How about an expansion with time travel?

[andreiblue.8231]

Mesmers have been shown to have time altering powers with Time Warp and chronomancer specialisation. Maybe the only thing stopping them is not having enough power, so what if they have a big enough source of power like Xera's bloodstones? 

[Danikat.8537]

How something could be done is almost never a barrier in fiction, especially fantasy. Even if it's not been shown before it's not difficult to come up with some type of magic or technology or divine intervention or whatever to enable new things to happen, including time travel.

The far more important question is: why?

What does it add to the gameplay and narrative? What fun things would it allow players to do? What new stories could be told in this new time period, or across time? For that matter what time period? Past or future? How far from present time? If it's the future is it The Future or one possible future? Are we even sure it's our future and not some alternate timeline?

I think you're right that a mesmer (or group of mesmers) with enough time and power could connect time periods or send people between them. Or someone (asuran/Xunlai collaboration maybe?) could invent a new type of asura gate which connects times instead of places. Or the Wizards could show us how time moves differently in the Mists and we can use it to move forwards or backwards in Tyria's time. Or someone could come from the future with a time travel device that hasn't yet been invented. (Actually that one has already been done.)

But for Anet to do it, especially to build a whole expansion around it, the ability to time travel needs to open up fun new gameplay options and interesting storylines. I can't remember which article it was in but apparently that's why it took us so long to get into the Wizard's Tower; Anet have known for years what was going on in there and different teams pitched using it as a setting for a dungeon or Fractal or a raid or whatever but nothing seemed like a good use for the lore, or at least not better than other options, until they come up with other parts of SotO and realised the Wizard's Tower would be a good way to fit it all together and move the overall story forward.

[Dayra.7405]

Fractals and SorO 1st map are partially a kind of time travel aren’t they?

Edited April 7 by Dayra.7405

[Teknomancer.4895]

Time tinkering is nothing new. The Bonus Mission Pack did something similar in GW1, with missions going in both prequel and sequel directions from the regular in-game timeline. The entirety of GW1's pre-Searing Ascalon itself exists outside the main timeline, too.

However in GW2, I think Fractals are intended to serve the "interesting scenario that's not developed enough for a full xpack" purpose (like Urban Battleground, etc). I doubt they would do something like that for the main storyline/OW when they already have a framework for exploring all sorts of quick one-off (group-oriented) scenarios via Fractals.

[Pifil.5193]

38 minutes ago, Dayra.7405 said:

Fractals and SorO 1st map are partially a kind of time travel aren’t they?

Yeah, Fractals give us the chance to time travel without the whole "what if I travel back in time and killed Bonfaaz Burntfur?" kind of temporal anomalies. Similarly the Scrying Pool in the Eye of the North allows us to "see" the past.

[Poormany.4507]

If they go back to cancelled Utopia ideas for future expacs, we still haven't seen anything like The Hub of Time in GW2, which may involve some kind of time travel/alternate timelines. Could be tied in with the likely Gods/Mists expac they've been teasing for so long.

Edited April 7 by Poormany.4507

[Danikat.8537]

2 hours ago, Teknomancer.4895 said:

Time tinkering is nothing new. The Bonus Mission Pack did something similar in GW1, with missions going in both prequel and sequel directions from the regular in-game timeline. The entirety of GW1's pre-Searing Ascalon itself exists outside the main timeline, too.

However in GW2, I think Fractals are intended to serve the "interesting scenario that's not developed enough for a full xpack" purpose (like Urban Battleground, etc). I doubt they would do something like that for the main storyline/OW when they already have a framework for exploring all sorts of quick one-off (group-oriented) scenarios via Fractals.

Pre-Searing to the main game is just a time skip. It's only frozen in time from the players perspective, in-game the idea is everything you do there happens in 1 day, then the Searing hits, then the story jumps ahead 2 years, but your character still lived through that time, you just don't see what they get up to.

I think you're right about Fractals being resticted to one-off stories. Skywatch Archipelago is also made up of Fractals and that's functionally an open-world map, but I doubt we're going to get more than that. I don't think there could be an entire storyline set in Fractals because the whole point is sooner or later they always reset so nothing you do there is permanent.

[Your Highness.9023]

I wish I could go back in time and get my runes back

[KindredPhoenyx.8976]

I get whiplash from warlords of draenor (WoW's expansion in 2014) any time someone mentions time travel. It's a concept that is rarely done right and is a risk to fall under scrutiny.

Fractals definitely explore the past and the what ifs but I don't think I'd want to see an expansion where it might impact the current timeline.

Edited April 8 by KindredPhoenyx.8976

[Morvran.8265]

I don't want these writers touching the past. They did enough damage even without time travel.

Edited April 8 by Morvran.8265

[andreiblue.8231]

19 hours ago, Dayra.7405 said:

Fractals and SorO 1st map are partially a kind of time travel aren’t they?

No.

[Westenev.5289]

Maybe we could travel back in time and experience the guild wars.

[mercury ranique.2170]

time travel for the sake of time travel should be prohibited. I would like to see some philosophical issues with time travel been shown, but rather in a side story and not a main story. An example would be the bootstrap paradox (google it).

Actually the "google it" part is a joke from doctor who. I'm happy to share the explanation the doctor gives;

 

Quote

So there's this man, he has a time machine. Up and down history he goes, zip, zip, zip, zip, zip, getting into scrapes. Another thing he has is a a passion for the works of Ludwig van Beethoven. And one day he thinks, 'What's the point of having a time machine if you don't get to meet your heroes?' So off he goes to 18th century Germany, but he can't find Beethoven anywhere. No one's heard of him. Not even his family have any idea who the time traveller is talking about. Beethoven literally... doesn't exist. This didn't happen by the way. I've met Beethoven. Nice chap, very intense. Loved an arm wrestle. No, this is called the 'bootstrap paradox'. Google it. The time traveller panics. He can't bear the thought of a world without the music of Beethoven. Luckily he brought all of his Beethoven sheet music for Ludwig to sign. So he copies out all the concertos and the symphonies, and he gets them published. He becomes Beethoven. And history continues with barely a feather ruffled. But my question is this - who put those notes and phrases together? Who really composed Beethoven's 5th?

 

[Tiamat.8254]

Only so I get to be with Traherne and Eir again. Oh wait... I can just replay personal story...

[Gehenna.3625]

Well, it could be a nice idea to be able to go back to the times of the original Guild Wars in a limited way. Visit some of the locations that are made anew but from that time period and be able to collect skins from that time as well and perhaps have competitive modes from back then like, I dunno, Jade Quarry and GvG maps?  I think it will never happen but still, it could be fun imo.

[Fueki.4753]

1 hour ago, Gehenna.3625 said:

Well, it could be a nice idea to be able to go back to the times of the original Guild Wars in a limited way.

I'd rather not have the current writers touch the original Guild Wars.

They should do their own things, while piggy-backing as little as possible on nostalgia of what came before.

[Gehenna.3625]

14 hours ago, Fueki.4753 said:

I'd rather not have the current writers touch the original Guild Wars.

They should do their own things, while piggy-backing as little as possible on nostalgia of what came before.

You have a point there, though I might not have the same exact reasoning of why I may not want the current writers to touch the original GW.

[Albadaran.1283]

The only way I can think of that should really work and give us some fun: Make it a part of a coming story where you will go back in time in an instance. It has been done before, and its just a way to show the past for understanding the presence. But it could be used to play for a short while in old scenes, than return to the presence to show evidence or whatever and continue the storyline.

[Raskol.3014]

Please no. That's what made me drop wow (and it was a good decision anyway)

Retcon writers and defenders of this atrocity should be imprisoned for life!

[DarcShriek.5829]

Please no.

[kharmin.7683]

I'd prefer new content to re-hashing old/existing content via some time-travel mechanic.

[Danikat.8537]

I find it interesting that so many people assume time travel has to mean going back to 1070 - 1080 AE to repeat the events of GW1. Tyria has a long history, and we can reasonably assume we're not at the end of it yet, so there's a lot of times and places we could visit besides that one decade.

Again I'm not saying it should happen, I still stand by what I said in my first post; that time travel as a storytelling mechanic is only as good or bad as the stories it's used for. Personally I think 'doing what we've already done all over again' is the least interesting use for time travel in this game. GW1 is still online and playable, if anyone wants to re-live (or experience for the first time) that time period they already can, we don't need to rehash it in GW2.

If a time travel storyline did take us into the past I'd rather visit one of the time periods we know very little (or nothing) about. Although if it's earlier than 1302 we'd need some way to disguise sylvari and there's similar problems with other playable races in different times and places. If we go into the future then it's all open, almost anything could happen.

I'd really like a game set during the last dragonrise, around 10,000 BE. I think that would work better as a seperate game though, one where we can play as a mursaat, jotun, forgotten, dwarf or seer and the story diverges as it goes along (as opposed to GW2's story where all the races stories come together) as the different races get more isolated and focused on their own plan to fight the dragons. It would end pretty badly of course, but games don't have to have a happy ending.

[Sobx.1758]

Lazy idea settling for a regurgitated content in place of a new one. No, thanks.

[Noidea Incognito.9607]

I thought about the concept of timetravel in a gw2 expansion and...  it could work.

One idea is;

After the Soto Arc, the commander faces off against an familiar, yet mysterious entity.

"Who are you!?? Why do you look like.... me??"

"There is no time for that...  Before she  really finds you... it would be best of you left the stage... Sleep and bide your time."

The Commander is send into a statis prison, frozen in time, obscured from current world events.

Time passess and after many eon's; the Statis prison breaks, time moves again for the commander... Reawakens in abandoned ruins.

But Tyria...  has changed for the worst. A dark Hostile Technological world risen from Tyria's ashes, ruled by an Empire a, oppressed citizens losing hope each day.

The excistence of the Commander... a legend of the old era, an anomaly,  a threat... capable of defeating the Empire.... Hope rekindled.

A deceitfull world ruled by the Empire, a handfull of Allies, and many many many many many enemies.

The Fatefull Reunion with the Prismatic one from the future, now bound to the Empire. "Finally... i have found you... and this time... you shall not escape my grasp... Champion"

 

stuff like that.

[Randulf.7614]

But, who will be our "Companion"??