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PAX Prime 2013: Guild Wars 2's Jon Peters on the state of PvP
At this year's PAX Prime, we attended a party hosted by ArenaNet at which the studio demoed the second world of Super Adventure Box. There was a raffle, plenty of drinks, and a lot of ANet people. In fact, I mentioned to ArenaNet's reps that I was really into competitive play, PvP, and e-sports. Not five minutes later, I was introduced to Jon Peters, lead gameplay designer for Guild Wars 2. I was a bit intimidated; I mean, this was the guy who singlehandedly created over 70% of the skills in GW2! But he was surprisingly down-to-earth with our conversation.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Waiting for Guild Wars 2
There are two weeks left until the official launch of Guild Wars 2. That's a little nutso because a significant portion of my (and a great deal many other folks') energy in last few years has been dedicated to anticipating the game. Seeing it live will be something of an adjustment. I keep wanting to talk about memories of development and standing in lines at PAX and meeting devs and other fans as a way of describing my involvement with this game up 'til this point. I sometimes feel that that's odd, saying that the most exciting part of following Guild Wars 2's development has been the people I've met rather than the game that we're all congregating around. ArenaNet seems to agree with my take on things, though, if global brand manager Chris Lye can be trusted. He says of ArenaNet, "We're not a video game company; we're a community building company. We just happen to have one of the coolest ways to build a community, which is through a video game." Be it trite or not, I find that that kind of statement aligns nicely with the reason I, someone who plays MMOs largely for the sense of shared experience, have enjoyed Guild Wars 2 and its community so much.
ArenaNet presents: A day in the life
Deep in the clutches of Guild Wars 2 withdrawal? Counting down the unknown number of days 'til you can play again? Here, maybe staring at pictures with Guild Wars 2 running on other people's computers will help. I mean, I guess there are also ArenaNet employees in there and some nice scenery shots of the office and surrounding area. But don't worry -- I know what you're really looking at: It's all about that flowing lava and those character designs. ArenaNet's new Facebook photo album highlights some members of the ArenaNet team, including our own dear Rubi and the rest of the Community team, as well their working environment and creative decorations. Be sure to take a spin through it in an attempt to find still more release date conspiracy fuel.
Brace yourself: The Guild Wars 2 stress test is coming
The ArenaNet team is rallying the troops for a Guild Wars 2 stress test this coming Monday. While the existence and details of the test were already known, Rubi Bayer has added a note to participants to the game's Facebook page. The goal of the stress test is to see how the servers handle concentrated activity, so she gave a few tips on how best players can help the company during the short test. No simulation or prediction can ferret out as many problems as letting thousands of players loose on a game, so Rubi encouraged players to pile on the servers, find bugs, and be patient as they, well, find bugs. The test will run on Monday, May 14th, from 2:00 p.m. EDT to 9:00 p.m. EDT, and will be available to pre-purchasers only. One nice treat is that although the company has mentioned character wipes between beta weekend events, players will still have their darling creations from BWE1 to run around with. Get ready to flood the servers on Monday. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Fly, my pretties!
ArenaNet confirms Guild Wars 2 beta invites are in progress
Brooding over your lack of a beta invite for Guild Wars 2? Are you anxiously refreshing your inbox every three seconds on the off-chance that ArenaNet finally came to its senses and opened the door to the best tester in the world (that's you, of course)? It might help you to know that ArenaNet has indeed begun sending out beta invites for the lucky few who were accepted after the recent 48-hour call to arms. Rubi Bayer confirmed this on Guild Wars 2's Facebook page: "Yes, beta invitations have begun going out. They'll be sent out over the next few days. Please remember that discussing the beta in any way, shape, or form -- including your status in it -- is a breach of NDA. Don't risk your beta access!" Keep in mind that whether or not you're admitted to this round of beta testing, you can ensure your place in future beta weekends by pre-purchasing the game.
Want to be Massively's next Guild Wars columnist?
ArenaNet's Guild Wars is a fascinating MMO. The original released almost seven years ago, with the sequel set to release later this year. There's no doubt that Guild Wars 2 tops the list of the most anticipated MMO for 2012, which makes writing about it all the more fun and exciting. That's where you come in. After learning that our own Rubi Bayer will be whisked away by an as-yet unnamable job offer, we're in desperate need of someone to fill her weekly Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 columnist spot on the site*. Follow along after the jump for the full details! *Keeping us in line and making "that's what she said" jokes optional.
This Week In MMO: Rated M for mature edition
It's another Thursday, and another week for Gamebreaker.TV's This Week in MMO. What's in store for this installment? Massively's very own Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer join regular host Gary Gannon in "mature" discussion about MMOs. First up, Gary, Shawn, and Rubi run through the topic of the mature rating in MMOs such as CCP's World of Darkness. Then our intrepid hosts guide us through the magical and technological starting zone for the Asura in Guild Wars 2. Also, saving Metropolis just became cheaper -- free, in fact! Shawn and Rubi discuss DC Universe Online's entry to the free-to-play market. Where is the future of MMO-subscription models going? Freemium? When Shawn spoke to SOE President John Smedley, Smed certainly favored it. Moving on to another action-based game, Rubi reveals TERA's PR speak within its endgame Q&A statements, and Shawn admits that the small raid size in The Secret World isn't quite big enough for him. Catch all that and more in the full Gamebreaker.TV video after the break!
One Shots: A peaceful interlude
Today's One Shots comes from Guild Wars and was snapped by yours truly: This was taken on the docks of the Isle of Solitude, one of the guild halls available in Guild Wars. It's always been one of my favorite places to park my character while waiting for a scheduled event or just chatting. The view is perfect, and you can even hear the water lapping against the shore. Keep your eyes on One Shots all week to see what the Massively staff loves playing and showing off. Next week's theme is all about gear. It'll be your chance to show off your most epic armor and weapons and tell us all about how you acquired them! The week after that is pet week, and we can't wait to see your awesome pet companions and hear all about them. Just send a screenshot to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a paragraph or two telling us about what we're seeing! %Gallery-112285%
One Shots: Here's your moment of zen
Contrary to what many people may think, working here at Massively doesn't mean we get to sit around and play our favorite MMOs all day. (We wish, though, and welcome any benevolent overlord who would like to pay us to do that.) Add in family, friends, and that whole "life" thing, and time dwindles as much for us as it does for anyone similarly carrying a full-time job and a host of adult responsibilities. However, when you're Massively's own Rubi Bayer, you get all that plus having the mantle of Community Manager, which means you essentially get another big "family" to spend time with! Even so, she still managed to get some time to run around in Dungeons and Dragons Online recently and brought us a shiny screenshot souvenir. Rubi explains: "My time has been pretty limited for gaming lately, and I haven't been able to play Dungeons and Dragons Online for a couple of weeks. This morning I found myself with some free time, so I set a bit of it aside for gaming. I headed for Three-Barrel Cove, an area way below my Rogue's level, but I need to impress the Free Agents. I also have a weakness for the explorable area here -- the sea and coastline are gorgeous -- so I stopped to enjoy the view before heading off to find some ogres to beat down!" Hey DDO fiends, we'd love to hear from you! Send us your screenshots of adventure to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Guild name or any other similar details are also welcomed. You never know -- yours could be the next one we post here on One Shots! %Gallery-85937%
Lost Pages of Taborea: Armor customizing and coloring
Quite frankly, I don't know why I waited so long to do an article about customizing and coloring armor in Runes of Magic. Indeed, it's one of my absolute favorite aspects of RoM. But thanks to Rubi's coverage of Guild Wars 2 and the recent ArenaNet posts, I've been spurred on to do this article. The GW2 news of late is, of course, all about how ArenaNet plans on implementing armor customization through the use of Transmutation stones you will be able to buy from a cash shop. After reading over Rubi's coverage, I felt that GW2 was heading in a very similar direction to the one taken by RoM. I find this to be very cool! So for anyone who didn't know this flexible system was in the game or that it was so flexible, I present a guide on customizing your RoM character any way you see fit. I've also included a short video tutorial to help illustrate how customizing works.
