Talk:Crystal Desert

Untitled

The Crystal Desert is the opposite of verdant. Shido 18:20, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Not in GW2. Read the movement of the world article. Lord of all tyria 19:02, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Joko dammed the Elon, redirecting its flow to the north into the Crystal Desert, creating a lush, green area where the desert formerly was. Calor (t) 19:30, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Formerly? Technically, it's still a desert. "Desert" is technically defined by how much rainfall a region receives -- you can irrigate a desert to make it as lush as you like, but it's still a desert, regardless of how green it gets. --68.187.144.197 21:08, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

In everyday terms, you're not going to call a lush paradise a "desert", even if it does technically qualify for one. Calor (t) 21:17, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Technical terms pwn everyday terms. You don't call antarctica a desert, generally, but it is. -- Armond Warblade 07:55, 18 February 2008 (UTC)

When using desert here, we're using it in the sense of "Dry Rocky or Sandy area with little plant life", not in the technical rainfall sense. it will still probably be called the crystal desert, though, just because that's the name of the region from the first game. Anyway, the point is the same that the crystal desert has been made much lusher.98.212.211.163 03:36, 1 April 2008 (UTC)

Wasn't it a sea or river to begin with, hence being called the crystal sea in some place?(Zyko Wolfven 19:13, 7 May 2008 (UTC))

Where? Cress Arvein 22:21, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

I believe the Margonites reached the Crystal Sea via their ships, but the war between Abaddon and the Five Gods made the sea dry up and become the desert it is now. I think that lore is conflicting though because it says one thing in-game and another thing in the manual. -- pling | ggggg 23:42, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Abaddon was the god of water before being condemned, so his temples were probably by the Crystal Sea. When they were "swallowed", Abaddon perhaps took some water with him, as it could have been him who diverted the flow of the sea. 217.116.248.25 21:26, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

That seems highly unlikely to of happened, because the ground would still be below sea level. And as such, the water would just go rushing back in, unless he took enough water from the whole planet to free that much land from water. And as such, would mean that Kryta at least was flooded prior, which is not the case, as there is no mention and there by far would be. The only logical way the Crystal Sea "dried up" would be if the ground was raised. The theory about it that I have, is that a copy of the gw1:Cauldron of Cataclysm, which can be found in the gw1:Crystal Overlook was used and the crystals that fell caused the event depicted in the Scriptures of Abaddon - with a little distortion from time. Very hot crystals hitting cool water would explode, causing the water to "boil and explode", perhaps it wasn't only the crystals via the Cauldron of Cataclysm *since there are a lot of things that happened in that*, but it would explain the boiling and exploding of the water, and the turning to nighttime. And, the crystals that fell, eventually eroded and became "sand". The few still large crystals that can be found *mainly in Elona's Reach where the priests are* are rather similar to the ones from the Searing. And, the sand is said to be tiny grains of crystals, not actual sand. -- Konig Des Todes 22:11, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

But considering it's right next to Elona some sand could have blown in from the desolation. 72.174.166.211 22:25, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

its crystals not sand. Its a desert in its curent form, so its natural to be tempted to call it a desert now. 250years...Being that its still a formidible barriar and probably the majority of it is still desert minus the area around the damn, theres no reason not to call it a desert. More like there is an oasis in the desert. How the hell does vegitation grow on top of crystals?Justice 11:26, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

The same way it groes on top of sand. Sand has a moleculair cristal form, and crystal is nearly the same as sand (I am talking about wich elements are used, not the shape of the crystal).

when i said crystals i meant like those giant crystals in ascalon and glints lair only smaller type of crystals, but is sand a crystal anyhow? Im not sure on the process its formed but heres my uneducated imagination of it, big sheets of melted silica in layers underground cracked from earth quakes and now they are too small to crack any further, SAND! :-) Justice 14:43, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Something like that yes. Although crystal is formed with the help of minerals (and sand the way t you discribe), they are chemicly for a large part the same. But it's about the shape here. :Crystal has the same form as sand at that size, so something could grow on crystal. Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 19:36, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

You do realise i was being a complete idiot on the sand thing right?. Crystals actually grow and form a certain structured patern, similar to snowflakes i think--Justice 06:09, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

That doesn't make you less right. It's about the way sand is formed I believe. But when Crystal is as big as a grain of sand, we're talking pretty much the same thing. Arnout aka The Emperors Angel 07:19, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Aren't crystals just deposits of minerals? If so, sand and "tiny crystals" are really the exact same thing. Sand itself is of different composition depending on location, so wouldn't this "sand" be just ordinary sand? Therefore, it's not really necessary to call it "not sand."--Mezon 21:18, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Its funny, never thought i would have a disscusion about sand... Crystals actually grow. THey start very small and grow in a "latice work" structure. I believe its more then just a deposit of minerals. The only place I recall them saying the crystal desert was crystals and not just ordinary sand was the lil lore book from prophecies, thats like 4 years old and maybe was just filler for their lore book. But i guess they would probably defend it as cannon--Justice 16:14, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Turai Ossa in the Amnoon Oasis also says that the sand are a bunch of crystals. The Dragon's Lair mission (not outpost) is a single grain of sand we get teleported/shrunk into. There are circles of crystals around the Ritualist Priests in the Elona Reach mission as well. A main theory on how the Crystal Desert was formed would be a Searing-like magic caused from the Cauldrom of Cataclysm copy in the Crystal Overlook. The event of this would have taken place during the Scriptures of Abaddon's passage. However, the sand would look like sand, and from a non-lore point view, most sand are tiny rocks, rocks are minerals, crystals are a type of minerals. Thus, tiny crystals can make sand. So it is both "sand" and "crystals". Also, it is known that vegetation can at least grow on these sands (it's a game, doesn't have to match real life 100%) via the lower spots which have water in them *i.e., the oasis' throughout the Crystal Desert* most dominantly seen in The Scar explorable area where about 50% of it is vegetation. What is there to discuss? -- Konig Des Todes 09:01, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Sand (Silicon dioxide) is a crystal, actually :) --84.24.141.169 16:26, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

To clarify the crystal vs. sand discussion: Naturally-occurring sand is created by the weathering of rock. As such, each grain of sand is in fact a tiny fragment of rock. The crystals of that rock are randomly aligned; thus, while it is formed of crystals, it is not A crystal. The sand in the Crystal Desert, by contrast, is not natural sand. Each grain is a single crystal, a perfect self-contained lattice, not the random amalgamation of different crystals seen in natural sand.

I wouldn't be too sure, personally I think what happened was the "copy" of the Cauldron of Cataclysm found in the Crystal Overlook created its own "searing" which rained crystals from the sky, and those crystals were eroded - Some large crystals can be seen, with a similar color to the Ascalonian searing crystals, nearby the priests in the Elona Reach mission, as seen here. So it could be easily eroded crystals. -- Konig/talk 13:23, 28 November 2009 (UTC)

That is actually an interesting point. The Cauldron was said to have contained the power of an ancient god, so it could easily have caused a similar catastrophe in that area long before the Gods arrived. Regardless, even if the sand was created by weathering of giant crystals, they wouldn't form ordinary sand. As I said before, rock is the source of most sand and rock consists of millions of randomly arranged crystals. Break off a piece and you have a small cross-section of randomly-arranged crystals. By contrast, the giant crystals you propose would have been largely arranged in the same manner. When they broke down into grains, they would have maintained a uniform lattice, thus becoming a self-contained crystal.

Was just doing some speculative thinking about this place, thinking about the possible connection between the desert and Kralkatorrik. its said about the sand in the desert once being made of tiny crystals and upon awakening the "crystal dragon" Kralkatorrik makes its way straight there and makes that its lair. now that being said that makes me wonder wether perhaps the desert was once its lair and would explain the reason for it once being made of crystals and upon awakening made its way back to his old lair. after all the dragon could of potentially gone anywhere but chose to fly straight to the crystal desert and stay there,surely theres some reason behind that. ArthasShadowsong 18:46, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

It wasn't always a desert though. Prior to the Exodus of the Gods, it was the Crystal Sea. Called such, I believe, because the sea sparkled like crystals - back then it wasn't made out of crystals. It turned into a desert when Abaddon was defeated, and seemingly due to the events mentioned in the scriptures of Abaddon (stars fell, maelstroms occurred, etc. - sounds like a powerful version of the Searing imo). -- Konig/talk 01:21, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Ill admit im not to familiar with a lot of the lore to do with things that happened early on . im just trying to think up some reason why Kralkatorrik would fly out to the Crystal Desert specifically and stay there. All the other dragons stayed pretty much where they awakened with the exception of Kralkatorrik. So surely they must be some kind of connection possibly along the lines of what i mentioned. Then it kinda makes you ponder what Kralkatorrik was doing in Grothmar Wardowns :S ArthasShadowsong 02:22, 31 July 2010 (UTC)

Realm Entrance

"The Desert is said to contain one of the few entrances to the Redeemed Realm" I see this was added by an IP 2 years ago, but does anyone have a citation for it? - Tanetris 17:07, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

gw1:Mouth of Torment - the Desolation is part of the Crystal Desert (or so it is implied by various dialogues). Konig/talk 20:16, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

If that's what it's referring to, it's a rather odd phrasing, and is there any specific evidence to suggest that it's still open? - Tanetris 20:26, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

There's nothing to suggest it closed. I think it's more or less akin to the Door of Komalie - and the only reason why that's closed is due to mursaat technology (which isn't really going to be added to the MoT), and perhaps hardened lava enclosing the same around the portal (creating a Stargate iris effect - go through and *smash*, cleanup on isle 4). Outside direct intervention from the gods and/or very powerful spellcasters (more powerful than the entire mursaat army that we fought in Prophecies), I don't see the MoT being closed - at best, just caved in.

It's also possible that the line was added in reference to Tombs, but that doesn't lead to the Redeemed Realm of Torment. That is, a mistype that was never fixed (mentioning Tombs being placed "there" kinda supports this mentality. Either way, I just altered it to refer to the Tombs portal, rather than the questionable one. Konig/talk 23:29, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

I love you for the Stargate reference.

Silly question, but when the zone isn't explorable, why does GW2W have an article on it? It effectively doesn't exist in the game. A F K When Needed 00:23, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

We can't go there, but it does exist. It's on the map, it's in the lore, this location specifically is even featured in one of the GW2 novels. Why wouldn't we have it? Why wouldn't we have gw1:Dzalana or gw1:Orr? Konig/talk 02:58, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

((SPOILER)) The end of LW S3E6 strongly suggests it does indeed still exist, and we'll be going there sometime soonish. Cynique (talk) 12:43, 26 July 2017 (UTC)

Tyria or Elona?

The Crystal Desert is described as a gateway between Tyria and Elona, so which would it be? --Teletric.3821 (talk) 16:46, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

In Guild Wars 1, most of it was in Tyria, but the Desolation was in Elona. I think Vabbi and the rest of Elona weren't considered part of the crystal desert in GW1, though that might change in GW2. So... it's both? --Idris (talk) 16:51, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Has it even been confirmed that the region (Mechanicly) is called Crystal Desert and not Elona? --Doctor Refrence (talk) 17:19, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

Elona is a continent, not a region. Tyria is also a continent, though confusingly it's also the name of the world. So, to put it visually:

• Tyria
  • Tyria
    • Ascalon
    • Kryta
    • etc.
  • Elona
    • Vabbi
    • Kourna
    • etc.

--Idris (talk) 17:37, 3 August 2017 (UTC)

And of course they are separate continents in the same way that Europe and Asia are in our world... Cynique (talk) 03:55, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Technically, Idris, Elona is more of a nation than a continent. Kourna, Istan, and Vabbi were provinces rather than nations in their own right in GW1, and now they are all part of Joko's empire (Elona). Elona was treated as a continent mechanically in GW1 (you very rarely, if ever, saw it being called a continent in lore), being on par to Tyria and Cantha, but in lore it's more accurate to say it is part of the Tyrian continent (also what we often called the Tyrian continent in GW1, is now being called Central Tyria more often than not in GW2, especially since HoT; Tyria the continent is the largest landmass seen here). TL;DR, there are/were four human nations in Tyria: Ascalon, Kryta, Orr, and Elona. The former three are in a region referred to as "Central Tyria", the human cultural hub for continental Tyria. Konig (talk) 04:59, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

To understand the Crystal Desert, we must look at what existed before it: The Crystal Sea. The sea wasn't part of Tyria neither Elona, because it was a mass of water. After fall of god Abbadon, the northern part of the sea became the Crystal Desert, while the southern part became the Desolation. Crystal Desert was part of Tyria and the Desolation was part of Elona. That means the border of Tyria and Elona is between the Crystal Desert and the Desolation. Now we have two options: 1)They will add two new mechanical regions, The Crystal Desert and Elona (as region, not as a continent). 2)They will add only the Crystal Desert region, while Elona maps will be technicaly part of the Crystal Desert.• Whatever will come, I'm pretty sure that the Crystal Desert will be ALWAYS part of Tyria, and if Elona will even come as a text on the map, it will be a region, not another continent. Anomalous (talk) 10:44, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

There's a third option, technically: They will add only the Elona region, while Crystal Desert maps will be technically part of Elona. This is plausible especially since we see Elonian structures in Crystal Oasis map, and it wouldn't be the first time we have a lore region ignored in mechanics (see Steamspur Mountains). Konig (talk) 11:33, 6 August 2017 (UTC)

After talking to our Narrative Team, it made sense to put the Crystal Desert in Elona, rather than Tyria. So here you go :) --Stephane Lo Presti talk 21:07, 14 June 2019 (UTC)

Edge of Destiny

Does anyone else see a problem with the page not mentioning Destiny's Edge not beingmentioned at all? Or Kralkatorrik? You'd think it would, for people who haven't played PoF, that battle is what it's known for. It should be listed under 'conflicts' or 'battles' or something. TiffanySmith.8216 (talk) 17:21, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Kralkatorrik is under the spoiler tag. Destiny's Edge doesn't really have anything to do with the history of Crystal Desert as far as I know, so no reason to put it here. - Do_odleplex 00:55, 18 July 2018 (UTC)

Crystal Deserts in Fiction

Evidence indicates that My Little Pony N Friends may have been the first work of Fiction to have a Crystal Desert followed by the Glass Desert of Final Fantasy Adventure followed by the Crystal Desert of Trials of Mana followed by the Crystal Desert of Guild Wars followed by the Crystal Desert in the Dark Crystal Age of Resistance. Should we add this to Trivia? 173.181.96.59 23:06, 1 November 2020 (UTC)