What do the GW gods actually do, or rather, what *can* they do?

Biostem

Biostem

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2007

What do the GW gods actually do, or rather, what *can* they do?

My question is this: we never actually see the gods do anything directly in-game. Yes, we fight Abaddon, but he is basically crippled and weakened in the form we encounter. But what about the other gods? I mean, Balthazar and Grenth can't even keep their own realms under control, and while people surely pray to them, where is their presence? Is it supposed to be a "behind the scenes" type of thing, like Lyssa being *THE* source for mesmers' magic, or Melandru being the source or energy behind nature, or is it more of a Greek pantheon type of thing, where they sit on high and sort of watch and meddle once in a while?

Thanks for reading.

Fern Burntfist

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2008

Dutch Guild Of Honor

R/P

i actually do think this is based on greek mythology. Although i hope that in gw2 they will give us more insight on this subject.

Redfeather1975

Redfeather1975

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

Apartment#306

Rhedd Asylum

Me/

I think it's like a pantheon as well.
And I kinda got this feeling in an EotN quest where they got their powers from.

I hate em. I think they are bad.

Operative 14

Operative 14

Forge Runner

Join Date: Nov 2006

Arizona, USA

[OOP] Order of the Phoenix I

Yeah, I have to say, as far as gods go they are a bit lackluster. and I'd have to agree with your assessment that it's more of a Greek Pantheon type of thing.


The thing that irks me about them is that they are so... useless. Perhaps they should make way for some new Gods!

VitisVinifera

VitisVinifera

Banned

Join Date: Nov 2005

Northern California

HoTR

N/Me

the gods have the ability to nerf skills, create bugs, smile upon botters/dupers/hackers/exploiters, and make hard mode really a stupid mode

that and they grant us passage to UW/FOW

Zahr Dalsk

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Aug 2007

Canada

I don't think they actually affect the world.

Redfeather1975

Redfeather1975

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

Apartment#306

Rhedd Asylum

Me/

I wouldn't be surprised if they just conquer worlds, steal magic, leave and everyone sings their praises through embellished stories.
I think the dragons in GW2 were the original life on Tyria and are probably pissed.
I'm only guessing about all that though. It's just stuff in EotN that the Asura say that makes things sound suspicious.

EPO Bot

EPO Bot

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2006

Mo/N

I think all gods were once humans.

holababe

holababe

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2006

Goon Squad [LLJK]

Mo/

It's similar to Greek mythology so that may well have been where the designers got their inspiration.
One thing, however, is that the Greeks didn't have a well-developed concept of evil, such as Abaddon (Hades wasn't evil, merely the god of the dead).
Thus it feels more like the Norse or Egyptian gods.

Antheus

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2006

Gods, by very definition, do something that mortals cannot comprehend. They merely get to see some side-effects of their actions.

It's similar to an ant building an ant hill on a human construction site. While for humans it's perfectly understandable that they are building a new office block for a mortgage company where they'll employ accountants to calculate risk factors for the 35-50 demographic, the poor little ant only knows that a long steel beam was thrust on the ground two inches away, smashing dozens of its fellow ants in the process.

In GW, people get to see such things as meeting abaddon, or going into FoW and UW, but those are just trivial things, unworthy of god's attention.

2048

Academy Page

Join Date: Sep 2007

Guild Wars

Brotherhood of Veterans C co [BRO]

D/

I bet by the beginning of GW2 we find out that the gods destroyed our HoMs hundreds of years ago because they deemed them too powerful.

~ Dan ~

Forge Runner

Join Date: Dec 2006

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by EPO Bot
I think all gods were once humans.
I am a god.

Shakti

Shakti

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Sep 2006

Home...

Vier Reiter [Vier]

The Frog is the One God. He sits above the others and they feed him flies and choice bug bits.

Zinger314

Zinger314

Debbie Downer

Join Date: May 2006

N/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fern Burntfist
i actually do think this is based on greek mythology. Although i hope that in gw2 they will give us more insight on this subject.
The difference is that in Greek mythology, the gods actually did something.

In GW, the gods do nothing.

gone

Guest

Join Date: Jan 2007

just like in the real world, God(s) need money, so therefore that is what they do. they Bank. Hmpff..yea.

Shakkara

Shakkara

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Oct 2006

W/

They're korean goldfarmers that scam you out of your gold at their shrines to get worthless blessings!

Magikarp

Magikarp

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Nov 2007

[HAWK]

their shrines give blessings/fow/uw/advice in some missions/quest, and so on. the gods of greek/roman cuture were similar, only in the upper status of the gods. for instance, rarely did zeus bother with humans outside of having random sex with a girl or two, and aries/posiedon/athena/hades rarely ever go out and do anything in mythological lore, other than give advice and blessings (or curses). those are the gods that the gws gods represent (for the most part) the most, minus melandru, who deems from dioneseus (sp??) god of wine, or earth, who partied a lot with the humans (getting crunk).

this is my personal assesment i've had since the start, and might be of some help to you and your judgement on how they stand. they arent that much different from the same, lazy, egotistical, seeingly flawed behaviours of the greek/roman gods we all know and love (or hate).

Risa

Risa

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Aug 2006

The Nights Watch [Crow]

Mo/

If you remember from the story from the Prophecies Booklet, the gods once lived among the mortals, I believe. Then the humans abused their magical powers or something and they broke the magical stone into five, and spread them across Tyria. Then they left the world. It was something along those lines, although I could be thinking of something else, it's been a while since I've read the booklet. XD

Frostnova

Frostnova

Academy Page

Join Date: Aug 2007

Paladins of Eternal Truth [POET]

R/

lol the gods gives us blessings when we kneel at their shrines...but we need to pay them for it??? =S soooo wht DO they do with that money XD

Smile Like Umean It

Smile Like Umean It

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

E/Rt

Quote:
Originally Posted by Risa
If you remember from the story from the Prophecies Booklet, the gods once lived among the mortals, I believe. Then the humans abused their magical powers or something and they broke the magical stone into five, and spread them across Tyria. Then they left the world. It was something along those lines, although I could be thinking of something else, it's been a while since I've read the booklet. XD
Exactly what I was gonna say. I once sat down and read all of the lore on the Wiki and that's what I remember.

Jake_Steel

Jake_Steel

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Oct 2007

Portland, OR

The Older Gamers (TOG)

N/Me

Dwayna and Grenth get shitefaced on Wintersday on too much eggnog.

ensoriki

ensoriki

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Canada bro.

A/D

god's use the money we give them to pay for Lyssa's liposuction.

She's not naturally good looking.

Pupu

Pupu

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Dec 2005

Left gw..yawn

W/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by ensoriki
god's use the money we give them to pay for Lyssa's liposuction.

She's not naturally good looking.
lol you can be so random sometimes, your funny. :P

Tyla

Emo Goth Italics

Join Date: Sep 2006

Sit around watching football/rugby while screaming GOAAALLLLLLLLL!!! Balthazar anyway!:P
For Grenth - he will be watching Cradle of Filth videos.
For Lyssa - she will be putting makeup on all of her heads.
For Dwayna - pointing at grenth with an angry face.
For Melandru - watering herself.

Man - why do me and my fellow rangers worship a god that waters herself??

chowmein69

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2007

the gods takes our gold

Halmyr

Halmyr

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2005

Canada! eh!

~none~

W/Me

Quote:
Originally Posted by ensoriki
There probably doing god like things....but we can't comprehend them because we aren't gods.
This is the smartess thing I have seen this guy say and not to be a troll or anything O_o

Truly, they may have been don interacting with the mortal world, but what the heck do we know, maybe making new worlds? or I would think preparing for the dragons.

ensoriki

ensoriki

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Canada bro.

A/D

If you really want to know what god's do?

Lets just form an 8 man party and beat the crap out of kormir and create a new god
it worked before.

freaky naughty

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Mo/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by ensoriki
If you really want to know what god's do?

Lets just form an 8 man party and beat the crap out of kormir and create a new god
it worked before.
Yeahhh.... Never understood why Kormir got to be god. She just stands there and watches.... Oh wait she was blind....... So she stands there following our voices not knowing where the hell she's going and by coincidence she absorbs all of Abadon"s power? C'mon it was all us we killed him we deserve to be gods.

freaky naughty

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Mo/N

Quote:
Originally Posted by Risa
If you remember from the story from the Prophecies Booklet, the gods once lived among the mortals, I believe. Then the humans abused their magical powers or something and they broke the magical stone into five, and spread them across Tyria. Then they left the world. It was something along those lines, although I could be thinking of something else, it's been a while since I've read the booklet. XD
Okay... But does the booklet or lore say anything about what they did while they were in Tyria? If dragons are more powerful than the Gods then obviously the gods aren't omnipotent so the Gods probably didn't create humans and charr and all those things. So what did they do? Nothing.

Biostem

Biostem

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2007

Yeah... it basically seems to boil down to the gods being powerful people (creatures?) that were power hungry, and took advantage of an opportunity presented to them to attain some self-proclaimed godhood.

It's really too bad - I was hoping there was more "substance" to them...

Redfeather1975

Redfeather1975

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

Apartment#306

Rhedd Asylum

Me/

Although it's true that the in-game lore says the gods shaped the world and brought magic to Tyria, stories will always have embellishments and become more skewed in order to fit into the context of that time period's traditional views.
Giganticus Lupicus were said to be the original life on Tyria long before the gods. But what happened to them?

It's entirely possible to find out later that the gods are not how Tyrian script portrays them as.

Purple Monkey Dishwasher!

Numa Pompilius

Numa Pompilius

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

At an Insit.. Intis... a house.

Live Forever Or Die Trying [GLHF]

W/Me

Do Gods ever do anything?

pamelf

pamelf

Forge Runner

Join Date: Aug 2006

Australia

Lost Templars [LoTe]

Me/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Numa Pompilius
Do Gods ever do anything?
touche 654321

pumpkin pie

pumpkin pie

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jul 2006

behind you

bumble bee

E/

the gods could provide GW 1 with new title track and/or more mini mission pack.

get on the good side of your preferred god and/or gods and when ever you are in their territory, you can switch on the related god's title to gain the extra bonus or whatever.

Redfeather1975

Redfeather1975

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

Apartment#306

Rhedd Asylum

Me/

Does anyone remember the god statues in Augury Rock?
I know it's during the fight with doppleganger and not easy to see because you are in a fight, but there are statues of Melandru, Grenth, Lyssa and Balthazar.
Each statue is in an alcove with runes and have 2 paths leading upwards to 2 more alcoves with runes. So there are 8 smaller empty alcoves in total.

Sora

Sora

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Hong Kong

Guardian of Old Ascalon (GoA)

E/

Give you blessing so you can...attack 10% faster?

Kashrlyyk

Kashrlyyk

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinger314
The difference is that in Greek mythology, the gods actually did something.

In GW, the gods do nothing.
Absolutly. GW is very badly developed when it comes to Gods.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Magikarp
...the gods of greek/roman cuture were similar, only in the upper status of the gods. for instance, rarely did zeus bother with humans outside of having random sex with a girl or two, and aries/posiedon/athena/hades rarely ever go out and do anything in mythological lore, other than give advice and blessings (or curses). those are the gods that the gws gods represent (for the most part) the most, minus melandru, who deems from dioneseus (sp??) god of wine, or earth, who partied a lot with the humans (getting crunk).....
From the trojan war: "The gods were very angry over the destruction of their temples and other sacrilegious acts by the Acheans, and decided that most would not return home." and "Ajax the Lesser, who had endured more than the others the wrath of the Gods, never returned. His ship was wrecked by a storm sent by Athena, who borrowed one of Zeus' thunderbolts and tore it to pieces. The crew managed to land in a rock, but Poseidon struck it, and Ajax fell in the sea and drowned."

netniwk

netniwk

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

Bellgium

W/E

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kashrlyyk
Absolutly. GW is very badly developed when it comes to Gods.
So,when a game needs to be good developed there need to be Gods who do all the work?

Kashrlyyk

Kashrlyyk

Jungle Guide

Join Date: May 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by netniwk
So,when a game needs to be good developed there need to be Gods who do all the work?
No, they should be more involved, looking at the end of Nightfalls here. The end of Factions was more like it should be. The celestial skills were powerful enough, that I makes it believable the Gods help and support you.

Or there should be no gods at all! Having gods, is always a tricky thing in a game.

snikerz

snikerz

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Dec 2005

Rt/A

guildwars is textbook case stargate, many aspects that are in guildwars came from stargate.

examples:
gods(as in the false gods, the goa'uld)
ascension(become more powerful, a higher state of being)
asura gate(well they are both round portal gates)

they are obviously not true gods because they can die as evident by old ones get knocked off, new ones rise to power, same thing with the goa'uld.
dhuum - grenth
abaddon - kormir

and then there are minorlings aka menzies who is brother to balthazar

think of the gods of gw as the systemlords like in stargate hehe

anyway whoever came up with the gw storyline must be a stargate nut like me.