55 replies to this topic

[Kairo]

This is pretty funny lol thanks for the write up and the humor. I'll check back in 2012 for updates and completion :P

[Castellan]

lol I like the attitude of the OP.

If you played GW1 you'd be laughing right now too.. Not so much that he did a bad job but more that he just explained the story as if the significant characters were idiots including the player himself and everything was predictabe, avoidable, and sometimes uneccessary.

[Sivri]

Thank you so much for this, I only played through prophecies and factions waaaaaaay back and it's been difficult to remember what I was in fact running around doing. This helped quite a bit :D And I like the humorous tone it was written in. Will look forward to hearing/reading the rest in 2012 :)

[Velidor]

Very valuable read from a writer's or player's point of view. Thanks.

[Razith]

Is this THE topic to read about lore before Guild Wars 2? I just purchased both of the books and intend to read them before the release of the game, or the release of the third book.

I browsed trough the wiki for some lore in Guild Wars but I was looking for a more simplified way to do it, up until The Ghosts of Ascalon.

Thank you in advance.

[Gmr Leon]

It isn't complete just yet, Razith, but it does provide a bit of a streamlined version of the main storylines of the games, as well as some of the background info found in the Prophecies Manuscripts at the start. Despite its incomplete state, you should be able to gather enough info about the first three campaigns from this to understand how some of it links up with GW2 and the transitory novels (Ghosts of Ascalon, Edge of Destiny).

This does not, however, contain all of the lore of the games in case you are looking for an easy way to read up on all of it. It merely covers that of the main storylines and a little bit of the backstory, as mentioned above.

[Razith]

Ok thanks. This is what I was looking for. Now to read up and then wait for the books, or the game, whichever arrives first! :zip:

[Arakiba]

ty for this, good read

[Maldeus]

As promised, I have returned in 2012 to finally finish this, just before GW2 is actually released, so hopefully the whole thing will be ready for when the lore newbies start pouring in after the game goes live.  I have also finally corrected the order of events of the Exodus and the retcon concerning Jormag Jormag's Champion corrupting Svanir.

[nilzardo]

You didn't mention Arah a single time and I'd personally also state how the Desolation was formed. Good read nonetheless, thanks for this.

[Maldeus]

I'm debating whether or not to add Arah in.  It's basically synonymous with Orr, but an explanation as to how half the gods liked to hang out there would probably add something.

[Mathjoh]

Great summary, both informative and funny . ArenaNET has obviously decided to allow kvantum-physics to be present in Tyria, since linear time has been abandoned. Either that or they just like to f*** things up by having some background time travelling through the mists.

[razor39999]

EotN happens in 1078, 1079 is the Beyond content.

[Maldeus]

Oh, wow, that's been there for about eight months before anyone noticed.  Fixed now.

[Wynterarwyn]

Thanks for this, even though I played GW and have read quite a bit of the lore already, I enjoyed your summary of it

[Iron Legionnaire]

Would be nice to stick this on the GW2 wiki. Probably the best lore summary I've seen so far.

[Slashiroth]

Good read for a noob like me. I'm very interested in purchasing the novels now, might do that soon.

[Agualera]

As someone who is completely new to the whole guild wars lore, and someone who just read the entire summary in one sitting, i can say this....

dafuq did i just read

[Hedge]

I usually have an easy time picking up lore of games and general history, and yet GW1 lore still eludes me, even though I played it myself (to some extent). Thanks for the summary.

[Ryoto]

I enjoyed reading this and it definitely helped my see the series in a better scope and gave me a better sense of time for the events

[dakotahkid]

I typically don't get into the Lore of many video games. But Guild Wars lore has always interested me.  Something I noticed while playing GW1, and I also read it in a discussion thread, which for the life of me I can't find now.  Was Grenth actually a god?  He was mentioned in gw1 as being death's messenger, implying that he answered to death.  Dhuum was a representation of the Reaper, which has always been figurative of being Death.  So by that would we be able to say that Grenth was really just a servant of Dhuum, and possibly inherited the role of being god after the player defeated Dhuum(In the UW).

Just something I've been pondering and this thread made me want to ask.

[draxynnic]

Isn't it in -2 that he's described as death's messenger?

Either way, Grenth was initially a lesser figure (the Prince of Ice and Sorrow, IIRC) but he became a full-fledged god by defeating Dhuum, claiming the Underworld, and becoming the judge of the dead. This happened after the gods arrived on Tyria (Grenth was the son of Dwayna and a mortal, and is described as the first god that was born on Tyria) but before the Exodus and thus well before GW1.

However, there are intimations that Dhuum may remain the true Death - certainly, Grenth was only able to lock him away rather than truly eliminating him, and Dhuum may be the only entity that can truly destroy a soul. The UW storyline in GW1 is that Dhuum makes a bid to seize control and break out again, but the players force him back into the prison - our actions are only returning things to the status quo, we're not the ones who initially defeated Dhuum to allow Grenth to ascend. (I think there is evidence somewhere that the seven Reapers were originally mortals who assisted Grenth in taking down Dhuum the first time, but I don't recall exactly where that is.)

Kormir, on the other hand...

[Konig Des Todes]

Death's Herald, and indeed in GW2 - the NPC's in Hoelbrak.

In GW1, the only title that doesn't include "god" that was given to Grenth was "Lord of Death" (by a couple Reapers).

And yes, the Seven Reapers were indeed "mortal heroes" who aided Grenth in his own personal party of eight to defeat and supplant Dhuum - as a reward, he elevated them to immortality as his avatars (basically, the Avatar of Grenth/Voice of Grenth in GW1 you summon and that appears during Wintersday finale is one of the reapers - probably rotating in duty). This is learned during the personal story step Cathedral of Silence (third to last, iirc - at a split).

[Tr3LoS]

I played GW1 for about 5 years now, but it's great to refresh my memory and remember some things. Thanks for the sum up and the humor.

[Luquatic]

Maldeus, on 05 September 2010 - 01:48 PM, said:

After Saul's purported death in the final battle with the Charr, Confessor Dorian becomes the new leader of the Mantle.

Saul didn't die, he was taken by the Mursaat to an unkown place.

Edited by Luquatic, 29 December 2012 - 03:42 PM.

[draxynnic]

That's why Maldeus said 'purported'. Before Durmand started his research, the only account of what happened to Saul came from Dorian, Thommis and Hablion, who claimed he died. There's also nothing to say the mursaat weren't simply taking him away to be sacrificed on a Bloodstone as soon as he was out of sight of the others.