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ArenaNet rolls out the Megaserver for Guild Wars 2
As part of what ArenaNet calls "just the beginning of our new approach to enhancing the in-game social environment," the Guild Wars 2 developer is announcing a new Megaserver technology that will allow similar players to play together more easily and more frequently. Launching with the April 2014 Feature Pack on April 15th, the Megaserver System will introduce a new metric that will restructure the way servers will work. According to the studio, this system will place players on servers that have more of your friends and guildmates, and more players who speak the same language as you. It hopes to eliminate overflow servers and dead shards. The Megaserver System will start out as a test on the level 1-15 maps, main cities, and the PvP lobby. The team hopes to roll the technology out to the entire game by the end of the year, if all goes well.
April Fool's Day inflates craniums throughout Guild Wars 2
When those embroiled in the eternal conflict known as Guild Wars 2 log into their favorite online roleplaying game on April 1, they'll notice something a bit odd about their characters - specifically, each inhabitant of the game will now feature a gigantic head. The momentary alteration has no effect on a player's stats, but as you can see in the Vine footage below the break, all Guild Wars 2 characters now resemble ambulatory bobblehead dolls. Developer ArenaNet justifies the change by saying, "If players like characters that have heads, logic dictates that they'll love characters with freakishly large heads, which is why we've added [200 percent] more cranium to all player characters!" Though there's no official word on when the noggins of Guild Wars 2 will return to their normal dimensions, we don't expect the change to last beyond 12AM on April 2. [Image: ArenaNet]
Guild Wars 2 inflates your character's head
So everyone thought that Guild Wars 2 was just going to do Super Adventure Box again. But no, this year is going a different route. After all, you're super important in the game, aren't you? So why not let all of that importance go straight to your cranium? The designers have turned on the game's big head mode, and it's probably going to significantly improve your experience within the game as a whole. Maybe. Who knows, it could happen. The point is that the super adventure is now in your skull, which is greatly engorged, and you can log into the game right now to start playing with the biggest head your character has ever had in Tyria. Bigger even than Trahearne's head! Check out the full infographic on the update just past the break (click for a larger version) and enjoy the new visuals as you head into battle. [Source: ArenaNet press release]
Guild Wars 2 reworks PvP with its major April update
As of April 15th, Guild Wars 2 will have no more PvP gear. None. Your appearance in PvP will be the same as it is in WvW and PvE, and you'll enjoy complete statistical parity with everyone else on the battlefield. That's one of the biggest takeaways from the game's latest development blog, but it's hardly the only one. PvP is seeing a major overhaul like everything else, and it ties directly into more rewarding experiences via the new reward tracks. The reward tracks set down a series of objectives for players to accomplish by taking part in PvP, with several smaller rewards along the way and a big bonus at the end. There are also rotating dungeon reward tracks, allowing players to unlock dungeon skins and rewards by taking part in PvP challenges, ensuring that you can unlock what you want through the game mode that you like the most. For more details, as well as a look at the upcoming PvP build interface and other changes, take a gander at the full development blog.
Working As Intended: What Guild Wars 2 got right
I returned to Guild Wars 2 recently after months away and was pleasantly surprised with what I found. No, there was nothing earth-shatteringly new, and no, I'm not going to praise the latest installment of the plot, but I realized that I'd forgotten just how much Guild Wars 2 managed to get right. I have many complaints about the game ranging from the way group combat in dungeons flopped to how the economy tanked to the fact that the living story bores me to tears. But Guild Wars 2 has some true nuggets of brilliance all the same, even if it doesn't have (I'm gonna say it) Cantha. Let's talk about them.
Guild Wars 2 signals end of armor repair costs
The latest developments in Guild Wars 2's upcoming April feature pack will improve the quality of life around Tyria, as the game will be ending armor repair and sharing gear and WvW XP across accounts. The team said that it feels as though the loss of time is enough of a death penalty that it will be removing the costs for armor repair when the patch lands. Because this will take out a goldsink, the team is also reducing the coin dropped by champion loot bags. Legendary gear, ascended items, and World vs. World XP will become account-bound rather than character-bound come April as well. This means that players can character hop and retain their progression and expensive items instead of getting them individually.
Guild Wars 2 improving guild and LFG systems in April
The last few announcements about Guild Wars 2 changes have been big. And with good cause, as roughly no one should be unhappy about the final destruction of the much-maligned town clothes mechanic. But there are smaller significant changes coming along as well, as detailed in a new post outlining a few changes coming to both the game's LFG tools as well as guild management systems. They won't rewrite the game, but they should make it a little easier. Guild leaders, for instance, will be able to see when members last logged in. The LFG tool will allow filtering via language and for WvW groups, making it that much easier to find a group that you can communicate with and has the same goals as you. There are also improved mechanics for guild-based groups in the system. Sure, it's not a complete trait overhaul, but if you're enjoying your time in Tyria every little improvement is a good one.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Looking forward to Guild Wars 2's feature pack
The dust has barely settled on the Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath release, but ArenaNet is already releasing blog posts to discuss Guild Wars 2's April 15th feature pack. What's a feature pack? Well, it's exactly what it says on the tin: We'll be getting a big chunk of gameplay updates, quality-of-life improvements, and balance tweaks that don't fit into the living world or have story components. I usually refer to this stuff as "stuff," but "feature pack" definitely sounds more classy. As I write this, we've gotten posts on three of the topics locked up in the official feature pack site's nifty little sidebar doodad: one covering updates to the trait system; another to outline balance changes for runes, sigils and professions; and another to talk about swapping critical damage percentage for a new attribute called Ferocity. I have a lot to say about traits, but I'm also going to spend some time speculating on the next two blog posts in the lineup. There's nothing I love more than making half-baked predictions.
Guild Wars 2 unveils new account-wide wardrobe system
The latest ingredient in Guild Wars 2's April 2014 feature pack has just been announced, and it's a delight for those of us who like to play dress-up in our MMOs. Yes, it's quite literally a wardrobe, an "account-wide system that allows players to collect every skin in the game." Says ArenaNet, "Currently, it can be a little overwhelming to try to sort through it all and customize your character exactly how you'd like to. Our answer to that is the Wardrobe, which makes it easy for players to change their look at any time and to share cosmetic items across all the characters on [their] account." In other words, a skin unlock for one character will work for alts too, and players will use transmutation charges to swap their looks as part of the new simplified transmutation system. ANet launched a brand new dev blog, video, and gallery today to toast the new feature. Enjoy!
Guild Wars 2's Tournament of Legends begins April 26th
Yesterday evening, ArenaNet community coordinator Allie Murdock announced Guild Wars 2's first-ever Tournament of Legends, debuting on April 26-27 in Europe and May 3-4 in North America. The tournament format is a best-of-three single-elimination style for the prelims and best-of-five for the finals. Prizes include legendary weapons, legendary components, Black Lion weapon tickets, and gems; participants and stream viewers alike have a chance at walking away with some sweet goodies. Registration begins April 4th. Sixteen teams per region will be selected.
Guild Wars 2 dev blog explains critical damage changes
ArenaNet's Roy Cronacher has authored a new dev diary that deconstructs one of the balance tweaks heading your way in Guild Wars 2's April Feature Pack. "Ferocity is being introduced to make bonus critical damage easier to understand, more easily scaled across the whole game, and to help foster a healthy balance environment that encourages players to experiment with their builds," Cronacher explains. The post also delves into UI changes as well as how the update will affect Celestial Gear. Read all about it on the official GW2 website.
Guild Wars 2 announces 'April 2014 Feature Pack'
ArenaNet has just announced what it's calling Guild Wars 2's first-ever update focused entirely on new features and feature enhancements, one that will "introduce a sweeping range of new systems and feature enhancements to the game." Dubbed the "April 2014 Feature Pack," the update is set to go live on April 15th, but in the interim, the studio plans to roll out multiple videos and dev blogs, starting with this first one: a dev blog discussing the overhaul of the trait system, the introduction of 40 new traits, and inbound "horizontal progression opportunities."
The 'aftermath' of Guild Wars 2's Battle for Lion's Arch
Guild Wars 2 fans logging in today will encounter the Aftermath update, which seeks to bring some closure to the ongoing living story plotline that saw Lion's Arch devastated and Scarlet defeated. The battle is over. Scarlet Briar is dead. Tyria's noblest warriors have done what they can to save the beloved city of Lion's Arch. But have they truly saved it? Word of Scarlet's demise has spread like wildfire throughout the wards of the city and all across Tyria. The heroes of Lion's Arch, the Lionguard, and Order forces have driven out the remainder of Scarlet's armies, their morale and ranks shattered. All the while, the Breachmaker-Scarlet's enormous airship looming over Sanctum Harbor-continues to drill uncontrollably without its pilot at the helm. One thing is certain: Tyria is scarred. With today's release, "Aftermath," players will discover the depth of those wounds and the legacy left behind by Scarlet's campaign of terror. We've got the Battle for Lion's Arch finale cinematic for you after the break in case you missed or just want to see Scarlet die again (and we know you do!). [Source: ArenaNet press release]
One Shots: Granny Freedom
It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a super-powered senior citizen with slight incontinence and a grappling hook! Well, there's something you don't see every day. Reader Dynatos brings this gripping image from Champions Online to our attention: "A superhero that has come back out of retirement, Granny Freedom grapples across Millennium City's skies on the lookout for both evil-doers and heroes who need a little help with their moral compass!" She's also never late for Denny's early bird specials. So what other visual treats do we have in store for you whippersnappers this week? Oh, wouldn't you like to know!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's season finale doesn't quite soar
I've been critical of Guild Wars 2's living world over the past year. It was an experiment that I thought sounded excellent on paper but hadn't proved itself in practice. ArenaNet's goals for the story were very ambitious, but most video game fans -- and MMO players especially -- are used to developers talking up lofty plans and then delivering products that don't quite leave the ground. These days it's easy to let go of some disappointment if we're promised a flying car and instead get a new four-door sedan that actually works as opposed to, say, a Biturbo that rattles apart on the highway. GW2 at launch was at least airborne, and it had a good foundation to build on. The question was whether or not ArenaNet would build on it. Now that we've seen the last part of the first living world story arc, I am ready to tentatively classify GW2 as being in the "hovering" stage of flight. Jump past the cut and let's talk about Battle For Lion's Arch -- but only if you're cool with spoilers. Are we cool with spoilers? Cool.
Time for some thrilling heroics in Guild Wars 2
If you're curious about the conclusion of Guild Wars 2's first seasonal living world arc but are too busy leveling up your 15th alt or throwing your savings into the Mystic Toilet to experience that conclusion yourself, fear not: Friend of Massively Richie "Bogotter" Procopio will do the hard part of playing through the final leg of the story for you. His new 18-minute video will lead you through the showdown as he resists the tug of the gripping plot to make sure to use a bunny finisher and dance on corpses. It should go without saying that there be spoilers ahead, but just in case: big spoilers ahead!
Guild Wars 2 unveils spring tourney details
With all of the crazy red plant ladies and detective girlfriends and blown-up cities, it's easy to forget the real meaning of Guild Wars 2: warring with guilds. Actually, these days it's more about warring with other worlds rather than guilds, but that title was already taken back in 1939. Still, you can look forward to the next bout of competitive world-vs.-world action during the 2014 spring tourney, running from March 28th until May 30th. The tournament will use a Swiss-style matching system rather than an elimination ladder; worlds are assigned points based on performance, then matched against other worlds based on their performance. The result should be that the best worlds are pitted against one another instead of being subjected to pre-arranged matchups. Players will be awarded tickets for participation after the dust clears, with more tickets going to players who are on higher-ranked worlds. For the details and more information about what you can spend tickets on, check out the official posting.
Guild Wars 2's Battle for Lion's Arch has begun [It's live now!]
Fans of Guild Wars 2's living story villain Scarlet Briar -- all five of you -- will likely be disappointed by the finale launching today in ArenaNet's core MMO, but everyone else will be letting out a big cheer and enjoying some fresh loot piñatas. Marketed as the "final showdown with villain Scarlet Briar," the Battle for Lion's Arch patch will allow players to try to reclaim the beloved capital city that's been under siege for the last two weeks. Players will engage in a desperate struggle to take back one of the game's most important cities and a major hub for players. The city of Lion's Arch has fallen to a vicious surprise attack from sylvari super villain Scarlet Briar, backed by her army of Tyria's dark forces and an arsenal of war machines. Her weapons of war include the massive airship drill Breachmaker, which continues to bore deep beneath the city's harbor. Under the shadow of this mechanical monstrosity, players must now rally to reenter Lion's Arch to challenge Scarlet's army, and perhaps face the villain herself. Massively's Anatoli Ingram spoke with ArenaNet's Colin Johanson last week about what to expect from the update. [Update: The patch has now gone live! Read the full patch notes and check out Richie "Bogotter" Procopio's video comparing the brand-new tormented weapons to their GW1 originals.] [Source: ArenaNet press release]
The Game Archaeologist: The care and feeding of older MMOs
When an MMO has reached a certain age and dwindled to a certain player population, what do you do with it? Do you put it out to pasture, nurture it, or put it down? With some of our older graphical MMOs approaching their 20th anniversaries, the question of what studios should do with aging titles is becoming very important. It's not just important for the games in question but as a precedent to the population of games that will one day become just as old. Lately we've seen different studios act on this topic in a wide variety of ways, all of which I find fascinating. Some of these games have seen tragic ends, while others may be entering into the enjoyable golden years. If nothing else, it's shown me that there isn't just one set answer for this and that some devs are hoping to do the right thing by their companies and their players.
MMO Mechanics: Predicting the future of MMO game mechanics
I've been thinking heavily about the future since our parent network's budget cuts were announced, so I decided it would be very apt to pen my last edition of MMO Mechanics with that same train of thought. The industry has changed remarkably over the last decade with trends like the free-to-play revolution and innovations in everything from loot distribution to quest design. In my previous article, I looked at the trend toward using procedural generation and what that might mean for the future of MMOs. In this article, I'd like to give a better overview of where I think the genre is headed in the coming years and what that means for game mechanics. My predictions are based on market patterns and technology developments, including the great indie revolution, the effects of declining subscriptions on investment, and upcoming virtual reality technology. Pie-in-the-sky fantasy or an accurate predictor of things to come? Let me know what you think.
