LWS5: I believe we are going to Cantha

[Terter.4125]

@Klipso.8653 said:But they're lined up by weight class, adding 4 would just make it ugly again.

If any get added at all, it should only be 1 for each armor weight.

then...ritualist - lightassassin/monk - mediumdervish/paragon - heavybut I think they will be only elite specialisation... if they do them separately classes... they need to figure 9 new elite specializations + 5 new professions + 10 new elite specializations for them... thus making it quite the difficult task.

[Pirindolo.9427]

Considering that the possibility of a new GW2 expansion is uncertain at best, I doubt that Cantha, as it is known from GW1, will be the best map option to be "split" in LS chapters. It would be great, though. But unlikely.

[Ashantara.8731]

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:And I can skip that entire weeb xpac.

All the people who are interested in Asian cultures, architecture, cuisine, are automatically "weebs"? :o I found all that fascinating long before that derogative internet term was born, or even before common households had internet. I harbor interest in a variety of foreign cultures and their history. There are people who even deal with those subjects for a living (historians, archaeologists, architects, chefs).

I, for once, loved the implementation of Asian aspects into GW1 and hope to see more of it in GW2 some day.

[Samuel.4812]

OP might not be wrong.

I was over gw1 once ritualist launches so I’m not the biggest lore nerd but...

All this stuff about the gods that anet has been releasing May hint towards their return to tyria/the mists to fight kralk. We may see the return of this “paragon” as a result, why not the ritualist as well? Cantha would come later but we may make contact with their ritualists from her on.

[Yargesh.4965]

Anet publishes something then "we are going to Cantha" post spring up, Anet doesn't publish something "we are going to Cantha" sun comes up one morning "we are going to Cantha", cloudy weather "we are going to Cantha".Just wait until the game releases the actual map and spare us the drama of Cantha.

[Pirindolo.9427]

@"Yargesh.4965" said:Anet publishes something then "we are going to Cantha" post spring up, Anet doesn't publish something "we are going to Cantha" sun comes up one morning "we are going to Cantha", cloudy weather "we are going to Cantha".Just wait until the game releases the actual map and spare us the drama of Cantha.

Hummmm... based on your post, I am now pretty sure that we are going to Cantha.

[Teratus.2859]

@Dami.5046 said:

@Teratus.2859 said:

@Dami.5046 said:

@Batel.9206 said:What's in Cantha that's so amazing, besides sheer nostalgia? The Kurzicks and Luxons have been assimilated (forcibly) into Canthan culture (or wiped out), all of the Tengu are driven out, and the xenophobic aristocracy rules with an iron fist. After over a century, there would be nothing left of the old cultures. If we go there to fight Bubbles - sorry, I mean

Selbbub

:tongue: - the storyline will be entirely human-centered...which is what Path of Fire is.

Yeah...no, thanks. :/

Why do you think it will all be about shiro and the jade sea? 250 years have passed, we have no idea what is out there now. There might be a race we haven't even discovered yet.

Or more of ones we have but know very little about..Cantha is home to many species Gw2 only players have never seen before and some Gw1 players would love to see again.The Kraken, Naga, Leviathans, Saltspray Dragons, Island Guardians, Wardens, Bonesnap Turtles, phoenix's, Kappas.. just to name a few.Going back there is more than just for Nostalgia which is a rather ignorant claim some people make.

Cantha has a very rich culture and lore built around it which a lot of people loved in the first game, we know little about what has happened there in the last 250 years but one of the biggest questions is how has the Elder Dragon problem effected them.

The dragons being the most powerful and dangerous creatures on the planet and the main antagonists of the game and all that but all of them are local to Tyria..For all we know there are more of them out there terrorizing other continents or at least the problems caused by the Elder Dragons and their minions are effecting the whole planet not just Tyria which is so far the only place in the game we can explore including Elona which is pretty much connected to the main landmass.

I'd like to know what's going on in Cantha, specially what they've had to deal with since the Dragons woke up.For all we know they've been getting terrorized by the Sea dragon.. or perhaps Kralkatorriks rifts have managed to open down there too and the Canthans have had to deal with swarms of Branded since he got into the mists.There may even be Destroyers down there.

I'm glad you feel how i feel! I loved the kurzick lands and would love to be Kurzick again. I think it would open up a lot more than just the lands. There is the PvP between luxon and kurzick or maybe more than one faction for example and I'll be quite happy for it to be about another race even one we know about now - and as you have stated the area was full of dragons, so i can't see how the story can't be taken there. Cantha might even be the door way to the new lands people want too.Shame people would be against open world PvP mind :bleep_bloop:

I would love to see how much the Luxon and Kurzick lands have changed..Jade sea is back or partly back to normal and so is the Echovold Forest if I recall my lore correctly.How much that has impacted those factions will be good to see, be wicked to see Seige Turtles swimming around the Jade Sea etc ^^

[Terter.4125]

I don't think Kurzicks and Luxons will be two separate factions any longer. For 250 years after they allied to defeat Shiro I think they cleared their differences and worked together to make Cantha a better place, who knows maybe Kaineng Center is no more ... maybe its Kaineng Metropolis with both factions in it.

[Dami.5046]

@kharmin.7683 said:Cantha, IIRC, was also one of ANet's biggest cultural problems and is the reason why it was removed from Divinity's Reach? If so, I really cannot see them going anywhere near that again, despite all of the Cantha threads.

Yes, that's why I don't think it will happen in all fairness, although it still barks the question why people need to be so utter rude about people like me who loved the area.I just loved the kurzick side.

[Lesan.4903]

@Etria.3642 said:Prefer anywhere except Cantha, BUT if it HAS to be Cantha then at least an LS episode is one and done as opposed to returning constantly. So sure, ep 6 Cantha. Season 5? Somewhere else. Anywhere else. I have so much map to be opened yet!

Maybe 1 LS Episode to revisit Shing Jea, at the conclusion and 'finally going there' as they also announce a proper Expansion.

[hugo.4705]

Cantha is dead, stop expecting it, since the great shout out/dilemma about canthan district in DR just because a bunch of players cried about it, we will never see it. Of course you have sometimes chinese/japanese thingies popping on the gemstore and that strange those players haven't cried about it too.Now, I'm only expecting depth of tyria expansion/exploration, with quora sum and underground asuras (Invite you to click on my signature, expansion link), not saying it's an overdue but Utopia got cancelled we never saw the apogee of the asuran civilization, now time for it, in woodland cascades and far maguuma wastes. Not a recycled place. (Done some research, the more present race is human and then charrs)

[Ashantara.8731]

@Kylden Ar.3724 said:No, not all. But in game the correlation rate between weebs (catears, girl toons dressed like hookers) and those screaming for Cantha is too kitten high.

Funny that 10 years ago that was not a conclusion anyone would draw (I am certain such a subculture already existed at the time, just not as prominent as these days). You might have spent too much time on the internet. ;) You can't shun Cantha just because of some RL subculture you dislike as little as you can forbid Elona from existing just because of political circumstances in certain regions of Africa. Fantasy RPGs are an artsy expression of our fascination with worldly impressions, cultures and history.

And Cantha as it was was not a study in foreign cultures, any more than the Forgotton Realms or Westeros or Kryta was a study of Medieval Europe.

Not per se, but if it wasn't for all our Earth cultures, none of those fantasy worlds would exist. Also, there were all sorts of exotic (A)D&D campaign settings for pen & paper RPGs in the 1970s and 1980s that had a variety of oriental themes: Arabian Nights, desert themes, Eastern Asian settings. Why is it a crime these days to have those?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@hugo.4705 said:Cantha is dead, stop expecting it, since the great shout out/dilemma about canthan district in DR just because a bunch of players cried about it, we will never see it. Of course you have sometimes chinese/japanese thingies popping on the gemstore and that strange those players haven't cried about it too.Now, I'm only expecting depth of tyria expansion/exploration, with quora sum and underground asuras (Invite you to click on my signature, expansion link), not saying it's an overdue but Utopia got cancelled we never saw the apogee of the asuran civilization, now time for it, in woodland cascades and far maguuma wastes. Not a recycled place. (Done some research, the more present race is human and then charrs)

A bunch of players cried about it? I didn't read anything about players being any part of the decision to scrap that part of Divinity's Reach. What little was related by Josh Foreman (the only Dev statement we have) didn't mention players, at all. And, how would there even be players, as it was removed before release?

[hugo.4705]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@hugo.4705 said:Cantha is dead, stop expecting it, since the great shout out/dilemma about canthan district in DR just because a bunch of players cried about it, we will never see it. Of course you have sometimes chinese/japanese thingies popping on the gemstore and that strange those players haven't cried about it too.Now, I'm only expecting depth of tyria expansion/exploration, with quora sum and underground asuras (Invite you to click on my signature, expansion link), not saying it's an overdue but Utopia got cancelled we never saw the apogee of the asuran civilization, now time for it, in woodland cascades and far maguuma wastes. Not a recycled place. (Done some research, the more present race is human and then charrs)

A bunch of players cried about it? I didn't read anything about players being any part of the decision to scrap that part of Divinity's Reach. What little was related by Josh Foreman (the only Dev statement we have) didn't mention players, at all. And, how would there even be players, as it was removed before release?

Indeed, you will not find anything here apart josh foreman statement, you also have the interview. But it has been said that it was planned to create the canthan district, it was aborted because it was badly received by the eastern community, such as the architecture styles which melt asian and japanese culture, that melting wasn't well received well by testers from that community. Players or devs or commercials dunno but in all cases they experienced the content in beta version before everyone else and told the company to not release that content. In all case, would be happy if a dev come here explaining what happened.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Interesting. If you would be so kind as to post the source?

[hugo.4705]

They are all in the post you said where someone quoted the dev foreman post and interview. https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/37797/what-was-the-deal-with-the-canthan-district-of-divinitys-reach

Ill conceived post for interview and post./ detailsAbout the rest surely lost into the mists.I haven't invented anything, somebody surely tested the game to see how it looks whoever they were, can be considered as players but yeah not the one who play everyday.

[Dami.5046]

Not expecting it. Not in the slightest. Doesn't stop me wanting it.I think people are getting too hooked on the culture Fractions was based on and NOT what such an expansion could do for the game. I am not crying for it because i'm deeply into the culture for one. As I have listed, my favourite area was the Kurzick area, not shing Jea, not Kaineng Center or even parts of the Luxon/jade sea area. I liked the PvP for one. It was different.The whole thing is a sad sorry mess as far as i'm concerned.

[sorudo.9054]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@SidewayS.3789 said:I hope not. I'm tired of human centric places/story. I want something new, not re-used places from GW1.

Who says Cantha was only human-centric? What about the Tengu, for instance?

if you at least tried to read up on some GW lore you would know why all the tengu are next to lobster land.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"Ashantara.8731" said:There have been releases lately (mount skins, outfits,...) that make me believe that LWS5 will take us to Cantha.

Such as?

No, honestly. What gemstore releases not explicitly tied to the Asian-themed holiday of Lunar New Year, has come out that honestly suggests Cantha?

People have been saying "Cantha soon" for years. There's literally nothing in the game that hints that we're going to Cantha. We still have three local Elder Dragons (and no, the deep sea dragon is not in Cantha; best guess on lore puts it westward of Tyria/Elona, not south like Cantha is) to contend with in Tyria, and zero existing plot reasons to go to Cantha, and zero suggestion that we're getting a ton of new asian-themed assets.

Not only that, but until the recent layoffs, ArenaNet had been slowly draining resources for GW2, and going to Cantha would require a LOT of resources - an expansion's worth of resources, in fact. Something the LW teams never got their hands on even before ArenaNet had drained resources from GW2 for their now-canceled unannounced projects.

And if we're going the route of "we've been getting a lot of xyz themed stuff lately", honestly, what we've gotten a lot more of as of late isn't Cantha stuff... but lore on the Blood Legion's Imperator. Prior to All or Nothing, our sole source of Bangar Ruinbringer's existence was from a pre-release article titled "The Legions of the Charr". But lately, we got All or Nothing: Requiem mentioning him in detail, and a new NPC in the Current Events talking about him and his philosophy. Episode 2 also heavily expanded the lore of charr with Olmakhan (who have been involved in Episodes 3 and 5 as well) and finally bringing the Claw of the Khan-Ur into the game.

As I see it, we've gotten a hell of a lot more charr stuff lately, as side content, than Cantha-related stuff. Outside of explicitly LNY or Zephyrites (full of Canthan descendants) related things, I can't think of a single Asian/Canthan related thing we've gotten in the past year. The only exception is the upcoming ritualist outfit/weapon - but it's not like we haven't gotten outfits of old professions that aren't in GW2. That's an intentional double negative, btw. Monk Outfit, Dervish Outfit, etc. The Ritualist Outfit is just adding onto that palette, not a subtle hint of "Cantha!!!!".

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Klipso.8653 said:

@"otto.5684" said:Based on the recent press, it seems they want to focus on expanding existing maps. It is highly unlikely will go to a new location completely.

I am expecting the next season to be in and around core Tyria.

I think it's more likely to expand PoF maps, and give people a reason to go to them.

Especially since LS5 will still be part of PoF

I dunno. The announcement sounded more like we'll be getting Season 2 styled map releases, rather than no new maps at all. E.g., two maps updated thrice, or three maps updated twice, instead of six maps.

And we can't really say LS5 will be "part of PoF". They may not link it to requiring an expansion in the end.

@"Gopaka.7839" said:I don't think Kurzicks and Luxons will be two separate factions any longer. For 250 years after they allied to defeat Shiro I think they cleared their differences and worked together to make Cantha a better place, who knows maybe Kaineng Center is no more ... maybe its Kaineng Metropolis with both factions in it.

The Kurzicks and Luxons went back to warring right after Shiro's defeat. It even got covered in Winds of Change. That said, Kisu's successor, Usoku, went to war and subjugated both the Kurzicks and Luxons into proper vassals once more. So for all intents and purposes, Kurzicks and Luxons simply ceased to exist as far as we know in lore.

[Dami.5046]

But the lore can be changed and behold, new frations cometh.runs around, arms about head, headless chicken styleee

[Aeolus.3615]

Cantha is stil far far away.....there are tons of places to explore before we get into cantha, besides we won’t see a expac that soon.

[dusanyu.4057]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@SidewayS.3789 said:I hope not. I'm tired of human centric places/story. I want something new, not re-used places from GW1.

Who says Cantha was only human-centric? What about the Tengu, for instance?

It is now the ministry of purity kicked everything that was not a human out

[gimo.3281]

yeah, coz charrs and tengus..

'tis time..

[PlagueParade.7942]

I think we're heading towards Bloodlegion territory. Though, I would LOVE IT if we had a huge map for the flying tower in Kessex (hopefully it won't just be a raid instance).