Brisban Wildlands: another relic of cut content?

Discovered a secret passage north of Brisban Wildlands, which you can only see if you have access to mounts:

Unfortunately, there is an invisible wall blocking it. I wonder where it was supposed to lead... Any ideas? :)

Nothing new. I was wondering about it years ago when I was still a young lad.

Speculation was that it leads to the original Lake Doric Map if I remember correctly

Its been in the game since launch, though you couldnt actually get across the bridge. I was hoping it was going to be a map into the HoT expansion but..nothing came to be.

@Blocki.4931Forgive me im wrong, but is that lake doric? i always assumed it was a different lake due to the difference in location.

@Dante.1763 said:Its been in the game since launch, though you couldnt actually get across the bridge. I was hoping it was going to be a map into the HoT expansion but..nothing came to be.

@Blocki.4931Forgive me im wrong, but is that lake doric? i always assumed it was a different lake due to the difference in location.

I'm not sure, but I think the original plan for it was to be on that side of DR and then got moved at some point.

There are several little spots like this that look like they should go somewhere but don't. I like them, they're the promise of new adventures, even if the new adventures never actually use them . . .

There's quite a few points where roads or paths lead out of maps into inaccessible areas. There's a path in Sparkfly Fen that leads towards Southsun Cove, the gate south of Ebonhawke leading into the Crystal Desert, a tunnel blocked by a landslide which apparently used to lead north of the Desert Highlands and eventually join up with the path from Ebonhawke and a gate in the south east corner of Mount Maelstrom. Oh and of course the various gates leading into the Domain of the Winds. There's probably others too which I've forgotten.

Very occasionally one of them does get used. For example there was an inaccessible, inactive portal inside Fort Vandal in Brisban Wildlands for years and now that's the entrance to The Silverwastes. Likewise the road west from the Ruins of Holy Demetra in Harathi Highlands used to be a dead end but now leads to Lake Doric.

I think it's either because when the artists were making the maps they weren't completely sure how they'd all join up so they just added entrances and exits around the edges, or they deliberately added unused ones so they could use them when adding locations later on. Although it seems to be more common for them to create a new one.

There's also the door in the inquest base in the Dry Top highlands that looks like it should open up into Gilded Hollow, an area in Malchor's Leap that should lead to Siren's Landing, and there's a suspicious-looking door on the western edge of the Desolation IIRC. I wish they'd open up some of the ones that are obviously supposed to connect like sparkfly fen-southsun.

Brisban Wildlands seems to be the king of cut content and placeholder portals. The Dry Top entrance, The fort vandal portal, the bridge to nowhere, and the bandit cave leading to the white mantle base are all there in that one somewhat lonely zone. It's kind of strange.

There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range. You can look through and see the land past it.

Also, Dry Top in the Cavern of the Shining Lights by the Hero Challenge. You can look through the barrier and see that the cavern keeps going east. That one I thought back then it might lead to a new map with a Living Story update, but it never did.

@Overlord RainyDay.2084 said:There's also the door in the inquest base in the Dry Top highlands that looks like it should open up into Gilded Hollow, an area in Malchor's Leap that should lead to Siren's Landing, and there's a suspicious-looking door on the western edge of the Desolation IIRC. I wish they'd open up some of the ones that are obviously supposed to connect like sparkfly fen-southsun.

Brisban Wildlands seems to be the king of cut content and placeholder portals. The Dry Top entrance, The fort vandal portal, the bridge to nowhere, and the bandit cave leading to the white mantle base are all there in that one somewhat lonely zone. It's kind of strange.

If I remember correctly the Dry Top entrance wasn't there before the map was added, the west end of Henge of Denravi was closed off with cliffs and even the small mining camp outside Dry Top didn't exist.

@Danikat.8537 said:

@Overlord RainyDay.2084 said:There's also the door in the inquest base in the Dry Top highlands that looks like it should open up into Gilded Hollow, an area in Malchor's Leap that should lead to Siren's Landing, and there's a suspicious-looking door on the western edge of the Desolation IIRC. I wish they'd open up some of the ones that are obviously supposed to connect like sparkfly fen-southsun.

Brisban Wildlands seems to be the king of cut content and placeholder portals. The Dry Top entrance, The fort vandal portal, the bridge to nowhere, and the bandit cave leading to the white mantle base are all there in that one somewhat lonely zone. It's kind of strange.

You do remember correctly, none of what you listed existed before drytop was added.

@Gop.8713 said:There are several little spots like this

With an actual area transition portal like in my screenshot? :o This is the only one I have come across in all the years. (I have seen many gate-like spots that one would assume lead into another map, like the desert gate near Ebonhawke, but no actual transition portals.)

@Blocki.4931 said:Speculation was that it leads to the original Lake Doric Map if I remember correctly

Weird location for it.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range.

Yes, yes, I know many such places, including that one. This, however, is different as it is sporting a portal.

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Gop.8713 said:There are several little spots like this

@Blocki.4931 said:Speculation was that it leads to the original Lake Doric Map if I remember correctly

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range.

There are a few with transition portals yes. Mount Maelstrom has one for sure i know that, its hidden behind some bushes but its there.

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range.

There being an "actual" portal isn't really that uncommon. Several of the mentioned places have a portal physically blocked off, the Sparkfly Fen one (in the direction of Southsun) has one blocked off by boulders, Fort Vandal had one before it led to Silverwastes, I think the SE corner of Mount Maelstrom has one behind the gate.

The special thing about the "bandit bridge" one in Brisban is that it's so visible!

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range.

I remember it quite vividly. Back when Silverwastes didn't exist. The bandits kicked so much butt, because they were all level 80 and frankly that part of the map simply scared the heck out of me lol

@Blocki.4931 said:

@Tanner Blackfeather.6509 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@"Just a flesh wound.3589" said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range.

Yeah that was pretty random. Level 15-25 map, with an inaccessible fort in a far corner full of level 80 bandits. Apparently you could glitch through/over the gate with some professions, but even on a level 80 character you couldn't kill them because you were down-levelled and you weren't. And hidden behind all that a portal...which didn't work and lead nowhere.

In that case it's possible they always knew it would eventually lead into the Maguuma, since apparently Anet had worked out the names, abilities and locations of all the dragons (even Steve Bubbles) before the game was released.

You even have an unused link between harathi hinterlands (east) around the ghost ruins and lake doric (west) windy cave with magic orbs. Surely an original portal turned into dead end. I find that kinda illogical, only access is divinity reach.

@hugo.4705 said:You even have an unused link between harathi hinterlands (east) around the ghost ruins and lake doric (west) windy cave with magic orbs. Surely an original portal turned into dead end. I find that kinda illogical, only access is divinity reach.There is an active portal between Harathi and Lake Doric, but it's further north. The Harathi side of the portal is in the canal that leads into the western side of Lake Arca, near the Seraph town. The Lake Doric side is north of Fort Evennia.

@Dante.1763 said:There are a few with transition portals yes. Mount Maelstrom has one for sure i know that, its hidden behind some bushes but its there.

Now that you mention it, I recall the portal (and others). I guess I remembered the more obvious foreground textures (gates, bushes).

We're speaking about portals but can't remember how many unused asuran gates we have too...

I'd like to see a connection between bloodstone fen and verdant brink, as well as being able to walk to Siren's Landings.

For the sake of world building, it's nice when all maps that logically connect do connect. The only current non raid maps that don't have at least one logical connection are the two in the fire islands.

@hugo.4705 said:We're speaking about portals but can't remember how many unused asuran gates we have too...

Yeah, these always make me sad :/ the portals are at least somehow physically inaccessible. Clearly up-and-running asura gates where just nothing happens when you walk into them always gives me a twinge of disappointment :(

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range. You can look through and see the land past it.

I think that one would open onto the Festival of the Four Winds map. I really wish they would expand that map w/off-festival version to allow passage from Mount Maelstrom to Desert Highlands.

Also, Dry Top in the Cavern of the Shining Lights by the Hero Challenge. You can look through the barrier and see that the cavern keeps going east. That one I thought back then it might lead to a new map with a Living Story update, but it never did.

I wonder about the door in the Inquest/Skritt cave that the Inquest guard.

They could always make a passage between Dry Top and the Gilded Hollow.

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:There’s a place also on the south east border of Mount Maelstrom which has a lot of debris blocking an opening in the border mountain range. You can look through and see the land past it.

Also, Dry Top in the Cavern of the Shining Lights by the Hero Challenge. You can look through the barrier and see that the cavern keeps going east. That one I thought back then it might lead to a new map with a Living Story update, but it never did.

To add: it's just a place-holder, for potential future content.I've heard there are more portals, but out of view, or covered by a wall that can be deleted when they decided to use it.

There's also that old-style Asura door that's hidden in the cave in the North of the Straits of Devastation. I always assumed it was the back door to Rata Pten, if we ever got to explore it deeper

@Khanco.1584 said:There's also that old-style Asura door that's hidden in the cave in the North of the Straits of Devastation. I always assumed it was the back door to Rata Pten, if we ever got to explore it deeper

I dont recall that but would like to see it, where exactly do i start?