Right under our noses?*zone expansions*
The first portal has been around since release, unless I’m mistaken. There are also portals of similiar value in other areas in the Game.
Never noticed the asuran portal inside the fortress though, interesting.
The portal in Fort Vandal has been there a while, too. You can get over to it with some creative use of leap skills. Naturally, it doesn’t do anything. Also, the backside of Fort Vandal is only half modeled, and if you go north you run into a teleport wall so you can’t freely explore Proxemic Lab.
As the other poster said, there are other places that teasingly look like zone exits, like the one in Sparkfly or the one in Mt. Maelstrom.
The one to the north would open up to Majesty’s Rest and the Mausoleum. I see great potential for a dungeon there and maybe a new dragon boss (Rotwing?)
If one were to go straight through the bandit fort you would end up at Mamnoon Lagoon (you can see the blue patch just past it in uncovered areas.)
Just to the SouthWest you can see a circular structure in the dirt, that is Dry Top. On the West end up that are low Hills that lead to Ventauri’s Refuge.
The Sylvari origin story says that it must have been near there that Ronan found the cave with the Pale Tree seeds.
That means that the cave is in the Falls (already known to a be a magical locus point due to FoW access and Zinn’s Lab) and that is where the events at the end of the current LS took place.
Good analysis. I have a couple to add.
Karinn’s Passage in Sparkfly Fen. There is a blocked road heading west.
Judgment Rock in Mount Maelstrom. There is an unexpected wall to the southeast, which implies something behind it.
Blackwing Excavation in Fields of Ruin. The obvious gateway to the Crystal Desert heads south.
Stronghold of Ebonhawke in Fields of Ruin. There is a passageway south that is inaccessible, with a child nearby saying she has seen people enter it. This may turn into a dungeon, guild mission, or JP, since the Desert is south.
Some places already on our maps:
Crucible of Eternity in Mount Maestrom – the old Ice Caves of Sorrow are just to the east, though I imagine they aren’t frozen any more.
Snow Climb in Frostgorge Sound – The Central Transfer Chamber is just north of the Pact camp in Earthshake Basin.