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Jukebox Heroes: Guild Wars 2's living story soundtrack
I'm going to make a bold statement here that might net me some haters, but here goes: I think that Guild Wars 2 is better off now that it's cast off Jeremy Soule and moved on to in-house composers. Soule's soundtrack was great in parts, but he's not the be-all, end-all of good video game music. And his company's unexplained decision to yank the soundtrack from its store (and not even offer a digital version) irks me beyond the telling of it. Good luck finding it! So today I'm going to give tribute to the two men who have been forging ahead -- spectacularly, I might add -- with scoring Guild Wars 2's ongoing living story updates. Maclaine Diemer and Leif Chappelle have been whipping up a wide variety of tunes to go with the various story elements and events. To ArenaNet's credit, the studio has been posting these downloadable tracks for free on SoundCloud. And while rumor has it that Diemer and Chappelle are already composing music for season two, I thought it'd be worthwhile to go back and share some of my favorites from their season one portfolio. I won't be dipping into Super Adventure Box, however, as we did that last year.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite vanity pet?
What does a vanity pet do for my gameplay? If we're talking about adding to my combat potential, it does absolutely nothing. But if we're talking about providing bragging rights, companionship, amusement value, and another layer of personal customization, such a pet has plenty to offer. Right now my favorite vanity pet is probably the Super Adventure Box spider mini in Guild Wars 2. Not only does it look totally rad in a 16-bit way, but it occasionally does breakdancing even in the midst of dire peril. Dancing retro spider with sunglasses, that's a win any way I look at it. What's your favorite vanity pet? Why do you enjoy it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Perfect Ten: My favorite MMO April Fools' pranks of all time
There are two types of people on April 1st: those who are annoyed and indifferent to the tomfoolery going on all around them, and those who gleefully embrace the zany antics and baldfaced lies. For the record, I am of the latter crowd. I love April Fools' Day and the humor and creativity that it inspires. While this day is by no means contained to our neck of the woods, MMOs have a long-running streak of trying to pull the wool over our eyes. I think a good goof has to have several qualities to make it truly memorable. It needs to be original. It needs to be actually amusing, whether or not you "fell for it." And it needs to tweak our expectations and understanding of how MMOs work. Sometimes there are even important ideas that emerge from these jokes that could, indeed, make these titles better. So let's go through my favorite MMO April Fools pranks of all time, as catalogued by yours truly!
One Shots: To the rescue!
There's nothing quite like the feeling of coming to the rescue of a friend, virtual or not. I've tried rescuing people in real life, but I've found that not every granny wants to be given a piggy-back ride across streets and not every depressed teen is waiting for a well-choreographed dance routine to turn his or her life around. I guess I'll take a cue from reader Mary, who found her inner hero in Spiral Knights. "In McVillain to the Rescue, my buddy Astro has been hemmed in by baddies by our friend's freezy bomb during a particularly rough arena," Mary explained. "Toward the top right corner, I'm coming to save him, weapon charged and at the ready." What other thrilling rescues lie ahead in this column? If nothing else, it'll be a rescue from boredom, so let us give you that emotional piggy-back ride you desperately need!
Flameseeker Chronicles: Why I love Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box
Back in April, ArenaNet played what was arguably the greatest MMO-related April Fool's Day prank of all time when it released level designer and jumping puzzle maestro Josh Foreman's labor of love, Super Adventure Box, in Guild Wars 2. I was but a wee Massively commenter then, and I recall that my comment on the news post about that particular revelation was something to the effect of "I'm not leaving this place until they kick me out. See you all next month!" I remember this because I was only half joking, and I really did spend most of April inside Moto's palace of 8-bit wonders. I love Super Adventure Box. I don't just love it because it's retro or because I get the references or because my first foray into it left me laughing fit to kill (OK, maybe the last one). I love it because, entirely independent of GW2, it's a game I can spend a whole month playing and not get tired of it. Jump with me past the cut, and I'll tell you why.
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.
Super Adventure Box is returning to Guild Wars 2 and we've got the LEGOs to prove it
If you're a parent and a Guild Wars 2 fan, then you have multiple things to celebrate in September. Not only will your rugrats be returning to school, but the Super Adventure Box is coming back to Tyria! Players will be able to explore World 2 for the first time and challenge themselves in the soul-crushingly difficult Tribulation Mode. ArenaNet sent us a LEGO BRICKSTORMS kit to get us ready for the return of this 8-bit world, and I enlisted the help of my son Logan to assist with the assembly. Click past the break to witness our construction project!
Guild Wars 2's first birthday by the numbers: 3.5M sold, 460K peak concurrent
Today Guild Wars 2 celebrates the first anniversary of its official launch day. On the one hand, it's hard to believe it's been a year already. On the other hand, the game has seen so many changes and content updates that my adventures in Tyria today don't resemble what they were like this time last year. According to the anniversary blog post just released by ArenaNet's president, Mike O'Brien, my experience is exactly what the team is aiming for: "I think the real mark of a success of an online world is how that world grows and evolves, and the extent to which players can take the world and make it their own," he writes. In addition to the blog post, ArenaNet has released a fancy infographic, announced a special anniversary bash, and answered a few of our questions via press conference. Read on!
Super Adventure Box returns to Guild Wars 2 [Updated with magic find stuff]
The rumors are true: Super Adventure Box is coming back to Guild Wars 2 for a 2013 encore event! The next content update for the game won't merely trot out the old April Fools Day content for another go, but will also add several new levels and challenges. When players return to the retro-themed game-within-a-game, they'll have the chance to push onward into World 2 with several new levels and a terrifying end boss: the Storm Wizard. ArenaNet is also adding a new Tribulation Mode for those who like a challenge, more super weapon skins, boss weapons, and the chance to craft a Princess Miya mini. The forthcoming update isn't just about the Super Adventure Box; players will be able to craft ascended weapons and push up to 500 skill points in weaponsmith, artificer, and huntsman crafting. Legendary weapons will be buffed and magic find will be stripped away from all gear in favor of adding it as an account-wide bonus. You can prepare by checking out our previous guide to Super Adventure Box and our analysis of its soundtrack. [Source: ArenaNet press release] [Update: ArenaNet has confirmed on its forums that celestial gear will lose its magic find stat and food will keep it. For everything else, Martin Kerstein posted the following: "Weapons, armor and trinkets with magic find will become account bound, lose their current stats and will gain the ability to be double-clicked to select one of several stat options depending on the item. For example, if you have an Explorer's Pearl Staff, you can now double-click it to change it to any other crafting stat."]
Jukebox Heroes: Super Adventure Box's soundtrack
OK, yeah, how could I not do this? I know that we at Massively have gone a little ga-ga over ArenaNet's stellar April Fools' Day prank-slash-massive update, but when I saw that the team released a half-hour of original score in addition to all of the pixelated monkey mayhem, I knew I had to review it. Your enjoyment of Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box and its score will largely depend on your memories or feelings about old-school video games. For a kid who grew up on 8-bit and 16-bit games, the sound of SAB is pure nostalgia (even if it is original composition). I think it's also as catchy as cooties. Composers Maclaine Diemer and Leif Chappelle put in a lot of effort to not just make a classic-sounding soundtrack here but specifically reference and pay homage to plenty of old-school hits. Hang with me as I highlight the best of Super Adventure Box, and I promise that next week we'll get back to serious business.
ArenaNet dev Josh Foreman talks about the Super Adventure Box
ArenaNet's April Fools' Day joke on steroids, the Super Adventure Box, seems to be pretty popular. A retro-tastic homage to some of the classics of gaming, complete with a ridiculously camp commercial, the Super Adventure Box is Guild Wars 2's month-long escape into a simpler time without hideous undead Elder Dragons ravaging the world. And the man responsible for it, Josh Foreman, wants to talk to you about it! Skip below the cut for Foreman's explanation of where the Box came from and what the team's vision for it was. Can't get enough of the Super Adventure Box? Check out the full soundtrack. Still not sure what the Box is? Head on over to our in-depth look at it.
Listen to the entire Guild Wars 2 Super Adventure Box soundtrack
Enjoying your Super Adventure Box groove in Guild Wars 2? Then you've probably noticed the kicking 8-bit tunes as well. ArenaNet Composers Maclaine Diemer and Leif Chappelle put together 26 minutes of brand-new (and old-school) music tracks to power the super adventure, and you can listen to the whole shebang on SoundCloud. "It's not easy reducing a lush, bombastic orchestral piece into just the four channels we have available to us for 8-bit music," Diemer said. "After the initial statement of the theme, a galloping rhythm and bass line with more of a classic Zelda feel kick in, followed by a new melody that bridges the gap between the Guild Wars 2 we know and love and the world of Super Adventure Box." What's even better is that each of the tracks has composer notes attached to them, so if you're interested in how the duo came up with these catchy tunes and what inspired them, your curiosity shall soon be sated.
Your guide to Guild Wars 2's Super Adventure Box
April is almost upon us, which means that the first day of April is almost upon us, which means that April Fools' Day is almost upon us. In the past, the folks at ArenaNet have proven themselves fond of celebrating this occasion, which has given fans high hopes for continued trolling in the world of Guild Wars 2. Since March's patch, strange things have been appearing that all seem to hint at some sort of April Fools' joke: Super Adventure Box achievements on the hero panel, mysterious Continue Coins falling out of chests, and a new range of weapon skins added to the sPvP weapon pane. Of course, it's been pointed out to me that perhaps the most delicious joke of all would be to put in all those clues and then have no actual prank. I can almost taste the rage of fans who had compulsively run characters through jumping puzzles for days in an attempt to stock up on Continue Coins that suddenly turned out to be worthless. Fortunately (or not, depending on your sense of humor), that's not the case at all. The Super Adventure Box is real, and it's almost time for you to start playing it. Let's talk about it, shall we?
