Flameseeker Chronicles: Afterparty

Boy, did I ever blow it. I've been on a streak of correct predictions for months now, but either I'm losing my touch or my insight only applies to Guild Wars 2. I've been convinced for over a month that the sixth anniversary of Guild Wars would bring us Winds of Change, and I had my heart set on a Commando minipet.

See? I missed the mark so far that I wasn't even on the same continent! Well, there's plenty to talk about this week as we look back on the anniversary celebration. I want to touch on two of the biggest changes, so read on past the break while I pick up the pieces of my poor broken hopes for that mini-Commando.

Hard mode quests

I was pretty excited about this from the moment I heard about it. I was tempted to pester ArenaNet for hints as to what I should expect as I headed out to Kessex Peak to take on Villainy of Galrath in hard mode. I wound up deciding against that course of action for two reasons: one, the team probably wouldn't have told me anyway, and two, it would be more fun going in blind.

As it turns out, I have a seriously warped idea of "fun." What a mess. I teamed up with Neo Nugget from Guild Wars Guru; we debated heroes and added what we thought was a good all-purpose group, and off we went.

When we arrived, we paused just outside of range of Galrath and his minions to try to get an idea of what we were about to face. All we could see was what looked like about a hundred bandits, all level 30. That didn't tell us much besides "This is going to hurt, isn't it," so we waded in and attempted to pull a few at the edge.

The best pull we could get was a linked group of nine bandits, and after a stunned moment of "Those are Assassins! What are Assassins doing in Tyria? Ow ow ow," I fought back briefly then wound up on the ground. Neo met a similar fate, and after three party wipes in rapid succession, we called it a loss and slunk back to Temple of Ages to lick our wounds.

It was embarrassing how completely we failed at this quest, but for that very reason I am incredibly impressed with it. The ArenaNet team set out to create a real challenge for veteran players, and I know a lot of people thought it would be the same old "crank up the mob levels and HP and call it a day." No such thing. Granted, the levels are cranked up -- Galrath himself is level 40, higher than anything we've seen in Guild Wars before -- but the mobs themselves are the bigger challenge. They're balanced beautifully, including the healers. I was feeling good at one point when I had an Assassin bandit nearly dead, until out of nowhere he popped up to almost full health. The mobs include Mesmers, Assassins, Monks, and Necros, and going in blind won't do much besides eat through your stock of candy canes.

This is only the beginning -- ANet has promised more to come -- and it's nice to see the thought put into creating something that the been-there-done-that crowd is really going to have to work at.

Tonics

I'm of two minds over this. My initial reaction was pretty negative. Birthday minipets replaced with new everlasting tonics? Yuck! I immediately figured players would rebel for several reasons. First, minis are a beloved and long-standing tradition in Guild Wars. As every birthday approaches, speculation on what the new series of miniatures will be is everywhere, and this year was no different.

As I mentioned before, I was willing to lay real money on my speculation that the green mini this year would be a Commando. My husband voted for a mini-Moahawk, and a reader charmed me with the idea of a mini-Charr cub. All good stuff, and my disappointment upon learning that none of them would happen certainly contributed to my overall negative reaction at first.

After a day or two, though, it was clear that the entire playerbase did not share my feelings. The tonics have been a big hit. I've got a guildmate who found his inventory graced with a Margonite tonic, and he's simply over the moon. Someone offered him 900 ecto for the tonic and he turned that player down. I know a lot of this can be attributed to the frenzy that comes at the end of every April as players scramble to get their virtual hands on the newest and coolest shinies, but overall I haven't heard a huge protest. Sure, there is that subset of players that doesn't really care about tonics but loves minipets -- including me -- but the torches and pitchforks haven't really materialized.

John Stumme made an excellent point in our birthday interview as well. There are over 100 minis in the game now, and compelling choices for new ones are pretty thin on the ground. There's a lot to be said for tradition, but in some cases there's even more to be said for trying something new and keeping things exciting.

After watching the reactions of the player base and thinking over what Stumme had to say, I found myself willing to eat my words. It might not suit my personal preferences, but overall it looks to be a good thing for the fans as a whole. However, I do hope this isn't the end of new minis in Tyria. There may not be enough viable options for a full birthday series, but introducing a few here and there -- particularly through gameplay like the Black Moa Chick -- would be a great way to keep that part of the game alive.

Bits and pieces

While the two changes mentioned above were certainly the flashiest, I don't want to ignore the myriad smaller changes, because they were pretty cool. The high-res textures in town made me so happy, because I really love the armor and costume combinations and colors that Guild Wars players come up with. Admiring them in towns is something I love to do, but until now I was faced with either imagining how much prettier they'd be if I could see them well or asking a perfect stranger to party with me and run out to the nearest explorable. And frankly, that second thing is just weird and awkward.

The change to the friends list is a nice convenience item. I'm not sure how much I'll personally use it, because my guild- and alliance-mates typically just meet in someone's guild hall when we're setting up for a run. However, it seems like it could be the precursor to other things, such as the larger friends list that most of us have been praying to The Six for. It also puts me in mind of the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience that we saw last year at PAX Prime. Is this a hint of bigger and better things to come? Finally, the introduction of Flux was exciting to me for several reasons. First, I love to see lore carried over wherever possible. We knew we hadn't seen the last of the Lunatic Court, but seeing it pop up in a PvP setting was unexpected and fun. I hope to see more after-effects of Halloween in the future.

It's pretty early to say anything about how Flux will affect PvP overall. So far the only Flux effect we've seen is Lone Wolf, and while it's not a huge thing for casual play, I imagine having that come and go as you move around the map is a much bigger deal at higher levels. Giving the meta a little shakeup now and again keeps things interesting, though, and there's really no bad there. I'll be watching this one with great interest.

PvP

Sadly, I don't have a PvP update this week. I was really looking forward to diving into the Jade Quarry, but I found myself up to my ears in anniversary week preparations and a nasty cold. I bounced back and forth between work and bed (with the help of a lot of Nyquil), and my playtime was pretty much nonexistent. Now that things have settled down a bit, I'm back to scouring builds on PvX and debating whom I want to take into JQ. My options are Ele, Necro, and Ranger, and I'm sure I'll eventually wind up taking all three in to find which style suits me the best -- in between beating up the Vaettir and stealing their cupcakes, of course.

I'll see you next week, and congratulations on six wonderful years, ArenaNet. We all thank you!

Rubi is a longtime Guild Wars player and the writer of Flameseeker Chronicles here at Massively. The column keeps a close eye on all the events in Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, and anything bridging the two. It's also the home of a weekly summary of the travels of [MVOP], Massively's Guild Wars guild. Email Rubi at rubi@massively.com.