35 replies to this topic

[Saul Spotter]

Are the things happening in the fractals some sort of space/time/alternate dimension aspect of the Mist or are they actually happening in Tyria?

[Critus]

Some of them are past events in Tyria. For example: the charr one, is when charr invaded ascalon and albern destroyed his sword and turned everyone to ghosts( i think). But thats really the only one that i recognized.

[Lol Lol Lol Guy]

Saul Spotter, on 15 December 2012 - 08:39 PM, said:

Are the things happening in the fractals some sort of space/time/alternate dimension aspect of the Mist or are they actually happening in Tyria?

As far as I can tell, it's almost like we are going back in time, or just experiencing the events as they happened, in the Mists. As the guy above me said, any gw1 lore buff knows the charr one was real. Which leads me to believe all of them happened at some point in Tyria's history and those moments are now being replayed in the Mists? if that makes sense

[shanaeri rynale]

I've assumed they are all alternate realities as they take place in the mists(even the charr one could be a slightly different version of what really happend) Actually, I've always kinda thought that there was no such thing as reality in the mists.

Edited by shanaeri rynale, 15 December 2012 - 08:49 PM.

[Critus]

I think of fractals kind of like an advanced version of the bonus mission pack from gw1

[BuddhaKeks]

Same thing as with the PvP Arenas. The mists copy events that happened (or will happen) in Tyria. You are taking part in a recreation of the event, not the event itself. You enemies are probably some demon-like creations of the mists, which take the form of beings on Tyria.

[Doki20]

Lol Lol Lol Guy, on 15 December 2012 - 08:47 PM, said:

As far as I can tell, it's almost like we are going back in time, or just experiencing the events as they happened, in the Mists. As the guy above me said, any gw1 lore buff knows the charr one was real. Which leads me to believe all of them happened at some point in Tyria's history and those moments are now being replayed in the Mists? if that makes sense

I wouldn't be so sure to say that all of them are past events. The Rata Sum one actually represents (in my opinion, but I remember reading the same partially in other threads on guru) the possible-future if we don't beat the Inquest in Arah. (the Mursaat path, however the "tears of Dwayna" at Old Tom must surely come from the Seer path, precisely from the Dwayna boss.

[Konig Des Todes]

Quote

The Mists resonate from the worlds around them, forming bits of their own reality - islands of existence that reflect the histories of their worlds.

http://wiki.guildwar.../wiki/The_Mists

The Fractals are just like sPvP arenas and WvW - they're "islands" within the Mists that are copies of the worlds around it. Some are from the past, some from the future, some from the present, some from Tyria and some not.

We know two of them are past events - the Ascalonian one (which is, imo, not related to the Foefire - that doesn't look like Ascalon City at all) and the Jade Sea one (since its supposed to have been thawing out since after Shiro's second defeat). And as Doki says, one seems to be in the future. The rest is completely questionable.

[Steadfast Gao Shun]

I somehow doubt kitten golems are representative of historical events. Though that IS an interesting scenario for the future...

[Saul Spotter]

So are the creatures and people there like Razah?  Or are they insubstancial myst ghost things?

And if the stuff happening is a reflection of events on Tyria, then those events happened somewhere, sometime in the world?

[Lol Lol Lol Guy]

Steadfast Gao Shun, on 16 December 2012 - 09:02 PM, said:

I somehow doubt kitten golems are representative of historical events. Though that IS an interesting scenario for the future...

No that was in the bonus mission pack way back in guild Wars 1. didnt you do that mission!?!? ..actually I'd prefer that to the impossible saul D'aealssio one

[Konig Des Todes]

@Saul Spotter: I'd believe more like Razah, same with the creatures in the sPvP and WvW maps. Only real possible exception would be the Sons of Svanir one, since the Sons of Svanir have access to the Mists they could have traveled there themselves. And they're reflections of stuff that did happen, are happening, or can happen - and not just on Tyria, but on other worlds too. Though three definitely seem tied to Tyria, the others might not be (but they all seem to).

[Saul Spotter]

So what is the point of Deissia and all us going there if nothing is real?  Isn't she working for the Consortium?

[Doki20]

Saul Spotter, on 17 December 2012 - 08:01 PM, said:

So what is the point of Deissia and all us going there if nothing is real?  Isn't she working for the Consortium?

The point is to stabilize them otherwise bad things may happen. Hell, even the asura gate shouldn't have led there but to Southsun Cove, yet something happened during activation.

Also, they are trying to turn it into an attraction for tourists for more cash.. having random monsters show up to eat paying costumers would hurt business.

Edited by Doki20, 17 December 2012 - 08:53 PM.

[Orual Fox]

Doki20, on 17 December 2012 - 08:50 PM, said:

Also, they are trying to turn it into an attraction for tourists for more cash.. having random monsters show up to eat paying costumers would hurt business.

I still think that the Consortium has no connection to the fractals at all.  The portal, like you said, was meant to go the Cove, but because of something crazy, it ended up being a fractal portal.  Even Diessa seems unaware to this connection that formed to LA.  But I don't think Consortium is actually using the portal as an attraction.  That was their plan, originally (as it went to the cove) but since the mess-up, it has not been advertised as such.

Edit:  And to address Diessa.  She is not working for the Consortium, she refutes that idea herself when speaking to her at the Observatory.  I believe she was a researcher, researching the Mists and has been doing her own private work.  She wants to understand the Mists, the unexplained (like any good asura) and she has developed the method of "locking" the fractals.  The only problem is that they have to be maintained, which is where the PC steps in.

Edited by Orual Fox, 17 December 2012 - 09:30 PM.

[Konig Des Todes]

Saul Spotter, on 17 December 2012 - 08:01 PM, said:

So what is the point of Deissia and all us going there if nothing is real?  Isn't she working for the Consortium?

Whoever said its not real? The point is exactly as Dessa says: we're going in to stabalize these "fractals" so that Dessa can continue her research on the Mists. What that research is... questionable.

Given her response about Consortium (talk to her), she doesn't seem to be one.

[Sword Hammer Axe]

The Mists are basically a sort of binding mechanic between existence and whatever non-existence. When they say fractals of the Mists I assume they mean they've manipulated the Mists to a point where they've accidentally broken parts of reality regarding certain events in time and across Tyria. When they first introduced the portal it seemed to be malfunctioning, and seeing as Asura Gates are portals that defy distances, I think it's safe to assume that these portals somehow tamper with the structure of the Mists, and a malfunction could properly open up a number of problems, such as ripping holes in time and space. But honestly, this is just theoretical. I have no idea how the actual lore is regarding that thing (if any) XD

[Konig Des Todes]

The Mists is more than just what lies between and binds various existences. It's basically the building blocks of existence as well - these fractals aren't broken off pieces of reality, but copies of reality (same as sPvP and WvW locations). And the afterlife.

The Mists is many things.

[Saul Spotter]

I get that in sPvP and WvW, the story is something like your character is going in there to fight other people for territory and glory and such.

But aren't the fractals just metaphorically swinging at smoke?  Fun dungeon and all, but story wise, all the teleporting and and time jumping and Deissia screaming about something coming at the players just doesn't make sense to me.

Been playing them so much I just wanted to know if there was anything meaningful there in relation to the story.  Thanks all for answering, by the way.

[Gilles VI]

Isn't the blizzard fractal history too?
The legendary shaman's name looks familiar, can't remember if it's the name of a zone/outpost/...

[flameseeker]

I think of them as moments frozen in time of the past/present/future that happened or could happen.

Bit longer explanation:

If you ever watched/played Fate/Stay Night it's easier to explain.
In there some mages call upon servants, heroic figures, to help them in a fight. Obviously they don't call the real heroes but a projection with all their traits and memories that are stored in some kind of cosmic data bank.

My take on fractals is that it works similar to this.
Instead of summoning something from the mists (the cosmic data bank) you actually access the mist "database" to experience a moment in time recorded there.
I infer that in the mist there's no concept of time/reality so the event you partake could be from the past/present/future of your reality or a parallel universe.

[draxynnic]

Gilles VI, on 18 December 2012 - 09:18 AM, said:

Isn't the blizzard fractal history too?
The legendary shaman's name looks familiar, can't remember if it's the name of a zone/outpost/...

I seem to remember that shaman having "Lornar" in its name, being the north-south pass in the western Shiverpeaks. GW1 lore indicates that Lornar was a human explorer if I remember correctly, suggesting that it's the location being referenced rather than the individual. Which is interesting, given that Lornar's Pass is one of the few Shiverpeaks zones where you don't trip over Svanir around every corner...

With that in mind, I'm tempted to say that's a fractal of a possible future.

[BuddhaKeks]

I'm pretty sure his name is Lorrnar or Lornarr. When I saw him I thought it was Lornar too first but closer inspection showed that it had 3 Rs in it.

Edited by BuddhaKeks, 18 December 2012 - 11:24 AM.

[draxynnic]

Lornarr Dragonseeker, apparently - I came across a reference somewhere else. Mind you, it could still be a reference to the zone, or it might be that some norn parent decided that the original Lornar, despite being human, was worthy enough to name a norn after.

[Konig Des Todes]

Lornar was a dwarf who held off a Hill Giant invasion on his own.

The human explorers were Witman and Tasca. They too had places named after them - Witman's Folly and Tasca's Demise.

[Sans]

Just something i noticed
The chanters have Ebonhawk weapons.

[Mockingjay74]

Is that actually an Ebonhawke weapon? I don't remember the turquoise orbs on the bottom.

[razor39999]

That cliffside fractal always has me thinking that we're reliving the event of freeing Menzies or some other god-level creature, since not a lot of things are that size and humanoid that we know of. Sorry if something like this was already mentioned in other threads, I haven't checked the lore forums in quite a while, maybe there's some cool theories about the identity of that big guy already.

[BuddhaKeks]

This is definitely not Menzies, that coloss is waaaay to calm to be a warmongering mad god. My money is on it being a creature created by the mists, similar to Razah, and those cultists summoned it, to harness it's power.

[razor39999]

Tbh warmongering mad god is more Balthazar's description. I wouldn't be too surprised if his brother is more of a calm, collected and calculating type.

EDIT:
Tho it needn't be Menzies they summoned that's for sure, but the size of that creature is only comparable to Abaddon and that mural where Doric is pleading the other gods where they're shown as pretty huge as well.

Edited by razor39999, 22 January 2013 - 07:20 PM.