Guild Wars 2

Never played GW1 myself, but from what I hear and see Cantha appears to be an amazing place. It would be a shame not to include this in GW2.

Brimstone.3807:

I actually would be less interested in GW2 if Cantha was added. It would be worse if living world content was focused there for an amount of time.

That makes no sense…. Why would you be less interested in a bigger game with a fresh expansion.

Please bring Cantha (and ofc Elona) back!

To be frank, I’m still very annoyed that the Canthan district was removed because some nobody from the other side of the world felt offended.

What about the artists and programmers that put hours of work into the district? Are they allowed to be offended?

What about the scores of players that are now missing a very good looking part of Divinity’s Reach? Are we allowed to be offended?

Any apologies for those two groups? Is one Asian person more important than the majority of your fanbase?

In all honesty, that last fact offends me greatly.

ThiBash.5634:

To be frank, I’m still very annoyed that the Canthan district was removed because some nobody from the other side of the world felt offended.

What about the artists and programmers that put hours of work into the district? Are they allowed to be offended?

What about the scores of players that are now missing a very good looking part of Divinity’s Reach? Are we allowed to be offended?

Any apologies for those two groups? Is one Asian person more important than the majority of your fanbase?

In all honesty, that last fact offends me greatly.

I am of Asian decent, and I am highly offended that Cantha has been ditched because someone thought it would be offensive to a person like me. Moreover, I just don’t buy the excuse that Cantha would be culturally offensive to Asians. I think the truth behind Cantha’s omission is NCsoft’s fear that it would take away the thunder of it’s “Asian theme” themed MMO “Blade & Soul, which is due out in the USA soon.” Further, and on that note, why isn’t “Blade & Soul” possibly offensive (according to NCsoft’s standards), based on it’s theme alone?

In conclusion, like most of the posters here, I too would love (and pay top dollar) to have Cantha brought back in a future expansion to GW2.

While I did not really like most of Factions, I did like Cantha. It was a great place to explore until you had to sell your drops.
I too would love to see Cantha restored to the game. As for fears that Cantha’s existance might offend some asians, I don’t really see how. Cantha is a fictional place not ment to represent any specific asian culture. So what part of FICTIONAL do they not understand?

I am really bothered that the cantha district was taken out after learning about it. The screenshots of it was gorgeous. I find it a lame excuse. Would love to see it returned to its greater glory. It being offensive or disliked, I find it highly hard to believe.

kamizefrog.3421:

ThiBash.5634:

To be frank, I’m still very annoyed that the Canthan district was removed because some nobody from the other side of the world felt offended.

What about the artists and programmers that put hours of work into the district? Are they allowed to be offended?

What about the scores of players that are now missing a very good looking part of Divinity’s Reach? Are we allowed to be offended?

Any apologies for those two groups? Is one Asian person more important than the majority of your fanbase?

In all honesty, that last fact offends me greatly.

I am of Asian decent, and I am highly offended that Cantha has been ditched because someone thought it would be offensive to a person like me. Moreover, I just don’t buy the excuse that Cantha would be culturally offensive to Asians. I think the truth behind Cantha’s omission is NCsoft’s fear that it would take away the thunder of it’s “Asian theme” themed MMO “Blade & Soul, which is due out in the USA soon.” Further, and on that note, why isn’t “Blade & Soul” possibly offensive (according to NCsoft’s standards), based on it’s theme alone?

In conclusion, like most of the posters here, I too would love (and pay top dollar) to have Cantha brought back in a future expansion to GW2.

I like you.

Oh my gosh : O! Plleeaaaasee give us Cantha as an expansion! Factions was by far my favorite expansion and standalone as well in the guild wars 1 series – I’ve been dying for Cantha to be announced as an expansion since Guild wars 2 came out! I’d buy it up in a heartbeat!

I would like a cantha return

Just the Idea of having a zone being a whole City gives me Goosebumps.

Wouldn’t it be more racist Not to add Asian and Arabic cultures on Tyria?

BRING BACK CANTHA!

NCSOFT, DO NOT BECOME EA!

ANET do NOT let such a big part of your world disappear! I, and my friends, would PAY to see Cantha again.

Please bring Cantha(and Elona) back! we love it!

Cantha is the main content of Guild Wars that I extremely loved. It is one of the main factor that kept me continuing playing the original Guild Wars (before Guild Wars 2) and would very much love so if Guild Wars 2 can provide us access to Cantha at some point in time. Lore is one of my largest anticipation of why I love Cantha. In addition, the artwork, scenery, and the population density is the best in my opinion. I just simply fell in love with Cantha, especially the two Canthan vessels: Kurzicks and Luxons. I really hope that one day Cantha will be available as an expansion to players (I would instantly purchases it).

Many speculation that I’ve read about Cantha will be taken out of Guild Wars 2 completely rooted from The Great Collapse issue. My initial reaction was shocked and disappointed. The issue about the Chinese and Koreans not being able to agree with the architectures causing it to be the prime factor to be taken out of the game simply amazes me. If it is a lore issue, I can understand but architectural reasoning… I simply frown upon this. I’ve seen many posts about how many people classified this as an “Asian” issue. I cannot see it as this perspective. As an Asian descent (specifically Chinese) I would really love Arena Net original plan regardless of mixing architectures. Diversity among people, especially in a melting pot in Divinity Reach, I really do not see it as an issue. Look at our real life Chinatown. It does not only consists of Chinese stores and styles. I cannot speak for every city, but personally I live in Toronto and I can say that our Chinatown consists of many Chinese and Vietnamese stores and people generally do not have an issue with this here (so why should there be an issue in game that takes place in a melting pot zones of human cultures in Divinity Reach just like the melting pot of all races in Lion Arch.)

I also do not mind if Cantha is not the next expansion as long as there will be one. I would probably play less Guild Wars 2 (as I would become less interested) knowing that there will never be anything Canthan. Taking my favourite content out of the game just feels very outrageous. Like I’ve stated before, I find this to be the best work Arena Net had made with Guild Wars (especially the Winds of Change). The amazing lore is what kept me personally playing the game.

As much as I loved Cantha in Guild Wars 1 scenery, I feel that it is completely fair that Arena Net has the freedom to redesign Guild Wars 2 version of Cantha to their liking. They are isolated (at least to Tyrian knowledge) for 250 years or so. Anything can happen – including a cultural revolution. We do not know what happens to the Naga, the Warden, and the Dredges of Cantha. In addition, we do not 100% know if all the Tengu had actually left the Canthan continent. We do not know if there are any other races residing south of the continent. Kaineng can change to a great effect, and can have a huge effect with Kurzick and Luxon absorbed into them, allowing them to change not only their scenery but their lifestyle as well (clothing, way of life, etc.) I really loved the Canthan related mini-dungeons of Fractals such as Solid-Ocean (Jade-Maw) and Cliffside (Battle Isles). In terms of the lore, who says there still must be a strong sense of xenophobia in Cantha in the present date of Guild Wars 2.

Missing out Cantha completely due to offending certain people (who I hope do not speak for me just because of my ethnicity) is not worth it. Judging from the fact that many people posted on this thread, I hope Arena Net places a very good consideration of what is happening with Cantha. Allowing Cantha to still exists would be a very good business strategy.

In my opinion of how the lore can work with opening Cantha early – it is quite possible and can make many senses.

I really hope to see Cantha one day. Many of these ideas I listed above are potential lore based on my own perspective and of why I believe Cantha should not be taken out. I lastly want to suggest that if architecture is really is a huge issue, potentially having Cantha advancing in technology and a cultural revolution can change its appearance to anything as a whole. For example, it can become very modern. Still, I do not see the big issue as I never really hear people complain about Guild Wars Factions architectures. In conclusion, I hope you will have Cantha available as an expansion one day. Like many others who had posted on this forum, I too would love (and pay a lot) for Cantha to be brought back as a future expansion into the world of Guild Wars 2. Please I ask you to have Cantha available as an expansion in the future.Thank you for your time.

Oh and an dragonless Cantha could also work very well here. And I do not mean kuuna, but the elder dragons. They do not make the best foes these dragons.
For elona the boss could be Palawa joko ofcourse, no other would come close imo.

I have personally not played factions,but having a mixed asian architecture would suite this game well

The Brigadier.3847:

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.

Regarding Europe: blatantly untrue. It’s a lot more complicated than that. For instance, France and England were at war almost constantly for around a thousand years and yet there is little genuine animosity between the two countries. There are silly, racist jokes regarding frogs and roastbeef but you’re not going to be lynched for taking a holiday across the Channel.

Furthermore, the black population of France stands at 1.5 million, or there abouts while England has large Indian, Pakistani and Chinese contingents too. Calling an Iberian or Turk white would also be considered troubling. Europe was open for a long, long time and in that time, people moved throug it, warred through it, allied through it. Countries were shaped, reshaped and lessons were learnt. It is by no means perfect and without flaws, but many of its countries are fairly progressive when it comes to civil rights.

Regarding the actual topic at hand: People often like to see themselves and their cultures reflected within the fantasy worlds they immerse themselves within. When people see what they view as an unfair or outright wrong representation of themselves, they can become offended.

To an outside eye, many aspects of East Asian culture and art might well look the same, falling under a collective bracket of ‘Asian influenced’. The argument has been raised that we see European art and architecture mixed all the time – the same for various Middle Eastern designs. The issue here is that East Asia was very contained while European and Middle Eastern art movements spread beyond their areas of origin and were adapted and reimagined in a plethora of ways. While the modern era has opened up certain artistic channels, the ancient art, for a lot of people, is almost sacred and should not be ‘distorted’.

Of course, as an artist, this is frustrating. However, there are ways around it. The Germanic and Greecian aspects of the Kurzicks and Luxons might well have been adopted more firmly into the Empire, rather than been wiped out. Of course, there’s a part of me that wants Arenanet to be daring and just go for it, just design the most beautiful and fitting pieces they can for Cantha and show them to the world. Someone has to take that step sometime and people really are screaming to have Cantha opened up to the GW2 playerbase.

So, let’s see how well the Dragon Festival goes, hmm?

Well, since an ANet rep has encouraged us to voice ourselves…

I’d absolutely love to see Cantha. Stylistically, it included some of my favourite areas, ideas, architecture, cultures… everything.

I’d love to see it. Even more than Elona.

Cantha, Cantha, Cantha! It’d be amazing to see what happens to Cantha after so many years, heck maybe with an expansion of the game we’d get some better facial structure choices for character creation too.

I really miss Cantha. It would be a huge misread of the user base to leave it out based upon some bizarre concept like “universality”. Coca-cola changed course on New Coke. MS will now be returning our beloved start button to us. Maybe NC-Soft can adjust their position on Cantha.

I started in GW with Factions because I loved the design, music, art, play… basically all of it. I continued playing to 50/50 GWAMM through all GW1 had to offer and pre-purchased the GW2 collectors edition. I have played every beta, every stress test and head start. Yes it was all done on a thief the most Assassin like and last vestige of Cantha GW2 has to offer.

If not for Cantha/Factions I would have never entered Anet’s universe. Please bring back Cantha!

ThiBash.5634:

kamizefrog.3421:

ThiBash.5634:

To be frank, I’m still very annoyed that the Canthan district was removed because some nobody from the other side of the world felt offended.

What about the artists and programmers that put hours of work into the district? Are they allowed to be offended?

What about the scores of players that are now missing a very good looking part of Divinity’s Reach? Are we allowed to be offended?

Any apologies for those two groups? Is one Asian person more important than the majority of your fanbase?

In all honesty, that last fact offends me greatly.

I am of Asian decent, and I am highly offended that Cantha has been ditched because someone thought it would be offensive to a person like me. Moreover, I just don’t buy the excuse that Cantha would be culturally offensive to Asians. I think the truth behind Cantha’s omission is NCsoft’s fear that it would take away the thunder of it’s “Asian theme” themed MMO “Blade & Soul, which is due out in the USA soon.” Further, and on that note, why isn’t “Blade & Soul” possibly offensive (according to NCsoft’s standards), based on it’s theme alone?

In conclusion, like most of the posters here, I too would love (and pay top dollar) to have Cantha brought back in a future expansion to GW2.

I like you.

+1

Here’s the main problem. NCsoft is based in South Korea. Keep in mind, SK ain’t the tightest of friends with Japan or China for various, embarrassing reasons that none of these countries will own up to, not even mentioning how absolutely nationalistic all three of these countries are. So to allow ANet to go through with making content of Cantha, a civilization that mixes Korean and two other Asian cultures, would make them feel more uncomfortable than anything else. Though, ANet should really have a spine and should have stood up to them instead of just taking it. So a minority of people are going to be uncomfortable with this update to a video game, when has that not happened before? Seriously??

As for MoP, the main issue was that everyone thought it was a joke. It was a joke in WC3 and, for a while, it was a joke in the WoW community. No one really expected ActiBlizz to go through with making pandas a legit thing. So when they did, it was only natural that people’s tables got flipped. As for them dealing with the Asian markets, the only real issue was that Pandaria was gonna be a Japanese-Chinese mixture but was changed at the last minute to be purely Japanese.

Just writing to show my support for Cantha’s return, whether through a district in Divinity’s Reach or the continent.

I’m asian. I want Cantha in GW2

Why small group of outraged cryers has so big influence at rest of the world ? -.-
We need cantha and we will show this.

I don’t get onto this or any other GW2 forums much, but a friend of mine brought this to my attention a few weeks ago, and so I’ve spent a little bit of time reading up on the controversy.

I think it would be an awful shame to ignore Cantha entirely. Out of all the Guild Wars content, the Factions expansion was my absolute favorite. In fact due to my time spent in Alliance Battles and Fort Aspenwood/Jade Quarry, I think it’s safe to say I spent more time in Cantha than the other three parts of the game combined.

I’m glad to see I’m not alone in my love for Cantha, and with this much of an outcry for a return there, I think it’s safe to say there’s no question if we’ll return, it’s merely a question of when. And I’m looking forward to the inevitable Living Story where the Great Collapse is rebuilt.

I’m going to buy that new Blade & Soul game, simply because I’m Asian, and I need my Asian gaming fix. And fighting as a Lyn will be quite epic.

/crosses fingers for Cantha in future expansion

As an African, I loved the idea of African culture being wholly represented in a video game positively, as it was with Elona in Nightfall and I have not seen it done elsewhere again.
Cantha is where I fell in love with not just Guild Wars but MMORPGs in general. Kaineng still feels like on of the most realistic game cities I have had the pleasure of running around in. I loved getting lost there and finding a beautiful house and courtyard in the middle of the squalor. The Undercity was a pain but in a good way. I wasn’t going to buy GW2 until there was either a Cantha or Elona expansion but I got it as a present and ya can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. GW2 does not feel whole or complete to me until these two continents are on the map and explorable. So please, please please for the love of the six gods please, provide us with Cantha and Elona + evolved ritualists, paragons and dervishes. I would really like to beat up that treacherous Palawa Joko who ruined my wondrous Vabbi! And Tsukiyomi Hime would like to visit Shing Jea where her ancestor Tsukiyomi Hime learnt the way of the Assassin. Pretty please with golden dollars ice cream and a cherry on top >.<

Give Cantha!

It was the most Epic Guild Wars experience i certainly had, and while we are at it
Tengu !!!!

Not including the two other continents would be and incredibly waste of creative work. I mean, just think of all the love and care that was put into it in the first place.

I do recognize that the Elder Dragons are the main driving force behind story for now, but I can’t help to hope that when the Deep Sea Dragon has been defeated we will be able to discover Cantha again. Or in another approach; Start out in Cantha as the opposed population that the Emperor wants slain, pushed from both sides as the DSD surfaces.

A Fractal of the Jade Sea won’t do it for me. I’d love for the whole region to return!

If I recall, Mike O’brien left Blizzard because of the threshold of corporate decisions. Hopefully with player backing, ArenaNet will still be able to hold true to their roots and fight back corporate jargon. Realistically speaking, adding Cantha and Elona themes is the fairer, balanced approach. Leaving them out is biased (imo).

I am Asian and I think not having Cantha would be a real shame. The lore of Cantha is so rich and we love it. Statistically, SOMEONE will have to take offense at anything you make. The world of Guild Wars 2 isn’t even a true reflection of our modern world so discomfort could be negated there.

I want Cantha and a kungkittenmonk ASAP. The only downside I can see is comparison to MoP… Except GW1 had monks with some vague kungkittenelements (mostly related to aesthetics, but whatever) and Cantha well before Pandaria existed.

As for western markets not caring for Asia… Factions says “hi.” MoP flopped setting-wise because Pandaria is an irrelevant gaiden non-sequitur born of an April Fool’s joke, whereas Cantha has been an integral part of GW for years, now.

Adding Cantha and Elona and their diversity of cultures would make the game more “universal,” not less.

Edit: …Why can’t I say kungkitten

I’m also one of those people inspired by WoodenPotatoe’s video to come here and voice my opinion.

Much has been said already, and I agree with all the arguments brought up here in favor of a Cantha expansion for GW2. While it was not my most favourite part of GW1 (that being Nightfall, as has been said before it’s so rare to see North African and Arabic culture being integrated into an MMO or a videogame in general), Factions was still an outstanding game in and of itself. I don’t want to re-hash all the arguments here now, but I too would enjoy jumping puzzles in Kaineng City, roaming around as a Tengu or just watch the scenery in marvel.

The argument that a Cantha expansion might be too similar to Mists of Pandaria is, in my personal opinion, ridiculous. Not only has Factions been an integral part of GW lore way before MoP was even conceived, there is also a big difference of just the style of these two approaches. To say these two might resemble each other too much would be as if to say “Kung F’u Panda” and “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon” or “Hero” were one and the same movie.

Also, I don’t see any reason why Cantha should not be plagued by an Elder Dragon. We already have Kralkatorrik knocking on the gates of Elona, so why not the Deep Sea Dragon or even a whole new dragon entirely as the main enemy in the Cantha expansion. Sure, the Elder Dragons seem to surround Tyria pretty much, but why do you have to fight them from the inside, if it would just as well be possible to fight them from the opposite side as well? (That being Elona in Kralkatorrik’s back or Cantha against another dragon.)
Now that I think about it, the Battle Isles would be an awesome setting for the fight against the DSD. Maybe some of the islands have even been flooded by now. An underwater Zaishen temple complex would be an AWESOME area to play in!

Please, ArenaNet, there is so much potential in Cantha. Please bring it back.

cantha is the most likely place for hand to hand weapon sets or martial artist proffessions, so it must happen, make it so no1

Instead of choosing one culture for all of Cantha, could they make Kaineng City be one culture (China) and Shing Jea another (Japan)?

I just posted this on the Dragon Bash thread in the living story discussion, but i’ll post it here as well. So from my understanding, we’ll see the return of the Dragon Festival from GW1 in the form of the Dragon Bash here in GW2. When i remember Dragon Festival, i remember Cantha, serpent dragons (asian) and more “asian” things. They won’t let you add a major part of your game due to it being asian, yet they will let you add an annual event like the Dragon Bash?

Just began playing through Factions on my quest to earn some HoM points.

KAENING IS AWESOME. This place HAS to appear in GW2, the scope of it is amazingly cool.

I would instantly pre-order if Cantha was the next expansion… The place looks amazing and the lore is awesome itself…

Pleaaasse Arenanet give us Cantha

Brastin.4628:

I would instantly pre-order if Cantha was the next expansion… The place looks amazing and the lore is awesome itself…

Pleaaasse Arenanet give us Cantha

Same here. Love GW2 and Cantha from GW1 and would love to see more.
NC Soft, don’t scrap this part of the GW universe.

We want Cantha back!

They can bring Cantha back without being culturally insensitive. They just need to find the right balance, with consultation with those that said they were offended.

Negotiation and compromise are skills that I have no doubt can be used in this situation.

Cantha, is part of exiting lore. To ignore it now would be ridiculous. Some of the armor and ascended items even reference characters from the Cantha campaign.

You have to ask, what was it specifically they found offensive? Why was that part not offensive in Guild Wars 1? If it is a hang over from GW1, what would they suggest needs to be changed?

Having said that, Elona is logical to be the next area to open up. This gives a year or more to work out the Cantha issue with NCSoft.

Well, the whole Dragon Bash coming up probably has nothing to do with The Dragon Festival held by Canthan’s annually considering the difference in the name, so we still have no idea where Anet stands on Cantha these days. With Anet “planning” an expansion as they said in their statement or whatever to the NCsoft report, we can always hope that we will start to see more Canthan & Asian friendly content coming out in the future…Even though I doubt we will be seeing it before we see several other places 1st…

On the subject of Blade & Soul, that’s like a year and a half away…lol..

Guild Wars is not Guild Wars without Cantha, enough said.

Consider this a person asking nicely to have Canthan things.

I was really hoping to be able to really roll a Canthan character, exiled to Kryta for the obvious reasons. The fact that there’s no architecture from Cantha saddens me greatly. The story for Cantha was (in my humble opinion [for what it’s wort]) the most personal from Guild Wars.

Truly, I am saddened by the loss of the Canthan District.

Regardless, I have hope that, if we ask kindly and politely, that we can have something brought to us in the upcoming year or so. 4th of July was always so much fun in Shing Jea….

So, please give us some Canthan goodness.

I started playing gw1 Factions before any off the other campaigns and it made me addicted to guild wars! When guild wars 2 first came out I searched through Divinity’s Reach in the hope of finding my character’s ancestral part of the city and all I found was a big, gaping hole.

Please consider making Cantha, building an entire continent is a major task to begin with so please also repair the Great Collapse!

I hope very much that the Dragon Bash Festival will bring us Canthan decorations to Lion’s Arch. I fear though…