The environment of Kryta

[Gorgaan Peaudesang.8324]

Hello there.

 

First of all, I wanted to praise the people in charge of the maps and environmental art. It's phenomenal, and this is partly why I cherish the series so much.

 

I'm interested to know why Kryta went from a fully tropical climate in GW to a mix between tropical (mostly Lion's Arch and southern Kryta) and temperate (northern Kryta) in GW2. What motivated this change?

 

I must say that I feel a bit nostalgic about the beautiful white-sand beaches and the crystal-clear blue saltwater.


 

 

 

[Nokomis.5076]

I would say.... humans.

 

Real world humans change environment drastically, so humans with magic in Tyria surely can do worse!

[Gaile Gray.6029]

Could the rising of Orr have impacted the climate and moved/removed the temperate regions? I mean, an entire continent rising has to do major damage, eh?

[Nokomis.5076]

> @"Gaile Gray.6029" said:

> Could the rising of Orr have impacted the climate and moved/removed the temperate regions? I mean, an entire continent rising has to do major damage, eh?

 

Also caused by a human :D

[MatthewMedina.5419]

Not to mention the dragons becoming active. That's certainly no small factor in the planet's overall ecosystem. Having said that, there's also a more practical answer which is that we had a much bigger team developing GW2, and so we had more chances to render a more diverse and distinct library of environments and as artists, we were always looking at ways to improve upon the things we'd built in GW1.

[draxynnic.3719]

I always headcanoned it somewhat as there always having been some shift between northern and southern Kryta, even if the biome was displayed as being the same to ease the artistic burden. In GW1, the "Kryta" regions covered both the tropical southern regions and the cooler (albeit probably still subtropical) northern regions. In GW2, some of those southern regions are in what is now the Maguuma biome, which is shown as being substantially _more_ tropical than GW1 Kryta, while GW2 Kryta is almost entirely in the cooler regions north of Lion's Arch.

 

Add a little climate change due to world events (less warm water coming up through the Sea of Sorrows, more cold air coming down from the Shiverpeaks due to Jormag), and I think it does all make sense.