The Isle of Xotecha: Guild Wars Utopia 2020 Lore

[@asum7786]

The Legendary Scepter Xiuquatl in GW2 seems to be a reference to the Xotecha weapons, both in names and style, and also summons a baby winged Forgotten like serpent.

[@lcZahark]

@@asum7786 nothing related to GW2. It's Aztec inspired. And yes, 4 years later answer, who cares.

[@Icewolfnector]

I like all those artworks. They really evoke that feeling of "adventure"

[@Krnielk]

The clockwork city is such an iconic piece of art, to the point that a few people I know outside the GW community are familiar with it. It's so inspiring to think of stories that take place in it. But more importantly the artwork suggests that llamas are canon to the Guild Wars world.

[@mishking9547]

ESO has a great Clockwork City DLC~

[@Wyrser]

Gw2 has llamas (besides the minis), we encounter them in Dry top and Elona.

[@marinhrabric6162]

​@@Wyrserwhat? Where did you see llamas in dry top and elona?

[@DarthClyan]

The giant in the fractal...

[@Icewolfnector]

Even if there is no connection, when he talked about giant golems made by the god, he was the first thing that came to mind.

[@natebeckham]

Yeah, definitely the golem in question

[@astralmoon2025]

Was my first thought too

[@GSBConstantine]

@WoodenPotatoes 32:20 - The Forgotten are winged, in the same way a flying squirrel is winged. I think the Mural is the "original" Forgotten that the gods left to defend the world, and what we see in game ARE "The Children of The Forgotten" evolved (or devolved) variants of the original.

[@Teraphas]

Given what we have seen in the story of one species or groups being transformed into another, I would not be surprised if the God's or the winged serpents either transformed or took another group and fused them with the serpents to create the forgotten we know. They are described as almost a servant race. Much like the exalted would it be surprising to find out they were an artificially created race?

[@X1OProductions]

Seems like they are implying the in-game "forgotten" are actually the children of the true flying serpent forgotten. Like Dwayna and Melandru saw the giant serpents and wanted to morph them into something more useful to them. Like say being relatable stewards of Tyria? Also, wild guess, but what if Xutecha is the birthplace of humanity? It could be the alien world that the new gods brought humans from to settle Tyria.

[@DarthClyan]

No

[@JoshSweetvale]

Humans came from Earth.

[@jon_no_handle]

Honestly, I'd be blown away if they started dropping new story content into gw1. I would 100% purchase a new campaign. Hell, I would purchase mini-campaigns like winds of change. My hope is that a part of the restructuring was splitting off a dev team for gw1. Unlikely but a man can dream of having 2 GW games in active development.

[@koolaidremixed2]

Jonathan Howard they would create such a huge number increase for the game if they did that. We all know there is a market for that game

[@angelm1750]

I really enjoy all your videos, but this by far is one of my favorites! You made me excited to think about what might be coming for us in GW2! Now I simply must get this book!

[@Vence147]

I would literally pay monthly subscription for a gw1 expansion

[@RiyazGuerra]

I'm thinking this is a potential destination for a fourth GW2 expansion providing it is profitable enough at that point to command the requisite resources. You mentioned that there is opportunity for some fan service and I agree, it can conceivably tie a lot of loose ends with respect to story as well as beloved characters from the two games. The slums you mentioned can provide opportunities for redemption for the more tragic characters in the series. Ultimately, it will give the devs the freedom to pursue an entirely different world for a GW3, somewhere other than Tyria.

[@lordmawkish1286]

Imagine Jormag actually being one of the original Forgotten, one of several winged serpents who stewarded Tyria thousands of years before the new gods and the "lesser forgotten" (wingless serpents) arrived. From what we know, humans were alien to Tyria, but things like further god lore and the existence of Xotecha seem to hint at humans being way more lasting and pervasive a species across all reality than we would ever have suspected. Maybe the humans have been on Tyria before, in a time when the Six we know did not yet exist, and the countless Elder Dragon cycles erased all traces of them... Jormag claims it wants to fortify, to protect. Maybe it was once - by whoever's design - an ancient winged serpent tasked with guarding the world. And it still remembers and holds onto its original task, even though it has now become an Elder Dragon. I would love that sort of twist.

[@jacobcordner]

If what you're saying is correct then could it possibly explain why Cantha was inhabitied by humans long before the gods brought Humans to Tyria?

[@Lozzzliss]

That'd be cool!

[@lordmawkish1286]

@@jacobcordner There certainly is a strange discrepancy there, but Canthan culture also worshipped the six from the very start if I am not wrong. So if these "before"-humans exist, we probably haven't met them yet.

[@Icewolfnector]

I really like that idea that the elder dragons once were sort of guardians of Tyria till something went wrong and they became "evil".

[@aaeriam]

@@Icewolfnector Kind of reminds me of the Mass Effect storyline but instead we have the storyline where the Dragons are guardians of Tyria and they find that the races become too destructive once they reach a certain level of advancement so they start the cycle of destruction to make sure that Tyria remains habitable and life can be sustained in the long-term.

[@LykanzGaming]

My first thought when asked what might be able to threaten the old gods and the isle itself is when Kralkatorrik mentioned his "mother" in his final words .. an enemy slowly extinguishing the light of the old gods sounds similar to elder dragons siphoning magic .. as far as i can remember we don't hear anymore about his mother

[@doenning96]

@WoodenPotatoes, let's not forget that it was established the Mursaat could freely travel IN and OUT of the Mists at will, bringing with them advanced and foreign magics to Tyria (Spectral Agony). I'd guess that IF ArenaNet brought Utopia into Guild Wars 1, it would involve a gate or a rift/portal in the Mursaat homelands (Isles of Janthir, unused upper left island's in the top left of the map) as a sort of entryway into the DLC. It would act like a hub the way the Mouth of Torment does before entering the Realm itself in Nightfall. That would make the most sense to me.

[@LordSathar]

The art being shown here is amazingly evocative. Xoteca seems like a great place to adventure.

[@briannitzschke2767]

Probably "Sho-Teh-Cha" Also, i wonder if the elder dragons were sort of born out of the idea of the "old gods". Giant primordial beasties, that are not so keen on the mortal races as the human gods. This theory allignes with a theory i have had for a while. The Human Gods arent "gods of the humans" but literally: "gods that are human" as opposed to the "inhuman gods" such as arachnea and its cohorts.

[@naryktaryk225]

The asura in EoTN that wanted to understand gods did get perfect description of this place. Distant shore (it is an island), beyond the mists since it is pocket of reality in the mists, answers lie in waiting (and since he was asking about human gods it is probably answers about the gods)

[@Brickbroslegosrule]

Perhaps the gods like Kormir left Tyria to go to Xotecha after PoF. Also the ancient deity that could’ve killed the old gods I think could be the “mother” Kralkattorik referred to as he died? I don’t know, we’ve seen that elder dragons can go one-on-one with the gods

[@monkeybtm6]

GW1's plot was centered mostly on the influence of one fallen god GW2 is about the elder dragons GW3/GW2 post elder dragons: could be about the old gods?

[@viator_eagle5936]

I'm still calling GW3 the return of the Gods

[@uhohhotdog]

Or newer gods.

[@marinhrabric6162]

I don't want gw3. Why do we need 3 games to tell 1 story. Just expand gw2 even further and make it better and better

[@orrthehunter]

I have a feeling Utopia may become a thing in GW2 next expansion with Cantha.

[@aethelwyna8618]

Let's get an expansion of Cantha with the afflcited again. Nothing screams "sales in China" like an expansion focusing on an oriental country with a pandemic outbreak.

[@hardy83]

Perhaps a living story after Cantha. After Jormag, it'll just be Primodus and deep sea left. I presume Cantha will deal with Deep Sea (maybe it was under the Jade sea, hence the lack of movement from it, but the Jade sea is coming undone or blah blah.) After we deal with that, it'll just be Primordus, with ALL the other dragons powers, and leads into what WP was talking about where everything goes wrong and we end up in the Utopia story line, where the game makers can do whatever they want at that point because in the mists anything goes.

[@Icewolfnector]

Maybe they even make Xotecha kind of the link. I mean, we are now going to all kinds of eye of the north regions in GW2 and they put the Utopia stuff after EotN, so maybe it will be in the last episode and will be what ultimately brings us to Cantha? Could be fairly interesting if you ask me

[@caetanyyy]

@@hardy83 =\

[@Ithamir]

1. In Eye of The North, warriors mysteriously got an extra set of armor, the Silver Eagle armor. It's probably only my head-cannon (as I couldn't find anything about it in the wiki) but I remembered it being Utopia related in some way. When you mentioned the Eagle Guard my mind immediately went to it. A funny little thing I thought might be worth mentioning. 2. I always wanted us to fail in the end of GW2. Continuing the cycle an mirroring past events: Asura and Mursaat - Golem using races that's vastly smarter then the rest, concluding they can't win they abandon everyone to their doom. Humans - The gods rescuing the humans into a new world again. Norn and Jotun - Reduced to brutes, their rich culture lost. Charr and Dwarves - Proud race with only a few surviving only to kill Primordus. Sylvari and Seers - Genderless (kinda). But that means continuing the Elder Dragons story which I REALLY don't want.

[@MushVPeets]

"Humans and the Forgotten", you mean?

[@sunyavadin]

That Golems section just immediately brings the Cliffside Fractal to mind.

[@23bcx]

Wild nearly impossible idea, GW2 xpac & GW1 campaign both set here with a simultaneous launch and shared outposts.

[@lordmawkish1286]

I could only see this if they released it as a GW3, a new game world, and expanded both the prequels to optionally lead into it story-wise, then enabling a basic sort of "character transfer" from both games to the new one, and back. Seeing as how "heroes from endless timelines" would arrive at Xotecha, a seemingly isolated and timeless location, this approach would seem to make the most sense, and both games could have the imported characters adapt to a new, unified graphical style. Then depending on what time you are from, different aspect of Xotecha's economy would apply to you, gameplay wise, to match the economy of your era's Tyria in case you return to it. It would be nuts. Way, way too nuts. But I enjoy stuff like this.

[@iAmPesukone]

With a similar account linking feature that is used with the hall of monuments, perhaps? Play GW1, bring artifacts to outposts or other instances, and the changes will be reflected in GW2 in the same places, and since Xotecha is apparently somehow a time-traveling thing, doing things in GW2 could possibly affect the outposts in GW1. That would be so wild. Pretty certain they're not gonna go for any of that, though.

[@LeiosLabs]

What are those majestic creatures at 17:51 ? Arenanet really has a knack for creating interesting mounts!

[@Earendilgrey]

It's an interesting thing to think about especially with all the side quest/current event things dealing with the Mists and portals to places. There is that Charr by the pond that is out of order in time, as well as the new fractals as well as Kralk ripping through the Mists before its death that could bring about some storyline new with this.

[@dinosaur__nuggets2534]

Just a thought, but remember Jormag is hinting that we need her help for something coming from beyond the horizon. Makes me wonder that whatever that threat is threatens the elder dragons as well. EDIT: If you look at the artwork in the book, don't the Envoys from Factions look similar to the art style for the chapter? What if The Envoys were from Xotecha.

[@rpgjam]

If this ends up being a part of the storyline following the Elder dragon arc, it may be the next living story (or saga, whichever they decide to go with) after the Cantha expansion... can't really see them shifting the tone of the game so much that they move everything from main Tyria into the mists in another expansion. Also, the entire video is amazing.

[@Kossage]

Well, we know that the All is currently unbalanced as Zhaitan and Mordremoth's spheres are still inert despite their power being absorbed by the current Elder Dragons and that killing one more Elder Dragon without a replacement leads to Tyria's destruction, and that knowledge is what Jormag may be using as a leverage as it knows we can't just kill it without a replacement, and Aurene won't likely be able to contain all dragons' magic without going crazy over time (if only two domains already drove dragons into Torment, then having all 12 domains would be downright suicidal even for a transcended entity like Aurene). To truly save Tyria, we thus need to replace each dragon (with the possible exception of Aurene if she can hold on to two magical domains from Kralkatorrik) with a respective benevolent entity, which means we'll need five more replacements who govern two domains each, or ten replacements who govern one domain each. For example, Pale and Malyck's Trees could potentially take divide the Mind and Plant domains from Mordremoth, respectively, to become the dual-holders of Mordy's title in order to share/lessen the burden of magic. As such, if the devs intend on following the overarching narrative path that Andrew Gray suggested (GW1 and GW2 storylines are tied together by the burden, responsibility and dangers of using magic, so both gods and Elder Dragons are just part of a bigger system), future GW2 storylines would inevitably deal with the hunt for suitable replacements while some villains/factions may attempt to train and/or bond with their own would-be Elder Dragon candidate, or attempt to enslave a would-be candidate Bangar and Inquest style as leverage. Glint's Legacy is more than just Aurene, so we need to carry out her and Kralkatorrik's vision to its end by finding candidates who are worthy of becoming the new balancers of magic while we make sure that these new balancers won't go crazy or turn greedy over time. :)

[@Violetawa]

Wow, this is really cool. Btw, here in Spain we had problems with the delivery, they canceled it like a year after puting it for sale because of the virus :/

[@SoulSlesh]

That description of Xotecha kinda makes me think of the Warcraft's Shadowlands. It would deffinitely be cool to have an expansion there maybe after we defeat all the elder dragons (yes we've seen with kralk how elder dragons can interact with other realms but it would be kinda cool to explore a fresh/different realm once the elder dragons of tyria are dealt with -maybe even with new player start areas and so on); Aurene could unlock it for us when she absorbs the powers of the other elder dragons!

[@Alesthes]

I could see them going into Utopia territory with the Living Story season that comes after the Cantha expansion in GW2. At that point, most regions and themes from GW1 will have been all explored and covered, so they need to take a new turn in any case. I also get a sense they really want to move past the Elder Dragons theme. If we believe the internal rumors, they were ready to do that with Aurene's ascension at the end of LS4. There's still something to be explored there, like the Deep Sea Dragon or Kralk's "mother", but I think it will be more of a bridge towards other themes and I would not be suprised if Elder Dragons play a marginal role in the Cantha Expansion. With all that said, I understand GW1 fans may dream of a new GW1 campaign, but honestly, looking at this AMAZING concept art, I can only imagine the pain of a digital artist that is obliged to transfer it into the horribly outdated GW1 engine and graphics. Too much of that beauty would be utterly lost. You could say they need to make a GW1 remaster, but let's face it: GW2 itself is in need of a remaster by now, and it would be already quite a lot of work. A GW1 remaster up to 2020 standards would be basically an entirely different game. So yeah, I would vastly prefer to explore Utopia in (a possibly remastered) GW2 rather than in an inevitably outdated GW1. Actually, the ideal would be Utopia to be a bridge to a GW3, but I don't see it happening for a number of reasons I am not even going to list... Even though one can dream...

[@Teraphas]

Another possibility. This version of utopia is actually on tyria, but so far away that the only "reliable" way of getting there is going thru the mists and exiting from a section of a realm that has an anchor in this distant land. Much in the way LA talks about having a portal to the mists anchored there. Utopia might have a connection to a specific corner of an underworld realm that we hadn't been to yet, but maybe where rytlock traveled during his time in the mists. It still bugs me that the whole what happened to rytlock has for all appearances been swept aside despite being completely unanswered. Did he make contact with this place and that's where he learned to be a revenant?

[@vholst]

Fun Fact- The winged forgotten is on the cover of collector's edition art book for prophecies. And 15 years later is when I learned what it was.

[@SmashToonsTv]

This is defo one of my favourite videos of yours, one I replay the most probably., any chance you'd ever do the lighting setup and go trough the book?

[@WoodenPotatoes]

I would really like to actually, I'm glad to hear you like this one!

[@SmashToonsTv]

@@WoodenPotatoes Awesome!

[@connormurphy683]

On the subject of winged serpents, one of the most popular deities in the Aztec culture is Quetzalcoatl (feathered serpent), so called for his balance between the Earth (the serpent element) and the heavens (the feathered/flying element). He was known as a hero of the people who brought good times and prosperity.

[@JaredSvB]

Where is the "time travelling dude" found in Nightfall? :D I've never seen him

[@luiscarvalho8825]

wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Bahltek

[@ceri-potat]

then you never properly played it xP

[@_Banjo_]

Bahltek

[@KecalMilenium]

This has me excited about Guild Wars 2: Utopia or Guild Wars 3, some time in the future.

[@labdG]

14:20 I just realized that in this painting they've used a photo of the SIS building in that tan thing in the bottom middle of the painting. Now I can't unsee it. xD

[@Abyssic1]

as someone who stopped playing gw1 with nightfall and only heard of utopia after gw2 was out, it makes sense to me to put utopia as "chapter 5" in this book.

[@EagorOfCarim]

It wasn't Prince Rurik who was gonna feature in Utopia, but Devona's father. Though I'm sure Rurik made it to the Hall of Heroes too :)

[@EagorOfCarim]

Nevermind you mentioned that later yourself

[@zealot9262]

20:00 The problem with adding Utopia after End of Dragons might be the same as in World of Warcraft, In Legion they went from killing a fallen Titan, basically the most powerful being shown in the games at that this point (There are other in the lore but not shown in game as far as I know), to fighting some pirates in some archipelago somewhere then at the end of that expansion fighting an Old God, basically the most powerful thing on the planet. Sometimes the stakes get too high and they need to be reset, but people get bored of no stakes so they up them before the end of the expansion again and you're back to square one. I know WoW have said they're gonna do a time skip after the next expansion, because the PC is going to an alternate dimension kinda and stuff is weird, maybe GW could do a similar thing, but thats kinda just what GW1 was to GW2. =/

[@klocuch1243]

you can see arachnia from istani island, some photos - from "utopia" are in fc

[@Sangria713]

Oh boy, i'm gonna need a nice drink to sink into this one.

[@Techstriker1]

Maybe they'll never use it, but it certainly feels like a set-up for a post-Elder dragon story line. GW2 has been building mist references everywhere: Season 4, Zeghai of the Lost, Weirdbringer, Bastion of the Penitent. To not have SOMETHING major deal with the mists eventually would be disappointing. And this sounds exactly like the place they could do it.

[@Snipedout209]

Still think that Queen Jennah is possibly Lyssa, the golem part made me think of Jennah and the watchwork knights.

[@Snipedout209]

Plus, on the topic of a potential 3rd Guild Wars title, I believe that it could be done so long as they don't set it too far into the future and people could still use their Guild Wars 2 characters and they could still be relevant.

[@catStone92]

@@Snipedout209 that'd just be an expansion

[@Snipedout209]

@@catStone92 more or less. The only reason it wouldn't is because it most likely wouldn't be running on the same engine and that Tyria would change more than what they can change with what they have now. Orr for example would probably be inhabitable. There's already a settlement on the southernmost coast of it and they've been trying to cultivate that part. I don't see Anet being able to make THAT big of a change in the current title. Could be wrong though. Almost half of Kessex Hills was changed and Lions Arch had a drastic change.

[@ste7923]

wasn't the human gods of tyria referred to as old gods as well? also Lindsey Murdock did say in one of them official forum chats that 'It featured an expanded pantheon of the gods, including Dwayna's father.' perhaps the lore was opening up to the idea of other members, like Dwayna's father and Kormir as the 'new gods' also perhaps Dhuum, maybe even Abaddon (and his predecessor whether that was or was not Arachnia) was going to play a part as they were the 'old gods'.. food for thought anyway, love the idea that utopia lore will play a part in gw2 to come!

[@Teraphas]

Summoner in gw2 terms could also apply to rangers how the animal appears briefly as they use a skill

[@vitor822chao]

Elementalist can summon elementals ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Teraphas]

@@vitor822chao yes but the utopia description says briefly. While the elementals are not long lasting they do persist for several attacks. The utopia version have the impression that you would get a spell effect with a creature being summoned to perform it and then disappear

[@catfish8716]

Teraphas much like Mesmer Phantasms

[@Teraphas]

@@catfish8716 potentially. But I would expect something like that from stronger abilities. The description makes me think of things like swoop where you dash forward with the eagle showing along with it. But I would expect the summoner to stay still and the eagle manifest as it flies forward attack your target and dissipate in something closer to ele fire Phoenix. So you could make summoner a ranger elite spec and have the spirits manifest to attack vs the current Vixen like powerup like from dc comics

[@Justin9740]

I really do hope that we get to see this place someday. With the void stuff of EoD and seeing the Mists Stranger again the re-release of Season 1, I have been thinking a lot about it a lot lately. I would love Season 6 to throw us into this new chaos how Void has affected the Mists and Xotecha is now bleeding out these alternate realities. Quoting the art book: "A great force once threatened Xotecha, slowly extinguishing the light of the Old Gods, but was quelled by the rising power of their successors." What is this great force? Could it be the Void? (Please, Anet - I miss the darker tones of GW1 and the darker lore and mysteries that GW1 left off on, before Norn became goofballs, Asura became cute, and Charr became oversized kittens. )

[@Kossage]

Nice video with lots of fun discussion about the reveals in the art book. :) The comment you must've been thinking of regarding the main NPCs in Utopia actually originated from Linsey Murdock in the now sadly discontinued ArenaNet Forum Chats on GW2 forums. This is what she said in the topic "Guild Wars Utopia" during the April 2018 AFC about Lore: > "It wasn't set on Tyria, heh. It was set in a place in the Mists which was framed as somewhat of a home/playground of the gods. It featured an expanded pantheon of the gods, including Dwayna's father. It also featured characters from all around the timeline. Gwen and Devona's father were main characters." en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/comment/493960/#Comment_493960 Oddly Joe Kimmes had no knowledge about these plans when asked about them in a later thread despite him keeping an eye on all things lore. So apparently what Linsey etc. knew about Utopia's suggested plot never reached Joe's ears for whatever reason. Anyway, it would be interesting if they repurposed some of this Utopia lore stuff to wherever Doern Velazquez's unseen homeland is (maybe near Sunrise Crest in the full world map because that Priory map shows naval trade routes from the Battle Isles to the Sunken Islands and from there to Sunrise Crest?). I'd argue that Doern's homeland may possibly be where the gods originally took all the human tribes to after the arrival in Orr, and in the following centuries various ethnicities like the Canthans, Kurzicks, Luxons etc. sailed away from this initial area to populate different continents. Perhaps Doern's homeland, as the potential first Tyrian human kingdom, would still have all the different cultures' influence in it on some level as well as potentially the most intriguing lore about the gods if the gods lived among humanity there for a time before the human tribes scattered around the world. It could lead to some fascinating stories and mysteries that we can unravel. After all, we still don't know why Doern wants to keep his homeland a secret from (most) people (including fellow Whispers operatives), and why historical records never mention anything about this potential cradle of humanity. Why hasn't Doern's homeland made itself known to the world over millennia and why hasn't it participated in any global events since (as far as we know, anyway)? :)

[@Tallacus]

Fantastic, I would like to know more about the "summoner" profession since we already got a a Chronomancer Elite spec. And here I thought the Tanneks were going to be a side boar like race where Factions had Tengu and Nightfall had Centaurs

[@nathanm9546]

Perhaps the "threat beyond the horizon" that Jormag mentioned is the force that threatened the old gods

[@KharonHirons]

Have you heard the myth of the floating island? There is one at Garenhoff.

[@trence5]

some beautiful art work in that book.

[@Brickbroslegosrule]

What if the single player game Anet is working on IS Guild Wars Utopia, and they’ll just revive Utopia as it’s own thing in the GW universe

[@regendo]

This "eagle guard" reminds me of the warrior Silver Eagle armor in EotN. Mysterious armor set that only exists for warrior-perhaps because they only had concept art for these eagle guard NPCs and they were all warriors?

[@MehrumesDagon]

inb4 GW Utopia expansion soon :P edit: inb4 Utopia get's released as sort of shared expac between the two - since there was time shenanigans involved with utopia concepts it could be usedto link two playerbases in some way ;)

[@anthonymaringelli7478]

2020 LORE! WOO

[@deeliriyum]

Would be cool if Deep Sea Dragon, The Mother and Winged Serpent Forgotten are all referring to one creature. I mean no one can recall DSD's name so it's "forgotten" aaaand it would be doubly funny because it's image was staring at us this whole time since first post Searing Ascalon outpost! :D

[@tatanasa799]

Nice a new video, thanks man

[@danak6773]

"Even now they seek nightfall" jackals are badass

[@sylvnfox]

what i think would be awesome is we finish icebrood saga and get whatever conclusion with Jormag (either we kill him or turns out he's not "evil, but maybe a neutral party" then move to Cantha deal with deep sea dragon. then the xpac after that we go into the depths to deal with Primordus. so now we have 1 (Aurene) possibly 2 (Kuunavang?) and maybe 3 (Jormag) depending how the current saga plays out. at best we have 3 out of 6 elder dragons but that's not enough for the flow of magic to be stable, so we go to "Utopia" to find a way to stabilize the system.

[@_Banjo_]

The big bovine looking dude definitly gives me Envoy vibes. One of the guys looks very similar. I always assumed in factions that this was his armour not his actual look. Which gets me wondering, how did he become an Envoy? Shiro did something rather insane and earth shaking in order to be imprisoned as an envoy. Now we've dispatched Shiro for a second time in nightfall, i wonder if going to Utopia we find out about the other Envoy's past?

[@RedApricorn]

This is a crackpot theory, but I couldn't shake it off my mind: This has a lot of similarities to what the ManaWorks folks are making. Now, this doesn't mean it will have anything to do with the Guild Wars franchise - in fact, it's extremely unlikely, as they have stated that they don't even have a publishing deal. Besides, any deal would have to be with NCSoft as they own the IP. But, there are so many similarities in terms of the world descriptions and the art between the 'Utopia' concept and what ManaWorks has shown so far of their project. The indigenous South American architecture, the ruins, the flying serpents, the adventurers - even the description of Xotecha (at 33:08) reminds me of Isaiah Cartwright's world sketch that was posted on their reddit a while back. All these similarities probably are purely sentimental. After all, the ManaWorks crew consists mostly of ArenaNet's "old guard" who were there designing Utopia. They likely are drawing inspiration from these concepts, making something aesthetically reminiscent because now they finally get to. But maybe, just maybe, there is a sliver of a chance they are developing a concept for a cutesy off-shoot of the GW franchise.

[@ChrissiC07]

Eagle Guards? Maybe... just maybe... completely out there, the Tengu lived there beforehand? First thing that popped into my head :3

[@marthdaeglin]

Were I someone in charge of these things I would claim that the time-warping nature of Utopia made it difficult to pin down a definite release order.

[@jaspersureshot]

All this serpent stuff sounds like the ancient lore for the creation of reality in dungeons and dragons

[@stefanlaurentiu7084]

Maybe the people that know the myth about utopia are us the players cuz we know that utopia maybe exists but never saw it and never we where sure about being canon or not so is like a myth in the community? Just trying to give that line more life:)

[@casperoverboom]

You talk about a mysterious floating isle, maybe the wizards tower (Isgaren) is a door to Utopia.

[@gotenksjr]

I was looking forwards to this WP, I had mine come back a few weeks ago. I ended up typing loads of stuff into a Discord for some of my friends ^^. Wouldn't it be great to see if some of this was implemented into either games in some way more solidly such as some more "Beyond" content for GW1 (after all GW1 doen'st need much these day sfor us to be grateful ^^) or some Mists based stuff in GW2. Edit Note, Imagine if this is what became of our GW1 characters and why they are so mythical

[@ThisNameIsBanned]

We badly need a Guild Wars 1 REMASTER.

[@TypeCOrbitalFrame]

when that music plays epic stuff is happening

[@gamingmarcus]

where's the song at 16:05 from? Sounds beautiful but I've never heard it before.

[@ArtForSwans]

I'm going to join the chorus of people saying that this is probably what inspired the cliffside fractal.

[@UltimateWeeGee]

I wonder if they could have us just straight up play the Utopia campain in GW2, but addapted to modern story. Like literally, instead of the GW1 protagonists being dropped on the island, it's the GW2 protagonists instead being dropped in at that exact moment, with little else changed from a Xotechan people's perspective. Since Xotecha exists outside of time, it stands to reason that it doesn't matter to the people of that world whether or not 250 years have passed for us.

[@lordmawkish1286]

Except the Utopia campaign was never actually a thing. We have no indication that they have an entire unused story script lying around somewhere. Chances are they would have to write most stuff from scratch.

[@UltimateWeeGee]

@@lordmawkish1286 Yeah definitely. Though I meant from an in-game standpoint, like the hypothetical Utopia campaign was cancelled in-universe because of the dragon's stirring, then 250 years later after we take care of them we would pick up right at that same spot. I guess ultimately it wouldn't matter since it never was made, just fun to think about.

[@nythrius4326]

Re: The ordering of Utopia as chapter 5. Perhaps it was ordered in a way that harkens back to the way Martin Luther organized the German Bible. GW1 = Old Testament, Utopia = Apocrypha, GW2 = New Testament. The Protestants regard portions of the Apocrypha as things that may not have happened, but are still good for teaching, and that sounds kinda like what they're doing here with Utopia.

[@JRussellDay]

I wonder if the eagle guard is why we had that partial eagle armour set at the end of eotn?

[@_Banjo_]

I got the impression that the 8 tablets were potentially linked to the 8 original proffesions. Attempting to explain the very fabric of the mists and have a concrete ending. Explaining exactly how the elements of the earth factor in, how the gods work and how people channel them. The gods have an affinity to the elements. A profession will cast skills that are powers that require mana as such. The gods easening the burden and help the player channel it. Theres a separtion between the powers you posses and the supply of magic. Thats how i've always believed it to work. Perhaps the story was restoring the balance between the elements

[@R_SENAL]

What if the spirits of the wild are the last of the old gods still hanging on. If the old gods were animal spirits but for like spiders and such

[@MilanMovies95]

is this book available for a limited time only or can i order it later? id rlly like to have it but i cant get it now

[@instars2027]

WoodenPotatoes inspired me to buy that art book 😁

[@brinkiTOgo]

Maybe the original winged forgotton are the beings we now know as the Elder Dragons. I remeber a statement from the devs (it had something to do with the Icebrood Saga) that we -the players - wouldn't yet know what the EDs truly are. Maybe we know now...

[@Tyloric]

Utopia sounds so much cooler than anything we actually got.

[@ThomatoForce]

I don't have the book yet, so I don't know the layout exactly, but I can imagine they made the Utopia chapter, chapter 5, after EotN, to round up the GW1 section before moving on to the GW2 section? It was never fully developed, so instead of possibly disrupting the flow of the chapters about the actual developed content, they put it at the end to still give it its place? I wouldn't look too much into it man haha

[@sightadcon]

Such a cool video

[@viator_eagle5936]

Everything is a cycle. The Elder Dragons, Gods have all been replaced several times. What entity is watching over it all and pondering on what to do next.

[@Kossage]

If the kodan are to be believed, "Long ago, Koda, the Ancient One, Founder of the Earth, Keeper of the Sky, formed the world. In the beginning, the spirits of the world were wild and untamed. In time, many took physical form: spirits of stone, spirits of water, spirits of wind, spirits of soil, spirits of plants and birds and creeping things. All things with form have spirits... as do many formless things." How much of this is true is anyone's guess as the races and characters are more often than not unreliable narrators (see Thrulnn the Lost's claims in Hoelbrak which get refuted by his very ancestor's spirit in one of the norn storylines). It would be fun to actually have an extended chat with the Spirits of the Wild and ask them if Koda truly exists and if there's any connection between the Spirits and the Ancient One. It's even possible that Koda could've been responsible for creating Thyria's Antikytheria magic system with the 6/12 orbs that move around in a perfect rotation to balance the All. As many important creatures and natural forces have Spirits according to kodan beliefs, that means that more likely than not there exists/existed the Spirit of Dragon. What if the "mother" Kralkatorrik referred to was actually Dragon, the progenitor of the dragon races, but something happened to Dragon in the distant past that led to the current selfish system under the six Elder Dragons? Fun things to think about. :)

[@ukuni99]

that part about the golems reminds me of a certain fractal

[@ShishouDzukiZaManako]

My overlord Arenanet: WHYYYYY.... why are you here? Should this be made canon? Arenanet: do you want a paycheck/do you intend on this portion of the book making it to print? ....

[@zealot9262]

15:00 Wasn't the old gods the human gods and then the Mursaat the new?

[@DarthClyan]

Now this is some news. I always found it to be weird thinking that guild wars 2 couldnt go beyond the elder dragons. Im sure gw2 is still too potent to end.

[@jaredjensen1418]

Like imagine if, in the end, the Elder Dragons were sort of just an elaborate side story in the grand scheme of the larger story. That GW2 will move on to something totally new after we finish with the elder dragon threat.

[@bre_me]

6:22 awesome picture

[@WardenDios]

Mr. Potatoes, could it be possible that the "antagonist" that diminished the old gods to the point where the new gods had to step up, was in fact the Elder Dragons themselves? And at first, the new gods thought they could co-exist alongside the dragons, but then saw the inevitable conflict that would arise and knew that no matter how the conflict played out, Tyria would lose. So the new gods decided to leave. No Conflict. And the new gods would not meet the same fate as these old gods.

[@bre_me]

4:45 who? Does anyone know what name is being mentioned? I can't find "Baltek" or the like

[@vitor822chao]

Bahltek

[@TheMuffinMan73]

Does anyone know what song plays at 16:05?

[@superbob6783]

Wouldn't we have been like Razah as a Utopian player?

[@suneclipse2290]

I just had the thought, what if the gods rly created the elder dragons so the commandeur would be trained and absorb the powers in the end aand then he/she is ready to go to utopia to help the gods defeating the old once

[@suneclipse2290]

So all had done would be made by the gods to be ready for the final fight i mean if that was true, that would be an awsome end and id be fine

[@petra_g]

17:59 Horses in guild wars o.O

[@Kossage]

That's nothing out of the ordinary. It's been a running joke that we never see horses (alive ones, anyway, as necrid horsemen did exist in GW1) in either GW games except for Thorn's invisible pony Mr. Gum Drops. But lorewise horses have played key parts in human history, most notably the first Canthan Emperor Kaineng Tah's death being partly caused by his injured horse (the other culprits likely being huntsmen whom the emperor's ruthless son Yian Zho may have bribed to assassinate the emperor so Yian could ascend as the new emperor; this is supported by strange wounds on Kaineng's body as per Loremaster Ermenred's investigations). The latest sighting of horses occurred during Edge of Destiny novel in 1319 AE (six years before GW2 story begins) when Caithe, Logan and Rytlock activated a malfunctioning asura gate and saw glimpses of various Tyrian locations, including a grassy plain with lots of wild horses with each member recognizing them. It would be pretty fun if we saw horses either in GW2 Cantha or in some living world episode even if we could only ride or corral them during a dynamic event or two. :)

[@9090kitkat]

I’m still waiting for mine. ETA is June

[@nathanclaypole3778]

Maybe Aurene finds this place when she's fixing up Kralks mess

[@Teraphas]

That one spire looks very abadon six eyes to me

[@dargosian]

" *_THERE CAME A TIME WHEN THE OLD GODS DIED -- AND NEW GODS WERE BORN!_* " - Jack Kirby's New Gods Compilation Blurb, 2018 ---------------------- "𝑬𝑷𝑰𝑳𝑶𝑮𝑼𝑬 *_There came a time when the Old Gods died!_* The brave died with the cunning! The noble perished, locked in battle with unleashed evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust! The final moment came with the fatal release of indescribable power -- which tore the home of the Old Gods asunder -- split it in great halves -- and filled the universe with the blinding death-flash of its destruction! In the end, there were two giant molten bodies, spinning slow and barren -- clean of all that had gone before -- adrift in the fading sounds of cosmic thunder... Silence closed upon what had happened -- a long, deep silence -- wrapped in massive darkness... it was this way for an age... *_THEN -- THERE WAS LIGHT!_* Across the vast distances -- where the mysteries deepen, and hide, and wait with answers not yet known -- a call has been heard -- a name summoned for the ultimate mission -- to thwart the ultimate destruction! Thus he comes -- the protector -- wielder of the Astro-Force -- *_ORION of the NEW GODS!_* An epic for our time // ORION FIGHTS FOR EARTH!" - Jack Kirby's New Gods #1, Feb-Mar 1971

[@ElysiaWhitemoonOmega]

i still think some form of arachnaia remained in abaddon and surfaced when he became evil, he wa ssupposed to look beautiful with wings, but hsi tormented form has a spidery mouth and those Torment Claws look spidery too

[@adney123]

This actually sounds like Soto in alot of different ways🤔