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Jonathan Sharp bids farewell to Guild Wars 2
Jonathan Sharp has been involved with Guild Wars 2 for eight years as an important part of the public-facing development team. But all good things must come to an end, and Sharp's time with ArenaNet has done just that. Associate Game Director John Corpening announced on the forums last night that Sharp is moving on to pursue an undisclosed opportunity elsewhere. Sharp included a personal farewell: Hey all. I'm sad to say that I'll be leaving ArenaNet after 8 years with the company, and it's been an amazing ride! I've chatted with many of you on vent, we've debated on State of the game, we've tossed ideas back and forth on the forums, and I've met many of you in person at various cons! It has been my privilege, pleasure and honor to work with such a passionate and intelligent group of fans. You guys have always kept me honest, you've pushed me to better myself, and your ideas have helped to create GW2's success – we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for your love, passion and communication. I will always look back on my time here with love and gratitude, and much of that is owed to you, our wonderful fans. -Chap Sharp's role on the GW2 PvP team will be filled by PvP designer Hugh Norfolk, already well known to players who follow the game's developer activity with zeal. [Thanks to Dystopiq for the tip!]
ANet answers community questions on GW2 Feature Pack livestream
If you've got questions about Guild Wars 2's April Feature Pack, ArenaNet has answers. In fact, it's already published a few of them via a livestream that happened yesterday and is now archived on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. Associate game director John Corpening, gameplay programmer Ryan Diederich, and UI designer Kate Welch are your hosts, and they spend about 17 minutes powering through community-generated queries collected from forums and social media. See for yourself after the break!
ArenaNet devs discuss PvP tournaments and e-sports
Guild Wars 2 is getting steadily closer to release, but players are as hungry as ever for every little detail about the game. ArenaNet devs Jonathan Sharp and John Corpening took some time to scratch the unrelenting itch of curiosity in an interview with Guild Wars 2 Guru. The game's normal structured PvP tournaments will be restricted, for technical reasons, by region. Worldwide tournaments will still be possible but will be dealt with "in a manner outside of the online tournament system." Before automated tournaments, players will be able to see the maps that will be used for each of the three rounds of the tournament but unable to see the composition of enemy teams. As things stand now, players will be able to change builds between rounds, but the devs are still looking for further feedback about that particular bucket of fish. Game formats other than the conquest that currently serves as the current primary PvP mechanic aren't out of the question for the future, but the team wants the game to start off with something that is easily approachable. ArenaNet hasn't really made a secret out of e-sports plans for Guild Wars 2. To that end, a spectator mode is high on the list of additions to the game, but the only timeframe devs are giving is "when it's ready." While the devs can't say much yet about plans for PvP publicity and ranking systems, they are hoping for Guild Wars 2 to prove itself as an e-sport and are committed to the original intention of letting players jump in and be competitive in PvP right off the bat. Check out the original interview for every breathtaking tease, hint, and detail.
Guild Wars 2 developers offer new information on PvP, servers, titles, and more
The class and race information for Guild Wars 2 might be coming fast and furious, but general gameplay details have been scarce lately. That all changed today, thanks to an interview with Guild Wars 2 fansite Variance. The Variance team sat down to chat with Eric Flannum, John Corpening, Egan Hirvela, and Matt Witter for plenty of new tidbits on the game, including the new details that fans have been hoping for. Perhaps some of the most exciting information was regarding PvP play. Information on this side of the game has been very limited, but we learned several new things today. There will be four World vs. World maps at launch, each player will begin in his or her own home map, and there are numerous strategic objectives within PvP play. Hardcore fans will enjoy the in-depth analysis of the new PvP information, courtesy of Kill Ten Rats. The team wasn't finished there, though. Fans have also been very curious about other details such as server setup, titles carried over from Guild Wars 1, and vanity items like miniatures. The team had things to say about all of that, so head over to Variance to see the full interview for yourself!
Flameseeker Chronicles: PAX 2010 travel diary
It's Sunday night and PAX is over. My iPhone and laptop are screaming for mercy. It's been a wild ride, I have the Con Crud, my feet hurt so much I keep checking to make sure they're not stumps, and all I want is to turn the clock back to last Friday so I can do it again. I had appointments and interviews with so many different game studios, and I was excited about every single one of them, but you guys know I was making Guild Wars 2 a top priority. I squeezed in time to indulge at every opportunity and have a lot to say. When I was spending time with Guild Wars 2 this weekend, something struck me over and over. Every employee whom ArenaNet could possibly spare from the office was there in force. I asked at one point and was told that every person wearing that white shirt was an ArenaNet employee. They were out there doing everything they could to spend time with the fans, and more than one developer told me that it was a huge thrill to finally be able to share all of this with people who love it as much as they do. The inability to share all of this exciting news has been as frustrating for them as it was for us, but it was for a good cause, and I think every fan at PAX this weekend agreed it was worth the wait. With that in mind, it was an easy decision to share my weekend experiences and photos with you guys for today's Flameseeker Chronicles. Follow along after the jump while I go find more Nyquil.
