Guild Wars 2

Collection of articles and videos from the press beta event:

http://kotaku.com/5886430/ten-things-i- ... ta-weekend

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/20/gu ... t-mode-pvp

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/20/gu ... the-mesmer

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/20/gu ... -world-pvp

http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/02/20/ch ... ild-wars-2

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/gw2 ... 27964.html

http://www.gamebreaker.tv/mmorpg/gets-it-right/

http://kotaku.com/5886430/ten-things-i- ... ta-weekend

http://www.destructoid.com/guild-wars-2 ... 2175.phtml

( use this script to make the following links more bearable : http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/83584 )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SMYW3tvYeE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7crErSlSmak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQCi7c0DuY

https://twitter.com/#!/GuildWars2/statu ... 3711837185

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We have a surprise for you tomorrow, keep an eye on our social networks and website! Tell your friends to follow us as well! ~MK2:02 - 22 feb 12

Here hoping for info on beta!

Beta Signup is live!

https://beta.guildwars2.com/

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/p ... -March.htm

https://twitter.com/#!/GuildWars2/statu ... 1702113281

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Guild Wars 2’s next closed beta test is scheduled for late-March and will provide players with an opportunity to experience its deep RPG game elements, epic World v.. World battles and inviting social gameplay while helping the team load test the servers.

Late March? http://nooooooooooooooo.com/

https://buy.guildwars2.com/

Pre-purchase page is now up, becoming available on April 10 ... which obviously is NOT the release date but there is system requirements, and info on the different editions.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/sho ... count=1413

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When do Beta Weekend Events (BWEs) start, and how many will there be?The first BWE is currently planned for late April, and we expect to have one every month or so. The schedule is subject to change and will be confirmed at a later date. Currently, we do not know how many of these events we will have.

That means it'll be released in a distant future ... at least we'll have Diablo III to play in the meantime (assuming it will be released this millenia).

Ok, prepurchases are available since a week ago, and the first beta weekend for everyone who prepurchased, or got a key from PAX, is next weekend, on April 27th to 29th. The beta will not be under any NDA, so expect A LOT of screenshots and gameplay videos ... and livestreams.

Collectors Edition, fuck yeah!

Ok, the first GW2 beta weekend begins in 4 hours, and to anyone else who is wondering to where to begin, here is a compiled list of what community that goes to which server, so you know what server to pick .. or avoid : http://titanpad.com/ep/pad/view/4SyT2aGiZB/latest

And once it begins, I'll be streaming it (among thousands of others) on my website, or use the direct link to own3d if you prefer.

The only way to secure a garaunteed access to the beta weekend and any future ones, you have to prepurchase the game.

I don't know where to begin ... but I can say this: I have never had so much fun in an MMO before. I bought the collectors edition and I don't regret it at all, I'm getting my moneys worth.

[Blocked Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3688889/pestcontrol.jpg]

I played Engineer up to level 32, and it fit me like a glove. My favorite setup was using dual pistols (as seen in the pic above), which has a focus on condition (debuff) damage. The auto-attack (you can set ANY ability on autocast by ctrl+rightclicking it, but you can only have one of course) stacks bleeds by default, the 2nd attack does poison, 3rd confuses and blinds enemies (hits up to 3 enemies as it bounces around, confusion causes enemies to take damage when using abilities, and blind causes the next attack to miss), 4th causes burning damage, and the 5th is AoE snare. For kits and utilities, I used mostly Flamethrower and whatever was good to have for the moment. The Flamethrower is glorious when lots of enemies are in a bunch. Bring the barbeque sause! Plus it has abilities that either push back enemies and suck them in towards you. Hudda hudda hudda!

The combat is way different than your standard stand-still-and-swing MMO. Me, plus everyone else, were constantly on the move, doubletapping WASD keys to dodge out of incoming damage, reviving any players that have fallen (you see icons on the map where people are down or dead, and can be revived ... ANYONE can revive, and it's rewarding!), applying boons (buffs) when needed, etc.

And then we have the glorious Dynamic Event system. It works just as advertised, events popping up as you run around in the world, no need to bunch up around a quest-giver. I had the pleasure to take part in two massive events, involving a giant Shadow Behemoth, and a Norn Shaman boss spawning tornados and ice everywhere. It is intense when 50+ players participate. As for the rest, there's a lot of variety, and many events also start by coincidence, i.e. you talk to an NPC saying something, or you gather some items in an area that seem to not do anything. All of a sudden, the serenity of the world is interupted by a faction invasion ...

In Guild Wars 1, you can not jump. But in GW2 you can, hurr durr. But instead of just pleasing the crowd, the game features a lot of jumping puzzles! You have control of your character midair so you can do precise jumps, and I stumbled upon several skillpoint challenges around the world that required me to do precise jumps to get to it. You do the skillpoint challenges for an additional point to spend on skills, and you need to do them all if you want to aquire just about everything on your character at max level.

ArenaNet have focused a lot on the social aspects of this game. Everything in Guild Wars 2 is operated at backend. You can add players on the friendslist from ANY server, ANY region. You can then whisper them, invite them to your party, or even invite them to your guild, from ANYWHERE in the world! Once the guesting feature is implemented (before release obviously, but I want to try it in the beta), you are going to be able to play together with your friends no matter what server or region they are in! Oh, and you can be in as many guilds as you like, and you switch guilds with the push of a button, called "Represent", so you can have a guild for friends while representing a large PvP guild.

For the economy aka "Commerce", the "auction house" is called Trading Post in this, and it is entirelly global. You put up an item for sale and anyone in the world can then buy it! You can also access this anywhere, and buy items which you pick up at the Trading Post later. The game has an entire market system in place, allowing you to see something that almost looks like the stockmarket, showing how much things are worth and the price trend. It's mindboggling how much effort has been put into this.