Bloodstone Fen

"Go on if you want. But you should know, the stone disrupts divine energy. Those killed on top of it take much longer to resurrect." -Blade Scout Ryder

Bloodstone Fen was an important turning point in Guild Wars as it was the mission that our characters saw the true nature of the White Mantle. With the return of Living Story/World Season 3, we also found the return of the Bloodstone Fen map, but with a lot of changes. Namely the fact that it was the epicenter of a strange explosion.

Because of this explosion, the map doesn't look very familiar, especially around the area that the Bloodstone used to rest. That's why I have to tell you that the few pictures that I got are mostly an approximation  of where I think that things might have been based on major and minor features in the land.

The last picture in this post is only a part of the bloodstone that has apparently broken into several pieces.  It shows what I presume to be the writing we see on it in the first game, though it looks very different and larger. The fact that it's been lit up means the bloodstone was charged recently and we can see the effects of it in the second game.

Of course, we also get more than just locational references with the new map. At a seemingly new colosseum the players get to fight Justicar Hablion, who was the final boss of the Bloodstone Fen mission in the original Guild Wars. There's more than that but there's a risk of spoiling the mission for those who haven't played it yet.

The Falls: Balthazar's Rest

"Lift up thy weapons. For you are my soldiers, and must you be steadfast, strong, and brave of heart. They who neither hesitate nor stumble shall be rewarded. Then shall you have glory. Then shall your deeds be remembered for eternity." - Balthazar

Balthazar's Rest hasn't been completely untouched by Mordremoth, but the inner chambers remain intact. The buildings, once ornate, are now weathered and overgrown. Despite this, and the change of the land formations outside of the temple, Balthazar's Rest remains nearly untouched in the second game.

Again, as I've mentioned in another post before, I have a theory that humans in the first game saw their creations through rose-tinted glasses. In the second game, we get a chance to look at nearly pristine replicas of the land 250 years later. We see that they're not quite as ornate or spectacular. While this can be chalked up to a difference in design aesthetics on the Guild Wars teams between the games, I prefer the idea of an in game, lore-related reason.

The Temple of Balthazar can be found in The Falls area in Guild Wars in the bottom left of the map. Likewise, Balthazar's Rest can be found in the bottom left section of the map in Guild Wars 2. It's easy to navigate the two locations once there; they've done an amazing job replicating it in Guild Wars 2.

The Falls

"Water cascades over the rocks into a pool so deep you can't see the bottom." -The Falls

In the first game, taking a trip to The Falls requires a long trek. In fact, the entire map was named "The Falls" but it's in reference to this particular location, despite the fact that more waterfalls exist in the map. It's a land filled with centaurs, trolls, skale, wind riders, and other more earthly creatures. It has changed a lot in between games in that regard, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that the namesake was nearly an exact copy in between both games. If there was ever a location that one would want to see 'Guild Wars 1 with a graphical update', this would be a prime example. It's worth checking them out side by side if you get the chance.

Auric Basin is a really large map; the scale is so much bigger than what it was in Guild Wars, which is probably a common problem that I have when trying to align locations. There are three key locations that helped me to understand the scale and get my bearings. I've decided that I'll do separate posts for these locations. They were breathtaking and so similar to their first game's counterpart that it seems important for them to have their own posts.

The Falls point of interest, luckily, is easy to navigate, especially if you find the rock ledge. Most of these pictures are taken from this point and rotating around. Getting there can be the difficult part.

Mount Maelstrom

Next in the maps is Mount Maelstrom where we find Droknar's Forge and Port Sledge. 

Droknar's Forge

Asura and Sylvari Playable in BWE3

July 20th is the start of the next Beta Weekend Event. It's grown more exciting for Project Tyria since the Asura and Sylvari will be playable. Originally, Arenanet was waiting to release them at game launch, but now we can test them and explore the Maguuma jungle. This is big news for Project Tyria. We'll now be able to take more screenshots than we thought with the release of the new areas! I will be venturing out in Guild Wars this week to snap pictures of our jungle terrain in hopes of finding these things in the BWE coming up soon!If you have any requests for me to find a certain place, go ahead and comment below.

Are you guys ready to live in the grove and walk the floating streets of Rata Sum? Prepared to live the life of a sentient plant or intelligent being? I certainly am.

What Is Project Tyria?

What is Project Tyria?

I've always loved the graphic of the Guild Wars games and have grown to love the world of Tyria.There's nothing like adventuring through the vines of the Maguuma Jungle or trudging through the snow of the Shiverpeaks. Ascalon has evolved many times now, and a lot of Kryta is underwater. We were there in the before times, and now we arrive again in the after.

    One of the things I absolutely adore are before and after pictures. Don't know why, maybe I like progress? But in celebration of the upcoming Guild Wars 2, I decided to do some comparison pictures to show the progress Tyria has made in the last 250 years. This blog is dedicated to showing those pictures off to the world!
     If you have any pictures you want to add to the blog, feel free to contact me or post via our Facebook page: Project Tyria on Facebook. I will tag your name and even your GW related site to the pictures if I post them on the blog. I'm not only going to post my own pictures here, but anyone else who wants to join in to Project Tyria!