“Guild Wars 2″ is a game that has a huge potential for expansion in the future. Some of you may recall my excitement back in September of last year when I found out about the discovery of actual, in-game maps and globes that showed how large the world of Tyria actually was. This was something that we never got a glimpse of in the original title, and although later I discovered that there were globes of the world available in places like the main base of the Order of Whispers, I had never paid attention to them before.
A good example of what the overall world looks like can be seen here.
Before I talk about the map above, I should point out that the globes the Priory has in-game are actually not complete at all. They seem to be created by simply stretching the current, in-game map onto a globe, which gives a strange effect. This is in no way canon because Elona, Istan, and Cantha, among other places, are not represented there.
On Friday, it was pointed out to me that a fan had come up with a map that projected where some future content would be. This was accomplished by the fan paying attention to where currently sealed-off gates in the game could be found, such as the gates that lead into the Dominion of Winds or beyond the walls of Ebonhawke and out into the Crystal Desert. But, what is really interesting about this map they came up with is the fact that they have estimated where some of the currently unused Asura Gates in Lion’s Arch might lead. This was accomplished through noticing that the gates that exist point in the relative direction of where they lead. Thus, the creator of this map looked at where the unused gates in Lion’s Arch were pointing and projected lines from there. As we can see, one looks like it leads southeast towards Amnoon Oasis (from GW1), one leads in a more easterly direction, possibly to that area in the southern part of the mountains. Another leads off towards the Maguuma Wastes, one up towards Janthir, another up towards the north, potentially to the area north of Divinity’s Reach or even beyond there, and finally one leading up towards the frozen north, maybe where Jormag is at.
Very neat, if you ask me, and I think it is something that does show where the more immediate future of the game might take us!
Do you know how the expansions will work? Boxes like the last game or just dlc?
Expansions will come in a couple ways:
1. Major expansions will happen as boxed games also available as downloadable content at different places that you pay for.
2. Lesser expansions (like Lost Shores) will happen simply as updates to the game throughout the game’s life.
Cool. Someday I shall play GW2, heh.