New lore interview to Anet lore team

New lore interview to Anet lore team

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Posted by: Lorea.3081

Lorea.3081

Hi, everyone! The spanish-speaking community of Guild Wars 2 had the opportunity a few months ago of doing an interview to Anet lore team. We receive the answer yesterday, and we think that was great to share it with everyone.

Enjoy!


Lore Q&A: The spanish community ask to Scott McGough, Angel McCoy and Bobby Stein

The Elder Dragons

  • Can you give some detail on how the Elder Dragons behave towards each other?

The Elder Dragons are aware of each other, as would be any two apex predators whose hunting grounds overlap, but so far there is no record of them fighting each other (much as two overlapping apex predators can coexist, as long as they don’t encounter each other personally). Ascribing motives and reactions to them that we mortals can understand is a dicey business because they are so alien, but one of the most popular current theories among Tyria’s dragon researchers is that the Elder Dragons would fight each other (at least via their minion proxy armies) if they expanded into each other’s territories, but multiple Elder Dragons completing the “devouring” stage of their life cycles (sleep, wake, claim territory, devour all the magic, sleep) eats up all the magic on Tyria before that happens. It’s kind of a natural predatory equilibrium: the dragons are separated by enough distance and their wake times are staggered such that they are able to sustain themselves and return to their more dormant state without having to battle each other for the magical resources they consume.

  • What is the exact process by which someone is corrupted by a dragon? Is there any way to protect yourself from dragon corruption or repel it?

The magic Elder Dragons use to corrupt things is ancient, powerful, and barely understood by the greatest magical minds on Tyria. There have been spells that could successfully cleanse a living thing of dragon corruption (see the Ruined City of Arah dungeon’s Forgotten path, or the climax of the Pact’s campaign in Orr) but they are not well understood, require significant resources to cast, and must be cast in a particular geographic location, so they are not universally available.

  • Almost two years have passed since Zhaitan’s death and the cleansing process started by Trahearne, yet Orr still looks the same. Is it actually being slowly purified or are the remaining major minions somehow preventing it?

Orr is slowly being purified by Trahearne’s cleansing spell; it will take time, however, as Orr had centuries to soak up Zhaitan’s corruption. Even though Zhaitan itself is gone, its influence and impact are still playing out in Orr and its minions are still actively serving its interests.

Magic in Tyria

  • Roleplaying wise, does magical healing depend on the knowledge the caster has of the patient’s anatomy? What about the state of the caster (poisoned, wounded, confused…) when attempting to self-heal or heal others?

A person’s magical ability and familiarity with a given healing spell is far more important than the caster’s knowledge of the patient’s anatomy or the caster’s current physical state. An injured/poisoned/etc. caster has a tougher time mustering the physical and mental resources necessary to cast a healing spell, but once the spell is cast at all it will have its full effect. Think of it as a sprinter recovering from a sprained ankle—they may take a bit longer to get to the finish line and they may feel a bit more pain along the way, but they will still finish the race.

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(edited by Lorea.3081)

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Posted by: Lorea.3081

Lorea.3081

  • Is there anything like ‘magic perception’ (i.e. the ability to detect magical energies in the environment and other spellcasters, regardless of whether they are using magic at that moment or not) which can be trained and developed by a magic user?

In the right circumstances, yes, proper training coupled with natural ability can allow some people to sense concentrations of ambient magic in the environment and the people around them. This is also mechano-magically possible, as we see in the Asura Personal Story when Professor Gorr employs a device that measures the level of ambient magic in its immediate location.

Magic surrounds the inhabitants of Tyria like air surrounds us. We’re only aware of it when it asserts itself in strong winds and air currents. Occasionally we can (with fanning) move and accelerate air to do our bidding. Our bodies burn oxygen and air produces our breath.

Think of it like chi/ki/the Force. Tyrians draw magic from around them to fuel their spells. Some have learned how to do this more effectively than others. And yet, air remains visually invisible to us most of the time.

  • We know that ley lines crisscross Tyria like currents as an ocean of magic. Where is the origin of these currents, considering we can also use magic while in the Mists?

There are some assumptions in your question that I’m not sure I understand. Are you positing that ley lines make magic possible (they don’t)? Are you positing that ley lines don’t extend into the Mists (modern ley line theory states they do)?

Ley line study in Tyria has not identified the origin of the ley line currents, but think of them as analogous to rivers rather than geysers—that which flows (water or magic) exists, gathers, and collects into these channels. The ley lines do not produce magic (as, in my example, a river does not produce water but a geyser does), but rather they are the path that magic follows as it ebbs and surges and flows throughout the world.

  • What is ‘ether’ and how does it relate to the kind of magic our characters use, the ley lines and dragon energy?

In Tyria, “aether” refers to the metaphysical substance that occupies the spaces between matter and energy; analogous to the vacuum of space between planets as well as the space between protons and neutrons (if said vacuum of space had a magical presence to it). It is not a definable and measurable thing like ley lines, which represent the actual flow of magical energy through and across Tyria.

As such, aether is one aspect of the magic mortals or Elder Dragons use. It is part of the magical/physical structure of the universe, but unavailable for direct study—sort of like dark matter: there is something there, a presence that includes a magical aspect, which we can observe and verify from the effects it produces, but so far no one can reproducibly locate, measure, or study it. They’ve only learned how to tap it. If tapping a source of power you don’t entirely understand sounds dangerous to you, that’s because it is.

  • Does the resemblance between Krait Obelisks and Bloodstones have anything to do with the dragons and magic containment?

No. Krait Obelisks have some magical properties, but they currently have more power as spiritual icons to the krait (and the mechanism by which krait oratuss hoard political power) than they do magical power; the Bloodstones are literal embodiments of the power wielded by different magical schools of thought.

The only known connection between Bloodstones, krait obelisks, and dragons/magic containment is that the original Bloodstone was created by the Seers as a vessel for saving aside some of the world’s magic so that the dragons couldn’t consume it all.

The Races of Tyria

  • Could you elaborate on the Largos culture and the Tethyos Houses?

Not at this time. We plan to explore the culture and background of largos society in a future story arc, but until then we’re keeping everyone’s favorite mysterious underwater race mysterious.

  • What can you tell us about the location of the Ash Legion homelands and their capital city?

Sadly, not much. Again, we have plans to explore the Ash Legion citadel in a future story release so we’re keeping any and all potential details to ourselves for now.

¡Queremos casitas! <a href="http://bit.ly/1c2sHkk">Tu casa en cualquier lugar </a>

(edited by Lorea.3081)

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Posted by: Lorea.3081

Lorea.3081

  • What is the current state of the charr-human peace negotiations towards the signing of the treaty?

Slow (very slow) but making progress. The Black Citadel and Divinity’s reach are forging a good working relationship and both governments are committed to the peace process, but each has significant portions of its population that are suspicious or even hostile to the notion of peace with their traditional enemies. Hammering out the details of the treaty remains a contentious and time-consuming process.

  • Could you give us an approximate equivalence between Tyrian currency and real life currencies such as the euro or the United States dollar?

I’m afraid any estimate we could provide would be little more than a wild guess. The global economies of both Tyria and Earth are remarkably complicated, full of shifting variables, and share very few common elements. The values of their currencies change from day to day and hour to hour, so there really is no basis for a one-to-one comparison. I suppose you could start with the absolutely least expensive thing in Tyria (an egg, which costs 1 copper) and compare that to the 1/12 the price of a dozen eggs in your local grocery store, but even that would not provide a definite and stable rate of exchange.

  • Could you explain in more detail how the rank hierarchies within the three orders of Tyria and the Pact itself work? What is the role of those ranks which are not part of the main chain of command (e.g. Whispers Guardian, Vigil Tactician, etc.) and what level of authority do they have within their respective organizations?

There are many ranks within each order; we’ve included a partial list below, along with those ranks’ basic responsibilities.

Durmand Priory
· Novice—new recruit of the Priory, untested.
· Explorer—standard member of the Priory; adventurers and explorers who collect lost artifacts, knowledge, and maps
· Magister—the highest rank of standard member; the captain or group leader, a very respected member
· Scholar—the academic, more research-oriented version of the explorer
· Arcanist—Magical protectors of the Priory.

Vigil
· Recruit—new member of the Vigil
· Crusader—typical member of the Vigil
· Tactician—engineers, scholars, and leaders of small companies
· Warmaster—leader of a large group/area

Order of Whispers
· Initiate—new member of the OOW
· Agent—general member of the OOW
· Creator—the engineering backbone of the OOW
· Lightbringer—the adventuring, overtly military part of the OOW
· Keeper—in charge of large groups and areas.

  • What happened to the race-specific languages (both written and spoken) after the consolidation of New Krytan and the current use of a common spoken language?

Race-specific languages and dialects still exist, but the common tongue has eclipsed them in terms of everyday usage.

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Posted by: Arghore.8340

Arghore.8340

Thank you for sharing, I have some ‘corrections’ to make though, concerning the analogies. While I like the use of them ( @Anet Representative!) please do check if the analogy you use is based upon the right principle! If you use an analogy based upon some science, do make sure this science is actual proven fact (or near to) so you don’t spread what is basically ‘non sense’… it makes me cringe

On the ‘creation’ of water
Water is created by the chemical binding of Oxygen en Hydrogen, this is an exothermic reaction (aka energy is also released when the two combine) that needs either a ‘start up energy’ (spark of something will do) or a ‘reactant’ (which is platinum). The reaction takes place when the concentration of both Oxygen en Hydrogen is high enough for it to take place (hence we find both Hydrogen and Oxygen on our planet, even though the planet contains platinum and loads of places that are plenty hot).

A Geyser does NOT create water! A geyser is a geological process caused by underground volcanic action. It works like a pressure cooker: An underground cavity is constantly filled with water (likely from the top, so that the water flow also seals off the cavity), this water is then heated by the volcanic action and starts to boil. Once the pressure is high enough to break through the inward flow of water, the pressure is released. OR, like a thermal syphon, which works in almost the same way, though it would involve a ‘tube’ that filled with water, the water boils and from expansion pushes the water out of the tube.

This is different from a spring, which is a geological process where water gets to the surface either due to gravity and an impenetrable rock layer (the water penetrates the soil -> hits the rock layer -> flows downward with gravity -> exits as a spring), OR, by a process that can best be described as the ‘Connected vessels’, where the water level is corrected by a connection between two points of elevation, which are caused by impenetrable rocks. (the water penetrates in one area -> flows downwards in a tube of impenetrable rock -> due to the tube being U shaped, with one ‘shorter leg’ on one side -> the water then flows out the short side.

Seeing as Ley Lines are described like rivers, all these processes ‘may’ take place on Tyria if the conditions are right, and magic behaves like water. One hint of this might be seen in the CoE area, where there seems to be an ‘Eternal Faithfull’ geyser of magic being propelled into the air (unless there is another explanation for this ‘eternal’ flow of magic into the air).

On dark-matter
Dark matter is up until now an Unproven hypothesis to explain the rotational speed of the matter in the disk of solar systems. If you want to use an analogy for aether, use ‘The Higgsfield’, while discovery of the Higgsboson is still somewhat up in the air (‘we’ (as in mankind) are not sure what we found), and is only so far been suspected to be found in LHC. Aka. to be truly acknowledged as existing it needs to still be confirmed by an independent second control experiment!

But seeing the Higgs field is related to the Higgs Boson, where the interaction between these two in something that I can only describe as ‘friction’, is the reason for the existence of Mass. Which gives particles a way to interact with Gravity, to results in weight. This whole process can truly be called ‘magical’ in a sense, and the higgs field Omni presence can (from my point of view) truly be called ‘the aether’….

Disclaimer
I do not blame the person coming up with the analogies and using them, for these misunderstandings. Using analogies is actually a really good way to convey otherwise hard to explain concepts. And science is not for everybody… But I did feel the need to correct them, so that no scholars will fail their chemistry or physics tests…

We are peace, we are war. We are how we treat each other and nothing more…
25 okt 2014 – PinkDay in LA

(edited by Arghore.8340)

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Posted by: Cyan.6904

Cyan.6904

This was an interesting read. =)

Cyan Graceland — Elementalist
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade

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Posted by: Zaxares.5419

Zaxares.5419

Thanks for sharing this info with us, Lorea.

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Posted by: pdavis.8031

pdavis.8031

On the ‘creation’ of water
Water is created by the chemical binding of Oxygen en Hydrogen, this is an exothermic reaction (aka energy is also released when the two combine) that needs either a ‘start up energy’ (spark of something will do) or a ‘reactant’ (which is platinum). The reaction takes place when the concentration of both Oxygen en Hydrogen is high enough for it to take place (hence we find both Hydrogen and Oxygen on our planet, even though the planet contains platinum and loads of places that are plenty hot).

A Geyser does NOT create water! A geyser is a geological process caused by underground volcanic action. It works like a pressure cooker: An underground cavity is constantly filled with water (likely from the top, so that the water flow also seals off the cavity), this water is then heated by the volcanic action and starts to boil. Once the pressure is high enough to break through the inward flow of water, the pressure is released. OR, like a thermal syphon, which works in almost the same way, though it would involve a ‘tube’ that filled with water, the water boils and from expansion pushes the water out of the tube.

This is different from a spring, which is a geological process where water gets to the surface either due to gravity and an impenetrable rock layer (the water penetrates the soil -> hits the rock layer -> flows downward with gravity -> exits as a spring), OR, by a process that can best be described as the ‘Connected vessels’, where the water level is corrected by a connection between two points of elevation, which are caused by impenetrable rocks. (the water penetrates in one area -> flows downwards in a tube of impenetrable rock -> due to the tube being U shaped, with one ‘shorter leg’ on one side -> the water then flows out the short side.

Seeing as Ley Lines are described like rivers, all these processes ‘may’ take place on Tyria if the conditions are right, and magic behaves like water. One hint of this might be seen in the CoE area, where there seems to be an ‘Eternal Faithfull’ geyser of magic being propelled into the air (unless there is another explanation for this ‘eternal’ flow of magic into the air).

On dark-matter
Dark matter is up until now an Unproven hypothesis to explain the rotational speed of the matter in the disk of solar systems. If you want to use an analogy for aether, use ‘The Higgsfield’, while discovery of the Higgsboson is still somewhat up in the air (‘we’ (as in mankind) are not sure what we found), and is only so far been suspected to be found in LHC. Aka. to be truly acknowledged as existing it needs to still be confirmed by an independent second control experiment!

But seeing the Higgs field is related to the Higgs Boson, where the interaction between these two in something that I can only describe as ‘friction’, is the reason for the existence of Mass. Which gives particles a way to interact with Gravity, to results in weight. This whole process can truly be called ‘magical’ in a sense, and the higgs field Omni presence can (from my point of view) truly be called ‘the aether’….

All true, however in their defense the analogies used are an over simplified version.

On water: Of course a geyser does not creat water, anyone with even a basic understanding of chemistry knows that. However, likening magic and ley lines to rivers and geysers makes it much easier for the average person to understand. In this analogy, a geyser would be something that produces water/magic (although we know that it doesn’t, technically speaking) and a river is the channel in which magic flows. But the main point is that magic is flowing along the ley lines, and is not produced by those lines. How or where magic is produced is yet unanswered, but given the Chi/Ki/The force example, magic just IS. It doesn’t have to be produced from something.

On Dark matter/Higgsfield:
Even as a non theoretical physist, I can understand dark matter much better then a Higgsfield. Dark matter is what lies in the empty spaces of atoms/space/etc. While the technical aspects are much more complex then that, this analogy works much better because most people will understand that better than having to take an advanced physics class just to understand what what they mean by Aether.

In short, rather then using complex analogies/language and examples to describe the complex nature of magic within Tyria, they used more abstract and simpler methods. While trying to educate a group of people on the nature of magic, it wouldn’t be wise, or helpful, to use complex devices assuming your audience understands those same principles.

“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”

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Posted by: pdavis.8031

pdavis.8031

Side note: had to shrink it down to fit all in one post :P

“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”

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Posted by: CureForLiving.5360

CureForLiving.5360

All true, however in their defense the analogies used are an over simplified version.

Pretty much this. One doesn’t compare an apple to an apple in a analogue because that’s pointless (the idea of course being that you compare something unknown to something known in order to explain the unknown). One will inherently attempt to compare and apple to something similar to an apple, but since the thing you’re comparing to the apple is not an apple (so an orange) there will always be inconsistencies which can lead to false analogues or incorrect assumptions.

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Posted by: Arghore.8340

Arghore.8340

@pdavis, apparently i didn’t make it clear enough that i liked the use of analogies… i merely said that using the right ones would be even better… and after that i merely explained what the reality of things was. Not so much to say ‘hey Anet you are wrong’ but to say: ‘Hey reader, if you didn’t know, this is how it works’…

On Darkmatter and the Higgsfield, darkmatter is (to me anyway) nothing more than an hypothesis. Nothing of yet is proven… And yes the Higgsfield is something that ‘may’ be proven and is baffling as a litter of kittens (aka. as a more amateuristic physics enthusiast im still trying to wrap my head around it). Still though the Higgsfield provides the possibility for matter to interact with gravity through the application of mass. In a fairly similar way as how the Ether apparently provides a medium through which magic can interact with the physical world. Hope you somewhat see the similarities…

Darkmatter on the other hand, well, it’s nothing like how ether would function, it’s just some elusive hypothesis that can be used to explain certain effects that are viewed. Now in that sense sure Ether may just be some hypothetical something that is used to explain certain behaviour of magic, and as Darkmatter might be proven wrong, Ether might also be proven wrong… Yet, due to the origin of Ether, from early day science, the possible existence of it as a medium to facilitate magic and it’s interaction with the physical world, resembles the Higgsfield much better than Darkmatter ever will.

And seeing that a lot of people wont understand exactly what darkmatter is (heck most scientist don’t even know, and quite possibly because it may not even exist). Using it doesn’t make things easier to understand, at least not ‘more easy’ like using the Higgsfield would…


As far as the geyser and water analogies, I liked the water analogy in regards to ley lines, actually I liked it so much that when geysers were used I pointed out that in CoE there might well ‘be’ a magic geyser. It’s just that I didn’t like how a geyser was said to ‘produce’/‘create’ water. As it was said to be different from ‘a river’ in that sense…

Actually if you remove all the ‘geyser’ references in that part of the explination, then Ley Lines are explained with a really good analogy!

We are peace, we are war. We are how we treat each other and nothing more…
25 okt 2014 – PinkDay in LA

(edited by Arghore.8340)

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Posted by: pdavis.8031

pdavis.8031

@pdavis, apparently i didn’t make it clear enough that i liked the use of analogies… i merely said that using the right ones would be even better… and after that i merely explained what the reality of things was. Not so much to say ‘hey Anet you are wrong’ but to say: ‘Hey reader, if you didn’t know, this is how it works’…

On Darkmatter and the Higgsfield, darkmatter is (to me anyway) nothing more than an hypothesis. Nothing of yet is proven… And yes the Higgsfield is something that ‘may’ be proven and is baffling as a litter of kittens (aka. as a more amateuristic physics enthusiast im still trying to wrap my head around it). Still though the Higgsfield provides the possibility for matter to interact with gravity through the application of mass. In a fairly similar way as how the Ether apparently provides a medium through which magic can interact with the physical world. Hope you somewhat see the similarities…

Darkmatter on the other hand, well, it’s nothing like how ether would function, it’s just some elusive hypothesis that can be used to explain certain effects that are viewed. Now in that sense sure Ether may just be some hypothetical something that is used to explain certain behaviour of magic, and as Darkmatter might be proven wrong, Ether might also be proven wrong… Yet, due to the origin of Ether, from early day science, the possible existence of it as a medium to facilitate magic and it’s interaction with the physical world, resembles the Higgsfield much better than Darkmatter ever will.

And seeing that a lot of people wont understand exactly what darkmatter is (heck most scientist don’t even know, and quite possibly because it may not even exist). Using it doesn’t make things easier to understand, at least not ‘more easy’ thkittening the Higgsfield would…

True about the dark matter/Higgsfield approach, however I still maintain that more people have a generalized idea of what dark matter is (or may be) than a Higgsfield. As more people have likely heard about dark matter, if only in vague references, than a Higgsfield. I myself have never heard the term Higgsfield until this thread, but have a VERY limited understanding of what darkmatter is (or may be). So while using a Higgsfield analogy may be more accurate, it would confuse more people then it would help them.

After all, what is the point of an analogy if the reader (or student) doesn’t understand the concept being presented?

“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”

(edited by pdavis.8031)

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Posted by: pdavis.8031

pdavis.8031

Just another thought:

Would Dark Energy be an even better analogy for Aether?
“The simplest explanation for dark energy is that it is simply the “cost of having space”: that is, a volume of space has some intrinsic, fundamental energy"

So basically the Aether would be the energy that is “between” and “holding” everything together. Yes Dark Energy is much more complex than this, but at it’s core its the idea that there is no “empty” space. Even the space between electrons and protons would consist of “Dark Energy”. Thus the Aether, like the force, is what holds and binds everything together. Think of it like the entire universe, and everything in it, is inside a giant bowl of Jello. That Jello could be said to be dark energy, or in Tyria, Aether.

“You know what the chain of command is?
It’s the chain I beat you with until you
recognize my command!”

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

On dark-matter
Dark matter is up until now an Unproven hypothesis to explain the rotational speed of the matter in the disk of solar systems. If you want to use an analogy for aether, use ‘The Higgsfield’, while discovery of the Higgsboson is still somewhat up in the air (‘we’ (as in mankind) are not sure what we found), and is only so far been suspected to be found in LHC. Aka. to be truly acknowledged as existing it needs to still be confirmed by an independent second control experiment!

But seeing the Higgs field is related to the Higgs Boson, where the interaction between these two in something that I can only describe as ‘friction’, is the reason for the existence of Mass. Which gives particles a way to interact with Gravity, to results in weight. This whole process can truly be called ‘magical’ in a sense, and the higgs field Omni presence can (from my point of view) truly be called ‘the aether’….

Dark Matter exists in Tyria though the lore about it is 100% unknown for how it functions in Tyria. I personally presume it is tied to dark energy, a form of magic that Necromancy focuses on, and ectoplasm, which ghosts appear made of.

Whether or not the answer in the interview was using the Tyrian version of Dark Matter or the typical science-fiction/science-theory view of it… isn’t very clear to me, to be honest.

But what seems clear, since we use “dark matter” to craft armor and the like in Tyria, it doesn’t seem function like the typical scientific theory – in which, from my understanding, is basically the opposite of matter and the two touching would wipe both out completely from existence (I am no scientist so that may be a false fictional view of it).

Just another thought:

Would Dark Energy be an even better analogy for Aether?
“The simplest explanation for dark energy is that it is simply the “cost of having space”: that is, a volume of space has some intrinsic, fundamental energy"

So basically the Aether would be the energy that is “between” and “holding” everything together. Yes Dark Energy is much more complex than this, but at it’s core its the idea that there is no “empty” space. Even the space between electrons and protons would consist of “Dark Energy”. Thus the Aether, like the force, is what holds and binds everything together. Think of it like the entire universe, and everything in it, is inside a giant bowl of Jello. That Jello could be said to be dark energy, or in Tyria, Aether.

Given that dark energy also exists in Tyria, and is definitely different than aether, it would not be a better comparison.

In Tyria, magic appears to be – once refined – divided into four types of energy: chaos, dark, light, and elemental. Each profession seems to specify (but not solely use) only one field (and it seems to me that the four schools were focused around these energies, as well as the method of using them). Then we have things like how Thaumanova was a focus on chaos energy; the Prime Hologram was a focus of light energy; the Ultraviolet Hologram was a focus on dark energy; etc. Unrefined magic is Aether (more commonly spelled as ether), by all appearances and per this interview. Then there’s also ‘draconic energy’ (and similar variances of the term) which is magic that the Elder Dragons consumed and is currently corrupted by them.

Dark Matter seems to be something akin to Ectoplasm.

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Posted by: BrunoBRS.5178

BrunoBRS.5178

^ you’re thinking of antimatter. dark matter is something else entirely, and i’m pretty sure the interview is talking about “real life” dark matter as an analogy to aether, as in-game dark matter is merely “that thing really powerful weapons have when we salvage them”, with no lore, and thus using it as an example of comparison is pointless.

and going by the interview, aether and magic are two separate things. magic flows in leylines and is “accountable” (you can measure the magic strength of something, study it, see it, etc). aether doesn’t. from my understanding of the interview, aether is a type of non-magical energy, of which tyrians have little to no understanding of.

LegendaryMythril/Zihark Darshell

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

Ah, yes, you’re right about the antimatter mistake.

But about ether being ‘non-magical energy’: “As such, aether is one aspect of the magic mortals or Elder Dragons use.” Furthermore, Aetherblades and mesmers utilize ether/aether as part of their magic.

One thing in the interview that I think was a slip though would be “It is part of the magical/physical structure of the universe, but unavailable for direct study – During Halloween 2012, Levvi’s device we used was capable of scanning ether, and there’s the aforementioned mesmer skills which are all adptly named “ether <something”. This certainly gives the impression of direct manipulation.

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Posted by: Dustfinger.9510

Dustfinger.9510

looking at the RL definition of aether may provide some insight. it was supposed to be the spiritual/mystical medium through which magic flowed. So it makes sense that we can simply think of it a “space between objects” on a mystical plane. or just an explanation as to how magic energy can move from one place to another.

edit: that doesn’t negate it from inconsistency and measurments however. if it’s thicker in some places over others then that may allow for smoother magical conduction with less “resistance”.

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Posted by: BrunoBRS.5178

BrunoBRS.5178

Ah, yes, you’re right about the antimatter mistake.

But about ether being ‘non-magical energy’: “As such, aether is one aspect of the magic mortals or Elder Dragons use.” Furthermore, Aetherblades and mesmers utilize ether/aether as part of their magic.

One thing in the interview that I think was a slip though would be “It is part of the magical/physical structure of the universe, but unavailable for direct study – During Halloween 2012, Levvi’s device we used was capable of scanning ether, and there’s the aforementioned mesmer skills which are all adptly named “ether <something”. This certainly gives the impression of direct manipulation.

i think ether and aether might be two different things in tyria, going by how it’s used. every time aether is mentioned (and they pronounce it ay-ther for some reason), it’s more mechanical than magical.

ether (pronounced properly) seems to be tied to ghostly/magical things.

that’s my crude understanding of it. they’re two different things, that do different things and work differently, aether being non-magical, and ether being related to ghosts and planes and possibly chaos magic, probably safe to say they’re more magical in nature.

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

This doesn’t look all that non-magical to me, tbh. Though all other uses of “aether” over “ether” in-game tends to be involved with magitech, usually involving air magic oddly.

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Posted by: BrunoBRS.5178

BrunoBRS.5178

that’s a weapon name. game of thrones famously has a sword named ice, which happens to not be made of ice. i could probably think of an in-game example if it wasn’t so late here.

aether is always tied to technology in GW2. it produces lightning, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily air magic. and i know you’ll pull out that nightmare tower quote, but that quote doesn’t mention aether being air magic.

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Posted by: Naqaj.6219

Naqaj.6219

Not to drive this even more off-topic, but if you’re genuinely interested in things like dark matter, higgs fields etc, have a look at this: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvBqzzvUBLCs8Y7Axb-jZew
And say goodbye to the rest of your week …

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Posted by: Ronin.7381

Ronin.7381

But what seems clear, since we use “dark matter” to craft armor and the like in Tyria, it doesn’t seem function like the typical scientific theory – in which, from my understanding, is basically the opposite of matter and the two touching would wipe both out completely from existence (I am no scientist so that may be a false fictional view of it).

The science geek in me tingles. Technically you’re thinking of anti-matter which is matter with the opposite charge.

Dark Matter is proposed as a different type of energy that only interacts with gravity and is claimed to be the framework (or webbing if you will) of the universe. Since looking at the universe in the infrared and ultraviolet, there’s string of gas connecting massive bodies together.

That’s why I say the scientific theory of dark matter is best similar to the Mists.

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Posted by: biggs.4702

biggs.4702

Very cool to see confirmation that Largos and Ash Legion figure in future story arcs.

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Posted by: BrunoBRS.5178

BrunoBRS.5178

Very cool to see confirmation that Largos and Ash Legion figure in future story arcs.

not as much “confirmation that it’ll happen” as much as “we don’t want to screw it up here when we can use it in the future”.

think of it as saving ammo.

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Posted by: Jaken.6801

Jaken.6801

Very cool to see confirmation that Largos and Ash Legion figure in future story arcs.

not as much “confirmation that it’ll happen” as much as “we don’t want to screw it up here when we can use it in the future”.

think of it as saving ammo.

Hope they did not pack any blanks

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Posted by: lakdav.3694

lakdav.3694

  • Is there any way to protect yourself from dragon corruption or repel it?

According to Edge of Destiny, taking cover works perfectly…

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Posted by: BrunoBRS.5178

BrunoBRS.5178

  • Is there any way to protect yourself from dragon corruption or repel it?

According to Edge of Destiny, taking cover works perfectly…

only kralkatorrik’s corruption, and that’s because it’s his breath attack. hide behind cover = corruption doesn’t touch you.

it’s just like avoiding zhaitan’s corruption by not getting killed by risen.

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Posted by: Konig Des Todes.2086

Konig Des Todes.2086

Similarly you can prevent Jormag’s corruption by having mental blocks. This appears to be the same with Mordremoth – having a strong will that won’t give in prevents sylvari corruption alongside whatever the Pale Tree is doing.

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Posted by: draxynnic.3719

draxynnic.3719

On Darkmatter and the Higgsfield, darkmatter is (to me anyway) nothing more than an hypothesis. Nothing of yet is proven… And yes the Higgsfield is something that ‘may’ be proven and is baffling as a litter of kittens (aka. as a more amateuristic physics enthusiast im still trying to wrap my head around it). Still though the Higgsfield provides the possibility for matter to interact with gravity through the application of mass. In a fairly similar way as how the Ether apparently provides a medium through which magic can interact with the physical world. Hope you somewhat see the similarities…

Darkmatter on the other hand, well, it’s nothing like how ether would function, it’s just some elusive hypothesis that can be used to explain certain effects that are viewed. Now in that sense sure Ether may just be some hypothetical something that is used to explain certain behaviour of magic, and as Darkmatter might be proven wrong, Ether might also be proven wrong… Yet, due to the origin of Ether, from early day science, the possible existence of it as a medium to facilitate magic and it’s interaction with the physical world, resembles the Higgsfield much better than Darkmatter ever will.

And seeing that a lot of people wont understand exactly what darkmatter is (heck most scientist don’t even know, and quite possibly because it may not even exist). Using it doesn’t make things easier to understand, at least not ‘more easy’ like using the Higgsfield would…

Unless there’s something a friend of mine hasn’t told me, nobody knows what dark matter is…

However, either there’s something there, or our understanding of the laws of physics are quite off. We’ve done calculations on what the density of baryonic matter (matter made of up quarks and leptons – electrons are a form of lepton, and protons and neutrons are trios of quarks bound together) in the universe can be based on the ratio of hydrogen to helium, and it comes up to… a certain number. We’ve then done calculations on how much mass you have in galaxies based on their rotation, and came up with a figure six times what can be explained by baryonic matter alone. So either there’s something wrong with our theory of gravity that causes it to break down over large distances (there are some theories that offer adjustments to address this, but they generally aren’t taken too seriously because they match the theory to the evidence, rather than being a theory that predicts observations) or there actually is a body of uncharged mass out there that we can’t see or feel because it doesn’t react to electromagnetic or nuclear forces. (Although it might have its own fundamental forces other than gravity that it reacts to and that baryonic matter doesn’t.)

Dark energy, incidentally, comes from experiments (I don’t recall the details – I know one of the tests is measuring that pi is actually what it should be over large distances) that show that to the best of our ability to test, space is flat. This requires the universe to have a certain density of mass, and as it turns out, this is a little over triple than can be accounted for by both baryonic and dark matter. Dark energy does seem to be split uniformly across the universe – considering it the energy required to have space is probably a good way of looking at it. (Certainly, the expansion of the universe is sucking energy out from other forms – stretching of light, for instance – and by conservation of energy that light has to go somewhere.)

Basically, in order to avoid dark matter or dark energy, than we’d need to throw general relativity out the window and come up with something else, and general relativity has been so good at what it does that scientists aren’t inclined to let such a little thing as predicting that the universe is twenty times heavier than can be explained by matter as we know it be reason to discard it. Especially since we have so many possibilities as to what it could be – not knowing what it is comes more from being unable to rule out possibilities than anything else.

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Posted by: Arghore.8340

Arghore.8340

@Draxynnic, like I said, it’s an hypothesis to substitute into what we do not yet understand… sort-a like ‘magic did it’ …but my main concern was that for what ever dark matter turns out to be, it’s not a good analogy to describe ‘ether’, although it was more then likely thrown in, related to ‘unable to study’ … but then the example goes a bit flat… so I proposed the Higgs field, also something you can’t see nor study directly that is indirectly responsible for the effect of mass, through interaction with the Higgs-bozon. Which may actually have been found in the LHC…

ps. and yes, I personally think that our understanding of what ‘gravity’ is, is so limited that basing anything on it on a galactic scale is going to run wrong somewhere. Also the extrapolations that are likely done to calculate the ratio hydrogen/helium can introduce flaws, and to that, the role that Jets play in possibly replenishing some of it. Same goes with determining the amount of mass, which can only be done based upon the distance we can see, and only by extrapolations.

I’m personally hoping that study of gravity lenses will increase our knowledge of the amount of gravity that is produced by a galaxy; as well as more study of black holes might reveal what is actually in them, and how Jets are related.

My guess is that we are way off for the relationship between hydrogen/helium, that we are off in our calculation of mass, and that we underestimate the amount of mass stored in black holes. Hopefully those, together with the Higgs Boson (if it’s actually found) and its relation to the creation of mass, and the relation of mass with gravity (or interaction to create weight) will increase our knowledge even more.

Though I will say that throwing away Relativity should not be part of it, actually, I think we do not take relativity into account as much as we should, in a lot of fields of study (mainly general relativity). For example in the relationship it has with ‘red shift’ determinations, which in turn will have it’s implications for ‘Dark Energy’ and the ‘Expansion’ of the universe.

But it’s also likely that as mere interested person into the inner workings of our reality, I am off in various places. I don’t mind science is more about being wrong than it would be about being right, actually, it is a lot about trying to come up with alternatives that can be tested to proof other things wrong, and seeing there lies one of my strong points (creativity) it is where most of my effort finds it way…

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Posted by: draxynnic.3719

draxynnic.3719

Sure, I’d agree that dark matter isn’t a good analogy to describe ether. Pr-relativity aethyr theories would be a much better analogy. Or just, I don’t know, the Mists.

Regarding hydrogen/helium ratios – it was a long time since I studied cosmology so I don’t recall the precise details, but I remember it being pretty convincing – in fact, with a bit of revision, I could probably even do the calculations myself. The nuclear physics involved is pretty well known, and if it’s off, then we’ve got something very wrong with our understanding of the initial conditions of the universe. To the point where throwing out general relativity – note that it is possible to throw away general relativity while keeping special relativity, as long as we have an alternative explanation for how gravity interacts with photons and other particles that have no rest mass – would actually be a less extreme shakeup of our understanding of physics. (Jets – which I presume you’re referring to the jets coming from black holes – don’t really play any role whatsoever, since if I recall rightly they’re basically formed from matter that is lucky enough to approach a black hole at an angle such that they slingshot away rather than being sucked in. There’s no replenishment of matter going on there.

It’s a bit late at night for me to actually attempt to address everything you’ve said individually, particularly since (unfortunately, the employment prospects for scientists where I live are not what I was lead to believe) since I haven’t done it for quite a few years, but as someone who’s actually formally studied a lot of this stuff – a lot of the things you raise as things which could be wrong are things that I’ve done or at least looked at the calculations myself, and they’re convincing. Red shifting of galaxies, for instance, absolutely DOES take general relativity into account – in fact, the normal lay explanation of being a Doppler shift is actually a lie-to-children, if you’ve read Science of Discworld (what’s actually going on is that the galaxies aren’t moving at all, but that the space in between us and distant galaxies is stretching, and the light travelling towards us is stretched as a result – however, the end result is an effective displacement over time that’s the same as would be calculated for an actual velocity by doppler-shifting). At some stage I might be able to go through everything in bigger detail, but the short version is: If ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy’ are the result of messing something up, then it’s much more likely that it’s general relativity that’s wrong. In fact, we know it’s not the whole answer, due to the whole ‘not playing nice with quantum mechanics’ thing – it’s just that we haven’t found an entirely convincing replacement for it. (Or to be more precise, we have a bunch of competing theories, none of which we can currently verify as being better than any of the others…)

That said, I think it’s entirely plausible. Dark energy is pretty much simply the energy in vacuum – we know vacuum has energy (and that energy can be reduced locally, such as by the Casimir effect) so this isn’t really such a great surprise. Dark matter is basically mass in a form that has rest mass (so, not photons and the like) – there are a LOT of candidates for what this can be, including small black holes, so to me the presence of something other than baryonic mass in the universe is not so much ‘wtf this has to be wrong!’ as ‘well, duh’. There’s no reason why the properties that lead to electromagnetism and the nuclear forces should be universal to everything in the universe, so discovering that a certain proportion of the mass of galaxies is composed of such matter is another bit of a ‘well, duh’ moment.

Certainly, simply dialing up the masses of the black holes at the centers of galaxies won’t fix the discrepancies. It will actually make them worse - the discrepancy points to the mass of galaxies actually being more diffusely spread, rather than more concentrated at the center.

Incidentally, last I heard, Higgs has been confirmed and scientists are starting to look at the ramifications of the measured mass of Higgs. There are some cherished theories that… well, haven’t been debunked per se, but are certainly not looking so healthy.

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Posted by: Dustfinger.9510

Dustfinger.9510

Professor Jonathan Butterworth is careful to specify that ‘The Higgs particle’ isn’t actually confirmed yet. The evidence looks hopeful but it is incomplete for what is all supposed to be there according to the theory. So “a higgs-like” particle is confirmed but “The higgs particle" is not yet confirmed. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112667830/higgs-boson-080112/

(edited by Dustfinger.9510)

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Posted by: Arghore.8340

Arghore.8340

@Draxynnic and Dustfinger, yeah I know that Higgs is not confirmed, but at least it holds a stronger card than Dark Matter atm. which from my point of view has only been ‘deducted’. And yes, even though I am only aware of the more general descriptions and ‘main stream’ publication data. These are very interesting times for scientists… not in the least because various ‘theories/hypothesis’ will find their Waterloo…

The only fears I have is that this will, in a sense, be fuel for all the masses that do not understand the process of science, and will see the failing theories as a means to point at the weakness of science as a whole. Well, as forum goers you likely now what I mean by that, and it’s to be expected to happen…

Another is that I personally ‘feel’ for all those scientists that put their lives work into some of these theories, and how many will be more likely to point at them being wrong, as apposed to pointing at all the work they did to make various experiments possible, to be a backing force behind the study of the phenomenon as a whole. In my personal view there are no ‘winners or losers’ in science, in fact, w/e happens it is always science that wins… for the general public, as personal experience and inter-departmental strife is concerned though, that might be the entire opposite. Just like in sports all praises will go to the champion, and nobody realises that everybody in the competition contributed to it being a successful competition…

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Posted by: Dustfinger.9510

Dustfinger.9510

Absolutely. I just like to caution all those who think that we already have all the answers when we historically learned men have found out just how much they don’t know as they start to find out what we do know. We can’t really appreciate science unless we acknowledge it’s (current) limitations. But the persuit and method is definitely noble and worthwhile.

(edited by Dustfinger.9510)

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Posted by: draxynnic.3719

draxynnic.3719

Yeah, there was actually a bit of this towards the end of the 19th century – people thought that they’d basically solved most of physics, and there were just a few little things – explaining the photoelectric effect, measuring the speed at which the Earth traveled through the aether, and so on – to be completed before it could all be wrapped up.

Then Michelson and Morley reported a null result for their experiment. Whoops.

Then Einstein came up with a solution for the photoelectric effect problem… which required assuming that light had a dual nature as both waves and particles. Minds were blown.

Then there was the introduction of special and general relativity based on the idea that light didn’t travel at c relative to some otherwise undetectable medium, but that light always traveled at c regardless of your frame of reference, and time and space twisted itself so this was so. Those minds that survived the previos mind-blowing were, well, blown.

And then, during the interwar period, someone had the temerity to put an electron beam through a two-slit experiment – and found out that electrons interfered in much the same way light does. Leading to what the kitten is going on! throughout pretty much the entire scientific community.

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