Guild Wars 2

So the main thing I want to discuss here is the what you guys think living story season 3 is going to bring us and more specifically where season 3 will take place.

To start, I want to state my expectation for the timeline:

• 1st and 2nd quarter 2016: Season 3 e.g. HoT’s epilogue.

• 4th quarter 2016 and 1st quarter 2017: Season 4 e.g. expansion 2’s prologue.

• 3rd or 4th quarter 2017: Expansion 2.

Both past seasons of the living story have brought in new zones, season 1 gave us Southsun while season 2 gave us Dry Top and the Silverwastes. Now, obviously the new zone(s) of season 4 (being as I suspect the prologue of the 2nd expansion) would depend strongly on what the next expansion will bring (in other words, on which dragon the expansion will focus) so I will focus here on season 3.

I think the 3 areas that are most likely for new zones in season 3 are marked below in the attachment. My reasoning for them:

1. Although this area is relatively small in surface area, if it is properly vertical like the other expansion areas I don’t think it would be that bad. Besides, if it is too small, it could always function as the area of the 2nd raid. As for what the story is, there is an obvious route to take. Everybody agrees that what is missing from the expansion is more explanation on the sylvari i.e. it should have dealt with questions like: Why exactly is the pale tree free from Mord’s influence? What is the dream and what is the nightmare? What is the state of the nightmare court after Mord’s death and Faolain’s death? What happened to Malyck? How are the sylvari now that Mord’s death? What is the current state of the pale tree? And so on. This would be the best area for dealing with the lore and story surrounding these issues I think.

2. The 2nd area is already hinted at in-game. There is a zone border already in-game leading there, except the zone border can’t be reached due to a broken bridge surrounded by bandits. We already know the first raid is dealing with bandits (and presumably white mantle and possibly/hopefully the sinister triad and possibly/hopefully the mursaat). I’m wondering whether an open world aspect of that same general story would be in the pipeline. Possibly also dealing with the relationship between the bandits and kryta and specifically with the power struggle between the ministry and the queen.

3. I don’t really have much reason for us going to the 3rd area. The main thing for me is that it is a gap on map. Not just any gap but a gap that was filled in GW1 i.e. the Alcazia Tangle and the Tarnished Haven. Like the HoT areas, the Alcazia Tangle was populated by saurians and Quetzal Tengu (and simians). There was also quite an Asura presence (as it is close to Rata Sum of course) and krytan presense in the area.

What are you thoughts on this? Do you have similar expectations or entirely different ones?

Don’t quote me on this, but isn’t the first raid somewhere in your area 1? Living story and raids seem the most likely way they will expand the map in those areas, as far as I’m concerned.

HoT’s epilogue will, hopefully, be coming with the raid update since the raid does include story and will be post-HoT. Further, the raid hints to the next plot, so we were told.

S3 will likely be released with the second part of the raid and probably carry off of it at that point. Said second raid wing is said to release early 2016 (e.g., Q1). Since we know they’re going to the next story with the raid, S3 will likely only be mildly connected to HoT just kitten was to the PS.

However, I suspect that overall, all future stories will be related to Glint’s legacy. The achievement A Study in Gold makes it clear that the egg and the Exalted is only a fraction of Glint’s plans and that the outcome will “change all civilization” (paraphrasing what was said). Given this – whether it was intended from the beginning or not – it seems that the overall GW2 plot is not “Elder Dragons” but “Glint’s Legacy”.

As to the content future Living World gives. I think ArenaNet managed to find their comfort zone with Season 2. Given S2 had a second break solely due to holidays, and the first break was so long due to Halloween, I’d say that each season will consist of two sets of four releases with each set giving one new map, with 1-2 months between, and a prologue and epilogue (prologue for S2 was Festival of the Four Winds; epilogue could be considered to be the Mordrem Invasion since that’s been made canon – prologue for S1 could be considered The Lost Shores, while epilogue was definitely Aftermath). Given this, I’d argue each season would take 7 months with some months between. So if S3 starts early Q1 2016, it’d end early/mid Q3 2016, and we will see S4 ending in mid-Q1 2017. If they take as much time to make another expansion after a LW season as with HoT, we’d see Expansion 2 around december 2017. So sayeth my prediction.

As for areas:

I would love for them to explain the unanswered questions of Malyck and the Dream/Nightmare/Mordremoth connection, but I honestly think they will just leave those dangling forevermore.

North of Brisban has been there a long time, I wouldn’t be surprised if we never go there. That said, I would like to see Majesty’s Rest and the canon fate of Rotscale. That also said, it’s been confirmed that future LW seasons will require HoT. So chances are so will their maps. So it would be obnoxious from non-HoT players’ view to turn that into a S3 zone which cannot be entered unless they bought the expansion since it’s been teasing us forever.

Alcazia Tangle would be a good spot for a guild hall, IMHO, if they ever want to add some to the core regions. However, that could be a good source for going into a Primordus plot – in Edge of Destiny, we’re told that the Destroyer of Life that Destiny’s Edge kills is southeast of Rata Sum – that’s Alcazia Tangle area. That all said, though, that part of the map would overlap with the “orr copy” which is used for two Personal Story steps. I don’t know how ArenaNet does their cross-zoning but that may-or-may-not become an issue and if so that issue would force that spot to be forever barren of content.

smekras.8203:

Don’t quote me on this, but isn’t the first raid somewhere in your area 1? Living story and raids seem the most likely way they will expand the map in those areas, as far as I’m concerned.

Based on the map that_shaman pulled and where it was shown in BWE3, the raid is above Vinewrath. So just west of his placement for area 2.

You can even see the Spirit Vale area on the map he posted.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

The achievement A Study in Gold makes it clear that the egg and the Exalted is only a fraction of Glint’s plans and that the outcome will “change all civilization” (paraphrasing what was said). Given this – whether it was intended from the beginning or not – it seems that the overall GW2 plot is not “Elder Dragons” but “Glint’s Legacy”.

Aaah yeah ‘change all civilizations’… that is a frightening notion… Well mostly because history seems to indicate that most people who have had the ideal of ‘changing civilization’ tends to lead to a lot of bad things happening.

So I’m not the only one to consider the notion that Glint was not actually this benevolent good ol’ dragon mama, that GW1 led us to believe she is? Wouldn’t be the first time Anet used this trope (Charr and human occupation of Ascalon). The thing that I find especially troubling is what Ogden said in ‘Echoes of the Past’ episode of Season 2 – that Glint was well on her way to becoming an Elder Dragon herself. As far as we know, Elder Dragons are not the most friendly creatures in the world. Glint having a hidden sinister agenda would make for a quite an interesting plot, where e.g races of Tyria are essentially used as tools to get rid of the other dragons that stand in Glints way.

I hope the dragons all go to sleep again and we can go and fight some other stuff.

Invidia.9074:

So I’m not the only one to consider the notion that Glint was not actually this benevolent good ol’ dragon mama, that GW1 led us to believe she is? Wouldn’t be the first time Anet used this trope (Charr and human occupation of Ascalon). The thing that I find especially troubling is what Ogden said in ‘Echoes of the Past’ episode of Season 2 – that Glint was well on her way to becoming an Elder Dragon herself. As far as we know, Elder Dragons are not the most friendly creatures in the world. Glint having a hidden sinister agenda would make for a quite an interesting plot, where e.g races of Tyria are essentially used as tools to get rid of the other dragons that stand in Glints way.

If Glint was bent on world domination, she did a very bad job of it given that she sacrificed her life for the possible chance of offing her former master.

Invidia.9074:

So I’m not the only one to consider the notion that Glint was not actually this benevolent good ol’ dragon mama, that GW1 led us to believe she is? Wouldn’t be the first time Anet used this trope (Charr and human occupation of Ascalon). The thing that I find especially troubling is what Ogden said in ‘Echoes of the Past’ episode of Season 2 – that Glint was well on her way to becoming an Elder Dragon herself. As far as we know, Elder Dragons are not the most friendly creatures in the world. Glint having a hidden sinister agenda would make for a quite an interesting plot, where e.g races of Tyria are essentially used as tools to get rid of the other dragons that stand in Glints way.

Well I’m reminded of a episode of X-Files where Mulder finds a genie and wishes for world peace. Every single human on earth disappears.
Glint’s goal doesn’t have to be purposefully sinister but it all comes down to means being used to change society and the end result. Remember a lot of political and social ideologies have appeared in the past which from their perspectives tried to make the world a better place, but really just succeeded in making the world a worse place.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Invidia.9074:

So I’m not the only one to consider the notion that Glint was not actually this benevolent good ol’ dragon mama, that GW1 led us to believe she is? Wouldn’t be the first time Anet used this trope (Charr and human occupation of Ascalon). The thing that I find especially troubling is what Ogden said in ‘Echoes of the Past’ episode of Season 2 – that Glint was well on her way to becoming an Elder Dragon herself. As far as we know, Elder Dragons are not the most friendly creatures in the world. Glint having a hidden sinister agenda would make for a quite an interesting plot, where e.g races of Tyria are essentially used as tools to get rid of the other dragons that stand in Glints way.

If Glint was bent on world domination, she did a very bad job of it given that she sacrificed her life for the possible chance of offing her former master.

Well considering she was clearly able to see into the future, maybe she saw that the only way for her to reach her goal of world domination would be through that sacrifice and her legacy.

Glint lied to us. She shouldn’t be trusted.

Glint lied about what?

Or is this just another bandwagon theory where despite no proper evidence the truth is clearly visible.

It’s probably a reference to that line way back when in an interview where it was said that what we knew about Glint came from Glint, and she had reasons for saying what she said (this was back when Glint was said to be the first creature set on the world by the gods to act as its caretaker).

Personally, though, I don’t think changing civilisation is necessarily sinister in this case. The past has been a cycle of civilisations rising and collapsing as they’re smacked down by the dragons – it’s saying something when you observe that of the five ‘elder’ races, it’s the Jotun that seem to have survived the best - they still have a significant, if inbred and uncivilised, population compared to the other four, which we have good reason to believe are either extinct on Tyria or might only have a single surviving representative. Breaking that cycle would count as changing civilisation forever… without needing to break down the current civilisations and replace them with Communism or whatever. The change isn’t in remaking the current civilisations but in giving them a better chance to survive and grow from where they are.

That said, we probably shouldn’t trust the Exalted either. According to the Fallen Masks adventure, they’re apparently immune to dragon corruption. So, clearly, they must be dragon minions!

draxynnic.3719:

That said, we probably shouldn’t trust the Exalted either. According to the Fallen Masks adventure, they’re apparently immune to dragon corruption. So, clearly, they must be dragon minions!

And by extension, so were the Forgotten, as they gave the Exalted this so-called immunity. They belong to the Elder Golden Dragon – the Wealdwood Orb in Orr is just a facet of its corruption!

Glint is just eliminating her offspring’s competition.

If the eggs are produced asexually, then the offspring would have her DNA. Maybe Glint has plans for a rebirth.

Glint stays safely in the egg while we do her dirty work. Once the elder dragons are dead, the egg hatches and Glint takes over.

I’ve suspected for a while that Glint put her personality into the egg. HoT seems to support that – the egg seems quite self-aware for an ovum (although, to be fair, it’s the egg of a telepathic dragon) and Mordremoth shows that splitting off of your mind in this way is at least possible for an Elder Dragon.

I don’t buy into the ‘Glint is evil’ conspiracy theories, though.

Does anyone, including Glint, really knows what a large amount of dragon energy would do to an individual’s personality? How far into the future has Glint seen? Why are elder dragons “evil”?

Well, we know that Glint foresaw her own demise and that’s why she put these plans into action (according to one of the Exalted in Tarir that is). If she could foresee her own death, then it’s not unlikely for her to have seen further, is it?

There might be the saying “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” but I don’t think that’s why the Elder Dragons are evil. Though it’s pure speculation at this point, I’d argue that the Elder Dragons reached and obtained the power they have because they were evil, and not the other way around.

Is the raid going to be something like Mallyx after Abaddon’s death?

Shiren.9532:

I thought the whole point of Tarir and the exhaulted was that Glint knew she wouldn’t kill Kralkatorrik. She saw her death before it happened and there was nothing she could do about it.

Then why didn’t she try to gather some forces? If they had got more forces, it would have been done.

Slowpokeking.8720:

Shiren.9532:

I thought the whole point of Tarir and the exhaulted was that Glint knew she wouldn’t kill Kralkatorrik. She saw her death before it happened and there was nothing she could do about it.

Then why didn’t she try to gather some forces? If they had got more forces, it would have been done.

More forces wouldn’t have helped. When your time is up, your time is up.

Slowpokeking.8720:

Is the raid going to be something like Mallyx after Abaddon’s death?

In the context that it takes place after the main story and we’re facing a giant hunched over foe, yes.

DarcShriek.5829:

More forces wouldn’t have helped. When your time is up, your time is up.

I think Glint would be dead no matter what, but given the line in Edge of Destiny, it seems that if Logan remained she knew that they would succeed- whereas with him gone, they wouldn’t.

So it stands to reason that if she had so much time to prepare for her death, then if she had more forces waiting to confront Kralkatorrik – like say, the Exalted whom are immune to corruption (therefore clearly another type of dragon minion like sylvari since, y’know, only dragon corruption prevents dragon corruption in accordance to everyone on this forum ergo it must be true) – then perhaps while she might still die, Kralkatorrik could have been inevitably dead too.

Unless, of course, she intended for Destiny’s Edge to fail. This could be part of her ‘legacy’ too.

I recall reading a crazed crackpot theory on this forum that Glint let Snaff died so that Snaff’s mind could be stuck within Kralkatorrik’s body and slowly take it over.

Seems a little less crackpot now that one pillar of support for the theory has been confirmed: that Glint knew she would die regardless.

Konig Des Todes.2086:

I recall reading a crazed crackpot theory on this forum that Glint let Snaff died so that Snaff’s mind could be stuck within Kralkatorrik’s body and slowly take it over.

Seems a little less crackpot now that one pillar of support for the theory has been confirmed: that Glint knew she would die regardless.

Which would kinda fit into the theory of this entire storyline possibly leading to benevolent Elder Dragons rising to take the place of the predatory ones. We, or Glint, would be able to save a lot of time if, instead of raising a being to take Kralk’s place once he died, we could simply repurpose Kralk himself.

It would be kinda blah if we were to replay Mordy’s mental battle, but if we weakened or destroyed Kralk’s mind and Snaff (or some sort of mental echo he left behind) would be able to exert control and take over his being, we would be left with a benevolent KralkaSnaff at the end.

An Asura with that kind of power? Benevolent?

Surely you must be joking?

Tom Gore.4035:

An Asura with that kind of power? Benevolent?

Surely you must be joking?

Have you read Edge of Destiny? Because out of all asura, Snaff is easily the asura I would trust with that power the most.

Diovid.9506:

Tom Gore.4035:

An Asura with that kind of power? Benevolent?

Surely you must be joking?

Have you read Edge of Destiny? Because out of all asura, Snaff is easily the asura I would trust with that power the most.

I started the book but it was really boring so it’s still sitting in the shelf, unfinished.

I still think I wouldn’t trust any Asura in the world with such power