Category: Guild Wars 2

I ran the new path in the Twlight Arbor dungeon last night successfully with more or less a pick-up-group. I say more or less because Mrs. Ravious and a friend who plays Guild Wars 2 casually came along with two completely random strangers. Mrs. Ravious does not spend much time at all in dungeons, and my friend who has some dungeon experience exclaimed that this was possibly the hardest dungeon experience he’s ever had. Our winning combination was a necromancer (me), a ranger, an engineer, a guardian, and a thief.

The Coordinated 80

The first thing to note about the Aetherpath is that it is level 80 content. Twilight Arbor is a level 50 story dungeon with two other explorable paths at level 55. The Aetherpath is much more difficult at least in part because it does require a decently geared level 80. I am not talking ascended, but players that intend to hit the Aetherpath should have a “build” complete with prefixes, runes, and jewels.

The other piece of the difficulty is in coordination. Almost every bit of the dungeon requires some coordination especially with the boss fights. It is not enough that players understand the mechanics because there are still roles involved. It is doable with a random group, but that group has to be prepared to face content requiring a specific plan of attack. Somehow my group gelled last night, but I am honestly not sure how. Continue reading [GW2] The Aetherpath

The limited preview a few fansites and press had last week for Guild Wars 2 was run by Leif Chappelle. He was part of the team that designed the new path to Twilight Arbor, but the team had already cut its teeth on the Aetherblade Retreat dungeon. Chappelle’s dungeon design experience stemmed from the Molten Alliance dungeon. This was a pretty good start to creating a team that would make the level 80 dungeon path for Twilight Arbor.

For some fans the decision to make another path would come at too great a cost because the new path replaced the much reviled forward/up path. Of course now to some the lovingly named TAFU (Twilight Arbor Forward Up) was the best dungeon path in the game. Chappelle already addresses these concerns with diplomatic aplomb on the official forums; although he acknowledges that some fans will not be happy regardless. Continue reading [GW2] Twilight Assault Preview Thoughts

I am pretty excited about tomorrow’s update bringing a new path to the Twilight Arbor dungeon. Once Leif Chappelle broke radio silence on the official forums I knew that this update would be top notch.  Chappelle worked on the really fun Molten Facility dungeon and he joined forces with the krewe of Aetherblade Retreat, which was also really well done. These folks, in my opinion, understand what should be a dungeon in Guild Wars 2.

However, this is a level 80 dungeon. I noticed between school starting and a vacation right after school started (I believe corpocratic discussions amidst Disney-beings is more worthwhile for my daughters’ futures than grammar and recess)… where was I, yes… I had stopped writing the New Players Guides. Believe you me, this was not a conscious decision. Thankfully some part of my gray matter had seen the pattern before I did. ArenaNet has been mixing their drinks lately for end game players. Continue reading [GW2] Tequila, Twilight Bitters, and an 8-bit Garnish

Jeromai comments on the lessening population concerned with Tequatl’s incursion on some south beach. Basically the Living World event focus is starting to blur. It’s to be expected since ArenaNet seems publicly aware that during the second week of something new player activity starts to diminish.

On the other hand, I am enjoying beating that rotten face every night around server reset. It all depends on community and personal focus. The people are there; it’s just a matter of finding them. Continue reading [GW2] Tea Time with Tequatl – Dragon Hour Two

I was in Disney World when Tequatl hit.  It was interesting to see the race for world first from an out-of-game, and by the time I returned on Friday the meta had mostly solidified around the updated world boss fight. Across the weekend I felt I had a pretty good look at the event and the community surrounding it.

Stacking The Main Event

Tequatl of old required little thought. There was no danger of being near the dragon. In fact with the additional enemies roaming the exterior marshes it was more dangerous away from the dragon. There was a laser few people cared about, and I guess some turrets or something. Outside of a few fears there was not much to do besides press #1 and watch the nightly news before a rare popped out of Tequatl’s right arm. Some things have changed, and some remain the same. Continue reading [GW2] The Ebb and Flow of Tequatl

Guild chat does not work for some people. I am one of them. Sparkfly Fen, the center of the new content, is on perpetual overflow.

I cannot play the new content with my friends or even talk to them, but other than that and the bugs, it is going well so far. Reasonable expectations: in a few patches, the game will be back to where it was last week, and by the time I am on vacation, the new content will be playable.

: Zubon

I beat Super Adventure Box, World 1 in Tribulation Mode. Where to even begin?

It’s not overly hard. Yes, there were spots where it took quite some time to get that right line and jumping precision. There were plenty of places I found “unfair”, such as Zone 1’s rock path right after checkpoint 2. Jeromai muses more on the the concept of “hard” in Tribulation Mode, and I think he comes to the right conclusion. It’s more about time than difficulty.

How quickly can a player find that right path? Going back to the rock path for the first few rocks I noticed that the rock’s response time seemed dependent on where I landed and what angle I came in on the platform. The less of the platform under my feet and the more precarious the angle seemed to make the rock unsure whether to ground pound with the resulting invisible shockwave of death. The later rocks were more easily foiled with a dodge aimed directly at the rock. I figured out that part of the puzzle, and all of the sudden unfairness was not an issue since I saw that narrow lane where it was very fair (and beatable). Continue reading [GW2] Tribulation Get!

Zubon quite correctly pointed out in discussing some of Guild Wars 2 endgame progression that structured PvP remains insulated. It’s a small nod or jab at what I feel is a rather large problem. Guild Wars 2 is two separate games.

The first game is the one I mostly write about. It is the one most Guild Wars 2 bloggers seem to be playing. Except for gear-based arena-like PvP and player dueling, it is mostly a complete MMO. It has PvE, dungeons, and server-based PvP (WvW). This first game is what gets media attention, player attention, and probably generates the most income for ArenaNet. A PAX Prime interview by Massively has one anonymous ArenaNet dev stating with regard to that second game that ‘most people who play Guild Wars 2 only play PvE’.

The second game is structured PvP where when entered all that hard work done in the first game vanishes. All skills and equipments are unlocked. Builds can be changed without any gold cost. And players fight in about a fair manner as can be expected in an MMO. The second game has its own currency (Glory) uncaring about any of the dozen currencies in the first game (and vice versa). Continue reading [GW2] The Insulated Second Game

Last year, Guild Wars 2 was perceived as experiencing three-monther doldrums and had calls for increasing character advancement options. Lost Shores included the first Ascended items and Fractals of the Mists, a dungeon where rewards increased at deeper levels and an “agony” mechanic demanded item-based progression. Developers promised more character advancement, a higher level cap, and more tiers of loot. I flipped out and stormed off. I read that as the death of the horizontal endgame I signed up for. Respect for Ravious’s ongoing enjoyment was the main thing that kept me from posting daily screeds.

Fast forward six or eight months, and I became willing to give trust another chance. Now about half the slots have Ascended items, with many options and several ways to get them. The level cap has not increased. The endgame is still mostly horizontal, with expanded Achiever content through achievements, appropriately enough. I do not feel obliged to delve thirty layers into Fractals to have a worthwhile character in PvE or WvW. sPvP remains insulated.

I am still expecting more character advancement. Long before the latest update, a guildmate described anticipated crafting changes as a precursor to Ascended armor; we happened to get weapons first. I still think Ascended gear is a design mistake, but since the tier is here, sure, complete it. The slow pace implies that we will not be seeing a new tier several times a year, which is comforting. Several proposed changes are expanding character options, not creating a new layer of them. Again, comforting — “more options” is what I signed up for.

I do not know if I overreacted or if ArenaNet changed plans. I certainly heard “more progression” and “we never promised a horizontal endgame.” I saw the worst advancement schemes from WoW (item-based progression), LotRO (gloom), and DAoC (Trials of Atlantis) being planned all at once. If that change is coming at this pace, I can deal with it; that could actually feel like “progression” rather than “churn.”

I may still flip out and storm off again if character advancement pressures accelerate. I am already concerned about how they are affecting alt-friendliness.

In the long run, trying to retain players through planned obsolescence is just prolonging a death spiral. The further the endgame is from the start, the less attractive your game is to new players, and every time you have a gear reset to bring the new endgame back closer, you upset your existing players who can see the treadmill more clearly.

: Zubon

Tribulation Mode in Super Adventure Box was made for specific niche of gamer. I personally love games and mechanics that require very specific action sequences. Super Meat Boy comes to mind as one of the last ones requiring intense and correct actions. Anyway, many gamers outside the niche just fail to see any fun in this type of gameplay; so I made a short video to provide, perhaps, a bit of explanation. Enjoy!

–Ravious