Why do (some) GW1 players like Cantha?

[Ayrilana.1396]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > > > @"Dami.5046" said:

> > > > > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > > > > Nostalgia.

> > > > >

> > > > > yes. Why is that considered an insult these days?

> > > > > Asking for a friend.

> > > >

> > > > Not intended as an insult or at least by me. I use that as people tend to only focus on the good and ignore the bad when thinking back on past content. Also, why do we have to regurgitate previous content instead of going somewhere completely new? If GW1 did not have Cantha, would players even be asking for something similar to be released into GW2?

> > >

> > > Focusing on the good seems appropriate, on topic, when the question was why some people liked Cantha. I enjoyed Cantha, Kaineng and the Echovald Forest in particular, but that doesnt mean that I think the Factions campaign was without fault. Its not nostalgia, just actual enjoyment of the product.

> >

> > What you described is nostalgia.

>

> Nope.

>

> I like strawberry icecream...is that nostalgia?

 

Depends on how you’re basing that preference.

[Brother.1504]

> @"Game of Bones.8975" said:

> I liked Factions in general, mainly due to the release of the Ritualist!

 

Factions was my introduction to gw1. SoS Ritualist was my most advanced gw1 character. Cantha was amazing. I would love to see the gw2 modern version. What’s not to love? Guild controlled cities. Faction wars. Spirits. Siege turtles. The menagerie, collecting and evolving beasts. Tengu. Loads of great imaginative environments. Huge fan here.

 

[Hoover.6394]

After hundreds of years, Kaineng city could totally develop into a Siberpunk city, with those old structures but super colorful!!!

[aspirine.6852]

It's part nostalgia for me of course. But Factions was a great addition to the game, makes it easier to remember being great. Assasin, Ritualist. The great starter Island, the part when you finally get out of the city( I absolutely hated the slums area in Kaineng) the echovald, the jade sea. The very very good 12 man dungeons that are better than all of the dungeons combined in GW2. Gothic weapon huting in the echovald, vanquishing in that area or the Jade sea for faction. feather farming those stupid big birds(sounds boring, somehow it was not) Damn I loved that game :D

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Luthan.5236" said:

> But that city ... wow most of the time it looks like waltking through slums.

 

That was the idea. To give it a feel of a big, overcrowded city (since they can't implement a million NPCs). I loved it, the slum design und the sewers. It was the right environment for the plague. Plus, you have different areas in Cantha, Gothic cathedrals, the Jade Sea - it is a truly diverse and therefore beautiful place.

[Crab Fear.1624]

Thinking back, at that time most of the human settlements around the parts of Tryia we could explore were single castle keeps with small villages and undeveloped architecture.

 

No real established government or states either.

 

Then you go to cantha, with a literal training school for each profession and not just OJT from the local experts. A government (empire), advanced architecture, large "bustling cities", faction wars, and a sense that the is more to the world than Tolkein atmospheres.

 

I think they could really have advanced after these 250-300 years, and I wouldn't mind if the area was more universal(less asian themed) and instead, more advanced.

 

The area was already ahead of Tyria mainland and Elona, and it likely they have even better stuff to see now.

 

But, oh well, the naysayers think it's a nostalgia trip instead of exploratory, I mean it's not like the real world has any country that rapidly changed over the course of ~250 years.

 

Nothing new to see there.

[Thornwolf.9721]

> @"Luthan.5236" said:

> I have to say: I like asian styled buildings. And I just started to play GW1 - the campaigns in release order. Atm in Kaineng city and I don't know about the 2 later big regions still to explore. The island was beautiful yeah.

>

> But that city ... wow most of the time it looks like waltking through slums. Even on the way to that temple where I am now ...

> I don't know ... if the major city didn't change a lot (which could be possible) in the years between GW1 and GW2 I would not want that one back.

>

> (Some people in GW2 even complained about the old LA - which I liked - where I guess they did not like the wood structures. New LA looks more modern. Imagine those people visiting the Kaineng areas from GW1. They'd immediately quit playing. :D)

>

> Also I heard the plot was pretty boring. (So far I like it but the factions stuff from what I have read - will only get important for me soon not yet there - seem boring. I guess it was mainly interesting because of PvP that was centered around them?)

>

> So ... I don't see a need for Cantha atm. Previously when I read about "asian style" and did not play GW1 yet I always hoped for Cantha. After visiting Kaineng I don't want it anymore. :D

 

It was my begining within the world of tyria, It was one of my first experiences in an online mmo-rpg. It had cool themes and was really, REALLY dark but not as dark as nightfall was. Cantha/Eye of The north have always been my favorites, I loved how Factions was not the "Anime Expansion" but the actual fantasy version of imperial china, with some Korean and Japanese culture thrown in. The monsters were fantastical and otherworldly, every twist and turn in the story-line made the villain all the more potent and relate-able. (He was not just some big jerk we had to clap. He was a character with an arc, and even a redemption in some respect within nightfall.)

 

 

The diloauge and lore was NOT tongue and cheek, it was not an arse-pull and it made sense. It introduced us to new forms of magic and interesting ideas we could maul over for the coming years. It also felt different and contained from prophecies where nightfall doubled down on linking the three together (Factions/Prophecies/Nightfall) With abbadon being the guy who basically corrupted both the Vizer and Shiro respectively. Cantha was also beautiful with differing zone designs and unique spins on various aspects of fantasy. (The stone forest, Jade sea and even the city underbelly were refreshing when compared to prophecies. Who had rolling hills and vast expansive peaks; But it all felt like an unexplored world. Where Cantha felt like people lived there and things were somewhat tame, so the conflict came from within and was not an invasion such as with prophecies and the further expansions.)

 

 

You also had likeable characters in mehlno, and Togo as such they were people you spent time with and WANTED to get to know. The tengu took a larger stage and we got the Naga and the Yeti's who were a sub-species of jotuun. All and all it felt like a very well written contained story, and with Shiro having some of the best "Haha got ya" moments out of any villain who wasn't god tier? It felt rewarding to finally face him in the end after all we had learned, done and seen him do where as most of the stories felt kinda "Well guess its time to die." Plus the armor sets were cool, The weapons were cool, the Deep and Urgoz warren were amazing end game content and felt refreshing and had cool lore.

 

 

To top that off it brought in more for guild battles, Brought forth the legendary alliance battles and HUGE reworks and focus to PvP and made GW1's PvP what it ended up becoming. Which was a well polished and fun experience with intense battles where it mattered who you were Representing, you had a reputation and the tag you ran with was who you were affiliated with. That paired with the hundreds of new skills and unique rewards made the whole expansion feel fleshed out, it also like nightfall brought in two classes the ritualist and assassin respectively who are fan favorites.

 

>! TL;DR : I think the assumption is that a "Factions" Expansion would do what it did for GW1 for GW2 and revitalize competitive play, the idea is that if they did it they would bring all of that back because its part of the experience. In reality Cantha will not be what we remember, It will not be the place we knew and probably WILL be the "Anime" expansion with weeaboo everywhere. I highly doubt it would do justice to the region, people, cultures and game features that came along with the first game so as much as I love cantha Id rather them not go there. Im sort of feeling that with the icebrood saga too... I don't want them to mess up my favorite zones and the lore and stories I loved... Id rather not deal with that anymore.

 

 

[DoRi Silvia.4159]

For me it was the whole story around Cantha and the rule of the emperor - shiro who you would know if you have a revenant

Just play through the whole story of Factions and you will (probably) see why people like it so much

My favorite maps were ... (its been so long I cant remember the names) but the forests where the factions of luxon and kurzick control, there are some amazing exploring to be done there

 

Also my vote on cantha is because of the two new jobs available - assassin and ritualist - both really fun to play

 

 

[RoseofGilead.8907]

Kaineng City is awful. I hated playing through it, and I still hate it. But the starting area, the Echovald Forest, and the Jade Sea are all beautiful areas. I also really enjoyed the story for that campaign, even though I developed a deep hatred for Mhenlo after he got stuck so often for me.

[Weindrasi.3805]

I liked Cantha **because** the city is such a slum. Like, that city is HUGE... it spans the whole continent... and most of it is slums and sewers. It has a horrifying sort of fascination for me, a sort of post-apocalyptic vibe, with all these people living in filth and overcrowding, and it's normal for them. Plus, all the afflicted, tumor-covered abominations crawling out of the sewage. Definitely post-apocalyptic. It's very different from the magical cities, charming towns, and picturesque villages that make up the rest of GW2.

Also, I found the Kurzick and Luxon cultures outside the city (you may not have encountered them yet) to be mysterious and fascinating.

[Erasculio.2914]

> @"Luthan.5236" said:

> So ... I don't see a need for Cantha atm.

 

That's mostly because:

 

> @"Luthan.5236" said:

> Atm in Kaineng city and I don't know about the 2 later big regions still to explore.

 

So yeah, "don't judge a book by its cover" and etc.

 

The original chapter of Guild Wars was playing it very safe - we had the fields region, the jungle region, the cold region, the desert region and the lava region. All very old and tired tropes in fantasy settings.

 

Then Factions gave us a petrified forest carved as gothic temples, and a sea made of jade.

 

It's really no wonder that people miss Cantha so much.

 

Even the slums - when you read about the "behind the scenes" stuff from the time, ArenaNet mentioned how they didn't have the ability to create what they had envisioned for the city. GW2's engine would allow them to get much closer to what they had originally dreamt about.

 

 

[Eddbopkins.2630]

Would it really be shocking if cantha was just completely destroyed? A decimated area unrecognizable and barren waste land. No mobs to kill no living life at all. Would that bother some people?

[Cynder.2509]

Because it's Cantha :p

 

And because I love asian themed enviromnents.

[Randulf.7614]

Kaineng would look amazing in the gw2 style.

 

Factions, whilst a bit naff, is important to the World and lore of the game. And it’s a decent sized area to utilise which has a lot of variation (or had) to mainland Tyria

[Luthan.5236]

> @"Erasculio.2914" said:

> The original chapter of Guild Wars was playing it very safe - we had the fields region, the jungle region, the cold region, the desert region and the lava region. All very old and tired tropes in fantasy settings.

>

> Then Factions gave us a petrified forest carved as gothic temples, and a sea made of jade.

>

> It's really no wonder that people miss Cantha so much.

>

> Even the slums - when you read about the "behind the scenes" stuff from the time, ArenaNet mentioned how they didn't have the ability to create what they had envisioned for the city. GW2's engine would allow them to get much closer to what they had originally dreamt about.

 

Prophecies was a bit too much ice (norhtern ... then southern shiverpeaks). Also the jungle had some eras that did not look too beautiful. More like desert. Ring of fire also ugly. I guess it is a matter of taste. I liked the pre-searing (which you only visited very short) and the Kryta - the normal green + buildings regions. Ascalon was pretty ugly after searing and I was happy to be in the mountains. (Though it looks good now few hundred years later in GW2. Looking "brighter".)

 

Looking forward to the desert from Elona though. Did not like it in prophecies but if there were more sea regions (I don't know about nightfall yet) ore an oasis - instead of 100 percent dead looking areas - deserts could be beautiful I guess.

 

Sad we did not get to see orr. From what we have seen in GW2 it must have beeen an extremely beautiful place. Also some nice building architecture while most of it looked beautiful.

 

For the slums I guess it really might have been the engine back then - and the limitations. As I stated in my other (2nd in the middle of the thread) post above: It felt a bit random with the slums and in the midst some normal better looking areas with walls/buildings of stone and suddenly some minister npc there. If it were better divived with palace and nearby some full advanced areas and the slums outside ... and the enemy later attacking the more noble areas. Could have felt better. The jade island felt much better. Monastery then some huge mansion of the mnister. And the small villages outside. Not just the small village and then in the midst some building that feels out of place (and looks more advanced).

 

I guess they wanted to show how they city develoved: With it having stone buildings a bit far away (with green land in between) and then the slums and wood buildings just randomly popping out of nowhere gotten build just everywhere instead of making proper quarters/districts like for example in Neverwinter from Neverwinter nights. (Which I liked - I like the idea of having multiple maps for one big city.)

 

Just a bit trying at temple mission atm (I have managed it but still want to try for better reward level) and then moving outside to the forest. I read about it and saw some pics - that it is jade and stone (petrified forest). Also it was hinted at early (when they talked about Shiro for the first time). But I doubt it will be to my taste. Jade island was closest to what I would have expected of some asian styled continend and in terms of beauty that design is closest to my taste.

[Dami.5046]

> @"Ashen.2907" said:

> > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > @"Dami.5046" said:

> > > > @"Ayrilana.1396" said:

> > > > Nostalgia.

> > >

> > > yes. Why is that considered an insult these days?

> > > Asking for a friend.

> >

> > Not intended as an insult or at least by me. I use that as people tend to only focus on the good and ignore the bad when thinking back on past content. Also, why do we have to regurgitate previous content instead of going somewhere completely new? If GW1 did not have Cantha, would players even be asking for something similar to be released into GW2?

>

> Focusing on the good seems appropriate, on topic, when the question was why some people liked Cantha. I enjoyed Cantha, Kaineng and the Echovald Forest in particular, but that doesnt mean that I think the Factions campaign was without fault. Its not nostalgia, just actual enjoyment of the product.

 

This BTW. Just this.

[Ayakaru.6583]

For me, because Cantha seems like a great candidate for a villain/antagonist, in conjunction with the DSD.

 

That, and I've always believed Zu Hanuku is the DSD champion

[maddoctor.2738]

> @"Luthan.5236" said:

> I don't know ... if the major city didn't change a lot (which could be possible) in the years between GW1 and GW2 I would not want that one back.

 

Top on the list is seeing how Kaineng City would evolve in those centuries, same for the Echovald forest and the Jade Sea, they are more interesting biomes than what we've seen in GW2 so far.

 

> Also I heard the plot was pretty boring.

 

Factions was the worst in terms of plot and lore, boring, cliche and uninspired (the atrocious voice acting didn't help either). Also the lore "broke" so many things compared to the rest of the game's lore, as if Factions was developed by a completely different writing team. Still, seeing how Arenanet can "fit" that mess of lore with the overall GW2 narrative would be very interesting. And of course as I said above, the designs of the biomes.

[thehipone.6812]

-Echovald Forest and Jade Sea were interesting environments. I wasn't a huge fan of the city.

-The Kurzick/Luxon faction thing was fun. Alliance battles, the moving border, the ability for your guild to control a town and get DISCOUNT LOCKPICKS! At least in some way **GUILDS MATTERED** and you had something to collectively work towards together.

-Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry were fun PvP maps

-I think it is fair to say that the professions were well-liked - Thief is the obvious derivative of Assassin...but GW1 Shadow Form...not sure how I feel about it in retrospect, but that's another discussion. Ritualist was powerful in GW1 and tied in enough lore to have some unique character.

-There was plenty of interesting loot to chase - getting a perfect Echovald Shield or some of the other old-school drops was exciting. The act of identifying a Q9 shield to see if it came out good is a thrill that doesn't exist in GW2.

 

I think the love for Cantha comes a lot from the fact that the gameplay was pretty enjoyable. Not perfect in each and every way, but enjoyable. And the environment in which that enjoyment took place is associated in players' minds.

 

[zealex.9410]

> @"maddoctor.2738" said:

> > @"Luthan.5236" said:

> > I don't know ... if the major city didn't change a lot (which could be possible) in the years between GW1 and GW2 I would not want that one back.

>

> Top on the list is seeing how Kaineng City would evolve in those centuries, same for the Echovald forest and the Jade Sea, they are more interesting biomes than what we've seen in GW2 so far.

>

> > Also I heard the plot was pretty boring.

>

> Factions was the worst in terms of plot and lore, boring, cliche and uninspired (the atrocious voice acting didn't help either). Also the lore "broke" so many things compared to the rest of the game's lore, as if Factions was developed by a completely different writing team. Still, seeing how Arenanet can "fit" that mess of lore with the overall GW2 narrative would be very interesting. And of course as I said above, the designs of the biomes.

 

Couldnt cantha work fairly well as its own thing thanks to how cut off it is from the rest of the world.

[Jenstone.6891]

For me, I really liked the Shing Jea Island and then eventually the Jade Sea. But, aside from these areas.... I did not enjoy it so much. I want it to be a part of the future of GW2 because it was our past in GW.

[Majosea.2487]

I personally loved Cantha, it was by far my favorite area, especially the Jade Sea

 

[nembool.5981]

Music. Jeremy Soule's award-winning Factions soundtrack is a thing of rare beauty.

[FrigginPaco.4178]

In addition to adding 2 popular professions (Assassin & Ritualist) it offered so much in terms of cultural changes, aesthetics, and my favorite non-ranked PvP maps: Fort Aspenwood, Jade Quarry, and the Alliance Battles. I have dreams of seeing them implemented in GW2, but they're only dreams at this moment.

[Tommo Chocolate.5870]

For me, Kaineng City is the most convincing city I've ever experienced in a computer game. In fact, it might be the only one that really feels like a city to me. It's vast and sprawling, densely populated and dangerous. Throughout the whole of Cantha - not just Kaineng - the atmosphere is bleak and melancholy, without ever falling into the kind of forced, clichéd darkness that "dark fantasy" usually ends up in. All four regions of Cantha - but I think especially the Jade Sea and Echovald Forest - feel very original and distinctive to me. I also particularly appreciate the way that the religion of the five gods is intertwined with other religious entities that are endemic to Cantha, such as the celestials, the heroes in Tahnakai Temple, Zunraa, and so on. Plus Ritualist is my favourite profession in Guild Wars, and I generally think the idea of tying profession designs to the culture of the continent (which also happened in Nightfall, of course) was a great move from a worldbuilding point of view.