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The Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa)
Whenever a new big MMO releases, it causes a shockwave of predictable conversations and comparisons. I'm not interested in the "winning/losing" or "killing/dying" debate so much as a contemporary meeting of minds to share ideas. MMOs used to develop in a vacuum, but now they're much more interconnected (for better and worse). The upside for consumers is that proven features often spread to the competition, hopefully improving the whole playing field. In our case, it's the impact of Guild Wars 2 on the industry and what it might have to teach Lord of the Rings Online. Yet I don't think it's quite fair (or true) to just look at it from the lens of "Everything GW2 has is better"; it's more productive to theorize how to swap the best of both games in order to improve them. So here are three things that LotRO could use to implement from Guild Wars 2 -- and three that Guild Wars 2 could use from LotRO.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Customization in Guild Wars 2 and Runes of Magic
It took me a little while, but you should know by now that I was going to do a Guild Wars 2 comparison. It's a little later than I previously said I'd write it, but there's no time like the present, right? Runes of Magic has been chugging along for over two years now, while GW2 is -- sort of -- just around the corner, and Guild Wars is the veteran of the bunch at six years of age. What do these MMOs have in common that would provoke me to attempt a comparison? I'll give you a hint: It has nothing to do with jumping. What they do share is character customization, which, really, many MMOs have. It's a pretty standard feature. In this week's Lost Pages of Taborea, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how RoM could have taken some customization cues from GW, while GW2 might be taking some from RoM -- sort of like a movie based off a show based off a movie.
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.
Guild Wars 2 designers answer player questions about armor, crafting, and Transmutation Stones
Last week's Guild Wars 2 news got a huge community reaction. The loudest discussions came from the announcement regarding Transmutation Stones and their relation to the upcoming game's item shop. John Hargrove and Eric Flannum answered some of the most prevalent fan questions last night in the newest ArenaNet blog post. Predictably, most of the questions centered around Transmutation Stones, but we also learn a bit more about crafting, gathering, and armor stats. While some questions remain unanswered for the time being, there are plenty of new details to pore over. Follow along after the jump as we take a look at them.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Of dungeons, stats, and transmutation
It's been quite a week for the Guild Wars 2 community. Kristen Perry told us about her amazing dye system; some made plans to head to the east coast to hang out with the ArenaNet staff; we learned more about the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience; John Hargrove made a post on the ArenaNet blog about loot and armor; and PC Gamer in the UK scored an exclusive look at dungeons in GW2. Looking at all that, I hardly knew where to start for Flameseeker Chronicles this week! Undoubtedly, John Hargrove dropped the biggest bomb on the community with one little sentence in his blog post: "With the transmutation system, you'll be able to acquire new items known as Transmutation Stones through our in-game store that allow you to customize your appearance. With transmutation, you take two items of the same type, pick one that is the most visually appealing to you, one that is the most statistically appealing to you, and then you simply combine the two items into what will hopefully become your perfect piece of armor or weaponry." I was tempted to skip the whole mess, but it's been several days, and the debate is still raging. I want to have some fun too, and since Guild Wars 2 Guru forum member Lyssa got her awesome hands on the new PC Gamer and shared all the details, we'll talk about that too. Follow along after the jump!
ArenaNet designer gives new details on armor and loot in Guild Wars 2
Last night was an interesting one for Guild Wars 2 fans. A new ArenaNet blog post popped up, this one courtesy of designer John Hargrove, who had a lot to say about two of our favorite things in the game: loot and armor. Players have been wondering how loot is going to work in Guild Wars 2 in conjunction with the karma and dynamic event systems, so it was nice to have that cleared up. Unfortunately, much of the news got lost when players almost immediately focused on a single sentence: "With the transmutation system, you'll be able to acquire new items known as Transmutation Stones through our in-game store that allow you to customize your appearance." The player base as a whole is pretty vocal about this single sentence, but there was so much more that John had to tell us. Follow along after the jump to see what it is.
