When I was a wee lad, my grandfather, an avid gardener, walked with me down to the end of his immaculately tended botanical kingdom, and bid I look upon his favourite flowers, bright blooms of Geraniums. He was a humble man, but even he could not disguise his pride at how wonderfully full and rich their colours and forms had come in this year. “Does the fragile beauty of these blooms not fill you with tender hope for the future?” he asked. “No, Grandad,” I replied, “these flowers are mid.”
]]>Guild Wars 2 is over ten years old now, and last year it brought its long-running storyline to a close with its third expansion. Now its developers say they want to release smaller and cheaper expansions more regularly, with quarterly updates filling the gaps in between.
]]>Long-running fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2 will hop onto Steam on August 23rd, not quite ten years to the day since it launched in August 2012. Can you even remember what you were doing then? I was getting my wedding organised. Have a watch of the announcement trailer below. For Guild Wars 2 coming to Steam, not my wedding. We just didn’t have that kind of budget.
]]>The third Guild Wars 2 expansion, End Of Dragons, has just been revealed. The latest update to one of today's best MMORPGs adds a new island realm of Cantha, boats, and a co-op mount that lets two players ride together. Yup, you and a BFF get to ride the Siege Turtle in tandem.
]]>Back when it first launched, Guild Wars 2 was exciting to everyone I knew. If you liked World Of Warcraft, it seemed like a game that intelligently built on some similar ideas; and if you didn't, it seemed like WoW but good.
Several years later, FFXIV seems to have earned that title in the MMO space, but Guild Wars 2 isn't done. While announcing the next expansion End Of Dragons had slipped into next year, ArenaNet also announced several new hires and changes designed to prepare the aged MMO for a long term future.
]]>If you're looking for an entire second life, we're here to judge. We're only here to serve, which is why we've curated a list of the best MMOs and MMORPGs on PC right now. There's many a massively multiplayer experience to find out there these days, running the gamut from fantasy to sci-fi and... well mostly those two things, but you can still build a little you and live in a whole new world, make virtual friends to share your life with, engage in huge battles against massive enemies, and spend your evenings on raids to grind out levels. Some of the games on this list are tried and true classics that have stuck around for the long haul, and some are newer entries, but all offer deep worlds that you can disappear into.
]]>Dragons? Had enough of 'em. Time to bring this whole flying lizard farce to an end. Guild Wars 2 seems to agree, with the announcement of next year's End Of Dragons expansion. Putting immortals in the ground is a tall ask, mind, so ArenaNet are taking their game to Steam this November to train up a new generation of champions before the next big adventure begins.
]]>Every MMO has to have a mount. Mounts are a reward, a step in the endgame that helps you feel like you’ve finally mastered an MMO’s world. Finally you can get around quickly. No more of that plebeian walking. And with the game feeling like it’s in your grasp at last, you even get to show off your achievement with the flamboyance of your steed.
Guild Wars 2’s mounts are the best mounts in the MMO business. They’re beautiful to look at, they do interesting things, and they feel so good to control. And here’s the thing: they’re inspired by Metroid and Zelda.
]]>After nearly 20 years working at Guild Wars 2 developers ArenaNet, president and co-founder Mike O'Brien has packed his bags. It's been a good run, carving out a stable niche in the fiercely contested MMORPG arena, but earlier this week O'Brien gave his fond farewells to the studio he helped found. It's time to aim smaller and make less demanding games with friends.
]]>Allegations of abuse have been made against multiple games industry figures in the past 24 hours. On Monday afternoon Nathalie Lawhead, developer of the IGF-winning Tetrageddon Games, wrote a post on her website alleging that Jeremy Soule, the composer of Skyrim, raped her while she was working for an unnamed Vancouver-based games studio. Seven hours later, comics writer and indie developer Zoë Quinn posted tweets alleging that Alec Holowka, co-creator of Aquaria and Night In The Woods, sexually assaulted them. Later that same night, Adelaide Gardner posted a series of tweets alleging that Splash Damage tools programmer Luc Shelton sexually assaulted and gaslit her.
(CW: rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, emotional abuse)
]]>It’s often said that the more restrictions you’re working against, the more creative you’ll become. We’re planning to test that theory to its limits next Friday at PAX West, where our Nate will be inviting a team of developers to puzzle their way around some real thinkabouters in Rock Paper Shotgun’s Game Design Hotseat.
How could you make a grand strategy game with only six old Casio calculators for display? How would you design a massively multiplayer online beat ‘em up? What about an FPS controlled with a trombone? We won’t be posing these questions (because we’ve just put them here and that ruins the surprise), but we’ll be posing questions just like them, and giving the team a tablet to sketch out their workings as they scramble for answers.
]]>Matthew Holland never planned to add his dogs to Divinity: Original Sin 2. It happened on a lark, but turned into a wholesome story about his two canine companions. Holland worked as a scripter at Larian, the studio behind the fantasy RPG. While they were designing Fort Joy, an introductory island prison, the team came up with a quest about two separated dogs who wanted to find one another. At the time, their names were just "Dog A" and "Dog B". While brainstorming with lead writer Sarah Baylus, Holland jokingly pitched the names of his two dogs, Buddy and Emily. The names stuck and Buddy became the lonely dog on the beach at Fort Joy who was missing his partner, Emmie. Although they planned a golden retriever modeled after the real Buddy, it turned out that a golden dog on a white beach wasn't so easy to see. Buddy became a black labrador in-game, but his personality stayed golden.
But Divinity: Original Sin 2 is not the only game to immortalise its developers’ pets. It turns out videogames are full of cat cameos and designer’s dogs. Some are sentimental tributes to pets that have died while others are loving takedowns of catty behavior, but they are all lasting memories of some furry best friends.
]]>With MMO developer ArenaNet recently becoming the latest in a long string of studios laying off developers, Guild Wars 2 players have been gathering in the game to show their appreciation for those who find themselves without jobs.
Multiple events saw people from all over the world meeting up under the Lion’s Arch, toasting with body-changing tonics, and setting off fireworks in commemoration of the developers’ hard work.
]]>It's another day in the games industry, which means another bunch of talented people have lost their jobs. Guild Wars 2 developer ArenaNet have confirmed that "staff reductions" are being made "due to the cancellation of unannounced projects". They claim that "the Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 game services will not be affected, nor is any upcoming game content cancelled." Game: (supposedly) fine. Lives: less so.
Kotaku have spoken to sources which suggest the company was facing some degree of financial trouble, though we don't know the numbers involved. Nor do we yet know the number of people who have been laid off.
]]>Guild Wars 2 got a little off track with Path Of Fire's god-hunting story arc, but tomorrow those with their sights on the deadliest game of all (Elder Dragons, duh) should be pleased. Season four, episode five of the MMORPG's 'living world' updates goes live tomorrow adding a new mountain zone to explore, a chunk of new story, and what sounds like a nigh-suicidal plan to kill Kralkatorrik, the big purple Crystal Dragon.
While my interest in this new episode is tarnished somewhat by ArenaNet's questionable firing of two of this season's key writers back in July 2018, I admit some curiosity in where the story is headed. Check out the trailer below, featuring some familiar faces and locations from past chapters and the original Guild Wars.
]]>Loot boxes are retreating across the Belgian front as Guild Wars 2 apparently becomes the latest game to axe sales of premium currency in the country, as reported by Gamasutra. While subscription-free (and free-to-play in general, if you don't mind missing out on expansions), Arenanet's successful MMORPG has always had loot boxes. The in-game premium shop offers keys to unlock randomly dropped boxes, as well as various random goodie bags. Those are now legally considered gambling, according to the Belgian Gaming Commission.
]]>ArenaNet have fired two Guild Wars 2 writers for tweets they made this past week. In doing so, they've thrown their lot in with players and harassers who make unreasonable demands of game developers. Good work, ArenaNet. Let's start at the beginning.
On July 3rd, Jessica Price wrote an interesting Twitter thread about the challenges of writing compelling player characters in MMORPGs. In response to one of those tweets, Guild Wars 2 YouTuber and ArenaNet content partner 'Deroir' responded to disagree and argue in favour of branching dialogue. On July 4th, Price quote-tweeted Deroir's response, correctly connecting it to the all-too common situation of women game developers being condescended on Twitter.
]]>The star of Guild Wars 2's latest expansion - Path of Fire - was undoubtedly its mounts. The best I've seen in an MMO, with a real sense of weight and inertia and with reason to exist beyond getting you quickly from point A to B. On top of the now-standard new zone and story quests, next week's big update (Season 4, Episode 3: Long Live the Lich) is introducing a ridiculous new mount, and it looks like an absolute joy to ride around on, as you can see in the trailer within.
]]>Guild Wars 2 fans, it's time to mark up your calendar again. As has become the standard format for the successful MMORPG, a second episode of Living World content - this one titled A Bug In The System - is on its way, bringing new sights to see, new monsters to bop and new loot to hoard.
It's been three months since the release of Daybreak, the first episodic update bridging Guild Wars 2's Path of Fire expansion to whatever new release awaits next, and while we're still a bit short on hard details (other than the launch date, March 6th), from the looks at the trailer within they're doing something a little different this time.
]]>Guild Wars 2 might not be the talk of the town anymore, but the fast-paced MMO is still chugging along nicely, with a major new desert-themed expansion - Path of Fire - released just this September. It's really rather good, bringing some satisfyingly weighty-feeling mounts to the game, making exploring feel fresh and fun again.
For those who bought Path of Fire and have already hammered your way through the main story arc, get ready to dust the game off again, perhaps sooner than expected. The fourth season of 'Living World' episodic content will begin this month. Read on for a teaser trailer and some info on what this will entail.
]]>Arenanet's MMORPG Guild Wars 2 [official site] has begun its adventure to new (old) lands with the launch of its second expansion. Path of Fire returns to the Crystal Desert and kingdom Elona, from the first game, on a mission to give the god of war a good kicking. To help boot his molten teeth clean out, players will get new mounts, new elite specialisations, and of course new quests and items and all that too. While Guild Wars 2 itself is free these days, the expansions are paid.
]]>With Guild Wars 2 [official site] venturing off to new lands (well, old - from the first game) in its Path of Fire expansion next month, developers ArenaNet are inviting all and sundry in for a cheeky peek this weekend. All and sundry are invited to visit the Crystal Desert in a "preview weekend" starting on Friday, no pre-order or purchase necessary. The Crystal Desert was one of my favourite places in the first Guild Wars so I'm quite keen to explore it in full GW2 pretty-o-vision.
]]>The second paid expansion for free-to-play fantasy MMORPG Guild Wars 2 [official site] will launch on September 22nd, developers ArenaNet announced today. Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire will return to the Crystal Desert from the first game along with Elona from its Nightfall expansion. Continuing to follow and fight the return of the god of war, Path of Fire will also introduce mounts and new elite specialisations for all classes. Here, check out the big ol' video that ArenaNet streamed to announce all this:
]]>Almost five years since Guild Wars 2 [official site] launched and two years since the MMORPG's first expansion kicked off, developers Arenanet are winding up a second. They've announced plans to announce the second GW2 expansion on August 1st. Yes, this is one of those irksome announcements of announcements but we have our own local Guild Wars mob in Rock, Paper, Signet so this is, as the youths say, "pertinent to our interests."
]]>Recently I had the chance to talk to ArenaNet (and thus Guild Wars 2) art director Horia Dociu about his work at the studio. One of the interesting things about his promotion to the role is that he succeeds his father, Daniel. As a result there's a lot in our Q&A which is actually just a touching account of a partnership/mentor/mentee relationship across two generations of a family which was nice to read. I particularly love the point about making sure people have a place where it's safe to try and to fail. Beyond that we talked via the email questions and answers about the art of the game which has been the most personally satisfying for Dociu The Younger, how to keep an art style from looking dated in a living game and the relationship of concept art to in-game assets...
]]>A group of RPS readers are embarking upon a merry tour of Guild Wars 2 this weekend, and you're all invited - no purchase necessary. The folks of Rock, Paper, Signet are visiting the American servers for the first time for a whistlestop 'Fresh Start' tour of each race's starting zone. Expect adventure, action, and plenty of larking about. Focusing on the starting zones means all and sundry can join in with only the free version of Guild Wars 2. Here, see some of there adventures from the last tour in this trailer by community member 'Ravbek':
]]>For three years, many of my evenings and weekends have been spent online with the Rock, Paper, Shotgun community – posting announcements, managing servers, and hosting events. By doing this I’ve met hundreds of people and have developed some great friendships. I've enhanced the experience of playing games for myself and others, and in the process I've gained skills to progress my career in ‘real life’.
My experience is not unique. I'm here to convince you of the power of getting involved in gaming communities - and that game developers should take more responsibility for fostering and highlighting what their community is doing.
]]>Even by Blizzard's standards, The Mean Streets of Gadgetzan is taking the piss. In case you missed it, which I know you didn't, but work with me here, it's the newest Hearthstone expansion. The trailer is wonderful. The setting is a corrupt crime-town full of gangsters, hoodlums and mugs, all fighting for cash and control in a tongue-in-cheek mix of Lord of the Rings and Bugsy Malone. I'd love to play a full adventure/RPG/heck even shooter set in that world, not just play with a new set of cards using it as a theme. In just a minute of charismatic art and a fun song, Blizzard fleshed out Gadgetzan with more love and more detail than some games manage in their entire runs.
But, uh, here's the thing. This is what Gadgetzan actually looks like.
]]>The Big Spooky isn't until Monday but plenty of games are already celebrating Halloween with special events for people with nerves of steel and eyes in the back of their head. If you're feeling extra brave, check out our collection of spookyspoos going on this weekend. This isn't a definitive list, mind, just a fair spread of things you might fancy trying. Do share your favourites too!
]]>Backstage areas have always fascinated me. Behind the scenes in theatres, where all the glitz and glamour dies instantly the moment you step where the public isn't meant to see - down lethal staircases and in filthy preparation rooms. The tunnels in places like Walt Disney World, where cast members travel to avoid ruining the magic, and tough security guards probably not wearing mouse ears emerge to haul off trouble-makers. And in games, especially online ones, there's often parts that we're just not meant to see, from developer tricks to places for the GM team to hang out.
Quite often, these include prisons. For the really naughty players to go.
]]>As many hours as I've spent playing them over the years, MMORPGs always fill me with a touch of sadness for what they could have been. I'm thinking of the original optimistic dreams of people like Richard Garriott, talking of his world where players accidentally killing too many sheep would draw the wrath of a nearby, now hungry dragon, back in that innocent time before it was accepted that players would not only kill the sheep, but the dragon, and any other living creature within murder range. There's many reasons why the modern theme park style ended up being dominant, but as stories from games like Eve regularly demonstrate, we definitely lost a lot in that philosophical and pragmatic shift towards PvE content and fixed interactions.
At least we've still got world events. I love world events.
]]>The third season of Guild Wars 2's [official site] Living World time-limited storytelling adventure doodad is arriving on 26 July and thus has a trailer. A trailer you can watch after the jump (as well as discovering what Living World is if you haven't encountered it before):
]]>I was in a long distance relationship for over two years and gaming was incredibly useful for keeping in touch with my partner*. But not every game was a good fit, either because of relative game experience or temperament or any number of other things. So here are some of the games which worked and some of the games which didn't. I'm going to explain them from my point-of-view because I don't want to presume to know exactly what his experience was!
]]>Blizzard's MOBA Heroes of the Storm is a big crossover between all their games, and NCsoft think that's a grand idea. The Korean publishers have announced a western release for Master X Master [official site], a MOBA whose lineup includes characters from their other games. As with gin & tonics, no MOBA is complete without a twist. MXM's is that players pick two characters and can 'tag' between them mid-combat.
]]>If I could skateboard (I gave up trying to learn after clumsily busting a board) I'd skate everywhere. When rolling is an option, walking is surely pedestrian. Beyond the bounds of the skatepark, I'd insist upon skating down to the shops, over hills, through bogs, and up the stairs in my building. Walking be damned! And yet MMOs keep adding fancy new modes of locomotion which are restricted to certain zones.
Good news on that front for Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns [official site], as the expansion's gliding is coming to the rest of Tyria.
]]>It's been a while! Over November and December, the RPS community have indulged in tonnes of different games. Read on to find out what we've been up to in Clicker Heroes [official site], Guild Wars 2 [official site], PlanetSide 2 [official site], Terraria [official site] and more.
]]>Free-to-play MMO Guild Wars 2 [official site] launched its first paid expansion last month, and now the first raid from Heart of Thorns has started opening up for would-be heroes. Spirit Vale is the first wing of the raid, offering a ten-person challenge with nasty monsters to pummel and the chance to gain... such prizes.
]]>Guild Wars 2 was always subscription-free, but since August you don't even need to buy it to play. That's kinda free-to-play, but sorta not, since the base game hasn't been filled with loads of extra microtransaction bits to squeeze players. What won't be free is its expansions, and today the first of those arrived. Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns [official site] launched this morning. Doing all the usual expansion things - new areas, a new class, new enemies, new items, and so on - Heart of Thorns costs £35.
]]>This month, it seems like just about every major RPG out there is getting a major update. Divinity: Original Sin. Wasteland 2. Guild Wars 2. Even Deus Ex! All we need is for someone to announce that they've secretly been upgrading Darklands on the sly and we'll have the whole set. Here's a quick look at what's taking a level up on a PC near you.
]]>September was absolutely packed full of games in the RPS community, with events taking place in Dirt Rally [official site], Europa Universalis [official site], Guild Wars 2 [official site], Terraria [official site], Trove [official site] and more!
Want to know what happened and how you can get involved? Read on!
]]>Over in Everquest II, they're trying an experiment at the moment - what's that? Yes, Everquest II. People are still playing it. The original as well. I know, I'm surprised too, but never mind. Specifically, they've created a prison server called Drunder. The idea is that instead of banning trolls, griefers and cheaters (presumably up to a certain point), they can simply throw all the troublemakers in server jail and let them play together with no possibility of escape. Nothing can possibly go wrong! If you want to indulge in the anarchy then you can request to be sent there, but again, it's a one way trip for your account. Has Daybreak finally discovered the ultimate fix for bad online behaviour, though? Let's ask our special ethics correspondent, a snowball in Hell.
...
Well, while we wait, I thought it'd be fun to take a look at how a few other RPGs have decided to have a little fun with their dodgier elements, both online and off.
]]>Guild Wars 2 is going free. That's free, not free-to-play. "We’re not using the words free-to-play with Guild Wars 2," says ArenaNet president and co-founder Mike O'Brien when I talk to him about the changes via email. "We believe in buy to play, and we know that when people describe something as free-to-play that comes with expectations." Those expectations are that free-to-play games require heavy microtransactions, but O'Brien say that Guild Wars 2 will remain the same as it always was - and the expansion, Heart of Thorns, will still have an entry fee when it releases later this year.
]]>July is for lazy mornings in the sunshine, lounging around beer gardens with family in the afternoon, and tackling gaming challenges with friends in the evening. Despite the height of summer, the RPS community has continued to soar, with action in Arma 3 [official site], Europa Universalis [official site], Guild Wars 2 [official site] and Terraria [official site].
]]>Hello, hello, hello!
It's time for the monthly recap of what the RPS community have been up to. June saw action in ARK: Survival Evolved [official site] (dinosaurs!), Guild Wars 2 [official site] (crowds!), Hearthstone [official site] (cards!) and Warframe [official site] (ninjas!). Oh, and a reminder about our Steam group too.
]]>You and your Guild Wars 2 [officail site] guildmates will get a secret clubhouse to hang out in with the Heart of Thorns expansion, as it reintroduces guild halls from the first game. They'll be a lot swankier this time around, involving a lot more work and giving you more to do as you build and customise them, as developers ArenaNet have explained in great detail following an E3 announcement. Eight chunky blog posts tell exactly what you can expect as a guild member when it comes to the new guild housing situation and how it now fits into the game's storyline.
]]>Hi folks!
Here's what happened in May in the RPS community.
In this alliterative edition: Blood Bowl [official site] brethren batter and bludgeon in preparation for the new game; Cities: Skylines [official site] succession games subsequently succeed; Dirt Rally [official site] roadsters rack-up a riveting league; Guild Wars 2 [official site] troopers take to hammering out their differences; and PlanetSide 2 [official site] players participate profoundly in another smashing of servers.
]]>ArenaNet are letting seep a slow drip of Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns [official site], the sequel's first expansion pack. There's still no release date, but starting May 26th you have a chance to test out some of the new PvE content in the closed beta - if you completed the key tasks. If not, well, you can probably watch it streamed.
]]>Hi folks!
I'm Scott and I help moderate the RPS community forum. There's some great discussions going on over there but what I'm really interested in is what the members of the community do together - whether that's in games or out of them. Every month I'm going to provide a summary of what RPSers have been up to and how you can get involved.
This month: Cities: Skylines [official site] succession games; our Guild Wars 2 [official site] guild get more involved in PvP; the PlanetSide 2 [official site] outfits do battle in a server smash; and how to join the capers of our Grand Theft Auto V [official site] crew.
]]>It's been a while since I dug out my copy of Guild Wars 2 [official site], but in just a couple days ArenaNet is going to start asking users to test out the new Stronghold PvP game in their Heart of Thorns expansion.
]]>Poking about on the Guild Wars 2 website yesterday I found their repository of concept art. I say "found" as if that was hard. It's literally right there in a link on a menu. Whatever, I hadn't seen it before. That's because the release date for Guild Wars 2 was just before a fashion week and so my time was being monopolised by imminent catwalks. I remember Quinns talking enthusiastically about plant people and how he had made TOAST! Imagine, Pip - toast! while I was trying to work out how to get back from Bletchley Park in time to fish my high heels from my office drawer before an obligatory show. ANYWAY. Here are my favourites. No, this isn't about the game nor its upcoming expansion. It's entirely because I'm interested in concept art and how it can evoke a mood and a sense of place or character even when it's not the style the game ends up taking.
In short there are a bunch of fantastic images I'd missed and I wanted to share them in case you'd missed them too:
]]>A Guild Wars 2 [official site] patch will introduce a first-person camera mode to the MMO on 10 March.
As far as I recall the only times you get a truly unimpeded view of the landscape is when you trigger the cinematic sequences associated with activating a vista point (I have a lot of screenshots from those vistas).
After the patch is released zooming in fully while playing will switch the camera to first-person view. It's not intended as a special option for a particular scenario, just an alternative view. This is pleasing news to me and will necessitate my return to Tyria for the equivalent of a tourist trip. I will take a sandwich and explore some areas and take all the screenshots.
]]>Once I played Guild Wars till my hands were worn, soon GW2 will be expanded with Heart of Thorns. And out of respect for you, myself, ArenaNet, and everyone, I'll stop that there, but will choose not to delete it so we are all aware of my shame. ArenaNet announced the first Guild Wars 2 expansion over the weekend, Heart of Thorns, sending players deep into the Maguuma Jungle on new adventures. Along with new zones, it'll add a new profession, Guild Halls, hang-gliding, and oodles more. Come see in the first trailer.
]]>I basically didn't understand a word of this video. I thought it would help bring me up to speed on a game I haven't played since launch, but now I just feel even more lost. As far as I can tell thingy did wotsit with the whojathunk, but thingy turned up and did thingy instead, and then a thing happened which meant more things and now another thing is going to happen, and apparently that will mean the end of the 'living world' storyline in Guild Wars 2. The current one, anyway.
]]>Delicious Guild Wars 2 has more content in it than the National Content Library Of Australia, which has been furiously archiving content from across the world since the great content famine of 1840. Inevitably, you have a chance to access some of that Guild Warsy content via the magic No Pennies, from September 27th. The sign up page isn't ready yet - perhaps delay that press release, guys? Oh, no, you already sent it and I am writing about it right now! Nevermind - you'll be able to sign up there once the freeness exposes the content to your inquisitive nibbling. Arenanet have also sent word of the accompanying update, which is due October 1st: The Twilight Assault, which adds a new dungeon, the spooks of which you can see below. Sure looks like some evil is up for having its loot collected. That'll teach 'em.
]]>So, I admit, I bounced off Guild Wars 2. After promises of its being a brand new approach to the MMO, finding myself in a generic fantasy world being asked to kill five of something, I pretty much gave up straight away. I know, I know, I should have dug in, but as you can imagine it's not possible to dedicate time to every MMO I'm not going to be writing about. Then I see the details of the new Super Adventure Box: Back To School update, and I regret my decision.
]]>Those of you with special organic brains that can actually retain information for more than a few moments will recall the Guild Wars 2 April fool that materialised into something real: Super Adventure Box was an 8-bit "demake" of the MMO, a free standalone dungeon which amused the MMOing masses. It turns out that ArenaNet were rather pleased with the idea, too, because they're revisiting it with Super Adventure Box: Back To School. "The asuran genius Moto is back with his new and improved Super Adventure Box! This virtual reality simulator was designed to educate young asura, but anyone can enroll! Face new challenges and new enemies in World 2, or put your skills to the ultimate test with the aptly-named Tribulation Mode!" There are a bunch of new rewards and such, too, of course, so you might want to get your 8-bit pauldrons ready for its September 3rd release.
]]>Those lovely scamps over at Arenanet are planning a Jubilee on the 6th of August to celebrate Queen Jennah's ten year rule. It seems like a super nice idea, they are putting on a hot air balloon collection service to the Crown Pavilion so you can go to the gladiatorial events and jump around or whatever it is that people do when they are watching something in Guild Wars 2.
Is Queen Jennah a good queen? Does she deserve a Jubilee? Will Jubilee from the X-Men show up? She had better.
]]>We sent Cara to talk to meet Guild Wars 2's Mike Zadorojny and find out about their new "Living World" system. This is her report.
Remember Guild Wars 2? It is this really pretty MMO that looks sort of bluey-purply like the side of Ben Nevis and has magic in it and stuff. Well anyway, I have totally sussed out their plan. Arenanet want to take over the world by instigating real war via virtual war in Europe. There is no real evidence for this, but it is fact. They sent for me to talk to them about their new episodic story system, Living World, but I stumbled across their sinister machiavellian undertones after too long. Read on for Hard Hitting Journalisms On An MMO Scale.
]]>I haven't been back, or even been inclined to go back, to Guild Wars 2 since its initial release, though that probably says at least as much about me and my grasshopper mind as it does about it. I know a bunch of people are playing it, but I don't know how I can usefully address them about what's going on with the game, at least not without becoming something of a fraud. A free, tongue-in-cheek retro platformer based on GW2 though? That I can tell you about, and I don't need to say even a single thing about high-level content to do it.
]]>ArenaNet made a bunch of handsome noises about their support of the titular guilds of Guild Wars 2 when they brought us their impossibly beautiful subscription-free MMO, and they're starting to make good on them. Guild missions will be unlockable missions that are part of the guild tech tree - giving the groups more questy content that they can do to bolster their ability to high-five, fist-bump, and all the other things that people do in groups. ArenaNet explain a bit more about this in their video, which is below here.
]]>It perhaps goes without saying - although after typing this I realise we said it anyway - that Guild Wars 2 will be busy this year. The updates have begun to materialise with customer-luring intent, and the closest of these is a big old PvP update, with a new map called Spirit Watch, which I assume is the afterlife version of something presented by Chris Packham. There's a video of that below, and small stash of details over on the ArenaNet site. They explain: "In this map, we combine our established conquest gameplay with intense capture-the-flag gameplay—except instead of a flag, players will battle over the glowing Orb of Ascension!" Woo! No one likes flags, anyway. This is the 21st century, for goodness sakes!
The update appears on the 26th. Video below, of course.
]]>Guild Wars 2 has been around for four whole months now, and - in gaming industry time - that means it's become A Man. So it's time to grow up or go home, and ArenaNet has no intention of doing the latter. Last year was about experimentation - nervously fumbling around in the dark, fondling at things it couldn't quite fully grasp - but now it's older and wiser. Multiple events have come and gone, but more are on the way. They'll just be bigger and better, apparently, as will daily achievements and other rewards, World vs World PvP, various progression paths, and heaps more. Don't believe me? Well then, perhaps having a different man tell you the exact same things will do the trick. He's trapped inside a tiny, HTML-powered rectangle after the break.
]]>A couple weeks ago, Jim brought attention to the fact that holiday cheer in Tyria is often eclipsed by the scariest parade float balloon any world has ever known. And when I say "eclipsed," I mean it. Guild Wars 2's toymaker workshop is quite capable of blotting out the sun. But what purpose does such a titanic sky nightmare actually serve? Well, it belches out toys for children, naturally. And occasionally, those toys come to life in a frenzied bid to commandeer the massive humanoid airship and take over the world. But it sounds like things will be quite pleasant otherwise. Discover what exactly an "arsenal of gaiety" entails after the break.
]]>We Earthpeople might face abject terror each Christmas when a supernatural fat man dressed in red tries to stuff himself down all our chimneys at once, but spare a thought for the denizens of Tyria, who must face being given things they don't want or need by a nightmarish airship (pictured). The Guild Wars 2 site explains this impending abomination in their precis for the "Wintersday" event which will take place between December 14th and January 3rd: "This year the city of Lion’s Arch will host the asuran Toymaker Tixx as their special Wintersday guest of honor. Before Tixx arrives in Lion’s Arch in his massive airship toy workshop, he’ll visit every major city in Tyria to deliver Wintersday toys and holiday cheer."
Brr.
]]>AAAAAH TOO MUCH GUILD WARS 2. But then, I suppose ArenaNet's adding quite a lot of fairly novel content with its Lost Shores event, so there's a decent deal of ground to cover. So cover it we will. Exhaustively. On today's docket is the Fractals of the Mist dungeon, which actually takes the form of multiple itsy-bitsy baby dungeons. Now, when I put it that way, they sound cute as the dickens. In reality, however, Fractals is more like one of those giant horrifying spiders that carry writhing tangles of young on their backs. Each mini-dungeon scales and gets progressively tougher at higher levels. And then, of course, there's the matter of that whole Ascended gear brouhaha. Take a brief tour after the break.
]]>So this is potentially a bit problematic. Once upon a time, ArenaNet prided itself on taking the "end" out of endgame in Guild Wars 2. And admittedly, it's not like Tyria's baddest beasties and best quests are suddenly making a beeline for the back of the bus. But ArenaNet is moving full-steam ahead with that oh-so-restrictive of popular MMO practices: gear checking. Put simply, if your stuff's not up to snuff, the upcoming Fractals of the Mists dungeon will eventually chew you up and spit you out. The solution? A brand new "Ascended" gear tier that'll allow for special upgrades that mitigate progress-slowing (and in tougher cases, halting) debuffs.
]]>How do you feel about giant crabs? I ask this because they tend to be quite a divisive subject (I've lost a good many friends over debates about the merits of their anachronistic cultural leanings and gigantic torso-cleaving claws), yet Guild Wars 2 is tackling it head-on. Lost Shores - which kicks off on November 16th and runs until the 18th - is a colossal "once in a lifetime" world event that centers around said colossal crustaceans. They'll invade, they'll fight, and they might even do a fun dance number to a mash-up of the decade's most memorable showtunes. Meanwhile, some of the less-crab-focused new additions - like a series of "fractal" mini-dungeons - sound quite interesting. Delve into the break's mysterious depths for more.
]]>The Shadow of the Mad King begins to crawl across Guild Wars 2 today, carrying folktales, fear and pumpkins in its umbrage. It's an event in four acts, with the final one beginning on Halloween and ending the next day. The concept art is beautiful, the story is suitably spooky in a daft sort of way, and now there's a trailer full of whimsy and bubbling cauldrons. You can watch that below, as well as historical footage of the only undead king to ever haunt my sleep. Veeeengeaaance.
]]>My eyes might be my favourite part of my body. I tried touching this concept art for the Guild Wars 2 Halloween update, but all I could feel was a flat monitor and dried snot. I tried listening to it, but it was cunningly silent. Upon sniffing it all I managed to ascertain was that I needed a shower. Tasting it was utterly pointless: it tasted of light and electricity, and nothing like a richly designed concept art I was licking. No, the eyes have it. I'm currently attempting to go without blinking, so I get maximum use out of them. A nano second of darkness is waste when I'm trying to absorb all this.
]]>(Part one.)
You are looking at my Guild Wars 2 character, a necromancer from a bloodline of great Defenders of Ascalon, standing proudly before his guild banner. A descendant of great heroes, who once lay forgotten and hopeless in the dirt like a sack of cats - now restored to the glory that is his birthright.
But how did he arrive there? How did he achieve this?
]]>You are looking at my Guild Wars 2 character, a necromancer from a bloodline of great Defenders of Ascalon, lying dead under a bridge. A descendant of great heroes, lying forgotten and hopeless in the dirt like a sack of cats.
]]>Are you moderately to incredibly affluent? Then chances are high that you own a Macintosh computer. There is a slimmer chance beyond this that you have installed Boot Camp and thus Windows on your Macintosh computer, in turn allowing you to play whatever PC games you so wish. More likely you think it too complicated by half, or are like the guy who visibly recoiled, started shaking in fury/grief and needed consolation from his girlfriend upon seeing Windows running on my own Macbook.* Apple people. Whatever the reason you don't also have Windows on your Mac, you might be happy to hear that Ncsoft's jolly good subscription-free MMO Guild Wars 2 has just released a beta client for Macintosh computers.
]]>How much do you think you'll have to pay for more Guild Wars 2 content? Several hundred thousand dollars? All of your most prized possessions? Your immortal soul? Well then, sheesh, you have clearly never purchased a videogame before. ArenaNet, though, is opting to go below and beyond the typical standard of game content pricing - that is, the part where it, you know, costs money. There will be many free things, and they will arrive often - like home-baked goods from an affectionate, nurturing grandparent, except with more swords and fewer messages supporting uncomfortable social norms from 60 years ago.
]]>I am a shameful, loathsome creature. Unlike the rest of the world, I'm not even within awkward-glancing-because-you-think-it's-someone-you-know-but-you're-not-entirely-sure distance of Guild Wars 2's level cap yet. On some level, though, I think I only feel bad because other MMOs have taught me to feel bad. Moreso than just about any other MMO to date, ArenaNet's latest gingerly ties the carrot to a stick, sets the treadmill on low (with only a bit of incline), and funnels a syrupy slick of smooth jazz through the loudspeakers. "Relax," it says in a soothing growl. "Take your time." And that, explains ArenaNet, was a very intentional design goal - which is why Guild Wars 2's endgame, well, isn't.
]]>There's a lot of received wisdom when it comes to MMOs, with people quick to announce trends and patterns with very minimal data. "You can't launch a full price MMO any more!" they'll cry. "Free-to-play or bust!" And then along comes Guild Wars 2, and sells over 2 million copies in a fortnight. A fortnight where at some points they had to even stop selling the game.
]]>We like Guild Wars 2 quite a lot, and evidently, so does everyone else on Earth. Servers began to collapse under the sheer ferocity of unquenchable purchase-lust, so ArenaNet made a rather uncommon business decision and stopped letting people give them money. At least, directly. But now, Guild Wars 2 is back up for download, order has been restored, and I need a new excuse to riot in the streets and take more than one free sample at the grocery store. ArenaNet, meanwhile, is celebrating with a launch trailer that's, er... hm. Maybe you should just watch it.
]]>I've seen the things that are to come in The Secret World, at least some of them, and even though the present is turbulent the future seems bright, or at least as bright as global conflict, the destruction of a metropolis and the spilling over of supernatural horror onto city streets could possibly be. It's a flame-bright future with a great deal of ash, boiling blood and smoke blotted across it. As well as witnessing the power of plotting, I've been dipping into Guild Wars 2 for the first time, so along with a tour taking in elements of The Secret World's first raid, I've been wondering whether I have room for two MMORPGs in my life.
]]>While Guild Wars 2 is clearly pretty brillo, its early days have been somewhat hampered by an apparent bug that fouls up groups being in the same place and has meant the in-game auction house, aka Trading Post, has been offline most of the time. The latter has surprisingly been no biggie, and in some regards has meant people could get on with the business of going out there into the world rather than feverishly trying to ensure they have all the best kit all the time. As an obsessive leather crafter (and in the game) though, I would have killed for the Trading Post to have been an easy source of rawhide, if only because it would have spared me wandering the lands and brutalising all the wildlife I could possibly stick my dagger into.
No matter, the Trading Post is apparently now fully functional as of last night, which means the Great Loot Hunt is very much on. Grouping remains troubled, sadly.
]]>Here's the exciting news: Guild Wars 2, a PC-only videogame, is number one at UK retail this week. Eurogamer reckon it's the first PC game to have that honour since Football Manager 2011 and StarCraft 2 both pulled it off in 2010. (Diablo III was held off by Max Payne 3, although, as has to be qualified every bloody time with these kinds of stories, digital sales were not included, therefore the entire chart is basically irrelevant anyway.)
Here's the confusing news: apparently it sold less than Star Wars: The Old Republic did in launch week, despite being at least twelve times better than it. However, once again this does reflect retail-only sales, so means basically nothing - especially as NCSoft have been running a digital pre-purchase scheme for the game for yonks now.
]]>You've probably never heard of Guild Wars 2 - a plucky little MMO that's so far failed to draw much attention around the net. You might want to give it a look though. Maybe. They say it does a couple of moderately cool things. And it looks quite nice, if you're into that.
]]>ArenaNet has permanently banned 3000 players for exploiting a weapon-reselling bug. Seems a bit harsh for just messing with virtual economics? ArenaNet say it's a statement of intent. Speaking on reddit, lead producer Chris Whiteside said: "We take our community and the integrity of the game very seriously, and want to be clear that intentionally exploiting the game is unacceptable... The players we banned were certainly intentionally and repeatedly exploiting a bug in the game. We intended to send a very clear message that exploiting the game in this way will not be tolerated, and we believe this message now has been well understood." UPDATE: These bans can now be appealed via the game's support process.
Blimey. And these are some bold moves from the company: ArenaNet have even stopped selling the game directly from their site until they have things sorted for existing players. This does not stop you from buying it via other outlets, however.
]]>Guild Wars 2 isn't the first MMO that's tried to tell a single-player story. For that specific element, it's not even the highest profile one in recent months - both The Old Republic and The Secret World going all out to make narrative matter. The stories it tells, while definitely fun, aren't as interesting or memorable, or even as notable a presence during most of my travels.
So why do I feel much more involved with my Elementalist's personal journey through the world than with either of the games that set out to make narrative their main selling point?
]]>It's Guild Wars 2 Day, and may all the gods combined have mercy on ArenaNet's servers. I'm working on the WIT at the moment, and you can check out Alec's early impressions of the game here, but while we battle both foul monsters and bloody overflow server bugs, we're going to take a look at a couple of specific things of interest. Up first, the Black Lion Trading Company - the Guild Wars 2 item store that's a little more hooked into the economy than most.
]]>I'm having a whale of a time with Guild Wars 2, but I am playing it pretty much on my own due to problems with the grouping/instancing/server overflow system. As half the world pointed out on my piece yesterday, in theory if your party is rendered disparate by the game you can right-click on party members and select 'join' to be dispatched to whichever overflow shard your chums are on, but only in theory. It doesn't work much of the time, and to the point that me and mine simply don't bother to even try it now, especially as we knew that even if it did work we'd soon be torn asunder again should we have the temerity to change zone or embark on personal quests.
Turns out it is at least partially a bug rather than the design flaw I accused of it being, ArenaNet having been in touch with the following statement, and promise that they're working their hindquarters off to improve the situation.
]]>Edit - the grouping issue has been officially explained as a bug rather than design.
One thing: my three days (and counting) in Guild Wars 2 were comfortably the most gripped I've been by a new MMO since those heady, early days in World Warcraft.
Another thing: it's got the most serious design flaw I believe I've ever seen in any MMO.
]]>Have you pre-ordered Guild Wars 2? It seems there are an awful lot of you that have. If you're amongst that number, then you can join in with a server stress test at 8pm tonight, lasting until midnight. A STRESS TEST, OKAY? GOD!
]]>Guild Wars 2 is quite well-liked in our fabulously attractive (have you seen our brand new sexy, sexy hotbar?) corner of the Internet. Richard alone has written 427 trillion words on the subject of ArenaNet's fantastic-looking fantasy sequel, and he'll soon be embarking on a hot air balloon journey to see how many times they can wrap around the surface of the Earth. So when I went to a recent Guild Wars 2 showcase in my neck of the woods, I wasn't too terribly surprised when I got an eye-full of content we'd already covered. So I did what any sensible person would in my situation: grilled game designer Mike Zadorojny about jumping puzzles in a swords 'n' sorcery MMORPG.
]]>This weekend sees the final Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend, with the big addition of its two remaining races - the ingenious gnome-like Asura, and the flowery Sylvari. You'll be able to play as either... or indeed both, if you like... but what can you expect from the trip? ArenaNet gave me early access to the Sylvari starting area to check out Levels 1-15 in detail.
Will there be awful botanical puns? I suspect we may be facing arborgeddon.
]]>So, Guild Wars 2 is out on August 28th and that's about all there is to say about that, except possibly 'finally' and 'hurrah'. I could try to construct a tortured metaphor about bowler hats, butlers and afternoon tea but you'd probably rather just see official confirmation in the form of a video which uses a series of increasingly rapid cuts to build excitement. Good thing I have one of those somewhere around here.
]]>While most of the attention on Guild Wars 2 has been on its main world, where quests and stories await your heroism, there's a whole second way to play - the eternal PvP war that is World vs. World vs. World, where both players and monsters are ready to get in your face. But can you really climb the levels in it? For this beta weekend, I decided to give it a shot...
]]>There's to be another beta weekend for Guild Wars 2, the MMO that resolutely refuses to launch. Which means, once again, I won't be able to play the thing due to weekend plans. Specifically in this case, camping in Sherwood Forest and listening to indie bands. Can't we have a beta weekday evening or two instead, please?
If you are around for the 8th to 10th of June, you should be able to hop onto a GW2 beta server presuming you've either pre-ordered or already managed to snag a beta account from somewhere. The good news of previous beta-barons is that characters from the first weekend haven't been wiped, so this might be your chance to have a nose at some of the higher-level contentydoodledoo.
]]>Did you pre-purchase Guild Wars 2 in frothy mouthed anticipation of a pre-release weekend getaway in Tyria while pre-heating an oven and pre-procuring a preponderance of preserves because you must get a head start on all aspects of life? Well then, good news: your foresight's paid off in the form of an upcoming beta weekend event, which will run from April 27 to 29. There'll be more in the future as well, but they'll be announced at a later date. Unfortunately, good old-fashioned sign-ups are now closed, so it's pre-order or bust. But hey, at least you can still read about the beta, thanks to the wonderful Richard Cobbett. And really, who cares about actually playing a game when you can live the experience vicariously with phrases like "pooping defiance"?
]]>You've already read Richard's experiences with the recent Guild Wars 2 beta. There's much more to say about it though, so here are ten specific things that caught his eye while playing - some big, some small, but all slightly different from the MMO norm.
]]>Guild Wars 2 isn't just the next big MMO on the horizon. It's the one everyone seems to be pinning their hopes on to reinvent the genre and finally kick World of Warcraft off its high perch. But is it really the RPG you're looking for? We sent Richard to Tyria to find out.
]]>Sometime in the last five or so years, the notion that a game is something you keep on paying for after you've bought it took hold. We'd understood expansions and subscriptions for years, but this was something different. It wasn't about a drip feed of more stuff, or a wholesale extension to the original game, it was about paying for optional bits and pieces that came later. I no longer hear about an online game and wonder whether microtransactions are going to be introduced, but I do want to know how they'll be implemented. That's the bit that hasn't really become standardised, and each game that arrives seems to have its own take. Guild Wars already had a bit of a shonky payment model, but it was bolted on after the fact. Guild Wars 2, however, will have additional paid-for elements from the moment you start playing the game.
That's not to say that it's easy to understand, either. Guild Wars 2 will have three currencies: gold, gems and karma. Let's take a look at what that means.
]]>After looking at the cost of Guild Wars 2 and feeling a muscle in my eyeball involuntarily spasm, I started considering my spending habits. I'm currently splitting my money in three ways: indie games, Steam, and funding in Kickstarter. I don't have any MMO subs, as I'm mainly action focused, and obviously my Steam account is already crammed with games. But none of this made me twitch. Instead it's because as PC gamer I've never had to spend much on games, and in this odd, new free-to-pay future, in my eyes the cost of games feels like it's getting cheaper. At least that's what I thought. The one consistent expenditure I have is when I want to buy something in Team Fortress 2's store, which saves every transaction. Going over my purchases I realise it's not cheaper at all, and, in comparison, £50 on Guild Wars isn't that bad.
]]>Like everyone else, I'm eager to set foot into Guild Wars 2 as early as possible. I wastched from the outside as people enjoyed the first closed beta weekend and I'm determined to not be left out again. Now I can't tell if this is manipulative or extremely nice, but ArenaNet have announced that those who pre-order the game from April 10th will be given access to the game's weekend beta events, as well as a three-day head start when the game eventually launches. That exact date is still under wraps. What's not still a secret is what you get when you pre-purchase, and now I have an expensive decision to make.
EDIT: there's a difference between pre-purchasing and pre-ordering. Pre-orders, ie: putting money down, will only get you one-day headstart. To get the three days and beta access you need to buy it outright.
]]>Just a quick reminder, since you probably want to get on there as much as we will be on there. Does that make sense? No. But anyway: sign up for peace of mind, and also access to an MMO before it is finished. The link.
]]>Want you access to the Guild Wars 2 beta? Well, from this very minute and for the next 48 hours you can sign up. It doesn't seem that it will guarantee you a spot, but you'll certainly be on the list for future beta events. You need only head here, put in your details, drip one drop of blood from your palm into the gauze pad by your keyboard, and you're done. I'd suggest doing it right now, but you've got until 6pm (Queen's Time) on Friday before the offer is up.
]]>If, like me, you were left out of this weekend's Guild Wars 2 beta then you'll know the tang of anger and the boiling of bile that welled up inside, directed at those that did. Felt good, didn't it? Don't lie: that directed spew of internal grrrrr made you feel all war-like, yeah? Me too, which is why I'm starting a guild of non-Guild War 2 players. Our mission: to not be playing Guild Wars 2 while others are enjoying it and videoing their fun. We shall, instead, watch them with twitching eyeballs, consuming all the video we can and learning about their ways, ready to exploit any weaknesses we witness. Join me, for I will be your leader and guide you through the land of Guild War 2 beta videos, unless I'm invited to play, in which case I never knew you and I was never here.
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