Lion’s Arch Rebuilt, Guild Wars 2

Last month, I discussed my thoughts on the redevelopment of Lion’s Arch as it stood in an awkward state of ruins and fortifications awaiting a shiny new look via the in-game organisation called “The Consortium”.  One month on and we able to see how those pieces of scaffolding and concept drawings have to come to life alongside a significant change to gameplay via the implementation of the specialisation system and build creator.  As a quick note, I very much like this system (even if I was a little confused at first) and have been trying out some builds I haven’t touched in quite some time. 

The Asuran Gateways have a new plaza for players to look and interact with.  Screenshot taken 28/6/2015

Anyway, onto talking about the rebuild.

The harbor features a large sculpture of a lobster/ shellfish much like other important landmarks in LA.  Screenshot taken 28/6/2015 

Lion’s Arch new look is something that holds a great deal of aesthetical beauty and strength while maintaining its impression as a maritime-focused settlement.  It has a collection of aquatic-themed sculptures defining each section of the city such as trade skills, banks and harbour that use a combination of polished white stone and jade-like glass with minor details adorned with gems e.g. the squid’s eyes by the banker across from the mystic forge.  The residents have a nice mixture of timber framed lodges and stone-clad houses which fit nicely into the maritime feeling in particular with some of the timber buildings being built from a ship’s hull (or at least designed to look like it was).  The fortress gives the impression of a formidable position as it continues the stone masonry creating high walls punctuated by a collection of canons finished in metal and gold that tie into the Lion’s Guard regalia which gives credence to one NPC’s line saying that “Lion’s Arch is the safest place to be these days”.  Outside of this, a tall lighthouse sits on the edge of the city as its bold rays of light circle around its central point giving the people of LA a means to help those looking to dock and be more aware than ever when a threat is upon them.  Overall, it is a significant increase in size and bulk that is somewhat different to how I believe it would work out. 

A combination of wood and stone give LA a particular feeling.  Screenshot taken 28/6/2015

LA being this ‘pirate state’ originally fit into its aesthetic with a selection of shacks, wooden structures and makeshift architecture from boats alongside a bazaar-like trade district.  This is why in my earlier post, I wished for a North-African souk/bazaar feeling as I feel it would instil a feeling of business and life into the area.  That’s not to say that the current trade district doesn’t have the potential to be loud under its glass sea-life canopy, I just hope that place gets to be a bit chaotic from time to time; with NPCs peddling their goods and players running around achieving their goals for the day.  This follows into my thoughts about the landscape of the main areas in LA which feature an ordered array of houses and offices against a white stone formation.  This place to me feels like it’s been ‘colonized’ akin to the British Empire days where places like the West Indies would have their ports and architecture heavily influenced by their ruler’s design.  Although at first I was on the fence about the look, I feel that it does make sense when one considers the story, as LA has become a place that has seen its fair share of conflict and an external organisation (Consortium) has paid for its reconstruction.  So, by welcoming our new overlords, I’d like to talk about what I enjoy about the new LA. 

The spaces feel properly landscaped making open spaces feel relevant against the urban feel.  Screenshot taken 28/6/2015

Lion’s Arch is a lovely piece of landscaping which looks to create a good mix of tall structures, residential blocks, green spaces and artistic sculptures that all fit into the overall aesthetic.  It does a great job of bringing together an urban environment within a rural setting which the racial cities haven’t really experimented with to this degree.  I believe it’s something that is very much similar when we look at the development of town planning in the 20^th century with Garden Cities and New Towns. 

The Garden City and its concept of urban living in a rural environment.  Image from http://www.morrissociety.org/ accessed 29/6/2015

Ebenezer Howard’s vision for a Garden city was created towards the end of the Victorian age where the desire for industrialisation was closely followed by the increase of designated parkland and green-spaces as concepts like ‘jogging for pleasure / fitness’ started to become more apparent.  The idea of having factories fitting into a backdrop of rolling fields and wooded areas was commonly seen in concept work, finding its way into a couple real world examples with Letchworth and Welwyn in the late 1800s / early 1900s in England.  Garden Cities found a new lease of life after the Second World War due to the creation of New Towns with my home town, Harlow, being developed from 1947 onwards.  The ability for services, shops, residential blocks and communal spaces of an urban design being wrapped in a mixture of green verges, fields and forests is something I’ve greatly appreciated during my time living in this environment.  The fact that I can sit in the town centre and see 2 wooded areas, rolling hills and horses trotting around a field is something I’ve rarely experience elsewhere when it comes to a town and / or city.  Taking some time to review the new specialisation system made me have a similar feeling sitting on a landscaped piece of grass with a tall urban city present around me. 

(Right) Harlow Town centre (Left) green hills and woods.  Image from Google maps c.October 2014.  Image accessed 29/6/2015

Overall, I would say I’m happy with the design of the new Lion’s Arch.  It fits into the new identity of the city and it’s created some nice new vistas (visually not mechanically) which make for some lovely screenshots.  That being said, I still would like to see a bit more NPC life being brought into the place which potentially could be solved with some living world updates or short-term celebrations being held in LA. 

A spot to watch the world go past while I figure out my new engineer build.  Screenshot taken 28/6/2015

As a rough end-point, I’d say the patch is pretty cool and the Karka exterminate collection has created a nice incentive for people to explore the new city while gaining a very useful item in return.  If you’ve played GW2 in the past, it’s a pretty cool time to return.