GW2 Written Language

One of the cool things the Guild Wars 2 Blog Krewe have been impressed with is the attention to detail the GW2 game developers have paid. The latest example comes in the effort being put into creating, balancing and maintaining the written language system used thus far in the world of Guild Wars.

Matthew Medina, one of the content designers at ArenaNet, has been working with fellow team members implementing subtle but rewarding elements of lore into the written languages of Tyria and refining how they'll be used in Guild Wars 2.

Says Matthew, "When we started development on Guild Wars 2 I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have a fully integrated set of writing systems that would include all the written languages we already have, plus a couple of new ones. Our team set to work collecting our existing alphabets, crafting new ones, and setting guidelines for the written languages that players will discover in Guild Wars 2."

Players will have the opportunity to read and translate examples of two new writing systems in Guild Wars 2. Over the past 220 years, New Krytan has become the standard writing system in Tyria and is used widely throughout the human kingdom, the asura colleges, and by the norn. "The other language will remain secret for now" says Matthew.

The end result is that translatable writing systems, both old and new, will be found throughout Tyria, though deciphering these alphabets will be completely optional.

Rest assured that if you see writing in Guild Wars 2, you'll almost certainly be capable of reading it, something which will make the game play experience richer, more absorbing and most certainly more fun.