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Flameseeker Chronicles: Crashing Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash
ArenaNet's latest release for Guild Wars 2, the Queen's Jubilee, takes place in the human capital city of Divinity's Reach. Not everyone is as giddy about this as I am. Humans are boring. Do we really need another festival-based event? Where's the real lore? However, Divinity's Reach is a hotspot for plot-based drama and intrigue, and setting an event there does more than just encourage players to return to the city for the sake of livening it up: it also sets the stage for ArenaNet to (hopefully) revisit some of the plot elements introduced at the launch of the game. The update will have gone live by the time this article is published, but chances are we won't know every bit of the story right away, so I'm going to take this opportunity to recap some of the pieces on the chess board which could make this event important to more than just humanity. This will necessarily include massive spoilers for the plot of GW2.
Flameseeker Chronicles: A brief history of Guild Wars 2's Tyria
I see a lot of questions about whether or not people who want to play Guild Wars 2 should jump into the original in the (increasingly diminishing) time left before launch. I don't think there's really a one-size-fits-all answer to that question. For those of you who are worried about missing a bunch of lore and history, however, I can do a little to help with an introduction to Tyria, its history, and the events leading up to Guild Wars 2. This won't be exhaustive (see the word brief in the title?), but it might help you understand what the dragon nonsense is about and what's going on with the world you're stepping into. Except where events had exceptional impact, this focuses mostly on what happened in the continent (not the entire world) of Tyria. I hope it goes without saying that there are lore spoilers ahead, as well as Guild Wars campaign spoilers.
Flameseeker Chronicles: War in Kryta continues
While it may have been a bit overshadowed by the gaming feeding-frenzy known as E3, the War in Kryta in Guild Wars did not slow. I'm fairly certain that Salma, the Shining Blade, and the White Mantle do not care what's happening in Los Angeles, so they carried on issuing bounties, leaping out of trees, and waylaying travelers. The war events received another hefty update this last week, complete with some interesting hints about what is to come -- we'll be visiting some familiar locations. Despite another week of trotting around obediently slaying things that need to be slain, I still do not have a miniature Salma. We're also still in the dark about what these medals are for. [MVOP] had an eventful Thursday as well, and moved along in Prophecies quite a bit. Follow along after the jump to hear all the latest news from Tyria.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Navigating the newest War in Kryta update
The most recent update to Guild Wars didn't look like much at first glance and was nearly overshadowed by the Mesmer skill balance. It seemed like a few minor things: a new signpost in Lion's Arch Keep, a couple of collectors, and a single guy spawning outside towns in Kryta. But it turned out to be a big weekend as players discovered that there was so much more to it. The first addition people noticed was the "Wanted by the White Mantle" signpost in Lion's Arch Keep. The concept is familiar to us thanks to the Zaishen Signposts from last year -- most players knew immediately to check back daily for a new bounty. Sure enough, there has been a new one every day. The reward for completing the bounty is similar as well: you receive XP, gold, and a reward -- more in hard mode. But rather than ZCoins, you receive War Supplies for your efforts. These handy little items have several uses depending on what you do with them or who you give them to. The other addition to the War in Kryta is Courier Falken, and a thousand Leeroy jokes were made about this gentleman in the first hour after he was discovered. So what are these War Supplies, who is this Falken guy, what else has been added with this update, and why don't you want to miss it? Follow along after the jump for a complete rundown on what's new in Kryta.
Give us your White Mantle or Shining Blade battle cry and win a Guild Wars costume!
Are you for the White Mantle, or a supporter of the Shining Blade? Will you obey your overlords, or are you out to dismantle your foes? Guild Wars fans know this battle all too well, especially as flyers have been appearing at conventions to garner support for these two opposing factions. NCsoft, however, wants to take the battle to next level, as they're now offering brand new costume sets for both the White Mantle and Shining Blade in Guild Wars via their item shop! We here at Massively.com have procured 5 sets of the Shining Blade outfit and 5 sets of the White Mantle outfit, and we're ready to fuel the flames of war. Would you like to win yourself a free costume? Then follow along after the break for the rules of engagement!
OBEY or DISMANTLE in style: Guild Wars adds new costumes
If you are a Guild Wars fan who guessed that new costumes were coming, this will come as absolutely no surprise to you. We've all been following the OBEY/DISMANTLE campaign since the latter half of March, and the story has been growing both in and out of game. ArenaNet sprung the new costumes on the community yesterday afternoon, giving fans the chance to show their allegiance to the world. The Shining Blade and White Mantle costumes are currently available in a promotion like the one offered with the Grenth and Dwayna costumes: until May 31st, you can purchase both sets for $9.99. The purchase price for individual sets is $6.99, so the limited offer is a pretty good deal. The costumes, once purchased, are account-wide and include costumes for both your male and female charactes. Want a set and can't fit it into your budget? Keep an eye on Massively and you just may score a free set. NCsoft has generously given us some costume codes to give away -- watch for that giveaway later today!
Flameseeker Chronicles: The White Mantle aren't bad, they're just drawn that way
No, I'm not advocating #OBEY. In fact, I rather enjoyed Joiry's definition of me as a neutral war reporter, so just envision me in one of those hats with a press badge in the band and a little spiral notebook, and we're ready to move on. I do want to take a look at the White Mantle this week, however. They're portrayed as our enemies in Guild Wars once we find out they're slaughtering the Chosen on the Bloodstone. It seems that the general population of Tyria (us) has a problem with the murder of innocent people, and the battle lines were drawn. Where are they coming from, though? They're pretty passionate in their cause, and surely they're not just in it for the pretty white dresses. We can't go around blindly yelling OBEY or DISMANTLE without knowing what we're talking about, right? (Right.) So follow along after the jump while we look at what the White Mantle are thinking.
Latest Guild Wars update furthers Obey/Dismantle campaign and more
The intriguing developments surrounding Guild Wars continue with an update to the game released late last night. As is typical of ArenaNet, we've gotten just enough to make us extremely curious about what's coming next. So what's going on? To start with, the ongoing conflict between the White Mantle and Shining Blade continues to escalate. The Mantle have introduced a new element: White Mantle Peacekeepers, which can be found throughout the explorable areas in Kryta. You may want to take a moment to stop by the Shining Blade camp while you're at it and see what they have to say about this new addition. Things in Eye of the North continue to develop as well, but don't worry, it's not more grocery runs for Keiran. Remember Zinn and his out of control golems? The other Asura, led by Oola are all set to take him to task for the fiasco in a hilarious trial. We won't spoil the ending for you, but once it's over, make sure you talk to the various witnesses and participants -- you'll enjoy the dialogue. With the fifth birthday of Guild Wars coming closer and closer, we are assuming that this is all leading up to something big, but is it all connected? Time will tell, and we'll keep an eye out for any new information!
Flameseeker Chronicles: There's war in Kryta and Keiran's got a crush
It's been a busy and exciting week for Guild Wars fans. As the game's fifth birthday approaches, things are beginning to happen in Tyria. New events are coming to familiar characters and storylines, but of course we don't have the entire storyline. What would be the fun in that? We're getting just enough of these new things to make us wonder what's coming next. There's a lot going on and some of it can be a bit confusing and difficult to keep up with. Are you losing track of the escalating tensions between the Shining Blade and the White Mantle, or wondering why on earth everyone around you is going on and on about Gwen and Thackeray? Well, follow along after the jump to see what ArenaNet is up to.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Bow before your overlords, mortals -- or don't
"Why hello there. :) When I was in San Francisco for GDC, I may have given a flyer or two to several fans at Daniel Dociu's presentation. Those flyers may have had those images with the QR codes on them. Martin may have given some of those flyers to fans when he was hanging around our artists' tables at Emerald City ComiCon and at the meet and greet in Seattle that weekend, too." -- Community Manager Regina Buenaobra. From a few flyers handed out to enthusiastic fans and two simple images online came a campaign that has simply exploded. Fans took the two flyers and two images and ran with it, creating an incredibly wide variety of alternate images and theories on what it all means. Follow along after the jump for a look at what we know so far.
Guild Wars wants to know: will you obey or dismantle?
Daniel Dociu's panel and interview weren't the only things keeping Guild Wars fans interested at GDC recently. A few days ago, fans began posting here and there that they'd received some intriguing flyers at both GDC and Emerald City ComicCon. The flyers read "OBEY" (in support of the White Mantle) or "DISMANTLE" (backing the Shining Blade), depending on which you received. Each carried an image indicating support of the White Mantle or the Shining Blade and a QR code, which at the moment leads only to an image of the flyers on the official Guild Wars site. Given that the Guild Wars 2 site began with a simple image, it's probably a very good idea to keep a close eye on these two pages. Guild Wars will celebrate its fifth birthday in just over a month and this may well be our first hint at new content. In the meantime, it wouldn't hurt to start choosing a side. Just don't forget: the Shining Blade has Livia. The White Mantle has this. [Via Kill Ten Rats]
