Guild Wars 2 updates
 

Thread update for Info

Official Release date Aug 28th.

Those who pre-purchased allowed a headstart Aug 25th Midnight (PST) and maybe hours sooner.

Game info:
http://www.guildwars2.com
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

Fansite BB:
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/

Crafting Guide:
http://gaiscioch.com/tavern/guildwar...ost_35198.html
People New to this Thread:
CP Players are unofficially picking Yak's Bend as our homeserver and maybe eventually setting up our own guild.

I'll add player names to this OP if others don't object upon release.

chasedude = Reigning in Blood /Necro ---- Mesmerizing Flash / Mesmer
pr_capone = Mephistopheles Janx
Valiant = codissius
David = arktik
Pants = Tyterion Selmy
hometeam = FALX

Also the biggest selling point for this game, like the original, free online play. No monthly payments! Why pay to play a game on a monthly basis that you already bought?

It's worth it for some people. But, yeah, having never played the original, I might give this one a try. Wasn't the original done by some of the old Diablo people?

I'm not sure about that. The production company here is http://www.arena.net/

Latest Update.. The Ranger!

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Weapons

A ranger is mostly a master of ranged weapons, however, he can use sword or greatsword in melee combat. The ranger weapons are:

• Main Hand: Sword, Axe
• Off Hand: Axe, Dagger, Torch, Warhorn
• Two-Handed: Greatsword, Longbow, Shortbow

Pets

A ranger has three active pet slots. Outside of combat, or through the use of utility skills, the ranger can swap their active pet. There are 12 different types of pets, including some terrestrial (spiders), some amphibious (lizards), and some aquatic (sharks). Within each type there are subtypes that can influence pets' abilities. For example, a polar bear might have an Icy Roar, while a brown bear might have a Fearsome Roar. A ranger's pet gets its level from its master, which determines their basic attack, armor, and health.
Pet Evolution

Pets have customization options. The first of these has to do with a pet's evolution level. Pets evolve up to 20 evolution levels. Each pet type receives automatic bonuses at different evolution levels. For bears, these bonuses might be increased health or increased damage. Pets gain evolution points when the player gains XP while the pet is active. At certain evolution levels, pets will unlock ability slots (up to 4 total). Ability slots can be filled from a list of active pet abilities based on pet type.
Pet Controls

In addition to managing his skills, a ranger will be able to manage his pet with limited commands and modes. This will be an interface element for the ranger class. Here are some examples:
Modes--Ongoing behavioral settings the ranger can toggle.

• Aggressive--Attack what I am attacking.
• Defensive--Attack enemies that attack me.
• Passive--Don't attack.

Commands--Specific, direct commands that execute right away.

• Attack--Attack my target.
• Heel--Come to me.
• Stay--Do not move.

New Profession Released - The Thief!

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Mechanics

Weapons

The thief has a mixture of melee and ranged weapons. The thief weapons are:

• Main Hand: Sword, Dagger, and Pistol
• Off Hand: Dagger and Pistol
• Two-Handed: Shortbow

Initiative

Initiative is the thief's resource mechanic. A thief has ten points of Initiative that refill at a rate of one point per second both in and out of combat. Skill 1 on their bar is always free, but the other thief weapon skills all cost Initiative instead of having recharge. Thief Heal, Utility, and Elite skills do not cost Initiative and still have a recharge cost.
Stealing

Above their skill bar, all thieves have a special skill called Steal that can be used on enemies. It does not actually steal a real item from an opponent, but rather generates an appropriate environmental weapon based on the target. Stealing does not break stealth, and cannot be used often. When a thief steals, it can open up a range of support and control options that are less prominent in his basic skills.
Dual Skills

Dual Skills are special skills that thieves acquire in slot 3 of their weapon bar that are based on both weapons they are wielding. A dual skill is determined by both main hand and offhand weapons, and can vary depending on the order. For example, a thief wielding a pistol main hand with dagger offhand (Shadow Strike) will have a different dual skill than a thief wielding a dagger main hand and pistol offhand (Shadow Shot). The shortbow is the one exception to this rule; it does not have a dual skill.
Stealth

Stealth has a limited duration and can be broken in various ways. Most stealth is lost when a player attacks through it. Some stealth breaks when the player moves. While in stealth, a player can still take damage and will temporarily appear in the world when they do.
Shadow Stepping

Shadow Stepping is a teleport mechanic used by the thief profession to get in and out of battle. A thief may only shadow step where normal movement is possible and may not use it to teleport through a gate or other blocking area.

The Last Profession to be released
 

I forgot to add this last profession, and my favorite profession to play in the original Guild Wars game.

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Mechanics

Weapons
A mesmer can use a variety of magical, ranged, and melee weapons, including:

Main Hand: Sword, Scepter
Off Hand: Focus, Pistol, Sword, Torch
Two-Handed: Staff, Greatsword
Confused Condition
The mesmer introduces a new condition to our set called confusion. An enemy with confusion on them takes damage each time they activate a skill. This condition stacks in intensity, so the more confusion an enemy has, the greater the damage.

Shattering
The mesmer has special abilities that can shatter illusions. Shattering will destroy all illusions and create a secondary effect. There are four different shatter skills:

Mind Wrack—Destroys your illusions and does damage to opponents near them.
Cry of Frustration—Destroys your illusions and gives the confused condition to nearby foes.
Diversion—Destroys your illusions and stuns nearby foes.
Reflection—Destroys your illusions and places a barrier around the mesmer, which reflects enemy projectiles.

Public Beta coming next weekend, Apr 27-29th. Those of us :D who grabbed the pre-purchase will be allowed a taste.

Much more information in the link...

http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-w...vent-is-coming

No sleep will be had

It sucks because the choir I sing in has dress rehersal Friday and performance on Saturday.

So... I'll have limited time :mad:

and the download begins

Yup just got mine started soon as I got home. PBJ

looks like a 4hr download for me.

80k/sec top DL for me... estimating 2 days maybe. :mad:

what speed of internet do you have? for example, my connection is 15mbps (currently d/l'ing at 570KB/sec)

I'm on a 3meg/512k wireless connection(at least they claim that). I'm rural with no wired ISP access.

Speeds must've picked while I was sleeping. Just got home and everything is loaded. Tested my User/Pass everything works. Now I'm ready to play!

Give us the updates! i am very excited for this game.

I have a feeling, PVP is going to be awesome in GW2

Open Beta starts 2pm CDT Friday for me. I'm cutting outta work early to get home in time to be one of the first to login :D

I'm not at the best of giving play by plays but I'll try my best to help with updates. Plus there's no disclosure issues so I'm sure youtube will have tons of stuff uploaded.

I've got Friday off so I'll be among the first ones on.

/pumped

Kick Ass PBJ

sitting in front of the computer with my dick in my hand waiting for this thing to kick off.

25 minutes!

Where's the beta download for this? I'd like to try it out.

Only people that prepurchased the game are invited to this beta.

Server crashing quite a bit. Picked Ehmrey Bay for my server since it was listed as low population.

Oh well, that's what a open stress beta test is for. I'm impressed with the game so far.

I'm on Yak's. so far this game is pretty farking cool.

I got a Charr Necro up to lvl 5, gonna try a different character and class now.

30 minute server tweak. Holy shit... this is a very well made game.

anyone that's playing have any impressions of the game?

I played for about 6 hours yesterday. Tried a few different races and professions. I was really impressed. Of course there were a few laggy parts and the occasional DC while ingame, but hey, that's what beta events are for. Weed out the problem areas.

Arenanet has been on their game though. Fixing bugs as soon as they come up. I'm sure the coffee pot has been brewing nonstop for the developers.

Now that I'm home after work can't login. Looks like they're doing some major work on the servers.

T-5hours until I can play again.

Hopefully they'll have the servers up by then. Yet I wont be home during the time you'll be on so I'm sure they will knowing my luck :cuss:

LMAO

I am loving this game. Plenty to do, nothing strong arming you into a quest. Graphics are pretty damn nice for a stand alone game, much less for a MMO.

The Engineer seems to be a little bit o a letdown though. I may go ranger instead.

anyone tried the pvp yet?

not yet.

me either.

Been running around lvling up with friends unlocking skills, quests, instances. Might try some PvP later today though.

Can't keep eyes open any longer. Must sleep, pillow is calling me...

Finally got into some PvP and wow is it fun! Server has kicked me a few times had to relog but hey again, that's what open beta stress testing is for.

The Worlds in this game is HUGE. Sooooo much to do, solo, group, Pvp. I've heard there will be one more open beta test in a few weeks and then the actual game launch in about a month. That's rumor though, can't find links to confirm.

Tried PVP... not my favorite aspect. Finished off the human engineer quest (as far as they would let me go) and found it to be ok. The world is HUGE though. It will take a long time to go through it all.

Yeah, so many different origin worlds for each race. Alot of space to explore. Swimming around in Lion's Arch was fun. First game I got to swim in :p

Update: Another Beta test this weekend, ready to get my fix again :D

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Can I haz da beta too?

you have to pre-purchase the game to be invited into the beta

A couple of online magazine companies have handed out free beta keys through Guild Wars 2 on facebook. I'm sure they went quick.

Damnit! :cuss:
I'll just wait till it comes out and stay out of this thread.

It's on like Donkey Kong mother bitches!

Hell Yeah! I'm in like Flynn!

http://www.arena.net/blog/help-us-st...ers-on-june-27

Another beta stress test, only from between 10am to 2pm, Weds June 27.

I'm at work during this time, doubt I will be able to do it. I'm sure there be plenty of kids home on summer vacation to give it a true stress test. Maybe I'll be sick that day and won't be able to work ;)

I forgot about this game.

Who played guild wars 1? Can you describe it using 30 words or less?

I played Guild Wars 1 for quite awhile until my account got hacked and cleaned out. I lost my thrill after that and have been patiently waiting for this to release.

It's a MMORPG much like WoW is. Max level was capped @ 20. Guild Wars 1 was released in 3 different (stand alone) campaigns and one true expansion. PvP and PvE was both for hours of enjoyment. The game was free online play, pay for the game... play forever, no subscription.

Here's a recent interview I found today on GW2's beta events.

http://www.rpgamer.com/games/guildwa...interview.html

Guild Wars 2 will launch August 28th. (Headstart access will begin August 25th.)

Also, another beta weekend is planned for July 20-22.

my pants are tenting

Woot, just got the email. Finally a release date.

Too early.

:spock:

I don't understand this post

Dude I assumed it would come out in late Fall. That would be better for me financially. Now I'll be coming late to the party when everyone else is max level and making alts. That pisses me off. Therefore it is too early. :fire:

I've dabbled with GW1 a few times and it never really drew me in. The controls felt awkward, and the world was boring. I've been itching for a new online game to play, so hopefully this one will be different.

This one is way different. The grind is nearly eliminated. I've been beta testing with friends that played GW1 with me. We've been having a blast!

http://www.techinasia.com/techinasia...psons-haha.jpg

Sucks to be You! :evil:

See I like hard grinds..

It makes players learn their character.. It is a whole game by itself..

Then the other game is endgame at max level..

Of course if I remember correctly, you could start at lvl 20 for the original..

I played it for a few months, but none of my friends joined, all stayed with wow.. I think it will be different now.. So many people want to play a fun game that is not wow.. Problem is, none of the past games have been polished enough to keep them..

ROFLLMAO Screw you. My plans may have changed and I may be getting this after all! :evil:

I don't mind a grind, so long as it's kept reasonably fun. World of Warcraft, despite how stale it's become as a whole, has a pretty good leveling experience, especially since the newest expansion. Even the endgame content is pretty good, given what its competitors are doing, but a game can only be played for so long before even the new parts seem old.

Perhaps it's because I arrived very late to the party, but leveling in Guild Wars just felt empty and tedious. I do like what I've seen from GW2 so far, though, so I'm definitely keeping my eye on it. Is there any way to play in the beta without having pre-purchased the game? It might be a good opportunity to get a feel for the game.

So far it's been mainly the pre-purchasers allowed in the beta. I have seen some of the pc magazines (online only so far) giving out free beta keys. They usually go pretty fast once posted though because of the huge draw for this game.

PBJ Kick Ass! Rumor is the next beta weekend is July 20-22. You better be there!!!

Awesome! I hope to have everything settled by then. I will if I can!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7y8SauaUIo


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there is just no way in hell I am going to listen to them for 2 hours.

tl;dw/l

If you click through to the actual youtube page, it has timestamps for everything they talk about, pick a few and listen. GREAT resource for people who havent played, or arent sure what to expect.

I was curious if they were going to wait until full release before showing the new races. Think I'll start me a Sylvari Necro this next Beta weekend PBJ

Play Asura and Sylvari in the July 20-22 Beta Weekend Event!
http://www.arena.net/blog/play-asura...-weekend-event

http://www.arena.net/blog/wp-content...g_header_1.jpg
For our final Beta Weekend Event (July 20-22), we’re making the asura and sylvari races available to beta players for the first time. Players will be able to create characters from any of the five main races of Tyria—human, norn, charr, asura, and sylvari—and begin their Guild Wars 2 experience in any of the five radically different home regions.
For asura players, this means beginning your tale in Metrica Province, a vivid, exotic jungle area full of high-tech laboratories, quirky golems, and competing krewes of mad scientists. Nearby, the massive monoliths of the asuran capital Rata Sum hum with technomagical power. These diminutive geniuses may seem cute at first glance, but never underestimate an asura…
Sylvari players begin their story in the Grove, a luminous living city nestled in the shade of the Pale Tree, the “mother” of every member of this young race of plant humanoids. The sylvari are an enigmatic race of chivalrous explorers who are driven by an insatiable curiosity and guided by a collective Dream.
http://www.arena.net/blog/wp-content...-C-600x337.jpg
If you’ve played in previous beta events, you know that each playable race has its own distinct regions, signature city, and personal storyline options. But above all, each race in Guild Wars 2 has its own identity, and the asura and sylvari perfectly illustrate this.
We can’t wait to see players drinking in the mystical atmosphere of the Grove or stopping alchemagical experiments running amok in Metrica Province during our last Beta Weekend Event before launch. If you want to reserve a spot in the beta, pre-purchase your copy of Guild Wars 2 today.
http://www.arena.net/blog/wp-content...ea-600x337.jpg

Those looking for free beta keys!!!

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/news/6...-key-giveaway/

Edit: Today is only available for premium Curse.com members. If there are some left they'll be avail to non-premium members. Good Luck grabbing one!

Gear vs. Skill: How Will Gamers React To Guild Wars 2 Skillful Progression?

http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/brawn-vs-brains/

As I obsessively count down the days until the August 28 release of Guild Wars 2, I do wonder, how will gamers coming from other MMOs perceive it? The innovations that ArenaNet have poured into their highly anticipated sequel are legion. While many aspects of the game will be familiar to MMO fans, there are quite a few departures as well. One of the biggest alterations is that Guild Wars 2 is a skill-based game, while most other MMORPGs offer a gear-based progression system. The question is: Will this design choice be a breath of fresh air or a source of confusion and frustration?

Defining Gear and Skill

In a gear-based MMO, such as World of Warcraft or Star Wars: The Old Republic, achieving the maximum level is the beginning of your journey. At that point, it’s time to jump on that gear treadmill and claw your way to a decent power level. Players are led down a progression path which includes repeating dungeons and raids of varying party sizes and difficulty levels, which grants you statistically better gear for completing them. It works the same on the PvP side, with players competing in matches to earn various currencies to purchase yet more powerful gear. Not to mislead you—skill still plays a major factor in these games. In fact, being extremely skillful can compensate for lower gear levels, but it’s usually unwise to ignore your character’s gear progression if you want to experience the most challenging content. MMO gamers are used to this system. It’s expected and comfortable. So what will happen as the masses discover that Guild Wars 2 doesn’t work like this?

Outside of MMOs, gamers are very familiar with skill-based games. Shooters, for example, frequently offer gamers a level playing field to test their expertise. Fighting games, like Mortal Kombat, don’t require you to spend dozens of hours working to unlock a more powerful set of moves. Imagine having to play twenty matches as Ryu in Street Fighter before being able to sling a single hadouken! In these titles, your skill is the primary determinant of your success. It will work the same in Guild Wars 2.

ArenaNet’s Skillful Approach to Guild Wars 2

It’s easy to see the skill-based framework when you look at how the structured PvP is designed in Guild Wars 2. After a new character completes the instanced introductory area, they have the option to teleport to the Mists. The Mists is a PvP staging area, which is the perfect place to experiment with different builds and equipment configurations before stepping into world vs. world or a structured PvP match. Here characters are bumped up to level 80 with all trait points and skills unlocked. They are also given a set of max-level PvP gear and access to vendors with free weapons, runes and sigils. As you can see, players will be on an even playing field (in regards to gear power) from their very first PvP match.

Obviously, players that choose horrible skills or are clueless about how to set up their traits and equipment will be at a severe disadvantage. Skill is comprised of more than just manual dexterity. Knowledge of your profession and build, your strategy for the various maps, and coordination with your teammates are all facets of being skillful. But the power of your gear will not hold you back. Your progression is dictated by your personal improvement, not by obtaining a new helmet that grants you +30 to Pwnage.

The PVE progression will work similarly. As you level up, you’ll find increasingly powerful gear, but once you hit the maximum level of 80, your statistics will hit a plateau. While we haven’t been able to test any level 80 PVE content ourselves, Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson, has stated: “Everyone, including casual gamers, by level 80 should have the best statistical loot in the game. We want everyone on an equal power base.” The rewards you receive for tackling dungeons, dynamic events, and crafting will be unique skins for your weapons and armor. So you can work towards looking more bad-ass than everyone else, but your actual prowess in battle is largely dependent on you.

No Gear? Why Play?

Players of the original Guild Wars will be familiar with this set up, as achieving the max level of 20 and obtaining the best armor can be accomplished by the savvy in a matter of hours. MMO veterans, who are used to games like Rift and WoW, might be asking themselves, “What’s the point in continuing to play once I hit max level, if it’s easy to get the best gear?” The topic of incentive is large enough for its own article, but the short answer is: Instead of needing to farm gear in order to the play the game, Guild Wars 2 allows you to simply play the game. Completing the dungeons, working on crafting, experiencing the story, engaging in World vs. World, competing in PvP tournaments and many other activities will all provide players incentive without requiring your gear to be measure against a “you must be this tall to ride” sign. I’ll admit that I had a hard time wrapping my brain around this concept when I first started reading about it. Many MMO gamers will also need to adjust their mindset to understand this paradigm shift.

Gear vs. Skill: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

PvP in gear-based games usually have a tough barrier of entry for new players. A fresh level 50 character in Star Wars: The Old Republic has very limited access to expertise, which is a critical statistic for PvP. This creates a situation where newbies have to endure a period of getting slaughtered as they work on improving their gear. The most skilled and dedicated players will have the most powerful statistics and the performance gap between these players and a neophyte is colossal. Game developers can counter this with several strategies, but it’s a challenge to figure out how to entice new players to join PvP and have a rewarding experience from the start.

Gear-based PvE has similar issues requiring fresh-to-max-level players to gear up before tackling the highest difficulty content the game has to offer. One does not simply walk into the heroic Madness of Deathwing encounter minutes after hitting level 85 in World of Warcraft. Consequently, hardcore guilds often struggle to find new raid members who have the appropriate gear level for the content they are trying to defeat. Once again, there are strategies the developers can use to lessen the impact of a gear-based system, but they need to be constantly aware of these undesirable byproducts.

As most people know, Guild Wars 2 will not have a subscription fee. ArenaNet will, instead, support the game through microtransactions. The skill-based nature of the game allows them more freedom in the items they can sell in the in-game store without upsetting balance. Karma boosts, for example, aren’t game-breaking in Guild Wars 2, because the progression is based on player skill. However, selling currency boosters in a gear-based game would create a situation where players would feel compelled to buy those boosters if they wanted to remain competitive.

It may sound as if skill-based MMOs are all puppies and flowers with no drawbacks at all, but this is far from the truth. In fact, I’m concerned that some of my friends and family may struggle in Guild Wars 2. Level 80 players exploring Tyria can’t compensate for a lack of skill by obtaining more powerful gear. Before you say, “Well, duh. Learn to play, noob!”, realize there are many players out there that have a skill ceiling that is lower than your average gamer. It may be easy on a forum or in an internet space to discount those players, but it’s a different story when you’re talking about real people you want to play with. One of my close friends gets extreme motion sickness when he plays certain games. In MMOs, using the mouse to pan the camera triggers his condition, so he uses his keyboard for both movement and activating skills. He’s defter at playing like this than most people I’ve seen, but his performance might suffer with the action-oriented combat of Guild Wars 2. My dad loves MMOs. He was a dedicated raider and one of our main tanks for 6 years in World of Warcraft. The fact is, however, that he’s 65 years old and his reflexes aren’t as fast as they used to be. I created a video that discussed the same topic as this article (check it out below) and I received many messages in reaction to it from gamers who had all sorts of physical limitations that impacted their skill ceilings. So this concern is more widespread than we may realize. Gear-based MMOs are very friendly to these players because they allow them to surpass their own personal power limit with the acquisition of shiny loot. If they can’t defeat a challenging boss now, they can continue practicing knowing that eventually their gear may give them the boost they need to defeat it. In a skill-based system all you can do is keep trying until you overcome the obstacle or give up.

The good news is Guild Wars 2 is not designed with a structured raiding environment where gamers converge for countless hours spanning several weeks in an attempt at defeating a single boss encounter. Players with lower skill levels aren’t going to be holding back an entire raiding team’s progression. Large-scale dynamic events, world vs. world, crafting and personal story can be enjoyed by everyone equally. Structured PvP and the explorable mode dungeons may prove to be more prohibitive, but since they don’t yield more powerful loot for completing them, gamers won’t be hindered from accessing other areas of the game if they aren’t successful.

Some gamers simply won’t like the skill-based approach to Guild Wars 2. To some, the allure of seeking new items is not strong enough if they don’t include a power increase with them. Others may be frustrated by the difficulty rather than inspired to rise to the challenge. For me, personally, after playing gear-based MMOs for over a decade now, I’m ready for something different. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy my time in those worlds; in fact, they are some of my best gaming moments. But I feel that I’ve seen what that approach has to offer and I’m curious as to where my adventures in Tyria will lead me.

I got a beta key from curse as a non permium member last night.. not sure how it happened, i refreshed the page at basically the moment it opened up, and got my key.

Definitely not a premium member

They don't got no more! Screw you guys!

I told you those Beta keys disappeared quicker than Oprah on a baked ham. Too slooooooooow! :)

Glad you hear you got one. The OP for Curse said premium members only the first 24 hours, guess not enought prems wanted it. You're the lucky one here I guess. Hope to see you in the next Beta Weekend Hometeam! PBJ

I also snagged another one last night when it officially opened.

Watched some of that podcast with those 4 dudes and looked at some videos and I'm thinking I'll be giving this a try. I really like some of the ArenaNet's ideas.