I'm very curious to see some starting cities especially Syronai and Broken Maw. If the devs were to do a city reveal which would you be interested to see the most and what ideas do you think might be incorperated into that city? I think there might be a much older post similiar to this but I figured with the showing of the new race models this might have sparked some interest on the topic.
A city floating in the sky sounds the most intriguing to me, so I'd pick Skyhold.
Now back here in reality lol, we'll see Faerthale soon. My guess is that VR will finish Kingsreach before moving on, so after Faerthale I expect to see Sorhiryth next. I'm also betting they'll move on to the continent of Reignfall after that, so I'm not holding my breath about seeing Skyhold or any place in Whitethaw for quite a while.
I hope the lore and depth of each starting city reflects a deep rich history of the people that inhabit it. The style and layout should reflect heavily upon the inhabitants culture.
I have avoided the lore section of the forums and will continue to do so until the game releases as I want some mystery going into it. I want to experience it through the medium of the game.
arazons said:I hope the lore and depth of each starting city reflects a deep rich history of the people that inhabit it. The style and layout should reflect heavily upon the inhabitants culture.
The devs mentioned on a stream or a DRT once recently that we should not expect every race to have a full fledged 'city' as their starting area. That some races could share a starting city or that the city would be more of an outpost. I interpret that to mean Thronefast will be the biggest and most developed city while the more primitive races (probably Ogre, Skar and Halfling) would have more minimal or humble beginnings. I see the Skar as a more nomadic species anyway so having their 'city' be a collection of tents and improptu defensive structures (bone spikes) would be appropriate.
Zorkon said:I really hope they don't show any of the starting cities until launch. I want to log in the first time to something totally new. Not some place I've already seen.
Yeah, I totally agree with this as well. When I log in I want to feel like I'm exploring, not just hurrying off to a spot I saw in a stream before the game was released. Course, I won't be able to do that because I also plan to test the game ahead of time lol. So I'll just have to consider the testing my first experience and exploration part of the game.
Ranarius said:Zorkon said:I really hope they don't show any of the starting cities until launch. I want to log in the first time to something totally new. Not some place I've already seen.
Yeah, I totally agree with this as well. When I log in I want to feel like I'm exploring, not just hurrying off to a spot I saw in a stream before the game was released. Course, I won't be able to do that because I also plan to test the game ahead of time lol. So I'll just have to consider the testing my first experience and exploration part of the game.
I'll be testing as well, but I don't believe they will have, or need to show a completed world for testing.
well, but I don't believe they will have, or need to show a completed world for testing.
I would be surprised if they don't open the entire world up by open beta (a month before release?). But yeah, the alpha testing I'm sure will just be portions, and early beta will probably be larger spaces, etc.
Edit: They will certainly want testers to test out starting locations before release though. That is the most important thing on opening day, if they don't have that right people will quit playing on day 1.
Below I will list some info I found on the main page that might give us some clues as what to expect tossing in a little speculation and interested to hear what you all think.
Archi starting city Su'Roa
"The culture of Su'Roa is as vibrant and strong as the massive crystals and ores of its geology".... "Torn from the ancient crystalline planet of Roa"... " wildly diverse island realm of Su’Roa, which means “little home”....
An island city with multiple mentions of Massive crystals and ores but also called little home. Sounds interesting the massive crystals and ore start to match up with the new race reveal with the Archi looking rough and stone like so I would also think it will be a focal point in the design of this city. There is also talk of a significant ceremony that every young Archi goes through called true birth again I would imagine this to be another major focal point within the city decked out with shiny sparkling stones or jewels almost sounds like it would have to be in a cave to match the geology described.
Dwarves starting city Khadassa
" Dwarven King Khazas sacrificed his immortality to rule among them in the wintry fortress of Khadassa"... "no other creation has remained so united with their creator as the Dwarves are to their king".... "established a foothold in the southern tundra, naming the area Khadassa, meaning "Khazas’ Reach", after their king"... "Khazas taught them how to perfectly fuse ice and stone, creating a peerless material in strength and beauty known as Coldark Steel - unbreakable, yet able to be cut thin enough to wear as fabric. With it they built their magnificent Oldassan Citadel in the heart of Khadassa."
Clearly the Dwarves have an extreamly strong bond to the creator and Dwarven King Khazas so some tribute would be logical likely a massive statue of Khazas. Typically even though Dwarves are small they are known for rather large cities built into mountians in this case fusing ice and stone to create Coldark steel. An icy cavern with grand openings and veiw points could imagine the entrance is a fortress like set up that leads into the mountain. Wounder if they will have light shining through similiar to Amberfate or if the city will have a completly different feel?
Dark Myr starting city Syronai
" Syronai would perhaps become a contemporary of Thronefast -- even its chief rival. But their native beauty, valor and nobility have rusted down to bitter ornaments."... " kingdom quietly advancing on land and sea."... " the Dark Myr are seeking to claim the old glories of Issul. They have subdued their realm of the ocean and built a glorious city in honor of Syronai. Yet beneath the surface of splendor, there is an unsettling current that runs through the deep places, where the Dark Myr have descended like the ancient leviathans they were born to destroy."
Syronai sounds to be likely a very large city something to rival thronefast I doubt it will be as massive but very likely the largest city on the continent of Reignfall. I would be surprised if some type of dedication was not given to honor those that sacraficed themselves so that the Dark Myr could survive. It also sounds like we are going to see an underwater graveyard or crypt of some sort to honor the Nythirian Guard's sacrifice. It sounds like there is maybe a war within the Dark Myr vs the Dread Myr? This would lead to secret passage ways and very likely two cities kind of built into eachother with alot of mystery.
Ogres starting city Broken Maw
"With their hulking presence and a culture that values the brutal skills of battle above refinements or leisure" ... "A race that relishes the dance of warfare tactics" ... "When cast upon the naked land of Terminus, the frail bounds between the clans ruptured in haste. After eons of forced restraint, total war arrived" ... "Their corpses are still frozen in the crust of the earth. None survived" ... "In victorious froth, the king desecrated a sacred shrine of ancient Terminus: an ominous statue of a departed Reignborn dragon. This monolith stood as a reminder of the latent authority on the planet, that of the bloodline of the Dragonking himself. Yet in one fearless stroke the Black Moon King tore off the beast’s jaw, casting the hulk at his feet, breaking its maw. In a display of gross mockery, the King set his throne inside the mouth of the disfigured regent." ... "When the Revenant forces fell upon Broken Maw, the reeling nation sought shelter in the Ashen Sanctum, themselves devastated like any common race."
The Story talks about the 7 clans and the war that breaks out when they are cast onto Terminus so a hostile race even amongst themselves only brought together under a fear or maybe respect for the power of the Black Moon King. this leads me to belive that the ogre city might be more of the outpost variety several outposts spread about with possible a center location based around the dragon bone throne. Clearly very warlike in nature would make these outposts full of fighting or training grounds im thinking lots of death and bones spread out over a hell torn location.
Elves starting city of Faerthale
This one seems tricky the Elves have been through alot hehe they have had two distinct and well developed cities in two different locations burn to the ground. We have all seen PF but I dont recall any hint of a city I think it would be odd for the Elves not to have something grand and magical but outside of typical versions of elven cities in various books or games im not sure there is much to go off of here. Could they also be an outpost in the wooded lands of Fearthale?
Gnome starting city of Skyhold
"Meticulous and easily absorbed in the many tasks aboard their floating city ship Skyhold" ... "When deposited on Terminus, the Skyhold floated undisturbed above Whitethaw for nearly 50 years. A deep, resonant hum slowly bore an inverted cone in the snow directly underneath the hulk, otherwise the ship roosted in the skies with silent unconcern. Now with modest access for wayfarers"
Floating city ship I wonder what type of ship it will actually resemble boat like or blimp maybe either way I think it will be filled with alot of interesting arcane objects. Another interesting thing to point out would be the inverted cone that was bore into the snow directly beneath Skyhold. Modest access nothing sounds modest about a floating city and I could only imagine some magical way to enter the ship teleportation is my guess or maybe some beam of light that lifts you up and into the ship.
Skar starting city of Skargol
" The region itself is miserable to the eye, profane to the nose and a tragedy to the land upon which its inhabitants have desecrated. A monolithic fragment of D'Shoth -- the aforementioned "Dead Shear" -- towers into the Terminus clouds, the lone topographical feature and a marvelous silhouette that terrifies in the light of day. On the ground, the roots of the Aza'gn slave clans are still alive, breeding a chaos in Skargol like an asylum where the prisoners are their own guards -- and sometimes eat them. This culture of figurative and literal cannibalism has kept the Skar threat subdued far better than any external force could’ve hoped, and will likely do so for many years, if the Averish is truly in Death's keep."
This sounds extreamly dark slave clans and cannibalism chains cages and prison prisons are what come to mind for me no recorded history leads me to think they are not great builders and maybe just settled the land around them as they saw fit.
Zorkon said:yeah i want to explore on my own, but it could be interesting to get concept art from like a single building just for refference =)I really hope they don't show any of the starting cities until launch. I want to log in the first time to something totally new. Not some place I've already seen.