It’s Creator Appreciation Week on Blaugust, our third theme week this year. Honestly, every blogger is a creator, so just by making a post — grats, you made it. Today I want to talk about the creators of our game worlds, from the perspective of those who live in that world 🙂
Final Fantasy XIV — The Ancients
The origin of the “star” of Eitherys, the planet on which much of Final Fantasy XIV takes place, is shrouded in the past. What we know is that an ancient race called, simply, The Ancients, had the divine power of Creation. They may not have created Eitherys, but they did create all the gods of the world, and everyone and everything that lives on it.
So for the purposes of this post, the Ancients are the creators of the world of Final Fantasy XIV.
EverQuest — Veeshan
Legend has it that Veeshan, a dragon so immense that there is no planet large enough for her to land on, came across, in her travels, the planet Norrath. She claimed it for her children with a swipe of her massive claws, and laid her brood in the deep scars left in the world. Though she had claimed it as her own, other gods took notice and created all the mortal races to share the world with the dragons. Things went well for awhile, until Veeshan and all the gods were either killed, banished, or both.
World of Warcraft — the Titans
Back before history began, certain worlds carried a spark of life deep within themselves. These sparks grew until they became the Titans, immense creatures with metallic skin and divine perfection. The greatest of these was Aman’Thul.
Though the Titans quickened Azeroth, they continued their exploration of the cosmos long ago and have never been seen by any mortal race. They are only known by their ruins and scraps of mostly forgotten lore.
Lord of the Rings Online — Eru Ilúvatar
Before Ilúvatar, there was nothing. With the song they sang, they created the world, Eä, and started time. When first created, Eä was flat, but due to the crimes of Man, was made round and the Undying Isles were made inaccessible.
Ilúvatar created Elves and Men, but left the creation of all other races and animals to the angelic Maiar. It is said that Ilúvatar still watches over their creation and intervenes when the need is greatest.
The Elder Scrolls Online — Lorkhan
Lorkhan is the architect of the material plane, Mundus, of which the world of the Elder Scrolls, Nirn, is but a small part. Their origins are shrouded in the time before history, but some think they were the spirit of creation itself made manifest.
Not having enough power to create Mundus and the planes that surround it themselves, Lorkhan tricked other divinities into sharing their powers. As payment for their aid, Lorkhan was killed and his divine spark fell to Nirn, sparking the life within that world. The deities who survived the creation of Mundus and Nirn created some of the mortal races, but Lorkhan is said to be the creator of Men.
RuneScape — the Elder Gods
The five Elder Gods, when they were hatched, destroyed the entire universe aside from the single perfect planet of their birth. They quickly started making new worlds in order to gain control of, and enhance, their divine powers.
After some time, the Elder Gods Jas, Ful, Wen and Bik create Gielinor (AKA RuneScape) and its moon Zanaris. Satisfied with their work, they commanded the TokHaar to see to its completion, and they all fell into a divine sleep and never stirred again.
DC Universe Online — The Overmonitor
The DC comics universe has been rebooted so many times that its true origins depend on when you’re interacting with it. There are many parallel dimensions in the Multiverse, but at one point in time, if that has any meaning, an infinite being that encompassed all the planes of the multiverse, the Overmonitor, felt the stirrings of life deep within it. The Overmonitor created a smaller Monitor, which split into two beings, the Monitor of the material universe, and the Monitor of the antimatter universe, known in the material universe as Anti-Monitor.
The last time I was playing, the Source Wall was the source of all energy in the universe, and was also the jail of Perpetua, who was the creator of Monitor, Anti-Monitor, and the World Forge. It’s all very confusing.
Guild Wars — the Serpents
The world of Tyria was created by the Old Gods, but it was the serpents that formed it into a living world. This all ended when humans were created and supplanted the serpents, who retreated to the Crystal Desert and are no longer seen, passed into legend.
Since then, it’s all been wars. Guild wars. The Old Gods gave the mortal races magic, but that only made things worse.
Rift — the Vigil
The Vigil are a group of five gods who created the world of Telara from a convergence of a magical substance called “sourcestone”. They participated in the Blood Storm Wars by fighting alongside Telara’s inhabitants to defeat the Blood Storm. Afterward, they helped create the Ward to defend Telara from the planes by keeping the Blood Storm at bay.
Due to Telara’s position at this convergence, it is under constant assault by other planes of existence — the source of the titular rifts.
Realm of the Mad God — the Machine
Oryx is the Mad God in whose realm you are trapped in Realm of the Mad God, but he wasn’t around at the beginning of the cubiverse. According to lore from the RotMG developers, the cubiverse was brought into existence by a mysterious Machine.
From then, a fundamental core appears, nightmatter coalesces, and the Realms are born, with first gods alone and then mortals appear to share the realms with them.
