Sylvari Cinematic Intro

[Balandar]

From ArenaNet:

Even though I was directly involved in creating ideas for the race intro cinematics, it was always a rush to see them realized by our amazing art team. It felt like opening a birthday present every single time.

“Cinematics are ready!” the Cinematics Team would call, and we’d squee as we ran to see it play on an artist’s computer (Jeff Grubb may stoically reject the word ‘squee,’ but even he was grinning like a maniac when we got to see the asura ones). For us, those cinematics represented the birth of each race; a player’s first emotional investment in the game universe.

Sylvari

However, for the sylvari, the opening cinematic was even more important. We’d never established the sylvari before, and players had no history with the race in the Guild Wars universe. But even as challenging as that was, we had a tremendous opportunity to establish part of the sylvari experience that is critical to understanding their race — the Dream of Dreams. Because the sylvari are awakened as fully-grown individuals, we chose to make their tutorial experience happen within the Dream, and to have their opening cinematic reflective of it. It’s informative, but it also has mythical quality, a sense of imagery rather than concrete reality.

We needed to show the sylvari mindset, but also who they are, how they relate to life in Tyria, and what kinds of roles they fulfill in our stories of the world. Add to that the need to represent biography choices, introduce the iconic character Caithe, and define the sylvari attitude and “feel.”

The opening cinematics of Guild Wars 2 are intended to sweep you into the game with high drama, visuals, and a quick but compelling summary of your character’s racial perspective. We hope you’ll give us two minutes of your time, and in return, we’ll set the stage for one of the most amazing games ever.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our creative process. I can’t wait to see you all playing in the game!

(After you watch the cinematics, that is…)