GW2 Starting Locations and Places of Interest

[Whisper]

Originally Posted by Free Runner

Jeff Grubb said the Asura had "taken up a huge chunk of the south". So its without a doubt the Tarnished Coast that will paly host to them

Probarbly beacuse they want the Territorials to be somewhat the same size? Suits better gameplay wise

[Nodakim]

Originally Posted by Arkantos

I'd say Eye of the North or Gunnar's Hold would be the capital for Norn.

Drakkar probably burned Gunnars for the lulz.

[Konig Des Todes]

Originally Posted by Nodakim

Drakkar probably burned Gunnars for the lulz.

I'd say he froze it. Burning isn't Drakkar's thing.

[Nodakim]

Oh,these Dragons in GW are worse then in Fairy Tail.
Dragons in Fairy Tails can shoot lightning,have kevlar skin,can freeze and burn things at the same time.
Kinda wtf.

[Gmr Leon]

Originally Posted by Thalador Doomspeaker

I got your point and you're absolutely right. It looks stupid, but I think it's not a mistake. Just think of it: the Blazeridge are east of the Shiverpeaks and the Shiverpeaks is west of the Blazeridge. I suppose that it was written from the aspect/viewpoint of the Blazeridge, so the writer could easily call it western Shiverpeaks. But it doesn't deny the fact that it looks rather stupid.

Not really. Depends entirely on where it's being described from, I think. I always found it to be from an in-the-region of Ascalon perspective. Where the Shiverpeaks would be west, and the Blazeridge east. (Perhaps even a within-the-walls-of-Ebonhawke perspective.)

[Arghore]

seeing this might contribute to this conversation (as one similar is also going on in the tyrian assembly:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/...-map-t684.html

What do you guys think of Asuras starting near umbrall grotto, giving the Sylvari some more room of their own... also, did i get all the important places of interest?

http://www.dnai.nl/GW/Tyria_map_GW2.jpg

and now its realy bedtime, so ill read up on this thread tomorrow...

[Craywulf]

I don't think there's going to be multiple starting points, I think there's going to be one pre-searing-like place and when you are ready you set out to go to your race's capital that way if I have PUG of multiple races we can traverse to which ever city we want and no capital will be closer or farther than others.

So I think the starting point will be pretty much centralized from the capitals.

I can't fathom ArenaNet making 5 different starting points when they loathed doing so when they made the Factions and Nightfall campaigns. It was redundant programming that could've been better spent adding more content. It's part the major reason why they dropped the Utopia campaign. They didn't want to have start all over with whole new starting area just so they could add more professions.

[Thalador Doomspeaker]

ArenaNet stated, that there'll be different starting locations for each race. It's much better than starting at the same spot with all the others.

My prediction:

Charr - Somewhere in the Charr Homelands

Norn - Hoelbrak

Human - Divinity's Reach

Sylvari - Somewhere in the Maguuma (perhaps Denravi or Aurora Glade)

Asura - Magical Institue of Technology (it's just a fictional name, but I thought it's nice) (near Rata Sum)

[Short]

My prediction:

Charr - Somewhere around Fort Ranik.

Norn - I'm guessing around the Eye of the North.

Human - Divinity's Reach.

Sylvari - A city with Ventari's Tree at the middle.

Asura - Far south on the Tarnished Coast somewhere.

[Thalador Doomspeaker]

The problem is, that Drakkar has chased the Norn from their natural homelands. They were pushed back to the Northern Shiverpeaks, which is south of the Far Shiverpeaks.

From the look of the trailer, I think the Sylvari have moved to the Maguuma. But it's just my thought.
About the Pale Tree, I think they have an outpost there but they use it as some kind of "breeding grounds" for the Sylvari, rather than an actual city.

I think the Asura rules the whole Tarnished Coast now. And you may be right about the starting location.

[Free Runner]

Most of the new concept art that looks like it would tie with the Sylvari is named "Denravi". We also know the Sylvari are in the Magumma with the Asura in the Tarnished Coast. So i'm betting the Sylvari have actually taken residence in the Henge of the Denvai and the areas around it and the Pale Tree is used as both the birth point of new Sylvari and a sort of "holy ground" or something. Perhaps they connect to it using an Asura Gate.

[draxynnic]

Originally Posted by Thalador Doomspeaker

Those outposts are mentioned in the Borlis Pass mission, but you can't get there, unless you play the mission. The mission is quite easy and Grooble's Gulch looks nice, so if you'd like to take a look on them, I suggest you play the mission.

For Krok's Hollow and Maladar's Fort that's correct, but I'm pretty sure Grooble's Gulch is actually the Frost Gate outpost.

Originally Posted by Free Runner

Jeff Grubb said the Asura had "taken up a huge chunk of the south". So its without a doubt the Tarnished Coast that will paly host to them

Suggests to me they've grabbed part of southern Kryta, as well - possibly up to the Twin Serpent Lakes region. (Which may well have been abandoned by humanity after the tidal wave.)

[Konig Des Todes]

Originally Posted by Free Runner

Most of the new concept art that looks like it would tie with the Sylvari is named "Denravi". We also know the Sylvari are in the Magumma with the Asura in the Tarnished Coast. So i'm betting the Sylvari have actually taken residence in the Henge of the Denvai and the areas around it and the Pale Tree is used as both the birth point of new Sylvari and a sort of "holy ground" or something. Perhaps they connect to it using an Asura Gate.

Something tells me that Anet will be retconning the tree's location and have one of these two explainantions:

1) "We put the tree in Arbor Bay in EN so you can see the tree, it was really further north"

2) "The Sylvari dug the tree up and replanted it up north in the Maguuma, so that it couldn't get damaged by the Asura's experiments. Now the waters of the Maguuma help it grow further (yada yada yada)."

[Rever]

If ANet goes with multiple starting locations then you could choose from multiple locations depending on Race. Norn and Charr have a sketchy but peaceful coexistance within the lore so a Charr toon may be able to start from either the Norn or Charr capitals. Like wise with the Asuran, Human and Sylvari.

Anet could allow all toons to start from any one they chose or continue with one single location to promote interracial mixing and community instead of a Luxon/Kurzick style of I hate you...you hate me bickering which will mostlikely happen anyways considering the maturaty level of players displayed in GW1.

Also the lay of the land scape is likely to change quite a bit because of all the dragons awakenings and wars over the 250 year period between GW1 and 2. This could lead you to believe that many of the barriers that once divided zones would now be gone or bridged thus giving rise to new barriers both natural and "man" made. No telling what is still jungle, barren or otherwise. There was a lot of underground to explore in GW1 and likewise could still be in GW2 along with new opennings, gateways and possibilities that we don't know. Tengu seem to have been wiped from the land (seen zero concept art on them), Naga have moved underwater, Dredge seemed most likely to rule Southern Shiverpeaks but without the Stone Summit, who is their leader? I think we will see a lot of the old GW in GW2 but I expect most of it to be renamed or just a remnant like Balthazars temple in Southern Shiverpeaks and Maguuma Jungle. You may see things like that still around in the middle of the zone but the zone itself would be completely unrecongnizable. This would be something ANet would do to create a completely new experience without losing history of the franchise.

[Free Runner]

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

Something tells me that Anet will be retconning the tree's location and have one of these two explainantions:

1) "We put the tree in Arbor Bay in EN so you can see the tree, it was really further north"

2) "The Sylvari dug the tree up and replanted it up north in the Maguuma, so that it couldn't get damaged by the Asura's experiments. Now the waters of the Maguuma help it grow further (yada yada yada)."

I dont know, moving the tree would seem alittle odd. Its such an important part of the Sylvari, simply saying "Nah we dug it up and moved it" would seem really unfitting of them.

Actually i've been thinking this for awhile. The rise of Orr caused the shore of Kryta, Lions Arch, Sanctum Cay and the Battle Ilse to become flooded and changed. What effect would it of had on Arbor Bay which is closer to Orr than all those other places that were effected?

[Konig Des Todes]

If my memory is correct, except for a small river-sized portion in Arbor Bay, the Tarnished Coast is a cliff. So the western area of Arbor Bay would get a nice little wave, while the location of the tree will just get a temporary "rising tide" - which I think would give even more insentive to move the tree... though that would still be 75 years before the first Sylvari, and sometime after Ventari's death I think.

[Arghore]

my predictions would be this map tbh, for area's of controll and 'starting' locations...

[draxynnic]

Arghore: One main issue with your map is that the Asura are located in the south. I suspect they'll have most of the area you have assigned to the Sylvari (apart from the environs of the Henge), while the Sylvari will range further north into the region you have assigned to the Mantle... who, I suspect, will be just hanging around the fringes of Kryta rather than claiming so much territory. (Even if they do have bases in the jungle, they really just have to be deep enough to make them hard for the Krytan military to strike back at - too deep in is inconvenient to raid from.)

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

If my memory is correct, except for a small river-sized portion in Arbor Bay, the Tarnished Coast is a cliff. So the western area of Arbor Bay would get a nice little wave, while the location of the tree will just get a temporary "rising tide" - which I think would give even more insentive to move the tree... though that would still be 75 years before the first Sylvari, and sometime after Ventari's death I think.

Problem is that river is exactly where the tree is...

[Free Runner]

Originally Posted by Konig Des Todes

though that would still be 75 years before the first Sylvari, and sometime after Ventari's death I think

The Movement of the World implies that Ventari was alive when Zhaitan appeared. Though it could be an overlook or perhaps they decided to overwrite that part.

[Arghore]

Originally Posted by draxynnic

Arghore: One main issue with your map is that the Asura are located in the south. I suspect they'll have most of the area you have assigned to the Sylvari (apart from the environs of the Henge), while the Sylvari will range further north into the region you have assigned to the Mantle... who, I suspect, will be just hanging around the fringes of Kryta rather than claiming so much territory. (Even if they do have bases in the jungle, they really just have to be deep enough to make them hard for the Krytan military to strike back at - too deep in is inconvenient to raid from.)

... i just disagree with them being in the south as that would limit both their and the sylvari space, and also, the southern coastline would be flooded by Orr rising, which in my views is the reason why they went up north to expand a place where they allready were 'umbral grotto', but we as players were unable to explore ...

And after seeing the latest interview, where i placed the white mantle i would rather place the Centaur...