW1 toons who were mostly Canthan, so I guess as descendants they would have had to get to Kryta somehow :P

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

Murderin.8269:

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

Why do you think that? Do you just not like the look of Asian buildings or is there something more to this

And why do you think it would have any basis in budget martial arts movies?

JUST putting my two-cents in here … i’d LOVE to have elona, and cantha, eventually opened up! i love the culture, the design, the old feel of kangang city … the beauty of the countryside … well. pretty much everything about cantha!

do i understand they may be added to expansions? are you kidding? that’s what i’m HOPING for! yes, please — yes. let us hope for, and anticipate, exploring cantha with the new technology and the vibrant beauty you’ve brought to gw2!

I’m putting my vote in…
NCSoft needs to let go of this cultural bias stuff. Holding on to ancient grudges gets you nowhere. People Like Cantha the way it was. It’s a fantasy universe not real life, you need to deal with it & let go of the hate.

We want Cantha.

Murderin.8269:

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

So in other words: ‘I don’t like it so no one should have it’

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Murderin.8269:

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

So in other words: ‘I don’t like it so no one should have it’

Lol, I was hoping he’d come back and actually elaborate constructively on his reasoning.

I’m still confused about NCsoft’s reasoning for this. They could potentially make lots of money off of a Cantha expansion. People in the west like asian-themed fantasy games with western gaming mechanics. Guild Wars already has rich lore to draw from, think of the possibilities! How can NCsoft say no to greater profits?

Shanna.4762:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Murderin.8269:

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

So in other words: ‘I don’t like it so no one should have it’

Lol, I was hoping he’d come back and actually elaborate constructively on his reasoning.

Cantha was a great expansion for GuildWars though I’m not really interested into Asian-culture at all. I don’t like Anime-influence in MMOs at all because it makes games less serious to me.
But Cantha was just great. It was a pretty mature version along with Shiro and the Ministry, Piratish Luxons, Gothic uhm … uh … I forgot how they were called … That other faction – sorry mates.

A major problem with new zone-content would be: Capital cities.
Actually EVERYbody is looking for groups/eventually even trades/asks questions in Lion’s Arch.
Kaineng was a great capital city in GuildWars. But after a while I didn’t really know where to look for a group for some special stuff.

You mean the Kurzicks. The Guild Wars look is fundamentally very different from “anime” styles. They could always create new capitals. The empire is united under one leader now, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still hidden factions within it’s boarders. Maybe they’d have a hidden base that would be a bit more cosmopolitan, housing refugee Tengu, or perhaps even Krytans.

TL; DR:

Anet turned the Canthans into Kodan. Go to Frostgorge Sound sometime and see for yourself

Hi guys, I am new to GW2. I would like to say that its been awesome and I really enjoyed exploring the game. I used to play some GW1 way back and remembered Cantha and would be interested in seeing it again. I say this as an ethnic Chinese person (who is not born in China however). I think the reason that the Chinese and Korean market had a bad reception to the Cantha district in Divinity Reach wasn’t that they mixed Chinese and Korean architecture as seem to be understood in this forum. (The fact is Korean architecture is heavily influenced by China’s thousand of years imperial domination. – I say this without being chauvinistic, just as Western architecture is very much derived/ influenced from its Greco-Roman root through the Roman Empire.) Even a Chinese person would have difficulty in telling that a temple complex is Korean based on first glance. In addition having travel somewhat extensively in China, there are variations and distinctive differences in architecture in different regions of China. (For example, northern Chinese architecture is often more grand in scope, while the south is often more ornate, in addition to many localized styles in different region. You will even see a blend of Chinese and Tibetan architecture in the far west or in Beijing due to a history of conquest/ cultural exchange.

The problem with the negative reaction with the Cantha district was the fact that the original area appears as an East Asian “ghetto” towered over by Europeans walls and castle spires. The perceived problem was that the original district was a mix of European and East Asian architecture that did not fit the overall European theme. Not only is there a clash of style, there is an uncomfortable subtle real world implications that the Asians are being dominated by Europeans. (Regardless of actual in game lore.) This will make many first time players from Asia feel negative about its presence. (But would be perfectly fine to have Cantha as an expansion, since its in a different area altogether.)

As such I certainly hope that the removal of Canthan elements from Divinity Reach/ Tyria was only a local one specific to Divinity’s Reach, and certainly hope to be in Cantha in the future GW2 expansion!

Saogai.9105:

The problem with the negative reaction with the Cantha district was the fact that the original area appears as an East Asian “ghetto” towered over by Europeans walls and castle spires. The perceived problem was that the original district was a mix of European and East Asian architecture that did not fit the overall European theme. Not only is there a clash of style, there is an uncomfortable subtle real world implications that the Asians are being dominated by Europeans. (Regardless of actual in game lore.) This will make many first time players from Asia feel negative about its presence. (But would be perfectly fine to have Cantha as an expansion, since its in a different area altogether.)

As such I certainly hope that the removal of Canthan elements from Divinity Reach/ Tyria was only a local one specific to Divinity’s Reach, and certainly hope to be in Cantha in the future GW2 expansion!

I actually can completely understand that! I didn’t even think about it quite in that way, so thank you for your insight on the matter in regards to the Canthan District in Divinity’s Reach. I had wondered if it had more to do with the fact it was in a Euro/Mediterranean style city, but hadn’t really considered that it may have been, as you said, towered over by the rest of the city and I could understand that being received negatively. What do you think the best approach would be in the ‘rebuilding’ effort of the Canthan District? I’m not sure that the district was intended to be a slum, because it was also the arts district and the Elonian district isn’t a slum, after all and I think the Canthan district was intended to be bigger than the other ones. However, in GW1 there were a lot of slums in Kaineng City (but only there). A lot of people would like for ArenaNet to change that about Kaineng City if/when they do it, and have the mass poverty element significantly decreased, and show a far more prosperous and clean Kaineng City.

I see the majority of people except ncsoft agrees Cantha is a good idea. Factions was by far my favorite expansion/historyline on guild wars, cathan new year one of my favorite events, ritualist one of my favorite classes, and i’m not even remotely a fan of asian “theme”. I’d be really disappointed if Cantha doesn’t happen. What will they do then? Pretend like it never existed? A lousy explanation saying all of that part of the world was destroyed never to be seen again? C’mon. Asian or not, it’s part of Guild Wars Lore, just as much as Elonia and Tyria. It WILL be a huge mistake not to go there at some point.

Saogai.9105:

The problem with the negative reaction with the Cantha district was the fact that the original area appears as an East Asian “ghetto” towered over by Europeans walls and castle spires.

So I’m guessing that any movies that involve china towns are also ‘not done’?

Also, what about the Ossan district? That’s an african themed ‘ghetto’ that’s towered over by european structures.

Sorry, but I’m not happy with such an explanation. The people from Asia should by now be aware that most western people think they’re much, much cooler than they are. The western love for ninjas and samurais and such, is at an all time high!

It seems to me that other cultures just get offended too quickly, and at such times conveniently neglect the times they’re portrayed as awesome.

Just adding my voice here. I loved Cantha, the Jade Sea, the Echovald Forest, the Luxons, the Kurzicks, and Shing Jea Monastery. Kaineng City was an interesting idea, although the wooden terrain everywhere wasn’t really that interesting.

I feel like having Cantha in Guild Wars 2 can only add to the quality of the game. I’d like to see more Asian-themed items and abilities.

Factions was my favourite campaign.

But this has me worried. If they’re going to add Cantha back then it needs to be recognizable to me as Cantha. I’d rather not have it at all rather than for it to be changed to fit a non-Asian direction.

An expansion sounds good, but I’m not too big into asian themed anything. Not my cup of tea.

I started my whole adventure with GW1 because of Factions. I still think it had the best story when compared to Prophecies and Nightfall with Shiro as the antagonist.

The difference between world settings in all GW1 campaigns was the franchise’s strong point. I’d hate to see that much lore, plots, stories, legends, memorable characters and places go to waste because of someone’s marketing decision.
Actually it should be a marketing decision to introduce Cantha again to acquire the Asian markets and bring more players into the fold.

IMHO Cantha has to come back one day (hopefully as a big expansion) with Tengu as the playable race and ritualist as a “new” class (everyone’s got the right to dream. Maybe we need to write some kind of a petition or create a Facebook support group?

Cantha has such great potential to be something absolutely amazing in Guild Wars 2! It would be such a shame to see it go away. I cannot fathom what it would be like to see the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest again. I really hope Anet finds a way to implement it into the game. ;;

i wanna kill kurzicks again xD i know they are not part of the gw 2 universe cuz the emperor owned them and all but come on ab was amasing cuz of the massive killing not cuz of the conquest stile

Superpal.4961:

Safer Saviour.9685:

Superpal.4961:

I can’t possibly express how much I want Cantha back in the world. Factions was the strongest expansion pack, in my opinion. It struck me emotionally more than mmos ever did before. It’s ironic that universal means ONE culture and artstyle. That’s the antonym meaning of the word. (curious, since there are Elonians in the game, and the Ossan Quarter is not hiding anything)

Even my character, a Vasburg, is devoted to Kurzick culture and lore; a story that was compelling and interesting. The Luxons and Kurzicks made their way into the heart of many players.

Isn’t NCSoft Korean? I have so many puzzling unanswered questions.

Crossing my fingers for rationality and a reborn Cantha.

Bit edgy to name your character Vasburg. I have a character whose family swore fealty to the Vasburgs, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go with that.

If that works for you.

I don’t recall any official number on the House members. There’s a gap in time after the end of Factions, where logically new members were born. Who’s to say a father or mother, or both, weren’t adventurous and went on to Kryta with House Ulrikar? Yes, there were infighting between the Houses, but with the Ministry of Purity and the short time of peace after Shiro’s second death, it leaves a time open for questions on whether immigrating is a better idea or seeking a stronger political standing with the other houses; and potential roleplaying. There’s a lot of speculation that rules nothing out. Especially because, as previously mentioned, there are no numbers. You’d have to think that the families were marginally bigger than represented in the game, simply because it is a video game. Vasburgs were also the second most influential House, and likely the second or largest one considering they were purely the military vanguard.

Completely off topic here, but I imagine seeing people discussing 7 year old lore is a positive effect.

Yeah, I’m not saying you shouldn’t, just that some folk are going to frown at you for blood linking your character to such an important house. Same as they would for anyone named ‘Thackeray’.

Personally, I think that 250 years give you a lot of room to play with. Heck, as someone who plays a character from a bannerhouse, I’d be interested in actually connecting to yours.

Shanna.4762:

Either way, I don’t think it’s going to do much to bury this topic as much as we wish we could get definitive answers on Cantha, it’s important that we still continue to discuss it and ask for Cantha. We can add this to the discussion, though!

I definitely agree this by no means buries the topic. If anything, the news that Anet is hiring an Asia-oriented developer only serves to raise more interest and questions about the Cantha issue. What will this mean for future Canthan content? A designer who can resolve the issues that kept Cantha from being included? (We can hope.) Hard to say.

That is certainly fascinating news though, bettadenu, thanks for sharing. I’m glad you agree with us that we must go back to Cantha. ^^ It will certainly be interesting to see how this hiring situation develops. With the devs being so visible in the community, we may see the very person they hire showing up here on the forums or in YouTube behind-the-scenes videos…maybe we will get a chance to ask him/her one day about what approach to Cantha might be taken for the Asian market.

Saogai.9105:

The problem with the negative reaction with the Cantha district was the fact that the original area appears as an East Asian “ghetto” towered over by Europeans walls and castle spires.

Thank you for sharing your perspective as an ethnic Chinese person. This point makes SO much sense and is really an interesting insight. It saddens me, because I certainly don’t think Cantha was ever meant to be portrayed as a ghetto, but I can definitely understand how the district in Divinity’s Reach could come across that way. Your post makes me think about the culturally complex situation underneath the seemingly simple “no” from NCSoft.

While I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to exclude Cantha, I also feel it’s important to acknowledge that there can be meaningful political and cultural considerations involved that we simply can’t see from our cultural perspective. From the perspective of many of the players here, the removal of Canthan content seems like blatant and misguided censorship. Especially since the game seems willing to engage topics that are controversial in “western” society, like same-sex relationships, racial conflict and religious questions. Why shy away from backlash over architecture? But in the context of other cultures, in this case Asian, the sensitivities and expectations are different, and we have to try to understand that, as frustrating as it is.

Gele.2048:

i wanna kill kurzicks again xD

You arrogant Luxon! This proud Kurzick will meet you in the arena any day! fistshake ;D ;D

Seeing NCsoft who, may I remind you, are Asian developers choosing to not put something Asian in GW2 is quite the self realisation from their side, because let’s face it, asians are a sicking stereotype in todays games – I’ve had it down my throat with all the japanese/chinese/korean ripoff fantasy races in games everywhere. It’s too much too many times. Isn’t there some other GW country, continent, whatever, around other than Tyria and Cantha?

Oxstar.7643:

Isn’t there some other GW country, continent, whatever, around other than Tyria and Cantha?

Well, there’s Elona, Land of the Golden Sun.

And maybe, just maybe, over on the other side of the world, regardless of whether the world is round or flat or trapezohedral: Haybarnia, where camaraderie is thaumaturgy! Well. It could be there. We just don’t know how to get there. Yet.

Oxstar.7643:

Seeing NCsoft who, may I remind you, are Asian developers choosing to not put something Asian in GW2 is quite the self realisation from their side, because let’s face it, asians are a sicking stereotype in todays games – I’ve had it down my throat with all the japanese/chinese/korean ripoff fantasy races in games everywhere. It’s too much too many times. Isn’t there some other GW country, continent, whatever, around other than Tyria and Cantha?

The thing about Cantha is it isn’t an “Asian stereotype” it’s based off the many Asian cultures, and is in no way the stereotypical “kungkittenpanda, crouching tiger hidden dragon, anime” kind of Asian ‘stereotypes’ you may see in other games. If you’re talking about the general aesthetic of Asian cultures, then I don’t know what to tell you because the reality is that the Oriental cultures are what they are, and yes they are deeply rooted in the aesthetics with their architectures, and other things. You should elaborate on what specific approach you do and don’t want taken, though. Many people like, and are fascinated by Oriental cultures, and their aesthetics. Cantha is part of Tyria, an iconic one, and people want to go back to the iconic places and just because another game does one thing or another shouldn’t mean Guild Wars fans get shafted because of what other developers are doing with other games that have nothing to do with the series we like and are invested in.

When it comes to other countries/nations/regions in Tyria we don’t know about yet, I always thought it would be really neat to have an @ztec/Mayan/Incan themed nation. Some sort of El Dorado type of nation, no other MMO’s ever do that.

PS: Why the heck is that word censored? (@ztec)

To those who link Factions and Asian themed : did we honestly play the same game ?

Aside from assassins (basically ninjas), the only things sort of asian themed were limited to a third of the island (noob island and kaineng city) : the character names and appearance.

The architecture ? Kaineng city was basically one huge slum…Only Raisu Palace could honestly be linked to being Asian themed (and some buildings on noob island).

The monsters ? Afflicted and bandits everywhere.

The armors ? The weapons ?

You can go mention the lore, how the nagas, onis and whatever else are part of Japanese mythology, but few player see a monster name and think “Yay ! Asian themed !”

But then again…it takes very few example for someone to scream “That’s —-- themed !”

Superpal.4961:

Elonians in the game, and the Ossan Quarter is not hiding anything

I guess there aren’t enough African and Middle Eastern players who give a crap if their architectural styles are mixed.

Murderin.8269:

Hope its gone forever. Asian themed expansions are the worst. Nothing but ugly buildings and tons of really bad voice acting to match the budget martial arts movie feeling of the entire thing.

If you’d actually played Factions, or spent even a little time researching it, you’d know that much of the expansion lacked “Asian themed” ugly buildings. Kaineng was a massive wooden slum, Eschovald had Gothic-esque architecture, and the Jade Sea had a Polynesian feel. Only the emporer’s palace and Shing Jea Island featured much stereotypical Asian architecture (pagodas, etc).

Zhaneel.9208:

They could always create new capitals. The empire is united under one leader now, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still hidden factions within it’s boarders. Maybe they’d have a hidden base that would be a bit more cosmopolitan, housing refugee Tengu, or perhaps even Krytans.

I could easily see the main story seeing us side with either the Kurzicks, the Luxons, or the remnants of the tengu (player’s choice) to work against a crazed emperor.

My ele as my user name states, is a Kaineng, yet her family has lived in Kryta since WIK in gw 1. Her ancestor (Yumiko Ishida) went back briefly for the Winds of Change incident and saw that Kryta was a far better and stable place to start her family. They have not seen Cantha for over 250 years. She is longing to see her home land. She was in awe and in love with the Jade Fractal when she visited it for the first time.

Make it so!

I’d be incredibly upset if Cantha and even Elona did not make a return in GW2. I’d love a katana for my thief like I had in GW1!

Cantha is the only part of Tyria that I care about excluding Tihark Orchard which was good times.
Need to go back to Pongmei valley.

The people so kitten about their infrastructure being mixed in a fantasy game obviously aren’t gamers in the first place. They’re not consumers, and shouldn’t matter when marketing GW2.

Yeah, I’m gonna need my Kurzicks back. Goth chicks that can shape trees out of stone by singing? Right up my ally, Anet.

Haha just like many of you here, I also created “descendants” of my GW1 characters. I envision my GW2 ele and necro as the descendants of my two Canthan mains from GW1, an ele and ritualist. (Alas, my rit had to make a career transition. :P)

Shanna.4762:

The thing about Cantha is it isn’t an “Asian stereotype” it’s based off the many Asian cultures, and is in no way the stereotypical “kungkittenpanda, crouching tiger hidden dragon, anime” kind of Asian ‘stereotypes’ you may see in other games.

darkace.8925:

Kaineng was a massive wooden slum, Eschovald had Gothic-esque architecture, and the Jade Sea had a Polynesian feel. Only the emporer’s palace and Shing Jea Island featured much stereotypical Asian architecture (pagodas, etc).

So true, on both points! This kind of goes back to the Orientalism debate earlier in this thread…while we all agree stereotypes are bad, I believe you cannot make the argument that Cantha or the Factions campaign was stereotypical! There are so many ways its originality really shines.

What other computer game, ever, featured a devoutly religious aristocracy with Eurasian aesthetics that lives in a stone forest full of evil plant guardians and builds Gothic cathedrals? What game ever featured a nomadic tribe of seafaring warriors who wander across a solidified ocean on the backs of giant turtles and crabs? (Okay, okay, I know you’re dying to crack a giant enemy crab joke. But I think you get what I’m saying.)

The cultures of Factions were so complex and beautiful, just like all the awesome worldbuilding that has gone into the current Tyria of GW2. Cantha is such rich material, just imagine if it got the GW2 treatment and became even more fully developed & realized.

@ensoriki, I’m so glad someone mentioned Tikark Orchard! I ADORE Vabbi and miss it so much. I was just replaying the first step of the noble human storyline in GW2 the other day, where you are at the party Faren throws and go around talking to all the intriguing NPCs, and I had a sudden flashback to Tihark. One of my favorite GW1 missions ever. I still run it in HM every time it’s a Zaishen Mission.

Cantha was by majority, heavily Asian themed. ArenaNet drew inspiration from the many Asian cultures and created something outstanding and unique from that. That doesn’t change the fact it still mostly draws from Eastern Asia. Not everything was Chinese, or Japanese, or Korean in nature. There’s still the Philippines, there’s still Vietnam. There’s a lot of vastly different Asian cultures, and having grown up very closely with families from many of these places and taking trips with them I can tell you that there’s almost nowhere in Cantha that isn’t drawing from at least one of them.

Even when you get to the factions in Cantha, which draw from Russia and other places near by where Asia and Eurasia converge, thus directly influencing each other to varying degrees. So even there you’ve got the influences and themes very present.

Almost everything artistically draws inspiration, or a theme from somewhere in the real world, that doesn’t equate to a lack of originality by any means, the originality comes from what you do with it and what you can create with that influence that makes it special, unique, and memorable which is what ArenaNet did with Cantha, and all the other regions they created for that matter.

I would be incredibly disappointed if Anet never brought back Cantha or Elona to the game. Cantha and Elona, in my opinion, had the most unique concept art and explorable areas within the GW1 game. Sure I love Tyria (the continent), but to me, what really set the game apart was the fact that they explored different cultural influences, mythologies, and fantasy settings. The variation in geography with Cantha and Elona was a feast for the eyes and was where I think I really fell in love with the series.
Correct me if I’m wrong (I may be), but I don’t think I’ve ever played another MMO with an entire expansion dedicated to African/Middle Eastern based content. I loved the landscapes in both Factions and Nightfall, and I particularly enjoyed the story that Nightfall told.
I’m already kind of disillusioned with this game, but if we really never see Cantha or Elona again, I feel like a large part of the reason for my love for Anet and its artists will die. I really respected Anet for making two expansions that explicitly stepped away from eurocentric fantasy settings and for making, what I thought, was the only interesting representation of different cultures of a single race within a fantasy world (in an MMO).
To me, that made the world of GW1 feel more like an immersive world than any other MMO I’ve played to date.
So Anet, please don’t let Cantha and Elona die so easily. It was a part of GW that I (and I think many others) loved.

Sometimes I feel like the focus of the game has shifted dramatically from what it was going to be, before. I’ve said it before, I want GW2 to be a real sequel and that means going back to iconic places from the 1st game. I am glad they’ve focused on strengthening the core systems of the game but it would be nice to get new stuff too, now lol. As it is, being limited to where we are geographically is a bit frustrating and how little we are seeing when it comes to familiar things that tie the two games together. Without the Guild Wars title, there’s almost nothing outstandingly recognizable in the game that bridges them together making it feel like the same world. It doesn’t feel like the same world yet. Part of that would be both Cantha and Elona being included, and ways to directly link our characters to these original places.

Cantha is by far my favorite Guild Wars 2 zone. I really hope the rumors are wrong.

The only reason I’m playing GW2 is because I want to play the Cantha expansion. From an Asian perspective, I’m just happy that a game I like has a section dedicated to my culture. Please make the Cantha expansion a possibility in the future!

Nimmi.1650:

Cantha has such great potential to be something absolutely amazing in Guild Wars 2! It would be such a shame to see it go away. I cannot fathom what it would be like to see the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest again. I really hope Anet finds a way to implement it into the game. ;;

This ^ I really hope its not true, and if it is true then this is absolute Garbage. Factions was amazing and Cantha was beautiful. I would love to see what an up to date Cantha would look like on this engine and have more story perhaps have one of the elder dragons might find its way down there. I wish Anet would comment on it some more, because If its true this is a massive…massive disappointment.

danbuter.2314:

Nalora.7964:

Not to be disrespectful, but the Asian community needs to have the stick surgically removed from their hinter regions if they dislike a composite of the Asian world, then they should realize we are not on Earth here. The “white-anglo-saxon” world is also not “culturally sensitive” or even minimally “historically correct” if compared to the history of the planet Earth, but it is correct in the world of Tyria and beyond.

You may not realize this, but the civil rights movement has never entered east asia. I’ve been there quite a few times, and they are very backwards about civil rights.

Contrary to popular belief it hasn’t really affected Europe either. This is because Europe and Asia have one thing in common. 95%+ of there populations are all white or asian or whatever. It is only in certain countries were you actually have more than one race such as the USA or South Africa. Certain european people groups don’t get along. Ireland doesn’t like the UK because they treated them like kitten for hundred of years go figure, The Fins and Russians don’t get along either after multiple wars. And you can bet former Yugoslavian countries don’t get along. Most industrialized countries have some sort of equal work for equal pay but in all of those countries women hit the glass ceiling and the minorities usually make less than the majority. And it isn’t fair to say “well there are female heads of state in Europe” because that is like saying Obama is black so africans must be treated way better in the USA than in Europe.

Dasmordo.9654:

Nimmi.1650:

Cantha has such great potential to be something absolutely amazing in Guild Wars 2! It would be such a shame to see it go away. I cannot fathom what it would be like to see the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest again. I really hope Anet finds a way to implement it into the game. ;;

This ^ I really hope its not true, and if it is true then this is absolute Garbage. Factions was amazing and Cantha was beautiful. I would love to see what an up to date Cantha would look like on this engine and have more story perhaps have one of the elder dragons might find its way down there. I wish Anet would comment on it some more, because If its true this is a massive…massive disappointment.

Hopefully we will get more information on this subject soon, and hopefully it’s good news!

Cantha was by far my favourite area of GW. I am devistated to here that we won’t be able to return.