Guild Wars 2

Although my main is Sylvari, I “feel” most at home in DR. And that appears to be the case for all my characters, despite their race. No matter what hovel, abandoned ruin, wood, village, town, city it always comes back to DR for me.

What about you?

Rata Sum. <3

Depends on my needs really… when I first started I used to hang around hoelbrak and the shiverpeaks in general a lot. Then it was lion’s arch, then the lake doric thing came along and it was DR, now with the current living story thing it’s rata sum but I only visit the bank area there so I don’t know if it counts. Oh, and when I farm iron and the like, it’s black citadel… but again, only the crafting/bank area.

kitten , I think I’m homeless.

PS: I gotta say the closest “home” feeling I get from any of those places would be from DR or the black citadel but… only specific areas

Royal Terrace in DR.

When it comes to selling stuff, accessing the bank and crafting I always go to the grove. I love the style of this city and my main is a sylvari.

Heart of the Mists

Divinity’s Reach or even surrounding Queensdale, the latter of which is perhaps the closest area GW2 has to GW1’s pre-Searing Ascalon.

Two honorary mentions before I start: Wreckage of Serenity and Bria’s Manor I love those spots, their atmosphere, the shadowy/gloomy ambiente, the ambiente sounds, the story behind those two places. Wish there was more there to explore, I see such goosebump potential there!
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So… (rubs hands) I am going to keep this to the race’s “home towns” or else it would become an endless post about places I dig.

1. Divinity’s Reach
Plain beautiful, exactly what I expect from a classy city in a classic fantasy world. It is comfy, has a lot of love for detail (like, for instance, the NPCs and their chatter). There are so many things that make me go, “Oooh, I wish I could enter that house!” or “I want more adventure in this place! More exciting story missions, maybe also some dungeon sewer or whatever comes to the mind of an old-school fantasy player.”

2. Hoelbrak (which is, along with many of the Norn names, pronounced incorrectly in English)
That flair of living in the cold, cold north. I simply love the details in the buildings and caves (like the fire places/hearths, the symbols of the spirits of nature, the locals’ town clothing,…) as well as the atmosphere provided by all the NPCs and their dialogue. I only wish one could do more here story-wise!

3. The Black Citadel
I hate the design (all that metal and heat, the place must smell quite awful, yuck!), but I love the complex layout and all the cool hotspots (not just the ruins of Old Ascalon, but also the bars and other places for socializing).

4. Rata Sum
Looks too “sterile”. Yes, I know, Asura are a tidy folk, but it doesn’t really feel like a place to live as it is missing anything that would even remotely remind you of a private housing or a place for gatherings or meetings. Also, there isn’t a single piece of furniture. Surely even Asura need a chair (or anything that fulfills the same purpose) to sit every once in a while and a table (to eat) etc. It just feels like a lot of empty space to me, even though there are a few nice touches to it (the prison, the dancing moa birds,…). I find it a pity that the ground level looks like the remains of a destroyed city (probably Old Rata Sum?), it would have been cooler if the living quarters were there.

I don’t feel the least bit “at home” at The Grove. It is poorly designed, partially cheesy, and the layout is a pain in the behind. The onyl spot I like here is the hidden garden. Also, the NPC chatter makes Sylvari sound like wimps.

i like the kodan areas..they remind me of Cantha.

I fell in love with DR the first time I saw it…

But Orr is my favorite part of the world.

Mea.5491:

Royal Terrace in DR.

Me too. All my characters are “parked” there.

Black Citadel is the non-LA capital I frequent most, and the Home Instance I use most frequently.

Under a damp rock deep inside Orr.

Rata Sum.

Everything is located conveniently.

Queensdale. Probably because it was the first zone for me and the one I saw the most, mostly playing human characters.

Anywhere in the Northern Shiverpeaks. But I supposed if I had to pick 1 it would be Snowden Drifts

Claypool. You can craft, you can gather, you can kill bandit bosses. Only the missing TP merchant is an inconvenience.

DR but Orr has to be one of my favorites…wish that the meta events lead to a fight with Zhaitan just like Dragon stands leads a fight with “Mordy”.

I miss that pile of rotting Dragonic Flesh, I love to fight those Dragons with a lot of players by my side! Its feels so epic! Zhaitan and Orr is one of the most coolest aw-inspired moments I remember as I entered that map or saw Zhaitan for the first time!

Clearly Lion’s Arch. I am in DR or Rata Sum from time to time but mostly in LA.

Lava Lounge – all services and a cozy climate near mum volcano

As a human, in Ascalon, kicking cats out

Ashantara.8731:

I don’t feel the least bit “at home” at The Grove. It is poorly designed, partially cheesy, and the layout is a pain in the behind. The onyl spot I like here is the hidden garden. Also, the NPC chatter makes Sylvari sound like wimps.

Sylvari are, after all a very young race (a bit over 20years…) and as such rather inexperienced at, you know, life. I think the conversations reflect this very well and I like going there to be reminded of that fact. The PC and some other notable Sylvari (Canach, Caithe, Trahearne, …) got slammed pretty hard face first into the realities of the world, most Sylvari that never left the grove are rather…innocent.

Incidentally I like The Grove, the layout is fairly efficient once you figure it out and it’s relatively calm compared to LA/DR or Rata Sum. It’s also fairly. Hmm, “not over the top”, unlike most other cities (eg. DR has these huge glass canopies, Hoelbrak* just has everything big for the sake of being big…).

(*) I don’t particularly like the Norn, so I’m likely biased.

Mea.5491:

Royal Terrace in DR.

This.

It’s not that I do not enjoy a stroll amongst the peasantry, I do. Sometimes though one just needs to retreat and take a break amongst like minded nobility.

If work requires it (dailies) short visits to my private lab in Rata Sum, a short stopover at my summer garden in the grove or a nostalgic stroll amongst my families former charr slavedens in the Black citadel might be in order.

Oh how the world hath changed. Stupid smelly cats.

i “park” in my guild hall the most. Don’t like to hang out in the cities reading all the nonsense from players. As for home instance i’ll go to hoelbrak or rata anyday over the others. Specially rata’s cuz it’s fun jumping off the cliff into the abyss lol.

I love Rata Sum, but I also park most of my characters in the Havoc’s Heir.

Stronghold of Ebonhawke. Got all the crafting, TP and Banking I would ever need all down one road.

Before I say anything: my main is a Sylvari engineer.
In the game world itself, I feel most at home in Orr and snowy areas except for Lornar’s Pass. Lornar’s is just a miserable place and it really gets to me, but I love every other area with snow. And with Orr.. I don’t know. I just like it there a lot. It feels very comfortable for me. Maybe because I’ve spent so much time there.

City-wise, it used to be Lion’s Arch, before it got rebuilt. It was a city made by the people, homey and wonderful. After the rebuild, it feels too impersonal. It’s not the place I loved anymore, at all. All of that was almost entirely scrubbed away.
At this point it’s either DR or the Grove, depending on my mood. Both feel like home to me. Like The Grove is my childhood home/parent’s house and DR is where I moved to when I grew up.

The login screen where my characters aren’t affected by the terrible balance patch.

The mean streets of the Grove. Few truly know what happens there. It took me many moons to get out, I had to forge my own way with my two leafy hands to not live in the shadows of the firstborn, and had to do some questionable things to get where I am today. Have you ever wondered what we eat? We aren’t cannibals. Some people enter the Grove and never leave, and not just because it’s such a beautiful place. 2 words, Tyrian trafficking. So next time before you go and say “Oh these salad people are pushovers” you better make sure there isn’t a group of them standing nearby, or you might just end up as some Char B’Q or Asuran a La mode.

Excelsior.

I do not trust any of the tall folks. Sometimes I have to fake sympathy, for diplomatic reasons. I know for a fact some of the cats want to pick me up on my ears and whirl around. And cabbage people are possesed. Humans and taller humans are, well… No. Just no.

No, the only way I feel safe (and sound) is in Asuran territory. Normally I end my duty in Province Metrica, directly in the building left of the Asura starter point. Since the 2 years I play I log off there. Once I logged out next to a Charr and … the paranoia.

My spot in the Metrica Province is clean, there are just Asura, a cute lady is patroulling and the Peacemakers and their golem are taking care of the place. It’s basically Rata Sum’s suburb. Tropical climate and clean. Students, trainees and well-known geniuses all around. Inquest to steal from. Some insane Hyleks, too. All what an Asura needs. Especially a thief.

As far as cities go, it’s the Grove any day. I mainly play sylvari, but even my non-sylvari banker alts are stationed there because I find it soothing and know it well. Plus, I have to agree with marelooke that the other cities feel “over the top” in some way.

My first character was an Asura.
Metrica Province and Rata Sum.

Usually in my office in front of my computer, although, I feel pretty “at home” in the kitchen too.

12 characters, 8 of which are asura, so yeah, Rata Sum or Metrica Province.

The Grove and Caledon Forest. My first character was Silvari so these maps were the first places I visited. I don’t go to either much but when I do, it always feels like returning home.

I’ve been gravitating to Rata Sum, in part due to it’s proximity to the HoT zones. Also, the convenience of having things so close to one another. And I usually find some cool characters hanging out there.

Where would I actually like a home? Ascalon Settlement. There’s just something about it. The tranquility, the scenery, the flowers, apple trees… I am really drawn to it I wish there were more places like it.

Where do you feel most “at home”?

WvW. Except when it’s quiet and I’m literally the only player there. Maybe there’s 1 or 2 others that I can’t see on the map because they’re elsewhere.

Our guild hall feels like home due the the work to build it up and decorate

The royal terrace feels like home due to always returning there at the end of the day to finish up and do buisness.

Eir’s Homestead/instance feels the most like an actual house/home to me due to Eir guiding and mentoring me in guild wars 2 since the beginning. In the game, it felt like she was the only family I had. I wish I could move my home instance there.

The Grove is where I go to get the home instance chests every day, and the whole city pushes a lot of happy buttons for me – I love that it’s as organic as the sylvari themselves, that it’s glowing and alien and not entirely efficiently laid out. I can get lost there and not mind because it’s all so beautiful.

Buuut, in all honesty, most of my characters live on the Havoc’s Heir airship. The convenience is too good to pass up, and also IT’S AN AIRSHIP. There are few things more exciting and adventurous than a giant steampunk airship.

My ‘feels at home’ place is Lions Arch. It’s where I used to hang out in GW1 before Factions landed (House Zu Heltzer will always be my home), and once GW2 hit it just felt natural to spend my off-hours in Lions Arch chatting it up and attempting to find really high places to perch. So it stuck.