Category: Guild Wars 2

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[GW2] Reigning Expectations

“Do not seek perfection in a changing world.” –Buddha

Guild Wars 2 is coming. I think it will be a great game. I also know that it is not just a game; it is a service. Like a good MMO service the actual game part will be a living, growing document. Events found unworkable or unfun might get cut or replaced. Mechanics might get tweaked or wholly reworked. Zones might get added or changed. The only sure thing is impermanence.

Hunter’s Insight already wrote about the so-called imperfections found in Guild Wars 2. A big one is the lack of free guesting between worlds. It will come “in time”, but it is a disappointment that the uninhibited feeling found in the original Guild Wars will be tampered a bit by servers. He also mentions mini-games and a bit more, and I want to add a “spectator mode” to the list. Again, it’s hard to regress. Continue reading [GW2] Reigning Expectations

[GW] A Farewell Tour

Here I am waiting with supplies and IV for the launch of Guild Wars 2, and the Guild Wars Live Team comes out of nowhere with an amazing new festival for the original Guild Wars. The Wayfarer’s Reverie only lasts until August 30th, by which time Guild Wars 2 will have been launched. There are four quests associated with the event that send players back through key locations throughout the campaigns and expansion.

This was an excellent time for this event the weekend before Guild Wars 2 launch because the event is so geared towards a comforting goodbye. The quests are darn simple. Just follow the green glob commanding players to head to out of the way, but notable locations. Players that have been around for a few years will return to places they might not have touched for a long time.

I’ve been doing my own reflections along the way. I remember when I wanted to explore the Flame Temple Corridor long before the advent of heroes. The mass of level 8 charr were overbearing. I just wanted to retrieve some dead girl’s ashes. There are plenty of other memories both of frustration and joy. I am finding that I am enjoying remembering all of them for a big grand goodbye. Continue reading [GW] A Farewell Tour

MMO Baby Fat

Keen has a post up asking whether Guild Wars 2 will surpass his “3-month” rule-of-thumb. He uses it as a metric for MMO success. How much of the launch population stays around after three months? If “most” have left, then Keen chalks it up to a bad-egg MMO. Rift, Warhammer Online, and the like seem to fall under his rule. The problem with his rule is whether it is even a valid measurement. Has any recent MMO passed 3 months under Keen’s rule-of-thumb?

The rule appears based on the mass egress of players at around 90 days. The first month, like a good drug, is free for subscription-based games. The second month begins the actual monthly tithe, which is darn near automatic in the minds of many players. It’s the moment where I would guess players on the fence decide to throw just a little more money at it since it’s just a fraction of the money already spent. It’s at the third month that I think issues, boredom, or grass-is-greener syndromes overcome the value of continuing to play. Players are implicitly asked the question of whether it is worth staying. Continue reading MMO Baby Fat

[GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 3

Fanfic Warning: This is last of three vignettes I wrote about my main character in the original Guild Wars. Here is part one and part two.

“I, Alana, sworn to Dwayna, do hereby attest that this is a good and true account of Ephan Oroborz, brother to the people of Kryta. Father. Husband. And, loved by our village. His body now returned to the land. His soul to the Mists.”

Ephan stood at the edge of his small farm looking out at the marsh. The boundaries of his farm were really not an issue since everybody else in the nearby village thought the man was a fool for staking a claim in the Black Curtain. The Black Curtain was a place where the fog was said to be able to coalesce in to horrible creatures and maddened souls crackled with wispy, blue energy that would electrocute any person brave or dumb enough to enter the swamp. Ephan wondered why the villagers always dismissed the majestic Temple of Ages when talking about the Black Curtain. Some of the power of the five gods still remained at the holy place. Young brother Theophilus seemed to traverse the wetlands easily enough when the small encampment at the Temple needed more supplies. Continue reading [GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 3

[GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 2

Fanfic Warning: This is one of three vignettes I wrote about my main character in the original Guild Wars. Part one can be found here. Part three will drop later this week.

Ravious Pretagata sat on the steps leading to the scrying pool centered in the great Hall of Monuments. It was the only warm place left in the massive Eye of the North. He was alone except for the rainbow phoenix that had chosen to reside in the Hall. Ravious had forgot when the great bird had entered, but he had chosen to leave it alone in any case. The lively plumage of the bird subtly contrasted the Hall’s testament to the dead. Continue reading [GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 2

[GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 1

Fanfic Warning: This is one of three vignettes I wrote about my main character in the original Guild Wars. Part two and part three will drop later this week.

The family stood on the edge of the misty Krytan swamp. The eldest son pushed the small wooden boat further in to the murky waters. The boat would carry the body of his father deep into the swamp. The widow held her young daughter at her side a few steps away. They watched as the man they called husband and father was slowly carried away to the darkness. The white of the shroud that wrapped the dead man’s body was the last thing they could see as their torch light strained to remain in contact with the boat. The frogs and crickets seemed to give the man a moment of silence as the swamp’s black swallowed the boat.

Once the funeral ceremony was complete, the son turned towards his mother now as the man of the family. A silent glance upward marked the torch-bearing Priestess of Dwayna awaiting at the top of the hill. The Priest of Grenth had not waited to see the end of the funeral rite. His duties of caring for the dead man had finished when the shroud covered the last of pale flesh and the body was placed on the boat. The Priestess of Dwayna’s duties were far from over as she would have to make sure the family could survive with the gaping hole of a lost father. A lost husband. Continue reading [GW2] Echoes of the Past, Part 1

[GW2] Gathering Gold

There’s a huge laundry list of tips over at Hunter’s Insight. I think it’s too much for a new player to digest, but it is a great list for players that have spent a good deal of time in beta already. There might be a few tricks that have been overlooked. I know for me auto-looting is going on as soon as possible at launch.

There’s one tip that is rightly at the beginning of the crafting section that I believe is critical to an MMO-efficient new player, such as the well-regarded readers of Kill Ten Rats. It reads to pick up tools as soon as possible, and here’s the critical part, because even if you’re not a crafter this is a good way to make money by putting them on the trading post. Continue reading [GW2] Gathering Gold

[GW2] Memories of Guild Wars 2 Development

It’s a weird thing to love a game because of ownership. I love the ideas and rules man has placed with regard to property, especially intellectual property. Property of the mind. Guild Wars was the first MMO that made me feel like I owned the game. Amidst subscription services and embryonic free-to-play games, Guild Wars made me feel like a customer empowered. Memories of Guild Wars 2’s development have amplified that feeling of ownership to an unexpected level for the upcoming game. Continue reading [GW2] Memories of Guild Wars 2 Development

[GW2] Unshiny Armor

There is a clever attrition mechanic in Guild Wars 2 with armor repair. Sure the developers get points for replacing death penalty and energy with something that basically gives players a few tries before getting penalized. It’s really clever because it’s so maddening.

A good, sane player will never repair armor until it becomes broken, where it no longer provides an armor value. Sure players will die every now and then, but apart from dungeons, actual death should occur less than a few times per level. This all depends on player bravado and sought efficiency of play, but in the beta weekends, I seemed to be replacing armor enough that damaged armor was never an issue. In other words, money is wasted on repairing armor, especially if it’s just going to be mulched to a salvage kit anyway.

The reason that devilish designer is so gosh darn clever is there is an icon that makes sure to let me know that my armor has a dent in it. It’s a small thing for sure, but so is my three-year old, who can give me headaches like you wouldn’t believe. The nasty icon just sits there glaring at me making sure I know how unclean I am walking around like a family minivan with a finger-painted “Wash Me” etched in to the dirty glass. It only thinks it pretends to sit there unjudging with no condemnation for trying to avoid gold-sink tricks.

So, I do my duty and head to the armor repair NPC. It’s nice enough that he lets me know I am doing the right thing, like how the auto mechanic makes me feel good for changing a $300 fluid that is still marginally okay. And, I feel stupider for it.

–Ravious