Calendar
There’s more issues than that.
They don’t tell us what day of the Gregorian calendar matches Zephyr 01. Logically, Zephyr 01 should be on March 20th – reason being is that implications place Tyria in the northern hemisphere, and the Mouvelian calendar is known to begin on the Spring Equinox – March 20th for the Gregorian calendar+northern hemisphere.
Just trying Zephyr 01 to January 1st means that, as you pointed out, October is in Colossus – aka Winter. But we have pre-existing and long-standing in-game lore that outright tell us that Halloween is a Fall celebration. How can Halloween and the Autumn Lunatic be celebrated in the beginning of winter? This issue comes about from the fact that our New Year and Christmas is celebrated when snow is fresh, and Wintersday was introduced to us players at that same time before the calendar syncing was even a glint in the developers’ mind (or so all indication goes), and this tradition was brought into GW2, before any calendar syncing was made aware or prevalent in the game.
Then there’s the issue you only hinted to: Leap Year. The Mouvelian calendar doesn’t have this, and the “myth” (as you put it; no evidence to it being a myth, btw – in fact, we have direct mention of there being magical alteration of the seasons and even in GW2, we don’t see natural snow during the winter) of the gods altering the seasons doesn’t have to do with adding additional days to the year, but rather that the cold of winter lasts longer – the seasons themselves don’t seem to change, it’s rather all about determining whether snow exists longer or not.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
1st Zephyr = 1st January.
Since Wintersday is around december. But it’s true that it means that GW2 seasons begin 80 days earlier than IRL.
There’s snow in the Shiverpeaks, but the fact that we don’t see real snow during winter is only gameplay. GW2 game don’t include season and meteorological management.
In the books there clearly seasons.
Since gods left Tyria 1327 years ago and seasons keep going, the fight between Grenth and Dwayna is only a Human myth.
1st Zephyr = 1st January.
Since Wintersday is around december. But it’s true that it means that GW2 seasons begin 80 days earlier than IRL.
Says who?
The community. Because they’re going the lazy route and don’t realize that this puts Halloween, a Fall holiday, in Winter.
Meaning that if the calendar syncing is to make any sense at all, then Zephyr 01 CANNOT be January 1st.
To put it in your original phrasing:
The lazy way – January 1st
The logical way – March 20th/21st (changes based on Gregorian calendar placement of Spring Equinox, alters in-lore via the battle between Grenth and Dwayna)
The practical way – March 20th (always)
There’s snow in the Shiverpeaks, but the fact that we don’t see real snow during winter is only gameplay. GW2 game don’t include season and meteorological management.
In the books there clearly seasons.
There are seasons, but no real snow during Winter. During the previous two Wintersday, we do see snow in the cities – all six of them – and sparecly outside. This snow, however, is not natural. They’re made by asuran devices, to create patches of snow. This is fake snow is the source of our snowballs and snowmen for the achievements. Next time Wintersday comes around, find a patch of snow, and look up.
Since gods left Tyria 1327 years ago and seasons keep going, the fight between Grenth and Dwayna is only a Human myth.
“Myth” indicates falseness – that it didn’t happen. It did happen, ergo it is not myth, but legend, folklore, and, more accurately, history.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
As said…
we don’t see real snow during winter
But as said too, it’s because
GW2 game don’t include season and meteorological management. In the books there clearly seasons.
Snow included.
Halloween is a fall holiday in real life, but I haven’t found any clue that while it’s Halloween, it’s fall in the game too.
- But the game does change cities (especially Lion’s Arch) for Winter, so why would it not show natural snow, when they very well could?
- I don’t recall the books depicting snow outside of the Shiverpeaks, nor could I find such. Seasons, yes I noted, climates for sure, but I did not see nor recall any mention of winter – please point that out to me.
- Mad King’s Day is in Autumn, as proven in the GW1 quest The Waiting Game
“Though Mad King Thorn has the ability to appear in this world each autumn, his power over the mortal realm is limited.”
The poems that are written when the updates for Halloween come about also hint to Mad King’s Day being the end or near the end of the season, too, interestingly enough (though this only makes syncing the calendars a bigger mess).
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
As said in the wiki Wintersday
Every winter the cities of Tyria glisten with festive decor, and the air is filled with snowballs and the sound of laughter. Buy some holiday treats from the seasonal vendors or embark on quests to aid the gods! Don’t get left out in the cold—join the Wintersday fun!
Wintersday is a special event that occurs annually from December 19, 20:00, to January 2, 20:00 UTC, which celebrates the Tyrian New Year according to the Mouvelian calendar and Dynastic Reckoning. It is the celebration of the end of the Season of the Colossus and the beginning of the Season of the Zephyr, decided through the outcome of a battle between the gods, Grenth and Dwayna. During Wintersday, snow covers the lands and the Snowmen and Grentches appear to spread their versions of the celebration across the land, through giving and destroying presents respectively.
New year, Colossus to Zephyr, snow (meaning that seasons exists).
Maybe Mad King is put one month late to match Halloween date ? It’s a complete mess…
Kulvar, it seems you’ve completely misunderstood my entire point.
I never denied that Wintersday is the new year. I never denied the existence of seasons. In fact, I’ve been arguing the fact that such are both true as my main points.
My point was that the Mouvelian Calendar’s first day – aka Wintersday – is the Spring Equinox. See the wiki’s entry for Mouvelian calendar. Zephyr 01 is the first day of Spring, which in turn is the Tyrian New Year; but we experience Wintersday when we experience Christmas and our New Years, which is not even a month into winter.
In other words: the Gregorian New Year and the Mouvelian New Year happen two and a half months apart from each other when considering the seasons’ beginnings and endings, and this was what your OP completely overlooked – as do most community folks.
This means that the syncing of the calendar is an even bigger mess. And trying to link January 1st with Zephyr 01 doesn’t work because a confirmed to be autumn (aka Season of the Scion) holiday is then placed into winter (aka Season of the Colossus).
(Disclaimer: I refer to Earth’s northern hemisphere for seasons’ beginning and endings for the Gregorian calendar)
About snow, I was saying is that:
- We only see confirmed natural snow in high elevations; e.g., mountains like the Shiverpeaks
- We see magical snow elsewhere (confirmed for GW2 cities during Wintersday, and Kamadan in GW1; highly implied for LA, Tombs, and Ascalon for GW1 but human legend and reality is a bit muddled in those areas).
I was not denying the existence of seasons – I don’t know where you got that, since I only ever said snow when talking about that.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
An example : Ascalon City (2010 Wintersday). The whole area is covered by natural snow.
For the 1 Zephyr = 1 January…
Tyria is an imaginary world, it’s not like we can travel to Tyria or from it. This could let us see that seasons arent synchronized. There’s no point in making the years of Tyria begin at a different moment than ours. It’s the same reason that make devs add days to Mouvelian calendar : to match our years.
You’re just not reading my posts, are you? That, or your completely overlooking my point.
Trying to explain it any further will just result in repetition. Please just re-read my posts and fully.
I’ll just say one final thing on the topic of the seasons:
By syncing the calendars, you sync the equinoxes and solstices. Zephyr 01 = first day of spring. The issue of the calendars is not just “where do the new five days lie” but also “the seasons do not fall in line with the holidays”.
Placing Zephyr 01 as January 01 puts a confirmed autumn holiday (Halloween) in winter by full accordance of “when we experience it” and “using the synced calendar”.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
(edited by Konig Des Todes.2086)
I read you but…
Making 1st Zephyr match 1st January :
• Mad King week is one month late (or more).
Making 1st Zephyr match 21th March :
• Wintersday is almost three months too early
• Mouvelian Calendar don’t match Gregorian Calendar (which was the purpose of adding five days)
I think that an holiday at the wrong season is better than the new year holiday too early and calendar desynchronized.
(edited by Kulvar.1239)
And that’s the entire point that I’m making.
No matter what, the syncing of the calendar doesn’t work. There’ll be errors. Unless ArenaNet starts putting Wintersday in the middle of March (which, y’know, wouldn’t be all that terrible of a thing all things considered, but you just know it won’t be done because it’s the players’ christmas). The entire concept of the Living World happening in real time just doesn’t work, and that’s the entire point I’m making.
Go one way, or go the other, you have issues nonetheless.
However, I’ll note that the purpose of adding the five days was not to have the two calendars match to the day, but instead to have the lengths match so that the real-time syncing can occur. It’s a kitten attempt at something that is pretty clearly didn’t get a lot of thought put into.
The only real solution is to drop the entire syncing act.
Dear ANet writers,
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
Stop treating GW2 as a single story. Each Season and expansion should be their own story.
While I agree with Konig that it would be better not to attempt to have 1:1 synching at all, for a number of reasons (including the whole ‘Tyria going on high alert every second Tuesday’ thing).
It is possible to say that 1 Zephyr = 1 January, and also have it be the spring equinox. It just means that while days may line up, Tyria’s seasons are not actually in synchronisation with our own. Instead, they’re about three months earlier. Such an alignment makes Mad King Thorn’s day being at the end of autumn fit a little better – it’s only about 30 days out.
If ArenaNet was serious about 1:1 synchronisation, what they could do is make the Wintersday event last to the end of January, and say that the last day of the event is the ‘actual’ Wintersday. That way, if we take King Thorn’s Day to be the end of autumn (which… does seem quite fitting, for the veil to the Underworld to be opened at the start of Grenth’s season), the end of the Season of the Colossus would be about the right number of days afterwards. Under that metric, the date of this post would be around Scion 74.
To those who think Scarlet hate means she’s succeeded as a villain:
People don’t hate Scarlet like Game of Thrones fans hate Joffrey.
They hate her the way Star Wars fans hate Jar Jar Binks.
People don’t hate Scarlet like Game of Thrones fans hate Joffrey.
They hate her the way Star Wars fans hate Jar Jar Binks.
How about this, scrap the entire theory of trying to synchronize the calendars? Just forget it, Tyria has it’s own calendar and seasons, just like we have our own calendar and seasons. In that way, the seasons of Tyria don’t necessarily have to match the Tyrian calendar, or the calendar doesn’t have to match the seasons.