Lions Arch Fountain

Another post for today! 

I noticed a lot of people are coming to the site in search of the Lions Arch Fountain. I'm not sure why, but if there is any way I can help you, feel free to ask! But to celebrate so many views due to this mysterious search I decided to go ahead and update my 'Progression of the Lions Arch Fountain' project. Now included is the Dragon Bash's version of the fountain and this time I split it up into three different images so that it would show up a little better and I hope it worked. 

I saw that some of you were coming here trying to find where the fountain is: Let me help and point it out to you on a map! 

The orange circle and arrow point out the Grand Piazza which is where the fountain is located in Lions Arch.
The name of the point of interest where the fountain is will be called Lions Court.  

Around Divinity's Reach

 For the past week I've been strolling around Divinity's Reach for my Concept to Reality screenshots. It really is just a huge place full of beauty and surprises and f you haven't taken the back alleys, you're missing out on a lot.  If you're really into losing yourself into an environment, give an hour or two to relax and stroll around the city. If you're into the lore, there's plenty of NPCs to talk to, books to read, and places to see. I thought that after my first 2+ hour walk through the city was enough to let me see it all, but going back through this week proved me wrong.

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to get a perfect angle on some of these because the art doesn't translate to how the camera works for our characters in game. Regardless, I found what I could and snapped pictures of it to either show the likeness or differences between the art and what it came out to be in the game.

Port Sledge

I've been fighting the Mark II Golem quite a bit lately, and every time I've been to the Old Port Sledge waypoint, I've tried to remind myself to get myself back into Guild Wars and take corresponding screenshots. There are a lot of broken bridges in the area and it still amazes me how much melted snow and floral growth changes an area, of course with 250 years on top of that.

It's pretty sad though. Witman's Folly was actually one of my more favorite explorable areas in Guild Wars and I hate to see it turn from a deadly frosty wonderland to a deadly garden.  However, being able to go in between even this day is fun enough. I've never been so grateful that they kept the first game running.

On another note, I'm going to be trying to post weekly now in order to keep the front updated.

Concept to Reality Series

Today I got to do something I've been wanting to start for Project Tyria. There are a couple of things I've had planned for the site for quite some time now, but never had the initiative to do it (Starting to feel like thief.) I went in search of concept art for designs I know I've seen in game, and went to match them up. So here's the first two pieces for the 'Concept to Reality" series of pictures I will be doing along side of comparison pictures of the games.
I'm really interested in this type of thing and it really goes along well with the before and after pictures theme. Please expect to see more from not only Guild Wars but also Guild Wars 2.

"Peasant house" in Lakeside County

Wizard's Tower in Wizard's Folly

Community News

Just bringing in some community news!

Gamersbook is having a really big contest- I mean it is kind of a big deal. Not only are they giving out copies of the game, but a lot of neat gaming items to go with it. I highly suggest entering; besides a little of your time, what do you have to lose?

If you have heard of Gamersbook, it's a social media site for gamers of any kind to meet and talk, much like you would on Facebook or Google+.

If you're interested in joining in the contest, go ahead and look at the rules here.

Last but not least, I'm working on getting some new comparison pictures together. Please keep with me as I attempt to find more and more places.

Project Tyria Panel

I'm making this post today to let everyone know that I've been spending time securing and getting ready for my first Guild Wars panel convention debut! The convention I will be attending is a rising Anime and Gaming convention in Atlanta, Georgia called Momocon. In the panel I will be discussing the lore of the two games (with as few spoilers between one or the other as possible.) If you're in the area, please come visit, I go on at 5:30pm Eastern US time this Saturday (March 9th).

If you can't make it, I'm planning on making a live broadcast of it while it is happening on my Twitch TV channel: twitch.tv/alucardalina. This is only if everything goes to plan (as in we need to make sure we have an internet connection when we get there.) I will not be able to vouch for the quality of the video, but I can assure you that either way, I will have a high quality version uploaded after the convention.

WoodenPotatoes has generously allowed me to use one of his videos in the panel, and I can't say how thankful I am for it. If you still aren't convinced that Momocon is something worth attending, Steve Blum (Voice of Rytlock) and Jennifer Hale (Voice of female sylvari and Queen Jennah) will be attending the convention (not specifically my panel). It'll be a good time to get those collectors edition prints signed.  I will also be debuting my Guild Wars 2 cosplay myself, in which I'll be wearing during the panel. I hope to see some of you join either in the room or in my channel!

Contest Winner

So it's finally time to reveal who our contest winner is! The process was rough, like really. As I was reading through the many comments, I had a tough time choosing because they were all so great and inspiring. I'm going to take a trip to each one this week and try and get a picture of the place described in my top 7. I meant to narrow it down to five, but it couldn't be helped. As promised, though, I put the seven through a random number generator and came out with one winner. I regret that I couldn't have multiple winners.

The winner is Ellemerr, whose writing style captivated me and won a spot in my favorites with their description of Ashford Abbey/Sardelac Sanitarium/Lakeside County. The RNG chose their number, which makes them very lucky. Their story is as follows:

"The sun is so weak, clouded in this red sky, that there’s hardly any light left at all. This is a world of shadow. But how much more cherished, then, isn’t the light that’s left? From a distance it seems to be glowing scarlet, a fire that doesn’t flicker, reflecting on every surface it can find – and there are many of them. Discarded metal lies forlorn in the dust; torn fences raise their rusty fingers to the heavens, and even the ash that covers the ground is glittering like grey snow, hiding microscopic diamonds in its charcoal caress. Even the huge crystal that made this land what it is now reflects the rays of the sun, shining with a morbid, mesmerizing vitality. It, too, stretch spikey arms in prayer into the clouds, parting them gently as it grasps for the stars from which it fell. Hanging low in the sky, the glowing sun-disc can only light up one side of anything, and so everything is a play of light and dark, beings of yin and yang… but when you look at the dark side, you can never shut the light out completely. It hugs your frame like a caring mother, giving you an aura of stars, making you almost saint-like despite all darkness. It doesn’t matter that your face is a mask of black, futureless and anonymous. This has always been a holy place, where the Goddess of the Heavens used to smile down on lush grass and smiling irises. You may think she’s abandoned us because her statue is torn down, her wings broken, but the sky is still here, and the eye of the sun is still smiling at us, and one day the grass will grow back. One day the sky will lift its red mourning veil and allow the light back into this place in full, and irises and children may once again grin and laugh at one another. But until that day, do not shun this place. Come, and look at the play of the light and shadow. Come, and tell me if this place can ever be more beautiful than it is right now… 
(Of course, it could, because of enhanced graphics. But I’m still going to love that place outside of Ashford Abbey/Sardelac Sanitarium and the light it showed me, forever.)"

I was so excited to revisit when I read this, and I did. Here is screenshot of exactly what I had pictured when I read this entry!

Our runner's up were (in no particular order):

• jjpt-photo@msn.com
• Sgx_d
• George Bullen
• Paani
• RoseofGilead
• Diint Siorus

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and I really love your writing (even if you didn't make it into the top)! I hope I can offer more contests in the future, and I will try my best to. Thanks again to ArenaNet for supplying me with this hefty prize!

Ellemerr, please contact me so we can discuss shipping information.