Guild Wars 2

[Omnis]

Anyone else keeping up with the news? Looks like ANet is really picking it up with this game now. They just started to release a series of articles on the new game elements like races and professions, etc. Yesterday they released the GW2 Design Manifesto which introduces the new direction of gameplay and content. That can be read here.

Sounds like it's actually going to be an MMO this time around. Still no monthly fee, and combat sounds like it's going to be a lot more action-oriented. Making builds in GW was fun, but actually using them was kind of like following a recipe over and over again. It sounds like they're trying to make user control play a much bigger part. In any case, the fact that it's still going to be free is great and makes me excited for what they have in store. Articles regarding the new combat system will be released every day. Here's part one.

They just released details on the new elementalist class, and I think it's because their skills best demonstrate the visual emphasis they're putting on combat. The same skills from GW look so much more different now in GW2. And they look freakin' awesome too. Check out the videos of a few skills here near the bottom of the page.

 

[Picc.Dc4]

I hope theres a few months between now and when this comes out, as I just started playing the originall again haha. This looks very promising though!

 

[Omnis]

Beta weekend is on now. I gotta say, this is some strange gameplay going on here. Unlocking skills is very un-GW. And you actually have to move around and get up in enemies' faces to engage them. Like, if you have a sword attack, you press the attack and it doesn't make your dude go engage an enemy, he just swings the sword around. LOL.

Very interesting gameplay here. Cutscenes are also BRUTAL on the GPU. Got my 480GTX's fan going 100%.

 

[Omnis]

Just finished today's server stress test. Those servers were under some stress man. Hope they do another one soon because I had a blast.

I played a Norn ranger this time and it was great fun. The Norn PvE is a lot better than the Human start anyway.

 

[Bigbazz]

This game is being released soon.

Saturday 25th for pre-purchase owners
Monday 27th for pre-orders.
Tuesday 28th for the official game release.


I haven't played any of the beta events or followed much of the hype of the game but I will be playing it, I wish I had more to say on the matter, fact is all I know is that it has been fairly well praised from testing and is a non-subscription MMORPG, should be good!


Interestingly, tuesday is also the day that Blizzard release their 5.0 Patch for World of Warcraft, the pre-patch to their new expansion Mists of Pandaria, adding a load of changes to the game before the expansion launch, on top of that I think it is the release of the Diablo 3 1.04 patch, also adding a tonne of changes and additional features/content etc.

 

[Bigbazz]

Played this game this evening, they had a "stress test" period of 6 hours where you could try out the game. Personally I thought it was really good, really nice graphics and artistic style.

I'l say one thing... The game is absolutely massive and the sheer size of it can be a bit intimidating, not having a clue where you are, what you're doing, what is going on and what to do next. With that said, you can explore and if you use the map it generally points you in the right direction.

Really impressed though, for this type of RPG game it really is quite enjoyable and even with a lot of players around in the area and participating in the mass events it was still working smoothly without server slowdown or fps drops like you might see in other games of this type.

Safe to say I pre-purchased this game based on faith and I'm not disapointed, in a similar way to Skyrim (but multiplayer) I think I am going to waste a lot of time playing this game.

 

[Omnis]

Just want to bump this to let everyone know I'm on Yak's Bend server. Maybe that can be the GTP home server lol. I can't really play a lot though because I have genetics, microbiology, and med school anatomy and physiology this semester.

 

[Raitziger]

So many good new games. I try resist buying new before next intel cpus come.(in about 6 months)

 

[Bigbazz]

I played this for a few hours this evening, playing on the Gandara (EU) server, find it to be awesome, the graphics and art style really is quite something, combat is great fun, good storylines and lots of mass events with lots of people.

This really is a great game for the RPG fan to get immersed in, a massive world almost like Skyrim, but different.

 

[Omnis]

GW lore is a lot better than Skyrim. Some of the acting still leaves something to be desired, however. But there are a couple characters that are done fantastically well.

 

[Bigbazz]

Played this a bit over the last week and managed to get my Norn Warrior to lvl31, have to say I am enjoying the game, though there have been some annoying bugs/issues/lag at time with the pvp, otherwise my gameplay experience has been flawless


The Lions Arch city in the game is just breathtaking, so beautifully designed. I can just run around and swim around the islands for ages and not get bored just being blow away by the artwork and great graphics on display. This is a beautiful game and while it can get repetitive at times, it is also a fun and addicting game with a lot of depth.

I like it a lot.

Some screens I took, it looks better in motion!

 

[aBrick]

That looks epic.

Have been a huge fan of the first guildwars, but I'll need to invest in a decent desktop before I can play guildwars2 (my laptop just wont cut it 👎 ).

 

[Omnis]

Shouldn't be that bad. It was designed to be played by as many systems as possible. Still dx9, etc.

 

[aBrick]

Shouldn't be that bad. It was designed to be played by as many systems as possible. Still dx9, etc.

Yeah, I'm going get a decent desktop anyway so I will wait until I have one. It's the lack of a graphics card which is why my laptop is no use.

 

[Richardrfo]

Finally started this on Tuesday, began on an EU server but switched to Sorrow's Furnace US server last night to play with my GW1 guild, many of whom I've not spoken to in a few years so it's nice to get everyone back together, it instantly made the game more enjoyable as playing alone/with random others gets a bit dull for me, plus the Guild chat always brings a nice social aspect to it.

Enjoying the game play so far, currently a level 25 Human Warrior. The skill system lacks the variety of GW1 but I can look past that, I rarely changed skill sets unless it was set for a specific purpose anyway. I'm enjoying the open event system a lot, being able to join in the battle as you're passing is great, plus open servers encourage random acts of kindness from you and those passing, from lending a hand killing an enemy or two, to reviving you and continuing on.

Only personal issue so far is graphics, they're definitely demanding so I'll be investing in an upgrade sometime soon. That and the lack of customisability in both the UI layout and key assignment, I'm still used to pressing C to select the closest target then using the space bar to attack.

 

[Wolfe]

Anyone here playing this game? If you've kind of dropped off, there's a lot of stuff going on these days, and more in the works:

We’re Excited to Announce: Releases Every Two Weeks!

To make the world of Tyria feel alive, first and foremost it needs to frequently update and change. We’re excited to announce we have adopted a two-week major release cadence going forward for Guild Wars 2.

Our goal is to make Guild Wars 2 the most frequently updated and best supported game experience you can find, and to that end, every two weeks there will be a release with brand new playable content and a mix of supporting features and updates across the entire game. As you read these words, a release is seven days or less away or has just happened within the last seven days— those are now the only two states you’ll find the world of Tyria.

Everything is fair game as we progress and expand the range of stories, events, and experiences in the living world of Guild Wars 2. We’ll refine and update existing content and locations, we’ll overhaul our explorable dungeons to make them more exciting, update our reward systems, add new fractals, create new activities, and turn our world’s giant bosses into even more epic encounters. We’ll introduce holiday festivals and other events that will appear on a yearly basis, but with updates and changes each year. We’ll create events that change the landscape of the world forever, leaving behind epic monuments, destruction, new playable content, and fantastic memories in their wake. We’ll introduce new maps and regions permanently to the world, but with a storyline that drives their creation and discovery to make them feel natural and seamless rather than suddenly tacked on.

Though there will be a broader narrative that carries across many of the releases, players will find the themes and story of each release will be relatively self-contained. Players who miss a release or new players who arrive won’t feel lost in the story and can just dive right in and join in the fun.

We’ve got other plans to take this concept of a living world even further simmering on our proverbial back burners, but that’s something we’ll save for a blog post someday in the future after we’ve accomplished the goals we’ve set so far.