Guild Wars 2

Shiren.9532:

It doesn’t make sense when the person you offer it to not only rejects the offer but also formally leaves the Pact. The offer in itself is comes with strings attached which undermine your authority as the new leader, which is also an issue.

Even had we accepted the offer (which would position us poorly for future story and I fully support an NPC becoming marshal over the player) our first act as the new leader of the Pact is being told what to do by our subordinates and being forced to do something we don’t want to do. At that point your authority as leader is compromised.

Keep in mind the person making this offer is leader of the Vigil and she herself immediately proceeds to fly us to a dangerous magical disruption, doing what she advised we not do if we became leader of the Pact.

1. The offer coming with strings is the exact reason why the PC refused – and I’m pretty sure Almorra worded in such a way as to ensure that the PC would refuse, because she no doubt agrees that the Commander is best in the field.
2. It isn’t the subordinates that demanded the new Marshal be doing paperwork. It’s the Pact’s suppliers and supporters – the national and order leaders. Almorra, Gixx, and the Master of Whispers do not answer to the Pact, nor does the Arcane Council, Smodur, Knut, Pale Tree, or Queen Jennah. It is the people in these and similar positions that made the demand of paperwork position – and if they didn’t get their demand they would have pulled their support to the Pact, leaving it permanently crippled. This is what “politics” does to things.
3. Almora didn’t expect to be going into hostile airspace – she was just dropping off someone in a semi-secured jungle that had no anti-air capabilities. The explosion caught everyone off guard and afterwards her ship is in repair. She also isn’t the leader of a major multi-national organization. Plus, given her tone and wording, I don’t think she’s in agreement with the forced proposition for the next Marshal – even if she herself is used to such a position.

Shiren.9532:

I think the reason is they don’t want to spend too much time on the Pact. So much was left unresolved by HoT – the state of the Pact, the fallout with the sylvari, the celebration of victory and the recovery from their losses. They instead chose to focus on the personal drama of Eir, Rytlock and Braham. The Pact is out, Dragon’s Watch is in – Eir’s funeral over Trahearnes is just a consequence of this (not new) story focus.

I don’t think that’s it at all. Yes, we didn’t really talk much about the Pact, but that might be more because they wanted to get right to the crux of the plot.

Mind you, I think the episode was way too short for 9 months wait and leaving us waiting for 2 more months for anything more.

Shiren.9532:

The information should be available to all of our allies – the Priory, the Pact, other asura. Did you see only humans scouring Orr for magical artifacts or solutions to the Zhaitan threat? We had charr, asura, norn, quaggan, sylvari, tengu and many other races all over Orr (a former human kingdom) researching and working together to stop Zhaitain (we only know Mordremoth’s name because the tablet containing information about Elder Dragons was recovered and shared by the Pact).

Did you see ANYONE from Kryta there at all? No? Me neither.

Those in Rata Novus DO NOT WORK FOR THE PACT. They DO NOT WORK FOR THE PRIORY. They work for the Arcane Council.

And the Arcane Council have a known history of withholding critical information from the Priory and other races.

Taimi, on the other hand, immediately tells the world’s most finest dragon slayer of her substantial findings. For all we know, she also sent information to other known and trustworthy associates that wouldn’t try to undermine her position and censor data like Phlunt would (who is literally right outside her door).

Shiren.9532:

Like I said, when it’s portrayed as Taimi vs Phlunt (or asuran beaurocracy and KGB/secret police/Arcane Eye) people won’t see what it really is – Taimi vs Priory scholars

Because it isn’t Taimi vs Priory scholars.

Taimi outright tells trusted individuals – Caithe, the Commander, Rytlock known among them – about information she finds.

Phlunt would not. He’d tell Flax, and Flax would have it censored so that only the asura can benefit from it. Exactly what was done in the past.

And no one would know this because everyone who would know the information is in Flax’s proverbial pocket.

The thing you’re forgetting is that the Arcane Council is who would get the information if Taimi didn’t keep the lab separate, not the Priory, not the Order of Whispers, not the Pact.

And the Arcane Council doesn’t share with anyone.

Shiren.9532:

She’s not just hiding it from Phlunt and corrupt asura, she’s hiding it from everyone – including the Pact who risked their lives fighting dragons and sharing knowledge, even between the three Orders.

I didn’t know that the Commander, who is still a member of one of the orders at the very least, who slew two Elder Dragons counts as no one. I didn’t know Caithe and Rytlock, members of the (now defunct) Destiny’s Edge count as no one.

Shiren.9532:

The Arcane Eye aren’t as powerful if the Pact is their opposition.

Really? Because they succeeded in fooling the Order of Whispers, Vigil, and Durmand Priory for an unknown amount of years.

Who’s to say they couldn’t fool those very same people again?

Shiren.9532:

Taimi’s interest is in her personal accolades as much as Phlunt (the only difference is Taimi deserves them while Phlunt is trying to take credit for her research), otherwise she would share the lab with Pact, Priory and other asura.

While she is interest in her accolades, she’s also got other interests.

If you were right, then Taimi would never have said her final line at the end of the episode. She would never have called the Commander to her lab in the first place. She would not have showed the chak organ or talked about how it functioned.

Everything she does completely counters your argument.

Walhalla.5473:

Someone in his Position? May I ask who was in the same Position?

Pretty much a nobody. Killed in a raid in a WM hideout.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Confessor_Esthel

Even the Inquisitor(s) we fight after were a bigger threat:

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Veteran_Inquisitor_Mirella
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Inquisitor_Torbon

Doomdesire.9365:

Kryta Arc might not happen or be wrapped up a lot sooner than anticipated. Caduceus comes off as incompetent; I seriously doubt his faction will last long or even pose a threat to Kryta, and Lazarus doesn’t seem interested in the throne. On one hand I’m excited to see how the Lazarus and Primordus story converges, but at the same time I was kind of hoping to take a break from dragons and focus on some Kryta stuff – that entire region is just fantastically done. Also, I really wanted Lake Doric, seems like it won’t happen.

Also wonder if that last line spoken by Taimi pretty much confirms where the next xpac is going to be.

I don’t think Caudecus is incompetent so much as he’s been underminded while he was under house arrest for literally four years.

With the Shining Blade breathing down his neck, there’s only so much information that he could receive from his men.

Shiren.9532:

I’m not a fan of the resignation from the Pact or Dragon’s Watch as a thing. It all feels very contrived and out of sync with the history of our story so far. The Pact functions fine, we can function within it as a group without forming a guild. I don’t think they’ve demonstrated to me or Tyria that there is a need for guild like DE anymore. The resignation from the Pact seems silly on another level because nothing has changed from Season 1 – we still work with them, they likely still follow our lead and we still work on our own.

The resignation was because he was next-in-line for command, but everyone was wanting to put the Commander behind a desk filing paperwork all day.

That is VASTLY different from Season 1 where we weren’t constrained at all by the Pact.

And very easily shows in short order why our PC couldn’t be the Marshal during the personal story. Too much paper work for our adventuring selves – it would make no sense.

Dragon’s Watch I still dislike, as well as disbanding Destiny’s Edge and the continued distrust of Caithe – given she didn’t act that out of the ordinary.

Shiren.9532:

Almorra’s offer was basically constructed solely to create context for why we obviously wouldn’t take it.

But it is also a context that makes perfect sense and is realistic.

Shiren.9532:

I am baffled as to why Eir gets an entire drawn out funeral while Trahearne got nothing. Not only was Trahearne a bigger player overall, he headed the Pact and his death was as a sacrificial hero while Eir’s was just tragic.

Yeah, kind of agree. Why no Trahearne funeral or some mass funeral for all the fallen Pact members?

Reason is probably that they didn’t want to spend too much time on funerals.

Shiren.9532:

People won’t see it because it’s portrayed as Taimi vs Phlunt but it’s really Taimi vs the best interests of all of Tyria.

I’d say it is closer to Phlunt vs the best interests of all of Tyria.

The thing is that Taimi also has the best interests for all of Tyria, while Phlunt just wants the accolades and Taimi knows if anyone else gets into the dragon lab the knowledge would be censored – just like the Arcane Council did with Gorr’s work – hog it all or simply claim all the credit of it.

If you think that Taimi is the villain here, you need to (re)play the asura chapter 3 personal story.

Mada.5319:

Why the hell were we able to SEE Lazarus?

None of our characters or NPCs have ascended.

Mursaat can chose whether or not to be invisible. And he was, then chose not to be.

Simple as that. We knew this even in GW1, particularly during Saul’s Story in the Bonus Mission Pack.

draxynnic.3719:

It’s also worth noting that Weh No Su, while mechanically treated as Ascension and the Canthans seem to regard it as such, may not be the same Ascension in lore (after all, in Nightfall you can “Ascend” simply by engaging in a spot of pest control). Even then, though, it’s possible that Talon Silverwing had enough regard towards the gods to be accepted, while some of the playable races now explicitly hate and/or belittle (charr, asura) them, while others (sylvari, norn) are indifferent to them.

Except that it’s outright called “what Canthans call Ascension” in An Empire Divided:

Chanang became one of the first Canthan heroes to become Closer to the Stars (what in Tyria is referred to as “ascension”) and, when the time came to succeed his father on the throne, he refused the title “lord emperor” and instead became the first “ascendant emperor,” changing his name to Chang Hai.

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/An_Empire_Divided

draxynnic.3719:

Regarding fighting and being Unseen: Do we know that going out of phase is the same effect as their invisibility? As I recall, it was possible to see the Inquest operative while she (I think it was a she?) was phased – you just couldn’t damage them. While in the Battle for Lion’s Arch, regular Shining Blade and Lionguard could attack and deal damage to a mursaat.

I think the Inquest-mursaat-combination device was an incomplete phasing, and I do believe it was said in the Arah path that the phasing is how they became “unseen” to people.

And when you infer what Ascension/Weh no Su does to why you can see mursaat, it becomes evident that the mursaat’s “phasing” is basically a replication of what souls can do naturally – hide themselves from human eyes by slipping into the spirit realm (where we go during the norn Defend the Mists storyline – a spiritual world of Tyria). And just as Shiro killed the PCs in Factions without being seen (the entire reason why we needed to become Weh no Su/Ascended in that plot), so would the mursaat be able to.

draxynnic.3719:

Regarding Thirsty River, the important step with regards to Ascension is to reach the Rune Circle and perform the ritual.

Fair, forgot about that as the rune circle was only shown in the cinematic, whereas the vision crystal and Throne of Pellentia were parts of the mission itself.

According to Angel McCoy?

“It magically disappears from your pocket and into the Arcane Council’s treasury.”

That was her actual explanation… It just gets teleported out of your pocket.

Ironically that interview – which sparked a kitten-hits-the-fan reaction from the lore community due to not only that but the announced calendar change (which was also given a pathetic explanation) and more – has been taken down about a year ago.

It’s amazing how no one gave a kitten that there was story and lore restricted to the elite missions in GW1, but there’s a god kitten kitten storm about it in GW2.

It’s not like the raid has super critical lore that you can get nowhere else.

It merely has relevant lore related primarily to that location. No different than GW1’s elite dungeons of Tombs, The Underworld, Fissure of Woe, Urgoz’s Warren, The Deep, Domain of Anguish, or Slavers’ Exile.

draxynnic.3719:

I don’t think the presence of the Forgotten is required for Ascension. The Forgotten made it more difficult, but fighting the Forgotten wasn’t what lead to Ascension – cleansing yourself in the Thirsty River, performing a ritual to draw the attention of the gods, and focusing that attention through the Vision Crystal were. It’s possible that, if anyone went out there, Ascending would be simply a matter of visiting the Thirsty River and the Throne of Pellentia and then walking into Augury Rock after passing through the crystal (and defeating the doppelganger, of course).

The “cleansing yourself in the Thirsty River” required fighting the Forgotten, though.

draxynnic.3719:

If true Ascension is on the cards, though, I hope it’s like the sylvari-Mordremoth relation and the story is different if you play a human versus some other race. Regardless of which race you are, you have human NPCs (possibly Marjory, Kasmeer, and Logan) who are Ascending. If you’re playing a human character, you’re leading the process and achieve Ascension yourself. If you’re a nonhuman character, you’re helping the human NPCs to Ascend, and after that they can play “spotter” for you when the time comes to throw down against Lazarus.

You make it sound like non-humans are incapable of Ascending, but there’s no real indication of this, despite Ascension being a part of human history rather than other races’

draxynnic.3719:

(From what we see in Prophecies, particularly War in Kryta and Saul’s Story, the mursaat can fight or be Unseen: they can’t attack without becoming visible to everyone. So in the final showdown, the PC doesn’t need to have the Gift of True Sight, they just need an ally who does. Kasmeer would probably be ideal, since she can then project an illusion of what she sees on top of Lazarus.)

But from what we saw of Arah explorable, this isn’t true – the Inquest operative and the PCs both undergo the Mursaat’s “phasing” and is capable of attacking non-phased without unphasing.

EdwinLi.1284:

Kralky was currently the only Elder Dragon that the Pact knew where exactly he was located and open to attack while the info on the other Elder Dragons only had where their territory are but no info on where they were located within that territory.

Actually, Kralkatorrik is MIA. He’s been highly inactive for the past now 9 years. Last he was seen – as far as players know anyone knows – is at the end of the battle against Destiny’s Edge. People went to that spot later (the Zephyrites to recover Glint’s corpse), but no Elder Dragon in sight. Kralkatorrik flew off in an unknown (to players, known to DE) direction – but where he landed, no one knows.

The Pact only knows the “general wereabouts” of Kralkatorrik.

Jormag, on the other hand, they know where he is. Because there are still foolish norn going after him.

Najten.2418:

I’d have to agree with Heibi on this one; Playing the game is fine. But even being in their own guild rather than “incognito” is already bad enough. If they’re not going to spread equally across all servers they shouldn’t be flying their company colours.

I believe that they are spread across multiple servers. Maybe not all servers, and maybe not equally. But why should they?

When they’re in-game, they’re just playing a game. They are no different than you and me, except they know a bit more about the game in some places.

They get no benefits, they don’t have some company exploits they use.

This argument is just silly, that they cannot play their game the way they want to play it, as players.

EdwinLi.1284:

The priory has already established a good amount of bases in the Crystal Desert even before the Pact we formed as it was mentioned by NPCs.

There are mentions of expeditions into the desert, but no timeframe to these and no mention of bases let alone “a good amount”. For all we know, they had a temporary small outpost that got wiped out when Kralkatorrik rose.

Unless you saw a dialogue I didn’t.

EdwinLi.1284:

If any info is left there then no doubt the Priory in the Crystal Desert will have the infomation we need by now.

Which truth be told is a mighty big if.

We know they know about the Ascension process – we learned this in Season 2 – but it seems indicative that they don’t know how to partake in it, or if it is even still possible. Remember that when we Ascended in GW1, Augury Rock split apart. We also created the Vision Crystal (which in Arcana Obscura is said to be more powerful than a “mere crafting component”) and fought the Forgotten (who have left this world entirely per A Study in Gold – whether this means through travel or through extinction is unknown though), and ousted a ghost that could no longer be present to get the attention of the Five Gods.

In short, everything we did in the Ascension trials seems to have been a one-time thing, literally. The only way to Ascend would be to find a repeatable trial – such as the Weh no Su trials (which, yes, Closer to the Stars = Ascension).

In other words, the only known way to Ascend in GW2’s time is via the guide and gaze of the Celestials, since the gods (who were the ones who’s attention Ascended folks in Prophecies) are gone.

EdwinLi.1284:

Along with a group of Order of Whispers keeping a eye on Joko’s activity to the South area of the Crystal Desert.

Joko and the rest of the Order of Whispers are in Elona, not the Crystal Desert. The Order of Whispers have a means to get to Elona, but no one says that this means is traversing the desert – it could be as simple as an asura gate.

Invictorum.7643:

I personally have my doubts the Priory would know too much about the process, even given their ability. Perhaps we’ll have to aid the Order in quelling Joko to maybe get Turai back so he can guide us through Ascension?

Two things:

First, see Arcana Obscura about the Priory’s knowledge. I believe that’s their extent.

Second, Turai’s ghost is in the Mists now – specifically, the Hall of Heroes. When we Ascended in GW1, we opened the way for Turai Ossa’s soul to move on to the Hall of Heroes.

Joko hunted down and captured Turai’s ancestors, but had no hand in the fate of Turai himself – even post-GW1.

Unless for some reason, Joko is capable of stealing souls from the very center of all existence – something even Zhaitan, who was capable of stealing souls from the Underworld – is not shown capable of doing.

Torolan.5816:

Councelor Phlunt tried to take away control from her of her inventions all the time in ls2. While he is not her supervisor in a sense of a boss/apprentice relationship, he surely has a close eye on her from that point on.

Not really. It’s stated in various dialogues that everyone knows Phlunt “stole” the device patent from Taimi. And there has been zero dialogue indicating that he has the slightest care in the world about Taimi’s activities.

Of all the troll threads you make, SP, this one’s the worst in quality.

Try harder.

Torolan.5816:

Maybe, and that is a big maybe, the other Asura did not come into Rata Novus by the portal? The battle for the tangled depths is on, maybe they walked through the front door through the tunnels like we basically did in the story if memory does not fail me here?

Blog post outright has Taimi note the asura gate turned on – which left us in suspense for part two, which was “Sumians are here! The Sumians are here! GOSH DARN IT WINDALL!”

Further, going through the front door I brought up, since technically those asura gates only link to other Rata Novus stuff.

Torolan.5816:

And regarding the door that is in plain sight, Taimi is supposed to be a genius that is probably able to keep the door locked with a hidden device from the other Asura for the time being.

There is no way what is clearly over a dozen asura in the picture would not be able to figure out how to get in that room if they can even glimpse there’s something inside – and knowing Taimi is going in and out is very clearly giving it away.

The only way she could have kept it hidden would be if they were in Rata Novus proper – far far away from the dragon lab. But the images show the room outside the dragon lab with the giant telescope thing.

Torolan.5816:

Her supervisor is obviously not as brilliant as she is and more of a politician than a researcher as he is constantly surprised by her ideas and concepts and made to look like a fool.

Her supervisor? Who the heck are you talking about?

The closest thing to a supervisor Taimi has is her charge, Zojja. Far from idiotic or a politician and not surprised by her or made a fool.

Kalavier.1097:

What is the rough percentage of Sylvari that are in the nightmare, to Sylvari who are among the ranks of the Nightmare court (since we know not all nightmare Sylvari are part of the courts)?

This was answered a long time ago and the number we were given was “roughly 15%”.

Though this was prior to the actions of Toxic Alliance and Mordremoth’s rising. So it’s no doubt different now.

Kalavier.1097:

What are the official viewpoints of other cultures toward the nightmare court? Seraph/humanity, Lionguard/LA, Asura, Norn, Charr, etc?

There’s a pirate in Lornar’s Pass which calls them sadists with disdain, while being someone who enjoys killing others himself, IIRC.

Nero.8047:

• That mission was Buried Insight .

Shhh… it was 3 am. >.> Fixed.

Nero.8047:

• Didn’t Taimi at one point state that she learnt about the Novus Crew before? or at least read about it.

-snips-

• I don’t think a Legendary City is something she came up with on the spot.
• P.S. Just read into it again and of course it’s logical for the groups you mentioned to be the only ones to know of the location of Rata Novus besides it existence. I’m just dumb. ^^

She learned of the legend of Rata Novus. In the same manner you and I learned about the legend of Atlantis. But neither of us know where it was meant to be located.

Nero.8047:

• “All work and no rest put Taimi’s sanity to the test.” ? just kidding.

Sure, that works better. A 3 AM mind that’s been active all day isn’t the most creative.

Torolan.5816:

Asura have not much sense of decency or humility, so I agree with Konig that they would never have agreed to work for a child or leave a potential doomsday device unexperimented with. It is possible that Taimi keeps the best parts locked away from them(no humiliy and sense of decency again), maybe with the help of Caithe. I attribute this set of thought to basically all Asura, with the Inquest being just honest enough to say it outright.

How could Taimi hide a very obvious door that’s five feet away from where every Sumian is set up?

How could Taimi hide the very room the Sumians walked through upon arrival (the dragon lab is where the still working gate is – unless through unexplained events she repaired the other one).

Hmmm?

(P.S. I agree that the asura are based off of rats and other small mammals – and that that’s where the rivalry between asura and skritt comes from. Though on Rata’s meaning, there’s a simpler one: Rata Sum is latin for “I (have) verified/ratified.”)

Regarding centaurs and dragons – the whole dragon threat is told more through the open world across the entirety of it, for players, but is treated as common knowledge (more or less) for characters. None of them have an exact location (except those we’ve fought), just a general direction – Jormag’s in the north, Kralkatorrik was last seen in the Crystal Desert, Primordus is underground, etc.

Every race has a “direct” threat and the Elder Dragons all serve as a distant one. Centaurs and bandits (aka White Mantle front) is the direct threat for humans. Its their day-to-day problems.

Regarding Destiny’s Edge – do the dungeon story modes. That focuses on them, and does cover who they were and what they did and why they broke up. The novel Edge of Destiny explains it in even more detail, though the writing isn’t the best.

So a thought came to me yesterday:

What if there are no other asura there? What if Taimi has totally gone mad and is imagining all the asura?

In all honesty, that makes the most sense out of all possibilities. Consider:

1. At the end of Buried Insight, Taimi asks everyone to not tell Rata Sum about her and Novus, because she wants to study the databanks and not get “Phlunted” again. In the open world, the only individuals at Rata Novus are Whisper agents, who also would want to study first before others get there.
2. Other than the above two groups (Commander’s buddies and Whispers) the only groups to know of Novus is the Exalted and Nuhoch. Nuhoch see the place as abandoned and a place of death – they have no reasons to begin discussions about it; the Exalted also didn’t bother talking about it until it became relevant.

Given the above, the only way Rata Sumians knew of Novus is because either the biconics are kittens to Taimi – or more likely the Exalted talked to Peacemakers that acompanied the Pact. However, this hits a fault in that the Pact are still recovering most of their troops from the jungle (per articles and Jennah’s Interview).

Then add in (talked this part over with Aaron in-game for a bit – some points are his, some are mine):

1. Asura gates in GW1’s time worked at a 1-to-1 always-on situation. This was why Vekk had to destroy a gate to shut it down, and why the destroyers could so easily take out the asura (they spread through surprise via the gate network).
2. Asura gates in GW2’s time have been overhauled, requiring both sides to line up to each other (per Ghosts of Ascalon novel) in order to activate. In lore, most capital cities’ gates cycle through to the other capital gates (major exception being DR to BC) as part of this.
3. Rata Novus’ gate seem to function differently entirely – the first gate turned on from only one end, this could just be explained as being like GW1’s but on a switch (makes sense), but the second gate leads to the cube in the PS and to the Command Center in open world indicating a change of destination is possible – to a degree. This makes Novus’ gates a bit of a mix – you only need tuning from one end, basically.

However, the question one must ask is: How do the Rata Sumians turn on the gate? Can the Sum gates and Novus gates interact with each other given the different design and functionalities? Probably not. Which means that they had to traverse the jungles – how could so many get through such hostile territories? And why would the Whispers agents let them through so soon?

However, there is one final point: the pictures in the blog.

Every one is taken in the decayed hive portion of Rata Novus – that second part of the mission; where the hero challenge is in the open world, to the north. Why is this important?

Taimi states that she’s managed to keep the dragon lab secret. How? How could she keep a giant kitten door with a dragon head engraved and glowing on it a secret when it’s not even 5 feet away from the other asura?

And there’s no way the other asura would bow and scrape knees to a kid when they can see there is very obviously something beyond the door when she goes into that room – since she didn’t lock it down!

Though there’s one final thing:

The gate on the far end – away from the dragon lab – was destroyed. The only gate in and out now… is in the dragon lab. Which means the Sumians had to enter through the dragon lab – which she somehow is keeping secret.

Unless there never were Sumians. Unless all that happened was that she imagined the defunct gate activating and a bunch of people waltzing through.

Even Caithe’s visits might have been hallucinations caused from sleep deprivations and solitude – anyone who’s read/seen the Shining know that prolonged isolation can make Jack a (not so) boring boy.

Small aside: Given the facts above, actual living asura from Rata Sum showing up in that spot makes little logical or continuity sense, as either it’s breaking lore by rewriting the rules of asura gate linking, or a bunch of carefree asura who pay no attention to warnings (powering up all the ley line stuff in Novus) somehow managed to traverse one of the most dangerous regions in Tyria with no apparent casualties.

And if they are real, then to Bobby Stein who’s been active on the lore forums a bit as of late, I demand to know how and why they came upon knowing and getting to Rata Novus! (I’ll give you til Wednesday evening before hyperbole ensues ;D )

Either way, it seems Taimi is finally following in the footsteps of her idol, Scarlet Briar. She’s either insane, or breaking all the lore around her.

See edited post Aaron, I made a mistake with thinking Malcyk was one of the three Wyld hunts (brain switched Malyck and Bercilak storylines).

The Pale Tree doesn’t give Wyld Hunts nor does she always know what they are. At the end of each chapter 1 storyline for sylvari, the PC say they knew they had to fulfill that Wyld Hunt (protect the White Stag; aid Tiachern; fight Bercilak) and asks if the Pale Tree was why. She responds with:

Avatar of the Tree: No, dear heart. I do not control the Dream. I am simply it’s caretaker.

She outright denies giving out Wyld Hunts.

The Dream gives out the Wyld Hunts, and the Nightmare gives out Dark Hunts. The Pale Tree cannot control either Dream nor Nightmare – she merely acts as caretaker of the Dream, and a bridge between her children and Dream or Nightmare.

No plot hole or upcoming plot twist to see here. At least, not necessarily.

Some ideas taken from GW1:

• Obelisks – static siege weaponry that is by default automatic low-damage PBAoE pulses, or can be manned for targetted anti-player damage and conditions. Would function as a counterpart to arrow carts – where arrow carts apply damaging conditions, Obelisks would apply debilitating conditions (blind, vulnerability, confusion, torment) and offer small support to allies (protection and regeneration).
• Siege Turtles – Tractivator for towers which sends an armored NPC to slowly march upon the keep nearest the tower sent from to siege its walls from a distance.
• Juggernauts – Tractivator for towers which sends an armored NPC to slowly march upon the keep nearest the tower sent from to siege its door from a distance.

Teraphas.6210:

Now if the launchpads were like cannons and mortars and set build sites with predetermined facing could work well. Anet would be able to test all glide range from the pad and set the launch arc how best works.

That’s exactly what launch pads are. They are static in placement and which way they launch players and how far they launch players.

Gliding and launch pads in WvW should be mutually exclusive, IMO.

• Poll for rotating EB and Edge of the Mists (not make new maps yet but see how many active WvW’ers would be interested in it)
• Mercenaries out of the northern corners of BL and south-central area similar to the mercenaries in EB (the hylek, dredge, and ogres) so that the skritt/centaurs in ABL are actually given a purpose (and the roaming ones aren’t always a pointless hindrance)
• Launch Pad defense sieges (being able to build launch pads within keeps and towers to send players over their own walls (to behind a zerg))
• Gliding in WvW (test via unlocking for all, implement via WXP upgrades)
• Disable WXP in EotM
• Add JP area to DBL
• Placeable “barricade” supply-taking item – similar to the barricades seen in Silverwaste forts and Verdant Brink camps but taller (so players cannot jump over them). Could be fun to create a maze of them for enemies.

BobbyStein.2315:

I think you need to balance how you use particular characters. I think it’s bad form to throw “one-offs” all over the place that are there for purely functional reasons, but have zero personality or reuse potential. In Ela’s case, she’s a natural fit for imparting a lot of supplementary info of current (and past) events, and since she was a (small) part of the Season 2 story there’s a bit more context. Granted, she doesn’t have much to say outside of factual info, so if we were to do anything else with her I’d hope we’d flesh out her personality some more. But I hear where you’re coming from.

Your Herald was mostly a functional creation from what I understand. The dungeon letters needed to come from someone, and since we had some technical constraints that made it difficult (if not impossible) to originate from multiple potential sources based on your character’s decisions a nameless character was introduced. It’s kind of like the Tyrian Explorers Society notes you get for map completion. I think both have the potential to be very interesting but there wasn’t much need to develop them beyond the initial implementation. Perhaps that will change in the future. No promises, though.

I’m going to have to HEAVILY disagree with Ela there.

She started out as a Field Reporter, who showed up at the Molten Alliance attacks. Then she was documenting the Zephyrites. Then suddenly a krait expert talking about the Toxic Alliance, then suddenly warning us about Scarlet’s Secret Lab underneath the Priory. Out-of-game we got blog posts about her joining Lionguard forces into LA to take it back – a practically suicide mission. Then she returned in Season 2 suddenly a Magister teaching a class, and is now back in LA talking about common events.

She was all over the place in Season 1, gaining new capabilities based on the release, with no real reason to such. If she was an expert on krait, why was she reporting the attacks of unknown origins in the Shiverpeaks, or visiting the Bazaar of the Four Winds, or joining the Lionguard squad? If she’s now a magister that teaches classes, why did she go to LA to tell people about Scarlet or study the ley line stuff?

Most roles don’t really fit her. She is what you say is a “one-off character” used for more than makes sense. She far from a natural fit – instead, she’s been nothing but jarring since the Tower of Nightmares arc to me.

LOR-748 Field Reporter was around for only Kiel’s stuff, giving a brief recap of the Molten Alliance during the Secret of Southsun arc, then talking about Kiel and Evon’s pasts during Bazaar of the Four Winds/Cutthroat Politics – its entire design was a lore database, and thus would have been more fitting to return for that TA knowledge in the ToN arc, or for recaping Season 1 (though listening to a golem voice for that cinematic would be a bad choice – I’m talking functional comparison).

If Ela wasn’t proclaimed a “krait expert” in ToN (there to study the current situation while LOR-748 or someone else was there to give the lore on krait and nightmare court) or used during Hidden Arcana (instead using a different known magister or something), then she’d be less jarring since she would just be a field reporter who happened to be around for all of Scarlet’s doings – and her ley line studying would just be her next project due to Scarlet’s tampering with them.

(Side note: letters from multiple sources isn’t impossible, given that you did that with the letters from the DE member of your race in the PS, and during F&F which was from DE of your race or Almorra if you were vigil )

I do hope the “Your Herald” guy returns. It would be very fitting to me if he turned out to be working for E, in fact.

Grimmsblood.5231:

who knows, the huge ley-line disruptance the the ship is heading into could be DR. But, humanity could re-establish themselves back in Ebonhawke. Then that leads to expanding south towards the crystal dragon, and returning to Elona.

I think drax summarized perfectly why such wouldn’t happen.

Jaken.6801:

It wouldn’t be unlikely that part of DR could be destroyed.
However I believe it would only happen, if it is a major plotpoint, in which something like the Queens Throne and the buildings sourounding it, would be destroyed.

Western Commons has 0 personal story relevance, as does most of Eastern Commons (only Uzolan’s Orchestra area does). Those could easily be destroyed with no PS rammifacations and eventually rebuilt to be different. They’re also near the main entrance to the city.

Jaken.6801:

Overall, if there is a siege, I believe they will come from the north.

You mean where there’s nothing but water and steep cliffs?

:P

BuddhaKeks.4857:

So I guess the point that the Marshall can’t be a member of any order that makes up the Pact is a moot point now. Good, Soulkeeper is a fine choice and more qualified than Trahearne has ever been. This also means we get to see her again in the LS, I bet. If I remember correctly she hasn’t had any appearences after the PS, which is weird considering she was the leader of the Vigil and by that a high ranking Pact member.

While not necessarily an appearance, during Flame and Frost she was the author of the first batch of letters to Vigil individuals rather than the racial DE member. And she had unique dialogue for Vigil players then.

But it’s not too surprising that she wouldn’t show up – as you said, she’s the leader of the Vigil. She’s busy leading the Vigil. She was never a Pact member, technically, as the highest ranking member of the Pact-and-Vigil was considered Warmaster Efut (the liaison between the two) though Laranthir (second in command of the Vigil) worked with the Pact as often too (though unlike Efut, Laranthir was on front line missions).

BobbyStein.2315:

Would we ever use Modus Sceleris again? I think if we had a compelling reason we would, but they’re pretty far down the list (narratively speaking) because there are other stories we’d like to develop and groups we’d like to explore first.

I’m just gonna say that the Modus Sceleris sound like they’d be a good recurring “hired villains” group that various big bads might pay to harass the players while they go about their own plots.

A role usually filled by the Inquest – minus the hiring part. The Inquest can’t be involved in everything after all.

They could play no bigger roles than what the Inquest plays in Dry Top or Season 2 Episode 1.

Of course, other groups could play this role as well – and should. The important part is to keep using a variety of groups and individuals for the side content (whether it is in new maps, or a “distraction” or lead-in during story instance). It gets very tiresome when we deal with the same individual time and time again even though there are other alternatives (no wiki link, but remember “Your Herald” from the dungeons? Said he’d follow your progress… whatever happened to him and his warnings of ongoing happening?) that once were introduced.

I don’t think anyone’s asking for the Modus Sceleris to become some big bad on par to Scarlet Briar. Just for them to not be forgotten. And I could probably find a nice long list of groups that feel somewhat forgotten in favor to sticking to the same five or so major groups.

Donari.5237:

Goodness. I played betas and headstart, I obsessively got into game every chance I had, I did all the events and achieves, and I don’t remember Modus Sceleris at all! Even reviewing them on the Wiki doesn’t ring any bells. I’ll have to check my achieves to see if I have any archived ones regarding MS.

As someone who has no head canon invested in MS at all, I’ll side with the decision to develop other stories instead. I’d still like Malyck’s loose end tied up in some way, even if it’s just in a blogged short story. Though it still seems possible for him and his Tree to become factors in the ongoing narrative even if the impact will be far different from what we might have seen as part of the HoT tale.

Modus Sceleris had no achievements. Just 5 or so events.

Taimi scans the egg… the scans include some sort of heating and/or radiation…

The egg becomes hard boiled.

Jaken.6801:

She wants Primordus.
Rytlock and Glints legacy might take us to Orr
Braham wants Jormags head.
Did I miss someone?
Do we have a Quaggan in the party somewhere, that might want Steve?

Why Orr?

Also, Rytlock wants Kralkatorrik’s head. You missed that.

Jaken.6801:

Mentioning Krakaltorik and Primordus might mean we might tackle both at once, this time.

Still calling a threeway fight with Kralkatorrik, Jormag, and Primordus.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Scepter of Orr. Little is known of its power.

Plenty is known, actually. We know it’s the twin to the Staff of the Mists which “allows the wielder to bend the fabric of reality” (quest dialogue) and health (its pick up/drop effects), and we know that the Scepter of Orr controls spirits (Sanctum Cay bonus) and energy (its pick up/drop effects).

Erukk.1408:

I’m probably reading way too much into it, but assuming the final voice is Caudecus; I found the choice of words a bit peculiar.

“They will carry me all the way to the throne of Krytan.” Emphasis mine.

It almost sounds as if he puts some distance between himself and the WM, almost like he doesn’t consider himself an actual member/fanatic, when talking about them. Not that he isn’t afraid to use them or anything, but rather he sees them mostly as a means to and end (claiming the throne) more than anything else.

I am fairly sure that he is referring to the people of Kryta.

The White Mantle have been running a propaganda campaign – one where they create the very downsides they bring up about the crown and queen. Caudecus has done this as well, working with the bandits (aka White Mantle mooks) for years.

The White Mantle do stuff to demoralize people from serving the crown and convince good people to join the bandits – we see many bandit mooks being those who were either tricked into thinking Jennah is evil (like Riot Alice), and many who are just stealing because they’re so poor (many of the street gangs, like Quinn), and those who just enjoy killing and all that (who probably get promoted).

And honestly, I’m suspecting that Caudecus is the Confessor of the White Mantle. Aside from utilizing the bandits (aka White Mantle front) for his own gain for years, he’s had family secrets that he would kill to protect (Order of Whispers plot with Demmi).

And it seems a bit too coincidental to me that Caudecus, who is shady as hell and is the lead anti-Jennah man, lives in the first town that the White Mantle attacked after their loss to Salma.

Walhalla.5473:

I think we’ll go to a Bloodstone Mining Position. At3 we see a kittened up Area with Red Sky and floating Rocks. Also some of the Rocks have Bloodstone Parts underneath them.

Those don’t look like bloodstone parts to me.

Walhalla.5473:

Would make sense, the whole Place seems to be overflowing with Magic and cutting a High Yield Magic Energy Battery doesn’t seem like a good Idea to me, its bound to leak more Magic when cutted.

Nothing actually says the place is overflowing with magic. The best we got is that the bloodstone got charged due to Mordremoth’s death (but never overcharged or the like) – but over the weeks after that very same magic was used to heal Lazarus.

Marjory couldn’t pull that illusion off because she’s a necromancer.

A bone dragon the size of Kralkatorrik, on the other hand…

More seriously, I doubt Kasmeer could come close to that either.

And Anise is not always with Jennah. Such as when she went with Logan to kill some White Mantle, or went to The Grove well before Jennah. Or at the party Jennah wasn’t present at.

That “figure in Phalanx” is a White Mantle Knight – wiki has an image of the female model; that’s the male model in the trailer – just go to Stronghold of the Faithful, the guys are in the very first group you need to fight. Also, the axe isn’t reclaimed but Kryta’s Salvation – an exotic that uses a skin well used by the White Mantle in GW1. Why he has a Blathazar Shield I do not know.

The twisted red stones are Bloodstone Shards seen throughout the third raid.

TBH, that might still come in later. Remember, all of this is for episode one. Out of who knows how many episodes.

Mind, it’ll be 2-3 months before next chance at it, but it’s not like it’s scrapped. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a new map every episode, given that’s the same distance between Dry Top and Silverwastes.

(Note: I don’t count on it. But I’d hope that each episode is now on par to 3-4 of S2’s episodes in terms of content and quality, else it isn’t worth the wait).

Nothing interesting until0 to me.

• @ : 33 – Some messed up place that looks post-cataclysmic or hellish. Unlikely to be Chaos Isles as that was said to be a mixture of previous fractals. More thoughts later. Note red sky.
• @ : 36 – Underground ley line location. Doesn’t look familiar but could be Tangled Depths or Dry Top? Possibly new map? Some Anomaly-like thing being created or empowered.
• @ : 38 – Canach’s shield and weapon (he wields chainsword and shield of the moon in HoT), sylvari, followed by mesmer magic. Canach got a makeover (aka new armor) and empowered by Anise? Note the red sky.
• @ : 41 – White Mantle Knight from wing 3, Note the red sky, note the airship, and White Mantle architecture.
• @ : 48 – wing2 footage with new audio: Possibly Caudecus shouting? Sounds less whiny than Caudecus but could be a case of different situation-different tone and/or voice actor forgetting how he did Caudecus after 4 years. If not Caudecus, probably unknown-to-us Confessor. But why would they reveal their plan so soon?

• @ : 37, : 43, : 45, : 54 – Pact airship heads towards massive cyclone that then explodes. This seems to be second-long shots of same cinematic to me.

My theory: we’ll get a new map that has a persistent red sky. This map opens by cyclone and explosion, resulting in shattered floating landscape. Explosion likely caused by ley line stuff and White Mantle messing with it. Most likely to the north – I suspect good ol’ Lake Doric making a return (original incomplete map had a whirlpool in the middle of the lake in the ground – fits a cyclone in the middle of the lake!)

I think this trailer shows a lot less than people are thinking – which is typical for Anet trailers.

It was actually promised that we would NOT see whichever fractal lost. Ever.

Though recently the Fractal team said “well, maybe we will make it. Maybe.”

Aaron Ansari.1604:

I’d disagree, seeing as it’s not commonly known even to us. The only basis for that theory is one out-of-universe document cluing us in that the Searing magic predated the titans, and the whole crystal parallel (and saying all magic crystals are linked to Kralkatorrik is just silly).

The Movement of the World and Ecology of the Charr are actually in-universe Priory papers, we were told once, just delivered out of game.

Still, that one comment is only a very strenuous hint at best, and the second basis for the theory is the Searing Effigy which creates purple fire and crystal, but very very few people saw this thing before its destruction.

dusanyu.4057:

Someone Zhitan corrupted had to have known. I have long suspected that it was a cauldron of cataclysm that the risen were after in the sunken temple.

Why would a Searing Cauldron (there was only one Cauldron of Cataclysm and I believe we saw that at the Hierophant’s Stronghold in Eye of the North) be at a temple that was sunken for a thousand years before the Searing? No charr went in there as far as we know or are hinted at.

And why would any of the risen know? The charr only knew the titans gave them the cauldron of cataclysm – and we see no charr risen covered in coral like the orrian risen (invading charr would have been underwater just as long). The Orrians didn’t even know about the titans, given no one did but the charr until the end of Prophecies.

Norn care not about strength, despite common misconception, but rather one’s ability to make a name for themselves.

In fact, besides the famed hunters and fighters, the norn praise their artists the most – particularly great storytellers who keep legends alive.

So despite the common misconception that “norn see using technology as weakness” they would actually applaud a norn who’s ingenuity of complex machines, or could create devices that trap or fell mighty foes.

Vayne.8563:

All zones in the game are locked in time.

-snip-

Anet did actually try to rectify this was the Living World Season 1, but too many people complained that they were missing content if they weren’t here at the time.

Slight correction:

Zones are locked in time except where influenced by the living story.

ArenaNet did not try to rectify it as they did not remove any of the original content (unless it conflicted with the new stuff, and even then they tried avoiding it); instead they added and then removed new content. Excluding the Southsun Cove map, Tower of Nightmares was the first time they actually left something behind beyond a couple dialogues. But those who missed the content when it was out stilled missed it.

Season 2 is their attempt to rectify it, and it was quite a bit better. Season 3, I hope, will be even better at the job though.

OriOri.8724:

Note that the tower and leftover energy probes are from S1 where ANet was experimenting with permanently changing maps. There is a reason they no longer do that, it was a horrible idea.

Events are one thing to add, and the bandits and ley line events are just that, events. But we haven’t had anything since the mordrem invasion of Tyria, before S2 started, that permanently changed a map

Centaurs continue to lay siege to a nigh-abandoned fortress destroyed by Mordremoth.

This was in S2.

Curiously though, the grawl and risen stopped caring about the destroyed fort of the Priory-Vigil alliance, Concordia (at least, I’ve not seen those events in a long time). However, those stationed there still act like their structure isn’t in entire shambles. The head Vigil officer even acts like the place is brand shining new. Then again, he’s not the brightest of fellows.

TL;DR

They kept the permanently changing of maps with Season 2. And it still doesn’t work.

The only reason they’d rework the Zhaitan fight at this point, to be honest, is if they get the desire to rework the personal story entirely so that it is repeatable content.

However, given that they seem completely okay with leaving an entire storyline out of the game, leaving hundreds if not thousands of players (with increasing numbers as time goes on) confused as to what happened between the personal story and Season 2 (even leaving some folks thinking that the personal story is season 1), I don’t see ArenaNet reworking the personal story (again, technically).

What I hope they do, instead (okay not really instead because I would love for them to fully rework the PS to be replayable and to bring back S1 as permanent content), is rework the five temple metas to be on par to Vinewrath/Octovine/Shatterer, and the Gates of Arah fight to be on par to Tequatl/Mouth of Mordremoth. Would also love the Ancient Karka, Twisted Marionette, and Prime Hologram fights to become Guild World Boss missions or something.

Yes, we got confirmation from devs. It was an overall disappointing answer given what folks were wondering and theorizing.

I mean, we knew from the get-go that Jormag corrupted women just as much as he corrupted men, but we didn’t know until some interview in 2013 iirc about what actually happened to them. The answer was simply “the Sons of Svanir hunt them down and kill them because they don’t believe they are worthy to receive Jormag’s ‘gifts’”

Rhyse.8179:

The end of the HOT story was kind of rushed and doesn’t include all the details it should. However, I think this is what it’s supposed to be:

1) The ENTIRE JUNGLE is Mordremoth. Everything – Mordrem, Blighting towers, the Mouth – are just outgrowths of it, like leaves on a tree.

2) Certain things, like the Axemaster and other champions, blighting towers, Zojja/Logan clones etc, are confirmed to grow back. This is both lore and a gameplay mechanic.

1) Mordremoth is not the entire jungle, but instead the situation is that Mordremoth can transfer his mind to his corruption, which is spread across the jungle, slowly replacing it. And from his corruption he can regrow his body (the Mouth of Mordremoth).

So in technicality, Mordremoth is nothing more than the Mouth of Mordremoth. In practice, however, he is basically the sum of his corruption.

Until we kill his connection to the Dream (aka armored-to-the-point-of-looking-fat upright drake).

2) I don’t think any of those examples are stated to grow back, actually. The Vinewrath in Silverwastes is said to simply retreat and regrow, and Mordremoth’s body (the Mouth) is stated to be able to be regrown, and we have the three mordrem commanders that are reborn from the Blighting Trees’ pods. However, destroying the Blighting Trees stops the commanders’ return – none of the trees come back except the newly planted saplings in Auric Basin.

Rhyse.8179:

1 and 2 are confirmed in game. 3 , 4, and 5 are only suggested at, but are the explanation that makes the most sense.

Actually, a dev over on reddit confirmed that the Mouth of Mordremoth fight does take place at the same time as Hearts and Minds.

It’s also implied that Bitter Harvest takes place during the lane assaults.

Rhyse.8179:

Behind the scenes, and a wild guess on my part, Anet seems to have tried to make the “it grows back” explanation a replacement for suspension of disbelief, but it didn’t work out well (naturally, since it’s a terrible idea) so they cut a lot out and now it’s open to interpretation. The interpretation above is the one that doesn’t take a giant steaming dump on the story and characters so it’s the one I use in my head canon.

Actually, the “it grows back” explanation was the excuse for why we delve into the Dream and kill his connection to the Dream which allowed him to transfer his mind (and whisper thoughts into the sylvari) so that we could actually kill him.

When I saw the trailer, the land looked green, not white/blue and ice covered.

Could be wrong, there’s been hints of going after Jormag (more than after Primordus and Kralkatorrik though all three could be acting up now with all the magic in the world). But I’ve been thinking the explosion will be related to the ley-line anomalies.

RyuDragnier.9476:

Konig Des Todes.2086:

Pretty much the situation is the same it has been since Season 2 ended:

Some devs want to bring Season 1 back, but the person/people who make that decision is saying no at the moment (and if neither Bobby Stein – a team lead – or Colin could before the latter left, the one who makes that decision can only be Mike O’Brian).

I cannot fathom at the decision behind it, truth be told. It’d be like telling the original Star Wars trilogy with only the first and third movies.

There’s a way to do it, but it’d take time and resources. If they make instances for everything, it can be done, but it would take a long time, especially since quite a few of the early LS chapters could be turned into 4-6 instances on their own.

Example, Frost and Flame. Instance for talking with Rytlock, instance where you save refugees and fight off flame legion and dredge, instance where you do the nursery saving with Rox, instance where you meet Braham, instance where you save his hometown, and finally an instance where you do the Frost and Flame dungeon thingy, except it’s now set as a permanent place you can enter on the world map (as a story dungeon).

That’s 6 instances they have to make, which is easily enough to be a LS chapter of its own. Sure that’s only a very early example, but now imagine they take everything we did and do something with it, including adding new dialogue and story to flesh things out. This includes saving the characterizations and problems originally there, such as Scarlet. Imagine, we beat her minions in the ‘invasion’ subsection and fend her off, only for her to say that thanks to us she now has battle data for her watchwork minions as well as their current weaknesses, so she can improve on them.

Or, alternatively, they do nothing and as more and more new players go through the game, they have absolutely NO bloody clue what’s going on with these suddenly popping in characters, don’t know and don’t care about Scarlet Briar, are confused as hell as to why LA looks different in story instances. And on top of that you have old players who were there for all or some of Season 1 forgetting and being unable to replay the content – less an issue but still an issue – with no true means of a simple recap via story journal (the original purpose of the thing).

Which is what ArenaNet is doing. They are trying to sell the original Star Wars trilogy without the Empire Strikes Back movie being available.

Yeah, it’d take time and resources to do, but not only is it new content for so many players now, but it’s story important too, and even old players would enjoy replaying that content again just as they would new content.

flog.3485:

The best way to bring back LS 1 is through fractals I would say…..Who knows, maybe that is what we are going to get for the new ones. If not, fingers crossed for the next expansion

In my opinion, that’s the worst way. And in all honesty, probably would take more work than just bringing it back as story instances with the minor open world events being permanent.

I wouldn’t mind them turning the bigger fights (mainly: Ancient Karka, Twisted Marionette, and Battle for LA) into a guild mission or raid – but only on top of a single player version (we don’t need a repeat of Arah story).

XerMeLL.6042:

Do you think i will just wait for the season 3?

Season 2 and Season 3 aren’t directly tied together so I’m not sure why you’d wait.

Since you played through HoT, though, you already know the lead ups to Season 3. Season 2 is just a lead-up to HoT.

Story order goes: Personal Story/Dungeon story mode -> Season 1 -> Season 2 -> Heart of Thorns -> Season 3

XerMeLL.6042:

If i start playing season 2, do you think i can still understand the whole story since i dont know anything about season 1?

There is a recap in LA – under “Scarlet’s War” in the story journal – which summarizes the points relevant to Season 2 and HoT.

The wiki has a fuller summary if you want to know the whole story of Season 1, since ArenaNet seems deadset on forever excluding a huge part of their story to new players.

See my final paragraph there, Danikat.

Jaken.6801:

Btw. since when is Caithe labeled “good” again.
On the other hand, we got our naive little Asura talking here.

The “plot-induced fit of unjustified paranoia” as Aaron called it (very apt description) went away with Faolain’s death.

Yup. That fast. For something that in all honesty should never have existed from the PC, Rytlock, and Canach.

And I think player reactions to that might have had a hand in them deciding to so quickly make her friendly with others again.

Regarding part two:

I’d been very careful about what I powered up to keep the chak numbers down, but these mindless numskulls are flipping switches left and right! History is bound to repeat itself at this rate! At least we know the causality of the chak and their appetite for ley energy. I think the Rata Novans figured that out a little too late. The chak are already popping up more often -snip-

Something tells me this is going to play a part in LW3. I suspect we’ll begin by going to check up in Taimi and her research, counter another chak invasion, and she’ll inform us of ley line fluxuations that send us elsewhere before we get detoured with a coup d’etat in Kryta.

I wouldn’t say only six left, given we see many dragons in Cantha.

And GW1 already indicated that there were multiple races of dragons.

• Bone Dragons (note: what we saw was only half their corpse – their hind legs and tail were torn off, according to lore)
• Saltspray Dragons
• Rock Dragons (turtle-like)
• Dragon Mosses/Dragonlilies (they were drake-like but covered in various plants)

Furthermore, we now have Wyverns in HoT (which are less-serpentine Saltspray Dragons in terms of body shape), which are said to be cousins of drakes (which in GW1 were much more draconic).

Zhaitan and Kralkatorrik has thus far been somewhat like the Bone Dragons/Glint in terms of general shape (Kralkatorrik moreso given the rotten appearance of Zhaitan); Mordremoth has had a similar appearance to the Mystic Dragon/Snow Flurry Dragon miniatures (and if the totems of Jormag are accurate, so does Jormag); and Primordus has kind of reminded me of wyverns in the shape of shoulders-neck-head.

Ogres actually have a lot of room for customization. From the spine/forehead horns (or lack of) to skin tones to body shapes and facial features. Kodan really just has body shapes and facial features.

That said, quaggan’s in the same camp as ogre – and grawl, skritt, and hylek. They’re sympathetic (note: lesser) races. They don’t have the numbers or resources to be a “major” (aka playable) race.

OriOri.8724:

Diovid.9506:

OriOri.8724:

emikochan.8504:

The part of orr you can’t enter is actually the dungeon of Arah

I know the dungeon is there, but does it really cover the entirety of what’s left of Orr? The dungeon always felt smaller than a regular Orr map, and there is much more left of Orr than what the first 3 maps reveal.

No, it doesn’t: http://guide.thatshaman.com/

Yea that’s what I thought, plenty of room for a new Orr map that can be set after Zhaitans demise.

Story mode does, but it’s mostly in the sky. However, from what we can tell there, that part of Orr is hardly passable thanks to Zhaitan rising Orr from that portion. That_Shaman’s map doesn’t really show the huge craggy rocks.

But TBH, it could easily be made to be like Verdant Brink, but with a giant dragon corpse in it. Wouldn’t mind it. But I’m not so sure what all there’d be to do beyond explore, unless they keep the risen and corruption around – but then folks would complain that Orr still hasn’t been purified even in the new maps – or if we get Joko’s forces invading through there… but why would he go through there instead of the Desert Gate or Judgement Rock? Tactically unsound.

@ Aaron: I’m aware. It’s still something interesting to take note of.

@Rhaegar: Abaddon and Shiro are perhaps the sole villains of the GW universe that could never truly be argued to be “generic evil” in my opinion.

Then again, I consider “generic evil” to be equivalent to “saturday morning cartoon villains” (aka Scarlet Briar) or “James Bond villains” (aka Kudu, Caudecus).

The latter.

And it’s not that norn females don’t return from the north, but that the Sons of Svanir kill any females-turned-icebrood.

The lack of asuran bones may be even more simple…

ArenaNet has only ever made bone models for humans and large behemoths.

Kind of curious tbh… so clearly… ASURA HAVE NO BONES!

/s

Acid is a good likelihood for why no bones.

OriOri.8724:

Can anyone explain to me what exactly the Gods are currently doing? Where did they go? What did they do before they left? Have they no interest in humans/tyria? Are they scared of the dragons and in hiding? So many questions

• Unknown
• Unknown, but “they’re not in the Mists”
• They witnessed ABaddon’s death and Kormir’s rise.
• Sounds like it’s less no interest and more “don’t want to interfere/want humans to stand on their own now”
• Nothing beyond a single asura’s criticism indicates they are vulnerable nor are scared of the Elder Dragons.