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Let's hear your baseless hopes for where the story goes next!


Tamias.7059

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I'll go first! How's this for a story hook:

  • Signs that the deep sea dragon is becoming active. Tentacled horrors appearing on the shore, seas become too dangerous to travel, Pact gearing up for a response, players prepare for another epic showdown with an Elder Dragon and then...nothing. All of a sudden, it all seems to die out.
  • A while (a few weeks? Months?) later, a resurgence in water dragon minion activity, but a shift in their behaviour. They're attacking non-humans...but leaving humans alone. Not long after, a huge armada is spotted sailing past Elona and appears off the coast of Lion's Arch. It's the Empire of the Dragon! And someone flipped the switch from "isolationist" to "expansionist".
  • The armada, led by the Protector General of the Empire of Cantha, is there with a message for the last remaining human kingdom: submit to our rule, and we will liberate Ascalon from the charr, we will safeguard you against the depredations of the asura, we will wipe out the sylvari, lest Mordremoth's influence re-assert itself, and we will end the threat of the Elder Dragons. And they have a secret weapon...
  • You see, they tackled and ended the threat of the deep sea dragon themselves. They explain patiently (because how could the Krytans possibly know this?) that according to their astronomers, the Elder Dragons play an important role in balancing the magic of the world, so if you kill an Elder Dragon, you better replace it. Fortunately, the Empire of the Dragon had just the thing...
  • It's mother-flipping Kuunavang! She's absorbed the magic of the deep sea dragon, and the Empire of the Dragon intend to use her to end the threat of the remaining dragons. And if they find it necessary to convince Kryta to accept their protection by force, they are willing to use Kuunavang in that as well. It's a twist on the formula we've seen so far - an Elder Dragon, under the control (for now) of one of the nations of Tyria, who are meddling with power that they cannot comprehend. It's an inversion of the player's relationship with Aurene and a cautionary tale of what could have been if the player had been a different person.
  • The Canthans are opposed by Dragon's Watch and, of course, by the tengu, who were driven out of one homeland and aren't prepared to have the same thing happen again. They emerge from their isolation to take up arms against the Empire of the Dragon. Are the tengu playable? Well, since this is a wild fantasy, sure, why not?
  • Is the player successful in stopping the Canthans? Well, probably not. Whatever's most interesting. Maybe they get captured - and taken to the heart of the Empire of the Dragon to share what they've learned. Their backup is limited, however - with the magic of the deep sea dragon under their control, the Empire of the Dragon truly rules the waves, and will not allow anything they perceive as a threat to follow.
  • The player arrives in Cantha to find an empire in the throes of a golden age. The state is led by the Emperor, who the people of Cantha revere almost as much as the gods, but with the gods' recent withdrawal there are signs of civil unrest brewing. Leading the government is the Ministry of Purity (who are democratically elected - bad things happening in the world aren't always the fault of a few bad people at the top, although you don't want to get too close to real-world politics), who have harnessed a spirit of nationalistic zeal following the defeat of the deep sea dragon. Evidence of the struggle is everywhere, with the not-too-distant conflict having obviously taken its toll on Kaineng City and its environs. The player might even pick up one or two hints of an impending critical resource shortage. Maybe this is the Canthans' true motivation in vassalising Kryta...
  • The story opens with the Battle of the Dominion of Winds and takes players on a voyage across the Unending Ocean, through the sunken ruins of the Battle Isles, out of the opulent halls of Raisu Palace, through the slums of Kaineng City into the mountains, down into the lush Echovald Forest, where the legacy of the ancient Kurzicks is carved into the very trees, to the shores of the Jade Sea. The secret to stopping the Empire lies deep in the prehistory of the land, dating back to the time of the last dragonrise.
  • The story builds to an epic confrontation between Kuunavang and Tyria's own equivalent - Aurene. But can the world withstand a clash between two Elder Dragons?
  • Ultimately, the Empire of the Dragon's ability to project its power across the world is fundamentally shaken, and in the aftermath it is revealed that Kryta was not the first or only human nation to become an imperial tributary. There is another...and it's time to explore it.

Now let's hear yours!

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Yeah, we're not gonna see Cantha in Season 5. Introducing Cantha is expansion material, not LW material. And I don't think they'd kill off an Elder Dragon off-screen (or make Kuunavang suddenly a villain either but who knows there...).

I'm still holding out for the dual plot of finding replacements for Zhaitan and Mordremoth, and a charr civil war before leading into the next ED plot.

But there's a few hints planted in Dragon Bash that builds up focus for Jormag:

Reveler (female norn): He speaks to us.Son of Svanir: To you? Preposterous!Reveler (female norn): Laugh if you want, but know this: I hear everything he says.Reveler (female norn): You'd do well to listen.

Reveler (female norn): You have no good reason to keep us out.Son of Svanir: Fratricide is something we frown on. Blame Jora.Reveler (female norn): Open your eyes! Before they're opened for you.

Reveler (female): Dragon will rise, and on that day you will see what I'm capable of.Reveler (female): And then you'll answer to me.Son of Svanir: (dismissive grunt)

This stuff implies there's a growing female faction favoring Jormag now.

And there's also the Icebrood Claymore who's in the middle of the Sons of Svanir place, making promotional speeches for following Jormag.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Season 5 deals with or leads into Jormag instead.

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@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:Yeah, we're not gonna see Cantha in Season 5. Introducing Cantha is expansion material, not LW material. And I don't think they'd kill off an Elder Dragon off-screen (or make Kuunavang suddenly a villain either but who knows there...).

I'm still holding out for the dual plot of finding replacements for Zhaitan and Mordremoth, and a charr civil war before leading into the next ED plot.

But there's a few hints planted in Dragon Bash that builds up focus for Jormag:

Reveler (female norn): He speaks to us.Son of Svanir: To you? Preposterous!Reveler (female norn): Laugh if you want, but know this: I hear everything he says.Reveler (female norn): You'd do well to listen.

Reveler (female norn): You have no good reason to keep us out.Son of Svanir: Fratricide is something we frown on. Blame Jora.Reveler (female norn): Open your eyes! Before they're opened for you.

Reveler (female): Dragon will rise, and on that day you will see what I'm capable of.Reveler (female): And then you'll answer to me.Son of Svanir: (dismissive grunt)

This stuff implies there's a growing female faction favoring Jormag now.

And there's also the Icebrood Claymore who's in the middle of the Sons of Svanir place, making promotional speeches for following Jormag.

So I wouldn't be surprised if Season 5 deals with or leads into Jormag instead.

He said baseless! That sounds pretty reasonable to me.

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My baseless hope is to see a conflict not necessarily solved by violence. I'd love to have an option to, IDK, talk our way out of something, or some other non-smash-them-all kind of solution. Probably a very un-MMORPG like, but sometimes it's frustrating that we have to beat someone to get their help (stupid enough as it is) only to have to do the same five minutes later with their friends, because they apparently don't talk to each other or I don't know what's their problem.

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@"Konig Des Todes.2086" said:Yeah, we're not gonna see Cantha in Season 5. Introducing Cantha is expansion material, not LW material. And I don't think they'd kill off an Elder Dragon off-screen (or make Kuunavang suddenly a villain either but who knows there...).

I don't think we'd necessarily be wasting any story if the DSD were killed-off off-screen. There's a few things players are interested in about the DSD:

  • its design, which we could still see - maybe its corpse crushed a district of Kaineng City upon its defeat, or we have to venture inside it for some story reason,
  • how it operates, its minions, etc., and that's something we could see Kuunavang doing instead after absorbing its power,
  • learning more about the krait and the largos, but I think we'll either never get to see that or it'll be decoupled from what will ultimately be the DSD's role in the story because I think it's vanishingly unlikely that we'll get much more underwater content

But we could maybe find a place for the DSD on-screen, as well. Maybe LS5 is the fight against the DSD, and it is unceremoniously killed and the Empire of the Dragon introduced at the end? Personally I think there's more value in having it happen off-screen as a demonstration of the new threat's power and also as a way of emphasising that just because stuff isn't going on in the corner of the world where the player is, doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

I wasn't thinking Kuunavang as a villain as much as an Elder Dragon that is loyal to a nation - a "good" (not mindless/endlessly devouring) Elder Dragon but with allegiances of its own that may differ to the player's. That'd give her a more complex motivation than the Elder Dragons we've seen so far. Maybe she could be won round, and her and Aurene can form the basis of a "good" pantheon of vessels for the Elder Dragons' magic - after all, it can't be good for the balance of The All to have the magic of Zhaitan, Mordremoth, and Kralkatorrik (plus a bit of Primordus and Jormag via Balthazar) concentrated into a single being, let alone the magic of the rest of the dragons.

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I think the story will be focusing on both the Mists and mainly Norn, not really Jormag themed, just a lot of Norn lore.

I have a theory about the actual Norn origins, and I think it was hinted in... the Shattered Observatory.

Viirastra, Skorvald, the Harbinger of Woe - the God-Norn looking and behaving echoes of powerful entities that show the complexity of both the Norn and the Sons of Svanir.

Viirastra - playful personality, cherishing a good fight and fun.Skolvard - need to break free and act, fight till the enemies crash.Harbinger of Woe - the darkness and despair, but also an ominous silence... almost freezing.

The message on him could actually be showing the first home of the Norn that got destroyed, and he wants to restore it.

Tyria was chosen by the Spirits to live. But there was a call from another entity that was calling to some on the Norns offering freedom different than the Spirits and Norn-Gods - Jormag - the Ice Dragon.

I think Season 5 will be all about the known and unknown Mists' secrets.

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@Arden.7480 said:I think the story will be focusing on both the Mists and mainly Norn, not really Jormag themed, just a lot of Norn lore.

I have a theory about the actual Norn origins, and I think it was hinted in... the Shattered Observatory.

Viirastra, Skorvald, the Harbinger of Woe - the God-Norn looking and behaving echoes of powerful entities that show the complexity of both the Norn and the Sons of Svanir.

Viirastra - playful personality, cherishing a good fight and fun.Skolvard - need to break free and act, fight till the enemies crash.Harbinger of Woe - the darkness and despair, but also an ominous silence... almost freezing.

The message on him could actually be showing the first home of the Norn that got destroyed, and he wants to restore it.

Tyria was chosen by the Spirits to live. But there was a call from another entity that was calling to some on the Norns offering freedom different than the Spirits and Norn-Gods - Jormag - the Ice Dragon.

I think Season 5 will be all about the known and unknown Mists' secrets.

One thing I would note is that the Gods have often been shown as being larger than humans as well, including Balthazar and Kormir in person. It's possible that the Mist entities that you're referring to are not related to the norn, but are closer in nature to demigods, or are Mist entities/demons similar to Razah.

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@draxynnic.3719 said:

@Arden.7480 said:I think the story will be focusing on both the Mists and mainly Norn, not really Jormag themed, just a lot of Norn lore.

I have a theory about the actual Norn origins, and I think it was hinted in... the Shattered Observatory.

Viirastra, Skorvald, the Harbinger of Woe - the God-Norn looking and behaving echoes of powerful entities that show the complexity of both the Norn and the Sons of Svanir.

Viirastra - playful personality, cherishing a good fight and fun.Skolvard - need to break free and act, fight till the enemies crash.Harbinger of Woe - the darkness and despair, but also an ominous silence... almost freezing.

The message on him could actually be showing the first home of the Norn that got destroyed, and he wants to restore it.

Tyria was chosen by the Spirits to live. But there was a call from another entity that was calling to some on the Norns offering freedom different than the Spirits and Norn-Gods - Jormag - the Ice Dragon.

I think Season 5 will be all about the known and unknown Mists' secrets.

One thing I would note is that the Gods have often been shown as being larger than humans as well, including Balthazar and Kormir in person. It's possible that the Mist entities that you're referring to are not related to the norn, but are closer in nature to demigods, or are Mist entities/demons similar to Razah.

I think the gods are definitely somehow related to humans, as they look similar and both come from the same world in the Mists (as far as we know).

That could be another direction for the Gods' story to take - they return to Tyria, having found a new homeworld for their chosen free from Elder Dragons, and they want everyone to come with them. I think that'd be a better lead-in for GW3, though.

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@Tamias.7059 said:

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:Yeah, we're not gonna see Cantha in Season 5. Introducing Cantha is expansion material, not LW material. And I don't think they'd kill off an Elder Dragon off-screen (or make Kuunavang suddenly a villain either but who knows there...).

I don't think we'd necessarily be wasting any story if the DSD were killed-off off-screen. There's a few things players are interested in about the DSD:
  • its design, which we could still see - maybe its corpse crushed a district of Kaineng City upon its defeat, or we have to venture inside it for some story reason,
  • how it operates, its minions, etc., and that's something we could see Kuunavang doing instead after absorbing its power,
  • learning more about the krait and the largos, but I think we'll either never get to see that or it'll be decoupled from what will ultimately be the DSD's role in the story because I think it's vanishingly unlikely that we'll get much more underwater content

But we could maybe find a place for the DSD on-screen, as well. Maybe LS5 is the fight against the DSD, and it is unceremoniously killed and the Empire of the Dragon introduced at the end? Personally I think there's more value in having it happen off-screen as a demonstration of the new threat's power and also as a way of emphasising that just because stuff isn't going on in the corner of the world where the player is, doesn't mean that it isn't happening.

I wasn't thinking Kuunavang as a villain as much as an Elder Dragon that is loyal to a nation - a "good" (not mindless/endlessly devouring) Elder Dragon but with allegiances of its own that may differ to the player's. That'd give her a more complex motivation than the Elder Dragons we've seen so far. Maybe she could be won round, and her and Aurene can form the basis of a "good" pantheon of vessels for the Elder Dragons' magic - after all, it can't be good for the balance of The All to have the magic of Zhaitan, Mordremoth, and Kralkatorrik (plus a bit of Primordus and Jormag via Balthazar) concentrated into a single being, let alone the magic of the rest of the dragons.

There is another, simpler angle to it too.

After literally having dealt with the Elder Dragon magic non-sense for 7 years straight, an off-screen dragon death with a far more sinister agenda behind it would be exponentially refreshing. And if that's Canthan imperialism? Hell yes, bring it on! (Everything changed when... you know ;) )

Same goes for the Charr civil war mentioned by @Konig Des Todes.2086.

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Caithe and her blossoms organize a rebuilding effort, employing Tyrians of all races and trades. This is used to introduce player housing.

Aurene releases her white paper on the flow of magic. Using the analogy of Tyrian magic as real world finance: Elder dragons are the equivalent of "too big to fail", corruptible banks. Her white paper proposes an alternative where the flow of magic is maintained on a public ledger, all Tyrians would play a part in maintaining the flow of magic and the integrity of the All.

Jormag and Primordius are on board with her proposal but the DSD says nope and tries to drown the world. The DSD rises from the depths lowering sea level and exposing new land. The Commander, Jormag and Primordius stand shoulder to wing and face the DSD on a soggy battlefield.

A cape glider skin is released because....wait I forgot this can be baseless.

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I would really hope for an expansion, that while it continues the story of the world, is similar to GW1 expansions. By that I mean, its a new starting area. Cantha since its been closed off for so long. Human, Asura, maybe one or two new starting races that can only be started from the area. Majority of the same professions, with one or two new ones. To be a Ritualist again, that would be fun! (I was hoping Dervish would have come back with PoF). Then start from the beginning, build up a new character with a new story that ties into the continuation of the world!

Races:HumanAsuraTenguLargosRakshasa (a regional variant of Charr)

Professions:MesmerRitualistGuardianMonk (makes a return!)ElementalistWarrior (or some such variant)NecromancerAssassin

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I wanna see a battle between two elder dragons that will end Tyria as a whole if we don't stop it.

Or maybe the whole gw2 universe, I dunno. The energy from two of them would most likely seep out to the other dimensions and destroy them as well.

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I personally expect that S5 will be like S3 was, and involve us hoping around various parts of Tyria, and maybe some of the remaining parts of Elona, to put out various "fires" that have sprung up in the aftermath of Kralatorik's defeat. That way, when we go to Cantha or wherever for the next expansion, Tyria/Elona will be in a calm enough state that a long time expedition to some far away place makes sense.

Personally, I hope for Cantha/Bubbles for the next expansion, but I would also be fine with Primordus/The Depths for the next expansion either. I really don't care about Jormag, the Norn, or the Far Shiverpeaks, so that's bottom of my list.

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Space. We're gonna go to space. The final cutscene of War Eternal clearly showed a starry sky at one point while Aurene was flying around, so that's all the foundation I need to take a silly idea and run with it. Besides, how else are we going to fight Ridley, the previously unmentioned Elder Dragon of Space, if we don't go to space and kick his butt? For the umpteenth time, because he has this problem with actually staying dead...

We should go to space.

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I adore the baseless notion that our next Elder Dragon fight will be with Bubbles, but rather than going to Cantha, (It was my favorite part of Guild Wars 1, but I don't feel like now is the right time, especially considering the Human-centric streak we've been on.) we'll be going to whatever homebase/city the Largos have. I dream of sprawling cities at the bottom reaches of the ocean, kept air tight by large air pockets created through tech/magic the Largos use. (They don't seem like they can breathe water, since they wear their masks at all times, including underwater.) Luminous cities that are threatening to be flooded by the force of the Deep Sea Dragon's expansion across the seas. They already lost their cities to the south, and now, much to the dismay of many of them due to their honor-based culture, the Elites in their society have elected to enlist the help of the Pact (and by extent the Commander, who is perhaps contacted specifically by one of the Largos who has seen them in action. I.e. Sayeh.) in order to not have their honor tarnished by another massive loss. I don't know for sure whether this would be presented through an Expac or a Season, but I imagine as time goes on Current Events start popping up across the world of Tyria, starting in the south and moving north as people talk about ships disappearing like they did back in the days after Zhaitan rose, and how the bodies of water seem to be straight up possessed. We're airdropped from an airship and guided down through various underwater zones to the city, where we start to consult, plan, and learn more about the Largos, until the bubble bursts (quite literally), and we're met with our first confrontation with the unspeakable nightmare that is the Deep Sea Dragon.

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My prediction for the next season is that it will focus on the 5 races once again. Ever since the threat of the elder dragons, we have been working on a common goal and the commander has grown beyond his own race and faction as a fighter for the entire world. This means he/she can be envolved with all faccets of the races. There are many bits and pieces left. So I predict 5 sidestories ultimately comming together.

Human: The rise of the white mantle has caused a new civil war.. with Lazarus and Balthazar gone, the balance has shifted again, but the shining blade and the Queen are activly working on resolving the conflict with the white mantle once and for all.Norn: There are several factions forming. some wants to move back north totheir old homesteads. Some want to stay where they are. Some want to worship the dragon and others oppose it. the assasination of Knut Whitebeard brings this back in a political battle over the leadership of the norn while struggling to keep the community together.Charr: The cement of the Charr has been war and conflict for a long time. Now the final threat is over the search is for a new enemy. They just can not be without conflict as peace would overthrow the charr society. However, the newly found Olmakhan shows more and more Charr that there is a different way of life. One of peace and without constant conflict. This leads to tensions and internal conflicts.Asura: Now primordus is back asleep many want to return to their old dwellings in the depths of Tyria. Others want to remain at home.Silvari: the secret is out. They are dragon minions. The tree lied to them and they struggle to find their new focus. In the past society was devided by first born and second born, but now it s more between those who answered to Mordremoths call and those who did not. The guidance of the pale tree and ventari's tablet is openly questioned as part of this.

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I want to know more about the gods, like what are their origins. I hope that it turns out the gods are like constructs similar to the exalted, except on a grander scale. Also with the mists in shambles I want them to reveal a higher power. Something beyond both the gods and the dragons. Perhaps this higher power is the one/s that created the gods, and maybe even the dragons, possibly "mother".

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I really like your ideas, OP! An interesting inversion of our story, though I’d be disappointed we would never get to deep dive into the DSD.

My baseless hope is that we find Malyck again and his tree! And other isolated pockets of Sylvari, an aquatic subrace in particular! Sylvari mermaids! Heck yeah...

Zojja reappears to help us lol. I don’t care how or why at this point.

We revisit some old maps with new story content. Honestly I don’t see why the maps would have to change to accommodate a new story, necessarily.

The Tengu contact DW and we get ushered into the Domionion of Winds! Perhaps to deal with some kind of dragon corruption that’s been leaking into their territory that they can’t control anymore.

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