GW2 Starting Locations and Places of Interest

[Calvar Draveir]

Here's the problem. Lions Arch is the new battle Isles. There are no more PvP characters. You have to physically get to Lion's Arch to go into the mists, which is where all the PvP will be happening. So, to keep the PvP players happy, the starting areas of all the races will have to be the same distance from LA. And close, so you don't have to go through 1 eighth of the game before you can PvP. A possible thing is all the races starting from LA, and then travelling back to their homeland, then off into the story arcs. Would be a great way to gradually introduce each race's culture.

[Shew]

I'm really looking forward to seeing the starting location(s).

[draxynnic]

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

Durman Priory - Temple of Grenth (located in the Shiverpeaks, and Grenth was a god of knowledge to a degree while Abaddon was locked up *proved by House Durheim of the Kurzicks*)

Not really. My interpretation of House Durheim is that they saw remembrance of the dead as part of their way of showing respect to the dead in general and Grenth in particular - history, of course, being a major part of remembering the deeds of previous generations.

In short, this makes Grenth linked to history, but not to knowledge per se.

However, this does still allow a link to Durman Priory and the old temple of Grenth - partially because what the Priory preserves largely is history, partially because the similarity of names suggests there might be some connection between refugees from House Durheim and the Priory's founders, and partially because, well, the old temple happens to be a pre-existing structure in about the right location to become the Priory.

Originally Posted by Calvar Draveir

Here's the problem. Lions Arch is the new battle Isles. There are no more PvP characters. You have to physically get to Lion's Arch to go into the mists, which is where all the PvP will be happening. So, to keep the PvP players happy, the starting areas of all the races will have to be the same distance from LA. And close, so you don't have to go through 1 eighth of the game before you can PvP. A possible thing is all the races starting from LA, and then travelling back to their homeland, then off into the story arcs. Would be a great way to gradually introduce each race's culture.

This could simply be a matter of jumping through an Asura Gate regardless of physical distance. (I suspect map travel in GW2 will no longer be an abstraction, but have this very clear connection with how things work in the world - any location you can map travel to has a Gate.)

[Konig Des Todes]

Originally Posted by Calvar Draveir

Here's the problem. Lions Arch is the new battle Isles. There are no more PvP characters. You have to physically get to Lion's Arch to go into the mists, which is where all the PvP will be happening. So, to keep the PvP players happy, the starting areas of all the races will have to be the same distance from LA. And close, so you don't have to go through 1 eighth of the game before you can PvP. A possible thing is all the races starting from LA, and then travelling back to their homeland, then off into the story arcs. Would be a great way to gradually introduce each race's culture.

There still may be PvP characters, just not allowed to leave Lion's Arch.

As for getting to the Mists, there is still the Tombs of the Primeval Kings, possible the Door of Komalie to the Realm of Torment (supposedly renamed into "Redeemed Realm"), the portal the Titan used at Hrangmar, and other portals which could be added.

And the distance doesn't need to be the same. Also, there could be PvP elsewhere in the game. Even now, there are PvP arenas in 2 places in Prophecies, 1 in Cantha, and 1 in Elona.

As for starting from LA, would be possible, but starting at the PvP hot spot might be a bit dangerous and cause major ragers for those who don't know what they're doing as they just start the game.

Originally Posted by draxynnic

In short, this makes Grenth linked to history, but not to knowledge per se.

Hence why I said "to a degree" - knowledge of history is still knowledge. Just knowledge of the past.

Originally Posted by draxynnic

However, this does still allow a link to Durman Priory and the old temple of Grenth - partially because what the Priory preserves largely is history, partially because the similarity of names suggests there might be some connection between refugees from House Durheim and the Priory's founders, and partially because, well, the old temple happens to be a pre-existing structure in about the right location to become the Priory.

For the naming thing, Durman is a historian (with a Krytan skin, so probably Tyrian) and is not likely linked to House Durheim. But the main thing which suggests Durham Priory being at the old Temple of Grenth would be location (Durman Priory is somewhere in the Shiverpeaks) and the Temple is an abandoned structure, easy to turn into a library, especially with the removal of the Stone Summit which occupied most of the area north of the Temple of Grenth.

[draxynnic]

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

Hence why I said "to a degree" - knowledge of history is still knowledge. Just knowledge of the past.

True, but it's knowledge related to a portfolio rather than knowledge for knowledge's sake. You could just as easily apply knowledge "to a degree" to Melandru for followers of Melandru that have knowledge about nature, or to Dwayna for her followers that study medicine, or for Balthazar for followers that study military history, tactics and engineering.

Originally Posted by Konig Fes Todes

For the naming thing, Durman is a historian (with a Krytan skin, so probably Tyrian) and is not likely linked to House Durheim. But the main thing which suggests Durham Priory being at the old Temple of Grenth would be location (Durman Priory is somewhere in the Shiverpeaks) and the Temple is an abandoned structure, easy to turn into a library, especially with the removal of the Stone Summit which occupied most of the area north of the Temple of Grenth.

Now, that's making me wonder if Dur has a specific meaning - could "Durman" and "Durheim" translate to "man of history" and "house of history" respectively?

Back on the discussion regarding the temple - it's not only in the Shiverpeaks, but in roughly the right part thereof.

[Ecro]

Originally Posted by garethporlest22

Unless someone else lives there, yeah. Because Dwarves are pretty much no longer in existence in GW 2.

didnt they all get turned into the great dwarf at the end of eotn? so i mean i would think they would still be alive ... they are stone lol

[garethporlest22]

Seems like I was right about Asurans starting in Rata Sum.

Humans will start in Divinity's Reach

Charr might end up starting in the Ascalon area.

Norn will start in a place Hoelbrak or something close to that.

Sylvari might start near Henge of Denravi or in the Maguuma Jungle.

Every race will eventually meet up to battle The Elder Dragons. Will that be LA? Or a more central place? We'll see!

[Thalador Doomspeaker]

Originally Posted by garethporlest22

Every race will eventually meet up to battle The Elder Dragons. Will that be LA? Or a more central place? We'll see!

Definitely not LA. LA will be the centre of PvP and I think another "Spamadan" town. We'll have to go to the Dragons' "HQ", and battle them there. I really hope we don't have to kill them. I love the Dragons, and I think they deserve respect and devotion. I say turn away from the "Six Gods" and worship the Dragons! :P
After all, they left us and only gave sucking HAs, instead of power.

[garethporlest22]

Originally Posted by Thalador Doomspeaker

Definitely not LA. LA will be the centre of PvP and I think another "Spamadan" town. We'll have to go to the Dragons' "HQ", and battle them there.

Yeah but I think we will meet at a central area, before we get to that point.

I really hope we don't have to kill them. I love the Dragons, and I think they deserve respect and devotion. I say turn away from the "Six Gods" and worship the Dragons! :P
After all, they left us and only gave sucking HAs, instead of power.

Yeah I kind of feel the same, but those Dragons are evil it seems and bent on domination and destruction, so we will have to destroy them most likely. But...did you see how big they are??? Eeek.

[Arghore]

From the end of the trailer i would also conclude that altho we might kill the shell we perceive as the dragon, the magic/essence of that dragon only seems to need a new host (minnion) to come back to life, so mostlikely we will only be able to kill the shell not the dragon...

[Roy]

The five playable races in the initial release of Guild Wars 2 are the asura, charr, humans, norn, and sylvari. Although they begin in different areas, and have slightly different storylines, all the races must come together in order to defeat the Elder Dragons, because no single race is powerful enough to do so alone.

So we know we'll all have to get together at one point... But look at that... Five races in initial release..?

[garethporlest22]

Originally Posted by Roy

So we know we'll all have to get together at one point... But look at that... Five races in initial release..?

Yep. Which means we might end up getting to play a few other races in expansions/other campaigns. That is pretty cool. I wonder if Anet will let us play Evil races, and combat against the good, although that's kind of stealing from WoW.

[BiiiiiigS]

Posting pics:
This one is likely to be Divinity's Reach:

"Divinity's Reach, a breathtaking monument of white parapets and high, pale towers, was built on the edge of the Divinity coast, far from the rising waters of the southern bays."

This one on the other hand could be Hoelbrak:

"Forced by the ice dragon to leave their homes in the far north, the norn have settled in the Shiverpeaks, building new homesteads and totem lodges on the high peaks and in snowy valleys. The greatest of these settlements, Hoelbrak, provides a central meeting point for these rugged, individualistic hunters,..."

Fixed: Iron Citadel

"The charr are the conquerors of the human kingdom Ascalon, a land they claim is their homeland. They are ferocious, warmongering creatures--the foes of humanity for hundreds of years, as violent and cruel as they are cunning. They have led the revolution of physical technology--guns, explosives, and war machines."

That's it for now.

[Thalador Doomspeaker]

The last picture is Iron Citadel. The Iron Legion is quite advanced in technology and siege weaponry.

[draxynnic]

Interestingly, it looks like some of the ruins of Rin are still standing. I wonder what the Charr attitude towards them are? Not worth the effort of pulling down... or a cultural symbol of their victory?

It also looks like Ascalon hasn't recovered much from the Searing after all... that, or the Charr industrial revolution has messed it up again, at least in the vicinity of the Citadel.

[Konig Des Todes]

For the ruins, it seems they are building upon them, so some would be extensions of Charr buildings.

And in the trailer, Ascalon has become rather decent, except at the Iron Citadel.

[Free Runner]

I was wondering about that. In the trailer is Ascalon the part with the snakes swimming underwater? the ruins there looked alot like Ascalon but it seemed to be very very green....

[BrettM]

Originally Posted by BiiiiiigS

Posting pics:
This one is likely to be Divinity's Reach:

I disagree. Look at the architecture, particularly of the houses in the village in the foreground. Look at the foliage on the plants. All of this is pure Ascalonian, bearing absolutely no resemblance to anything we ever saw in Kryta.

Furthermore, the appearance of this structure is immediately followed in the video by scenes that are clearly set in the charr homelands, which also show evidence of some Ascalonian-human-style architecture in places. For example, the charr running through the woods is headed towards a house and fence that would not look at all out of place in pre-searing Ascalon.

The most obvious explanation is that humans and charr managed to achieve peace, probably following the appearance of the dragons, and that the humans were allowed to establish settlements within or near charr territory.

[Konig Des Todes]

Originally Posted by Free Runner

I was wondering about that. In the trailer is Ascalon the part with the snakes swimming underwater? the ruins there looked alot like Ascalon but it seemed to be very very green....

250 years pass, it could easily turn green with such time.

Originally Posted by BrettM

I disagree. Look at the architecture, particularly of the houses in the village in the foreground. Look at the foliage on the plants. All of this is pure Ascalonian, bearing absolutely no resemblance to anything we ever saw in Kryta.

Furthermore, the appearance of this structure is immediately followed in the video by scenes that are clearly set in the charr homelands, which also show evidence of some Ascalonian-human-style architecture in places. For example, the charr running through the woods is headed towards a house and fence that would not look at all out of place in pre-searing Ascalon.

The most obvious explanation is that humans and charr managed to achieve peace, probably following the appearance of the dragons, and that the humans were allowed to establish settlements within or near charr territory.

But the structure is almost identical to the concept art of Divinity Coast.

And the little plant I can see, is actually similar to the Krytan plants. Though the houses do look Ascalonian, but then again, Kryta received Ascalonian refugees, remember? I bet the engineers of Ascalon also moved to Kryta and shared their structure blueprints. Thus creating new types of structures, which leads to what we see.

To think that huge city is in Ascalon in GW2, would be silly, in my opinion. Even if the Charr and Humans become allies for good, such structures would not be existent there for some time.

[HawkofStorms]

Keep in mind that the Norn have been moved south and all the Norn "towns" in Eye of the North are just small settlements built around the homes of the people who live there. Ie, Gunnar's Horde is where Gunnar lives. Sifhalla is where Sif lives, etc. Norn don't seem to be the kind of people who have perminant settlements, which means the far shiverpeaks are wide open wilderness.

So, a Norn starting zone or city is going to be definitely... odd to do from a lore perspective.