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ArenaNet community manager debunks Guild Wars 2 rumor
Guild Wars 2 fans have been enjoying a series of articles at PC Gamer this week, but unfortunately the series came with a bit of misinformation. If you read through the articles, you may have noticed some news regarding dungeons as downloadable content in Guild Wars 2. The community was buzzing about that possibility until Community Manager Regina Buenaobra stepped in to clarify things: "We have not made a decision on whether to sell dungeon content as DLC, contrary to what the article states. The author of the article jumped to this (incorrect) conclusion based upon his interpretation of Eric's statements." Eric Flannum released a clarification that stated in part "...our core philosophy--of not requiring you to spend additional money to play the game and not making the game difficult or painful to play in order to encourage you to buy things from the store--still stands." Eric's full statement can be seen within Regina's forum post.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Stop telling me how to get 50 points when I only have three
I've spent a ton of time the past week talking about how to get 50 points in your Hall of Monuments, and while I'm happy with how much people seemed to enjoy it, I got a lot of feedback of another kind. This is the connection between Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 that we've been waiting for, so a surprising number of players have either come out of retirement or are picking up the game for the first time. Those players read a guide on how to get 50 or even 30 points, check their calculators, see three points, and can't even begin to imagine how they'll catch up. Well, my main account might be sporting 46 points, but the image above is a screenshot of the calculator for my Massively/Guildcast account, so I am right there with you guys. For that reason -- and thanks to a pile of requests -- this Flameseeker Chronicles is for those of you just starting out. I mentioned some of this in last week's Flameseeker Chronicles, but it was geared more toward those who are already underway. This is more basic, so follow along after the jump for a guide on how to get up to speed.
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (V)
Day five! This is the last day in our Road to 50 series, and we're going to look at the final segment of the Hall of Monuments: the Monument to Valor. This is where you'll dedicate all of your most prestigious weapons, and there has been a lot of discussion among players regarding what they think should be included. In the end, though, you have three choices: Tormented, Oppressor's, and Destroyer weapons. You need to have a total of 15 weapons displayed in any combination, but you have to have at least one of each type for full points. The process of getting them isn't as bad as you might think, particularly if you take your time. It's just a matter of knowing where to look, so follow along after the jump and we'll go through them!
This week on The MMO Report
It's been a long week since your last dose of Uncle Casey, and we don't blame you if you have the shakes. Fortunately, G4's Casey Schreiner is back with an all-new The MMO Report, condensing the best and strangest MMO stories from this past week for your edumacation. On tap for this week is the revelation of specific Guild Wars 2 rewards for filling up your Hall of Monuments in Guild Wars (man, we really need to report on this!), the new Star Wars: The Old Republic dev diary covering the light side of the Force, and a revival of bluegrass music. Banjo anyone? So top off your pun tank by hitting the jump to The MMO Report!
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (IV)
Today's focus is one I've been looking forward to all week: Guild Wars armor. It's a completely frivolous and cosmetic part of the game after a certain point -- max armor is max armor regardless of the outward appearance -- but there are some great options out there. As always, the Hall of Monuments calculator rewards variety. You'll need to have seven elite armor sets, with three specific types in the mix: Luxon or Kurzick, Vabbian, and Obsidian. These are obtained with varying degrees of difficulty, so we'll look at them all. Follow along after the jump and we'll look at how to get the full eight points in this monument.
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (III)
Today's Road to 50 is all about the Monument to Honor. The biggest of them all, the one with the cool statue behind it, and the one that you need 15 points rather than eight to max. You've got more freedom here, though: there are a total of 53 available titles and you need 40 for maximum points. This gives you some flexibility to pick and choose according to your playstyle, but it can still seem pretty overwhelming. There are some pretty efficient ways to do this, and once you start you'll be surprised at how quickly the bars start filling. Follow along after the jump and let's take a look.
The Road to 50: A guide to filling your Guild Wars Hall of Monuments (II)
Welcome to day two of The Road to 50! After addressing minipets yesterday, I'm excited to spend today on their larger counterparts: pets and heroes. The Monument to Fellowship is so much fun to fill in my view, because it sends you to challenge missions, off-the-beaten-path quests, elite areas, and more in order to obtain everything on the list. Getting every pet required and armor for every hero in the game, in my view, is an opportunity to explore some real teamwork with your friends, guildmates, and allies while you see parts of Guild Wars that you haven't seen before. Follow along as I tell you all about how to get the full eight points in the Monument to Fellowship.
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.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Brother, can you spare a diamond?
I've spent a lot of time the past few days with my inventory and storage panels open in Guild Wars. Like it did to pretty much the entire Guild Wars community, the surprise announcement of the Hall of Monuments calculator sent me into a tizzy of "What do I have? What do I need? I have to PvP? Noooooo!!" OK, maybe that last thing was just me, but my point stands. The revelation of all the shiny rewards and titles available on the point scale is thrilling. Personally, the "Flameseeker" title was my immediate goal, and I scrambled around to get that one right away. Now I'm chasing 50 points, as are several of my guildmates. I was happy to see so many of my inactive guildies back because of this, but I noticed something immediately. They were confused! (No, seriously. I love you guys, but I could practically see the "omg too much!" looks on your faces.) Just from hanging out and watching the community both in and out of game the past few days, I realized pretty quickly that this is happening all over Tyria. So many longtime players have gone inactive while they waited to see how GW1 was going to link to Guild Wars 2. Now they're back in droves after being gone for a while, and they feel like they might never catch up. So, this week's Flameseeker Chronicles is for you guys. Follow along after the jump and I'll help you get back in the game and all caught up.
GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design
Spacetime Studios, the developer of the popular mobile MMO Pocket Legends, was started back in 2005 to create large-scale MMOs. Its founders decided to make a mobile platform MMO upon seeing the obvious marketing opportunity that the iPhone provided. After all, the players would already be connected and would be accustomed to microtransactions through exposure to iTunes and the app store. Of course, development could prove disastrous if the wrong game plan were followed, so Spacetime decided to keep it simple. How simple? Cinco Barnes of Spacetime was on hand at GDC Online to explain how his team members did it. What they found was a chance to do more than they'd initially planned on -- and an audience ready to gobble up everything the studio could create.
Guild Wars: Eye of the North gets Steamy
If you've been holding back from purchasing Guild Wars' first (and probably only) expansion pack, then you might want to reconsider. Guild Wars: Eye of the North not only is available on Steam for the first time, but is being offered for 33% off one week only, bringing the price down to $13.39 until October 15th. This is a better deal than the discount that NCsoft is offering on its own store, where GW:EotN is on sale for $19.99. While not a full-fledged campaign, Eye of the North does offer a huge assortment of goodies, including new regions, tons of dungeons, dozens of new skills, additional heroes, and rare armor sets. For players eagerly awaiting Guild Wars 2, it's definitely worth a trip back through the lands of Tyria, especially now that we're learning more about how the Hall of Monuments from Eye of the North will "pay forward" rewards and titles into Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars Hall of Monuments details revealed for Guild Wars 2
After months of waiting and asking, we finally have the news! ArenaNet has released a Guild Wars Hall of Monuments reward calculator and six screenshots of various details. Previously, Guild Wars players were expecting the Hall of Monuments to carry over in-game from Guild Wars 1 to Guild Wars 2, allowing the descendants of the original characters to enjoy their family heirlooms, 250 years later. When Arenanet later recanted the specifics on that game mechanic, players were foaming at the mouth with anticipation for a proper explanation. And now we have it. On the new Hall of Monuments website, the reward calculator is keyed to your character -- simply go to the site and type in your character name to see where you stand in the Hall of Monuments goals. It's an interesting system, sure to surprise many people with a few unexpected twists such as extra "points" for variety in displays. We'll have an overview in Monday's Flameseeker Chronicles, but for now check out your rewards calculator, the Hall of Monuments FAQ, and then join the stampede to Eye of the North! %Gallery-92890%
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.
ArenaNet blog goes behind the scenes of Guild Wars 2 cinematics
Fans may not be 100% on board with everything they're hearing about Guild Wars 2 lately, but there's one thing nearly all of them can agree on: the game is gorgeous. One of the features that has gained attention is the cinematics. We saw a couple of them at the recent Gamescom and PAX demos, and now that we've had some time to enjoy the finished product, James Boer has some stories to tell about the creation of that product. James is the Audio and Cinematics Programmer at ArenaNet and the mind behind the latest blog post. His entry is all about the philosophy and technical work behind the creative process. While this entry is a bit heavier on the tech-speak than most of the ArenaNet blog, fans who are interested in the behind-the-scenes work of GW2 will find it a great read.
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.
Exclusive: Massively's interview with Kristen Perry on the Guild Wars 2 dye system
Armor fanatics unite! Our relatively small preview of the Guild Wars 2 dye system earlier this month at PAX was quite a thrill to those of us who love our Guild Wars character armor to look just right. It was impressive to say the least -- physical vials of dye will be eliminated and the range of colors will number over 100 -- but it left us wanting to know more. Character Artist Kristen Perry is the mind behind this impressive new setup, and she's been having a ball designing it. The beauty of dye in Guild Wars 2 is that it will appeal equally to those who don't want to spend ages experimenting with dye combinations to get just the perfect look and to those who thrive on that sort of thing. Kristen has added a brand new post to the ArenaNet blog today with all the details of the Guild Wars 2 dye system. Most of the blog entry revolves around the fact that there will no longer be the ability to mix dyes, as is possible in Guild Wars 1. But don't fret! Kristen does a wonderful job of explaining how the new system will be much better. As an added bonus, we have a little something extra for you. Kristen was kind enough to give us an exclusive interview with even more information, as well as an exclusive screenshot to highlight the range of the new dye system. Follow along after the jump to see what Kristen had to say about dye in Guild Wars 2. %Gallery-92890%
New information revealed about Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience
The Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience Team has been a source of interest for fans since its introduction earlier this month at PAX. An entire team devoted to the development of outside applications for Guild Wars 2 hints at big things coming, and as always, fans want to know more. Tech Director Rick Ellis obliged them last night with a new post on the ArenaNet blog. He gathered some of the most frequently asked questions and gathered them into one handy spot, providing some new details at the same time. For example, the development of Guild Wars 2 iPhone apps does not mean Guild Wars 2 for the Mac. Check out the blog post for all the newest information about the Guild Wars 2 Extended Experience.
Flameseeker Chronicles: A year of hype
This was one of the quietest weeks on the Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 front that I can remember in a long time. Even during convention weeks, the folks at ArenaNet have kept busy churning out new information. It might be something big like a class reveal, or it might be something tiny like a hint at a new hero, but there's always something. The team seems to have taken a well-deserved breather this week, which might mean nothing or might mean that the devs are about to spring something big on us. Either way, I thought it would be a good time to look back over the past months. It's been just over a year since ArenaNet pushed the start button on the hype machine, so follow along after the jump to see how far the team -- and we as fans -- has come in a year!
The Extended Experience of Guild Wars 2: Taking Tyria outside of your PC
A new profession may not have been revealed a few weeks ago at PAX, but ArenaNet had a different surprise up its sleeve: the Guild Wars 2 "Extended Experience." At our demo interview with Colin Johanson, he unveiled a few details about the Extended Experience Team at ArenaNet and told us that the members were working on Guild Wars 2 apps for smartphones and the iPad. Fans have been clamoring to know more since then, and today, our questions have been answered thanks to the newest ArenaNet blog entry. Follow along after the jump to see all the new details about "Gaming Outside the Game."
