Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

The Future of Tyria: An Exclusive Guild Wars 2 Interview

ThomasN7ThomasN7 87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690

Learn what kind of effects 250 years and massive devastation has had on Tyria leading up to Guild Wars 2.

Over the past month I’ve been chronicling my adventures across Tyria and beyond in a series of second look articles focused on some of the more recent changes to both the PvE and competitive aspects of Guild Wars. While my journey was already leading me in the direction of taking a closer look at how story plays a leading role in Guild Wars for a third installment in the series, I had the golden opportunity to speak with ArenaNet at PAX over the weekend. Looking back at one of the most beloved online RPGs in recent years is always fun if you’re a massive lore nerd like myself, but getting the chance to speak with the likes of Jeff Grubb, Mike O’Brien and Daniel Dociu about Guild Wars 2 was not unlike having a mini rock star experience for a genuine fan of the franchise.

While specific details about the game are still under wraps, throughout the interview we discussed many interesting elements of Guild Wars 2 such as art direction and lore, and even gained some insights as to how competitive play will be handled in the sequel. So if you’re curious about what’s in store for the people of Tyria after the events of Eye of the North and want to learn about the interesting new approach to PvP, read on and enjoy!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Story and Lore



Ten Ton Hammer: You have a new novel in the works titled Fall of Ascalon; Ascalon obviously played a major role in the original Guild Wars and had somewhat fallen to the Char early on, so how will this new novel fit into that aspect of the lore for GW2?

Jeff Grubb: The idea of Fall of Ascalon is a bridging story that happens between Guild Wars and 250 years later which is the time of Guild Wars 2. Ascalon experienced the Searing and was being overrun by the Char in Guild Wars 1, but what happened next was even worse.

Some of the populous escaped over the mountains to Kryta with Rurik, but a lot remained with Adelbern. When the Char made their final push into the city he unleashed a devastation that was worse than the Char itself. Its 250 years later and the humans and the Char have been fighting for 250 years, and now because of outside enemies or outside forces, they’re slowly coming together and we’re seeing the first signs of a tentative truce between the two warring sides.

The novel takes place a year before the start of Guild Wars 2, but within that story there is a lot of other stories as you’re hearing what happened between then and now, and what happened to some of the characters we know from GW2, what happened to the Ebon Vanguard, why do we see female Char now – we’ll be seeing female Char characters in the game but we didn’t see them before – so there’s a story behind that.

What about the coming of the dragons, and how did that effect Ascalon as well? So we’ve been seeing this progression all the way through, and part of the tale is to recover a Char artifact that would make this peace, this initial truce popular. So the Fall of Ascalon in many ways is basically the initial invasion of the Char, which they think of as basically a reclaiming of the lands that the humans drove them out of. Plus, what Adleburn did, what the dragons did and basically how did Ascalon get into the state that it is right now.

 

Continuation page 2: www.tentonhammer.com/node/74119/page/2

30

Comments

  • SaiaxisSaiaxis Member UncommonPosts: 45

    Very very interesting. A little bit more info has been leaked and it is definitely making me more interested in what the game is going to be like. Also make me interested in the novels too

  • cryoracryora Member Posts: 367

    I'm glad they're still continuing the use of iconic characters.  The main character we controlled was a bad ass hero, but didn't have much identity apart from just being a bad ass hero.

  • SaiaxisSaiaxis Member UncommonPosts: 45
    Originally posted by cryora


    I'm glad they're still continuing the use of iconic characters.  The main character we controlled was a bad ass hero, but didn't have much identity apart from just being a bad ass hero.



     

    I have to agree. With Prophecies it seemed like your story (your trail of destruction left across the landscape ;) ), but with the rest it felt like someone else's story with you tagging along to help out. Factions seemed to be more about Master Nogo and Mhenslow, Factions about Kormir, with subplots based around the heros, and EotN was very much you helping everyone else out. I just hope GW2 is more about the player's character than those

Sign In or Register to comment.