Guild Wars 2

Thalador.4218:

Actually DarkSun, (as the others have already mentioned) there weren’t any retcons with the gods in GW1 at all. The source claiming they created the world, the races, and magic was a fallible human storyteller (who got turned into risen and was then released on Lion’s Arch). It’s just a human (and charr as well, as they also have legends about Melandru creating – read: terraforming – the world) myth.

It was pretty guarenteed they didn’t create humanity either, especially after the ‘An Empire Divided’ was published. It makes a lot more sense they brought humanity to Tyria from their original homeworld. It’s a very neat concept.

I don’t think you understand what a retcon is:
When Prophesies was released, and it was all that GW was, every bit of lore presented to the player on the subject said “The gods created Tyria, summoned the Forgotten to be it’s stewards, and chose humanity as their special people”.
Then, when later things were published, they said, “Nope, that didn’t happen, it’s this way instead. That was never true, what are you talking about?”
That’s the definition of a retcon.

Quarktastic.1027:

I think you need to brush up on your lore before you start making criticisms.

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Gods

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Exodus_of_the_Gods

The gods did not create the world of Tyria. The creation of Tyria by the gods is a human myth. As for the gods no longer being on Tyria, this has been the case since before the events of GW1. The gods left Tyria a very long time ago.

And you do realize that the lore retcon was actually applied to those wiki pages after GW2 came out, right? And, in fact, they were changed with every little retcon in between Prophesies and GW Beyond. Which is what the guy is saying. When it was just Prophesies, the gods were gods who did in fact create the world – and that’s been slowly whittled away until they’re either pretenders, usurpers, or powerful beings from another plane who merely came to play god on Tyria. They even got their domains mixed up. (Grenth was the patron of water – suddenly now it’s Lyssa instead.)
Before you go criticizing someone’s analysis of the retcon, maybe you should brush up on what’s actually been retconned out.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

DarksunG.9537:

It’s hard, man.. I don’t like a lot of the lore changes from GW1 to GW2. The main ones are the HUUUUGEEE retcon on the gods.. they went from the gods that created tyria & everything on it to semi-powerful beings that only the humans even talk about & they aren’t even in the game any more.

Oh, they’re in the game. At least, Grenth does make an appearance. And of course “they created the world” as according to some human myth. Only, I don’t remember it saying that in my copy of the Manuscripts.

In fact I just pulled it out . . . and there’s no mention of the world creation . . .

-snip-

“A lie”? Okay, what was the lie, other than one of omission about Abaddon?

It is also a Charr myth, and yes, in fact, the Guild Wars Manuscripts did say the gods created the world. They were still in the process of creating the world when the Forgotten came to Tyria- in fact it says the gods summoned them in the first place to be custodians of the world “while the gods continued to create the world around them”. It’s the first paragraph in the “History of Tyria” section. On page 26. And again mentioned on page 28.
So yes, yes the gods were retconned from the creators of Tyria to merely some kinda-powerful beings that are basically ignored by everyone but humans.

And the lie he’s referring to, I believe, is the whole “creation” thing, since it is no longer true.

Hopefully, when they say the invasions will continue, they mean as a scaled-down, typical dynamic event, no different than any other on a given map, triggered by whatever means – time (less often than once an hour) or by a specific event chain – rather than the invasions as they stand now.
For example, we’d see Molten Alliance attacks in the Shiverpeaks and Ascalon, Aetherblades over Kryta and Maguuma, maybe some steam creatures sprinkled in here and there. But not once an hour – triggering like any other dynamic event or champion fight.
At least that’s my hope.

I have been in the overflow for every invasion I’ve played. I’ve not been in zone with anyone I know, in any of them. I’ve not been in a party in any of them. I’ve not had any problem completing the events yet. Being in a party doesn’t matter – follow the crowd, watch map chat for people calling targets for help. For that matter, every single time, I’ve seen multiple people calling out starting PUGs.
So, I really don’t know what you’re complaining about here, other than “I didn’t get in the same overflow as my buddy”. Which is a pain, but it doesn’t make you “sh** out of luck” or make it impossible to complete events.

Some people just want to watch the world burn… Some just want to make Farren soup.

If he isn’t standing right at the waypoint for you:
Start at Crown Pavilion waypoint. Go down the stairs. Turn right. He’s next to the big portal thing.

Nothing bad happened during the Zephyrites visit.
Except politics. Ok, never mind, something bad happened.

Over the past few weeks, in both the Pavillion and the invasion events, I’ve run with commanderless mobs more often than not. Open map chat, “Where’s the zerg?”
Removing commander tags won’t change that.
If zergs even need to be stopped. (I think they’re fine as long as everyone is polite and non-abusive.)

1. You are using a different, and “gamey” definition of immortal. I’m using the actual english definition of the word as it applies to this situation: “Not subject to death or decay; having perpetual life.” Something that can die is not actually immortal. Fantasy fiction and gaming tends to misuse the term as : Doesn’t die unless you kill it. Fair enough.

2. You’re reading into Kormir’s gift differently than I am, fair point. I’ve always seen it as the gift was the “You must make the choice that only a mortal could make” part. As in, choose to sacrifice your “self” for the greater good. It’s a matter of interpretation.

3. Gods and magic – if you’re going to ignore completely any lore from the original game there’s no point in continuing down that road.

4. Dragons: Again, if you’re discounting official sources, no point in continuing, other than to reemphasize: We do not know anything for sure about the nature of the Elder Dragons. You cannon definitively say they can or cannot do anything.

Which brings me to:

5. In no way am I trying to imply “the gods would always fall to the might of a dragon, instead of the god killing the dragon”. Where did I say that? I said: “with that possibility, however remote, wouldn’t that be a logical reason for the gods to bow out of the fight?”
A “however remote” possibility is not the same as “the gods will always fall” in any way. Instead it says “if the possibility exists, there’s a possible reason for their absence.”
But: “Hey I might be wrong, it’s only a theory”.

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

I don’t think we can safely conclude from Nightfall that gods can be killed. Everything we learn throughout Nightfall, tells us that at least the gods chose to lock away Abaddon, yet he returned and slowly regained a body. And Dhuum was also locked away in the Underworld, but is slowly regaining his powers and breaking free.

So even if a god is obliterated by the other gods, at some point it seems they can regain their body and come back.

There’s a world of difference between obliterating and locking away.

The gods chose not to destroy Abaddon, they imprisoned him – leaving him in the custody of Grenth. Grenth chose not to destroy Dhuum, he keeps him imprisoned. Hence, they both try to escape, who likes being imprisoned? Nobody got obliterated.

On the other hand, Lyssa’s muse, in Nightfall, puts the choice of what to do with Abaddon in the player’s hands. And we chose to kill him. And Kormir takes his power. It’s pretty explicitly stated he’s dead in the aftermath. This does not compare to what Grenth (and later, we) did to Dhuum, because Dhuum just gets locked in the tower where Grenth keeps him. Not killed. All this implies is that the power of a god can be stolen.

To say the gods mercy in imprisoning their brethren, and the fallen god’s subsequent escape attempts has any bearing on their immortality is just connecting the unconnected.

And while I agree, GW villains have a distressing ability to come back from the dead – I don’t think we’ll ever be seeing him (or any of the gods) in GW2.

Thalador.4218:

snip snip

You missed the point because I was not apparently clear enough to follow, and are working from a collection of misinformation about the gods and dragons:
The gods themselves can be destroyed. They are not immortal. Source: The entire plot of Nightfall
The source of the god’s magical powers cannot be destroyed, only transferred. Source: The entire plot of Nightfall, the ascension to godhood of Kormir
The gods did, in fact, channel magic into the world. (They don’t anymore, because they have withdrawn completely from the world.) Source: The game mechanics of Guild Wars. The Favor of the Gods effect- enhances the magic associated with whichever god you’ve chosen to bless you. Additionally it was explicitly stated in the Guild Wars 1 lore that the gods create magic

As far as the Elder Dragons, we don’t know anything about them. The fact that they consume magic is evident in game. The fact that their presence corrupts their surroundings in a way themed to the particular facet of magic each relates to is evidence that they leak magic back into the environment. Their origins are unknown, their limits are unknown. Everything else you’ve speculated there is just that: speculation. In fact, much of it is demonstratably wrong: The Elder Dragonss are not even remotely similar to the lesser dragons – Source: Every official thing that ANet has ever said about them in EotN and GW2 for example: "Although these creatures are called dragons, they are as different from Kuunavang and Glint as night to day—more powerful, older, born of different, unfathomable magic, these horrors are controlled by no god nor any other power known to the races of Tyria. What connection they have to these “younger dragons” is unknown, but they certainly do not possess the mercy or familiarity with the sentient races of the world that Kuunavang or Glint portray. The cycle of their awakening reaches back to the time of the giganticus lupicus, and even further, back into prehistory. The only thing known about these monsters is that they have no pity, no curiosity—no concern at all for the other races of the world. Their only goal seems to be to dominate, to control, and to destroy. " -Movement Of The World
Night and day. Controlled by no god.
Nothing has ever been shown in game or elsewhere to even hint that “They would blow themselves up along with the rest of the world if they tried to consume the energies of a fallen god.” – where are you even getting that? How do you explain a frail, maimed human absorbing the power of a god, if a millenia old Elder Dragon who eats magic for breakfast cannot?

So, to rephrase my theory:
If a handful of mortals can kill a god and steal his power, why is it so hard to believe an Elder Dragon couldn’t or wouldn’t do the same thing? And with that possibility, however remote, wouldn’t that be a logical reason for the gods to bow out of the fight?
Again, not saying you have to believe it, it’s just a theory, but the logic follows.

BobbyStein.2315:

I’d have to check through old content, but I’m pretty sure we’ve had ambient NPCs referring to some cities with nicknames since launch. I understand why it might sound jarring to some, but we’re experimenting with dialog to make it sound a little more natural.

I’d never heard anything remotely like that until today – though people keep saying Farren called it DR in the Southsun event, but I never saw it.
I’m all for more natural-sounding dialogue, I think it’s a good thing to do (and other than the “DR” bit, the dialogue in the cut scene was great) – but “DR” does not sound natural. It doesn’t flow vocally.
Plus, reading the subtitles – when my eyes see “DR”, my brain reads “doctor”. That definitely contributes to the issue

Yamsandjams.3267:

Man In Zero G.8312:

I loved it – but as I’ve said elsewhere, having NPCs refer to Divinity’s Reach as “DR” is extremely immersion breaking. Scarlet might as well have said “LOL” instead of laughing.

Otherwise, I found it fantastic.

Is it really that immersion breaking? Throughout history, people have always come up with shortened or slang versions of names, places, people, &c.

Do you find it odd that people refer to Los Angeles as “LA” all the time? You probably don’t because the abbreviation is used so commonly. It’s the same thing with Divinity’s Reach as “DR”. If anything, I’d say it enhances the immersion because it’s something that the people of such a city might do.

It is immersion breaking, yes. In all of the first game, no NPC ever referred to Lion’s Arch as “LA”. Or Droknar’s Forge as “Droks”. Or any of the other abbreviations the players used – and until the living story, nobody did it in GW2 either. They certainly didn’t in the personal story that I can recall. It sounds like an editing mistake – like it was shorthanded while writing but nobody remembered to fix it before it was sent on to the voice actors – it makes the whole thing jarring, it sounds out of place for the NPCs to suddenly start using player slang.
But hey, that’s just my opinion, man.

But… but… splinters….

Murderous Clown.9723:

Man In Zero G.8312:

I’ve loved it so far – the only complaint I have is NPCs referring to Divinity’s Reach as “DR” in dialogue…. that’s extremely immersion breaking, to be honest. Otherwise fantastic event!

Why? We use initials like that in real life e.g. LA and KL. I don’t see why Tyrians wouldn’t do the same.

Mostly because it’s all of the sudden. Never in the history of the game until now has an NPC referred to Lion’s Arch as LA, for example, (though players do) – or BC, or RS – it’s the same with Divinity’s Reach; never before now has it happened in game (or in the fiction as far as I’ve read). And it wasn’t just Scarlet, I’m pretty sure I heard Rox and/or our new asura sidekick do it too.
It just felt like poor editing on the scripts before they got to the voice actors is all. (i.e. it was meant to be Divinity’s Reach, but was shorthanded while writing, and never got changed in editing – pure conjecture, but that’s what it feels like.)

I loved it – but as I’ve said elsewhere, having NPCs refer to Divinity’s Reach as “DR” is extremely immersion breaking. Scarlet might as well have said “LOL” instead of laughing.

Otherwise, I found it fantastic.

Read choice #2 as “Discredited by your peers” – it is thematically the same and sounds more like something an Asura would care about. No Asura wants their work discredited – the egocentric need to be the smartest thing in the room is what drives the species at the core – having one’s work shown to be bunk is probably the worst thing that can happen to an Asura socially.
That help any?

I’ve loved it so far – the only complaint I have is NPCs referring to Divinity’s Reach as “DR” in dialogue…. that’s extremely immersion breaking, to be honest. Otherwise fantastic event!

I tried to save them… I just couldn’t hold on… they teleported right out of my hands….

Gandarel.5091:

Namica.2951:

She’s a anime villain.

Note that despite being uber genious and perfect, she made a huge mistake in forgetting Jehnna is a mesmer, and another in giving her enemies a means to attack her.

Let’s not forget she acts like she’s 10.

And she looks like 10.

She might actually be 10. She’s Sylvari after all.

Well, I wrote an exceptionally long post defending my theory, but it was so long the forum actually has prevented me from posting it, even in multiple posts. And the tone was more antagonistic than I’d like – probably due to the (imagined) tone I read the Mad Queen’s post in – and more than one misinterpretation of what I was saying. So best to skip to the:
TL;DR- I presented a theory, with a hypothesis, a logical progression based on evidence from the previous game while attempting to not spell everything out because spoilers, and a conclusion, with the caveat that “Hey I might be wrong, it’s only a theory”.
If one does not wish to agree with the theory, that’s fine. I’m certainly not trying to force anyone to agree, and I honestly think this is one thing the game will never explain.

Haven’t you heard of the story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”?
Logan has.
It’s just that he could only convince her to try on the shoes.

The only way I got any credit for that one was by fighting in the pavillion while representing Lion’s Arch.
You don’t get any credit for it doing any balloon events as far as I could tell. (and I had to do almost all of them, since it didn’t give me credit for the first several towers I climbed.)

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

Man In Zero G.8312:

So, what would happen if they confronted one another? Infinitely more powerful elder dragons. Hence, the gods bow out and let the mortals fight the fight.

You mean the mortals who use magic to fight the Elder Dragons?
Yeah, there goes that idea.

Yeah, well, they couldn’t kill Abaddon or stop Dhuum either without mortals intervening either soooooo….. your point?
Let me break it down more clearly:

Mad Queen Malafide.7512:

First of all, are the Gods beings of pure magic? And how do you know that?

Almost 8 years of playing Guild wars 1, and actually paying attention to what NPCs say about them and y’know, watching what’s going on. It doesn’t take much to put 2 and 2 together there on that point. Each god is attuned to and pushing a specific flavor of magic into the world. It is in the very game mechanics. And I’m pretty sure it was explicitly spelled out in that book that came with the retail copy of Guild Wars.

Second, why would beings of pure magic be ineffective against the Elder Dragons? They may absorb magic, but they have been shown to be vulnerable to the damaging effects of magic. Draining magic from a magical artifact by consuming it, is not the same thing as being hit in the head by a giant magical canon.

I didn’t imply they would be completely ineffective, I said their mere presence would make the dragons more powerful. And if one of them actually did get consumed by a dragon (since the gods are neither immortal, omnipotent, or omniscient, as the events of the entirety of Guild Wars shows, the defeat of at least one is possible) then you’d have a dragon being powered by an unending conduit of magic – because divine magic is not destroyed, it is transferred (see: Kormir). That would be bad. That very well could cause a domino effect. The gods know this. So they don’t take the risk.
It’s not like they’ve even set foot on Tyria as it is in all the time we’ve been playing – the most direct contact has been avatars and servants. What they have explicitly been doing, is channeling magic into the world via their Favor – and they stopped doing that when Primordius stirred up after the events of EotN and they fully withdrew from the world. It logically follows that they don’t want to give the dragons any extra power. I mean, look at the last time they actually had a conflict on Tyria – it turned an ocean into a desert. And that was one enemy. Imagine the result of fighting six. It isn’t about them not being able to hurt the dragons, it’s about them making the conflict worse.

I think Zhaitan has shown us quite clearly that Elder Dragons can be shot out of the sky with magical weapons. So if the gods wanted to hurt the Elder Dragons with magic, I think they would be at least as effective as some of the magical weapons that the Pact uses, -if not more effective.

Zhaitan was only ‘killed’ after a long campaign of killing off subordinates, cutting it off from sources of magic that were feeding it, and then assaulting it. How is throwing a a bunch of magical generators at it a better idea than starving it of magic?
Because that’s the core of the thought. Because of their magical nature, the gods had to back off, or their very presence would make the dragons more powerful.
Also, from years of experience with Guild Wars villians, there’s a high probability that the Elder Dragon attuned to necromantic magic isn’t just going to roll over and die when you kill it’s body. Liches are a thing in GW.
But again, we’re trying to rationalize a poorly written fantasy story. About magic eating dragons. Logic need not actually apply.

Another way to look at it:
The gods and elder dragons are both beings of magic, but from the opposite ends of it.
The gods are, essentially, magical generators, continuously making magic, infinitely fueled by the mists.
Elder dragons are magical batteries, absorbing the magic of the world and becoming more powerful. To an unknown capacity.

So, what would happen if they confronted one another? Infinitely more powerful elder dragons. Hence, the gods bow out and let the mortals fight the fight.

In all reality – there is no credible history to say that the gods and dragons haven’t danced this dance before. All we have is the human’s (incomplete) history, fragments of Jotun legends, and snippets revealed with great obfuscation by the forgotten and the other fallen races. For all we know Melandru, Dwayna, Dhuum, (Balthazar’s Dad), Lyssa and Abaddon were hanging around back in the day before the time of the giants – it’s just that nothing of civilization survived from then except broken Jotun and cavemen Norn. (According to Jotun legend, anyway)
Just a theory.

Vol.5241:

I don’t even know where to get these skins?

You get them from the cultural representatives down in the Pavilion instance. They each cost 200 sprockets (if I recall correctly) as well as some money.

I, personally, like the mace, staff and sword.

Duke Blackrose.4981:

Your queen is in another castle!

Adventure Box World 2 confirmed!

Playing the game as its design intended is not violating the TOS.
Exploiting the game is.

Unless you are going into a dungeon or story instance there is absolutely no reason to be in a party with strangers while farming. You gain no real advantage from it. Just follow the mob, jump in and fight, rez people if you’re into that. You get the xp, you get the loot, you get all the benefits of farming while being able to ignore jerks completely.
If you feel you need to be in a party, make some friends in the game before you show up for the farming zerg and party with them.

It’s always been like this, kind of. It’s not really “top DPS%” as much as “you have to meet a certain threshold of participation in the event”. Counts for loot, as well as xp/karma rewards.
In other words, I can’t for example, put one shot in on a champion then run off or swoop in when it’s only got a few HP left, and then still get credit/loot when the rest of the mob kills it. However, as long as I do actually participate in the fight, (which seems to include even attacking other enemies spawned by the event in some cases) I always have gotten loot no matter how meager my DPS actually is. And yes, I’m also the guy who runs around the perimeter of the fight rezzing the downed folks and playing support more often than not. You just have to get your shots in while you do that.
Anyway that’s been my experience.

It depends on what you mean by “New weapons” – they’ve released new weapon skins every month or so.

Danikat.8537:

Erm…we already got it: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Celebration_Hat

Yep. We already got our “Yay you were here on Day One” prize. The hat. On day one. Just like in GW1. If someone neglected to grab theirs, tough for them. If people don’t think that’s good enough… well, that’s just sad.

There’s an old quote that’s floated through my head since the first time I laid eyes on Zhaitan:
“That is not dead which can eternal lie”

The Elder Dragons have always had that Great Old Ones feel. Yeah, I don’t think it’s honestly so easy to actually kill the Elder Dragon of Undeath. I would be disappointed if we don’t see a return in some capacity.

It would be more fun if there was a larger variety of bosses, sure. But mindlessly farming legendaries with a zerg is still a nice way to blow off steam after a hard day.
I’m sorry if I’m having badwrong fun.

There’s pretty good circumstantial evidence that there will be an Elder Dragon in Cantha. If we ever see Cantha.
It is the home of Kuunavang and other saltspray dragons, the only living dragons we see in all of Guild Wars 1 other than Glint, who turned out to be Elder Dragon related.
Then you’ve got the Celestial Dragon Tahmu. “The Dragon, a reminder of atrocity, pain, and anguish.” Description seems ominous compared to her story: She was a kind and generous empress who was transformed into a dragon and then slaughtered invading Naga. Something there feels wrong.

Then there’s this:
Icebrood Totems depicting Jormag all over the Shiverpeaks.
Statue at Panjiang Peninsula, not the only one like it in Cantha, but the most picturesque and easily noticed.
See anything similar?

Prophesies was harsh, and tragic, and dark, and full of twists. By Grenth, we were the villains!
Everything that happened in Factions.. and in fact on Cantha at all.. was terrible. To put it mildly. Not a bad story.. a really good, horror story… Nothing good happens in Cantha. Ever.
Nightfall was exciting and dark. Then darker. And Darker. And “oh… no…..”
All the other storylines after that, were, to one degree or another, tragic at their core. Desperate, often struggling to find the last glimmer of hope.
And they were all beautiful.

Guild Wars 2 has not been the same kind of story.
It’s been an action adventure flick. There’s been moments of tragedy, little bits of sadness in the living story. You will often be responsible for bad things. But it’s overshadowed by the high fantasy story that’s sweeping along. And that’s not really a bad thing, per say, it’s just different from before. The bad part is, it was built up to be a story of desperation, about races facing utter annihilation, and it has really not delivered that feel as effectively as it could have.
The living story, and I have always believed it was all connected, has crept over us slowly. Maybe too slowly. It has tried to have that flavor that Guild Wars had. I’ve seen the echoes of stories past. And I have high hopes for the twists that I sincerely hope are coming. But the impact has been lessened by the episodic presentation – and not enough obvious, permanent changes in the larger world. If the living world story arc had been released as an expansion, with the whole thing there, so we could play the story at our own pace, I think it would have had better reception. But then, the little alterations in the larger world wouldn’t have been possible.
Guild Wars 2 is a different kind of game, with a different kind of presentation, and a different kind of story. But I agree, I would love to see a more tragic turn.

I was about to post stating that yes, ANet would attack a major city, after all they did it in GW1, and then it hit me:
All of this is starting to remind me more and more of the first Dragon Festival.
Celebrating the anniversary of a ruler’s ascension to the throne, bizarre attacks by otherworldly creatures outside a major city, then finally the monarch appears to give a speech and…. Bad Things Happen.
There’s a very good chance Divinity’s Reach will not be a safe place for a while.

You’re late to the party.

Mind blown.
I hope this is true. Much better than time travel.
But, if this were true, I would think it would be happening middle of of next month, rather than now.

“Something you all must understand
Your world is built on fog and sand”
She’s talking about the mists. Parallel worlds and time travel. It’s been in the game from day 1, if you looked.
“Our” Tyria is part of a multiverse of parallel worlds in the mists – this is what the Mist War in WvW is all about.
The Fractals are unstable parallel pocket dimensions echoing specific moments of the past.
Steam Creatures come from the future, and now are working with the Aetherblades.
What if our Tyria is just a slightly more stable fractal of Scarlet’s world’s past?
Dun-dun-duuuuun…..

Welp. Scarlet is definitely screwing with time:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/84822-watch-out-for-scarlet-on-august-20th/

“Tick tock goes the clock
It’s almost time for time to stop
Something you all must understand
Your world is built on fog and sand”

Thus: Commandos.

Katz.5143:

Poems? Gifts? Where do I find out this info?

I saw -
GWGuru:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/84822-watch-out-for-scarlet-on-august-20th/
MMORPG:
http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/473/view/news/read/28341/Guild-Wars-2-Cryptic-Hints-at-Trouble-During-the-Queens-Speech-on-820.html
Probably other similar sites too.
I really want one of those watches.

What kills one Elder Dragon may not be adequate to kill another. Because, you know, MAGIC. These aren’t just “giant lizards”. They are chaotic forces of nature with godlike magical power. We sliced the “undead” Dragon in half with a laser (and only after seriously disrupting his magical support systems). That seems a logical outcome, right? Zombies don’t seem like they’d be particularly laser-proof.
So what do we do about the "crystal "Dragon? You know, the one that warps the very fabric of reality with an application of will? Who is essentially a mass of living prisms?
You do know what happens when you shoot a laser into a prism, right?
How about what happens when you shoot a laser into lava?
And sure, Jormag’s ice powers are likely no match for lasers just like Zhaitan’s zombie powers aren’t, but we don’t even know WHAT the powers of the other dragons even are for sure.

No, I’m sorry. The treats are still very real and should be taken just as seriously.

Aetherblades throwing them overboard from high altitude.

Xaesthetics.5987:

Personally, I wonder if it has anything to do with the crystal shards that keep falling from the sky in the pavillion. Considering the Queen’s history with Kralkatorrik, and especially after watching the Wooden Potatoes video linked above, I personally suspect that the Aetherblades are not from Tyria, or rather…not from ‘our Tyria’ (as implied in WP’s video). It makes sense to me that perhaps Kralkatorrik, what with his mesmer skills and what not, was responsible for ripping apart reality due to their consumption of magic.

(Gah, edited for clarity. Apologies.)

Those are searing crystals. From the searing cauldron. That Sparcus activates as part of his event. They have exactly nothing to do with Kralkatorrik. At all.

I really don’t understand how so many people are misinterpreting the announcement:
“Characters that are one year old will receive a Mini Queen Jennah, a 24-hour Birthday Booster, and a Scroll of Experience.”
Not accounts that are one year old.
Not only the characters that were made on release day

Characters – on their one year birthday – get a birthday gift. How hard is that to get?

Note to ANET:
NO more political themed events.
It just brings out the absurdity and stupidity in the community.

Maranwe.6513:

Q: “Birthday Gifts!
As characters created right at the launch of Guild Wars 2 hit their first birthdays, it’s time to introduce our first Birthday Gift! Characters that are one year old will receive a Mini Queen Jennah, a 24-hour Birthday Booster, and a Scroll of Experience.” – so if my account was hacked, my character deleted, does it meam me (or somebody else) get no gift? Just because you didn’t help hacked people and instead of help you just sat and did nothing.

Each character on your account, as they reach 12 months in age, will get the birthday gift. Nobody gets left out of birthday gifts. A character you make tomorrow will get their birthday gift 12 months from tomorrow. A character you made 6 months after the game launched, is going to get theirs in a little over 6 months. When the character was made makes no difference, how much they are played makes no difference, just how long they exist.

Stay with me here.
The Commando appeared in Guild Wars as a time traveler from an alternate, dark future dominated by technology that the players avert by saving Gwen’s mom.
The Steam Creatures are from an alternate, dark future dominated by technology – their creation related to an Asura personal story. But even with their apparent defeat, they continue to appear in the world, in instances completely unrelated to the Asura.
Steam creatures are Asura in origin, but do not look anything like Asura technomagic. They DO look like a fusion of Dredge and Charr technology.
The Molten Alliance was all about fusing Dredge and Charr technology.
A large chunk of Norn personal story revolves around the Dredge advancing their technology – and the Inquest has been influencing the Dredge.
The Aetherblades attack Lion’s Arch, assassinate a member of the Council, and show an unusual interest in the Asura holoprojectors – a technology they already have access to a superior version of – and are working with the Inquest.
Aetherblade technology looks very much like a fusion of Inquest Asua and the newly unveiled Human Watchwork technology – which was unavailable prior to the Jubilee.
The Aetherblades attacked the Jubilee, and were able to control the Watchwork soldiers.
The Aetherblades have been appearing from steam creature portals and fighting alongside Steam Creatures attacking the Jubilee dignitaries and balloons.

The Aetherblades and the Steam Creatures are from the same dark, alternate future that the Commando stopped in Guild Wars, and have traveled through time to force the events that lead to their future to unfold. Guiding the development of their technology, and causing the political strife that will lead to the Inquest domination of the world and the establishment of their dark, technologically dominated future.
It just won’t necessarily be the Mysterious Stranger as the Grand High Sovereign this time around – Shodd is a probable replacement.

I can probably link the Southsun incidents, the Consortium’s interest in the Fractals, and the apparent sabotage at Wintersday to all this too, but I think I’ll take the tinfoil hat off now.