Opinion Piece on the Story and Maps of Guild Wars 2 and Where we're heading.

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If I understand correctly, the gods mention killing two dragons before learning it destabilized the world, and that adds to balthazars remaining - not just running from a fight, but running from one they'd already started seemed unacceptable to him, no matter the consequence? Anyway, that means our concept of 6 is based on the fact that Central Tyria seems to be pretty solidly isolated, and the regions we manage to access are also isolated from the resto f the world, as in the rest of the supercontinent, the continents we haven't seen at all, and Cantha. So, if the gods, the ones who are primarily IN the isolated parts like orr and elona managed to kill 2 without us knowing, how many could be lurking out there? And what holds em back? Why are we so isolated from the world that this tiny section (the game) doesn't hear ANYTHING from the rest of the world, which is 5 or 6 times more in size, except for a few races in the relatively near ocean fleeing a dragon? There could easily be 20 dragons, and id love that personally. But they'd need to keep each campaign unique, which I can't seem to do myself after about a dozen. Also revisiting areas and seeing minions after their master's death is something I want more of. To learn, and to actually finish a job we started! We've killed zhaitan, mordremoth, and balthazar, and yet there are still risen, mordrem, and forged! At least after we killed caudecus the WM is 99% gone and fading each day. But that was mostly done by the Shining Blade, not us! I'd like someday, after getting all of the Strait of Malchor, and Orr, to go somewhere nearby like Scavenger's Causeway and finish off the risen like "this is the very end. You've finally finished the job you started decades ago (with all the other threats and the amount of mapping left to do in those areas it could be a decade or two in the story before we get there). Maybe we could get dragons of things like earth, lightning, wind, etc? I know some dragons kinda get that done already but ones with those as their primary strengths could be unique still. Wind minions that dissipate and reform when struck, lightning minions that shock you if you strike them with metal, etc. Maybe even a dragon that consumed most of the other bloodstone shards, or their original source (The gods used A Bloodstone, but where did it come from? Is it a natural part of Tyria that grows somewhere? If so, a dragon could have it as a domain.) We don't know where they got it, and humans obviously didn't know everything they did even on Tyria, so maybe somewhere out there... After all, if dragons contain magic and so do bloodstones, it's possible that the bloodstone is a dragon-controlled aspect of a faraway region. My last idea (off the top of my head) is a pure energy dragon, with a mastery of energy much like primordus is fire, jormag ice, etc. As well as maybe an energy element for ele?... Well I'm running out from the top of my head so ill just leave this huge freakin block of text

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As a quick note: From what we're seeing, Elder Dragons do not go into hibernation because they're satiated.

They go into hibernation when they've eaten so much that what is left will cost them more energy to collect than they'd get from consuming it. The last time the dragons went to sleep, they did so because nearly all of the world's magic that they hadn't already eaten was in the Bloodstone - since they couldn't sense the bloodstone, this made them think that the magic was all gone and thus it was time to hibernate until it came back.

I think we are heading to far Elona. In the cinematics where Kralkatorrik flies somewhere we see the bright Sun, Elona is known as the Land of the Golden Sun, so it was a clear sign we are going south.

I think we will visit Shiverpeaks, Orr, Maguuma, Ring of Fire once more.

The only stories that makes sense are the Zhaitan and Mordremoth arc. And even the Mordremoth stories has gaping plot holes, but the intention stays clear.Everything else is a convoluted, flip-flop prone mess out of stories of people who have no clue what is going on(the Commander and loyal troopers) and have to learn the hard way that most of the stuff that is going on was negatively influenced by people they thought as allies of.The really angry part about this is that for example ls3 has a tremendous start but turns into a full blown desaster of a story, with surprises just for the heck of it and the signing of a contract no being of clear thoughts should even think about. the red line of continuity and consistence is not only crossed by Anet regularly, they puke on it.

Of course this stuff can be taken care of later, but why even create such a mess in the first place? It would not be the first ongoing story that contradicts itself and needs a deus ex machina solution to resolve itself.

Map related stuff is surely the strongest point of Anet, and I share the same fascination. one of the projects I had and canceled due to lack of time, was to draw on the map all the way followed by the commander in story mode.

We are going to deal with Kralkatorrik, Palawa Joko and Dhuum in Elona during Living Story Season 4 first followed by the Jormag, Bangar Ruinbringer and Lyssa in the next Expansion which will be followed by the rise of Mad King Thorn and his castle replacing Jennah's Palace permanently(hopefully he'll drag portions of the Realm of Torment into Tyria on a whim so that we can visit them).

The story will of course will either lead into Cantha or towards the Isles of Janithir since neither are on the visible path yet.

@Mickey Frogeater.1470 said:We are going to deal with Kralkatorrik, Palawa Joko and Dhuum in Elona during Living Story Season 4 first followed by the Jormag, Bangar Ruinbringer and Lyssa in the next Expansion which will be followed by the rise of Mad King Thorn and his castle replacing Jennah's Palace permanently(hopefully he'll drag portions of the Realm of Torment into Tyria on a whim so that we can visit them).

The story will of course will either lead into Cantha or towards the Isles of Janithir since neither are on the visible path yet.

I REALLY like your ideas, but could you elaborate on how that stuff would happen?

Kralkatorrik and Palawa Joko being threats are obvious and since we just cheated death we likely have Dhuum coming after us. Since Braham wants to kill Jormag he is ripe for being manipulated into waking Jormag up and since Jormag is close to the Charr Homelands one would expect to deal with Bangar Ruinbringer in the same expansion or in the Living Story Season 5 at least. Balthazar suspiciously did not curse Lyssa and had Lyssa's Mirror so her being a threat is obvious.

Mad King Thorn according to Bruce the Herald is getting closer and closer to escaping with him being around during the whole Halloween event this time. If the Fan theory of Lyssa being Jennah is somehow correct then we have a suitable replacement for her(namely the Mad King himself) and since he has such a magnificent castle the chances of Jennah's palace surviving is slim.

@Mickey Frogeater.1470 said:Mad King Thorn according to Bruce the Herald is getting closer and closer to escaping with him being around during the whole Halloween event this time. If the Fan theory of Lyssa being Jennah is somehow correct then we have a suitable replacement for her(namely the Mad King himself) and since he has such a magnificent castle the chances of Jennah's palace surviving is slim.

I highly doubt the Mad King will ever be more than a seasonal Halloween villain. He is too comical to be a main plot villain.

@Mickey Frogeater.1470 said:Kralkatorrik and Palawa Joko being threats are obvious and since we just cheated death we likely have Dhuum coming after us. Since Braham wants to kill Jormag he is ripe for being manipulated into waking Jormag up and since Jormag is close to the Charr Homelands one would expect to deal with Bangar Ruinbringer in the same expansion or in the Living Story Season 5 at least. Balthazar suspiciously did not curse Lyssa and had Lyssa's Mirror so her being a threat is obvious.

Mad King Thorn according to Bruce the Herald is getting closer and closer to escaping with him being around during the whole Halloween event this time. If the Fan theory of Lyssa being Jennah is somehow correct then we have a suitable replacement for her(namely the Mad King himself) and since he has such a magnificent castle the chances of Jennah's palace surviving is slim.

Ah, id forgotten that bit from Bruce. That particular collection and its lore were new in 2017, correct? Like the headless dude and some of the bloodied inquisitor people I'm pretty sure are new, and their minis are only coming out now, which also makes me think they're new. Which would mean mad king is getting closer in the last year specifically! Maybe in the 3-4 weeks the gateway is broken, some of the rampant magic leaks through and he's using more magic than before to eventually break the barrier between worlds permanently in some parts of the world? What if we kill an ED at some point in the future and we don't have a suitable replacement, and then the world shakes a bit but doesn't blow up because the mad king took the magic? That'd be so cool! P.S. I see what you meant by Dhuum too, but more likely later than S4 since he's currently restrained and will need some chaotic event to accidentally free him most likely.

I'd take Bruce with a hefty dose of salt. The Mad King's servants also declared that he was on the brink of permanent freedom in 2010... right before they sealed him away completely for 250 years. Considering the Lunatic Court's grand strategy is 'try, try again' and 'I'm sure it'll work eventually'... well, to parrot our character, it sure hasn't worked so far.

What I hope for, but most likely won´t get:The influence of technology gets minimized. It´s a fantasy game, not a technoir/steampunk game experience.Charr and humans go to war again. I was never happy how Charr despoiled Ascalon and even now they make fun of the stalwart defenders and just get away with it.Humans and centaurs make peace.Kill Kralkatorik. He´s a true monster among monsters.

Things that already took place which I never thought would happen and have to give Anet a nod for:The death of Caudecus. I thought he would always be a thorn in the side of Jenna.The release of Canach from Anise.*The death of Lazarus. The motivation to kill him is just dumb, but the goal itself was noble.

Things that have to stop:The commander behaving as a dummie. Either let him or her be a hero aka doing what is right and just, or let him be a puppet like when he swears death oaths. But not both. Saving the innocent gets pretty hypocrital fast when you are a turncoat to that noble ideas in the next chapter.Antagonist flip-floping. It´s Lazarus. No wait, it´s not Lazarus. It´s Caudecus. Uhm, no. I got it, it´s Balthazar!

but to answer the OP, I have no idea anymore what is going on lorewise in Tyria and not the slightest idea where we could head to from where we are.

@"Mickey Frogeater.1470" said:Kralkatorrik and Palawa Joko being threats are obvious and since we just cheated death we likely have Dhuum coming after us.

except you are forgetting the little tiny bit part of how our "cheating the death" was done with aknowledgement and agreement from the fellas managing the whole process - I do not recall PCs being chased after by anyone from the underworld after they "cheated" death after shiro killed them [altho as a note there was a difference that Factions PC didn't actually ask for that favour...]

The player must be good. Asking for more lore doesn't mean it must go the most dire or even least dire ways.

@Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

@"Mickey Frogeater.1470" said:Kralkatorrik and Palawa Joko being threats are obvious and since we just cheated death we likely have Dhuum coming after us.

That fella managing the process was appointed by the guy who overthrew Dhuum. The old god isn't likely to recognize the new god's decisions as justification.

@Aaron Ansari.1604 said:

@Lord Trejgon.2809 said:

@"Mickey Frogeater.1470" said:Kralkatorrik and Palawa Joko being threats are obvious and since we just cheated death we likely have Dhuum coming after us.

aaaaand that's even assuming the "odl god" is still even remotely around....

and considering that fella apointed by that other god of death to manage the process still holds his position I'd assume dhuum is either just as absent as any other of gods or in no power to even exchange old personel

in either case there are no valid reasons to expect anyone from underworld deciding to come for us....