ArenaNet has announced Living World Season 2's start date. Spoiler: Not in June.

ArenaNet has unveiled what it is calling the first clue to Guild Wars 2's Living World Season 2. The clue seen above announces that Season 2 will start on July 1st. So if this is a clue, not just an announce image, what exactly is the clue here?

The most obvious is that this is a zone portal, which hints that Guild Wars 2 might be getting a new zone added. This would be the first time in almost 20 months that a permanent zone has been added to the game. The next clue is what is surrounding it, all the foliage and vines. These, along with the season 1 finale showing the rise of the jungle dragon and hints that season 2 would be taking us to Brisban Wildlands, suggest that this will be a new Maguuma map on the western side of the game's continent.

There are a few things that interest me. First is that this portal doesn't seem to match up with any of the known exits on the Maguuma maps. My first thought was the portal across the bridge on the Northern side of Brisban Wildlands. While the lack of foliage there could be explained by the jungle dragon's rise, the portal in-game leads upwards into what might be a plateau whereas the clue image leads down into what might be a valley. Also, the rocks don't have the clay red hue that is seen in Brisban, but more of the gray that would be seen in the southern maps such as Metrica Province.

The last thing that I'm curious about is the portal itself. Zone portals are all translucent. Why does this one appear to be all dark and smudgy? The colors in the portal also seem warmer than those surrounding the portal.

Check back as more clues are unveiled about the mysterious Season 2 start. In the meantime, enjoy the Festival of the Four Winds content that has also been announced to run up to the July 1st Season 2 start.

Matt "Mattsta" Adams

Follow me @MattstaNinja