It’s been a little over a year since the final episodes of season one of Guild Wars 2’s living world story line saw the complete destruction of one of the MMO’s largest cities, Lion’s Arch. The season’s villain, Scarlet Briar, launched a massive attack against the city, and while she was ultimately killed, the city has been left in ruins ever since. That is, until now.
Starting this week, if players visit the ruins of Lion’s Arch, they will notice quite a few changes, specifically, construction teams, surveyors, assembly ships, and equipment and scaffolding now dotting the broken city. A delightfully game-centered post on the Guild Wars 2 website reads, “The plan of the city leaders is not to attempt to fully restore the landmark as it once was, but rather to implement an enhanced design that will more realistically serve the Tyria of today… The city will be a more fortified city, with a design intended to protect citizen and visitor alike. And yet, the city will retain its distinctive beauty.”
The post goes on to say, “Construction projects are dependent on workers and weather, both of which can be unpredictable. But while we don’t have a date for the final unveiling, we can say that—due to the advantages of off-site construction—one morning in the next few months you’ll awake to a newly refreshed Lion’s Arch.” Or in other words, ArenaNet will release the new city when it is ready.
As an added bonus however, with a new city comes the requirements for new names, and ArenaNet has opened it up to the players to help name some of the new renovated areas. Voting is open here, until May 26th.
In the lead up to the still undated Guild Wars 2 expansion, ‘Heart of Thorns,’ ArenaNet has opened up about what players can expect from the new specialization system and new endgame content. While we still wait of ‘Heart of Thorns,’ are you excited about a new and improved Lion’s Arch? Let us know in the comments.