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Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's Legacy of the Foefire
This Guild Wars 2 beta was possibly more exciting for me than any of the previous ones. It was bigger in pretty much every sense -- more areas, more races, more PvP, more people. It was still rife with its fair share of technical issues, but those issues did not seem to really define the norm. And most importantly, it was the last one, which left each experience flavored with the subtle taste of anticipation. What did you get up to? I'd hope some of you who aren't quite as comfortable with structured PvP took this last opportunity to get in and give it a go while the scene is (theoretically) as open and easy to join as possible. If you did, you probably ran into the Legacy of the Foefire map. If you didn't, here's a bit about what you missed.
Turning over a new leaf in Guild Wars 2's Sylvari starting experience
The Sylvari have been my race of choice ever since they were announced as a playable race in Guild Wars 2. It's not often that you see races outside of the generic Orc-Elf-Dwarf-Human spectrum, so the sylvan-esque race really appealed to me as something different. So of course, when time rolled around to stake claims on the impressions piece of the newly introduced Sylvari starting experience during the final beta weekend, you better believe I pounced on it. So here we are: Guild Wars 2's final beta weekend is over, and it's just a matter of time before launch is upon us. But you'll be happy to know that I spent my entire weekend prancing around Tyria in the leafy soles of a Sylvari's boots. It was a journey full of mystery, surprises (both pleasant and otherwise), and a whole lot of oversized foliage. Follow along past the cut, where I shall make like a tree and get the hell on with it already.
Excelsior! The cheerful insanity of the Guild Wars 2 Asura
It would have been easy for ArenaNet to make Guild Wars 2's Asura race just another batch of quirky MMO "shorties," playing into the standard fantasy trope. You know how it goes -- what the little guy lacks in brawn he makes up for in quick wit and charm. Throw in some floppy ears, a mischievous grin, and some mechanical gizmos, and you've got yourself a gnome by another name. So did ArenaNet rise to the challenge of porting and updating the Asura? We got a good look at the race and its starting zone in the game's final beta weekend event in the hopes of figuring that out. Follow on for our first impressions!
Guild Wars 2 holds beta screenshot contest
Those of you partying it up in Guild Wars 2's final beta weekend event might be interested to know that you can win a few prizes if you keep your finger hovering over the print screen key. ArenaNet announced that it's holding a Moment to Moment screenshot contest over the course of the weekend. Participants may submit action and landscape shots in an attempt to net a SteelSeries prize package. The package includes a Guild Wars 2 mouse, headset, and mousepad. Submissions will be taken through Monday, after which players will vote on the best to formulate the top 20 in each category. Finally, ArenaNet will pick the best of these 40 screenshots for the prizes. Since you can submit only one action shot and one landscape picture for the contest, Massively advises you to choose wisely!
ArenaNet presents WvW improvements and server list for final Guild Wars 2 beta [Updated]
With the final Guild Wars 2 beta just days away, ArenaNet has been putting out scads of information regarding what players can expect over their weekend in-game. We've already told you about the Asura and Sylvari being playable, new areas being opened up, and the new PvP map. Today ArenaNet added to the heap of updates with some information about world vs. world. The last BWE helped the team find some issues and bugs in the WvW matchmaking system, leading to some rather unbalanced matches. As a result, the server standings from that weekend won't be published, but systems designer Mike Ferguson says that those bugs have been patched up and more factors have been added to the formula to improve its accuracy. In answer to some concerns about launch, Ferguson announced that the 24-hour match length that players are familiar with from the betas will be used until servers are consistently being matched properly. At that time, matches will move to the two-week format that WvW is meant to take. In the same post, Ferguson listed the servers available for the final beta, which is noticeably shorter than the previous list. The world population limit has been "greatly increased," due both to the additional areas that will be open for player exploration and to some adjustment in how the team is handling its tech. Players should note that this is the initial list and the team is prepared to launch new worlds should the need arise. Refer to the original blog post for the full world list. [Update] ArenaNet has posted a few extra details on the official forums, world transfers will be free from the start of the beta until 9:00 p.m. EDT on July 21st. Gem cost for transfers after that time will be 1800 gems to transfer to a high-population world, 1000 gems to transfer to a medium-population world, and 500 gems for a low-population world.
Guild Wars 2 beta will include new PvP map, live gem store, and more
We've already told you that you can play as the Asura and Sylvari in the upcoming Guild Wars 2 beta weekend, but the fun doesn't stop there! Along with a chance to meet the last two races, characters will have access to a brand-new map for characters in the 17 to 20 level range. The new map, the Brisbane Wildlands, borders the areas of the Asura, Sylvari, and humans, with a heaping helping of Skritt thrown in for good measure. There's trouble in paradise, though, according to Game Designer Kim Kirsch. "The Inquest, Nightmare Court, and human bandits now flood the area, preying on skritt and disrupting lab operations. Worse still, each of these groups seem to have their own dark intentions -- plots that could be catastrophic if left unchecked." If you're torn between keeping your existing beta characters or rolling anew as an Asura or Sylvari, ArenaNet has made your choice a great deal easier. All existing beta information (characters, items, and likely server selection) will be deleted. You'll keep your contact list, but that's about it! This wipe will happen both before and after the upcoming beta weekend, so you'll have a clean slate for the last test and then again for the headstart weekend or launch proper. In addition, transactions in the in-game gem store will require actual credit card or PayPal purchases. While items bought in the store this weekend will be wiped, a record will be kept of how many gems were purchased, and those gems will be waiting for you after Guild Wars 2 launches.
Get your Guild Wars 2 final beta weekend key here! [Updated]
The final Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event happening from July 20th to 22nd might just be your last chance to play the game before you decide whether you'll be pre-purchasing to play on August 25th for the head start. Luckily for you, we have some keys to give away for this final beta event so you can try it out for free! As part our final key giveaway on the site (that's right: We're not doing any more key giveaways for any games after this!), we're happy to end on a high note with 3,000 keys for our readers. Simply head on over to our giveaway page to grab yours before they run out, then head to http://register.guildwars2.com to redeem the key and start the download. Good luck and see you in Tyria! [Update: Keys are gone already!]
Colin Johanson talks about Guild Wars 2 betas and more
In an interview posted this week, Colin Johanson, Lead Content Designer for Guild Wars 2, took the time to talk with Guild Wars 2 Hub about the importance of beta weekend events, ArenaNet's design process, and the company's attitude as launch gets ever closer. Johanson talked about how "incredibly nerve-wracking" taking the first demo to Gamescom two years ago was and how those nerves have transitioned steadily into "excitement as the game edges closer to release with each beta weekend." He also described how the beta events invigorate the team and get everybody champing at the bit to get back into making the game better. "Pride and hubris are dangerous things in this industry, though," he added, saying that the team members work diligently to listen to and incorporate feedback and remember who it is they are making the game for.
Asura and Sylvari races playable in final Guild Wars 2 beta
We know Guild Wars 2's release date. We know when the last beta weekend will take place. Now, the last great mystery has been answered. A blog post scheduled to go live later this morning (link coming soon) details the changes that ArenaNet has in store for the beta schedule for July 20th to 22nd. Spoiler alert: The Sylvari and Asura will be playable! Previous beta weekends gave players access to the home cities and two explorable zones apiece for the Humans, Charr, and Norn, as well Lion's Arch and Gendarran Fields. In the upcoming beta, the last two playable races will also be open for exploration. Like the other races, Sylvari and Asura characters will see personal story content up to level 20 and access to their respective capital cities, the Grove and Rata Sum. In addition, a new Guild-Conquest PvP map will be available for playtesting. If you've always wondered what sort of city snarky magitech geniuses would build or have been waiting for ever to play as a humanoid plant, your time is now. [Edit to add: ArenaNet's blog post has been published, and Gamespot now has a video of Asura gameplay.]
ArenaNet shares world and gem store details for Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event
Unless some crazy Asura experiments are playing havoc with the timestream, the much-anticipated second Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event is getting closer all the time! In preparation for that, the ArenaNet blog is now sporting a new dose of information about worlds and world transfers in this beta weekend. One of the big changes for this BWE is the inclusion of dedicated French and German servers. A number of the European servers have been marked specifically for French and German, two of the officially supported languages. New players will be able to pick any of the 96 servers (that's 48 US-based servers and 48 European) to be their home world. Players from the previous BWE will have a 30-hour window from 3:00 p.m. EDT on Friday to 9:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday during which they can transfer between worlds without spending any gems. After that time-frame, transfers will cost the normal 1,800 gems. Each account will be credited with 500 free gems automatically. Players will also be able to get an additional 2,000 gems; you won't actually be charged for the transaction, but you'll have to enter valid credit card details in the Gem Store. Check out the exhaustive server list on the the official post.
Guild Wars 2 devs answer anything, including launch date speculation
ArenaNet President Mike O'Brien and his motley crew of pirates, flibbertigibbets, and developers just stormed the seas of Reddit and fought valiantly through a dynamic event of Q&As concerning Guild Wars 2. No topic was off-limits, although the team didn't necessarily address all of the hundreds of queries put forth. Some of the questions answered included confirmation that there will be a way for guilds to raise their membership cap, word on bug fixes, a detailed explanation of the new trait system, and excitement for the upcoming beta weekend event. For those hoping to hear word on playable Asura or Sylvari, however, the rote response throughout the Q&A was, "Watch this space." What bug will the team actually miss? "Sit jumping," Mike Ferguson replied. "I don't know why, but it seems like everybody loves it (except the guy that introduced it). I'll actually be sad to see it go." O'Brien did directly address the rampant curiosity surrounding the game's launch date: "The fundamental issue here is that we just don't have a release date right now. We're using beta testing in the traditional sense. When beta testing shows that the game is where we want it to be, we'll lock in a release date. We're not that far off. We're obviously going to release in 2012, and any statements to the contrary are absurd."
ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien heading to Reddit for AMA
Guild Wars 2 fans, do you have some deep, profound questions gnawing away at your brain that will simply drive you to the depths of madness if you don't get an answer? Well, we probably can't help you there, but if you've got any questions regarding Guild Wars 2 or its upcoming beta weekend event, there is a solution: Head over to Reddit's /r/gaming subreddit at 3:00 p.m. EDT to catch ArenaNet's latest Reddit Ask Me Anything. Join ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien and other members of the ArenaNet staff who will be on-hand to answer your pressing Guild Wars 2 questions. As we've seen in the previous AMAs with Jon Peters and Mike Ferguson, these events tend to get hectic quickly, so if you've got something you want answered, get yourself over to /r/gaming and prepare your interrogation.
Massively Exclusive: Eric Flannum talks Guild Wars 2 beta changes
There's no doubt that the folks over at ArenaNet have been busy with preparations for the upcoming Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event. The team has doubled the number of servers available for the beta and instituted a number of changes to the beta content itself, as detailed in a recent blog post. Despite the bustle, Lead Game Designer Eric Flannum took the time to answer a few of our questions regarding changes in the upcoming beta.
Guild Wars 2 beta brings new zones, PvP tournaments, and more
With the second Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event fast approaching, the ArenaNet blog has been updated with some new details about updates to beta client. As we've been told before, players' characters from the previous BWE and stress test will roll over into this event, allowing people who put the effort into leveling their toons to reap the sweet, sweet rewards of higher-level content. That higher-level content comes in the form of the Ascalonian Catacombs dungeon's story mode (for level 30 characters), explorable mode (for level 35 characters), and a new map human-territory map, Gendarran Fields (for level 25-35 characters). Additionally, players can travel to Lion's Arch and give their unwanted weapons and items to the Mystic Forge to see what it spits out in return. Apparently, the forge runs on pure djinn power (253% more green than any fuel we've got, we're guessing): The djinn Zommoros is held within the Mystic Forge and is evidently content to take players' stuff in exchange for mysterious goods of unknown value. On the PvP side of things, WvW maps have received quite an update! Along with the normal face-stopping and zerging associated with WvW, players will now be able to participate in a newly added mini-dungeon, skill challenges, jumping puzzles, and even dynamic events. Players participating in structured PvP will form five-player groups, take part in eight-team tournaments for chests full of goodies, and find that structured PvP matches reward them with Rank as well as Glory. Updates have been made to general gameplay and design, as well. Overflow server technology is now being made functional by the ability to see when party members are on overflow worlds, travel to those party members' worlds, and stick together between zones. Chat has been improved with chat bubbles, map chat, and an update to local chat. Those of you who've been waiting on key-binding functionality will find that it's got a new interface (which includes the binding of modifier keys, thank the five gods). Skills have been split into three tiers, so players now have to unlock a certain number of skills on one tier to be able to unlock any skills on the next level, in order to encourage a sense of progression and to make adding new skills more feasible in the future. Full details of the update can be read on the ArenaNet blog.
E3 2012: DUST 514 announces Home Space, Vita companion app
The firefight's only begun between DUST 514 and the competition, as CCP Games is showing off the many subsidiary features of its upcoming PlayStation 3 MMOFPS at E3 this week. The studio used the Expo as a platform to announce that DUST 514 will have its own dedicated Home Space on the console as well as a tie-in app with the portable PlayStation Vita. DUST 514's Home Space is intended to be a hangout for up-and-coming mercenaries, and CCP invites all interested players to check out the thematic virtual place over the summer. It will also be one of the best places to snag a beta key: CCP is kicking off DUST 514's Home Space by giving away 10,000 all access keys to the first people who visit. The studio's also developed a companion app for the PlayStation Vita called DUST 514: Neocom. While the app does not let players fight in the game, it does allow them to experiment with loadouts, customization, market exchanges, and social features. The premiere beta weekend event for DUST 514 will kick off on June 29th. CCP's released a new trailer for E3 that showcases the game in action, including several in-game shots of tanks, ships, and soldiers blowing stuff up -- check it out after the jump! [Source: CCP Games press release]
ArenaNet doubles servers for beta weekend event
The folks over at ArenaNet are gearing up for yet another Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event, and this time they mean business. In an official blog post today, the team announced that it has doubled the number of servers available to BWE players, which should help provide a smoother and more accessible experience for everyone involved. Remember folks, the beta weekend event is this weekend, from June 8th to June 10th, so if you're one of the lucky folks taking part, be sure to get your client downloaded and updated before Friday. We'll see you in Tyria.
Next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend coming June 8th
Clear out your calendar and stock up on the Cheetos because ArenaNet has announced the date for the next Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event! In a blog post that went live early this morning, it was stated that the next BWE will run from 3:00 p.m. EDT on Friday, June 8th, until 3:00 a.m. EDT on Monday the 11th. As in prior events, the only way to guarantee access to this event is to pre-purchase the game. In addition to a date, a little light was shed on changes made to the beta for the upcoming weekend. To begin with, existing characters will not be deleted, despite fears and whispers to the contrary! This will give more players a chance to hit the level 35 mark to make it into the available dungeon. Additionally, in response to feedback from the first BWE, changes have been made to overflow server functionality, chat, key binding capabilities, server stability, and general performance. There wasn't a whole lot of explanation on what went into these changes, but the community will evidently be able to test things out for itself in a pretty short while. More changes will be examined in greater detail in the "near future."
The Secret World launch delayed to July 3rd
The Dragons, Templars, and Illuminati will have to wait two more weeks to dive into their organizations: Originally slated for June 19th, The Secret World's release is delayed until July 3rd. Early access will open on June 29th. Funcom also announced the final two beta weekends. The first, titled "Hell Raised,'" will run from June 15th until June 17th and will include the Illuminati and Dragon starter experiences as well as allow players to leave Kingsmouth for the Savage Coast. The final beta weekend will be from June 22nd to June 24th; during this event players will participate in the game's PvP in both the warzone gameplay and the Eldorado battlefield.
ArenaNet confirms no beta for this weekend
In response to increased agitation among impatient fans, ArenaNet's Martin Kerstein graced the Guild Wars 2 Facebook page with a bit of confirmation: There will be no beta weekend event this coming weekend. This stretches the BWE schedule longer than the one-per-month that the team is trying to adhere to, but Kerstein included some explanation that will hopefully keep fans from panicking. Our BWE1 was super successful, we exceeded our expectations. As some of you might have experienced first hand, this lead to some technical issues. To make sure we are not running into the same situation for BWE2, we recently had a stress test, and we are currently deploying a lot of additional hardware in our datacenters. We will be able to tell you exactly when BWE2 will take place as soon as all the hardware has been deployed. While this wasn't met with glee by most fans, the news does allow folks to carry on with their lives and make full use of the upcoming holiday weekend. Moreover, the wait will likely be worthwhile, as additional hardware to support the player flood that will descend on the data centers for the next BWE will mean greater enjoyment for more people.
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!
