buy-to-play
Latest
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's gender divide
When I sit down to write an installment of this column that is strongly critical of Guild Wars 2 -- a game I love, in case that was ever in doubt -- I try to follow a simple format in order to keep my criticism from turning into a venting session. That format is to establish that there is a problem, explain why it's a problem requiring a solution, and finally to offer any ideas or suggestions I think might be useful to that end. I do this because I want my articles to be helpful on some level to both ArenaNet and other fans, and while blowing off steam is excellent for the bilious humors, it's not so great for creating actual change. Sometimes, though, the only suggestion I can offer is to please stop doing something because the fact that it's a problem is reason enough for it to require that solution. This is especially important when the issue isn't gameplay or monetization but rather something that personally affects me and the people I play with. As a warning, several of the source links in this article lead to discussions of graphic and disturbing language and events.
EGX London 2014: Guild Wars 2 promotes e-sports
ArenaNet was in London this past weekend promoting its Guild Wars 2 e-sports angle to show-goers, including some who might never have played or even heard of the MMO. A pair of videos serve to explain how Guild Wars 2 works; the first covers PvE from character creation to skills to armor, and the second, hosted by Competitive Community Manager Joshua "Grouch" Davis, covers all things PvP. We think having a Competitive Community Manager is a pretty serious declaration of your e-sports intent. Enjoy the vids below.
Chaos Theory: New Sidestories show The Secret World's innovative side
When I talked about 10 of the most compelling missions in The Secret World last time, I purposefully left out the new Sidestories mission packs. One reason is that I've already spoken a bit about Further Analysis; the other is that the third and latest pack was slated to arrive soon and I intended to talk about all of them together. As it turns out, it actually released the same day that Chaos Theory did! Since then, I've had the chance to dive in and experience some of those missions. As usual, I was not disappointed. Besides providing the expected interesting new characters and great stories, The Last Pagan highlighted something else: TSW continues to be innovative!
Guild Wars 2 promotes its World Tournament Series Championships, goes on sale
Earlier this morning, ArenaNet delivered its 2014 Guild Wars 2 World Tournament Series Championships roadmap from London's Eurogamer Expo, where the studio is livestreaming its latest e-sports endeavor. ANet is calling the tourney the game's "first truly international competition" as it pulls players from three continents; opening rounds of qualifiers have already concluded. The studio explains, "Each event will pit four teams in a fight to become the world's best Guild Wars 2 PvP players, with the top two teams from the host region facing off against two visiting teams. The debut event is scheduled for December 4-5 in Beijing, where players will vie for a $50,000 (USD) prize pool and the title of first-ever Guild Wars 2 WTS Champion." As promised Tuesday, the buy-to-play MMO's free trial also began this morning at 3 a.m. EDT; it's active for a week until the wee hours of October 2nd. Box prices (specifically, Digital Heroic Editions and Digital Deluxe Editions through the GW2 storefront) have also been halved throughout the promotion. [Source: Anet press release]
Guild Wars 2 opens limited free trial access [Updated]
OK, guy in the comment section who always asks whether Guild Wars 2 has a free trial: The answer is finally yes. But there's a catch; free access to the game lasts for one week only, beginning at 3 a.m. EDT on September 25th and ending 2:59 a.m. EDT on October 2nd. ArenaNet says it has already opened registration for the trial so that interested gamers can start downloading the client ahead of time. Old trial accounts will work for this promotion. Earlier this month, Guild Wars 2's second feature pack overhauled the early game experience, making this an ideal time to be a newbie in the buy-to-play title. [Update: ArenaNet has posted a number of mechanics changes that will be in place for the trial and affect trial accounts, including restrictions on mail and chat.]
Gaile Gray returns to the community team for Guild Wars 2
If you played Guild Wars when it launched, you remember Gaile Gray. Heck, odds are you remember her if you've been at all active in the community for Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2 over the past decade; she's worn many community-facing hats over the years. She's donning a new one now, or perhaps more accurately re-donning an old favorite, as game support lead Michael Henniger recently took to the forums announcing that Gray has moved from customer support to the community team. Community interactions were a large part of Gray's role when the original Guild Wars launched, and long-time fans in the thread are happy to see her making the move. If you had a sudden sweep of nostalgia, you're not alone.
Guild Wars 2 launches new WvW meta-contests
Most PvP contests require you to actually be good at PvP. That seems fair, really, just as cooking contests generally work best when they feature people who are at least passingly familiar with cooking. But the two new Guild Wars 2 WvW contests don't actually require you to be any good at WvW, just good at showing the feature off. ArenaNet has partnered with Overwolf to kick off two WvW contests that are all about promoting and celebrating WvW, even if you aren't much of a player. The first contest is looking for the players who use the Overwolf application while streaming, aiming for the highest number of concurrent viewers on Twitch. Whoever wins gets some SteelSeries peripherals as well as 8,000 gems. Meanwhile, if that's not your thing, you can also create a WvW War Report, share it via YouTube, and be eligible to win 5,000 gems if your offering is the best. So it's not about your PvP skill here, just about your ability to entertain people via that skill (or lack thereof).
Flameseeker Chronicles: Why I'm a fan of Guild Wars 2's new player experience
Guild Wars 2's second feature pack dropped last week, bringing balance changes, new collection achievements, a rework of the trading post, and upgrades to the new player experience. Reactions to the last have been mixed, to say the least: Some of us like them, some of us are neutral on the subject, and some of us think ArenaNet made a terrible mistake. For my own part, I'm really enjoying the changes. If you happen to be in the "terrible mistake" camp, hold on to your assorted fruit-based projectiles until the end of the article and I'll explain why.
Chaos Theory: Ten compelling Secret World missions
One thing that The Secret World does extremely well is story. Few would argue that point: It's compelling, surprising, even chill-inducing, packing enough emotional punches to leave you stunned on occasion but always eager for more, which is what makes doing missions in TSW so much more enjoyable than many other MMOs. And it isn't just the overarching main story line, either. All the missions spread throughout the zones, from investigation to sabotage to even the piddliest of little side missions, tie into the story in some fashion. So missing a mission means you might miss some tantalizing tidbit. Fortunately, you needn't be a completionist to have a drive to seek out and experience every single mission. Instead of being faced with the usual desire to just move on ahead once you've "out-leveled" a zone, you literally scour to make sure you don't leave any task undone lest you miss out on any of the story. Now that said, there are some missions that are just jaw-dropping for one reason or another, ones that stop your heart or tear at it. All missions have merit, but some are just so amazing you wish you could do them for the first time over and over. There's even a grieving period when you know you can never relive that initial rush! Here are just a few of the missions that I'd personally recommend that all players experience (with as few spoilers as possible).
ArenaNet responds to Guild Wars 2 feature pack complaints
The second feature pack for Guild Wars 2 has received a somewhat cooler reception than the first one; the changes to leveling and unlocking abilities, for example, have irritated several players rolling up new characters in a stable of alts. Director Colin Johanson recently took the opportunity to address player feedback on the game's official forums, starting by noting that both bugs and misinformation are known issues that are being fixed as quickly as possible. Johanson goes on to explain that the changes have been aimed at making the leveling experience feel more rewarding for players at all skill and experience levels, and testing supports the altered model. Despite that, the team is keeping a close eye on feedback and metrics, and if it turns out that the changes are harmful, they can be iterated upon and changed. If you're one of the people less than thrilled with these alterations, it's probably a welcome sign that the director is paying attention.
The Secret World adds a new set of side missions
Are you ready for more Tokyo action in The Secret World? A sextet of side missions is now available for owners of the Issue #9 content, kicking off with a bank heist and moving on to handle rockabilly gangs, surveillance cameras, and a Flappy nest. It's a full dose of sabotage, investigation, and the usual joy of finding supernatural creatures and beating them down with your own supernatural powers. So what do you get for all of these antics? A free Deep Mystery Box, which is nice, but you also get the Lorenzian Fabricator, which allows you to move to Tokyo from anywhere in the world. That's quite useful if you've got places to be and problems to solve elsewhere. This update also allows players access to the new Efficiency and Proficiency skills to improve AEGIS mastery, so owners of the game's most recent major update will want to hop on board and start exploring the new missions.
Guild Wars 2's living story season resumes in November
A cryptic lore-only press release from ArenaNet this morning delivered this curious Guild Wars 2 news: The second season of the game's living story content will resume on November 4th, leaving just under two months between yesterday's feature pack release and the next leg of the playable plot. But if the teaser pic is any hint at all, we're likely to snag a new zone, at least. Here's the message: The fate of Tyria hangs in the balance. The world's races are uniting against the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Their first lesson – there is no sanctuary. At the culmination of the first half of Season 2, Tyria's leaders had gathered for a secret summit at the Grove, at the base of the sylvari's sacred Pale Tree. They proved an easy target for Mordremoth's forces, facing a surprise attack by the Shadow of the Dragon. Tyria's heroes are now scattered across the world but in pursuit of one goal: how to bring the battle to Mordremoth. The secret may lie in a vision delivered by the Pale Tree moments after she was badly wounded by the Shadow of the Dragon. What did the vision mean, and will a united Tyria be enough to thwart the threat from this powerful Elder Dragon? The fight continues...
Adopt a Guild Wars 2 developer for WvW this fall
With the fall World vs. World tournament coming up in Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet is pushing its team outside of its comfort zones by encouraging guilds to "adopt" a developer for the season. "We want to fight by your side, experience the ups and downs, have fun and learn together with you how to make a better WvW experience," the studio posted. "We are going to be looking for guilds in different leagues who wish to host a dev. They will participate in your activities and fight for the honor of your world and guild!" There are, of course, several rules for this sort of thing that boil down to "please don't abuse our devs and make them your slave monkeys." Interested guilds can apply for adoption by sending in a PM to John Corpening. [Thanks to Zander for the tip!]
Guild Wars 2's September Feature Pack goes live today
ArenaNet has been hyping the heck out of Guild Wars 2's September Feature Pack, and today we get to see if it lives up to the advanced billing. The firm's press release states that the pack "focuses exclusively on in-game features" including a new trading post, wardrobe tweaks, collection achievements, and a revised newb experience.
Previewing Guild Wars 2's September feature pack
Friend of Massively Richie "Bogotter" Procopio is back with a new video helpfully summarizing all of the features coming in Guild Wars 2's September feature pack. It's... kind of a lot of stuff: PvP standard enemy models, new PvP armor sets, an improved combat log, a new golem-themed WvW siege ability line, new consumables, improved commander tags, a new WvW season, guild megaserver prioritization and other megaserver tweaks, a revamped crafting UI, new crafted backpack skins, leveling-friendly loot tweaks, minimap directional arrows, a new level-up screen, a regorganized achievement panel with new collections, and a revamp of the outfit wardrobe, finisher, and minipet UIs. There's also a balance pass for every class and -- drumroll -- a complete do-over for the auction house. Hallelujah. Check out Richie's preview video below and get caught up.
The Secret World announces Sidestories: The Last Pagan mission pack
The summer content drought for The Secret World is almost at an end, as Game Director Joel Bylos announced today that the game will be releasing a new mission pack "in the next couple of weeks." Sidestories: The Last Pagan will contain six additional missions to the game, including two investigation quests. These missions will all be located in or around Tokyo, and when all six are completed, they will reward the players with a teleport to Tokyo from anywhere else in the game. Bylos said that the team is also making improvements to the AEGIS system with two new skills and installing an on-screen notifications system to facilitate communication between the game and the player. It also looks as though TSW will be selling emotes, hairstyles, and makeup unlocks in the store as well as adding them as mission rewards. Past the sidestories pack will be Issues #10 and #11, the latter of which will contain a unification of the raiding experience.
Guild Wars 2's trading post is reworked from the ground up
It seems as though you are not really a Guild Wars 2 player until you have had a good rant about the trading post at some point. Those rants might become scarce with this month's patch, as ArenaNet has reworked the game's auction house to be more user friendly. "The first iteration of the trading post didn't do a great job of exposing its offerings to users, and that's something we've worked hard to improve," the team posted in a new features pack dev diary. To facilitate this desire, the team rebuilt the trading post using a new browser engine. The improvments to the trading post include a revamped user interface, faster loading, better browsing and search functions, clearer categories, and a cleaner buy/sell screen. The end result is "an objectively better product" for all users, according to the studio.
Guild Wars 2 adds in collections achievements
Pack rats, completionists, and oddballs of the gaming world, Guild Wars 2's upcoming features pack will celebrate you and your lifestyle. One of the new additions coming with the update is the collections achievements category, which is pretty much as it sounds. Following the update, players will be able to fill out collections in the achievements tab by finding, equipping, or consuming certain items. If you collect all of a collection set, then you'll get a reward chest for your trouble. Some collections will be visible from the start, while others will need to be discovered or triggered during the course of gameplay. When the patch goes live, the game will attempt to fill out collections retroactively, although it will not be able to identify every item looted in the past. Due to this new category, ArenaNet is making some minor organizational changes to the achievement UI and will be renaming the bank collections tab "material storage."
Guild Wars 2's minipets move into the wardrobe
The ever-so-popular wardrobe in Guild Wars 2 is getting several upgrades with this month's features pack. A new dev diary posted today lists the benefits coming to the fashion conscious among us, including a search feature, a separate section for outfits, and a new finishers panel that delivers previews. Probably one of the biggest changes coming to this screen is that all minipets will be moved out of the bank and into this UI. Once players select a mini from the bank or inventory, the game will destroy the item and unlock the mini for use account-wide. Players won't just select and preview minipets from the wardrobe, but they will be able to equip it in a new slot. Equipped minipets will show up automatically even after waypointing into a new map.
Flameseeker Chronicles: What's next for Guild Wars 2?
Happy second anniversary, Guild Wars 2! We've heard news on the September feature pack, did a cupcake run for ArenaNet to celebrate (I heard that there were bacon cupcakes, but why would you do that), and got some previews of the profession balance changes we can expect to see soon. As happy as I am about that cleave on Necromancer's mainhand dagger, updated axe animations, and being able to resurrect others while in Death Shroud -- and I think the other professions got some stuff, too -- it's been a rocky few weeks for GW2. We've had the privilege of having an unusually close relationship with the developers behind our favorite game, and unfortunately that can lead to tempers running hotter when things go awry. Nevertheless, I think most of us would like to see that relationship continue to flourish and improve. So what went wrong?
