Having an interesting discussion about waypoints and how they fit into lore. I’ve been able to find VERY few things about them. Only that they are Asuran and they are everywhere. Just wanted to hear the Lore communities thoughts.
My comments on the matter:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Technician_Penn
I also found this in an interview with Angel McCoy:
Esprits d’Orr : Should waypoints be considered from a roleplay perspective? If so, how do they function?
Angel McCoy : Absolutely! Waypoints are asuran devices, and all the money you spend to use them goes straight into the coffers at Rata Sum. The asura have been developing these magi-matter-transportive devices for centuries and have seeded them across the world. They’re often contested if creatures or bad guys disrupt the traffic coming through them, but the asura work hard to maintain this money-making web of mini-gates. The fee, in case you wondered, is automatically separated from your person and transported directly into a guarded room in Rata Sum. The coins drop in and pile up there, and workers put them in carts and carry them to the vaults.
source: http://esprits-dorr.fr/node/261
“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”
I really wished this was just a game mechanic, the idea of “I’m in the Cursed Shore and the next second Divinity’s Reach” really takes away from the travel a great distance and be very far away in a really dangerous place.
Having that said you’ve posted everything there is to know about them, what other questions do you have?
As for thoughts, I think it would be cool to have them all but major city ones disabled for 2 weeks as part of the LS2.
Victoria Cross [VC] – Desolation [EU]
Although that would be a cool idea, you know the forums would explode with all the QQing of people about having to run from zone to zone and missing events, world bosses, it takes too long, etc. so we need to have mounts instead. :P
I figured that was about it for the WPs, just wasn’t sure if anyone else had any tidbits into maybe how they work? how, in lore, PCs are able to access a WP without being near one, etc.
“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”
If I remember right, Logan had a conversation with Taimi after the Marionette fight that mentioned waypoints. I can’t seem to find the conversation on the wiki, but Logan was trying to get Taimi back to Rata Sum, and Taimi said something like, “Are you going to pay for the waypoint back?” Logan replies with something like, “There goes my next paycheck.”
So, moral of the story, waypoints might have been implied to be expensive lore-wise. This, combined with the “you can only use waypoints you have actually came across” rule, makes it so that the population of Tyria can’t teleport around willy-nilly.
The small fee that players pay could probably be filed under “game mechanic/gold sink”.
Thats kind of what I understood as well. In the books, and lorewise there is also a rather large fee for using gates, but the players don’t. Thats why you see many of the escort type DEs for supplies and merchants. It’s cheaper to travel by land, although more dangerous and timely. It’s just not worth it for a mechant, or supplier, to take a gate.
“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”
