OnlineWelten ArenaNet Interview

[Tr0n]

3 pages long.

http://www.onlinewelten.com/games/ar...view-teil-1/4/

German translation is pages 1-3, English is pages 4-6.

[pumpkin pie]

Originally Posted by Tr0n

3 pages long.

http://www.onlinewelten.com/games/ar...view-teil-1/4/

can't read, germans. ....

[Lord Bazaah]

Onlinewelten: Hi Ree, Hi Eric. There weren’t any female charr in either GW: Prophecies or GW: Eye of the North. But they will most likely be included in Guild Wars 2. Where have they been hiding so far and how can we imagine them?

Ree Soesbee: There certainly are female charr in GW2. In the history of the charr, the women were once strong warriors, as respected as the males. However, when the Flame Legion took over and tried to unify the race, one of their methods of forcibly pacifying the other legions was to refuse combat training to female charr. During this dark time, females had to train in secret, passing techniques down by word of mouth and suffering horrible penalties – even death – if they were caught using weapons or fighting in battles. During the charr revolt some 40 years after the fall of Ascalon, a female charr named Kalla Scorchrazor led an uprising, doubling the strength of the armies that opposed the Flame Legion. In the end, it was their courage that freed the charr legions from the domination of the shaman caste.

So they're are female charr!
---

Could you tell us a bit about the “evil” slyvari, the Nightmare Court?

The Nightmare Court can be compared to legends of the Unseelie Court, the Dark Fae, and other faerie creatures of darkness. They are evil, like many things in Guild Wars, but they are intelligent and rational – they have chosen a path that they believe is the ‘correct’ one, and they are eager to convince the rest of the sylvari race to embrace their ways. We’ve said before that The Dream has two sides – it is neither wholly good, nor wholly evil in itself. The Nightmare Court have an affinity for the darker side of The Dream, and they seek to understand its depths. They hold Dark Vigils filled with regal depravity; twisted courtliness and sadistic tournaments that pervert sylvari chivalry.

The Nightmare Court don’t consider themselves ‘perverse,’ and some among them might even argue that they are not wholly ‘evil.’ They simply follow the darker side of The Dream and explore depths of the sylvari soul that already exist. Who is to say that the sylvari were not wrongly influenced by Ventari’s ancient teachings, that clinging to the lessons of his Tablet has not changed them from what they were meant to be? The Nightmare Court feel that they need to commune with all parts of their spirits, with all parts of nature – no matter how horrible or vile. There, they find secrets and enlightenment that other sylvari are too chivalrous – or too afraid – to seek.

Bolded parts I see as relevant.
---

Eric Flannum:
Each race has a number of factors that will change their personal story. Some of the things that are equivalent to sylvari seasons include a human’s racial heritage, a norn’s animal totem of choice, a charr’s legion affiliation, and an asura’s college.\

So I guess these are the "racial abilities".
---

Onlinewelten: Are the kodan just another form of the norn or a species of their own? They seem to be living on an iceberg with sails. Does that mean that their city is constantly changing position?

Ree Soesbee: Kodan are not Norn. Kodan are not shapechangers; the form you see is their sole physical form. Some scholars hypothesize that the two races may share a common history, but they are not at all the same race.

The great kodan sanctuaries, their cities, are mobile. However, with the rise of the dragon Jormag in the far north, their Sanctuaries have been pushed out of the massive ice seas and into the shallow bays and harbors that border the Shiverpeaks. They cannot return to the arctic oceans, for fear that the dragon will destroy them utterly.

So I guess they lived somewhere to the North because GW1 has no "ice seas".
---

We have seen news that norn can transform into ravens. Will players be able to fly?

Players will not be able to fly in Guild Wars 2.

Norn do not transform into ravens so much as a half norn/half raven form. Unfortunately for the norn (and fortunately for everyone else), they are not able to fly in this form.

And that's that; no wingz in GW2!

[Dutch Sunshine]

psst the article is in english..psssst, dont tell anyone else!

[Shew]

Thanks so much for posting this! Awesome lore info!

[Nevin]

Hmm if only I could translate German.

[Dutch Sunshine]

Originally Posted by Nevin

Hmm if only I could translate German.

*Cough* english pages 4,5,6 *cough*

[pumpkin pie]

okay, this is not good for me personally, i am going to be glued to the game forever, playing all 20 posibilities.....

[Lord Bazaah]

Originally Posted by pumpkin pie

okay, this is not good for me personally, i am going to be glued to the game forever, playing all 20 posibilities.....

Welcome to the club Pie.

[Vorsakan]

Yay - good find!
(I love the 3 pages of German -I assume - then 3 pages of English format.)

My thoughts as I read:

1. Nice Charr lore there, fleshes them out a little.

2. "The sylvari descend from a tree and have no children. Nevertheless, there are images of male sylvari. How do you explain this?" = stupid question.
What about 'descended from a tree' suggests it can only happen to females?

3. Hmm; so the Nightmare Court aren't unhinged nor wholly evil - that's a twist, and their rationale sounds an interesting base to build upon.

4. The Sylvari season answer is intriguing, if confusing - won't affect power but will affect story e.g starting area, character relations?

5. Wow; we were all right to think each race was subdivided by legion, totem and college! Community +1
I'm intrigued by the Humans' heritage though - got to be more than Krytan or Ascalonian to choose from...
Personally I've been contemplating Canthan and Elonian characters being included:

* Introducing them later does relegate them to second class status e.g. everyone has an expansion character to try new classes, but also their real main from the core game who has 6-12+ months more gear & unlocks.

* There aren't going to be Canthan and Elonian variants of any of the other races, so getting new Humans each time would make them exceptional.

* If characters aren't bound to a specific class this time round, there's no incentive at all to make new Humans characters each expansion as the original ones can simply become dervishes, Assassins, etc.

Having GW2 Humans able to claim Canthan or Elonian heritage, and associated appearance, would seem a convenient option and take them up to 4 choices also.

6. Yay Kodan lore! Their arctic iceberg migration makes perfect sense too (within 'sentient biped polar bears living in iceberg cities' parameters, that is).

7. Phew; Raven Norn don't fly - that's one 300lb-armored-craziness we won't have to worry about landing on our heads.
Besides; earlier talk of heritage and seasons made it sound like the factions of each race are only different in story and (at least in some cases) appearance, so totem forms aren't likely to each confer special abilities.

8. "And all races congregate in Lion’s Arch – the one true haven of cooperation and peace" - isn't it a hive of scum & villainy now?
Maybe we clean it up during the storyline?

9. So no clues as to how golems are used, but Norn forms are 'comparable' to them - confusing.
Golems would seem mighty expendable, but Norns surely put themselves on the line when they fight morphed?

[Lord Bazaah]

Originally Posted by Vorsakan

Nightmare Court aren't wholly evil

He stated they are evil, buddy.

[pumpkin pie]

Originally Posted by Lord Bazaah

Welcome to the club Pie.

we should play together hahahaha. I am thinking there might be more then 20 posibilities (stories) in total.... MORE CHARACTER SLOTS PLEASE!

btw, thank you tr0n for the link and Dutch Sunshine for pointing out its has an English version.

[kupp]

Onlinewelten: Do you plan something similar for other races?

Eric Flannum: Each race has a number of factors that will change their personal story. Some of the things that are equivalent to sylvari seasons include a human’s racial heritage, a norn’s animal totem of choice, a charr’s legion affiliation, and an asura’s college.

Assuming this is chosen from the start, I hope it doesn't mean that we won't be able to use all 4 shapeshift abilities despite the one we started with. But knowing Anet's policy on this I doubt they'd want to restrict players in something like this.

Anyway good interview, not many actual news. I want some gameplay stuff and a for them to unveil the courtains a little more.

[Lord Bazaah]

Originally Posted by pumpkin pie

MORE CHARACTER SLOTS PLEASE!

"For a small transaction of 10.00 USD, we might be able t..."

EDIT: @kupp

Originally Posted by kupp

Anyway good interview, not many actual news. I want some gameplay stuff and a for them to unveil the courtains (sic) a little more.

Keep dreaming 'til 2010.

[Mordakai]

Originally Posted by Lord Bazaah

He stated they are evil, buddy.

But there's this:

"The Nightmare Court don’t consider themselves ‘perverse,’ and some among them might even argue that they are not wholly ‘evil.’ They simply follow the darker side of The Dream and explore depths of the sylvari soul that already exist. Who is to say that the sylvari were not wrongly influenced by Ventari’s ancient teachings, that clinging to the lessons of his Tablet has not changed them from what they were meant to be? The Nightmare Court feel that they need to commune with all parts of their spirits, with all parts of nature – no matter how horrible or vile. There, they find secrets and enlightenment that other sylvari are too chivalrous – or too afraid – to seek."

This philosophy is in the Art Book as well: Sylvari are from nature, and like nature, are not good or evil in the traditional sense. Death is part of life, it is not "bad."

Not to say there are not Sylvari we would classify as "good" or "evil".


Oh, and surprised this has not been mentioned:

"Onlinewelten: The asura changed their appearance considerably between Eye of the North and the Guild Wars 2 trailer? Why is that?

Eric Flannum: We don’t really view it as a change in appearance. We updated the look of all of our races to fit with our new art style as well as our new engine technology. That being said, fans have only seen a small amount of the variation that is available for asura PCs as far as looks go. We’re confident that every asura fan will find a face that they would be proud to call their own."

Good news for Asura fans!

[Lord Bazaah]

Mordakai, I am pretty sure Hitler thought he was doing the right thing too. I agree that they are important -- and I'm playing one -- but I still say they are evil.

[Huginn]

Norn do not transform into ravens so much as a half norn/half raven form. Unfortunately for the norn (and fortunately for everyone else), they are not able to fly in this form.

well, i somewhat knew we weren't able to fly in gw2, but we still get a half norn half raven form right?

I know I'll be making a raven norn, iron legion charr female, winter sylvari, elona/krytan human (my main monk was black in gwo ) and about asuran... I have to see what the college thing means xD

[Mordakai]

Originally Posted by Vorsakan

9. So no clues as to how golems are used, but Norn forms are 'comparable' to them - confusing.
Golems would seem mighty expendable, but Norns surely put themselves on the line when they fight morphed?

To me, it sounded like Golems are to Asura as animal shapes are to Norn from a game mechanics perspective.

In other words, the College we pick when we create our Asura will have some effect on our Golem, much like the animal totem we pick has an effect on the Norn.

That's my hypothesis anyway.

[NotOwning]

Originally Posted by Mordakai

To me, it sounded like Golems are to Asura as animal shapes are to Norn from a game mechanics perspective.

In other words, the College we pick when we create our Asura will have some effect on our Golem, much like the animal totem we pick has an effect on the Norn.

That's my hypothesis anyway.

I was thinking the same thing. It will also be the same with the legion of charr you pick affecting your weapon making ability in some sense, and also the season of your sylvari will affect something about the character.

Although the article did say "Eric Flannum: The season that their sylvari character correlates to is very relevant to the player. We don’t grant the character anything that is power-related, but their season is one of the many things that differentiate one characters personal story from another’s."

[JR]

Great interview indeed. Nice that they are still letting small bits of gameplay info slip out, despite saying that would wait until next year.