[Kvinna]

Here we have the answers from the questions that Konig Des Todes carefully selected from the thread in Durmand Priory last week. In both interviews we have answers from Jeff Grubb, Matthew Moore, Martin Kerstein, and Mike Zadorojny. (And a big thank you to Amira from TERAFans.com for asking the questions for us!)

Enjoy!

Q: At PAX '08, someone asked about the statue of Glint in the Salt Flats and all that was stated was that it'll be important in the future. Can you go into more detail about the statue?

A: I can't say much about that except that you should definitely pick up the second book.

Q: In an interview at gamescom, some Arenanet employees were asked about the deep sea dragon's name and they said it is in the book "Ghosts of Ascalon". Is the name really in the book?

A: That's a good question. I think they were laughing because they were put on the spot and they weren't sure, so, I don't think the name of the dragon is in the book.

Q: Whom was the Strait of Malchor named after? Who or what was Malchor?

A: Ah! The Strait of Malchor is named after a sculptor who created all the original statues of the gods. It's not quite my place to tell his full story but that's who it's named after.

Q: A little controversial discussion since Nightfall: Is Abbadon still alive in some form? And while on the topic of Abbadon, a lot of people have been comparing the Branded of Kralkatorrik to the Margonites of Abbadon. Is there a connection between them outside of the color purple?

A: Basically the gods have stepped back. They've let humanity go forward on their own. They are still part of the world in the way that there's still worship but they aren't interfering as much as they were back in those days. The fact that Abbadon's minions had that purplish glow and what we're seeing in the crystal is, as far as I know, coincidental because purple is of course the color of evil. The fact that there is some similarity-- dragon's contain a lot of power. And the nature of that power comes to the surface. Not all dragon minions are purple in nature. So there's no definitive link between Abbadon and Kralkatorrik.

Q: In Ghosts of Ascalon, the Lionguard are described as a much more irresponsible and disinterested organization than in Guild Wars 1. Is there an actual connection between the two groups outside of the name? What is the Lionguard's role during the time of the book and Guild Wars 2?

A: Lion's Arch was pretty much wiped out when Orr rose from the bottom of the sea. It was later settled by pirates, scoundrels, wreckers, and that's one of the reasons the city had such a maritime theme to it. It literally was built out of the pieces of ships that swept out of the Sea of Sorrows and on to land. So this is a new unit to some degree. It has its foundations in the original Lion's Arch, but it is now a city that is controlled by a free brotherhood that was at one time on the wrong side of the law. It's become a heaven that has gone legit. It's become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Tyria because here we have charr and Humans, sylvari and all sorts of races coming together; they're all a part of this larger unit. So in many ways, Lion's Arch reflects the future for Tyria.

Q:What was really happening with the Seer that Zinn and Bimm appeared to be drawing energy from in the Divinity Coast lab?

A: I won't address that one yet.

Q: When was the truce between the charr and the Humans signed? 1324 AE or 1325 AE? Also, with the peace treaty in effect, what are the Humans and Ebonhawke doing? Are they fortifying themselves in case the peace treaty fails or do they continue their attacks?

A: Okay, well the peace treaty is a very recent thing; we're talking about a year old so about 1324. It is just that, a truce, so there are talks that are happening. Not all parties involved are happy with this. There are charr renegades and human separatists who are basically trying to break up the truce between the sides. They're basically a foe to this eventual peace. However, even with the truce, the relationship between the charr and the humans is shaky and lacking in trust. Whether the truce holds or not is something that is in the player's hands.

Q: In regards to the Flame Legion: Do they have any kind of connection with Primordus and his "next-gen" destroyers? Also, what was the purpose of the Flame Citadel?

A: The first question is-- they do not have any direct connection in Eye of the North. When the Titans were slain the members of the Flame Legion decided to try to go after a new set of gods and they settle on the destroyers. That did not work out very well either. So, that's the connection between the two, that they were trying to crop up another set of gods. In the 250 years since Eye of the North, the charr have had a philosophical revolution, in which they deny the existence of the gods, thinking that will help them triumph. Now the Flame Legion have lost control. They are on the outs with the other three legions the Flame Citadel is on of their main bases-- it's up in the North and we were talking about it this morning in a design seminar-- that they're got their legion and their contending against the other legions there. They are trying to learn the lessons of the past. The Flame Legion has a plan, the nature of that plan will be revealed. They want to get back on top.

Q: Is there any lore on why certain professions from GW1 do not make it into GW2?

A: Interestingly enough, we were talking about the monk just the other day and we haven't made it official lore yet, we're just talking about it, but there are reasons. How much we're going to reveal is up in the air, really. We looked at what we were doing and said "Wait a minute, this makes sense. Let's see if we can incorporate it." It's a great story.

Q: What is the situation now with the tengu?

A: The tengu! Y'know, this morning we were looking at one of the maps and across the bottom it said "Tengu Wall" and people were like "TENGU! THERE ARE TENGU HERE!" Yes there are, there are a few tengu. You will encounter some tengu. Are they a major force in Tyria? Not yet.

Q: Regarding the subject of technological advancement between GW1 and GW2: how exactly did the charr push all of their advancement? And how did the sylvari, who have only been around for 25 years, manage to catch up to the other races, if they even did?

A: Well, the first thing is, the charr are very good with technology. The charr are technologists as opposed to inventors. They find uses for things. In particular: war. War is an incredible encouragement for technological growth and the nature of the charr, the society, encourages that. All the races have guns. The charr have to do a lot more research on guns. So you might see bigger guns and bigger cannons in a charr operations. As far as why the sylvari; the sylvari have a mass mind before they arrive in this world. They are the creation of the Veil Dream. When the sylvari go out into the world and learn things, that information goes back into the dream. They are not connected to the dream anymore, they don't know everything everybody else knows. But a new sylvari will know more with each passing generation. So As ylvari's not going to suddenly arrive and be like "Oh. Here's fire. I wonder if it wants to be my friend." So they know what fire is. They know what a weapon is. They know what a gun is. They're going to go out and discover stuff because the more they know, the more goes back into the dream. The more that goes back to the dream, the better off the new sylvari that come out are.

Q: What are the origins of the bone dragons seen in GW1-- are they from Orr or somewhere else? Also, is the beta lore on Rotscale still cannon?

A: We've been talking about Rotscale. I don't know if I have a good answer for that yet. There are connections that you can basically see between a bone dragon and some of the other creatures that you see. Where they connect has yet to be reveled.

[Sagaris]

Kvinna said:

Q: What is the situation now with the Tengu?

A: The Tengu! Y'know, this morning we were looking at one of the maps and across the bottom it said "Tengu Wall" and people were like "TENGU! THERE ARE TENGU HERE!" Yes there are, there are a few Tengu. You will encounter some Tengu. Are they a major force in Tyrria? Not yet.

Need moar Tengu.

[Lyssa]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Oh my god. ''Are they a major force in Tyria? Not yet''.

NOT YET!! WE ARE SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING GETTING TENGU IN AN EXPANSION!!!!!!!!

*spazzes out*

Edited by Lyssa, 06 September 2010 - 04:05 PM.

[Thalador]

Aweeeesssssooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmeeeeee!

:eek: :surprised: :eek: :cool:

THANK YOU SO MUCH, KVINNA! :D

[Naoroji]

Ehm, wth @ the Lionguard bit? Was he messing up the Lionguard with Lion's Arch? :eek:

[Caelus the fallen]

Nice, althoug it seemed odd that they got "Lion's Arch" and "Lionguard" mixed up...

[Milennin]

Nice information.=p

[Lyssa]

Naoroji said:

Ehm, wth @ the Lionguard bit? Was he messing up the Lionguard with Lion's Arch? :eek:

Yeah, I think maybe so. Theres a few errors in the piece but at least its readable.

Some of the questions here were really exciting! Whenever they talk about the glint/mursaat/seer stuff I get chills. Cant wait to find out more.

[critical_eros343]

Lyssa said:

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah

Oh my god. ''Are they a major force in Tyria? Not yet''.

NOT YET!! WE ARE SOOOOOOOOOO FREAKING GETTING TENGU IN AN EXPANSION!!!!!!!!

*spazzes out*

*Joins in the spazzing*
OMGWTFBBQ! :D:D:D:D:D!
I hope the expansion includes a visit to Cantha :eek:

Quote

Coincidental because purple is of course, the color of evil.

Oooh, purple is my favorite color muwhahaha :devil:

[KQ]

Kvinna said:

Q: Regarding the subject of technological advancement between GW1 and GW2: how exactly did the Charr push all of their advancement? And how did the Sylvari, who have only been around for 25 years, manage to catch up to the other races, if they even did?

A: Well, the first thing is, the Charr are very good with technology. The Charr are technologists as opposed to inventors. They find uses for things. In particular: war. War is an incredible encouragement for technological growth and the nature of the Charr, the society, encourages that. All the races have guns. The Charr have to do a lot more research on guns. So you might see bigger guns and bigger cannons in a Charr operations. As far as why the Sylvari; the Sylvari have a mass mind before they arrive in this world. They are the creation of the Veil Dream. When the Sylvari go out into the world and learn things, that information goes back into the dream. They are not connected to the dream anymore, they don't know everything everybody else knows. But a new Sylvari will know more with each passing generation. So A Sylvari's not going to suddenly arrive and be like "Oh. Here's fire. I wonder if it wants to be my friend." So they know what fire is. They know what a weapon is. They know what a gun is. They're going to go out and discover stuff because the more they know, the more goes back into the dream. The more that goes back to the dream, the better off the new Sylvari that come out are.

Ah, I enjoyed the most reading this. 'Cause, by now, I find sylvari and charr to be my most favourite races.

Sylvari wisdom grows throughout the generations, virtually making the nation immortal. So neat and convenient. Reminds me of the saying: "The better parent you are, the better your child will be."

And badass guns as a charr, weeh...

[Lyssa]

critical_eros343 said:

*Joins in the spazzing*
OMGWTFBBQ! :D:D:D:D:D!
I hope the expansion includes a visit to Cantha :eek:

Hahaha you said it. Heres to hoping!

[Kvinna]

Sorry about the errors - I do not have access to the audio. I'll have Konig wave his magic wand on it when he is available. :D

[Matthew Browne]

They didn't say if Abaddon was really dead... hmm..

[lanceyd]

Matthew Browne said:

They didn't say if Abaddon was really dead... hmm..

The very thought of that is intriguing to hear.:surprised:

[Sard]

awesome...rushes off...thanks!

[Thalador]

Kvinna said:

Sorry about the errors - I do not have access to the audio. I'll have Konig wave his magic wand on it when he is available. :D

I am at your service. :)

Quote

A: Lion's Arch was pretty much wiped out when Orr rose from the bottom of the sea. It was later settled by pirates, scoundrels, wreckers, and that's one of the reasons the city had such a maritime theme to it. It literally was built out of the pieces of ships that swept out of the Sea of Sorrows and on to land. So this is a new unity to some degree. It has its foundations in the original Lion's Arch, but it is now a city that is controlled by a free brotherhood that was at one time on the wrong side of the law. It's become a heaven that has gone legit. It's become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Tyria because here we have Charr and Humans, Sylvari and all sorts of races coming together; they're all a part of this larger unit. So in many ways, Lion's Arch reflects the future for Tyria.

Either the dev misunderstood something, or we made a mistake. They don't even mention the Lionguard, only the city.

Edit: Or:

Quote

A: Lionguard was pretty much wiped out when Lion's Arch was later settled by pirates, scoundrels, wreckers, and that's one of the reasons Lionguard's had such a maritime theme to it. The city is literally was built out of the pieces of ships that swept out of the Sea of Sorrows and on to land. So this is a new unity to some degree. It has its foundations in the original Lion's Arch, but it is now a city that is controlled by a free brotherhood that was at one time on the wrong side of the law. It's become a heaven that has gone legit. It's become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Tyria because here we have Charr and Humans, Sylvari and all sorts of races coming together; they're all a part of this larger unit. So in many ways, Lionguard reflects the future for Tyria.

^Less likely. Kvinna, what did you mean by this: "It's become ate heaven that has gone legit."

Quote

A: Okay, well the peace treaty is a very recent thing; we're talking about a year old so about 1324. It is just that, a truce, so there are talks that are happening. Not all parties involved are happy with this. There are Charr renegades and Human separatists who are basically trying to break up the truce between the sides. They're basically a foe to this eventual peace. However, even with the truce, the relationship between the Charr and the Humans is shaky and lacking in trust. Whether the truce holds or not is something that is in the player's hands.

Only the date was wrong here.

Edited by Thalador, 06 September 2010 - 04:48 PM.

[Naut]

Even when they do tell us the DSD's name. I'm still calling it Bubbles :P

[Mythe]

The Sylvari bit is awesome :)

[Lyssa]

Naut said:

Even when they do tell us the DSD's name. I'm still calling it Bubbles :P

Would be kinda cool if it remained nameless like the Man in Black.

[Kvinna]

Thalador Doomspeaker said:

I am at your service. :)



Either the dev misunderstood something, or we made a mistake. They don't even mention the Lionguard, only the city.

Edit: Or:



^Less likely. Kvinna, what did you mean by this: "It's become ate heaven that has gone legit."



Only the date was wrong here.

Thank you! It's been updated. As far as the ate thing, I think it was just an error in the transcription - like she was trying to figure out what exactly was said.

[Turambar]

Kvinna said:

Q: Is there any lore on why certain professions from GW1 do not make it into GW2?

A: Interestingly enough, we were talking about the monk just the other day and we haven't made it official lore yet, we're just talking about it, but there are reasons. How much we're going to reveal is up in the air, really. We looked at what we were doing and said "Wait a minute, this makes sense. Let's see if we can incorporate it." It's a great story.

That's a big one and will be very interesting. :cool:

[Malchior Devenholm]

Kvinna said:

Q: Whom was the Strait of Malchor named after? Who or what was Malchor?

A: Ah! The Strait of Malchor is named after a sculptor who created all the original statues of the gods. It's not quite my place to tell his full story but that's who it's named after.

So, I'm a famous sculptor now, who worked in Arah itself?

I like it! ;)

[Thalador]

Malchior Devenholm said:

So, I'm a famous sculptor now, who worked in Arah itself?

I like it! ;)

You haven't thanked me for coming up with that question. :p

And I knew the guy was an Orrian (not confirmed, though very likely) pro. :cool:

[Lyssa]

Malchior Devenholm said:

So, I'm a famous sculptor now, who worked in Arah itself?

I like it! ;)

Yeah suuuuuuuure you wish Malchior :P

I'm kinda curious about that plotline now. I wonder how significant it will be? Maybe his tomb is buried deep under the waters there. Underwater dungeon content? Suuure.

Thalador Doomspeaker said:

You haven't thanked me for coming up with that question. :p

And I knew the guy was an Orrian (not confirmed, though very likely) pro. :cool:

How'd you reach that conclusion?

[Thalador]

Lyssa said:

Yeah suuuuuuuure you wish Malchior :P

I'm kinda curious about that plotline now. I wonder how significant it will be? Maybe his tomb is buried deep under the waters there. Underwater dungeon content? Suuure.

Another Zhaitan zombie we'll have to put to rest? Count me in. :D

Edit:

Lyssa said:

How'd you reach that conclusion?

- The name Malchor reeks of Orrian origins.
- The inhabitants of Orr were very devoted to the gods - it wouldn't surprise me if the first generation of god statues would come from Orr.
- The strait is between Orr and the Tarnished Coast. Since we have no information of the TC being inhabitated by humans, it's fair to assume that the person whom the strait was named after is the son (or daughter) of the peninsula. ;)

Edited by Thalador, 06 September 2010 - 05:07 PM.

[Renita of the Darkness]

Kvinna said:

Coincidental because purple is of course, the color of evil.

Gaile and I disagree with that one. >.>

[Grodan16]

King's Quest said:

Ah, I enjoyed the most reading this. 'Cause, by now, I find sylvari and charr to be my most favourite races.

Sylvari wisdom grows throughout the generations, virtually making the nation immortal. So neat and convenient. Reminds me of the saying: "The better parent you are, the better your child will be."

And badass guns as a charr, weeh...

But we already knew that Sylvari part, didn't we? In another lore interview.

[Obrien Xp]

I say what are those mad beasts?

Mad beasts? THESE ARE TENGU!

Glad they'll be back.

[Joiry]

Meh, 95% of the answers are basically rehashed stuff we already knew, or complete non-answers. Then again, that was pretty much a forgone conclusion given most of the questions...

[slowerpoke]

So it was inferred there wont be a monk class at all. Even if the role was changed to being one not wholly dedicated to party healing.