Campaign connections

So...I have a question. If this has already been discussed...please send me a link.

Obviously the last two campaigns have a connection to real-world cultures:
Factions = Asian (China = Cantha)
Nightfall = African (Elona = Egypt)

Based on the appearance of the characters and the geography, I would assert the Prophecies has a western European motif. However, the name Tyria does not follow suit with the others (ie. Cantha & China with "c" and Elona and Egypt with "e"). The closest that I have come is Tyria = The UK...but this doesn't work well because the geography lends itself to a larger region of sorts.

Anyone have any ideas or input?

i would say Tyria might have been based on Turkey

Mmmm Turkey...that is a delicious possibility.

I don't think there was any alliterative effect here - purely coincidence. After all, Cantha is based on a generic Asian/Oriental motif from the names and designs - not just Chinese but Japanese and to some extent Korean as well.

Furthermore, Elona has touches not just of Egypt but tribal Africa, and the Middle East (Arabs etc).

I'd say it's all split up. Most of Elona is african in style, but it's not all just Egypt. There's influences from many different african countries there.

Likewise, Shing Jea is like a chinese monestery whereas I'd say Keineng is more japenese in style. The luxons are nomadic, not chinese or japanese but something more like mongols perhaps. And the Kurzicks building's are german in style.

So in Tyria. Ascalon is really western in style, medieval western buildings. The dwarfs build like Scandanavians. Kryta is like quite turkish, or possibly roman (in a more industial way, not fancy, but aimed at practicality). The desert has hints of Egyptian ruins in it, and the jungle is purely fantasy I'd say. Nothing looks like the buildings the druid's built.

So I guess it's a bit like
Elona = Africa
Cantha = Asia
Tyria = Europe

Yeah, that's basically what it is...

Tyria = Europe
Cantha = Asia
Elona = Africa

I agree.

Tyria= Asia
Cantha: Africa
Elona: Europe.

So, in which part of teh wuorld is based GWEN?

Ummm...proof check on this guy.

I definitely see that:
Tyria = Europe
Cantha = Asia
Elona = Africa

As for GWEN...maybe Siberia or some other northern European region.

Nah, not all of it is that far north. It just extends on the European theme that Tyria has. More or less.

I've associated GWEN with a Scandinavian theme.

uhhhh.......

Tyria Asian? OH GOD NO!!!

Anyway, what I think:

Tyria
Ascalon is real medievalness. For sure. Kryta has the monarchy and whatnot of a medieval European location, but the structures are different. I'd say the Deldrimor Dwarves follow sort of a Russian setup, at least in climate and the Prophecies voice actors. Some of the more-realistic names for Deldrimor sound sort of Russian too.

Cantha
All Asian. I think the nomenclature is more Chinese than Korean/Japanese.

Elona
Istan is sort of Egyptian, Kourna I'm not sure (probably something generic), Vabbi is definitely middle east.

I think you are just reading too much into the names. Just because Cantha and Elona are spelled with a "C" and "E" doesn't mean anything. And remember, Elona was named long before NF.

I tend to think of the Luxons as being Greek, myself.

1) Tyria is not supposed to follow suit with the other names. THE OTHER NAMES ARE SUPPOSED TO FOLLOW SUIT WITH TYRIA! Remember, it came first.

2) Cantha and Elona (the names at least) both existed back in Prophecies, so it wasn't an oversight later on. Numerous Krytan NPCs, the Guild Hall NPC, Jiaju Tai, and Xunlai Agents talk about Cantha and its trade relations with Kryta. Most ghosts in the Crystal Desert were from Elona, and speak of it, and there is even a mission named after Elona.

3) A reminder that Tyria is the name of not only the continent, but also the world (kinda like Blizzard with Azeroth the WC1 kingdom and Azeroth the world, though I think in WoW they renamed the kingdom Stormwind. WHAT THE HELL?).

The Asuran GWEN part is inspired by mayan and other south american cultures, i believe.

That is true...

and what about Orr? Anyone that has been in Shards of Orr can give us some feedback?

Thats probably the only place in Tyria (world) with Orrian architecture of some sort. Im pretty sure it looks like Greek architecture (City of the gods = Olympus).

Well their archetecture is anyone's guess really, however if Vhizer is a good example of what a "typical" orrian person was then the people of Orr were very arabic/mid-eastern in nature.

That is possible, but must I recall who (or what) The Vizier really was? Not a very trustworthy source of information there...

That thing was a professional liar.

And what about The Charr Homelands anyway?

sherwood forest with oversized dogs/cats? ionno