Guild Wars 2

Right at this moment the most obvious examples of steam technology you will find are the steam weapons available for sale on the Trading Post. Other than this, there is no other obvious example of steam-powered technology observable within Tyria. This is important, because it suggests that steam technology has it’s origins in Charr research (some maintain that the Asura also had a hand in the development of this technology which, if correct, would only strengthen the argument for the Charr steam-tech link). Certainly the Charr have developed machines that would benefit from steam power and as much as it may not be obvious how these machines are powered it probably would not be far removed to conclude that they are steam-powered. How the Charr have contributed to the rise of the steam creatures is unclear, but they occupy a region of Tyria (which we’ll loosely loosely refer to as the Dragonbrand) of which a number of creatures associated with the Thaumanova Reactor are indigenous. The steam Ogre, for example, is native to the Dragonbrand region. So the idea that the Charr have somehow contributed to the rise of the steam creatures should not be overlooked.
In particular I wished to address the idea that the Thaumanova Reactor is linked somehow to the Elder Dragons. This is a popular theory – namely, that the Elder Dragonic energies are somehow contributing to the phenomenon observed in both locations. But this may not be entirely accurate. Although an argument can be made for Kralkatorrik and Jormag being involved in the formation of crystals and the augmentation of beings through said crystals, the Chaos Crystals observed in the Iron Marches are multi-coloured, are definitely not ice crystals, and do not produce the kinds of effects for which either Elder Dragon is known for. That is not to say that the Chaos Crystals do not affect Elder Dragon minions: The corrupted are routinely ported into the Chaos Crystal Cavern and also into the Thaumanova Facility, but I think that they are merely displaced as a result of geographic disposition. Thus, I do not see an immediate link between the Elder Dragons and Thaumanova. I do, however, see the development of an energy source capable of providing the Inquest with the ability to do something: Transform test subjects instantaneously, without the need for Elder Dragon intervention. As you are no doubt familiar, the Elder Dragons are widely believed to actively corrupt the living. Through the Chaos Crystals, the Inquest can apply the abilities of one creature onto another without actively engaging with the Elder Dragons.
In my opinion, humble that it is, the most important creatures present in the Thaumanova facility are the Elementals. Steam requires certain ingredients. Firstly, fuel; secondly, fire; thirdle, water. As it turns out, there are Tar Elementals (fuel), Fire Elementals (or Embers, if you prefer) (fire), and Ice Elementals (water). Now imagine that you combine these Elementals in order to create some kind of “steam being”. The best “host” for this new being would be an Earth Elemental. And as it turns out, we also have Earth Elementals at the facility.
If this theory is correct, it would suggest that the Steam Hulks of Lornar’s Pass are the first generation of steam creature. The more advanced designs may have evolved from this basic design as the technology to infuse the elemental energy into other hosts progressed.
This explanation may account for the presence of some of the creatures at Thaumanova – but not all of them. (What I am suggesting is that some of these creatures are being intentionally placed within the facility although this does not have to stand for the argument to hold.) The remaining creatures may just be collateral. For example, if you wished to port an iceberg from Frostgorge Sound, you might just get a few Polar Bears with it….

Just want to add some details —

-The portal that Scarlet walks through in the Nightmare Incarnate instance, as well as the portal we see during her periodic minion attacks, as well as the skill point tied to the steam creatures in Lornar’s Pass are all identical.

-Steam creatures are at least partly biological, so any theory has to account for that.

-The method by which steam creatures create portals (three beams firing into each other) is the same technique seen in some Inquest labs.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Any_Sufficiently_Advanced_Science
The Steam creatures relate to the Asura personal storyline.
Also we see steam technology FREQUENTLY in game. The Black Citadel is pretty much entirely steam technology and steam powered machinery is what the Charr specialise in…

Technically speaking, charr technology has been stated in conflicting mentions about what it is: Jeff Grubb in interviews stressed repeatedly in the past that it is not steam powered but rather clockwork – cogs and gears. But in-game we see mention by an NPC that there is steam powered mechanics in their technology.

Steam weapons in the trading post are most certainly of charr origins – they’re tier 1 cultural weapons after all.

Hmm, I remember him saying they are clockwork but not saying that they aren’t steam. ill try to find it.

Anyways, as Konig said, they are cultural weapons. And we see in game confirmation of steam mention.

I don’t know whether you agree, but the Steam Creatures (and the technology behind them) don’t “feel” Asuran to me. The idea that they have origins in another race, such as the Charr or even the Ogres themselves, seems far more intuitive to me.

But I have misgivings about the idea that the Ogres pioneered the technology. For starters, it seems unusual that although their pets port in and out of the reactor facility (every pet except for raptors), they never appear in steam form. To me, if the Ogres wished to apply the talents of creatures of Tyria, it would make sense to synthesize their pets first. More likely, the pets may have accidentally been ported with the steam Ogre.
Alternatively, the Charr link seems stronger, even if they are not the only party involved. They would be more inclined to select creatures based on combat effectiveness, which appears to be why Earth Elementals, Minotaurs and Riders were selected?

They probably don’t feel “asuran” to you because they were made by one asura. I mean, would you take the Tomb Guardian in Ghosts of Ascalon to be asuran? Probably not. It was a construct purely of bone and shaped into a naga/krait appearance.

There are always outliers to a race. An individual – or small group of individuals – who make things or have personalities that you would otherwise never consider to be part of the race. Take Uzolan’s golem for example – from the look of it, you’d think it was a charr construction! In fact, when the concept art for it was revealed, almost everyone did think it was charr made.

We KNOW who created the Steam creatures – and it was an asura. This is undeniable fact and there’s no point in theorizing otherwise. Unless Anet comes about suddenly saying ‘he lied!’ to argue it was someone else – but they’ve been doing that so many times to downsize humanity and upsize asura, it would be odd-as-hell if they began doing it to downsize asura and I think they’ve gotten the message the playerbase has sent which is “we don’t like you doing that, it feels cheap as hell when you do it so much.” And although at least two people seem to be believe that may very well be the case, there is no reason or implication to argue so.

Side note: Steam Hulks CANNOT be Earth Elementals. Why? Steam creatures have organic cores to them – Earth Elementals don’t have flesh, they are not organic.

For all we know the steam creatures are sentient organic beings that created mechanical shells to protect their own weak bodies. The dwarves could have made them. Perhaps another race made them to fight the elder dragons thousands of years ago and they remained buried under the ice until recently. Who knows? I don’t think the happenings in the alternate universe of the ‘inifinity ball’ rule out alternative things happening in our universe.

It’s not an alternate universe.

It’s a possible future.

There’s a huge difference in that everything prior to opening the portals happened in that possible future. They had the exact same history – that’s how possible futures work. Now, depending on the theory of time travel and alternate realities that ArenaNet adheres to for Guild Wars, a number of things could happen:

1. The future shown in the Infinity Ball storyline would disappear each time the portal opens. Thus we witnessed three different possible futures that no longer exist in any way shape or form. This follows the theory that there is but one timeline, and going to the past affects the future rather than creates a new future.
2. The timeline split upon the opening of the portals creating a second and third reality where one reality went the direction of the portals’ future intentionally, the other went the way we’re going (avoiding that future), and the third never opened the portals thus heading to the direction of the portals’ future unintentionally. In only the second reality of these three would the steam creatures never be invented – by the “original” creators in the other realities at least. A number of different realities would also be made, all varying on the choices of individuals, effectively making an infinite number of realities.
3. That possible future is happening in parallel to us in the Mists – there is no division of realities per choice, but one is a copy of the other (or of a third) made by the Mists – it wasn’t time travel but world traveling through the Mists. This possibility would mean that the whole concept behind the Infinity Ball is fully false and rather than showing the possible futures, it opens portals to another world in the Mists.

And a few other possibilities that I cannot think of.

But in the end, the result is the same: the Steam creatures in our world are coming through portals. In all realities, the history is shared – or so all evidence points to be – so it cannot be that they’re modern inventions in one, but ancient creations in another. Given the existence of the Steam Portals, the steam creatures invading from the other dimension is the most likely scenario – resulting in either situation 2 or 3 of above, unless the Steam creatures’ world(s) is effectively ‘destroyed’ whenever they come through the portals.

The Steam Creatures always make me think of the Roboticizer from the old Sonic the Hedgehog comics.

Stooperdale.3560:

For all we know the steam creatures are sentient organic beings that created mechanical shells to protect their own weak bodies. The dwarves could have made them. Perhaps another race made them to fight the elder dragons thousands of years ago and they remained buried under the ice until recently. Who knows? I don’t think the happenings in the alternate universe of the ‘inifinity ball’ rule out alternative things happening in our universe.

so the steam creatures are Daleks? this can only end badly