By chance, this month my desktop gallery has been serving up a selection from the hundred and more screenshots I took during the first appearance of The Bazaar of The Four Winds. That was almost exactly two years ago.
This year we got Golem Rush. And some people say there no such thing as progress.
Oh the memories. Some of ArenaNet's finest work at least from an artistic standpoint IMHO. I dislike jumping puzzles intensely but somehow this zone was ok, maybe because the fighting was so contained within the zone that you didn't feel rushed when exploring for crystals. That latter activity despite all the jumping involved was great fun coop trying to spot the crystals and work out the path to them.
The thing that struck me most looking back through my screenshot file is how much of the zone is unaffected by the catastrophe that struck the Zephyrite air fleet. The map is actually called "Labrynthine Cliffs" and the great majority of it is land, sea and the town itself.
The original lore seemed to suggest that not only is The Bazaar a well-established, regular event but that the Zephyrites themselves are a recent addition to it:
"The Bazaar of the Four Winds is gathering — merchants are converging from all corners of Tyria to sell their wares. But this time it's not just shady characters and risky trades; this year, the mystical, flying Zephyr Sanctum has landed" (Quoted from the original, official PR release on the GW2 wiki).
There's no lore reason whatsoever to suggest The Bazaar isn't carrying on just as it ever did. The doors have just been arbitrarily closed to us, the players. Seems like a terrible waste of assets to me.
Oh the memories. Some of ArenaNet's finest work at least from an artistic standpoint IMHO. I dislike jumping puzzles intensely but somehow this zone was ok, maybe because the fighting was so contained within the zone that you didn't feel rushed when exploring for crystals. That latter activity despite all the jumping involved was great fun coop trying to spot the crystals and work out the path to them.
ReplyDeleteI never got hooked on GW2 but those screenshots look awesome.
ReplyDeleteThe thing that struck me most looking back through my screenshot file is how much of the zone is unaffected by the catastrophe that struck the Zephyrite air fleet. The map is actually called "Labrynthine Cliffs" and the great majority of it is land, sea and the town itself.
ReplyDeleteThe original lore seemed to suggest that not only is The Bazaar a well-established, regular event but that the Zephyrites themselves are a recent addition to it:
"The Bazaar of the Four Winds is gathering — merchants are converging from all corners of Tyria to sell their wares. But this time it's not just shady characters and risky trades; this year, the mystical, flying Zephyr Sanctum has landed" (Quoted from the original, official PR release on the GW2 wiki).
There's no lore reason whatsoever to suggest The Bazaar isn't carrying on just as it ever did. The doors have just been arbitrarily closed to us, the players. Seems like a terrible waste of assets to me.