Guild Wars 2

When I first started Guild Wars, Factions was my first campaign.
Please bring Cantha back, ANet! I miss the Jade Sea, the Echovald Forest, the amazing landscapes!
Can’t imagine how it might look like after 250 years!
Cantha and Elona, I badly, badly want to see these two continents again…it is all part of the lore…part of the history…I really crave to go there again.

I will be really disappointed if we won’t be able to get to Cantha in GW2. Factions was my favourite campaign for the original GW. I just loved the Asian theme : the land, the music and so on. And as much as I’m excited for any totally new areas we’ll get to explore in the future, old places including Cantha and Elona are very important to me.

Did anyone remember Cantha when they did the Jade Maw fractal for the first time? With the graphics of GW2, Cantha would like absolutely amazing. Elona after that please.

Paradoxine.8192:

Did anyone remember Cantha when they did the Jade Maw fractal for the first time? With the graphics of GW2, Cantha would like absolutely amazing. Elona after that please.

Yep…Cantha needs to be a part of this game, as does Elona. The whole idea of abandoning core/iconic places/cultures from the original game outside of Tyria is a complete disservice to not only the fans, but the franchise, and the game as a whole. They could of just made a different game, with a different title if they wanted to abandon such major parts of the world…But it’s GW2, so I want it to be that and bring me back to the original places!

Imagining Cantha & Elona makes me sigh really hard irl because I know how amazing they would be. I really think we need to get out of where we are currently set in the game sometime in the relatively near-ish future…Personally I get bored of Kryta, and definitely with the Norn & Charr lands…I wanna visit more exotic places. As I’ve said before I do want them to open up new places we’ve never been to before…And I think they can still do that while also opening up the iconic places. Also, they could create new zones or whatever in Cantha & Elona once they’ve made the original ones, that we didn’t have in the 1st game.

This one move makes absolutely no sense, what right minded producer of games today is REMOVING Asian cultural themes from their games? Most are adding it, for the simple reason that the fastest growing gamer market in the world right now is CHINA. Think NCsoft are shooting themselves in the foot here, and the more people tell them so the better. If there’s a Petition up, I’ll sign it, Guild wars 2 needs to at least match the diversity of guild wars 1, and it wont if it gets stripped of any sense of cultural variety.

NF was my first GW campaign and I wasn’t entirely sold on it, but I loved Factions when I picked that up … Shing Jea was absolutely beautiful, from the visuals to the music. Going from there to Kaineng City was like a culture shock, and despite its twists and turns, there was definitely a unique atmosphere to it. And from there, out to the Jade Sea, which to me had some of the most stirring music in the entire game. It would be disappointing if we never have the chance to return to Cantha in GW2.

I would love to play as a tengu! That alone is worth my 60$ IMO.

Give us Cantha pretty pleeeease! -

Excuse me if i offend anyone, but this whole thing doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.

Let me start off by saying that i got introduced to the GW universe through a couple of friends back in 2006. I started off with Nightfall as Factions was sold out everywhere. I liked it, but i was playing like 20 games at the time so when i got stuck on one of the last missions, i gave up the game. Fast forward two years and i buy GW and all of the expansions after learning about GW2. This time, i read more about it and got pretty decent at it, both pve and pvp wise. Most of all i liked Vabbi. That place has a special place in my heart.

When i bought GW2, i bought the CE and in my mind, i’ve always thought that Elona and Cantha would make a return. It’s something that i’ve been thinking is a given. The fact that Cantha maybe won’t appear is quiet shocking to me. Sure, i never liked Kaineng, but i’ll never forget fighting corrupted Kuunavang and all my battles in Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry against the luxons. I sure as hell will never forget my OP ritualist which could keep a whole party at max hp with a custom made spirit build.

This whole thing about NCsoft, asian culture and all that doesn’t make any sense to me.

1. While the whole world is moving forward, more and more people accepting things which were considered wrong in the years past, you decide to move backwards by doing the opposite? We’re living in 2013, i think it’s about time we accept the fact that the world is becoming a bowl of salad with everything mashed up and not a plate of dinner where everything is placed each for itself.

2. Why would you even allow Cantha to exist in GW1 and why would you allow content updates for that very region you’re trying to get rid of? If i wanna get rid of something, i try to make that place very insignificant before removing it. You allowed the place to be created, then you allowed the place to get content updates and then you even allowed lore to be created about it for the next game. Hell, the Canthan district was even created, but you had to remove it…Good thinking.

3. You can’t expect to remove such and important part of the universe without any major consequences. How would you feel if suddenly Asian and Australia/Oceania dissapeared from the world? Yes, Cantha means that much. Although I’ll always love Elona the most, i want Cantha or else it won’t feel like GW1.

we need cantha gosh without it i would not even play gw anymore.
cantha was the one thing that kept me in gw because it was simply the best addon. the missions were great, the elite dungeons were rly hard to master at start, the soundtrack is just breathtaking and the asian touch is just the thing i like. (animefan and stuff ^^)
so now after hearing that cantha may not return is a punch in the face and if that happens then sry but i will instantly drop the game for that reason alone.

i would pay twice the price of gw2 for a cantha expansion…

I am really not a fan of these living story update. Personally, I would rather pay for an xpack than continue to run around Tyria forever. Cantha was by far the best continent of GW1 and by leaving it out, Anet is simply cutting content that could make them more money and improve on the game. This excuse of “They isolated themselves” for Cantha is boring, unimaginative, and a completely lame cop out.

I would absolutely love to see this come to Guild Wars 2! ANet shouldn’t have been forced to change lore because of NCSoft. The lore is the most important part of this game and it is what I rely on the most to even play! Without the full story it is nothing.

I don’t know much about cantha or anything related to it. I just watched a video created by wooden potato telling about the lore. It’s very interesting and I would love for it to come into guild wars 2. It would open up a new part to the map and have so much more to offer if arena net made it into an expansion. I am new to forums so please forgive me if I don’t know much.

We need the Asian culture. It is something that will fascinate many and the story in Cantha is awesome

CANTHA NOW I WANTS IT

I started GW1 in Cantha and it is what got me hooked on the series. It was by far my favorite of the original games, especially in terms of lore and the environment. It would be a real waste to let all of that awesome work go to waste.

It’s already been said, but I agree that the asian cultures deserve to be recognized in GW2. They were a part of the original, so why should they be left out now?

Mostly I just want this for the giant turtles. Let’s face facts, the turtles were pretty awesome.

Maybe, in a year or two after Tyria becomes more devloped, we can push a movement for Cantha similar to the Mass Effect 3 movement. Here’s to hoping.

I just came here to say that yes, I (like pretty much everyone who has played factions) wants cantha back. That place is just amazing, the jade sea is an awesome concept, kaineng city and the surrounding ’’builidings’’ are freaking awesome, i love those dark forests just outside kaineng city (to the south) and the starting island is simply beautiful. It would be such a shame to miss out on having this again.
Also, the way that the music fits in with the environment is just something that people need to experience again.

I really hope that Cantha comes back in guildwars 2. I can’t wait too see the echovald forest and the jade sea in the new form. There are some interresting possibilities for lore too.

Tell me how much money I need to throw at NCSoft and ANet to make Cantha happen and I’ll start saving.

I don’t think I’ve commented in here and I don’t really want to write an essay on why I think Cantha should be in the sequel but it was my favourite one of the 3 originals and I really want to play a Tengu guy. I’m behind the idea to include it.

Not bringing Cantha back will be a crime to the people who originally built it, the people who played it, finished it, and enjoyed it, and most of all, the people who haven’t played GW1 but have heard stories about how wonderfully beautiful Cantha is.

Not building Cantha in the way Tyria has been rebuilt is a disservice to all of us who have dreamed about seeing it.

It is a punishment that is best not served at all.

Bring back Cantha! Only reason i was ever really a fan of the whole Guild Wars series!

Factions was my first foray into GW too, and I have to admit it was the one that got me into loving and spending hours in the GW universe, eventually convincing me to buy all the other expansions and campaigns!

Personally, I loved the Asian feel and design of the entire place. Not only that, but as a Chinese person myself, it was just so enjoyable to see so much cultural design integrated into the whole of Factions. I think if Cantha could be brought back as some kind of paid for expansion (I expect it would cost a lot of money, time, and effort to add all of Cantha to GW2!) lots of people like myself would be thrilled!

1. Yay!
2. Boogie Shoes are not necessarily a necessity in Cantha.
3. An Ascalonian warrior in Kaineng City.

We need Cantha!

We do honestly need Cantha. Factions was the first story that I actually completed (I got so tired of Nightfall and Prophecies for some reason) and it really made me appreciate the lore Guild Wars had. As someone else said, just give us the date and price and I’ll be saving my money to buy it!

Dream.2851:

I like to add to the chorus that Cantha was my favorite game from the GW1 series. I loved the setting of a hyper-metropolis (mostly these are in Sci-fi “megacities”). While GW2 feels like a classic man vs nature, tale. The stories told in Cantha seemed to have more of a man vs man/himself, (the evil that is brought about through vengance and division…or something like that).

Tyria is a land that largely belongs to the wild, Mountains, oceans, jungles, and swamps claim the landscape and humanity lives against that wild. This makes for beautiful scenery: forests, mountains, canyons and so on; but also familiar and, in ways, predictable scenery. Tyria is about external threats from without the walls and fortresses of man.

Cantha is the opposite, in Kaineng City was about the wild inside of the domain we claim as our own. This made for a tremendously amazing setting with complex buildings, bizarre architectures, glorious colours. This was a place where humanity is a permanent hum in the air, as if you’re immersed in it. This made for much more creative landscapes and city-scapes as these are reflections of what we have create for ourselves. Cantha was about the enemies that come from within our civilizations and the enemies that we make of ourselves (think of Kurzick vs. Luxon).

I think that Cantha would be a fantastic addition to the GW2 series somewhere down the road (GW2 will need and expansion eventually, hopefully soonish), and I would like to see it feature Cantha!

If there are reservations based of cultural appeal, I’d like to remind that WoW’s recent expansion heavily featured Asian themes, and they seem to be doing just fine so far!

I very much second this post… And yea to point out WoW´s MOP expansion makes very much sense, If blizzard can do it I cant see how NcSoft can see the Canthan culture as problematic.

Bring back Cantha and get a new publisher.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the video yet, click the 2nd link in my signature.

lets take a look at this one( probably from a very biased standpoint)

In 2007 Anet created Cantha and released it. If NCsoft felt that this was offensive would they not have accepted this work from Anet; I checked their website today and they are still selling Factions…“Oh, its offensive to our market, but since you made it we are gonna sell it”…
Secondly, lets say Anet went and made it and lost their Asian market, what would be the effect of this; i would have to guess a weak first showing of sales for the expansion, but the die hard fans would continue to buy the expansion.
Third, lets say Anet did not make a Canthan expansion and left the void that is currently there. this would make a lot more fans upset with them, potentially destroying their game even more.

As for me, I had 8 Canthan characters and one Elonian( i had to because i like dervishes)(and yes i bought an extra character slot) and loved everyone of them. It would be a shame for the lore to die out.

support Wooden Potatoes, go watch his video

Damarus.5938:

Bring it back for Mr. Potatoes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thVuIZDdn80

Re-affirming my desire for Cantha, as Mr. Potatoes suggested.

Cantha was by far my favourite continent in GW1, and would be sorely, sorely missed if it is left out of Guild Wars 2 forever.

ColdandColder.5698:

i would pay twice the price of gw2 for a cantha expansion…

Agree.

Colonel Logan.9218:

Secondly, lets say Anet went and made it and lost their Asian market, what would be the effect of this; i would have to guess a weak first showing of sales for the expansion, but the die hard fans would continue to buy the expansion.

Not only this, but I suspect die hard Canthan fans would be happy to further boost ArenaNet’s income by purchasing much Canthan themed rubbish from the Gem Store. I know I would.

Bring back Cantha

Oh wow, this thread is still going?
Well anyway, I’d love to see Cantha back in a future expansion as well. I never really liked the cluttered areas of Kaineng or the Echovald Forest, but the open areas like Shing Jea and the Jade Sea were amazing , and the palace was pretty nice too.

I really just want to see the Jade Sea again (fotm doesn’t count :p).

Bring back Cantha! Pleaaaaaaaaaaaase

This is to the DEVS’s.

I just want to say this i didn’t really play gw1 nor do i know much of the lore behind gw1 or gw2. But from watching this you tube video -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thVuIZDdn80- I have been inspired to play more into the story of GW2 and try and get to know as much as i can about Tyria and Cantha. I could not be more adamant when i say i would pay a great price for an expansion of such caliber that would tie in both Tyria and Cantha again.

Please Listen to you’re players and take this expansion into consideration as i think it would complete this game and make it more enjoyable for both PvE and PvP players alike.

Cantha needs to return. Factions only scratched the surface of the lore and beauty of the continent. I remember the concept art of the loading screen on Kaineng City and wanting more than anything to explore the many many layers of the city. The feud between the Luxons and the Kurzicks was rich with lore and the way the players interacted with their territory was a fun mechanic. The areas were incredible, the vast expanse of the Jade Sea, the mystery of the Echovald Forest, the gritty urban area of Kaineng City and the traditional rural Asian beauty of Shing Jea Island. The map only covered a small portion of the continent and to explore more of it would be incredible. If it is true that NCSoft don’t want an Asian themed expansion (most likely something to do with “that” MMO) then ArenaNet should seriously consider getting a new publisher or risk the loss of a huge source of income. Please reconsider!

Just dropping in to make my daily post supporting the eventual return of Cantha. The music, the environment, the lore: all things we loved from Factions – need to make a return to GW2. Hear what they did with the original Prophecies intro song? Imagine what the new Factions theme would sound like re-worked years later.

to be honest bringing back Cantha is one of the best things that can be done to GW2 considering there will be a lot of competition coming up at the end of the year, Cantha being one of the most desirable places to go in an expansion would be a great idea in order to compete with ESO and Neverwinter coming out in dec. if NCsoft wont let arenanet make content to let players go see what they want to see and go where they want to it will eventually show in their pockets

From a business standpoint, it makes no sense to avoid Cantha. In the end, people who weren’t a fan of cantha in the 1st game will have an opportunity to love it with this game. And everyone else who loves Cantha, will have their prayers and wishes answered.

If NCsoft wanted to hold back on the asian themes due to Blade & Soul, then it is a bunch of crap considering B&S won’t even be out in the US/EU for another 1.5 YEARS according to a B&S dev in South Korea. Fans of the GW franchise & lore shouldn’t have to get shafted over that, or any other kind of political nonsense. This is a moment for ArenaNet to show everyone what really matters to them. Their game, their lore & world, and their players…Or political nonsense.

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.

I would be beyond disappointed with ArenaNet if a Factions successor never appeared. It was by far my favorite campaign. Based on this quote along with the overwhelming response to this thread it is clear that the decision to omit the developers’ and fans’ favorite expansion would be not only a bad business move but a bad move for the GW2 community as well. I understand this is mostly a NcSoft decision but Anet cannot leave this piece out of their game. Please give us Cantha at some point in the future!

Bring Cantha back please
Ritualists too!

I want Cantha too. I cannot understand how it could possibly omitted.

Litasa.6139:

We need the Asian culture. It is something that will fascinate many and the story in Cantha is awesome

Well to be fair, I don’t want it for the supposed asian setting. I just want to see the forrest and the jade sea(and the dungeons that come with it). The starter island and the city can be changed for all I care.

Navzar.2938:

I really just want to see the Jade Sea again (fotm doesn’t count :p).

Since the Jade Sea should now be water I would be so excited to see this area in full aquatic combat mode!

I figured id add in a few remarks. Anet you really should bring back cantha. With the new engine it will look amazing, and I know with all the talent you guys have at the office, you edit and polish the hell out of it for a fantastic result. The community has made its voice heard. We will continue to do so and hopefully NCsoft will get off your a** and let you proceed with it.

well with living content, they can add small pieces each time, but if anything goes that way, will be Tyria→elona and maybe factions then, but i guess theres no expansions on the next 2-3 years.

Game needs 1st to envolve on pve / spvp / wvw , needs to be more “living” and proly a bit of sanbox (wich would be great for those RP’s).

Aeolus.3615:

well with living content, they can add small pieces each time, but if anything goes that way, will be Tyria->elona and maybe factions then, but i guess theres no expansions on the next 2-3 years.

Game needs 1st to envolve on pve / spvp / wvw , needs to be more “living” and proly a bit of sanbox (wich would be great for those RP’s).

Elona does make more sense for the first expansion, the dragon went to the crystal desert and right beside it is palawa joko which makes a way better end foe than any dragon imo.

NC-Soft has been a great publisher during the development of GW2. From what I’ve heard, they let a-net have mostly free hand on their project and let them work on it until they thought it was ready for release. Just how a publisher should.
I really hope NC-Soft doesn’t ruin that by banning Cantha.
Cantha’s story was wonderful, giving us an enemy that was actually tangible. Shiro was a person with his own complex history and complex motivation, not a mad god or an unintelligable Elder Dragon.
The GW fanbase did not only fall in love with Factions story, but also with the landscape. Dreamy Shing-Jea, sprawling Kaineng, The Jade Sea, and The Echowald forest all are areas with unique feelings associated with them. And they could only be improved by the new Graphics.
If the concern is, that the game isn’t just about humans anymore: Rumors are there’s another Pale Tree in the Echowald forest, Quaggans could ally with the Luxon to reclaim independence, the Tengu probably fight a hard battle with the xenophibic Imperials. And since the Tengu WILL be introduced as a playable race in the future, you simply can NOT ban the continent where the fan favourite race is most prevalent.

GW2’s entire desgn philophy is to be inclusive. Wether it is that NC_soft wants to target many audiences since they need to make money on a AAA non-subsciption MMO or that a-net knows that the average gamer is getting older and doesn’t have as much time anymore.
But making humanity into one big, bland, homogenous mass is not inclusive: It’s boring. The races already are too similar to each other; there’s great potential, but no one seems to have the guts to make them truly unique, out of fear to alienate even the smallest demographic.

Lastly, I understand asian themes are a bit overdone, Mist Of Pandaria, Aion and all the other asian MMO’s kind of wore that idea out, but I and the rest of the community are not asking for Cantha now. There are more Elder Dragon’s to finally get rid of, after Kralkatorrik, we’ll probably get closer to Elona (if that doesn’t get banned as well), and Cantha is quite a distance away. But in a few years, after a few expansions, I’m sure it will sell.
And I will love you forever if Cantha’s story is good : )