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Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2's living world can liven up roleplay
Scarlet Briar is planning an attack on Lion's Arch, the central hub city of Guild Wars 2. L.A. is the city where all of the playable races -- and plenty of individuals from others -- live together in one big, piracy-flavored metropolis; despite the theme of ruthless capitalism, it's also a place that symbolizes peace and camaraderie. Humans in Kryta may view diversity as an astonishing novelty, but the people of L.A. chortle at the hayseeds and go about their business. Among the GW2 roleplayers I know, several have characters who live in Lion's Arch. A few of them were born and raised there. After watching some of us chat about the massive upheaval the city's destruction will create in the lives of those characters, one of my favorite people ventured that this was probably a bad time for her to dip her toes into GW2's RP scene, right? Nope. In fact, there hasn't been a better time to jump in since, well, ever.
Prepare to escape from Lion's Arch in Guild Wars 2's next content release
For over 250 years, the city of Lion's Arch has been a place for players of Guild Wars 2 and its predecessor to call home. It's iconic enough that the ruins of the original city can still be explored beneath Sanctum Harbor. Unfortunately, one of Scarlet Briar's mysterious probes has been discovered within those ruins -- and if she gets her way, the people of Tyria may not have to wait very long at all to pick through the ruins of the city's current incarnation. On February 18th, Scarlet will bring her armies and all of their horrible weaponry to the city in the Escape from Lion's Arch release. Players will join forces with the Orders of Tyria, the allies they've gained through the living world story, and each other to help innocent citizens evacuate and try to mount a counterattack. ArenaNet's Colin Johanson, Steve Hwang and Steven Waller sat down with Massively to deliver both a new teaser trailer and a grim warning: Nothing lasts forever.
Guild Wars 2's Edge of the Mists content release goes live today
Good news first: Guild Wars 2 players will be able to get their hands on the new World vs. World map Edge of the Mists in today's content update. Now for the bad news: Scarlet Briar's minions will be able to get their hands on it, too. If you want to help Braham Eirsson and Taimi, who have gotten themselves stranded on the mysterious floating land mass, then you'll need to fight off Scarlet's invading Aetherblades. Back in Tyria at the Dead End Bar, players can also help Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade puzzle out the terrible truth behind Scarlet's grand plan using clues from previous living world chapters. Edge of the Mists is a dedicated overflow map that will allow GW2 players to jump right in to playing WvW while queuing up for the bigger battle on the Eternal Battlegrounds and Borderlands maps. This release also features an overhaul of the WvW UI to make it more informative and streamlined.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The greatest Guild Wars 2 love story ever told
I enjoy the Twisted Marionette fight, and I'm looking forward to smacking some wurms if I can ever make it off the overflow servers, but what I really love about Guild Wars 2's latest content release, The Origins of Madness, is its emphasis on characterization. Some of you probably think my cheese has slipped off its cracker for finding a mini-instance in which NPCs chatter at each other the most charming part of an update, but I am what I am. I feel a little less alone in this since I'm not the only one turning cartwheels over it. A recent ArenaNet developer livestream contained a reference to the relationship between Marjory Delaqua and her partner, Kasmeer Meade, as a "love story." For those of us who had already picked up on their affection for each other and were hoping to see them become a couple officially, this was very exciting, and their interaction in the current release has shown them growing closer. But why are Kas and Jory such a big deal? They're just a pair of NPCs, right?
Flameseeker Chronicles: The calm before Guild Wars 2's next release
It has come to my attention that the title of the latest Guild Wars 2 release is not GIANT KILLER LADY ROBOT. It's actually titled The Origins of Madness. "GIANT KILLER LADY ROBOT!" is just what I yelled after seeing the Twisted Marionette world boss because I can't think of many things cooler than that, and now we're going to have one right here in our very own GW2. Apart from the presence of the Twisted Marionette and jungle wurm world bosses, ArenaNet is keeping the content of this release tightly under wraps. Not that I blame it; with Scarlet Briar's story arc ramping up to a finish, it wouldn't do to let too many details slip.
Guild Wars 2 sows chaos with Origins of Madness content release
Today will see the end of Guild Wars 2's holiday break from regular content updates with the release of Origins of Madness. You like giant robots? Done. Crazy about jungle wurms? Yeah, we've got that. Dying to unravel the truth behind Scarlet Briar, the living story's primary antagonist? ArenaNet has you covered. Players will face attacks on two fronts: In Bloodtide Coast, Scarlet's mysterious probes have riled up an ancient, three-headed jungle wurm. In Lornar's Pass, Scarlet herself is rallying her forces around the testing grounds of her new superweapon, the massive Twisted Marionette. Both threats require a significant number of players to defeat, so now might be a good a time to head down to your local Pact recruitment office and volunteer. Origins of Madness is the first of four story-focused content releases that promise to wrap up GW2's Scarlet Briar story arc. Jump past the break to check out our gallery, which includes some exclusive screenshots!
Catch up on Guild Wars 2's first act with a new video and developer blog
Whether you love the villainous Scarlet Briar or want to dangle her off the edge of the Zephyr Sanctum by her spiky pigtails, it's hard to deny that she's done a bang-up job of getting her fingerprints all over Guild Wars 2's living world. Game director Colin Johanson has penned a developer blog which provides a recap of 2013's major plot points -- as well as confirmation that the worst of Scarlet's (usually literal) machinations is yet to be revealed. The next GW2 content release will go live on January 21st, and promises to be the beginning of the end of the first living story arc. ArenaNet has also released a brand new video to refresh players on the story so far, so if you're looking to get caught up -- or you're searching for hints about the upcoming content -- be sure to click past the break and check it out!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Why Guild Wars 2 shouldn't replicate Destiny's wedge
When I look back at a year of Guild Wars 2 releases, one thing stands out to me: I really like Kasmeer, Braham, Marjory and Rox, and I'm not alone. ArenaNet's four newest iconic heroes have remained steadfastly popular in the midst of other criticism of GW2's living story. They're not universally popular -- no character is -- but you can usually count on their dialogue and characterization prompting appreciative threads and analysis. At the start of the Tower of Nightmares release, a few of my friends even linked to a forum post that theorized that Kasmeer might die (she didn't), and were deeply concerned until Wintersday came around. "ANet had better not," one of them said heatedly. "If Kas or Jory die, I'll quit." While the iconics of the personal story and dungeon story modes, Destiny's Edge, have their fans, I've never heard anyone threaten to uninstall if one of them shuffles off to the Mists, even after a long history and a novel dedicated to their exploits. I think the main reason is that it's a lot easier to respect characters and want to be around them when you aren't left feeling like the only adult in the room.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The trouble with Scarlet in Guild Wars 2
Scarlet Briar has a lot of enemies. She's set up a little empire at the top of Guild Wars 2's hated character list, roasting marshmallows on the thousands of critical forum posts she's inspired. ArenaNet already has the living story's current arc planned out, but that hasn't stopped a number of forum posters from demanding an immediate stop to Scarlet's involvement and a complete retcon of the character. I think that's a silly thing to ask for, and I don't believe anyone would be pleased with the results if it happened, but disliking her is valid enough. Wintersday will be the last GW2 content release of 2013, and it's been confirmed that Scarlet won't be putting in an appearance to ruin the holiday. To borrow ArenaNet's TV show metaphor, I'd say it feels as if the last few living story updates were sort of the season finale, so I think it's a good time to look back at our controversial primary antagonist and her role in the story.
Flameseeker Chronicles: November is controversy month in Guild Wars 2
November sucks. The only good things about it are food, my wife's birthday, and the birthdays of any other November babies (happy birthday). Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is at the end of the month, and Black Friday is a thing that still happens. Thank the Six it's December now. Get out of my face, November. We've had only two Novembers' worth of Guild Wars 2 so far, but historically it has been a dark time. Last year we had mixed reception of the Lost Shores karka invasion event and the implementation of Ascended gear. This year we have a baffling marketing campaign and extremely unfortunate gem store armor skins. At this rate I'm predicting that next November will bring an entire set of novelty weapon skins patterned on Scarlet Briar's hair and a kissing booth that awards precursors with Zhaitan's ugly mug as the main attraction.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's Fractal algorithm
It's been just about a year since ArenaNet introduced Fractals of the Mists to Guild Wars 2, and so it's appropriate that this week's release centers on polishing and additions to the popular never-ending, increasingly difficult dungeon-ish thingies. We'll finally be seeing the results of the Cutthroat Politics vote. Agony infusions are being updated. New rewards will be added. Heck, it's even enough to get me to give Fractals a second look, which is no mean feat since it's one of the few chunks of GW2 PvE content I haven't spent a lot of time on.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's tower flower power hour
I'm super into the idea of open-world endgame zones, which is admittedly strange because my experience with them hasn't been great. They usually involve a lot of dying in terrible places, kill-stealing, and people tripping over one another in a way that creates centuries-long mutual hatreds. Guild Wars 2's Tower of Nightmares zone manages to mostly avoid the latter two by virtue of ArenaNet's core game design choices, but the first appears to be a defining feature of the content. If you haven't yet found yourself pushing up toxic daisies while Scarlet's minions casually play board games on your corpse, you haven't... uh... lived. It's pretty awesome. That might sound strange, but when everything comes together the tower plays like a big, magnificent dungeon where parties can form on the fly. It follows, then, that it's a lot less painful when approached as a dungeon rather than as a zone where the goal is to race to the instance at the end.
Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2 can step up its roleplaying game
I'm a roleplayer at heart. My characters have backstories and relationships and hobbies and favorite foods. They have careers beyond "Necromancer" or "Guardian." They have homes and responsibilities. All of them have their own little places as supporting characters in the much larger story of Tyria. Sadly, I've never found Guild Wars 2 to be the most welcoming MMO for RP, mostly because none of the above can really be expressed well through gameplay. There's a lot of emphasis on epic stories and your character influencing the world and being a hero, but because GW2 is such a combat-focused game, it's hard not to feel as though my characters are too busy being epic to have lives outside of tireless badassery. That confuses me because so much of what ArenaNet wants to do ostensibly revolves around making the game world seem more alive, and I can't think of a better way to accomplish that than by giving players the tools to help create that feeling for ourselves.
Bring an end to nightmares in today's Guild Wars 2 content release
Today ArenaNet will release the latest Guild Wars 2 content update, The Nightmares Within, so get ready to enter the sinister Nightmare tower and take pollution down to zero. In addition to new encounters and the continuation of GW2's living story plot, the update will also feature some nifty rewards: toxic Krait miniatures, a toxic spore backpack skin, and gas mask and air filtration system headgear skins. Help corrupt the surrounding area with your backpack while keeping your lungs safe from the consequences! Now that's what we call having the best of both worlds. For more details on today's update, be sure to check out the GW2 official release page and tune in to ArenaNet's Twitch channel tomorrow, November 13th, at 3 p.m. EST (noon PST) for a developer-led look at the new content.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Cultivating positive growth in Guild Wars 2
Guild Wars 2's Tower of Nightmares release has been with us for the past week, transforming formerly beautiful (if centaur-populated) Kessex Hills into a toxic wasteland. The source of the devastation is a massive, thistle-topped structure in Viathan Lake, which was built and defended by the Krait and Nightmare Court. A whole lot of mystery is tied up in that thing, from Krait religion to Nightmare ambitions to the involvement of Scarlet Briar, but Marjory Delaqua and her partner Kasmeer Meade are on the case. The Pact has also gotten involved by aiding with research and demolishing the tower plant's offshoots, which are spreading on the wind like dandelions, only I wouldn't recommend adding them to salads, and they're not fluffy. The ArenaNet team responsible for this release has made some praiseworthy improvements over previous releases, which supports the idea that GW2's living world is still a work in progress with lots of room to grow. Combined with some interesting developer responses from the collaborative development initiative, I think it paints a promising picture of where the story is going in the upcoming months.
Guild Wars 2's Nightmares Within release takes toxic cleanup seriously
The Nightmare tower will be assaulted head-on in the next Guild Wars 2 content release, and players get to disregard the lessons taught by every horror movie ever and step inside. What do you mean, Marjory Delaqua already sent a team in and they didn't come back? Pfft, they were probably amateurs. You can handle it. Players who storm the tower can unlock a nifty gas mask skin that can be applied to any head armor, as well as a version of the standard underwater breather to wear on dry land. Other rewards include a toxic spore backpack skin and two Toxic Krait miniatures, but you can only access them if you come back...alive. To top things off, ArenaNet is hosting a Rock the Nightmare music video contest. Break out your best editing skills to create a one-minute video for the song "The Nightmares Within," which can be found on ArenaNet's Soundcloud, and you could win a 3D-printed GW2 guitar or some SteelSeries gaming gear! Nightmares Within will go live on November 12th.
Flameseeker Chronicles: How to get your Halloween on in Guild Wars 2
It's the most wonderful time of the year. Halloween has returned to Guild Wars 2, and ArenaNet has introduced a new member of Mad King Thorn's family to cause mayhem all around Tyria. While this year's Blood and Madness event isn't quite as involved as last year's Shadow of the Mad King, there's still lots to do and some new rewards to earn. It helps that the content will be hanging around GW2 until November 11th, giving us quite a bit of time to soak in the jack-o'-lantern-lit atmosphere and get sick on candy -- not that any of us would do that (much). You've also got plenty of opportunity to finish up the storyline and the associated achievements, but it's probably more fun to get it done while it's fresh. With that in mind, I've written up a guide to help you chase off that whiny Thorn kid before the trick-or-treaters come knocking.
ArenaNet lifts the veil on Guild Wars 2's Tower of Nightmares content release
Just in time for Halloween, Guild Wars 2's evil krait will reveal what they've been secretly building in Kessex Hills: a frightening weapon called the Tower of Nightmares. ArenaNet hints that the krait have an undiscovered ally whom players will need to investigate, and it seems that the private detective team of Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade may be involved in uncovering the truth -- as well as how the krait menace might connect to the overarching plot of the living story. Tyria's heroes will have access to a new skill, Antitoxin Spray, which can be used by any character to heal and cleanse debuffs from herself and her allies. Completing the meta achievement for Tower of Nightmares will also allow players to earn their very own krait obelisk shard for their home instance, although we're not convinced that plunking one of those down within reach of pets, small children, or anyone ever is such a great idea. You can catch a preview of the event during a developer-hosted livestream on October 28th at 3 p.m. Eastern Time (noon PDT). The Tower of Nightmares content release will go live on October 29th.
Flameseeker Chronicles: The Guild Wars 2 expansion blues
It's the beginning of autumn at last. In the past few months, Guild Wars 2 fans have cleaned some clocks, gone back to school, and beat up on Tequatl the Sunless. At the moment, we're trying to kick Scarlet Briar out of Twilight Arbor. We've been busy! ArenaNet has continued to toss content our way at lightning speed, and unlike many of the previous releases, much of the content in the past month has been in the form of permanent adjustments to the game. It might seem nuts to complain about lacking an expansion for a game where content releases happen every two weeks, but for some reason the GW2 community seems to be feelin' that vibe lately. Popular YouTube personality and lore expert WoodenPotatoes created a video about it. Threads criticizing the living story and arguing for expansions are common on the official forums. Admittedly, I'm feeling a little restless for a change in the air myself. But what's so important about an expansion, and what isn't the living story offering?
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's dragon evolution
I'm praying to Grenth -- not just because he's lord of the dead and my human Necromancer's supreme master but because being in Sparkfly Fen during a Tequatl-stomping session has been threatening to down my usually robust computer and I'm hoping Grenth will take mercy on it. That, or I could just upgrade it. Every little bit helps, though. I've spent most of this past week finishing up the move to a new apartment, but I've still made time to throw myself at Guild Wars 2's buffed-up Tequatl the Sunless fight. I was pleasantly surprised by the encounter and the community's reception of it, and it's definitely given me hope that ArenaNet will be able to add more complex and fun fights of this kind to GW2's open world in the future. Tequatl is like the star of a teen movie, turning every head at the prom after a radical makeover. I know you needed that mental image. You're welcome.
