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Prepare to escape from Lion's Arch in Guild Wars 2's next content release
For over 250 years, the city of Lion's Arch has been a place for players of Guild Wars 2 and its predecessor to call home. It's iconic enough that the ruins of the original city can still be explored beneath Sanctum Harbor. Unfortunately, one of Scarlet Briar's mysterious probes has been discovered within those ruins -- and if she gets her way, the people of Tyria may not have to wait very long at all to pick through the ruins of the city's current incarnation. On February 18th, Scarlet will bring her armies and all of their horrible weaponry to the city in the Escape from Lion's Arch release. Players will join forces with the Orders of Tyria, the allies they've gained through the living world story, and each other to help innocent citizens evacuate and try to mount a counterattack. ArenaNet's Colin Johanson, Steve Hwang and Steven Waller sat down with Massively to deliver both a new teaser trailer and a grim warning: Nothing lasts forever.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Why Guild Wars 2 shouldn't replicate Destiny's wedge
When I look back at a year of Guild Wars 2 releases, one thing stands out to me: I really like Kasmeer, Braham, Marjory and Rox, and I'm not alone. ArenaNet's four newest iconic heroes have remained steadfastly popular in the midst of other criticism of GW2's living story. They're not universally popular -- no character is -- but you can usually count on their dialogue and characterization prompting appreciative threads and analysis. At the start of the Tower of Nightmares release, a few of my friends even linked to a forum post that theorized that Kasmeer might die (she didn't), and were deeply concerned until Wintersday came around. "ANet had better not," one of them said heatedly. "If Kas or Jory die, I'll quit." While the iconics of the personal story and dungeon story modes, Destiny's Edge, have their fans, I've never heard anyone threaten to uninstall if one of them shuffles off to the Mists, even after a long history and a novel dedicated to their exploits. I think the main reason is that it's a lot easier to respect characters and want to be around them when you aren't left feeling like the only adult in the room.
Guild Wars 2's The Secret of Southsun adds mini-game, WvW traps [Updated]
May has just gotten started and already ArenaNet has another content update scheduled for Guild Wars 2. Called The Secret of Southsun, this May 14th update comes right on the heels of the final installment of Flame and Frost and extends the episodic content that began with that first series. This time, the adventures focus on troubles brewing on the tropical island of Southsun Cove where players must quell the rising violence and discover the secret that hides there. The Secret of Southsun also brings an end to culling in the rest of the world (it was previously only disabled in World vs. World) and introduces two an improvement to WvW -- traps and an improved award system. Traps will remove supply from enemies. and players will gain reward for a wider range of activities in the Mists, such as destroying siege weapons, escort missions, and repairing walls. Players can also try their hand at a new crab toss mini-game. On top of the update announcement, ArenaNet has recently posted additional lore expanding the story of Rox, the Charr. Read on to see where her latest adventures lead. [Update: It seems ArenaNet let some of this info out before it intended to, as detailed in this forum post. So the WvW award changes won't be in just yet. ArenaNet has also informed us that it will be holding off on the culling as well and has now altered its official announcement to reflect these changes.] [Source: ArenaNet press release]
Flameseeker Chronicles: April's Guild Wars 2 patch brings custom arenas, spectator mode, and a living story dungeon
It is time to start talking about Guild Wars 2's April update for reals. I've got some serious knowledge to drop on you regarding the Flame and Frost: Retribution update, so let's get right to it. Retribution will be the final installment of the Flame and Frost living story arc. To tie everything off, we're getting a new story dungeon that'll take us deep underground into the Molten Weapon Facilities. Structured PvP is getting some love in the form of custom PvP arenas and spectator mode. Guilds are getting more missions and new rewards. The gem store will be getting new stuff. Let's dive in and look at some specifics, shall we?
Guild Wars 2 wraps up Flame and Frost living story this month
The current "living story" event that's been progressing in Guild Wars 2 over the past few months is set to unveil its final chapter at the end of April. Flame and Frost: Retribution will debut on April 30th, and ArenaNet has a short preview as to what we should expect. In the living story finale, players will strike back against the Molten Alliance -- a team-up of the Flame Legion and Dredge -- by charging into the enemy's weapons facilities. Players will fight alongside event co-stars Rox and Braham to battle "a final hybrid menace." Could it be the unholy pairing of Twilight fandom and hipster subculture? Only time will tell! Catch up on the previous installment of Flame and Frost in a recent column of Flameseeker Chronicles.
Flameseeker Chronicles: NPCs and culling and beedogs, oh my
It's good to have memorable characters. It's important, in a game, to have the sort of characters that players can look back on a month or a year or a lifetime later and think, "Yeah, I remember that NPC." In that sense, I guess ArenaNet has succeeded admirably in the case of Rox the Charr Ranger. I'll remember her until my dying day. ... Mostly because she absolutely petrifies me. Have you seen this lady's eyes? They were clearly made for soul-eating. They're half the size of her face (maybe this is why the baby devourer thinks she's its mommy?), far more cartoony than pretty much anything else in the game, and more saccharine than the fluffy pink quaggan backpacks with bows and hearts. I don't know whether it makes it better or worse that she's got a fairly normal Charr lady voice. Rox was introduced to us, of course, in the Flame and Frost: The Razing patch that came out at the end of March. Let's see what's been going down in the world of Guild Wars 2 since then.
