Guild Wars 2 beta signup.

[TheEschaton]

48 hours to sign up.

beta.guildwars2.com

This game looks amazing.

[SpiffyJr]

Got my TERA beta key today from the Wowhead guys. Maybe they will score me a GW2 one as well.

[TheEschaton]

TERA looks pretty good too. It might become the hardcore raider's alternative, what with having to aim your attacks and precision being a factor.

[TheEschaton]

Over 1m people signed up for the beta in 48 hours. Come on guys...no discussion?

[Tgo01]

It's not Diablo 3, what is there to discuss?

[Androidpk]

I already uninstalled Diablo 3.

[Kuyuk]

GW 1 was soooooo booorrriiinnnggg

[diethx]

We're waiting with baited breath and checking emails hourly. (and by we I mean me)

[Kitsun]

I'm signed up. Footage looks damn cool.

[SpiffyJr]

I'm hoping that PvP will be done "right" since Guild Wars is PvP based.

[Androidpk]

I'm hoping that PvP will be done "right" since Guild Wars is PvP based.

You need to come over to BF3.

[TheEschaton]

The concept of WvWvW is very intriguing to me, I have to admit.

Some WvWvW footage from the recent press event:

http://youtu.be/VyMRoB8Xff8

[diethx]

I just read this article on crafting (I'm a crafting junkie in every MMO I play) and it sounds fucking awesome.

http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-extra-guild-wars-2-crafting-explained/

[TheEschaton]

I like it, though I hope it gets better organized before launch.

Also, I've been wanting this in WoW, so I hope they do it in GW2 - I want the ability to click on an item (say a mighty dagger) and if I have the ingredients for the components, it builds the components first, then the dagger. I hate switching back and forth, trying to figure out how many more hilts I need to match the number of thingamajigs I have, etc. Maybe have 2 numbers in parenthesis the number you can make right now with components, and the n umber you could make if the number of potential components were made.

[Xzean]

Been watching GW2 for a while. Hoping it revolutionizes the pvp game for MMOs. And apparently it hit 2m signups according to something I read today.

[diethx]

1m. They extended the time limit a bit to watch it hit 1m. There's a video out there somewhere of ArenaNet reactions. Nothing much to see though tbh.

[SpiffyJr]

I like it, though I hope it gets better organized before launch.

Also, I've been wanting this in WoW, so I hope they do it in GW2 - I want the ability to click on an item (say a mighty dagger) and if I have the ingredients for the components, it builds the components first, then the dagger. I hate switching back and forth, trying to figure out how many more hilts I need to match the number of thingamajigs I have, etc. Maybe have 2 numbers in parenthesis the number you can make right now with components, and the n umber you could make if the number of potential components were made.

There's like 80000000000000000000000 addons in WoW that will do that.

[Loyrl]

Beta invites have started to be sent out.


Yes, beta invitations have begun going out. They'll be sent out over the next few days. Please remember that discussing the beta in any way, shape, or form -- including your status in it -- is a breach of NDA. Don't risk your beta access! ~RB2

[TheEschaton]

Beta invites started going out last night, should come out in waves over the next day or so.

A reminder that the NDA explicitly states even disclosing your status as a beta tester violates the NDA.

[TheEschaton]

pre-orders started today. Already got mine.

All pre-orders come with guaranteed access to all futue betas and a headstart prior to launch.

[Wyrmx]

pre-orders started today. Already got mine.

All pre-orders come with guaranteed access to all futue betas and a headstart prior to launch.

Got mine as well!

[diethx]

First Beta Weekend Event will be from April 27-29.

[TheEschaton]

yeah, I just read about it. What class you thinking of playing?

[diethx]

I don't even fucking know. I've been so busy with work that I've barely reviewed my choices. I will this week though. How about you?

[TheEschaton]

I'm thinking ranger or mesmer. I'm not too big into melee classes or gimmick classes like engineers.

[diethx]

My main was a mesmer in GW, and that was something I thought about. Justin is always a ranger so I guess I'll pick something that complements a ranger.

[TheEschaton]

Loving it so far. I'm doing ranger but am willing for anything.

[TheEschaton]

Also, I may or may not have left work at lunch today to play this. Music is pretty epic.

[Kronius]

Too late to get in on the Beta weekend?

[TheEschaton]

You have to pre-order it, so probably. It's not open, it's limited to pre-orders, but it feels like an open beta since there were 1m+ pre-orders.

[Kronius]

Yeah, I see there only selling collectors edition pre-orders with beta keys. I don't think I want to play THAT bad

[TheEschaton]

yeah, they "sold out" of the regular editions in order to limit the number of people in the beta servers.

This is my ranger at like, level 4. Love the gear looks.

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m21/alokpinto/gw001.jpg

[diethx]

They were saying Best Buy and Game Stop still had digital editions left.

I'm playing a norn ele. The only thing I hate about this game is the fact that Justin and I have barely been able to play together due to the overflow servers. We did like.. one storyline quest together and that's been it. Fucking shit.

[Loyrl]

Yup, I was never able to play with anyone I knew because of the way servers are setup. Dodging seems to be, hit or miss, I guess I'm dodging too late although it looks like I'm dodging on time.

[Tgo01]

Dodging seems to be, hit or miss

Wait what?

[Loyrl]

Lag on my end for the doging thing, it loooks like I dodge but its too late and i get hit.

[diethx]

I honestly haven't experienced much lag. A bit last night but LATE late late, so we went to bed when it got nasty. Today has been really frustrating, I think we got to play together for about an hour. I hope they fix the party issues due to overflow/instancing/etc. Plus I hate that if you get booted due to a crash or whatever, you don't get that 5 minute grace period to get back in and stay where you were at. No, your spot is gone and we have to do the server dance to try to play together again. Last time that happened to Justin, I was still in the regular server. I logged out and tried to get back in to get into an overflow with him and that's when I got the 48 error.

Aside from these bugs though, I am so loving this game. Underwater combat is the best I've ever seen, I am so impressed just overall. When they get these bugs fixed, this game is going to be truly epic.

[TheEschaton]

I haven't been able to connect today. Granted, I only tried in the past half hour or so, had to do some work today. :/

[diethx]

Yeah, the 48 error. Their authentication server took a shit, but they took the games down to work on it.

[Back]

If they can't get it to where a married couple would not have this much difficulty playing together I predict this thing tanks. How are people going to play with their friends much less have guilds?

[diethx]

If they can't get it to where a married couple would not have this much difficulty playing together I predict this thing tanks. How are people going to play with their friends much less have guilds?

Dude, it's beta. It exists only to get the bugs worked out. Quit being ridiculous.

[TheEschaton]

Back lives in a state of ridiculousness. They've obviously not had a full server beta yet, and these issues will be worked out.

But I want to play. I want the connection errors to stop.

[Tgo01]

While you're waiting for the servers to stabilize TheE you should come die for me 4 times in D3 so I can get this last achievement and complete my utter nerddom for getting all achievements in a beta.

[TheEschaton]

I only had the weekend beta that everyone had.

Trust me, I've tried to sign into D3.

[Tgo01]

I only had the weekend beta that everyone had.

Trust me, I've tried to sign into D3.

The D3 beta is still open for everyone who signed up during the weekend beta.

[TheEschaton]

I've tried to sign in, it says I don't have a license.

[TheEschaton]

Seems like it's back up.

[SpiffyJr]

I played GW2 for a bit but after playing Tera I can't stand the combat. I didn't give it much of a chance, though, only spending about half an hour in the game. Tera's combat is just so damn awesome it's hard to go back to the old-school type.

[diethx]

Well today was much less frustrating. We've been able to play together all day (used the Mists trick when we did get separated), and it's been so much fun. I love the combat and the "questing" system. I love that even though Justin and I have totally different storylines, we can do them together.

The only thing I'm not really crazy about is some of the voice acting. Like when they have an effeminate-sounding guy to voice a charr or something. It just sounds so weird.

[TheEschaton]

Yeah, so, guardian new main. I've tried out the ranger which was good, but all the clothies feel meh to me.

Only bad part of the guardian is that their armor isn't as nice as medium armor, imo. My ranger looks like a badass gangsta, my guardian looked like some chick at Medieval Times, except not the cool busty tavern wench ones, but the chicks in chain mail.

[diethx]

Haha. Justin plays a ranger and his complaint was how big his Norn chest was in comparison to his small Norn head. I don't think he minds so much anymore. My Norn ele is awesome except her DEEP voice.

[diethx]

Beta Weekend Event finale event tonight!

Join us in the Wayfarer Foothills in the norn lands for a special Beta Weekend Event finale, tonight at 11:00 p.m. PDT.


Jormag, anyone?!

[TheEschaton]

So what happened? I was trying out a thief, I liked it, but building the points goes a lot slower than using them. I was constantly starved for resources.

Definitely starting as guardian.

[diethx]

No dragon unfortunately. A giant bunny boss with a ton of "ravenous" creatures running around. Basically just a final stress test.

[diethx]

From the GW2 FB page:

Guild Wars 2 shared a link.
2 minutes ago

GuildMag is holding a contest, they'll be giving away beta keys for the next Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event to 20 lucky winners. An added bonus is that winners will also be featured in their next magazine release. Head on over to GuildMag and good luck! http://www.guildmag.com/guild-wars-2-beta-key-contest ~AT

In case you haven't gotten your key yet.

BWE2 starts June 8th.

[TheEschaton]

So, I left work early, took a cab home instead of the subway to start up BWE2. Game already feels much more polished, much less problems zoning in. See you guys in Tyria.

[Drisco]

Never played Guild Wars but after my sad D3 experience I'm looking for another game to sink my teeth into. I've been stuck in LoL land and want something more indepth. Is Guild Wars a rewarding game with fun End Game stuff?

[TheEschaton]

A) It's still in beta, this is the 2nd beta weekend.

B) End game is mostly PvP, with large, server wide battles which stretch over weeks (called World v. World).

C) End game PvE is centered around 5 man dungeons, but they have a scaling functionality which allows you to run any dungeon at your level and below, and have it scale you down to the appropriate level. There's no tiered system of gear, you run content to get cool looking items.

[Gizmo]

Is there another Open Beta Weekend this weekend?

If so, I wouldn't mind trying it out now that I'll be capable of playing games again and could use a new MMO to play.

I never bothered with ToR and I'm sure by now I'd be far behind if I started. That and I think even my long time SWG/ToR guildies hardly play ToR anymore since it kinda flopped some.

I may be busy with other games, but I still wouldn't mind at least one MMO to get into some

[Atlanteax]

Next Beta isn't until July iirc.

[diethx]

Yeah it won't be until next month at least. Maybe August. Remember though, you have to prepurchase or win a key somewhere to be able to play in beta.

[TheEschaton]

I definitely felt the game was more polished and ran smoother this weekend. I R excited, yet I've still not gotten out of a 15-25 zone. OCD map completionism ftl.

[diethx]

We finished the 25-35 Gendarran Fields on Sunday afternoon, all save for one bugged out skill point challenge. Then we tried to duo some of the story mode Ascalonian Catacombs but it kept bugging out and wouldn't put us in the same instance. :(

[Gizmo]

Yeah it won't be until next month at least. Maybe August. Remember though, you have to prepurchase or win a key somewhere to be able to play in beta.

Ah ok thanks

[TheEschaton]

Guild Wars 2 release date announced today: August 28, 2012. Pre-purchase early access on the 25th.

Last BWE July 20-22.

Yaaaaaaaaaaay.

[Back]

One thing they did that was pretty awesome in terms of being an innovative gaming company... getting people to pay to play beta.

[Androidpk]

One thing they did that was pretty awesome in terms of being an innovative gaming company... getting people to pay to play beta.

Companies have been doing that for years now.

[TheEschaton]

Well, I'm pretty sure this announcement will lead to a MoP announcement within 2 weeks. ;) It's kinda odd that GW2 went with a Tuesday launch, which coincides with WoW maintenance.

Edit: My prediction, WoW will bracket GW2 - 5.0 will come out 1-2 weeks before, MoP will be 3-4 weeks after.

[diethx]

I am disappoint that launch will be during my moving week. At least I'll be able to make my characters on the 25th, and just get a late start.

[Asrial]

http://www.curse.com/betas/guild-wars-2

I got mine.. and I got a spare.. which I will give out to the first person who posts a screenshot of them unable to get one.

[TheEschaton]

I think everyone in this thread has preordered and thus has BWE access anyways.

[Some Rogue]

Son of a...I thought it was only for Curse Premium members still so I didn't enter.

Apparently I was still able to get one just now though.

[Androidpk]

Son of a...I thought it was only for Curse Premium members still so I didn't enter.

I just did it now, like 5 seconds ago, and got one.

[Asrial]

I just did it now, like 5 seconds ago, and got one.I just checked and it says the giveaway has ended.. so the first person to post gets the spare key I got. I might have a second spare, so the second person to post asking for one MAY also get one (but closer to the upcoming BWE).

[diethx]

I'm assuming they're beta keys for next weekend? Does this mean you all are going to come play with me?! :D

[Asrial]

I'm assuming they're beta keys for next weekend? Does this mean you all are going to come play with me?! :DYeah. Being the last one this is probably why Curse is getting rid of them (and why ArenaNet is allowing it).

[TheEschaton]

Are you and your guy still rolling Sea of Sorrows, diethx?

[TheEschaton]

Also confirmed for this next beta weekend, the two previously unplayable races will be...playable. BRB rolling a sylvan....errr, sylvari.

[diethx]

Yes, we're still doing Sea of Sorrows for BWE3. I don't know what server we'll be on at launch.

[TheEschaton]

200 North American keys being random'd off on this website: gw2.cynicalbrit.com

Only enter once, they track IPs.

They'll let you know if you won on Thursday, the day before the beta weekend.

[TheEschaton]

BWE is open a half hour early if you left work early like I did. I'm on Sea of Sorrows.

[diethx]

Thanks for the heads up. I have a phone interview at 3 but I'm going to log in now to make my toon. What race/name?

I think we're gonna do sylvari first.

[TheEschaton]

I'm an asura mesmer. Still trying to do all the classes so I can figure out what I want to play for launch.

I'm trying to save sylvari for launch but I might cave anyways.

[Androidpk]

http://i47.tinypic.com/30jthe0.jpg

Commando or bust.

[diethx]

...lol

[diethx]

Why save for launch? Just make a sylvari to play this weekend too. You can do both. I know we will.

[TheEschaton]

I dunno, seems like kinda a story-driven leveling process, and I plan on playing sylvari at launch.

[Androidpk]

I haven't installed the client, completely forgot about it, not sure if I will or not.

[diethx]

I dunno, seems like kinda a story-driven leveling process, and I plan on playing sylvari at launch.

Still not getting that, but okay. Shit, there's plenty of time to play whatever.

[Atlanteax]

Still not getting that, but okay. Shit, there's plenty of time to play whatever.

He wants the playing a Sylvari experience to be completely original? and is getting a solid grasp for the game content otherwise with different 'toons' during beta?

[diethx]

He wants the playing a Sylvari experience to be completely original? and is getting a solid grasp for the game content otherwise with different 'toons' during beta?

You do realize it would still be just as interesting at launch if he tried it out in beta, right? The personal storyline changes depending on what choices you make at creation and throughout the game, even within a single race, so it's not like it would be the same exact shit now as it would be at launch, if he decided he wanted to play it differently.

[Androidpk]

He wept for days when his TSW beta dude was deleted, he can't go through with that type of trauma again so soon.

[diethx]

Except all beta characters were deleted before today. Everyone's starting over. Ahaha.

ALso, E, is your chat fucked up? I don't have the channel tabs at the top of mine so I can't create a new channel.

edit: nevermind, I got it. I dunno why the show chat window button wasn't working for a minute.

[TheEschaton]

It defaulted to "hidden" for me, but once I hit the "show chat window" button everything popped up. They've added a few auto hide things - like on the quests - which I wish they didn't, I like my shit to be fully expanded....har de har har.

[Asrial]

He wept for days when his TSW beta dude was deleted, he can't go through with that type of trauma again so soon.lol

During the Gears 3 beta some guy actually managed to make level 100. Apples to oranges.. but imagine if they did a reset at launch?

[Some Rogue]

Granted I've only played 6 levels so far, but I am not seeing what all the hype was about so far...

[diethx]

Ahaha, Sylvari named Keanu Leaves.

[TheEschaton]

I just got home less than an hour ago from a long dinner. Time for some late night gaming.

[TheEschaton]

I may or may not have spent 3 hours on a jumping ppuzzle in the Asura starting zone, and still haven't finished it. Fuck, it's 6 am.

[diethx]

lolol you kid. Our jumping puzzle in Caledon Forest or whatever that place is called took us like 15 minutes. Each of the four in The Grove took me like a minute each tops, since I found shortcuts for three by jumping from an upper layer, and didn't fall once on the first one as you enter the zone on the top layer. I think I am jumping puzzle expert, Lexxi strong. Lexxi jump mushroom and plank.

I don't know why I'm typing in a Russian voice. I hear it in my head like that. Yep.

[diethx]

Oh also - cross-server guilds. How weird/awesome is that? I can see there might be room for abuse in WvWvW, but we'll see.

[TheEschaton]

Ummm, kid, you haven't seen this jumping puzzle.

Plus, I started it at 3 in the morning.

Plus, I was level 8 and there were level 13 mobs in it.

Plus, I needed a buff to get through a certain gate, and if I got downed (but didn't die) I lost it.

Plus, fuck you.

[Some Rogue]

So, switched over to an Asura Elementalist and having a lot more fun now.

[diethx]

Ele is what I played for the first few beta weekends and it's still my favorite class out of all I've tried. Definitely what my main will be at launch.

[TheEschaton]

Is your guy still playing ranger? Does he have any opinion on whether pets are better yet? I haven't played ranger since BWE1, and I wanted to like it but pets were just way too clunky.

[diethx]

His main will be a ranger, but he's on a warrior this weekend. I'm doing ranger this weekend and I'm really enjoying my pets. But yeah, he loves his ranger.

[diethx]

E, which Metrica Province jumping puzzle were you talking about? Not the one in Desider Atum, right?

[TheEschaton]

No, the one that takes you way above the clouds. Fight some guy named Goemm at the end.

[diethx]

Where is that on the map? I wanna go try it.

[TheEschaton]

south of cautl waypoint, follow the cliff til you find an opening in it.

My handle is eschaton.7586, I'm doing it right now. It reset me with this latest build. :P

[diethx]

Ok, what is your character name?

[TheEschaton]

Widgets The Wise

Yeah, Short Round was taken.

I finished it btw.

[Some Rogue]

LOL, I saw you in chat earlier. Some other dude was raging in chat and I finally turned it off.

[diethx]

I saw you in chat too!

I had to leave at 9:30 for a family emergency and just got home 20 minutes ago, so unfortunately I didn't finish. I think I made it through the second portal after 15 minutes or so?

[diethx]

Ok, puzzle done. It was pretty awesome. I'd say it took me about an hour total, and I fell a bunch.

[TheEschaton]

yeah, I found out that I was doing so bad because of the lag, cause when they put out that new build earlier today, I finished it in 20 minutes (after the hours of banging my head against it).

[Loyrl]

The damn jumping puzzle in the cave in the sylv starting area took me 30 minutes, and a lot of falling to my death, and then dying to the damn golems at the top. The tree at the spiral was easy compared to the one in the cave. I haven't done the asura one yet. Got a ranger to 20 this time, I like the ranger for the ranged combat, and I like my thief for melee. I didn't try ranger last bwe, but the pet doesn't seem too bad, it is a bit annoying and you'll have to hit f3 for him to follow you instead of assisting, some times he goes ape shit and attacks random things. I picked for aspenwood for the server, chat doesn't seem bad I haven't had to turn it off.

[TheEschaton]

Okay, warrior is awesome. Trying out engineer, that'll be the last class I need to try out.

(I caved, rolled a sylvari engineer, skipped the whole cutscene, saw how awesome the starting area looked, immediately logged, and deleted him. LOL)

[diethx]

lol, you're so silly. Yeah Justin is playing a warrior now, using longbows and hammers preferably and he loves it. I am really enjoying my ranger and I enjoy the longbow skills the best.

Also, I don't remember there being a big jumping puzzle in the Sylvari starting zone. I think there was one in a cave but it just lead up to a vista. Are you saying there was another comparable to the Asura cloud one, Loyrl? If so we must've missed it... location?

[TheEschaton]

longbow, hammer, rifle and greatsword are all awesome on the warrior. I also like mainhand axe but none of the offhands are really cool. Offhand axe is okay I guess.

[TheEschaton]

One thing I learned this weekend: blackguard is pronounced "blaggard"? I've only ever seen it in Gemstone as a rogue title.

Also, the asura animations (especially for dodge) are sooooooooooooooooo much better than the Norn/Charr/human ones.

[Androidpk]

Blackguard is a prestige class in DnD, and it's not pronounced blaggard unless you're speaking with some weird accent.

[diethx]

I think my favorite thing about the Asura is the jump animation. Wildly flailing arms and stumbling on this tiny little fuck looks hilarious.

[TheEschaton]

Okay, I'm done for this BWE, have to be at work tomorrow morning. :/

Anyways, got to play a little ranger and necro again to see how pets feel now...and they definitely feel much better than BWE1. I might bump ranger up in terms of toons I'll play.

Right now I'm thinking:

sylvari guardian
norn/human ranger
norn elementalist

I have names for the latter two, I just need one for the guardian.

Also, got a name for a sylvari engineer in the future but engineer will be down the line I think.

[diethx]

I would suggest creating all the characters you want if you have names in mind, just to be sure you get them. I'm going to fill all five possible slots upon release only so I can keep my names from Guild Wars.

[Atlanteax]

Since I saw people running around as "xxxxx yyyyy" as if a full name ... some with being phrases (which I chalked up to being a joke as it was beta) ... I don't think it'll be an issue to have unique names.

I was surprised that this beta, our prior beta selves were wiped, as last beta I was given the impression we could continue playing the prior ones. So it'll clearly be all wiped at live.

I'm not sure how you're going to be able to get onto the server to create toons ... unless you mean during the head-start period?

[Some Rogue]

I'd say standard procedure for 99% of betas is to wipe characters. Wouldn't be fair to those who didn't get in if they didn't.


And I was The Dork Knight, that was totally not a joke. I was completely serious.

[diethx]

Since I saw people running around as "xxxxx yyyyy" as if a full name ... some with being phrases (which I chalked up to being a joke as it was beta) ... I don't think it'll be an issue to have unique names.

I was surprised that this beta, our prior beta selves were wiped, as last beta I was given the impression we could continue playing the prior ones. So it'll clearly be all wiped at live.

I'm not sure how you're going to be able to get onto the server to create toons ... unless you mean during the head-start period?

Just like in the original Guild Wars, there will be plenty of "phrases" names. That's one of the awesome things about GW, in that you can be much more creative with your name than in other MMOs. If E has names that he wants to make sure he gets, he will want to create those characters immediately at the beginning of head start to make sure he gets them. (Which is basically what I said in my last post.) Just because you have more room for uniqueness doesn't mean that you are guaranteed availability of any and every name you could want.

And I obviously meant during head start. That's why I said I will be filling my slots immediately upon release to ensure I keep my names from Guild Wars.

[AbnInfamy]

How many people are liking it enough to give up WoW/GS4 for a while to actually play it at release? Seems like they have a lot of good innovative things that I'd like to give a shot. I'm worried about the skill factor though. I am... mediocre at PvP in most MMOs at best. (except I was boss as a warlock right as TBC came out).

[Some Rogue]

I liked the game but not enough to purchase it. It did have some cool ideas though.

[Atlanteax]

I won't be getting MoP and will be getting GW2. Certainly seems full of great potential.

MoP will be just another brutal disappointment as D3 was for D2 fans.

[Loyrl]

You reserve your names through Guild Wars 1, and then on pre release and release day you create your characters using those names. I may have a few slots open on my Gw1 account if someone wants a name reserved, but I don't think people will have issues getting their names. Although names are world? or at least region wide.

http://www.arena.net/blog/reserve-your-guild-wars-character-name-for-guild-wars-2-by-july-31

I won't be getting MoP, done with WoW. I will keep my GS account as I have for the past few years even while not playing a lot=|

[TheEschaton]

I would suggest creating all the characters you want if you have names in mind, just to be sure you get them. I'm going to fill all five possible slots upon release only so I can keep my names from Guild Wars.

I was definitely planning on it. I'm a bit nervous though because name selection is the last bit and I don't want to have to rush thru character customization to get the name I want. I wish there was some sort of name reservation thing for us non-GW1 players.

[TheEschaton]

Also, I'll be playing MoP. GW2 is a one time price, no sub, so I don't mind putting it down and picking it up as I have time. We'll be done with the T14 content in MoP within a month or two anyways, and then it'll just be 4-5 months of 2 hours a week on farm status. Plelnty of time for GW2.

[diethx]

Most of you are prob working, but there's a stress test going on now. Such a tease, but yay 3 more hours to play.

[TheEschaton]

I caught the last hour or so of this, spent it all PvPing on my necro. Not really a fan of the necro in PvE, but it's pretty cool in PvP. just when they think they have you, DEATH SHROUD.

[diethx]

Yeah I wasn't a huge fan of necro in PvE. It's not terrible but the other classes are better imo. At least, the ones I've tried.

[cerveza]

I didn't know so many gemstoners play GW! I have yet to completely master all the campaigns, I will likely stay put. I love JQ

[diethx]

Guild Wars 2 (http://www.facebook.com/GuildWars2?ref=stream)


Convincing a friend to try Guild Wars 2? Here are ten reasons PvE players will love GW2:

• *Because Curtis’ ranch isn’t going to save itself.*
No, really. If you’re hanging out in Claypool and Cattleman Curtis runs up shouting that bandits will take over his ranch if you don’t help, he’s not kidding. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/dynamic-events/

• *Because this is one of the little dragons.*http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenanet/6945989372/sizes/l/in/photostream/

• *Because that player isn’t coming to steal your kill, he’s coming to make it more epic.*
Cross-profession combos are as easy to create as they are are dangerous. No need to stop, strategize, and debate group dynamics–just go with the flow of battle and enjoy playing with everyone around you!https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/combat/

• *Because dungeons are waiting to bring the pain, and then do it again in a completely different way.* https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/dungeons/

• *Because you don’t have to play through boring stuff to get to the good stuff. We give it to you right out of the gate.*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO3nTjwpguE&t=5m11s (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DOO3nTjwpguE%26t%3D5m11s&h=yAQFkUf5iAQETLsMATSuWBQzch5im7sy6VISpgTTGFNb85Q&s=1)

• *Because you can see how the other half… er, fifth… lives.* All racial zones are open to all players right away, so you can join your friends no matter what race they choose to play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEdr8HHJ-zU

• *Because everyone loves a big finish.*
Events in GW2 don’t occur in a vacuum, and a series of dynamic events can explode into a final meta event. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151039435764209&set=a.10150612680914209.397012.114036714208&type=1&relevant_count=1


• Because the quaggan are just so cute you want to help them.http://www.arena.net/blog/the-mostly-harmless-quaggan (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.arena.net%2Fblog%2Fthe-mostly-harmless-quaggan&h=4AQErGSVBAQGSMVigeimEtonZTgV3KJBUsJ9oemIoFyT_XQ&s=1)

• *Because it’s so much more than swinging a sword.*
(Or shooting pistols, or firing a flamethrower.) You can cut a swath through the baddies of Tyria, but there’s so much more. Puzzles, trivia, and all manner of non-combat challenges await you all over the world. Keep your eyes open and pay attention to your surroundings–it’s not just window-dressing! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rx4UdIpaCWU (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 Drx4UdIpaCWU&h=zAQFyElZ4AQHV6P0gequ8uFHJtcA0uy7d_uSuwQTiPT8I3A&s=1)

• Because Destiny’s Edge needs you. http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Destiny's_Edge (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.guildwars2.com%2Fwiki%2F Destiny%27s_Edge&h=PAQEdkE6bAQHRFI7BCw1tL9OeRzdtQM-6U0Q37aTpND6nWg&s=1)


http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/561116_10151039459579209_2042516262_n.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151039459579209&set=a.135044094208.103264.114036714208&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf)

[TheEschaton]

I'm thinking of playing a necro at launch. I don't know why this suddenly came to me. I feel like its pve changed for me once I PvPed with it.

[diethx]

I'm going to play all of the classes eventually, but my main will be ele and secondary will be ranger.

Have you chosen a guild/server/etc yet?

edit: probably not server, I don't think they've come out with a final server list for launch yet, right?

[TheEschaton]

Meh, I know some people who're gonna be playing, don't know if they're going to form a guild or not, or if they're going to glom on to the Reddit guilds/other community guilds.

As for server, no idea.

[diethx]

Did they mention when they might have a list out?

[TheEschaton]

Not that I know of, I'm sure I'll hear about it when it happens though.

[diethx]

That's Spekk's lab puzzle made my eyes cross. I wonder how many times he had to do it before he got it perfect for the video.

[TheEschaton]

The one with the timing jumps? I actually find it's easier to just jump in a motion rather than stop and start. I wonder if you die if you fall off that one though. The Goemm's lab one had the nice feature of just porting you to a waypoint.

[diethx]

The one with the timing jumps? I actually find it's easier to just jump in a motion rather than stop and start. I wonder if you die if you fall off that one though. The Goemm's lab one had the nice feature of just porting you to a waypoint.

I do too, but if you aren't fast enough before the platforms disappear, or don't spin your mouse exactly as you should at the right time, boom, fall.

[TheEschaton]

Finally settled on my 5 classes (and names) for my toons come launch. Gonna roll:

sylvari necro
sylvari ranger
asura engineer
norn guardian
human elementalist

Got names for them all, and backups for the two that I think might be up-for-grabs. As for a main, I'm thinking either the ranger or the necro, mainly because I want to play sylvari first. Probably gonna do necro because I feel like everyone and their mother'll be doing sylvari ranger and I already play too much hunter in WoW.

I wanted to fit warrior in this 5 but I didn't see one I wanted to replace. :( It'll be my 6th definitely. I don't really care about mesmer, and I actively dislike thief so far (I hate the whole "nothing has a CD, you just need the right number of combo points," it's jarring with the way the rest of the game works. Maybe I just needed more initiative-generating traits/utilities).

[AbnInfamy]

Meh, I know some people who're gonna be playing, don't know if they're going to form a guild or not, or if they're going to glom on to the Reddit guilds/other community guilds.

As for server, no idea.

Definitely post up when you figure it out. I'd be up for hanging out with PC folks, but I'm not going to chill with a bunch of people from reddit or 4chan.

[TheEschaton]

The 4chan server is going to be Darkhaven, so keep away from there.

[diethx]

I am right there with you on thief, E - didn't like the whole initiative thing. Give me some fucking cool downs. I found myself waiting and waiting to use my skills.

I think Justin has decided that he wants to start up a guild again. He ran one for like 5 years in the original Guild Wars, so I dunno, I think that's the plan right now. We have at least 3 or 4 people from an old guild who we'll be playing with, and I want to discuss the option with them before deciding on anything. This could change if we happen to group with people we end up thinking are awesome, and they have a decent guild, but we will definitely not be joining any giant social/community guilds.

If we do start one, I'd be happy to have most anyone from the PC who wants to join us.

[TheEschaton]

Another stress test tomorrow (Thursday) from 12-4 PST, 3-7 EST. Gonna miss probably the first 3 hours of it. :/

ETA: I anticipate that they'll release the server list shortly afterwards, probably this weekend, once they have some final measurements on the stress their servers can handle.

[Kaerika]

Can preorders get in on that? Or just beta players?

I'm planning to put my order in shortly and play at launch, but a sneak peek would make me sign up sooner.

[TheEschaton]

Pre-purchases, not pre-orders, since pre-purchases had full beta access.

[TheEschaton]

Managed to get an hour or so of PvP on the engineer in. I wanted to do thief, but I didn't have one and the starting areas were bugged so you couldn't finish the event and access PvP.

Warriors burst some bitches down, man. As soon as I see them I have to use an elixir gun to put weakness up, or I'm fucked because they'll just 100 blades on me or some crazy shit.

[AbnInfamy]

Is it over or still going on? I pre-purchased but can't get in.

[TheEschaton]

It ended half an hour ago, it was from 12-4pm PST, just a server stress test.

[Kaerika]

Managed to get an hour or so of PvP on the engineer in. I wanted to do thief, but I didn't have one and the starting areas were bugged so you couldn't finish the event and access PvP.

Warriors burst some bitches down, man. As soon as I see them I have to use an elixir gun to put weakness up, or I'm fucked because they'll just 100 blades on me or some crazy shit.

Nice to hear warriors are powerful. Warriors became my plan, once I saw the awesome big hammer weapon

[AbnInfamy]

It ended half an hour ago, it was from 12-4pm PST, just a server stress test.

That'll teach me to exercise. I won't let that shit happen again.


Mesmer looks pretty awesome, that's the path I'm taking.

[TheEschaton]

So, looks like there's going to be another 4 hour stress test TOMORROW (Friday the 10th). But they're pushing the time later, from 4 pm-8 pm PST (7-11 EST).

They must really want to iron out some server issues.

See y'all in there!

[diethx]

Yessssss!

[AbnInfamy]

I have the weirdest boner.

[TheEschaton]

It's up.

[Kaerika]

I played around with the character creator a little bit. There is a pretty decent amount of customization and after a while I ended up with a version of Kaerika that I was happy with, but I wish they allowed non-natural hair colors. Maybe they'll add that to the cash shop? I'd pay a couple bucks for that, since there's no monthly fee.

[diethx]

There isn't any way to easily teleport from one starting area to another, is there? I don't think so. I wish, though. We're done with the human zone and kinda under-leveled at 13, and in order to get to another 1-15, we have to run through either 15-25s or 25-35s. And that simply does not work, especially whilst rubberbanding.

GRR

[TheEschaton]

Just take your main city's portal to Lion's Arch, and then there's a portal from LA to every major city.

[diethx]

Oh I didn't know that. You rule.

[TheEschaton]

So, test over, I had massive lag throughout sPvP.

When you're playing a timing based class like thief, that's a huge problem. I was getting wrecked every which way. But when it didn't lag, I would burst fools down like a mofo. Basilisk venom is amazing.

[diethx]

Yeah, the lag was bad tonight. I didn't even want to play in it, so I quit around 9:30 or 10. It's so strange - we had zero issues until yesterday's stress test, and then we had trouble getting in/staying in and graphics issues. Tonight Justin had graphics glitches galore and everyone had lag.

[Loyrl]

They had ISP issues with GW and GW2 so that was the cause of some peoples lag, it didn't affect everyone though. I had a rough time and kept rubber banding. So I mainly just stayed logged in for their testing purposes.

[AbnInfamy]

I had fun for about an hour and a half before an MMO headache kicked in. Game was pretty fun but some of the newbie quests in the Asura area were pretty tedious. The chess game is just mind numbing

[diethx]

Agreed. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Asura starting area. I think Norn was my favorite starting area... or maybe Sylvari. Iunno.

[diethx]

Stress test tomorrow from 3-7 eastern.

[TheEschaton]

what the bloody fuck.

[Kaerika]

Pretty encouraging they're doing all these stress tests. Here's hoping for a smooth launch; I'm way excited!

[TheEschaton]

At this point, unless I can pre-make a character and/or reserve a name, I don't see the point. Hell, the last three stress tests I've been doing exclusively PvP just to not ruin any more content.

[Androidpk]

How exactly are you going to ruin content by playing it?

[diethx]

How exactly are you going to ruin content by playing it?

This is how I feel, basically.

[TheEschaton]

Story wise? Exploration wise?

[Kaerika]

Story wise? Exploration wise?

I'm with you. I'd rather keep things kinda fresh for the first play-through.

"Ruined" is a harsh word, though.

[TheEschaton]

Keep in mind I've leveled up to 30 on my guardian and run the first dungeon.

[TheEschaton]

Final server list:

Final Guild Wars 2 World List: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/introducing-the-worlds-of-guild-wars-2/
US Worlds
-----------------------
Anvil Rock
Borlis Pass
Yak’s Bend
Henge of Denravi
Maguuma
Sorrow’s Furnace
Gate of Madness
Jade Quarry
Fort Aspenwood
Ehmry Bay
Stormbluff Isle
Darkhaven
Sanctum of Rall
Crystal Desert
Isle of Janthir
Sea of Sorrows
Tarnished Coast
Northern Shiverpeaks
Blackgate
Ferguson’s Crossing
Dragonbrand
-----------------------

EU Worlds
-----------------------
Fissure of Woe
Desolation
Gandara
Blacktide
Ring of Fire
Underworld
Far Shiverpeaks
Whiteside Ridge
Ruins of Surmia
Seafarer’s Rest
Vabbi
Piken Square
Aurora Glade
Gunnar’s Hold
Jade Sea [FR]
Fort Ranik [FR]
Augury Rock [FR]
Vizunah Square [FR]
Kodash [DE]
Riverside [DE]
Elona Reach [DE]
Abaddon’s Mouth [DE]
Drakkar Lake [DE]
Baruch Bay [ES]
-----------------------

[TheEschaton]

I know, btw, some people who'll be on Yak's Bend.

I don't know what y'all are thinking, but I'm still thinking.

[Gizmo]

Still haven't played it yet

[diethx]

We'll probably stick with Sea of Sorrows. I'll post if that changes.

[Loyrl]

Sea of Sorrows, think that's the mmo-champion guild server. Think I'll be on Fort Aspenwood, I haven't had any issues with the /map chat on this server during any of the betas.

[TheEschaton]

Sea of Sorrows has been MMO-C's beta server the whole time. Did you see confirmation they're going Sea of Sorrows?

That's where diethx and her bf are thinking of going, right?

[diethx]

It's where we played on beta and it's probably where we'll stay, yes. I will post if we change our minds. I dunno why that would affect our decision honestly - chat wasn't encumbered by douches at all.

[Ryku]

You guys working the beta are pretty happy with the game huh? After D3 I'm a little hesitant to pre-order games anymore.

[TheEschaton]

I like it. I always am hesitant when the community fanboys are calling something the next-gen in MMOs, but it's definitely made traditional questing almost painless, and part of an interwoven, immersive, and alive world.

And the PvP rocks.

And the graphics are pretty damn good, perhaps best or second best in the MMO genre (after possibly TERA).

End-game PvE is a concern, but the game is 60$ one time, and then no sub fee or anything, so I think you'll get the value just in getting to 80 (EIGHTY levels?!? SWTOR and Rift both launched with 50, I think TERA maybe had 60).

[diethx]

Mostly what E said, except I haven't done much PvP yet so I can't agree there.

Why are you worried about end-game PvE? Because Guild Wars lacked in that area, or something else?

Oh also, I think we might end up on Gate of Madness instead. A friend we want to play with has other friends rolling there, so we may just do that instead to accommodate her. We aren't set on any server yet anyways, so...

[Loyrl]

Guess it doesn't matter which server you choose to start on until they enable guesting.

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/news/725-interview-with-martin-kerstein-at-gamescom-18th-august/

1. How will the guesting system work? will we need friends on the other server?

The reply was as per the blog, except a new peice of information

The guesting system will be delayed until the servers have settled down. The guesting system will then be enabled and server transfers will need to be paid for. Until the guesting system is activated server transfers will be free.

[TheEschaton]

Another stress test tomorrow (Tuesday 8/21), 12-4 PST (4-7 EST).

[Loyrl]

Gonna be rolling on Anvil Rock for release.

[TheEschaton]

stress test extended to 8 pm EST, if you want to spend 40 mintues playing. I'll soon post what I spent my little time on.

[TheEschaton]

So, I may or may not have made giant paint C&P's of the character creator to be able to race through it to get the names i want.

CF:

[AbnInfamy]

I'm just going to strap hang with the largest group from here. So if a group of 2 goes to one server, and 3 other servers get 1 person, I'm hanging with the two. I have absolutely no preference as to timezones or whatever. I would even consider a spanish server, even though spanish is rudimentary.

[Liagala]

So, I may or may not have made giant paint C&P's of the character creator to be able to race through it to get the names i want.

CF:
Oh Lord. The spreadsheet has grown and mutated. Run for your lives!

[diethx]

LOL E.

And we're officially doing Gate of Madness to accommodate a friend, since the only ties we had to Sea of Sorrows was another friend who's so pussy-whipped by his bitch fiancee that he won't be playing even though he already prepurchased before BWE1. (my eyes are seriously crossing here)

I don't know if we're going to start a guild or join one, but I'm sure it'll be cool either way and anyone is welcome to join us.

[TheEschaton]

Stress test NOW (12:10-1:10 AM EST). 10 minutes notice. I think they're trying to simulate a launch. ;)

[diethx]

Servers are up. :)

[TheEschaton]

yeah, I got all my names except my sylvari necro.

Deadwood taken, Wormwood taken, had to settle for Wyrmwood.

[TheEschaton]

I'm eschaton.7586 if you guys want to add me. I'm on Blackgate.

[Loyrl]

Guess they didn't stress test the selling outpost enough, I'm dirt poor because of crafting and I need to sell some shit! Got to lvl 22 on my thief yesterday on Anvil Rock.

[diethx]

I'm eschaton.7586 if you guys want to add me. I'm on Blackgate.

I already have you on my friend's list from beta. I tried to msg you but NO RESPONSE.

We could actually play together even though you rolled on a diff server, assuming we're both in the overflows. It's pretty neat.

[TheEschaton]

Level 22? Hacker, I just hit 16 last night.

I only saw a message from AbInfamy yesterday, and I don't think I was AFK for long periods. Maybe cross server whispering is borked?

[Kaerika]

I encountered my first big boss! I didn't play in the beta events, so I was pretty surprised at the size of this thing.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8299/7866250772_96ecb98dec_b.jpg

I'm really liking the game so far, but I do have concerns that I'll get grow unhappy with the small number of skills. We'll see how it goes; for now, I use rifles until the fight gets close-range and then it's hammer time.

[TheEschaton]

the key to not getting bored in games with low amounts of equippable skills but high number of skills is just to swap them out (even your utilities) and practice different playstyles. Warriors have like 17 billion weapon combinations too, so you can experiment quite a bit.

[AbnInfamy]

I jumped onto Blackgate as well. I'm rolling around as a level 12 guardian. Ran up to about level 8 with a mesmer and realized I'd like to be a healing utility class rather than mostly CC.
Also, I liked the heavy armor graphics over the light.

abninfamy.1470

[Kitsun]

On Jade Quarry with my bro and some buddies from Rift. Hit level 51 tonight/morning on my Asura Engineer.

Loving so many aspects of this game. The travel/porting system is splendid. Not needing to find a dude to get a quest is great. The push harvest items to the bank is an excellent idea. I've been in town like 3 times since I started playing.

[Kaerika]

Wow, 51.

Aren't you kinda rushing through all the content? I like exploring and stuff.

[Kitsun]

Kinda? Doing most dynamic content, the heart quests and any POI/Vistas on the way around the zone but also put in a ton of hours over the weekend.

[Androidpk]

People already hitting level 80 in under two days.

[Atlanteax]

I encountered my first big boss! I didn't play in the beta events, so I was pretty surprised at the size of this thing.

I'm really liking the game so far, but I do have concerns that I'll get grow unhappy with the small number of skills. We'll see how it goes; for now, I use rifles until the fight gets close-range and then it's hammer time.


On Jade Quarry with my bro and some buddies from Rift. Hit level 51 tonight/morning on my Asura Engineer.

Loving so many aspects of this game. The travel/porting system is splendid. Not needing to find a dude to get a quest is great. The push harvest items to the bank is an excellent idea. I've been in town like 3 times since I started playing.


Wow, 51.

Aren't you kinda rushing through all the content? I like exploring and stuff.

I love how we can WP all over the place from anywhere. Being able to push the crafting mats to the bank via the "deposit collectible" option has been a major boon on saving preserving bag space (which there is never quite enough of).

The 'downed state' is an awesome feature, part of the time, you can get yourself right back up if you are able to kill the mob after being downed, or someone else has it engaged and you can #4 yourself back up. It was also a pleasant surprise at how often people will stop and revive each other and then continue on. This feels like a distinction versus other MMOs where generally corpses are ignored or mocked. When you are defeated, you are able to pick any WP to rezz at too (no more running to corpse either). So I think that the design team hit the mark with 'taking the unfun out of dying' while still implementing it as a penalty.

I'm barely L20 on my warrior, since I've been taking my time exploring and not rushing thru the content, and also been playing another character (guardian) with my SO (who is doing an elementalist focusing on water).

I also really like the 'simplified' skill system, where 1-5 is based on the weapon you have (accommodates weapon-swapping perfectly for various situations), but 6-10 for the most part seems kinda bland. It feels like that most of our time is just spamming #1 on the keyboard with the occasional 2-5 being hit (as for the most part, they are situational IMO). So I kinda wonder if the controls have been 'over-simplified' versus all the skill-chains we'd do (sometimes utilizing macros) in other MMos/games.

I have three big peeves/concerns at this time:

1) the crafting system
This seems like a huge time and money sink ... particularly as you have to craft multiple items for crafting exp and then need a large amount of crafting exp to get a skillup ... and before you know it, you are out of mats (despite efforts to 'smart craft' efficiently) ... granted that the Trading Post being down (and *still* down I believe) does not help (cannot buy more mats) but odds are mats are going to be short supply anyhow considering how much crafting people need to do, if they want to craft.
Further, it is far too easy to out-level what you can craft for yourself/others due to issue #1; so it almost seems like an exercise in futility ... is the thinking is to just go to level cap, and then gather up, do your crafting, but instead to supply your alts??

2) non-group-friendly questing system
This was quite frustrating over the past weekend; we're in headstart period now, and people are constantly getting crammed into Overflow (we're on Crystal Desert after the group of 30 or so decided against Jade Quarry pre-launch due to the high early interest there, and it apparently was affirmed to have filled to capacity within minutes of launch).
So the constant cramming into overflow makes me wonder if Overflow is going to be the norm going forward after the headstart period when presumably even more people are playing (*WHY* is it that every MMO so far ends up adding to server capacity way after launch instead of pre-launch?). This is an issue if you want to group with others, as the Join-In option is not always available, and when it is available, does not always work. Heck, we could not do the storyline quests together until Sunday when the grouping feature for Instances was 'working again' as it did in the Betas. So if they do not improve server capacity then most of the time, it would seem that grouping together out in the world is toast.
With all the Heart-provided questing nodes, it is irritating that we each have to tag every single mob to get kill credit, which makes it highly competitive when there are other players working on the quest too. The only upside is that you can each interact with the same stationary object (ie stomp the same wasp nest), but as the bulk of the activity involves killing things... why can we not get shared credit when one person does something or tags a mob? This is ultimately having the result of discouraging grouping as being 'more of a hassle than it is worth'.

3) the dodging/endurance system
I understand that the game designers thought they could make it a more engaging experience for players if we have to actively dodge attacks (double-tap movement) to avoid major damage, and essentially do away with the classic dodge/parry/block stats that we may be accustomed to in games like WoW / Rift / Aion. With everyone being able to 'dodge attacks' it dovetails with the design of essentially doing away with Tanks and dedicated Healers.
So I get that I 'need to learn to play' with dodging ability attacks (like the ettin club smash), but a lot of special animations don't seem very obvious (aside from how the ettin club will glow). I've taken the route of trying to stack a bit of vitality and toughness to absorb damage as I go along while learning to 'dodge' more often.
But I've noticed that others in Guild (many who have played GW1, which I've only played a little of) and in Map chat are not finding it 'natural' either, so I wonder how many 'casual players' will ultimately write-off GW2 because they were not anticipating how central this mechanic will be to game-play.
I think I'd find it more preferable if strafe-dodging only moves me like 5 yards versus seemly 20 yards, and backwards dodging is more like a hop back, instead of 2 tumbles behind. It really does not need to so exaggerated. Particularly since more often than not, with the high mob activity level (which is great IMO, the world feels more dynamic) you are basically dodging right into additional mobs, and then are instead even more prone to be overwhelmed by hostiles.

.

Oh, I wanted to add that my SO's peeve is that she wants to be able to *heal*. She is doing a water elementalist as 'best fit' but she does not feel empowered to contribute to a group's well-being as she would as a genuine healer in WoW or Rift. So I'm not sure how that is going to work out over the longer-term (despite whatever abilities that she can get via Skills/Traits that is tailored towards 'healing' others ... which predominantly seems to be minor passive heals for self/group vs targetted heals).

[Some Rogue]

I also really like the 'simplified' skill system, where 1-5 is based on the weapon you have (accommodates weapon-swapping perfectly for various situations), but 6-10 for the most part seems kinda bland. It feels like that most of our time is just spamming #1 on the keyboard with the occasional 2-5 being hit (as for the most part, they are situational IMO). So I kinda wonder if the controls have been 'over-simplified' versus all the skill-chains we'd do (sometimes utilizing macros) in other MMos/games.

So you really like it but you don't like it...

Isn't the overly simplified "casual" approach to talents and such in WoW one of the things you harped on?



1) the crafting system
This seems like a huge time and money sink ... particularly as you have to craft multiple items for crafting exp and then need a large amount of crafting exp to get a skillup ... and before you know it, you are out of mats (despite efforts to 'smart craft' efficiently) ... granted that the Trading Post being down (and *still* down I believe) does not help (cannot buy more mats) but odds are mats are going to be short supply anyhow considering how much crafting people need to do, if they want to craft.
Further, it is far too easy to out-level what you can craft for yourself/others due to issue #1; so it almost seems like an exercise in futility ... is the thinking is to just go to level cap, and then gather up, do your crafting, but instead to supply your alts??

So you don't like the grind of it...huh.

[SpiffyJr]

Overflow won't be an issue once the populations disperse a bit. Right now everyone is in the starting area so overflow happens quickly. I haven't been staying in overflow very much lately and it'll be non-existent as time goes on and more than one zone is in use.

[Atlanteax]

So you really like it but you don't like it...

Isn't the overly simplified "casual" approach to talents and such in WoW one of the things you harped on?

I like the flexibility of it, should had been more clear. As depending on what weapons you have equipped, 1-5 is based off on that. So props to the intuitive design there.

I do not like how in the end, it seems you are ultimately just spamming the 1 key.


So you don't like the grind of it...huh.

I do not mind the grind of it, but I question the design of consuming so much in mats in pursuit of skill-ups, in much a manner that players are essentially out-leveling what their crafting can provide for themselves. What is the point of crafting if you are still only able to make L10 gear when you are already L20 ... and probably will be L40 before you are able to craft anything for L20? My thought is that it needs to be redesigned to keep up with the speed of leveling.

[diethx]

On Jade Quarry with my bro and some buddies from Rift. Hit level 51 tonight/morning on my Asura Engineer.

Loving so many aspects of this game. The travel/porting system is splendid. Not needing to find a dude to get a quest is great. The push harvest items to the bank is an excellent idea. I've been in town like 3 times since I started playing.

Yeah, porting via the map was one of the best things about the original Guild Wars, and definitely one of the best things about GW2. Easy travel = less tedium, more time for fun stuff.

As far as the overflow, it seems that the only time join in doesn't work is if you get bugged (which I'm sure will be worked out just like all the other kinks of launch), or if the overflow of the person you're trying to join is full - then clicking join in will do nothing. Relogging to fix the bug, or going to world pvp and going back to your zone to switch your overflow are both viable methods of getting around this.

[TheEschaton]

51 is crazy. I hit 25 last night, no one in our guild of 255 people is over 38 yet.

Crafting is actually pretty good xp, but yes, it's very resource intensive. But you get xp for gathering those resources too. I haven't been doing it, but it seems like the zones are designed around you doing SOME of it. I 100% both Caledon Forest and Brisban Woods (the first two zones for sylvari) and I baaaaaarely hit 25, and that was with 100% exploration in 2 cities (the Grove and Lion's Arch). It would have been padded a bit more if any of my skills were above 15, but basically I only took my LWing to the minimum needed to get me complete 8 slot bags.

[Loyrl]

Yay the wiki is up, hopefully the trading post is up soon too. I got to 32 on my Thief, got 100% in a few zones, Rata Sum, The Grove, both starting areas, and their 15-25 zone. Now to work on some crafting since I can easily find where things are if the wiki is correct.

Oh and the asura jumping area in the sky can suck it, 40 minutes later I got it done... the Sylvari one in the cave was easy this time because I did it in beta in also 40 minutes I think...

[AbnInfamy]

So, already got a Guild Wars Password Reset email this morning. Fortunately my email address and videogame passwords are different. I don't know how worried I should really be though, because that email is generated when you try to reset a password from the website. So anyone with my email address or account name would be able to send that email to the account. Guess it's deep virus scan day.

Besides if they had a keylogger, wouldn't they have already extracted both of my passwords from it?

[TheEschaton]

my ranger is 31 last night. PuGed AC last night, it was a nightmare because it was all kids from WoW who wanted to zerg everything and didn't understand the concept that two trash mobs by themselves could wipe us.

[Kaerika]

I love the cooking system! I'm only level 24, but my cooking is at 130 or so.

I get more exciting about finding new ingredients than anything else, since trying to combine them with other things is so fun.

[Kitsun]

51 is crazy. I hit 25 last night, no one in our guild of 255 people is over 38 yet.

Crafting is actually pretty good xp, but yes, it's very resource intensive. But you get xp for gathering those resources too. I haven't been doing it, but it seems like the zones are designed around you doing SOME of it. I 100% both Caledon Forest and Brisban Woods (the first two zones for sylvari) and I baaaaaarely hit 25, and that was with 100% exploration in 2 cities (the Grove and Lion's Arch). It would have been padded a bit more if any of my skills were above 15, but basically I only took my LWing to the minimum needed to get me complete 8 slot bags.

My bro just capped while I'm at 76 because of the darn crafting. I fed him my cloth to hurry up for bigger bags. Kept going through zones expecting to see some bigger bags and THERE ARE NONE.

The hardest part seems to be having enough lower level crafting material to get high enough to hit the next rank because the time requirement for the lower levels is a relatively small window. At those levels, we were bouncing between a few of the starter zones and hitting the hearts/dynamics.

[TheEschaton]

You hit the cap the day of the official launch. Mind = blown.

[Androidpk]

Some guy hit cap in 31 hours..

[Reliel]

Some korean hit cap in 31 hours..

Fixed.

[Androidpk]

Fixed.

French actually.

[Reliel]

French actually.

What? Can you surrender your way through the game or something?

[Androidpk]

No but apparently all he did was craft while guild members sent him crafting materials. SKILLS YO

[Reliel]

No but apparently all he did was craft while guild members sent him crafting materials. SKILLS YO

Oh. Makes sense.

[Taernath]

I'm really enjoying it so far. My friend has been banned twice due to bugs though. The first time, his characters were all reset because he supposedly had found some 'exploit'. I was with him half the time and never saw anything, and he says he doesn't know what they're talking about. The second time, his internet dropped while in the mists, and when he logged back in he was in a capital and still max level. Shortly after that he was banned for 'hacking'. It's kind of funny in a way.

Anyone on Gates of Madness?

[Atlanteax]

Considering how some of the special events will constantly respawn over and over (probably due to the high player traffic nearby) and the GW2 system of pushing down your level to meet the content ... you could feasibly farm the same experience-generating events over and over (if you do not get fatigued from repetition).

Most MMOs do not have that level push-down so you'd eventually have to move on, and they also do not share completion (everyone can interact with same object in GW2) and kill credits (everyone can tag the same mob) ... so in GW2 there is far more time efficiency in gaining exp for leveling purposes, as we've seen over the headstart period.

I guess this is balanced by that GW2 is essentially all about content and your character will be pushed-down to meet the content, so there is no real 'imbalance' from speed-leveling (and returning for skipped content) outside of having additional skills/traits. Really is a FFA-style game.

[Deathravin]

The point is, I think, that they understand some people might do that (I know of a guy on reddit who said he got to level 12 in the tutorial area), they don't care. They'd rather not prevent people from having fun with their friends.

[diethx]

I'm on Gate of Madness.

My only 2 complaints so far are: the repetitive random voice acting gets so annoying. URGE TO KILL RISING. IS IT JUST ME, OR AM I AWESOME? MY LEGGG! etc etc

And.. I don't have enough time to play. :(

[AbnInfamy]

Player Server List Thus Far:

Blackgate:
Eschaton
Abninfamy

Anvil Rock:
Loryl

Gate of Madness:
Diethx
Taernath

Jade Quarry:
Kitsun

Ferguson's Crossing:
SpiffyJr

Crystal Desert:
Atlanteax

Darkhaven:
Dranock

Tarnished Coast:
Caiylania

Let me know if I missed anyone and I'll update the list.

[SpiffyJr]

Ferguson's here transfer from Queuegate.

[Back]

Is this worth the money?

[Some Rogue]

No

[TheEschaton]

Ferguson's here transfer from Queuegate.

LoL, we're kicking your ass in WvW.

P.S. The queues were a bug, unless you're talking about overflow PvE.

[SpiffyJr]

Its not hard to with double or triple our population. Our server seems full of working class because at night it is dead and the teeny boppers from your server take everything.

[Atlanteax]

I'm on Crystal Desert

[SpiffyJr]

Yay for server swaps. We're grouped against people with populations more similar to ours now. How's Blackgate doing?

[TheEschaton]

We're up against Towelliee's server. It's neck-and-neck for us, and the third server is being shit on.

As if I didn't hate Towelliee as it was. That guy's a huge douche.

[Reliel]

I think you're all missing the biggest feature of Guild Wars 2. Synchronized dancing.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_bIOP1iwPQ&feature=g-all-f

[TheEschaton]

The plant people do indian bhangra:


http://youtu.be/sPHeNmyxffw

[Reliel]

If only Gangnam Style came out earlier.

[Androidpk]

Nothing beats the Norn doing the Carlton Banks.

[TheEschaton]

And of course the humans do the shuffle:


http://youtu.be/wtALJIko52k

[Atlanteax]

http://www.inquisitr.com/317412/guild-wars-2-still-plagued-with-issues-direct-sales-on-hold/


The developer team at ArenaNet must be at their wits end. Guild Wars 2 has over a million pre-order customers, and copies of the game are flying out of retail outlets. During early access launch, Guild Wars 2 welcomed as many as 400,000 concurrent players, but a week later, the game is still plagued with a host of issues.

Compounding the bad news, the servers are so full, that ArenaNet is taking the revenue killing step of putting a hold on direct online sales of Guild Wars 2, until the problems are fixed. If you haven’t bought your copy, there is no reason to panic. The game is still available from third party retailers, and anyone who has already ordered Guild Wars 2 from ArenaNet will be able to play.

While Guild Wars 2 is generally playable, there are problems throughout the game. The most serious issues continue to be the auction house and forums; both of which remain unavailable. The in-game mail has been disabled several times for security reasons, and annoying bots are starting to pop up on the servers. Unfortunately, the various issues are delaying the addition of more servers to handle the heavy player load.

I'd say kudos on halting additional sales to try to get the server-related issues under control ... but on the flipside, it shows that they are not in position to add more server capacity either.

As the article noted, ArenaNet does not have a lot of time to lock in players or additional players before MoP ... 26 days, and it's been 14 days with poor server performance.

Edited to add that it's my understanding that server transfers are free until they get the server issues under control.