Games Guild Wars 2

[Aada]

What time do the servers come up uk time? like 5pm or something?

 

[Poag]

8PM UK Time, 19:00 GMT

but i'd check infrequently between 7pm and 8pm as they do sometimes come up earlier.

 

[Athan]

Indeed in both prior BWEs and also in stress tests at least some people have been able to login early.

For anyone still having trouble with the start time:

http://www.timeanddate.com/countdow...ars+2+-+Beta+Weekend+Event+3+(20120720+to+22)

 

[Madmaxx]

oh yeah I was bit late on posting that really anyway but they seem to run out of keys super fast, all you can do is can an eye out on gw2 facebook/twitter afaik for next set if there were any.

 

[svartalf]

Beta screenshot contest: http://www.arena.net/blog/enter-the-guild-wars-2-moment-to-moment-screenshot-contest

 

[svartalf]

Interview.

Guild Wars 2 chat with game designer Mike Zadorojny
by Andrew Ross on Jul 20th 2012 3:00PMFantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Massively Interviews0


Earlier this week, ArenaNet's Mike Zadorojny was in Los Angeles conducting interviews for the upcoming Guild Wars 2 beta event. We sent local freelancer Andrew Ross to conduct the interview. This is largely a preview piece with opinions that may not reflect that of Massively as a whole.

Guild Wars 2's final beta weekend is here, and we had a chance to talk with game designer Mike Zadorojny about what we can expect for the upcoming weekend event and next month's launch. We got a sneak peek at the Asura and Sylvari starting experiences and asked a few questions about beta, release, player retention, and the future.

Whether you're a die-hard fan or still sitting on the fence, we've got some information that's sure to turn your head.

Beta

While many fans are excited about the Asura and Sylvari, I'm sure some folks are still wondering why it took so long for players to get their hands on these two races. Though part of the reason was for additional polish, the Asura and Sylvari are also locked up to ensure that the closed betas kept people playing in concentrated areas of the world (mainly the newbie zones) to help simulate a launch. By saving these two characters for last, previous betas helped stress testing for newbie areas, and this final beta gives you the opportunity to do the same thing to help ArenaNet prep for launch. Even if you don't think you'll play the two new races at release, the Asura and Sylvari starting experience is worth the effort.

First up are the Asura -- pint-sized little geniuses doing everything they can to take the world around them. New players get to choose things like their first invention, their teacher, and the college they belong to, and they can even participate in a bit of a science fair (make sure to listen for Felicia Day playing the role of one of your mentors). While you'll have some of the usual collection quests, don't pass by the game boards you may see around town. They're actually a turn-based minigame quest you can play against your friends (or if you're somehow alone, against the game), which is a nice touch for a newbie zone or... heck, any town in any game (Star Wars: The Old Republic, I'm still waiting for the same from you). Oh, and beware the giant golem. He'll be back later on.

Then we have the Sylvari, the plant dreamers who are, literally, just being born. I highly recommend that you make sure to check out your character without armor because while you may start out in a dream world, you will be born, and you will be barely clothed (don't worry; getting the real version of your dream clothes is the first thing you'll be doing). Aside from the fact that plant people still seem to have naughty bits that are covered soon after birth, the Sylvari do have some awesome color combinations available to them, in keeping with their starter zone. The dream world you start in is still pretty forest-like (and no, sorry, non-Sylvari won't have access to the dream at all), and there are still other areas to experience. Explorer types might find their way into a fiery cavern, complete with a fairly interesting jumping puzzle. Players will need to activate consoles so they can hop along floating blue discs that will take them to their destination.

"Think of these as simpler jumping puzzles. You'll see an icon floating somewhere high in the air, and it's your job to figure out how to get up there."

Among the new additions to this beta are vistas, which are now also required as part of achieving a map completion. Think of these as simpler jumping puzzles. You'll see an icon floating somewhere high in the air, and it's your job to figure out how to get up there. Doing so will give you XP and maybe some gold or other items but also a quick cutscene that will show you some of the neat areas around the vista. What's interesting is that these vistas aren't limited to just wilderness areas. Lion's Arch and other capital cities have these as well, and those who find themselves on a vertical wooden pole with a vista in Lion's Arch may want to try jumping into the mass below them. It's one of those secret places in the game, kind of like the "secret" underwater tunnels in WvWvW.

For those who haven't played GW2 or haven't gotten their feet wet (literally!), the game gives you different moves when you're in the water, partially because things like ground targeting aren't really effective while you're swimming. Underwater combat can be really cool, and there's a few quest areas under the sea, but as some WvWvW folks may know, you don't always get to fight in the water, and this is intentional with underwater combat as a whole. It's a nice option, but at the moment, the game designers don't want to force everyone into it. I still would like at least one underwater battleground!

Optional, unforced features are a theme throughout the game. Guild Wars 2 wants to give you an idea of different parts of the game without overwhelming you. For example, the game's basic story element may be cool for some people, but a PvPer can actually skip that and jump into PvP. You won't miss out on any special abilities as in SWTOR, but GW2 also doesn't have the explicit options for different outcomes, for the most part. Mike Z mentioned that certain personality types and the way players respond to some conversations may open up secret options in some situations, so if you're a story fan, pay attention to your options!

Explorer types seem to have received some love as well. Vistas and harder jumping puzzles are fun (Mike, PR man Emil Rodriguez, and my guide Alley spoke of an "arms race" among game designers to make the most difficult puzzle). Unlike the GW1 vial system, the dye system in GW2 required players to actually go out and discover new dyes. These shades are not a one-time-use sort of dye but are permanently unlocked. I was told that at release, there are 200+ various shades for players to find from drops. Whether they drop from specific creatures or have different chances of unlocking certain colors, I'm sure there are a few people besides yours truly trying to calm their inner-collector.

Release and the future

With the game just around the corner, I'm sure there are a few questions and concerns out there. For one, I know several people learned too late that simply trying to create a character on a server locks you into that server, and deleting your character won't fix that. This was very frustrating for my friends, guildmates, and allies during the first two beta weekends, but ArenaNet understands the situation.

First of all, players will be able to move servers at will for a while after release so that they can play with their friends. Since the game is launching with the ability to switch servers, it should come as no surprise that, in the event that ANet needs to open new servers, players will immediately be able to transfer servers (for free if you're coming from select crowded realms). People also have the option to "guest" on servers, allowing them to play with friends from other servers (unless you want to enter WvWvW with them, in which case, you will need to switch servers). That still doesn't fix the "Oops! I created on the wrong server and have to pay for a transfer" situation, so Mike said that ArenaNet will have a warning up after release so that new players will understand what might lock them into a server. However, people playing the beta test will notice that the warning has already been implemented!

"It needs to be said that GW2 will have server-specific forums. Those who have played other MMOs without them may have witnessed the frustration of trying to coordinate with servermates out-of-game."

On the topic of servers, it needs to be said that GW2 will have server-specific forums. Those who have played other MMOs without them may have witnessed the frustration of trying to coordinate with servermates out-of-game. I hate to mention another issue with SWTOR (especially since it's the only MMO I'm currently subscribed to), but the choice to leave out server forums didn't go over well for someone who likes to organize in-game events as I do. People were not visiting the forums at all because of this (and because of some of the trash talk that went on in the server groups), which really made things rough when my server, The Swiftsure, was merged with a less populated server. It's a small touch but something I think is needed, especially if our server's a whole team fighting other whole servers.

WvWvW will be a bit less stable at launch. While the plan is to move from 24-hour matches to two-week matches, ANet says that if a different amount of time feels better, that time could be lower. This is important because the end of a match will always shift servers around to keep things fun and competitive. If you're on a highly skilled server, expect to get paired with similar servers. If your server has a lot of casual folks, expect to get paired with less-hardcore servers. The system won't be perfect, but at least there's an effort to mix things up on a regular basis, rather than see stagnation after World X keeps winning and people on the opposing servers stop coming out to PvP.

This feature's important because it's one the ways Guild Wars 2 is trying to retain players. As Massively's own Elisabeth Cardy mentioned in her column, there's some discussion about GW2's endgame, or perceived lack of one. Yes, there's the typical "We have so much in game, there's something for everyone!" response, but Mr. Z had a few counters I wasn't expecting.

First: WvWvW rotations. It doesn't sound like a big deal to some people, but I'm the type who has been in guilds that have became the best on the server and in the guilds that simply couldn't compete. Community stagnation can really kill PvP, while mixing it up frequently can help breathe life into the game. RIFT players may have already experienced this with the game's World PvP situation, if you consider the boon of open transfers and the bust when transfers close. The main difference here is that it's not an influx of new players who may just be server-hopping but whole communities part of a shared server being tossed together.

Next comes seasonal events. They were popular in GW1, and they're returning in GW2. I'm a huge fan of seasonal events. Every time I came back to WoW, it was for a seasonal event (not for the achievements but to see the changes). Since GW2 doesn't have a monthly subscription fee, players who may have gotten a bit bored with the game can pop back in to check out seasonal events without having to pay the price of admission.

Finally, GW2 will have a live team that will try to roll out new content each month. Each month. While this mainly sounded like it was for the PvE events in the game world, it's still interesting to hear so soon after Funcom made similar proclamations about The Secret World. The big thing the team stressed was its goal to avoid a grind feeling and to ensure that each play-through the game feels different on every character. There's no subscription fee for GW2, so the developers don't need to add grinds. Instead, they want people coming back asking, "What's going on this month with the game?" It's what kept me subscribed to Asheron's Call 1 and AC2 for years.

Still not enough for you? Well, one thing the original Guild Wars was known for was its expansions. Yes, GW2 isn't out yet, and it's getting a live team that is going to try to roll out monthly updates, but ANet's not done. When I asked about plans for expansions, I was told that release is "just the beginning."

Massively's not big on scored reviews -- what use are those to ever-changing MMOs? That's why we bring you first impressions, previews, hands-on experiences, and even follow-up impressions for nearly every game we stumble across. First impressions count for a lot, but games evolve, so why shouldn't our opinions?




Tags: arenanet, beta, beta-test, beta-testing, featured, guild-wars-2, interview, interviews, mike-z, Mike-Zadorojny, preview, previews, testing

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[Athan]

People also have the option to "guest" on servers, allowing them to play with friends from other servers (unless you want to enter WvWvW with them, in which case, you will need to switch servers).

Hmmm, I'm not even seeing the 'Guest' button on World Selection any more, let alone it looking like Guesting is up and running and testable. I do worry it will have bugs come launch time if we don't get to test it this weekend.

 

[Madmaxx]

made an asura ranger which was fun but didnt want to go to far into it, so made a sylvari warrior.....I never played it before didnt know skills etc just went straight to pvp and queued for arena's.

2nd or 3rd game I had the best round ever I didnt die once and kept getting pop ups like the one below "Sorfe is rampaging/conquering"

and then got my highest score of 280, next round was 250 or so and got up to rank3


great just what I needed ! now I can play say an hour before work tomorow to decide what I want to play all over again !

 

[Mabs]

didnt get a chance to try it in the end /sad panda

will wait till its out and see how it pans <3

 

[Himse]

Is there a way to get all skills so im not running about with 3 buttons?

 

[Soazak]

Is there a way to get all skills so im not running about with 3 buttons?

Nah, in WvW you're boosted up to lvl 80, but only in terms of hp/damage, you still lack all the traits/abilities that a real 80 would have (works same way as Bolstering in SW:Tor & WAR), you only get to use what you've unlocked in PvE..

In Structured PvP/Tournaments you're a propper level 80, you're given all skills/abilities and a standard set of max level items.

 

[Himse]

Nah, in WvW you're boosted up to lvl 80, but only in terms of hp/damage, you still lack all the traits/abilities that a real 80 would have (works same way as Bolstering in SW:Tor & WAR), you only get to use what you've unlocked in PvE..

In Structured PvP/Tournaments you're a propper level 80, you're given all skills/abilities and a standard set of max level items.

Oh that's not bad at all.

Think i'll keep pveing for a bit then!

 

[Athan]

Is there a way to get all skills so im not running about with 3 buttons?

Note if you're stuck on only abilities on 1-3 it's because you don't have an offhand equipped to complement your one-handed mainhand. Certainly Mesmer starts this way and needs to take the offered Focus (Pistol was also offered I think, and is likely a Mesmer option too) and equip it to have the 4th and 5th start opening up.

As for Skill abilities on 7/8/9 (and eventually Elite on 0) you need to level up to unlock the slot and also get Skill Points to buy something to put in them.

Really I think you want to hit at least level 11 before seriously hitting WvW, else you just have too few abilities to be of much use.

 

[- English -]

how the fk do you levae wvw? been stuck ehre some hours and no idea how to get out lol

 

[Madmaxx]

either bring up your map and use the waypoint OR use the hero page > pvp > and port to pvp area (which is what I do as its quick)..you just cant leave in combat.

 

[- English -]

My 2 cents on the game so far.

So I've played about 3-4 hours in total of all the Betas that have been out, and not got very high level (7 max), so by no means what I say is true to the game, this is just my experience so far, and if it changes later on i'll be happy to hear the news.

Well from what I've seen they are trying to hard with the story malarkey in PVE. Every game i've played with these open encounters/events all just end up being 1 big missmash and noone knows what they're doing, nobody groups, or if they do they leave at the end and go off soloing/solo questing. And in my early experiences this is the same with GW2. I'm not sure they are developing a community. How can they when people don't need to group. The lack of a healer class means everyone has survive-ability to solo. The starter zone quest was just pointless, talk to some person, run to the green dot and 20+ people attacked some mob which ported you through to the next stage.

For the people who have experienced further, is there a need for grouping, is it possible to meet new people, make friends, (just like in DAOC), or is it a solo game then whenever you're bored port to the BG.

I have an urge to form a group, go to a camp, kill some mobs, get some nice drops, meet people .. or have I played DAOC too long?

 

[Himse]

You've played DAoC too long.

Also, if you play with some friends its better, i agree meeting people isn't really normal.

I am enjoying myself so far, the side quests > main story > events jumping around actually makes PVE semi interesting.

Yet to try WvW properly though.

 

[Aada]

My 2 cents on the game so far.

So I've played about 3-4 hours in total of all the Betas that have been out, and not got very high level (7 max), so by no means what I say is true to the game, this is just my experience so far, and if it changes later on i'll be happy to hear the news.

Well from what I've seen they are trying to hard with the story malarkey in PVE. Every game i've played with these open encounters/events all just end up being 1 big missmash and noone knows what they're doing, nobody groups, or if they do they leave at the end and go off soloing/solo questing. And in my early experiences this is the same with GW2. I'm not sure they are developing a community. How can they when people don't need to group. The lack of a healer class means everyone has survive-ability to solo. The starter zone quest was just pointless, talk to some person, run to the green dot and 20+ people attacked some mob which ported you through to the next stage.

For the people who have experienced further, is there a need for grouping, is it possible to meet new people, make friends, (just like in DAOC), or is it a solo game then whenever you're bored port to the BG.

I have an urge to form a group, go to a camp, kill some mobs, get some nice drops, meet people .. or have I played DAOC too long?

I agree totally with what you said about the encounters/events i have no idea WTF is going on, so far? i'm very fucking unimpressed and a little pissed i paid £50 for this.

Tried WvW as a thief i was just stood around waiting for an hour for the keep doors to fall which never happened so i did nothing for an entire hour i tried looking to see if i could climb into the keep DAOC style but i found nothing.

Waste of an hour doing nothing but watching range having all the fun.

 

[svartalf]

You've played DAoC too long.

Also, if you play with some friends its better, i agree meeting people isn't really normal.

I am enjoying myself so far, the side quests > main story > events jumping around actually makes PVE semi interesting.

Yet to try WvW properly though.

From what I've read, this is what their idea is:
They're hoping that people will make groups while doing public quests and then stay in a group and try a dungeon, because they don't have to split up to form a group of the correct classes. It might be busy in beta, and at launch, but afterwards this should thin out a lot and you will appreciate aid from fellow players then.

Also, the minigames look like they might be a good place to find cool people who aren't so goal-oriented. I don't know though, these are just my impressions.

 

[- English -]

Will people group up in WvW or just run around ungrouped in a zerg. Atleast on DAOC people tried to group up, if anything to have a cleric, but on here there aren't any.

 

[Aada]

Will people group up in WvW or just run around ungrouped in a zerg. Atleast on DAOC people tried to group up, if anything to have a cleric, but on here there aren't any.

It was a big fucking zerg fest from my experience, nobody talked either.

 

[Aada]

Made a Necromancer having a lot more fun with this class.

 

[Soazak]

WvW is shit if you're just joining the zerg solo, but can be very fun if you're doing it with a group, it's not daoc, and never will be in terms of 8v8/agramon style pvp, but the fun is definately there. Small organised 5-10man teams with healing specced chars can fight zergs pretty well.

In PvE, grouping becomes a little more mandatory later on when you do dungeons, but for the Public events they just get a little longer/more complex, you can still just join in solo. I've not seen anything yet upto low 30s that requires specific mechanics to beat it, but that may change as you get near the level cap.

 

[- English -]

So far i've played a few classes

Warrior : I liked this alot actually, although would like to find a stick key as its tricky to follow people and melleing them, otherwise i'm gonna have to spend time looking for a good setup of qbs / mouse binds
Ranger : Again was fun to play, might be a better option for release if what Aada said about pure melle classes is true, I dont wanna be canon fodder like daoc heavy tanks were for 5 years.
Elementalist: This was my first char, a lot of nice spells, but squishy, was tempted to play one from the start
Necro: I hated this class, never got into what to do with it, don't think ill play one at the start.

 

[Athan]

GW2 is a case of "don't HAVE to group, but of course there are benefits to doing so".

WvW waiting hours for a keep gate to drop? I'm guessing no-one had bothered to grab a Ram/whatever blueprint and use a siege weapon. It's designed that way so that you really do want the siege weapons (and of course to have people provide supply to build them, and then protect them so they can do their job).

It's true that very early game is a bit of a random zerg fest on mobs, meaning you struggle to even land one hit on many mobs. Other than heavily instancing it (which people would also complain about) I don't see what they can really do about that.

As mentioned above there are dungeons. On the initial Story Mode they're fairly easy, although in Ascalon Catacombs last BWE my group did hit a few spots that seemed impossible... until we got a clue and took a different path. I didn't get chance to try them on the Exploration Mode.

 

[Athan]

Also, it's been said before I'm sure, but WvW won't be optimal in a Beta Weekend Event. The people around are far too random, most guilds likely haven't formed any real alliance or have any real structure. Judging how WvW will be on release based on a BWE is misguided IMO.

Heck, 50%+ of the people in WvW are probably still figuring out how to play and don't even have 3 Utility Skills unlocked yet, let alone an Elite skill and the best weapon combos (hint for thief, in WvW you want at least a build with Pistol as main hand, and possibly just go with Shortbow so you can operate from ranged when needs be). I'd wager people are only doing Combos by accident most of the time currently as well.

I just want release date to arrive so I can play solidly, get fully to grips with things, and see how well (or badly) it turns out in the end.

 

[Aada]

Also why have both arena and WvW? didn't they learn from Warhammer that having both most of the population will just smash the arena's all day? at least on my server there is barely anyone in WvW.

 

[- English -]

Is there no stick / folow / macro key, its so hard to melle when everyone is running around like fags xD

 

[Xandax]

Also why have both arena and WvW? didn't they learn from Warhammer that having both most of the population will just smash the arena's all day? at least on my server there is barely anyone in WvW.

Well;
One thing is that in sPvP you have the skills of a level 80 as well - which makes it easier to gauge and get to know classes and how they play. Therefore properly getting a better understanding of what to play come retail.
So - I suspect many will use the warzones for that in the beta events.
Last night on our server WvW was filled to the brim with people, from the moment the servers vent up, battling it out in Eternal Battleground. Today I suspect many people will use warzones to figure out what class to play.

Then - come retail; it often comes down to the rewards. And if the rewards for doing so are adequate it'll pull in those who play sPvP for the faster rewards on top of those who'll play WvW on its own. Also I suspect many of us will play both types of PvP; depending on mood/hour etc. In Warhammer; the RvR lakes were relative small, poorly structured and most of the game seem to be the renown train capping empty points and keeps; or farming the 'city raid'.
That also pushed people into the normal warzones because it was just more entertaining for them than being rolled over the renown train.

So - is it possible that WvW will be empty and warzones will be the 'place to be' - possible.
But I think it is impossible to use the BWE as any sort of indication and I don't think simply the existing of Warzones simply will be devastating. It comes down to rewards, the guilds on the server and how well ArenaNet will be able to balance them out.

 

[Aada]

Am done with it until release settled with necro just hope i can get on the same server as you guys as that Shiverpeaks server was full.