Guild Wars 2

Most unusual.

Maybe the screams are moments when our characters realize they’re becoming their worst nightmare (dragon minions) and try to fight against it, only to discover that resistance is incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful.

I liked the map, overall, with two exceptions: another wacky travel thing to master in order to get map completion, and the repeatable hearts. Standard once and done hearts would have been cool. Repeatable? As in, go back the next day and do the same thing to re-access a merchant I’ve already unlocked? No, thanks.

Is there an official explanation for the absence of hydras and various other previously indigenous lifeforms? Karka, obviously, could get there on their own. How did the raptors and the stonehead get there?

All the demonic skulls — I know some were there of old, but how did they get there? Did someone carve them into the rock?

Another thing: do jade constructs have eyes? How exactly did our mursaat disguise work? I did this mission yesterday but can’t remember the details, and can’t find a transcript…

One more thing:

I’m 56 and while I don’t want or expect things to be gloom and doom serious all the time, I would appreciate a more down to earth, so to speak, approach to the game world at large. When you have NPCs like, for example, Mad Mardine ‘cattlepulting’ live cows (and player characters) across the landscape it tends to make the game world feel (to me, anyway) like something one might find in a bad children’s book. Our characters should be bringing that wackjob to justice, not defending him from harpies or betting on cow launching distances or taking a joyride on his catapult.

It’s troublesome when the stories/plots hinge on the NPCs (and PCs) doing ridiculous things — or worse, not doing logical, sensible, or strategically sound things.

A step in the right direction.

Those poor bandits. They’ve been working on that bridge, like, forever. If only we could tell them there’s an invisible wall waiting for them on the other side…

Anyway, think we’ll ever get to go through that portal?

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

No one had to purchase Bloodstone Fen (a new design approach), and if one purchased Heart of Thorns and did not like those maps, one could easily get a refund.

One does not/did not even have to set foot in a Heart of Thorns map to acquire Elite Specializations.

I steered clear of HoT until it was on sale a few weeks ago. Two evenings ago I finished mapping the new zones. I’ve experienced the big events on all the HoT maps at least once. Having finally experienced HoT, I’ll say that while it’s not the content I would have preferred, it hasn’t killed my interest in GW2, nor would I ask for a refund if one was available. However, more maps like Tangled Depths will most definitely not help maintain my interest. That one, ugh.

nottsgman.8206:

I hated, and I mean absolutely HATED being artificially gated by masteries for the HoT story. you can’t even believe how angry I got for being kicked from my immersion in the story by a mastery that wasn’t even NEEDED in the story step. it was arbitrary and pointless, and lessened my experience of it. it took me nearly a year (as in I played it the second time through a month or so ago) to want to replay the HoT story, that’s how much I hated it (thoroughly enjoyed it the second time, and the third).
if they did anything like that again (mastery requirement, but in no way used in the story at all, ever) I would not play anymore. at least not the story part.

how they did the first LS3 was perfect in my opinion. the story was a nice length, the map was amazing, and the mastery required was used within the story itself. a brilliant combination.

I didn’t appreciate the HoT story gating, either. Working my way to the green star only to find that I could go no further until I went somewhere else and did something else was not fun. At all.

It’s like you’re reading a story by a favorite author, and suddenly the author’s editor’s boy scout leader appears and says, “Woa, slow down there, pardner! That’s enough story for now! Go wash dishes or mow the lawn or whatever and when you’ve earned the appropriate merit badge, I’ll let you go on to the next page!”

Thank you, but no. If I can’t read the story at my own pace, I’ll go read stories by some author whose editor’s boy scout leader doesn’t impose such pointlessly pointless and arbitrarily arbitrary restrictions.

So, I say no to any further mastery gating of the story. If gates are an inescapable evil in video games (like death and taxes in the Real World), and it seems they are, let the gates (I prefer the term ‘speed bumps’) apply to collections or fancy gear or titles or whatever. Not the story.

Never the story.

Kalendraf.9521:

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Mahgo_Hydra – might be related to dragons

For an embarrassingly long time, I thought they were called Mango Hydras.

Probably wiped out by the karka, which, now more than ever, seem to be an invasive species that can adapt to any environment, no matter how metal.

GW2: Chomp of Legendary Dentures, aka CoLD.

Primordus may be an elder dragon, but that doesn’t mean he has to eat applesauce!

My merry mix and match mesmer:

I’d like this one:

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Rauderi.8706:

Balraw.3196:

Honestly I was more upset about Scruffy sacrificing himself to open a door…

Scruffy was a significant sacrifice for Taimi to make. He was her own work that she built to overcome her physical weakness, and losing that doubly hurt, especially when she was still stuck in hostile territory. Also, we’ve seen Taimi vulnerable before (an extra fist-shake to Phlunt, grr), and I think many of us were very reluctant to see her in that position again.

I was disgusted by that scene.That scene implied, more than any other, that Scruffy was a sentient being. When he paused, he demonstrated that he wasn’t just a robot she controlled. He exhibited independent thought, he exhibited caring. And he was killed to open a door. That was the most callous scene I’ve seen in the game. I felt more humanity from Scruffy than Treh or Eir. [/rant]

EDIT: I’m assuming he exhibited caring, because that’s what the scene wants us to think. For all I know, he could have been thinking, “What the kitten?!? I don’t want to die! Curse you Taimi.” Still a sentient being either way.

One possibility: back in the 60s, DC comics introduced the Metal Men, sentient robot heroes that would get destroyed in pretty much every issue, but their creator, Doc Magnus, would salvage their ‘responsometers’ and rebuild them, and they’d carry on like it was nothing, good as new each time, without any loss of memory or function.

Maybe Scruffy is not dissimilar to them, in that he has some virtually indestructible component which houses his mind/soul/heart/what have you, so Taimi can keep rebuilding his physical body again and again, perhaps each time making him stronger, faster, better than he was before…

I could go along with norn having more stability due to size and weight, but I’d also make them slower, perhaps only in regard to recharge on dodging — due to size and weight. Gain something, lose something, and all that.

I would give asura the casting speed buff, but make them more fragile somehow, and more awkward (that big head overbalancing everything).

I’d make sylvari resistant to being knocked around (some sort of rooting mechanism) but being plants, maybe more susceptible to hot and cold attacks.

Charr I would give better dodging, due to their cat-like aspects, and maybe lesser fall damage, but make them more susceptible to crowd control effects (like, ya know, laser pointers).

Not sure what I’d do with humans. Maybe play up their will power/stubbornness and give them some resistance to mental control effects, or make them more susceptible to physical damage but with better healing. Or maybe just make them the standard baseline, even though that’s kinda boring.

However! Whatever race was least likely to be knocked around would be the class I’d want to play most, because I hate that.

“Land, spreading out so far and wide.” ~ Oliver Wendell Douglas

One large map for me, please.

Tangled Depths has that massive system of underwater depths beneath it. Seems like that might have been a cool place for the Largos to set up shop. See also: quaggans.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Amaimon.7823:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of
terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Centaurs, in Tyria, are not hybrid. They have humanoid parts, the torso, but the entire
rest of their bodies are beastial in nature. Their heads are more similar to goats than humans, even than horses.

The only creature that can truly be considered a hybrid is most likely the Norn, who were created by Koda magic more than evolution. It’s more than a little unclear how they were made and if humans were involved in any way. But even they are not compatible with humans, primarily due to an incredibly increased body temperature that would kill off human sperm, and would probably damage a human egg as well.

You seem to be referring to the centaurs from Elona, which are a three-way between horses, gazelles, and big cats. However, see —

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centaur

— for the Central Tyrian variety.

No, actually I’m I’m talking about the Centaurs in Kryta. I’ve never been to Elona. Hell, just looking at the pictures in that wiki you can see they don’t have human heads. Not at all human.

The krytan centaurs look almost more minos than equine. The elonian centaurs look like gazelles. Conclusion, its inconceivable a human was ever involved in either

Torso? Arms? Hands? If not human, then what? Norn? Those blue guys whose name I can never remember? Largos. Are there any other species in Tyria with such distinctly human-like upper bodies? Besides sylvari, that is, who are still babes in the wood, so to speak, on the evolutionary front. In any event, I wouldn’t say human involvement was, ya know, inconceivable…

Jotuns, ogres, ettins, harpies, Giants and Fleshreavers. Male Charr.

As well as others I’ve undoubtably forgotten.

The “human upper body type” is so common that nothing can be deduced about a creature’s ancestors simply by having it. It’s a design used with many different, unrelated creatures that have hands.

I wouldn’t include charr — the proportions are quite different. Torsos and arms both
much longer, and that neck…

No doubt. But that’s beside the point (and nitpicky)

The point is that a human like upper body is a common trope seen in many unrelated species. It’s so common that you don’t really see it unless you start actively looking.

Yup. For pretty much the same reasons most (but not all!) aliens in the old science fiction films and tv shows were humanoid. Just easier to do. Alas! My arguments in favor of horta as a playable race over in STO were doomed from the outset. “They have no hands! How can they hold phasers without hands?” “They can’t wear uniforms! How can they be crewmen without uniforms?” And so on and so forth. And yet, DC comics had a horta crewman in their Star Trek run. And in the novels there was an entire ship run by horta. Imagination: making the impossible possible since the dawn of time!

Ok, I’m not sure how this relates to a discussion of whether centaurs having a “human like” upper torso says anything about centaur ancestry, but thanks for sharing.

Just trying to be friendly and inject a little humor and humanity into this serious business topic. My bad. I won’t do it again.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Amaimon.7823:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of
terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Centaurs, in Tyria, are not hybrid. They have humanoid parts, the torso, but the entire
rest of their bodies are beastial in nature. Their heads are more similar to goats than humans, even than horses.

The only creature that can truly be considered a hybrid is most likely the Norn, who were created by Koda magic more than evolution. It’s more than a little unclear how they were made and if humans were involved in any way. But even they are not compatible with humans, primarily due to an incredibly increased body temperature that would kill off human sperm, and would probably damage a human egg as well.

You seem to be referring to the centaurs from Elona, which are a three-way between horses, gazelles, and big cats. However, see —

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centaur

— for the Central Tyrian variety.

No, actually I’m I’m talking about the Centaurs in Kryta. I’ve never been to Elona. Hell, just looking at the pictures in that wiki you can see they don’t have human heads. Not at all human.

The krytan centaurs look almost more minos than equine. The elonian centaurs look like gazelles. Conclusion, its inconceivable a human was ever involved in either

Torso? Arms? Hands? If not human, then what? Norn? Those blue guys whose name I can never remember? Largos. Are there any other species in Tyria with such distinctly human-like upper bodies? Besides sylvari, that is, who are still babes in the wood, so to speak, on the evolutionary front. In any event, I wouldn’t say human involvement was, ya know, inconceivable…

Jotuns, ogres, ettins, harpies, Giants and Fleshreavers. Male Charr.

As well as others I’ve undoubtably forgotten.

The “human upper body type” is so common that nothing can be deduced about a creature’s ancestors simply by having it. It’s a design used with many different, unrelated creatures that have hands.

I wouldn’t include charr — the proportions are quite different. Torsos and arms both
much longer, and that neck…

No doubt. But that’s beside the point (and nitpicky)

The point is that a human like upper body is a common trope seen in many unrelated species. It’s so common that you don’t really see it unless you start actively looking.

Yup. For pretty much the same reasons most (but not all!) aliens in the old science fiction films and tv shows were humanoid. Just easier to do. Alas! My arguments in favor of horta as a playable race over in STO were doomed from the outset. “They have no hands! How can they hold phasers without hands?” “They can’t wear uniforms! How can they be crewmen without uniforms?” And so on and so forth. And yet, DC comics had a horta crewman in their Star Trek run. And in the novels there was an entire ship run by horta. Imagination: making the impossible possible since the dawn of time!

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Amaimon.7823:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Centaurs, in Tyria, are not hybrid. They have humanoid parts, the torso, but the entire rest of their bodies are beastial in nature. Their heads are more similar to goats than humans, even than horses.

The only creature that can truly be considered a hybrid is most likely the Norn, who were created by Koda magic more than evolution. It’s more than a little unclear how they were made and if humans were involved in any way. But even they are not compatible with humans, primarily due to an incredibly increased body temperature that would kill off human sperm, and would probably damage a human egg as well.

You seem to be referring to the centaurs from Elona, which are a three-way between horses, gazelles, and big cats. However, see —

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centaur

— for the Central Tyrian variety.

No, actually I’m I’m talking about the Centaurs in Kryta. I’ve never been to Elona. Hell, just looking at the pictures in that wiki you can see they don’t have human heads. Not at all human.

The krytan centaurs look almost more minos than equine. The elonian centaurs look like gazelles. Conclusion, its inconceivable a human was ever involved in either

Torso? Arms? Hands? If not human, then what? Norn? Those blue guys whose name I can never remember? Largos. Are there any other species in Tyria with such distinctly human-like upper bodies? Besides sylvari, that is, who are still babes in the wood, so to speak, on the evolutionary front. In any event, I wouldn’t say human involvement was, ya know, inconceivable…

Jotuns, ogres, ettins, harpies, Giants and Fleshreavers. Male Charr.

As well as others I’ve undoubtably forgotten.

The “human upper body type” is so common that nothing can be deduced about a creature’s ancestors simply by having it. It’s a design used with many different, unrelated creatures that have hands.

I wouldn’t include charr — the proportions are quite different. Torsos and arms both much longer, and that neck…

Edit: Ah, you mentioned harpies. Very interesting creatures. All female. Hmm.

From the GW2 wiki: How they reproduced is unknown, though some harpies are seen seducing males of other species (such as grawl), and they are known to lay large eggs, large enough to hold a typical Young Harpy.

Looks like nature did find a way, after all.

Djinn.9245:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Our characters live in a world where they can glide through the branches of trees, swim like Olympic champions in heavy armor, fight monsters in caverns beside large pools brimming with lava, bounce across floating chunks of earth via mushrooms, and drink potions that turn them into plants, animals, ruminants, ghosts, pieces of furniture, and Grawl snowmen, among other things.

Tell me again why cross-species breeding is impossible?

Even a fantasy world needs to be true to its laid out lore and the world’s internal logic.
If you’re going to toss aside the world’s logic and lore then all you have left is a chaotic mess where anything can happen for any reason or no reason.

The OP’s suggestion is opposed by the lore of the world. He suggests something that the game has already said can’t happen and he has not suggested a way for it to happen that fits into this world. He also has not laid out a compelling reason why having cross-species NPCs would improve the game according to the cost of putting
them in and the nonsense it would make of the lore.

I disagree.

How many impossible things in this game were not supported by the game world’s
‘logic and lore’ before/until they were put in the game and instantly became part of the game world’s ‘logic and lore’? Why do those things get a pass, but this one doesn’t? Simply because it hasn’t happened… yet?

Why is that centaurs evolving into their current illogical and dreadfully inefficient forms makes more sense in terms of logic and lore than them being the result of cross-breeding — helped, as I have already suggested, by magic (or asura science)

If a charr and an asura fell in love, and one of them drank a potion to become the other’s species, and they made sweet love down by the fire, what might happen later, given the magically-infused circumstances

Suppose our cross-species lovers both drank potions that turned them into, oh, I don’t know, let’s say cows. And someone came along and danced for them, and in so doing got them all hot and bothered so that nature took it’s course. In that magically-reconstituted state, what might happen should sperm and egg meet?

Logic and lore. If we have learned nothing else in the past four years, we should have learned that logic and lore in Tyria were made to be broken.

In other words, you’re saying let anything happen because the game needs no logic and no lore.

That’s one way to think of it, but neither you nor the OP has established why the Devs taking the time and money it would cost to add these NPCs and rewriting the lore benefits the game. Time and money that they could be spending on making playable content rather than pointless changes.

In other words, you’re saying we shouldn’t have asura, norn, or sylvari in the game, because the existing ‘logic and lore’ of the source material (the original Guild Wars
game) had to be rewritten to make room for them, wasting dev-ine time and energy.

/facepalm

I have argued that crossbreeds could exist, and have offered various ways and means by which they might come into being. What I haven’t done is suggest that they
should exist. I’d ask where you came up with that, but we already know, don’t we.

Furthermore, if Tyrians were meant to fly, they’d have wings! So there. :-P

You know what, we already know all that. We already know that this is a fantasy game and that the Devs could wave a magic wand and add potions that allow conception or ret con the lore at a whim.

That part is obvious to everyone and really didn’t need an explanation.

The objection is that it’s not in the lore. That it’s not wanted for the Devs to act in a deus ex machina manner to bring about such lore altering changes. And that it’s not wanted for them to waste dev time and money to make such a pointless change.

That is, after all, the point and question of the thread. Whether we want it, not whether a dev could wave a magic wand and make it possible.

People were saying it was impossible.

CLEARLY we meant “impossible from a breeding standpoint”. Not sure why anyone would have to argue “magic” against that. I mean, this is a virtual world not a real one…its not like people thought that someone would have to literally try to breed interracial beings or anything.

Here’s what is clear to me:

To say that anything is impossible in a world jam-packed full of impossible things, with more and more impossible things being added on a regular basis, is, well, nonsense. Clearly.

In the real world, clearly, anyone trying to swim in full plate would sink to the bottom and likely drown. In Tyria, however, people in full plate can outswim a sockeye.

Why is that?

Besides, of course, the fact that Tyria isn’t a real world subject to real world physics and all that boring mundane stuff. /wink

In Tyria, put on a cow costume. Suddenly, real cows don’t know you’re not a cow! And you can train them to fight against predators. Clearly, communicating self-defense techniques to cows (some quite stinky, no doubt) while wearing a cow costume should be patently impossible. But somehow, for some reason, it’s not impossible — in Tyria!

Why? What sets Tyria apart from our dear old Mother Earth?

Well…

Apart from the whole it’s all just make believe aspect of it, I’m going to say it must surely be because of all the magic. Magic actually works in Tyria. Magic makes the impossible possible in Tyria, on a daily basis. See also: asura science.

So. Why would anyone argue magic against something that is so clearly ‘impossible’?

It’s simple.

To disregard magic and its ‘counter-impossibility effects’ (to coin a phrase) in a world overflowing with magic, in a world that couldn’t even exist in its current state without magic, is not only illogical, but would seem to be, based on the evidence at hand in this very thread, an exercise in willful ignorance.

Amaimon.7823:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Centaurs, in Tyria, are not hybrid. They have humanoid parts, the torso, but the entire rest of their bodies are beastial in nature. Their heads are more similar to goats than humans, even than horses.

The only creature that can truly be considered a hybrid is most likely the Norn, who were created by Koda magic more than evolution. It’s more than a little unclear how they were made and if humans were involved in any way. But even they are not compatible with humans, primarily due to an incredibly increased body temperature that would kill off human sperm, and would probably damage a human egg as well.

You seem to be referring to the centaurs from Elona, which are a three-way between horses, gazelles, and big cats. However, see —

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centaur

— for the Central Tyrian variety.

No, actually I’m I’m talking about the Centaurs in Kryta. I’ve never been to Elona. Hell, just looking at the pictures in that wiki you can see they don’t have human heads. Not at all human.

The krytan centaurs look almost more minos than equine. The elonian centaurs look like gazelles. Conclusion, its inconceivable a human was ever involved in either

Torso? Arms? Hands? If not human, then what? Norn? Those blue guys whose name I can never remember? Largos. Are there any other species in Tyria with such distinctly human-like upper bodies? Besides sylvari, that is, who are still babes in the wood, so to speak, on the evolutionary front. In any event, I wouldn’t say human involvement was, ya know, inconceivable…

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Our characters live in a world where they can glide through the branches of trees, swim like Olympic champions in heavy armor, fight monsters in caverns beside large pools brimming with lava, bounce across floating chunks of earth via mushrooms, and drink potions that turn them into plants, animals, ruminants, ghosts, pieces of furniture, and Grawl snowmen, among other things.

Tell me again why cross-species breeding is impossible?

Even a fantasy world needs to be true to its laid out lore and the world’s internal logic.
If you’re going to toss aside the world’s logic and lore then all you have left is a chaotic mess where anything can happen for any reason or no reason.

The OP’s suggestion is opposed by the lore of the world. He suggests something that the game has already said can’t happen and he has not suggested a way for it to happen that fits into this world. He also has not laid out a compelling reason why having cross-species NPCs would improve the game according to the cost of putting
them in and the nonsense it would make of the lore.

I disagree.

How many impossible things in this game were not supported by the game world’s
‘logic and lore’ before/until they were put in the game and instantly became part of the game world’s ‘logic and lore’? Why do those things get a pass, but this one doesn’t? Simply because it hasn’t happened… yet?

Why is that centaurs evolving into their current illogical and dreadfully inefficient forms makes more sense in terms of logic and lore than them being the result of cross-breeding — helped, as I have already suggested, by magic (or asura science)

If a charr and an asura fell in love, and one of them drank a potion to become the other’s species, and they made sweet love down by the fire, what might happen later, given the magically-infused circumstances

Suppose our cross-species lovers both drank potions that turned them into, oh, I don’t know, let’s say cows. And someone came along and danced for them, and in so doing got them all hot and bothered so that nature took it’s course. In that magically-reconstituted state, what might happen should sperm and egg meet?

Logic and lore. If we have learned nothing else in the past four years, we should have learned that logic and lore in Tyria were made to be broken.

In other words, you’re saying let anything happen because the game needs no logic and no lore.

That’s one way to think of it, but neither you nor the OP has established why the Devs taking the time and money it would cost to add these NPCs and rewriting the lore benefits the game. Time and money that they could be spending on making playable content rather than pointless changes.

In other words, you’re saying we shouldn’t have asura, norn, or sylvari in the game, because the existing ‘logic and lore’ of the source material (the original Guild Wars
game) had to be rewritten to make room for them, wasting dev-ine time and energy.

/facepalm

I have argued that crossbreeds could exist, and have offered various ways and means by which they might come into being. What I haven’t done is suggest that they
should exist. I’d ask where you came up with that, but we already know, don’t we.

Furthermore, if Tyrians were meant to fly, they’d have wings! So there. :-P

You know what, we already know all that. We already know that this is a fantasy game and that the Devs could wave a magic wand and add potions that allow conception or ret con the lore at a whim.

That part is obvious to everyone and really didn’t need an explanation.

The objection is that it’s not in the lore. That it’s not wanted for the Devs to act in a deus ex machina manner to bring about such lore altering changes. And that it’s not wanted for them to waste dev time and money to make such a pointless change.

That is, after all, the point and question of the thread. Whether we want it, not whether a dev could wave a magic wand and make it possible.

People were saying it was impossible. I pointed out that it was, in fact, possible, given all the other impossible things extant in the game, as well as the notoriously malleable nature of fantasy game world lore.

As for your repeated objection that a thing cannot be because it’s not ‘in the lore’, I offer again the humble /facepalm, which, until recently, was beyond the physical capabilities of anyone in Tyria, and therefore could not logically be part of the lore, until, suddenly, one day, after some vast and overarching change mysteriously occurred, it was!

And so shall many other things come to pass, things not currently part of the logic and lore of Tyria, for change, whether you or I like it or not, and as all who partake of them know, is inherent in the nature of MMOs.

Well. Unless they’re on life support only. Which, praise the five, er, six, this one is not.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Our characters live in a world where they can glide through the branches of trees, swim like Olympic champions in heavy armor, fight monsters in caverns beside large pools brimming with lava, bounce across floating chunks of earth via mushrooms, and drink potions that turn them into plants, animals, ruminants, ghosts, pieces of furniture, and Grawl snowmen, among other things.

Tell me again why cross-species breeding is impossible?

Even a fantasy world needs to be true to its laid out lore and the world’s internal logic. If you’re going to toss aside the world’s logic and lore then all you have left is a chaotic mess where anything can happen for any reason or no reason.

The OP’s suggestion is opposed by the lore of the world. He suggests something that the game has already said can’t happen and he has not suggested a way for it to happen that fits into this world. He also has not laid out a compelling reason why having cross-species NPCs would improve the game according to the cost of putting
them in and the nonsense it would make of the lore.

I disagree.

How many impossible things in this game were not supported by the game world’s
‘logic and lore’ before/until they were put in the game and instantly became part of the game world’s ‘logic and lore’? Why do those things get a pass, but this one doesn’t? Simply because it hasn’t happened… yet?

Why is that centaurs evolving into their current illogical and dreadfully inefficient forms makes more sense in terms of logic and lore than them being the result of cross-breeding — helped, as I have already suggested, by magic (or asura science)

If a charr and an asura fell in love, and one of them drank a potion to become the other’s species, and they made sweet love down by the fire, what might happen later, given the magically-infused circumstances

Suppose our cross-species lovers both drank potions that turned them into, oh, I don’t know, let’s say cows. And someone came along and danced for them, and in so doing got them all hot and bothered so that nature took it’s course. In that magically-reconstituted state, what might happen should sperm and egg meet?

Logic and lore. If we have learned nothing else in the past four years, we should have learned that logic and lore in Tyria were made to be broken.

In other words, you’re saying let anything happen because the game needs no logic and no lore.

That’s one way to think of it, but neither you nor the OP has established why the Devs taking the time and money it would cost to add these NPCs and rewriting the lore benefits the game. Time and money that they could be spending on making playable content rather than pointless changes.

In other words, you’re saying we shouldn’t have asura, norn, or sylvari in the game, because the existing ‘logic and lore’ of the source material (the original Guild Wars game) had to be rewritten to make room for them, wasting dev-ine time and energy.

/facepalm

I have argued that crossbreeds could exist, and have offered various ways and means by which they might come into being. What I haven’t done is suggest that they should exist. I’d ask where you came up with that, but we already know, don’t we.

Furthermore, if Tyrians were meant to fly, they’d have wings! So there. :-P

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Tachenon.5270:

Our characters live in a world where they can glide through the branches of trees, swim like Olympic champions in heavy armor, fight monsters in caverns beside large pools brimming with lava, bounce across floating chunks of earth via mushrooms, and drink potions that turn them into plants, animals, ruminants, ghosts, pieces of furniture, and Grawl snowmen, among other things.

Tell me again why cross-species breeding is impossible?

Even a fantasy world needs to be true to its laid out lore and the world’s internal logic. If you’re going to toss aside the world’s logic and lore then all you have left is a chaotic mess where anything can happen for any reason or no reason.

The OP’s suggestion is opposed by the lore of the world. He suggests something that the game has already said can’t happen and he has not suggested a way for it to happen that fits into this world. He also has not laid out a compelling reason why having cross-species NPCs would improve the game according to the cost of putting
them in and the nonsense it would make of the lore.

I disagree.

How many impossible things in this game were not supported by the game world’s ‘logic and lore’ before/until they were put in the game and instantly became part of the game world’s ‘logic and lore’? Why do those things get a pass, but this one doesn’t? Simply because it hasn’t happened… yet?

Why is that centaurs evolving into their current illogical and dreadfully inefficient forms makes more sense in terms of logic and lore than them being the result of cross-breeding — helped, as I have already suggested, by magic (or asura science)?

If a charr and an asura fell in love, and one of them drank a potion to become the other’s species, and they made sweet love down by the fire, what might happen later, given the magically-infused circumstances?

Suppose our cross-species lovers both drank potions that turned them into, oh, I don’t know, let’s say cows. And someone came along and danced for them, and in so doing got them all hot and bothered so that nature took it’s course. In that magically-reconstituted state, what might happen should sperm and egg meet?

Logic and lore. If we have learned nothing else in the past four years, we should have learned that logic and lore in Tyria were made to be broken.

Our characters live in a world where they can glide through the branches of trees, swim like Olympic champions in heavy armor, fight monsters in caverns beside large pools brimming with lava, bounce across floating chunks of earth via mushrooms, and drink potions that turn them into plants, animals, ruminants, ghosts, pieces of furniture, and Grawl snowmen, among other things.

Tell me again why cross-species breeding is impossible?

Swagger.1459:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

You really going to dig deep into the unknown origins of centaurs in the Tyria universe and assume a human and horse mated?

Are we really going to have stuff like charr males impregnate a sentient plant?

Do we need the devs to waste time justifying a new existence of unions between species and waste resources creating multiple hybrid species to put in game?

Why don’t we just line up all Tyria females and have elder dragons impregnate them so we can play hybrid dragon"things"? Maybe then we can rename the game Dragons Guild Watch Wars 2?

Let’s ressurect glint and have her give out eggs for different species to inseminate?

When does “no hybrids” from the devs mean “no hybrids”?

When no grind means no grind.

Kal Spiro.9745:

Tachenon.5270:

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Centaurs, in Tyria, are not hybrid. They have humanoid parts, the torso, but the entire rest of their bodies are beastial in nature. Their heads are more similar to goats than humans, even than horses.

The only creature that can truly be considered a hybrid is most likely the Norn, who were created by Koda magic more than evolution. It’s more than a little unclear how they were made and if humans were involved in any way. But even they are not compatible with humans, primarily due to an incredibly increased body temperature that would kill off human sperm, and would probably damage a human egg as well.

You seem to be referring to the centaurs from Elona, which are a three-way between horses, gazelles, and big cats. However, see —

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Centaur

— for the Central Tyrian variety.

Swagger.1459:

Smooth Penguin.5294:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Evolution is NOT about wants. It’s about change in response to the surrounding environment, but there has to be a “path” possible towards this change.

So you’re saying that a charr mating with an asura is due to a change in the environment? Well wouldn’t you know it, Primodus is awakening. When his rein of terror blankets the land in death, nature will call forth a new type of hero. One born of the fires of war (charr) with the intellect to succeed (asura). And there you have it: Charrsura.

Basic Fantasy 101: When a foe is too powerful, you power up. Think of it like Goku’s fusion technique.

Hybrid species are not happening in gw2 for a multitude of reasons.

You mean like centaurs?

Not to mention the occasional asura gate boo-boo possibly serving as a catalyst for evolution. Wouldn’t it be funny if the charr were the result of some long forgotten asura progeny who was goofing around one day with his or her asura gate playkit and who decided to send a kitty and a calf through the gate… into DESTINY!

Never mind all the magic: when asura are involved, all things are possible. If not necessarily practical… or prudent.

Remember, folks, GW2 is not only a fantasy game featuring wonderfully wondrous wonders of magic and (asura) science, but also a game infused with a generous dose of outright silliness (see: people wearing cow costumes in order to teach real cows how to fend off predators over in Ascalon).

Cross-species hybridization is, therefore, by definition, foolproof.

Sird.4536:

Now they are screwed because we have 4 dragons left and we know 3 of them are in Tyria (the continent). Jormag is up north of FGS, Kralk south in the Crystal Desert, Primordias underground somewhere and no word on Bubbles location.

FGS and CD are roughly the same size as the Maguuma jungle and if HoT wasn’t big enough for an expansion then these 2 zones won’t be either. They have to finish this dragon story arc before we move to another continent? Even after these dragons are dealt with Cantha is probably still a long way away because south of Tyria is Elona.

We shouldn’t have to fight each and every dragon. The first one was enough. Other heroes in other regions could have handled the other dragons, off-camera, leaving us and the game free move on to something else — and, more to the point, some where else. Alas.

Coming soon to a Living Story near you…

The following preview has been approved for ALL audiences.

Living Story 4: The Search for Trahearne

Marjory: Say, Rytlock, have you noticed how <character name>, my rock, as it were, has been mumbling about climbing the limbs of the Pale Tree?

Rytlock: Yeah. And when I saved the Pact leaders from that centaur army the other day all by myself, they gave <character name> a medal for it. (growl) I don’t have time for this.

Kimberly (passing by): Ain’t nobody got time for that!

I shall opine thusly: once our Guild Wars characters got over the shock of seeing our GW2 characters rolling and flouncing and flip-flopping all over the place as though caught up in the process of assaying unto completion of the drunkard title, they’d slaughter them.

And lo! With that salvo, this Battle of Opinions rages on, with no end in sight! There’s really only one way to settle this: an official old vs new crossover challenge! Some sort of dungeon, perhaps, in the Mists, where time is extra wibbley wobbley, allowing old and new (along with their adherents and aficionados) to come face to face to engage in a Battle Royale (w/cheese) the outcome of which will set the course for the Future of the Franchise!

I’ll leave it to someone else (nudge nudge wink wink) to work out the details of how such an event might be (ahem) developed.

Because Faren is only a legend in his own mind, whereas with Trahearne, everybody and their second cousins were like, “Oh, it’s Trahearne! Like, wow, dude, you remember that time at band camp when you taught me how to build a mushroom-powered four-wheel drive AMC Pacer out of pine cones and cow patties? Great times! Oh, yeah, I’d trust Trahearne with my very soul.”

Maybe Trahearne isn’t dead at all, and we never defeated Mordremoth. Maybe we’re all trapped in Trahearne’s mind. We think we’re running around Tyria doing other stuff, but it’s all a Trahearne-induced Dream to keep us occupied while Mordremoth has his way with the world. Maybe the lack of any sort of ceremony for poor dear departed Trahearne is actually a typical Trahearneal blunder, and as a result we’re beginning to question our perceived reality…

Mitch.4781:

It’s possible..just mystifying. Personally, I would wonder how you could mourn the death of such a poorly written, universally panned character in a game which is heavily criticised for misteps in characterisation and story. It’s hardly Sophie’s Choice now is it?

More like Taster’s Choice. Still, I didn’t want Trahearnia to die, I just wanted him to get out of the way. He should have resigned as Leader of the Pact and stayed in Orr to oversee its restoration, thereby opening up the other half of the continent for exploration and adventure! He had no business leading a military force, as his blunders in LS2 so whimsically illustrate.

I want a character that can stand and fight, go toe to toe with the bad guys instead of flipping and flopping and rolling and bouncing all over the place like a jumping bean on crack. I want to play characters like Luke Cage and Ben Grimm, but all GW2 offers is Batroc and Toad and heavy armor made of foam rubber.

kitten , I miss City of Heroes.

So, kinda like ‘Liberated Borg’? Cool.

Smooth Penguin.5294:

I wanted to do an unscientific study to see how many Precursors players have gotten in the past 4 years. How many hours have you played, and how many Precursors have you gotten (from Mystic Forge or PvE/WvW drop)?

3,497 hours 32 minutes over the past 1,443 days have netted me absolutely no precursors.

Vayne.8563:

Mirta.5029:

Behellagh.1468:

Let me guess, you are one of the people who expected GW2 to be just like GW but bigger. Same degree of complexity around traits and professions. Same new expansion every year that was as big as the original game. No cash shop except of things like character slots. And because it’s not you have been rallying against GW2 since launch.

Am I close?

I thought that vanilla GW2 was great and did not play GW1.
What I want is some sort of response from the community in regards to what Anet did.

While I no longer play this game, it would be soul crushing to know that completely changing your direction mid an MMO, not delivering on the promises and abandoning parts of the game would be met with a revenue increase.

For the sake of all of you guys playing, I do not want the game to die, even though it no longer will have me as a customer, however I want Anet to realize that going back on their promises is wrong and that they should choose a stable direction for a game that is now all over the place (no matter it is casual or hardcore).

I think that that is what a lot of ex players are seeking here with venting their frustrations out. They want the company to learn and be better at maintaining the game and delivering more content. They do not like the fact that Anet’s response to a fall in revenue is to release the next expansion faster, because that might mean that they will put even less work into it.

They didn’t completely change it, you didn’t keep up. Rather they’ve been changing it a bit at a time, gradually all along. It’s been going in this direction since ascended gear was introduced a few months after launch.

Ascended gear was the first step down that slippery slope, and it’s been a steady downhill slide ever since. Well, I know you’ve enjoyed it all, even dancing for the cows and all that inexplicable nonsense, but as for so many of the rest of us, no, not so much. I, too, think the game was by far better at launch than it is now.

I recently bought HoT at half price. Deleted an existing level 80 so I could try a revenant. Meh. STO gave me free character slots with their recent (also free) expansions. BDO has given me free slots with the release of the last two classes. Why must anet be so stingy? It’s almost as if they don’t want people trying their new stuff.

Still, it’s been interesting, finally seeing the new zones. Everything looks good, of course, when you get a moment to take it all in. Gliding is cool, sure. Otherwise the new is wearing off, and fast, because it’s the same events over and over and over just like Silverwastes and Dry Top. To be fair, they did say up front that the new zones were going to be much like those two. Beyond that, having to stop smack dab in the middle of the story until I ground out the required mastery (to get back to the fun stuff, ahem) was unwelcome, jarring, and just plain bad. Pathetic, even. And they did it again in the first episode of LS3!

Also didn’t like it when I was following an event chain, getting close the the end, the bar thing was close to being full… and then suddenly, hey, day shift is over! Night shift is underway! And everything I’d been working toward went poof. Unwelcome, jarring, and just plain bad.

So, here’s my opinion (mine, I tell you, it’s my own!) re HoT and the future of the game if it maintains the present course: I would not like it on a boat, I would not like it with a goat, I do not like grind wars and (aoe/knockdown/poison) spam.

What? No! Let’s start a new guild instead! We’ll call it We Happy Foo! Heh, just kidding. The name will be Quaggan’s Watch, of course. Hoo!

Oh, Dragon’s Watch. Not Dragon Swatch. Gotcha.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Yeah, sounds like you want to play GW1.

Been there, done that, was hoping for that kind of ongoing expansion and innovation and various other things I loved about GW in GW2, didn’t get it. Oh, well. Since this a thread about what (we, the players, who may not all agree, think) should have been, is there nothing you think should have been, but wasn’t?

I think what should have been was that once our staunch heroes dealt with the threat of you know who, it should have been one of those ‘shots heard around the world’ deals that inspired people everywhere to join together to whip their local you know what, so we’d be free to deal with various and sundry situations in Elona and Cantha and someplace NEW we’ve never been to.

Steeldragon.7308:

Tachenon.5270:

Nothing new to GW2 except for HoT, and to hell with HoT. That’s why this player isn’t here anymore. Never mind the occasional visit to catch up with guildies too stubborn to move on.

So now people are stubborn for not moving on because they enjoy a great game to play while others do not.

SMH

GW2 IS a great game, and indeed very enjoyable… if you just started playing. Or if you’re someone who enjoys doing the same things over and over, which, of course, some people do. I mean, look at Pong. Just as much fun today as when it was brand spanking new, right?

Me, though, I can’t help wondering what happened to the amazing folks who gave us Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North.

Instead of anything remotely that awesome, we got HoT. Which, despite it’s questionable price tag, has yet to be completely delivered. What are we likely to get in the future?

More of the same?

/e cheer

So, yeah. Stubborn.

Nothing new to GW2 except for HoT, and to hell with HoT. That’s why this player isn’t here anymore. Never mind the occasional visit to catch up with guildies too stubborn to move on.

Nope. Won’t pre-order, won’t buy at release, either. I’ll wait and see what it is and what it isn’t, how much remains ‘not-ready-ware’, and whether it seems worth the asking price.

Pre-ordering is giving someone money for a promise they don’t have to keep.

cesmode.4257:

Does anyone think Arenanet would have been better off sticking to their original dream/manifesto/vision/promise for the game that they had in early dev and in beta?

Hell, I’d give ’em $50 to restore the game to what it was before November 15, 2012. That would almost be an expansion by itself.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Tachenon.5270:

If you’re arguing against those who hold that anet was wrong to choose to not deliver what they advertised, then you’re arguing in favor of anet not delivering what they advertise. You are, in essence, arguing in favor of anet not delivering what YOU pay for someday.

Why would you do that?

‘If you’re not an apple, then you’re a banana’ type of thinking discounts the existence of pears and oranges which are neither of the first two fruits. Imo such binary thinking always does more harm than good.

~EW

Either they took money for something they’ve decided to not deliver, or they didn’t. We know that they did take the money. We know that they aren’t delivering what they advertised.

Either you approve of this, or you don’t. I don’t. You, evidently, do.

There are no pears or oranges here.