Guild Wars 2

On the dungeon in general:

• Mistlock Observatory is Dessa’s lab. She stumbled upon it sometime in the past – given her dialogue, before the sylvari were known to the world – and she hasn’t left because of a psychological entrapment. She deceives herself into believing she can’t leave, because she believes that if she does, she’ll never be able to return.
• The Fractals themselves are slivers of Tyria’s past – all of them are implied or indicated to be past though it is possible that the Uncategorized is present/future, and any future fractals may be future as well if added.
  • NOTE: Though they’re of the past, they’re never perfect pasts but rather alternative versions of the past – the closest to perfect pasts would be what happened except for our own actions.
• The research Dessa is doing is on the Mists and the ability to create out of the Mists’ protomatter. The research entails stabilizing the fractals which include killing hostile inhabitants (“stabilizing” may be a misleading word, but it’s what they use). Over time these hostile inhabitants are returned to the fractal and thus need to be cleared again.

On the specific Fractals (most of this comes from various interviews, but I don’t really feel like digging through them – most of said interviews are linked on the wiki’s articles for the relevant fractal):

• Urban Battlegrounds is an alternative version of The Searing.
• Solid Oceanic is a representation of the solidified Jade Sea. The Jade Maw is a kraken.
• Volcanic may be a recreation of a situation where grawl worshiped Primordus.
• Cliffside is a pre-historic situation. It was inspired by the greek myth of Prometheus but beyond being of a time when humanity was newish to Tyria, it is overall unknown. The enemies give hint to Ritualism and the seals hold rather Canthan-esque runes. It is likely, in my opinion, to be a recreation of something that happened at the human homeland prior to Cantha (post arriving on the world of Tyria in Orr). We know nothing of the Colossus.
• Aquatic Fractal is implied to be a mixture of two historical scenes – one of Ascalon, one of Elona.
• Snowblind we don’t really have anything on beyond what we see. I theorize that it is of the five-year-long blizzard Jormag made when he awoke, but got little to really support it other than mentions of a blizzard (though it seems made by the Greater Ice Elemental).
• Underground Fractal – no clue. Obviously something of within the past 250 years though.
• Swamp fractal – also no clue.
• Uncategorized – all we know of this is that it is not Rata Sum but a city built by “like-minded architects” (like-minded to those who built Rata Sum).

Mossman appears to be a Norn, or something similiar. I wonder if it’s an ancient Norn ancestor living in a swamp.

Another thing that’s apparent to me is the “Melandru” type theme in the Swamp. Maybe a sliver of the past of “Mordremoth” influence? Some Norn (Svanir) do worship Jormag, maybe this is something similar, but ancient.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

• Aquatic Fractal is implied to be a mixture of two historical scenes – one of Ascalon, one of Elona.

Why a mixture? The statues look similar to what is common in Elona, however that does not mean they are elonian. Early greek sculptures for example look very much like egyptian sculptures, that’s just cultural influence. Is there anything else in this fractals that leads you to believe that it is in part elonian?

Mossman could be Eir’s husband you never know

@BuddhaKeks It was a question in the latest GuildMag interview. The interviewees really went out of their way to avoid answering the question, but in the process it came up that “Maybe there is a place that had that Elonian Ascalonian crossover area.” Mind you, none of them actually said that that’s what Aquatic Ruins is, or gave any concrete explanation of what Aquatic Ruins is, so take that with a grain of salt.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

@BuddhaKeks It was a question in the latest GuildMag interview. The interviewees really went out of their way to avoid answering the question, but in the process it came up that “Maybe there is a place that had that Elonian Ascalonian crossover area.” Mind you, none of them actually said that that’s what Aquatic Ruins is, or gave any concrete explanation of what Aquatic Ruins is, so take that with a grain of salt.

Sounds more like they thought “oh those nerds and their stupid questions…” and they said “yeah yeah it’s like… uhhh… a crossover. Yeah that’s what it is!” :P

No, no XD. The interviewers suggested it may have been a crossover in the question.

EDIT: The relevant text: http://www.guildmag.com/magazine/issue9/interview.htm

GuildMag (Draxynnic): Fair enough… okay, let’s move onto some questions we had regarding Fractals. Okay so, in a previous interview with TowerTalk there was a tease of a mention of about just when the Cliffside Fractal takes place, but we still don’t know much about the Underwater and Volcanic Fractals. In the former we see some sunken statues which look a bit Elonian but the surrounding ruins feel Ascalonian. Can you shed some light on when and where that takes place?

ArenaNet (Scott McGough) : Uh, not very much I’m afraid. I feel like I’m letting you down here. But yeah, the existing fractals are all scattered far and wide throughout Tyria’s history and pre-history. Some of these things are from the time of myth and legend and so we can’t exactly verify exactly how they happened or how they connect to the modern world. That one, uh… yeah, I’m afraid that’s just going to have to be my answer for now.

ArenaNet (Jeff Grubb) : One of the things with Fractals is because they’re in the Mists, they are echoes. They are not true history, they are basically the resonant history.

ArenaNet (Scott McGough) : Exactly, yes.

ArenaNet (Jeff Grubb) : So therefore you’re seeing a lot of combined feelings coming in sometimes. Maybe there is a place that had that Ascalonian Elonian crossover area. But just as easily, it may be the effect of the Mists.

ArenaNet (Scott McGough) : And, check me on this guys, the Mists as we define them – the Mists by definition: anything that can be there, or has been, can show up in the Mists. So we get some strange pairings sometimes.

After that they swerve into discussing Urban Battlegrounds, and then the questions move on.

Fafnir.5124:

Mossman could be Eir’s husband you never know

This thread just got serious.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

No, no XD. The interviewers suggested it may have been a crossover in the question.

Yeah I know the interview, that was however the feeling I got from the answer back then. It feels like they just came up with it on the spot, which is why “they can’t tell us very much”. I’m 100% sure the level designer put those sculptures in because he thought they looked cool, not for any lore reason whatsoever. They dance around the question and then finally setting on it “maybe” being a crossover area.
Not that it couldn’t be in south ascalon, on the border to the crystal desert, which could of course hold elonian influence (it’s not like elonians haven’t tried to settle there), I’m just saying that the sculptures looking elonian does not mean they are elonian, they could simply be made in elonian style. Drax question is the more correct way to talk about it, since he said they “look elonian”, not that they are.
And the answer Anet gave on this, is not definite, it’s more like giving possible explanations, so I think we shouldn’t go around and tell people it’s a mixture of two cultures yet.

Justdeifyme.9387:

Fafnir.5124:

Mossman could be Eir’s husband you never know

This thread just got serious.

Would explain where Bram gets his kittenness from

My two cents on that- from Scott’s answer, I believe they either did not have any particular concrete setting for it, like you said, or that it is something earmarked for potential future stories and therefor not something they’re willing/allowed to talk about- I personally lean towards the former, but I am not willing to discount the later out-of-hand.

As for the statues, the only reason I ever jumped to the Elonian connection is because Istan is the only extant human culture to employ large statues of humans on a large scale. The style does not match at all, neither for the Istani sculptures nor the ones of uncertain origin in the Crystal Desert.

@Antara Personally I see no Melandru connection in that Fractal, specifically as regards the Mossman. If you have a group that doesn’t try to strong-arm you on as soon as he’s dead, you’ll see the area around is shack is littered with bones, both on the ground and on display. The only human god to accept remains as an offering is Grenth, but I wouldn’t jump to that connection either.

BuddhaKeks.4857:

Aaron Ansari.1604:

@BuddhaKeks It was a question in the latest GuildMag interview. The interviewees really went out of their way to avoid answering the question, but in the process it came up that “Maybe there is a place that had that Elonian Ascalonian crossover area.” Mind you, none of them actually said that that’s what Aquatic Ruins is, or gave any concrete explanation of what Aquatic Ruins is, so take that with a grain of salt.

Sounds more like they thought “oh those nerds and their stupid questions…” and they said “yeah yeah it’s like… uhhh… a crossover. Yeah that’s what it is!” :P

hence why I said “implied” – a loose implication but there.

It’s also implied to be ancient history.

About the statues – the faces hold Elonian esque features. And about the CD statues… Matching statues are found very very rarely in Ascalon – in both gw1 and gw2. The scenery also match Istan, while the ruins are used for Ascalonian ruins.

Aaron Ansari.1604:

My two cents on that- from Scott’s answer, I believe they either did not have any particular concrete setting for it, like you said, or that it is something earmarked for potential future stories and therefor not something they’re willing/allowed to talk about- I personally lean towards the former, but I am not willing to discount the later out-of-hand.

As for the statues, the only reason I ever jumped to the Elonian connection is because Istan is the only extant human culture to employ large statues of humans on a large scale. The style does not match at all, neither for the Istani sculptures nor the ones of uncertain origin in the Crystal Desert.

@Antara Personally I see no Melandru connection in that Fractal, specifically as regards the Mossman. If you have a group that doesn’t try to strong-arm you on as soon as he’s dead, you’ll see the area around is shack is littered with bones, both on the ground and on display. The only human god to accept remains as an offering is Grenth, but I wouldn’t jump to that connection either.

I don’t mean to state I see a connection to Melandru, but rather the theme with the roots, wilderness style magic, reminded me of melandru. If anything, I would lean towards a Mordremoth influence, but not melandru.

Can’t wilderness be wilderness without the influence of great and powerful beings? In that fractal I saw a hostile old forest, it’s hostile guardian, and a crazy norn living in it.

It’s not a norn…

It’s a Warden (gw1 wardens not the silly wanna be sylvari police)!

Kidding…

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Uncategorized – all we know of this is that it is not Rata Sum but a city built by “like-minded architects” (like-minded to those who built Rata Sum).

Regarding this, in Metrica Province, the Luminates Krewe is in charge of testing prototypes and supplying energy for the creation of a new city. There could be a tie between both.

The Luminaries Plant doesn’t look close to the Uncategorized Fractal, nor is it floating like the Uncategorized Fractal is hinted to have once been.

His point is that they are in the process of designing a new city cube, not that the lab itself is the Fractal. Although the zoom-out at the end of the Fractal shows what appear to be supportive pillars at the bottom, so I have my doubts as to rather it ever floated.

Are they? I don’t recall such (but I didn’t spend much time in Metrica, TBH, except for the Thaumanova).

Mhm. It’s what they need all that power from the meta for- they intend to serve as the central power grid for a city the size of Rata Sum.

Exactly, thanks for clarifying my point, Aaron. I’ll have to look back at the fractal cutscene, I never noticed those pillars you mention.

Even if the Luminaries Plant is building a new city cube, it can’t be the Uncategorized Fractal. A dev specifically said that Fractal was a past event and not future. Only way it could be is if the Plant has had a few bad runs in the past.

Depending on how you read his response, actually, it could be either “all fractals are of the past” or “all fractals except Uncategorized are of the past.” There was some discussion on the interpretation of his words with nitpickery which is rather important when it comes to ArenaNet since they don’t enjoy speaking in definitives.

Yep, you’re (not surprisingly) right.

We’re not ready to reveal the whole truth about the Uncategorized Fractal yet, but I can tell you that it does not represent a potential future for Rata Sum. All of the other fractals represent discrete sections of the past, recreated. We have the ancient past, more recent past, and mythic/lost to history past, but there are no futures in there.

He nixes the Rata Sum idea, but doesn’t say anything about that specific fractal being strictly past. Just states all the other fractals represent the past which leaves a bit of a hole there for them. Sooooo more plausible than I thought :P

Indeed. He specifically rules out that its not a future Rata Sum. But it could possibly be a future city.