The beauty of Guild Wars 2 – Blaugust Day 3

Guild Wars 2 has a gorgeous game world and I am sure quite a lot of people agree with me here. I started the screenshot gallery even before the game had officially released. Back then, it was mostly the races’ capitals and Lion’s Arch.

A few days ago, Ten Ton Hammer started a little competition and they’re asking to leave a comment there with a screenshot of your favorite location. Where to even start here… I figured I would go and take a screenshot at a place that I really like, but then I actually remembered the huge gallery I already uploaded here. :p Yes, it’s been a while since I last updated it… it’s just a lot of work with first spending a few hours on a given map, taking a few hundred screenshots (no, I am not exaggerating, that’s how I am…). Then a few more hours going through said screenshots and deciding which ones will make it into the final gallery. Why should I ignore all this effort. The pictures shown there already went through my very critical review process, after all. But it’s still not easy. There are hundreds of pictures now. At the same time, looking at people’s contributions over there, I know my chances of winning are slim. There are just too many beautiful locations in Tyria. :)

So, let me show you which ones were in my top X list.

How could I not think about something from the Labyrinthine Cliffs? This region was amazing! It wasn’t just the way it looked. If my memory serves right, you could also hear the wind and I can almost smell it, too. Almost… But that’s how well done this region was! Too bad it belonged to the infamous “temporary content”.

Since my favourite race is Asura, I just had to include something from Rata Sum. The architecture is fun to look at and this piece had bookahnerk look at it and wonder… where was this taken? Which angle are we even looking at?

However, as you can see by me including not one screenshot, but a gallery of screenshots, Black Citadel is what has me in awe the most. Maybe because it kind of reminds me of my own “place”. Not that we have anything as cool and gigantic here. But look closely at the city the next time you’re there: The ruins of Ascalon are everywhere. Ancient buildings full of history, a living proof of what once was. And then, on top and in the middle and all around it are the new buildings and structures made by the Charr that have reclaimed their land. Old and new sitting together. If you’ve ever been to a German town with its half-timbered buildings right next to modern buildings, you know what I’m talking about! Of course, we have nothing Tyrian here and we certainly don’t have any feline humanoids, but the “concept” is the same.

And if you want to know which one I chose for Ten Ton Hammer, you’ll have to head over there and look at the comments section yourself. :p The deadline to leave a screenshot there is August 7, by the way. So there is still enough time left for you to participate!

This post is part of Blaugust 2015.