cutthroat-politics
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Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's living story and the Orrian menace
The cleansing of Orr has long been a popular source of speculation in the community, which is why I asked Colin Johanson about the possibility of it happening in the course of Guild Wars 2's living story when I interviewed him in July. Although I understood his reasoning, I was still disappointed by the answer: that it'd be very difficult to change Orr due to its intersection with the personal story but that in future chapters ArenaNet will do its best to make sure no areas end up locked in time. In a recent Q&A session, our own Richie Procopio asked ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien a similar question and got a somewhat different response. According to O'Brien, the studio's original intent was to steer away from content that could impact the personal story in the interest of simplicity; however, ArenaNet wants to make sure that nothing is off limits to the living story overall. I'm trying not to read too much into that, since it could just be a different way of phrasing what Johanson said, but given a little hope to cling to I'd like to discuss why it's so important that ArenaNet not establish any existing content as off-limits -- especially not Orr.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2 election postmortem
We were young. We were trusting. We didn't understand the power we wielded. When the voting booths closed and the last ballots were cast, a dark portal yawned wide in Lion's Arch, unleashing the terrible titan version of candidate Ellen Kiel upon the unsuspecting Guild Wars 2 playerbase. ArenaNet didn't see fit to warn us of the true consequences of the Cutthroat Politics update, but at least we can take some comfort in the fact that Evon Gnashblade didn't win the election. He's got claws. And really pointy teeth. Fortunately, the citizens of Tyria have been distracted from their inevitable doom by the current Queen's Jubilee patch, which is showering us with loot in the manner of a quenching summer rain. I'm the kind of person who will happily farm for multiple hours if given the opportunity, but I'm going to try to drag my hollow eyes from the slaughter long enough to talk about how the previous living story chapter was a great experiment in evolving the world of GW2 -- and how it didn't quite hit the mark.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Getting what you pay for in Guild Wars 2
Despite a number of unfortunate sword-clipping issues, it seems that Ellen Kiel is our lead candidate so far in Guild Wars 2's player-decided election! It's close though, and Evon Gnashblade's supporters still have plenty of time to make the push to victory. The playerbase is mired in furious controversy over a number of very pressing concerns: Can the fall of Abaddon possibly live up to our expectations, given that it would take place in a short Fractal? What kind of secrets could the Thaumanova Reactor meltdown hold? Why can Kiel wear her spiffy-lookin' town clothes in combat while we can't? A more serious problem is how ArenaNet's handling of Aetherized weapon skins has reignited dissatisfaction over the gem store. Granted, it's mostly settled into dark mutterings at this point, but the issue has still been cropping up with nearly every major event. Changes are made to Black Lion chests and event boxes; players give the boxes another chance, hoping to get their money's worth; disappointment follows when that doesn't happen. This is a cycle that's going to keep occurring if we don't acknowledge the reason for its existence.
Support your candidate in Guild Wars 2's Cutthroat Politics
It's election time in Tyria, and the most important part of political discourse has already gripped fans of Guild Wars 2, as social media lights up with threads supporting one candidate and denigrating the other. But this election will not be won on the basis of whether Ellen Kiel or Evon Gnashblade get more upvotes on Reddit; it will come down to which candidate gets more adventurers to vote in-game. And as it turns out, there are a lot of ways to make sure your vote counts again and again. Players will receive one Support Token automatically and can acquire more through dungeons, PvP, and several special bits of content directly tied to the event, including the new Candidate Trials. Turning in a Support Token for one candidate or the other rewards you with a Representation Button, which counts toward several achievements. So get out there to be counted and vote for your preferred candidate with good old-fashioned adventuring.
Fight for your chosen candidate in Guild Wars 2's Cutthroat Politics update
Whether you're a fan of the Black Lion Trading Company's Evon Gnashblade or you're rooting for Lionguard-investigator-turned-airship-captain Ellen Kiel, chances are pretty good that you like playing games. Heck, even if you don't like either Kiel or Gnashblade, you probably still like playing games. On the other hand, if you hate games and just like to vote, you're in deep trouble because the Lion's Arch political process is all about games, which sounds like a great way to let off steam when you feel like literally pummeling the supporters of the candidate you hate. Maybe Tyrians are on to something. In a recent conference call, ArenaNet released plenty of details about what Guild Wars 2 fans can expect to find when they head to the voting booth on July 23rd. Or is it more of a voting arena? Either way, jump past the cut to find out exactly what you'll need to do in order to exercise your ruthless, hardcore, no-holds-barred right to democracy.
Guild Wars 2's Colin Johanson outlines big plans and 'course correction' for the game
The past two weeks have seen a veritable flood of information about ArenaNet's plans for the immediate future of Guild Wars 2, but are you ready for even more details about the long-term goals for the title? Well, ready or not, it's comin' at you: Game Director Colin Johanson published a blog post today that outlines some of the features and changes players can expect to see in the latter half of the year. Curious about ANet's answer to character progression after the release of Ascended gear? The blog post has it covered. Tired of beating up Champion enemies for their lunch money, only to find that their moms packed them nothing but pairs of blue-quality trousers? Read up on how ANet plans to make them worth smacking around. Do you spend your days weeping softly over that 600 gold precursor that is the absolute last thing you need to complete your Legendary weapon? Boy oh boy, today is your lucky day. That's not all; Johanson's mammoth blog post also discusses the expansion of the crafting system, plans to add new Legendary gear and player-crafted Ascended items, improvements to structured PvP and World vs. World, and more. He was also kind enough to take the time to answer our questions about ArenaNet's vision for GW2's future, so be sure to check out our interview summary after the break!
Guild Wars 2 developer livestream chat discusses the fine art of world improvement
ArenaNet's Game Director Colin Johanson sat down with Community Manager Martin Kerstein to talk about the future of Guild Wars 2 and answer some questions from the community in the latest developer livestream. Johanson confirmed that while players won't be confronting another Elder Dragon this year, there will be three new Fractals of the Mists joining the lineup: fractalized versions of the popular living story dungeons Molten Weapons Facility and Aetherblade Retreat, as well as one of two brand new scenarios to be chosen for development based on the outcome of the upcoming Cutthroat Politics content. However, he warned that Lion's Arch politics aren't necessarily a straightforwardly democratic process; this is a pirate election, and pirates are known for playing dirty. Johanson further discussed the evolution of GW2's living story and the reception of temporary content, and explained some of the difficulties the team faced when the living story was in its beginning stages. While he admitted that the beginning of the year was too heavy on temporary events, the formation of four living world teams will help them deliver more permanent changes to the game. He added that some temporary events, such as trade with the Zephyr Sanctum and popular game-within-the-game Super Adventure Box are likely to return periodically.
Massively's Guild Wars 2 Cutthroat Politics patch preview
ArenaNet's next patch for Guild Wars 2, titled Cutthroat Politics, will allow players directly affect the living story by giving them the ability to vote in an important election. During the Dragon Bash storyline, Theo Ashford was murdered, causing a vacancy on Lion Arch's prestigious Captain's Council. Two candidates have stepped forward, Ellen Kiel and Evon Gnashblade, and players will cast votes using support tokens to decide the winner. While choosing which NPC will become a more prominent figure in the game is a nice twist, apparently there is more at stake. The winner of the election will express his or her gratitude by reducing the cost of certain goods and services, bringing back various minigames, and even sponsoring Mist research so players can re-live one of two historical events. This Cutthroat Politics game update goes live on July 23 and is full of new events, rewards, and features, so check out the preview video after the cut to hear me dissect all of the details. We've also got a screenshot gallery to accompany the official site release!%Gallery-193932%
Guild Wars 2's Cutthroat Politics content launches July 23
Cutthroat Politics is the name of the next Guild Wars 2 update. It's apparently headed your way on July 23rd, according to an NCsoft press release. Players will be able to choose the next member of the Captain's Council of Lion's Arch once the content goes live. Whether war hero Ellen Kiel or Black Lion Trader Evon Gnashblade claim victory, it will "seriously impact the future events and the Living World we have come to love and cherish," ArenaNet says. The update will also introduce the Southsun Survival and Aspect arena activities as well as the Candidate Trials PvE Challenge, though the press release doesn't mention exactly what these activities entail. In other GW2 news, ArenaNet has announced invitational and regional qualifying tournaments. Full details are available on the game's official website.
