I cannot quite understand the Infinity Ball "visions".

[Michram.6853]

I just completed the one of most amazing steps of the story I've played.

Infinity Ball quests are super amazing, and I learned about it just now, because I haven't touched Asura story till now. This was very fascinating and scary.

The first portal that the Infinity Ball created showed the Steam Machines, and I was like: but Scarlet created them wth

If it really does show future, so the 2nd portal, from which the destroyers started pouring in, will we have a huge Primordus' attack?

The steams didn't seem scary by then, but when Scarlet attacked the whole Tyria, we could see the huge attack of them.

Primordus hasn't prepared any impressive attack on Tyria since Personal Story yet.

Also the last quest with Zojja angry as h*ll, we saw two persons coming from the portal: Shodd with an admiral title, and I guess the Asura that I don't know- shows Asura PC? or PC overall?

This Mysterious Stranger (that's how it's called) says something weird: "It's time we took the field, Grand Vice Admiral Shodd. Just like the battle for Divinity's Reach!" (The attack from "Head of the Snake"???)

What's the Conclave Shodd refers to?

That's all seem very weird, and is there any good explanation about the weird mess around the Infinity Ball?

[Randulf.7614]

Isnt the infinity ball poducing possible future events? Since the future fluctuates, it does not a tually tell what will happen, but what could happen

[Kitty.6219]

What if it is a future where the character made an alliance with Scarlet instead of trying to stop her??

[Michram.6853]

@Randulf.7614 said:Isnt the infinity ball poducing possible future events? Since the future fluctuates, it does not a tually tell what will happen, but what could happen

yeah, but it showed the Scarlet's minions even before they were created, so I don't know...

[Randulf.7614]

@Arden.7480 said:

@Randulf.7614 said:Isnt the infinity ball poducing possible future events? Since the future fluctuates, it does not a tually tell what will happen, but what could happen

yeah, but it showed the Scarlet's minions even before they were created, so I don't know...

But in a possible future, so that would be correct

[Narcemus.1348]

I personally haven't played the story, but when the game came out there was a lot of speculation about it. To my knowledge, the story revolves around a future where your PC turns evil and conquers the world. The evil PC claims to have created the steam creatures, though this could just be a situation where you backstabbed Scarlet and stole them from her. The reference to the Battle of Divinity's Reach is likely a nod to one of the early game betas when as a finale event a group of inquest attacked Divinity's Reach and players had to try to defeat them.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@Arden.7480 said:The first portal that the Infinity Ball created showed the Steam Machines, and I was like: but Scarlet created them wth

One of the many inconsistencies created by Seasons 1 and 2.

@Arden.7480 said:If it really does show future, so the 2nd portal, from which the destroyers started pouring in, will we have a huge Primordus' attack?

Possible future. So here @Randulf.7614 would be right.

The presence of destroyers doesn't imply a full scale invasion though, as the portal could open up in a destroyer hive pretty easily. Miniature destroyers could also be hinting at Primordus being alive but weakened...

@Arden.7480 said:Also the last quest with Zojja angry as h*ll, we saw two persons coming from the portal: Shodd with an admiral title, and I guess the Asura that I don't know- shows Asura PC? or PC overall?

This Mysterious Stranger (that's how it's called) says something weird: "It's time we took the field, Grand Vice Admiral Shodd. Just like the battle for Divinity's Reach!" (The attack from "Head of the Snake"???)

What's the Conclave Shodd refers to?

Possible future where the PC goes evil. The Conclave is a non-existent group that evil Shodd and evil PC created to conquer Tyria.

As opposed to helping form the Pact, I suppose.

@Randulf.7614 said:

@Arden.7480 said:

@Randulf.7614 said:Isnt the infinity ball poducing possible future events? Since the future fluctuates, it does not a tually tell what will happen, but what could happen

yeah, but it showed the Scarlet's minions even before they were created, so I don't know...

But in a possible future, so that would be correct

No, it wouldn't. Scarlet created the Steam creatures in 1320 AE. The Personal Story happens in 1325 AE, where our future self tells us "they haven't even been invented yet". It's a retcon where our future selves are made into blatant liars because Mary Scuelet Briar was a pet favorite of the writers.

@"Narcemus.1348" said:The evil PC claims to have created the steam creatures, though this could just be a situation where you backstabbed Scarlet and stole them from her.

It's more than the PC claiming to have created the steam creatures. It's the PC claiming the steam creatures don't exist, but they've existed since 1320 according to this instance in Season 2. And apparently have been invading not only Lornar's Pass from Scarlet's labs, but Brisban Wildlands. The only steam creatures seen in Brisban come from Thaumanova's explosion (which is teleporting random creatures from across Tyria including the Shiverpeaks) and from the Infinity Ball.

Ceara: Today I am sixteen cycles old, and to celebrate, I've been testing my first steam portal with steam minotaurs. The last batch actually made it in one piece.

Scarlet Briar: I've used a portal to send most of my steam creature prototypes into Lornar's Pass and Brisban Wildlands. I no longer need them.

The writers dropped by ball infinitely on this one, and haven't bothered fixing it by removing the two lines (or hell, even the last one alone would be a major improvement).

Of course, there are other inconsistencies created by that instance:

Dear diary. Writing longhand is for the birds. I've discovered a device of asuran origin that will allow me to record my journal from this point forward.

Ceara: Holomagic is amazing. I'll use it to record my life, my failures, and my successes. Scholars of the future will study them. Are you out there, scholars? (laugh)

But yet: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Scarlet_Briar%27s_Journal

Yeah.

[zerorogue.9410]

I think what it is, is that you are connecting to an alternate timeline where you joined the inquest rather than Zojja. Before the events of the core story and in your early life. In this alternate reality you created the steam creatures, conquered Tyria and Ceara probably never become scarlet.

[Mickey Frogeater.1470]

@zerorogue.9410 said:I think what it is, is that you are connecting to an alternate timeline where you joined the inquest rather than Zojja. Before the events of the core story and in your early life. In this alternate reality you created the steam creatures, conquered Tyria and Ceara probably never become scarlet.

Ceara might not have only never become Scarlet but did not become her due to the simple reason that the evil player used her as a lab rat before Omadd did. Evil Player could simply reach into Ceara's brain and steal the blueprints from her skull then kill her the moment her imagination stopped being useful(of course her imagination might have not stopped being useful and the Evil Player may have her strapped to a table somewhere before we killed him).

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

@"zerorogue.9410" said:I think what it is, is that you are connecting to an alternate timeline where you joined the inquest rather than Zojja. Before the events of the core story and in your early life. In this alternate reality you created the steam creatures, conquered Tyria and Ceara probably never become scarlet.

Shodd has no connection to the Inquest, nor are there any hints of such.

But it's not an alternate reality. It's made pretty clear by both story and devs about that. This is a "possible future", much like A Light in the Darkness story step where we witness a possible future of the Pact's invasion of Cursed Shore (one that bears similarities, but also stark contrasts from, what actually happens).

Because this is a possible future and not an "alternate reality", that means that what has happened by 1325 AE in our world, is what's happened by 1325 in the possible future. Only events not yet transpired in Tyria are the things that may-or-may-not differentiate.

Which means since the steam creatures existed since 1320 and began invading Lornar's shortly before the PS in Actual Tyria, they existed since 1320 and began invading Lornar's shortly before the PS in Possible Future Tyria too.

Originally, the Lornar's Pass invasion worked with the Infinity Ball storyline well enough because the origin of the steam creatures was unclear, they came from proverbially nowhere, with odd metals and odder runes. They were completely alien to all knowledge of the Durmand Priory. So it would make sense they came from the future.

Now, however, it's become established that the Priory were just dumbasses who couldn't recognize refined dredge ore (despite dealing with it on a regular basis), and couldn't recognize asuran alchemical symbols despite asura making up approximately 1/5th of the Priory...

[Michram.6853]

But "The Battle for Divinity's Reach"... The only battle I know is the one from the Season 3... So weird.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

That's not the same battle at all. In fact, the name given to that is "The Siege of Lake Doric". Not battle, but siege. And of Lake Doric, not DR.

And the dialogue from Infinity Ball implies that the fighting was in the city, rather than at the gates. Aside from the initial assault which was short-lived, the White Mantle never breached into DR. So it was not so much a "battle for" or "battle of" DR, but of Lake Doric.

[zerorogue.9410]

Realistically we can't be putting too much logic into a magic ball that predicts the future. The ball seems to do prediction not precognition, as such what it shows would only be simulated. This means that what we see can either be not real(holograms or something similar) or not of the ball.

As for the steam creatures, It's a matter of how they came to be. In this alternate reality the player character made them. While in our own Scarlet did. Being that they are so similar is more possible that both characters simply found designs or destroyed steam creatures and simply claimed them as their own.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

Well in regards to what the ball produces during the PS. We were told in a dev interview that it was opening actual portals and pulling from the Mists (which are known to connect all times and places); effectively it was creating and pulling from fractals of the future.

@zerorogue.9410 said:As for the steam creatures, It's a matter of how they came to be. In this alternate reality the player character made them. While in our own Scarlet did.

Except that it is NOT an alternate reality. It is a possible (and ultimately alternate) future.

It takes from the splitting timeline theory of time travel. You begin with a singular line - one line - which splits off into two the moment the future influences the past. The same timeline theory that the Terminator movies use. Though that's time travel and this is not, the same principles apply due to the future influencing the past.

In effect, everything that happens prior to Split Second occurs in both timelines. Split Second is the divergence point, where one timeline becomes two timelines.

[zerorogue.9410]

@Konig Des Todes.2086 said:It takes from the splitting timeline theory of time travel. You begin with a singular line - one line - which splits off into two the moment the future influences the past. The same timeline theory that the Terminator movies use. Though that's time travel and this is not, the same principles apply due to the future influencing the past.

What comes out is not from Tyria, but from the mists. Similar to any fractal what comes out is nothing but a copy that has no place on the timeline. Just like in a fractal, nothing you do has any effect on the future. And just like a fractal the copy is degraded so what you see is not exactly what happens(hence why the infinity ball never worked). It looks like reality, but it isn't, it's a copy. Hence Alternate reality.