Kill Ten Rats

The middle zones always seem to be the red-headed step child of MMO content. Is it a function of population distribution extremes? Is it that in the case of Guild Wars 2 there are so many leveling paths to take? Is it that veteran players simply have no reason to be there except for friendship or exploration points?

This is the hardest puzzler. Nothing is wrong, per se, any more than… yes, clearly, as in all MMOs, the middle zones have lighter population distributions. The content in the middle zones, with a few noticeable patches, does seem pretty solid, especially with regard to renown content. It hasn’t felt like a chore to get through the zones on my way to 100% exploration. It still feels different, and I wonder how or if ArenaNet is going to draw more attention to these zones.

Continue reading [GW2] Fair to Middling (Double Down II)

The jumping puzzles immediately appeal to metagaming instincts, like when the puzzle game gives you a fixed number of pieces so you know your solution will incorporate all of them. Once you realize you have found a jumping puzzle (whether one with an achievement or one that just leads to a chest), you start looking for the next perch. You stop thinking about the terrain as a game rather than a world, and you put on your designer’s hat to think of how you would design the next step.

“Hmm, there is an achievement named “Urmaug’s Secret. There is an NPC named Urmaug in Lion’s Arch. Let’s give that area a second look. Aha! Now how do I get up there…”

People in games and stories like to design games and puzzles for the heroes, and they are usually fair ones that they can solve. If I am protecting myself and my stuff, I am not playing fair with whoever is trying to kill me. Also, I am probably not going to design a home with one path through it, in which I must pass through every room in the house to reach my bedroom.

: Zubon

ArenaNet’s first hints at the big Guild Wars 2 celebration have dropped out. I hope we get a few more blog posts or interviews next week, but there’s a decent amount of information in the teaser. Things I found most interesting:

Permanent Features

As if simply having a rockin’ tale of Halloween told in “four acts” isn’t enough, ArenaNet appears to be adding permanent features to the game during the Shadow of the Mad King event. PvP players will be happy to know that paid tournaments are going to be added, which gives PvP players a sort of ante-prize pool system to fight over. ArenaNet is also adding new content across a variety of maps in the form of “new events, jumping puzzles, bosses, mini-dungeons, and achievements”. Continue reading [GW2] Halloween!

I want guesting to work.

I am on one of the high population servers, always at “high” or “full” when I check. I want to visit friends on other servers, but I am worried about being able to get back in any reasonable time frame. A guildmate claimed to have needed more than a week to get back to Isle of Janthir. I presume you can get anywhere during off-hours, but it would be nice if the advertised feature existed.

You can switch servers freely 1/day, which is great if you have friends on only a few servers and never want to go back and forth in the same day. I understand the WvW abuses that led to needing the limitation, but it would be nice if the advertised feature existed. Guesting would not have the WvW issue, and you need not be limited per day.

: Zubon

(This is going to be one of at least three posts. I am splitting up a draft called Double Down into more digestible sections.)

With certainty, ArenaNet is working on more content and updates. Halloween is sure to have lots of holiday fun, but it isn’t clear what permanent offerings ArenaNet is considering. There are two clear routes to take: (1) create wholly new content such dungeons or zones, or (2) double down with the content already in place.

Now that people have had plenty of time to play Guild Wars 2, it is becoming very clear where there are holes in content and gaps in fun. Is it worthwhile to go back and patch these, or is it better to press ever onward? Continue reading [GW2] Uptown Views (Double Down I)

I think I’ve played Guild Wars 2 long enough to review it with pretty good depth. I don’t feel that is necessary. The blogosphere and real journalist reviews seem to resoundingly agree that for $60 and no subscription fee Guild Wars 2 is a great buy. People unused to Guild Wars 1 festivals are going to be in for a treat this Halloween, which only adds to the value. There are flaws, like any game. Some might be fixed (LFG), and some might not (FOV). Regardless, it is a great MMO. I plan on playing it for a long time.

I think there is a single point to take away from Guild Wars 2 that I hope worms its way in to all future MMOs. Okay, there are actually tons of good things, but for me, this is the one that matters most.

To be blunt and crude, I am going to call this point “F-yeah, let’s do this”. Continue reading [GW2] The Single Point

My favorite thing about Guild Wars 2 so far is the diversity of gameplay. This last weekend I was running all over the place. I feel the tugs and pulls of various reward mechanisms, and sometimes I wish some were a little stronger. Still, I have not felt like any of my activities were a waste of time. I’ve been pretty happy taking small bites all over the place.

Until 100%

My major focus has been getting 100% world exploration, which entails completing each PvE zone and heading in to WvW to fill out those maps. For my part, I have been stabbing eastward with the only zone uncomplete west of Lion’s Arch being Orr’s Cursed Shore. I admit I am kind of saving that last bit while I press onwards towards charr territory. I am currently at 75% with only a handful of zones left. Continue reading [GW2] Some Nights

My first GW2 level 80 is an elementalist, and my current trait build is based around Elemental Attunement. This embraces the dissociative identity disorder that is the elementalist class: this character does not take a role, instead cycling through them as fast as skills recharge. If the point of my class is trying to use 16 skills plus 4 different auto-attacks as efficiently as possible, darn it, I am going to cycle attunements madly. Continue reading [GW2] Fountain of Boons