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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.
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 takes its first step toward Guild Wars 2 collaborative development with a call for topics
Last week, Guild Wars 2 studio design director Chris Whiteside announced a new community initiative designed to better filter and address player feedback regarding the future and current state of the game. Today, Whiteside followed up by posting the first set of instructions for participating in the process ArenaNet is referring to as "collaborative development." The Guild Wars 2 team is asking players to begin by choosing three priorities from each area of gameplay and listing them in a response to the initial post. For example, a player's PvE priorities might be ascended items, world events, and roleplaying. ArenaNet will then take the top item in each section and start a separate thread in which players and the team will share opinions, brainstorm, and converse. Our own Anatoli Ingram tackled the initial announcement in this week's Flameseeker Chronicles. As for this first round of feedback, players have "a couple" of days to add their thoughts before ArenaNet compiles the list. [Thanks to Mikey Moo for the tip!]
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: Ain't no party like a Guild Wars 2 party 'cause a GW2 party don't stop
There's something in the water, and it's rising. Word travels along the shore of Sparkfly Fen in terrified whispers, and the names of the beast that stalks the Splintered Coast are on every tongue: Tequila the Sunrise. Taco the Soft Shell. Loot Piñata. At the very least, poor Tequatl the Sunless will hopefully be shedding the last nickname with the upcoming Tequatl Rising content patch for Guild Wars 2. That one's kind of mean; the others are just affectionate. You know, as affectionate as we can be toward an undead servant of Zhaitan bent on subjugating all life. ArenaNet previewed the new and improved Tequatl fight mechanics at PAX Prime, but apart from that (and the new LFG tool and the new World vs. World mechanics), this latest GW2 release seems a little bit...quiet. I'm OK with that. In fact, it may be exactly what we need.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's living story and the Orrian menace
The cleansing of Orr has long been a popular source of speculation in the community, which is why I asked Colin Johanson about the possibility of it happening in the course of Guild Wars 2's living story when I interviewed him in July. Although I understood his reasoning, I was still disappointed by the answer: that it'd be very difficult to change Orr due to its intersection with the personal story but that in future chapters ArenaNet will do its best to make sure no areas end up locked in time. In a recent Q&A session, our own Richie Procopio asked ArenaNet president Mike O'Brien a similar question and got a somewhat different response. According to O'Brien, the studio's original intent was to steer away from content that could impact the personal story in the interest of simplicity; however, ArenaNet wants to make sure that nothing is off limits to the living story overall. I'm trying not to read too much into that, since it could just be a different way of phrasing what Johanson said, but given a little hope to cling to I'd like to discuss why it's so important that ArenaNet not establish any existing content as off-limits -- especially not Orr.
PAX Prime 2013: Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash
It seems that more and more studios at PAX are electing to avoid the convention hall altogether and go for off-site venues, especially when it comes to parties and fan events (I was told that even a small booth on the exhibit floor can cost a company $100,000). So while Guild Wars 2 was notably absent from the PAX Prime exhibit hall this year, it was quite a different story a few blocks away at the Renaissance Hotel in Seattle where ArenaNet set up camp for the title's anniversary bash. Players began lining up for the panels, playthroughs, and party hours in advance, all sharing the same glow of enthusiasm for the game they've enjoyed over the past year. By all accounts (I wasn't there a year ago), the launch party for Guild Wars 2 at last year's PAX was far more insane. Yet I think that this year there was a better feel to it. It wasn't about hype and anticipation for the fans but about experience and shared affection for the title they'd been enjoying since last August. So join me as I recap the anniversary bash, step by step, and perhaps we'll learn a thing or two about where this game is going in the near future.
ArenaNet's Mike Zadorojny reflects on one year of Guild Wars 2 and its 'absurd' content pace
Birthdays are great for a number of reasons. There's the cake, the gathering of friends, some jubilant cake-chomping, and even the ability to get violent with anyone who goes near your stack of gift-wrapped loot. If something doesn't go as planned, feel free to cry if you want to. Fun aside, these anniversaries also serve as a great time for reflection. Guild Wars 2 officially turns one today, so ArenaNet Lead Content Designer Mike Zadorojny spoke with us in San Francisco about the challenges the team faced in the first year and how it opened the doors for the living world and future content.
Guild Wars 2's Clockwork Chaos, end to PvE culling, Zodiac weapons, and the possible return of Super Adventure Box [Updated]
The usual ending of the Queen's Jubilee is not a horde of clockwork monsters attacking all over Tyria. Guild Wars 2 players will need to deal with these party crashers the only way they know how: calm and reasoned discourse. Or egregious violence; that works out pretty good too. Scarlet Briar has revealed both herself and her minions with the latest patch for the game, and that means more things for players to do across the game. Content-wise, activities center around the invasions popping up all over the game world, including enemies from previous Living World updates arriving in droves. New meta-achievements are available along with a new instance to tie up the story and give players the opportunity to push back the invaders for good. If that's not enough for you, you can also pick up new items in the game's cash shop or enjoy the usual array of bugfixes and tweaks. So what are you waiting for? Log in and start smashing some clocks. [Update: ArenaNet's PR has further contacted us to promise an end to culling in PvE. Culling is GW2's system for hiding players and mobs from view to help FPS. Optimizations made since the removal of WvWvW culling enabled the team to turn it off in PvE as well. We've posted behind the break two images provided by Anet intended to show the difference in Lion's Arch.] [Update 2: We've also embedded Richie's awesome preview of the new Zodiac weapons after the cut.] [Update 3: Based on a preview image found on the official GW2 site, clever Redditors have postulated that Super Adventure Box will be returning on September 8th!]
Guild Wars 2 developer livestream chat discusses the fine art of world improvement
ArenaNet's Game Director Colin Johanson sat down with Community Manager Martin Kerstein to talk about the future of Guild Wars 2 and answer some questions from the community in the latest developer livestream. Johanson confirmed that while players won't be confronting another Elder Dragon this year, there will be three new Fractals of the Mists joining the lineup: fractalized versions of the popular living story dungeons Molten Weapons Facility and Aetherblade Retreat, as well as one of two brand new scenarios to be chosen for development based on the outcome of the upcoming Cutthroat Politics content. However, he warned that Lion's Arch politics aren't necessarily a straightforwardly democratic process; this is a pirate election, and pirates are known for playing dirty. Johanson further discussed the evolution of GW2's living story and the reception of temporary content, and explained some of the difficulties the team faced when the living story was in its beginning stages. While he admitted that the beginning of the year was too heavy on temporary events, the formation of four living world teams will help them deliver more permanent changes to the game. He added that some temporary events, such as trade with the Zephyr Sanctum and popular game-within-the-game Super Adventure Box are likely to return periodically.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's living whirl
Hi there! I'm Anatoli Ingram, and starting today I'll be your friendly neighborhood Flameseeker Chronicles columnist. Some of you probably know me from my previous life as commenter RingBonefield, but thanks to the kindness and pure heart power of the Massively lead editors, I've evolved into my final form: a guy who not only won't shut up about Guild Wars 2 but gets paid to not shut up about Guild Wars 2. If you're anywhere near as easily distracted as I am by shiny objects placed tantalizingly out of reach, it's probably been difficult to tear yourself away from the Zephyr Sanctum. But GW2 fans have recently gotten huge chunks of information regarding the future of the game -- biweekly content updates, big plans for upcoming content, a possible lack of expansions, holy cats! -- and there's been no shortage of player concern and controversy to go along with them. Join me after the break, where I'll take a breather from dashing around as an ethereal being of light and wind to talk about what all of this potentially means for GW2's living world.
Guild Wars 2 might never have an expansion [Updated]
Whether or not you like the "Living World" style of Guild Wars 2, you may very well see it as a long-running prelude to a full expansion. ArenaNet's lead content designer Mike Zadorojny recently went on record puncturing that particular balloon, saying that if the team manages these updates correctly, it will "probably never do an expansion and everything will be going into this Living World strategy." This stands in direct contrast to previous speculation and forecasts that the game would receive one on some sort of timetable. According to Zadorojny, the end goal is to provide the same sort of content as in an expansion, simply at a faster pace with a more episodic nature. He likens the experience to television, providing constant motivation to tune in next week for something new and exciting. While he declined to offer hard numbers on the game's performance, he did say that the game is doing quite well and has no plans to sell powerful items in the gem store, with the current business model supporting the game without any need for an expansion. [Update]: Game director Colin Johanson has posted a clarification on the GW2 forums. Just to clarify a bit, as Mike said there are numerous teams beyond our Living World teams, and some of them are working on much longer term projects which we'll go into details on much further down the road. It's entirely possible some of the types of content which you might traditionally find in expansions would be released through an expansion in the future for Gw2, and it's possible we'd try something different when it comes to integrating those type of releases. We have no final plans one way or another about expansions at this time, and certainly haven't ruled them out, it's something we'll discuss more in the future. Edited to add: Our primary focus right now is on making the core Gw2 experience as strong and compelling as possible, we'll release a blog post later this month detailing more specifically our plans for Gw2 in the second half of 2013.
