New Orr? (Spoilers)

[SoulGuardian.6203]

Now that it has been a long time since Zhaitan is death; isn't it time that all the undead are finally gone and Orr begins to create life again?

Since Lion's Arch has been modified after Scarlet's War, why not Orr?

Zhaitan is influence is gone now.Just saying.

[Gryphon.2875]

New toons and/or new players.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

I know, but they could have a separate version of the maps.For those who completed it could get a new version.If that's possible.

[Aaralyna.3104]

I am fine with how it currently looks... Memories as well... So I rather they not change it.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

It could be done like pre searing and post searing ascalon.So you could remain in it, as long as you don't kill zaitan.

Just an idea.Not to be taken to seriously.

[Digger.8659]

They can't change maps as they are "time locked". The only map you can see the undead with out being led by Zhaitan is Siren's Landing.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

@"SoulGuardian.6203" said:I know, but they could have a separate version of the maps.For those who completed it could get a new version.If that's possible.

That would even further split the playerbase, in a way that players can't even fully controll.Example: I wanna help my buddy through Orr but I've finished the story on all three characters I actually feel like playing - now I have to choose between playing with my friend and playing the character I want. Acceptable choice for raiding or organised PvP/WvW - not really acceptable for just futzing around in open world!Or even worse: imagine I have the base 5 character slots and have killed Zhaitan with all 5 - then I can't access Risen-infested Orr.

We've gotten Siren's Landing as a "progress report" of how Orr recuperates post-Zhaitan. I would gladly see another map, later, with more progress. Maybe in whatever LW story comes after Icebrood Saga (whether there's an expansion between or not).

[SoulGuardian.6203]

You'd have to buy more character slotsGood for ANet, right?Come on, we all have to do our part in supporting our Dev team, right?

Ok, what about you get a portal device that allows you to travel back in time to zombie infested Orr?

Alright, Maybe I'm being a little silly.I just feel like, as we progress further in time, the Dragons influence and destruction should vanish, giving room to new enemies and threats.

I understand that new players need to play that version of the map, obviously, but wasn't GW2 initially intended to do just that?I mean, changing as we go along... !?

[ancientoak.4258]

I like Orr for what i know it since gw 1. A grimly area where the dead (or undead/risen) roam. There are already more than enough prospering/living regions. Still hoping for an expansion of the underworld, with openworld maps and instanced group/story content B)

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

Why just Zhaitan and Orr? Your argument could apply to all maps. If you’ve completed Hot then a new set of post Mordremoth maps appear where his influence is gone. If you’ve defeated Balthazar then a new set of PoF maps appear, and the same when at the end of this set of Living Story.

What you suggest would split the player base and make the devs go back to old zones to either create new story lines or zones without a story line. All of this would have an impact on the game, how many people you can play with and how much time and resources the devs have to move the game forward. It’s best that people accept the premise of the game where each map is locked in time and if you want to go forward in time you have to follow the story.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

Alright.Well, I guess you guys have very good points there.Can't really argue with that.

I suppose I'll never get to see green bushy Orr.Nevermind.

[Danikat.8537]

Have you played Siren's Landing at all? That gives us some in-universe reasons we're not likely to see a regrown Orr in this game. The Pact are working on it but it's a slow process. The Risen didn't just vanish or drop down dead(er) when Zhaitan was killed. They lost their drive and purpose but that just made them like regular zombies, they shuffle around attacking anything living which comes within range and there's a lot of them so clearing them out is going to take a while.

Then there's the corruption to the land itself (not to mention the impact of a couple of hundred years under the sea and the sudden and forceful rise to the surface). Traherne started the process of cleansing the land and that is happening but I think most of it doesn't even have soil, or at least not soil anything can easily grow in. The Pact are shipping in plants and stuff will start to spread down from the Straits of Devestation, but it will take a very long time (probaby decades at least) for the whole area to be restored.

Even then it will never go back to what it was. The people, their culture, most of their history is gone and potentially a lot of native creatures too. (I don't think there are any living gorrillas any more, and some people have speculated that the only horses in Tyria were in Orr, because of GW1's necrid horsemen.) All of that isn't going to come back, no matter how long we wait or how much the Pact ship in from elsewhere.

I realise it's probably just to save them having to sort out what to do with the maps, and because the story went in more exciting directions, but I like that they're acknowledging that something like this would be a very slow, difficult process, even with people actively working on it. (Also it finally gave me an answer to that question of "if you lived in Tyria what would you do?")

[Westenev.5289]

Beating zhaitan is probably like beating climate change. Even if we solve the root of the problem, we won't see any notable improvements in our lifetime.

Have you played ls3 ep6, by chance? I think that might be what you're looking for.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

Thank you @Danikat.8537I always welcome you to answer my posts.You're the nicest, most elaborate person in here, and always take your time to reply with clear and straight to the point answers without mocking anybody or single them out for ridicule.You're a very respectful person and I really appreciate that.For that, I thank you.

[Zaklex.6308]

@SoulGuardian.6203 said:I know, but they could have a separate version of the maps.For those who completed it could get a new version.If that's possible.

ArenaNet has gone on record that they would never do phasing of maps, which is what you're basically proposing, that's the main reason we would never see it. The in-game reasoning would be what Danikat stated.

[SoulGuardian.6203]

@Zaklex.6308 said:

@SoulGuardian.6203 said:I know, but they could have a separate version of the maps.For those who completed it could get a new version.If that's possible.

ArenaNet has gone on record that they would never do phasing of maps, which is what you're basically proposing, that's the main reason we would never see it. The in-game reasoning would be what Danikat stated.

Yep. I understand.Being a mapper myself, it isn't hard to replace terrain textures, or static meshes.Skyboxes take some adjustment, but not rocket science.Maybe change a blocking volume here and there. Portal zoning probably wouldn't need touching.Provably the main difficulty would be to remove or replace triggers, and gosh... them scripted triggers can sometimes be a pain.

But all this, as it is, just for story sake, will then obviously remain so.

Besides, A Net no longer has the staff to make any major changes, and need to stick solely to new content.

Also, in response to Danikat, yep I often play around Siren's Landing too.Actually I've been recently farming for pearls with my mesmer.

[Zaklex.6308]

@SoulGuardian.6203 said:

@Zaklex.6308 said:

@SoulGuardian.6203 said:I know, but they could have a separate version of the maps.For those who completed it could get a new version.If that's possible.

ArenaNet has gone on record that they would never do phasing of maps, which is what you're basically proposing, that's the main reason we would never see it. The in-game reasoning would be what Danikat stated.

Yep. I understand.Being a mapper myself, it isn't hard to replace terrain textures, or static meshes.Skyboxes take some adjustment, but not rocket science.Maybe change a blocking volume here and there. Portal zoning probably wouldn't need touching.Provably the main difficulty would be to remove or replace triggers, and gosh... them scripted triggers can sometimes be a pain.

But all this, as it is, just for story sake, will then obviously remain so.

Besides, A Net no longer has the staff to make any major changes, and need to stick solely to new content.

Also, in response to Danikat, yep I often play around Siren's Landing too.Actually I've been recently farming for pearls with my mesmer.

I like the way ESO does it, the map itself doesn't really change, and as far as I know this only applies to certain events, if you come across a place that has an event attached and your character hasn't done it yet, you see it in it's pre-event format, once your character does the event then the location changes to it's post event appearance, but you can still redo the event, it just never looks like it did before to that particular character.

[AgentMoore.9453]

In addition to Siren's Landing, part of core Orr itself actually did change to reflect the events of the story. While the maps will never be zombie-free for the reasons stated above, mob groups in several parts of the region have been replaced with Elementals and other non-corpse mobs to reflect the shift of magical influence in the area. It was a pleasant little surprise that acknowledged events without completely removing the Orr experience for new players.

[Swagger.1459]

@"SoulGuardian.6203" said:Now that it has been a long time since Zhaitan is death; isn't it time that all the undead are finally gone and Orr begins to create life again?

Since Lion's Arch has been modified after Scarlet's War, why not Orr?

Zhaitan is influence is gone now.Just saying.

It's old to you, but it's new to someone else. There is also the core story attachment, and dungeon, tied to the zone.

The scarlet "living" story arcs were different.

[voltaicbore.8012]

All the important parts have been covered already, and don't worry, OP - I, too, really liked the idea that sometimes the game world permanently changes to reflect game history (the toppled tower in Kessex Hills, the 'new' Lion's Arch, etc.). I don't play a lot of mmos, but I haven't heard of a single other one that had the courage to level its entire hub city, rebuild it to a lower standard, then have npcs stand around and complain about missing the old version of the city lol.

From a lore standpoint, I decided to fully accept the "locked in time" aspect of maps after I heard the in-game explanation for Zhaitan (or maybe it was Mordremoth) being gone didn't erase the minions or their hostility, but just got rid of their central direction.

On a more practical note, I think it would just take way too much work to redo all the missions and dialogue for the post-dragon and post-Balthazar version of the maps. I guess they could cop out and simply replace ever mention of "Risen" with one generic type of enemy across the entire map, but that would be far, far below what I consider Anet's standards for maps.

[Tzarakiel.7490]

They have the tech to show players in the same map different things so they could do some cosmetic changes like replacing textures or adding grass for people that defeated Zhaitan.

[Super Hayes.6890]

It would be cool for a rebuilt Orr with a multi-racial population to be the starting point for all players in GW3 if that game gets made. Outside of that I see the current versions of Orr being as far as we go in GW2. It would be cool to see a restored version though.

[Funky.4861]

If a multi-racial Orr is the starting-point of GW3, then it means the rest of tyria is an uninhabitable mess, or that all the racial antagonists are dead (or have won) and everyone is on drugs/living in a brainwashed state. Orr was destroyed and its corpse corrupted; let it rest, and let the land recover. The idea of the Pact playing god with it's grandiose ideas of 'restoration' and 'repopulation' "...won't end well.' if they think they can just recreate entire ecosystems and civilisation.

[Zet.9130]

Or whenever you enter a map that has had revisions there would be a choice selection. Similar to Normal/Hard mode map selection in GW1. That said Anet would need to produce a totally new map and I don't see that happening.

[Aeolus.3615]

@SoulGuardian.6203 said:It could be done like pre searing and post searing ascalon.So you could remain in it, as long as you don't kill zaitan.

Just an idea.Not to be taken to seriously

That would be interesting but that would kill the pve ktrain game was designed for.