Guild Wars 2 Press Beta [Prepurchase Is Live]

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Jira said:
It's interesting too because when people see a map they only look at the surface. But with GW2 the water is content and fully explorable as well, I do have a feeling that lots of the water events and such will go largely ignored because people generally hate water in games. But what's cool is stuff going on underwater can affect the events on the surface, even talking to NPC and such can kick off an event on the surface that you may have otherwise never seen if you didn't bother to go down there.
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I even dismissed the water when it came to the map, and water is something I am looking forward to. I think WoW did underwater horribly. They had so much open space and there was just nothing left to be explored. If a quest or an NPC didn't take you to an area you never saw it. I am really hoping ANet does this differently and takes advantage of the underwater area.

In GW1 I was always amazed by how large the zones were, then I found out there were a ton of underground areas that you couldn't see from the world map and you'd go into an area and bam you're in this underground multi-level dungeon that's entirely off the map. I fully expect to find things like this, similarly to the new Yogscast video, but much larger. The markers are there in GW2 that shows you can go up/down, but it's up to you to seek out these areas and find what's in them. Then really you have cave systems like that jumping puzzle in the Charr starting zone that isn't even marked in any way and well hidden for you to find.
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I really hope they do this well. I didn't play but a tiny bit of GW1 so I can't really have a comparison, but I really hope the video of the cave with the jumping puzzle is on the small side of things done with caves and such.
 
Mulligan said:
I can't wait to explore every inch of the map. Also, judging from the outlined map picture, i guess we can see where the expansions will be.
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First expansion is probably Elona(Nightfall) based on concept art I've seen. Though we do know they've roughed out 2 expansions already so it could be Elona or Cantha. Stuff like the Ring of Fire (SW corner of the map) and Crystal Desert (SE corner) should be coming through free content patches.
 
I must be one of the few who loves water in games. Even what little content there was for it in WoW, I enjoyed it. I remember constantly going underwater in STV just for the fun of it.
and ganking
 
PoorFate said:
On the wiki I noticed they mentioned that Guild Wars 2 will be using the Havok physics engine.

Does that mean we can expect ragdoll deaths or something similar?
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I do think enemies die based on what they were doing animation wise when you killed them as well as what kind of ability you hit them with and of course terrain has an effect as we've seen with other games with Havok.
 
Shakala said:
I must be one of the few who loves water in games. Even what little content there was for it in WoW, I enjoyed it. I remember constantly going underwater in STV just for the fun of it.
and ganking
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I agree for the most part. I liked what they did with water, but I think as a whole it was underused and for the most part was left empty except for the quest hubs. But this also has a lot to do with phasing, which I also hated.
 
RepairmanJack said:
I agree for the most part. I liked what they did with water, but I think as a whole it was underused and for the most part was left empty except for the quest hubs. But this also has a lot to do with phasing, which I also hated.
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A lot of it was underused because by design they were limited with the whole breath bar and slow underwater speed. Vash jir was different but god it felt plodding and slow as shit. I love that ANet has got rid of all of the crap that makes underwater areas in games lame and even added to it by giving us an entire set of new skills. I love that they're creating areas so vast and full of content that you can swim for over 1 min downwards and still find stuff.
 
Jira said:
A lot of it was underused because by design they were limited with the whole breath bar and slow underwater speed. Vash jir was different but god it felt plodding and slow as shit. I love that ANet has got rid of all of the crap that makes underwater areas in games lame and even added to it by giving us an entire set of new skills. I love that they're creating areas so vast and full of content that you can swim for over 1 min downwards and still find stuff.
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Yeah they really made it feel like when you go underwater, you're entering a new world and experiencing new combat - so I hope they make lots of areas that work like that.
 
Jira said:
A lot of it was underused because by design they were limited with the whole breath bar and slow underwater speed. Vash jir was different but god it felt plodding and slow as shit. I love that ANet has got rid of all of the crap that makes underwater areas in games lame and even added to it by giving us an entire set of new skills. I love that they're creating areas so vast and full of content that you can swim for over 1 min downwards and still find stuff.
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The slowness killed it for sure, but I think their biggest issue was the imphasis on phasing. There would be huge areas where for the most part there would be nothing unless you were at a certain point on a certain quest. So if you skipped a whole zone and made it to 85 and went back to look around it would seem boring and pointless. This became a big issue in WotLK but in Cata it was made worse because the areas effected were bigger and more common. Vash'Jir and the desert area(forget the name was bottom of kalimdor i think) were just bad and a huge waste of game space.

I'll just stop ranting about WoW and derailing the thread. I just really hope GW2 puts an end to a lot of these things, dynamic events seems sort of like what Blizzard wanted with phasing in wow, but it works in a much better way.
 
RepairmanJack said:
The slowness killed it for sure, but I think their biggest issue was the imphasis on phasing. There would be huge areas where for the most part there would be nothing unless you were at a certain point on a certain quest. So if you skipped a whole zone and made it to 85 and went back to look around it would seem boring and pointless. This became a big issue in WotLK but in Cata it was made worse because the areas effected were bigger and more common. Vash'Jir and the desert area(forget the name was bottom of kalimdor i think) were just bad and a huge waste of game space.

I'll just stop ranting about WoW and derailing the thread. I just really hope GW2 puts an end to a lot of these things, dynamic events seems sort of like what Blizzard wanted with phasing in wow, but it works in a much better way.
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Oh look I'm in this closed off area because I'm a bit further along in the game than you so I can't see you! Oh and sorry that ore node isn't actually there, it's in another phase. I guess it worked for a story telling mechanic, but eh it didn't really DO anything other than allow them to move around set pieces.

I feel like DE's will do the same thing, but for everyone at the same time AND not have to sacrifice the MM part of the MMO in the process. Then add the fact that all of the systems are built from the ground up and not just tacked on and you have a recipe for success.
 
Jira said:
Oh look I'm in this closed off area because I'm a bit further along in the game than you so I can't see you! Oh and sorry that ore node isn't actually there, it's in another phase. I guess it worked for a story telling mechanic, but eh it didn't really DO anything other than allow them to move around set pieces.

I feel like DE's will do the same thing, but for everyone at the same time AND not have to sacrifice the MM part of the MMO in the process. Then add the fact that all of the systems are built from the ground up and not just tacked on and you have a recipe for success.
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Don't forget the wonderful game of "Can I see you?" To summon people to icc up until about a month before cata was released.
 
Rad- said:
Ranger has one of the most flexible and diverse weapon setups imo.
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Definitely solid. I'm likely playing a Ranger unless I get to play and hate it for whatever reason. Between the weapons and the diversity of the pets abilities, it should be a fun class.
 
Hey for those wondering that have asked, Retro was banned till the 19th :( he was pretty much telling a jerk troll in HaloGAF that he had a "ugly personality" and got tossed for a little bit.
 
zulfate said:
The weird part is knowing that retro is reading this lol.... hola retro!


In the beta was there a level cap?
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I saw the guy who was playing in the TB video, he was 39, they just had PvE content up to 30, but that didn't stop you from leveling past that.
 
Jira said:
I saw the guy who was playing in the TB video, he was 39, they just had PvE content up to 30, but that didn't stop you from leveling past that.
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I stand corrected. I for some reason remember someone being at level 30 and their bar had no number to the right. So I just thought it was capped there.
 
Arken2121 said:
Glorious!!! These maps are indeed very big for the standard mmo world. I'd even go as far as to say they're much bigger than most.
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Not really. Judging by the Yogscast videos the zones themselves aren't that large. They're able to get across them fairly quickly. If I had to guess, I'd put the total area a little above Kalimdor in WoW. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The last thing I want is another Old Republic with huge areas devoid of content.
 
GoldenChicken said:
Not really. Judging by the Yogscast videos the zones themselves aren't that large. They're able to get across them fairly quickly. If I had to guess, I'd put the total area a little above Kalimdor in WoW. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. The last thing I want is another Old Republic with huge areas devoid of content.
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I agree with the Old Republic example and I also can't say for sure if it's larger, just the map and the running distance felt like it took a while. But it's true, as I've been lvling in Swtor, the areas are barren, I see almost no one and the run times are way too long.
 
It's hard to say how big it is at this point. Also, as I said earlier, people forget to take water and underground cave systems into account as well as those are very relevant in GW2.
 
XeroSauce said:
What does 'traited' mean?
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Example in Ranger skills: http://i.imgur.com/67QIl.jpg

Warhorn ability "Hunters Call" says:

Damage: 128
Damage if traited: 160

So presumably there is a trait you can pick (Nature Magic likely) that will buff that skill.

Go here: http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en
Click the Hexagon tab on the left for traits, Paw on top is Ranger.

Rangers dont know the Nature Magic traits yet, nobody caught them on video from the press beta for whatever reason. I assume one of them will be for Hunters Call or for all Warhorn abilities.
 
Jira said:
First expansion is probably Elona(Nightfall) based on concept art I've seen. Though we do know they've roughed out 2 expansions already so it could be Elona or Cantha. Stuff like the Ring of Fire (SW corner of the map) and Crystal Desert (SE corner) should be coming through free content patches.
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As someone who played a lot of GW1, I gotta say I'm a little worried about them revisiting the same areas from the first game in the expansions. I'm keeping the faith, but still, worried. I hope they use the time between games (in the lore) to cause the new areas in old places to feel entirely new.
 
Ettie said:
As someone who played a lot of GW1, I gotta say I'm a little worried about them revisiting the same areas from the first game in the expansions. I'm keeping the faith, but still, worried. I hope they use the time between games (in the lore) to cause the new areas in old places to feel entirely new.
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Never played gw1 all that much so every thing is shiny and new!
 
Ettie said:
As someone who played a lot of GW1, I gotta say I'm a little worried about them revisiting the same areas from the first game in the expansions. I'm keeping the faith, but still, worried. I hope they use the time between games (in the lore) to cause the new areas in old places to feel entirely new.
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Well, Cantha should be different. I think the Jade Sea melted or something.
 
Dash27 said:
Example in Ranger skills: http://i.imgur.com/67QIl.jpg

Warhorn ability "Hunters Call" says:

Damage: 128
Damage if traited: 160

So presumably there is a trait you can pick (Nature Magic likely) that will buff that skill.

Go here: http://gw2.luna-atra.fr/skills_tool/?lang=en
Click the Hexagon tab on the left for traits, Paw on top is Ranger.

Rangers dont know the Nature Magic traits yet, nobody caught them on video from the press beta for whatever reason. I assume one of them will be for Hunters Call or for all Warhorn abilities.
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Yea, that's exactly what I was looking at. So it means that if you choose the trait that buffs it, it does that damage instead. Interesting, thanks.
 
Some interesting dev posts today on the Holy Trinity:

In this article: http://borderhouseblog.com/?p=7983&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=twitterfeed

Angel Leigh McCoy said this:

In addition, choice has always been important. We want to provide our players with as much choice as possible. If a group of players want to build a Holy Trinity, then they can!
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Devs expanded on that:

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/imagine-all-people-with-angel-t30389.html?p=1189778#post1189778

Regarding Angel's comment about the holy trinity. As our designers have said in interviews, people are not required to spec their characters to fulfill roles of the holy trinity, but players certainly do have the option to play more supportive or damage-dealing roles if they wish. Players have the option to switch roles depending on the needs of the encounter, but the holy trinity group structure is not a requirement to progress through content. You've seen this in action in the many videos that have been filmed and released by press after the recent closed beta event.
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Players could make a build that resembles the trinity but it could never truly be the trinity. You cannot for example make a dedicated healer no matter how much you pump into your support trait lines. When you start getting to tougher encounters no matter how much armor and health you have you will never be able to stand toe to toe for long against most of the foes you'll face. Because of this even a 5 person group that has 3 dps focused characters, a support focused character, and a damage soaking character (which is a standard trinity setup) will not play anything like a standard trinity group. If those players insisted on playing like a standard trinity group they could succeed against the easier content in the game but probably couldn't finish a story mode dungeon let alone an explorable dungeon or some of the tougher events in the game.
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To go a little bit more in depth with the answer I gave, it doesn't really matter which professions you bring. Over the beta weekend I played through the dungeon with several different journalists and getting through was never a matter of bringing particular professions or even changing the builds that people were using. When we hit a tough patch people would change which weapons or utilities they were using but nobody ever had to go respec their traits. I was in groups that wiped multiple times in story mode but I was also in groups that did not wipe at all in story mode and was in one group that made it through explorable mode (we wiped a lot in that one). It all came down to how well we coordinated and how well we responded to the situations we encountered.

For example, in the explorable run through I think it was two journalists who were both warriors (one may have been a guardian, I'm having trouble recalling), our producer Chris Whiteside with a ranger, Izzy playing an elementalist, and myself playing an engineer. At different times Izzy was our condition removal guy, our debuffer, and our "tank" (bait is a more appropriate term actually). He was our most important player because he was our best player but he was actually very support/healing specced. The important thing about that group was that we were all talking and coordinating our efforts and coming up with strategies together. Those strategies never really revolved around specific skills but rather things like "We need condition removal" or "we need to stack as much vulnerability on this guy as possible" or even "we need Izzy to run around attracting attention while the rest of us activate the traps built into the area to kill the hordes of incoming mobs". I hope that helps shed some light on how the game plays.
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Awesome find Dash. I'm glad they're clarifying it for those who might be confused or are used to the old style of MMO's. It's all going to be dependent on player skill with support from your team. Gone are the days that other players are going to keep you alive while you stand there trading blows with an elite. Pray to Anet*
 
Everything will be different when it comes to the lands of Guild Wars.

In Tyria, the big thing is that Orr is back. A good chunk of the continent got temporarily flooded, remember? Add that to the fact that the new races have all come in and carved part of the land to be their own.

In Cantha, someone else posted about that above. A elder dragon came and fucked up their shit.

In Elona, essentially a demon returned to the land and retook up residence in the Crystal Desert. He has plague and demon powers, and then there's the fact that one of the elder dragons blocks escape by sea.

The entire world got wrecked in the last 250 years. It'll be pretty new enough for even us veterans.
 
If those players insisted on playing like a standard trinity group they could succeed against the easier content in the game but probably couldn't finish a story mode dungeon let alone an explorable dungeon or some of the tougher events in the game
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That's the reason why the Holy Trinity is gone folks.
 


Melee Elementalist build so far. All about getting close, and staying in Fire attunement as much as possible and dealing damage, keeping the burn up.

Flame Greatsword's CDs will be lowered with Pyromancer's Alacrity trait.



Mesmer Swordmaster Build. Illusions will divert the attention from the real target - the mesmer himself. If you use the Greatsword, you gain +50 Power and +50 Precision. Even if you swap to the Sword itself it's not that bad. The idea is to get away using Portal or The Prestige, then use long range with the Mesmer to great effect. Having both ranged and melee between both swords will confuse players who are on the Mesmer.



And my Burning Justice Guardian build. Stacked heavily for damage and crits, but also plays on keeping them burned for more damage. Similar to Melee Elementalist, except I imagine because the Guardian is hardier anyway, it will be much easier staying alive even though little traits are put into Valor and Honor.
 
Maxrpg said:


Melee Elementalist build so far. All about getting close, and staying in Fire attunement as much as possible and dealing damage, keeping the burn up.

Flame Greatsword's CDs will be lowered with Pyromancer's Alacrity trait.



Mesmer Swordmaster Build. Illusions will divert the attention from the real target - the mesmer himself. If you use the Greatsword, you gain +50 Power and +50 Precision. Even if you swap to the Sword itself it's not that bad. The idea is to get away using Portal or The Prestige, then use long range with the Mesmer to great effect. Having both ranged and melee between both swords will confuse players who are on the Mesmer.



And my Burning Justice Guardian build. Stacked heavily for damage and crits, but also plays on keeping them burned for more damage. Similar to Melee Elementalist, except I imagine because the Guardian is hardier anyway, it will be much easier staying alive even though little traits are put into Valor and Honor.
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I like the Guardian utilizing burning with spirit weapons. Looks like it would be very pixely!
 
Arken2121 said:
I like the Guardian utilizing burning with spirit weapons. Looks like it would be very pixely!
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Of course I'll be doing intense experimentation when beta comes.

I actually think I'm going to do some Beta videos too for those on GAF. If I get in, of course.

Commentated and everything!
 
Maxrpg said:
Of course I'll be doing intense experimentation when beta comes.

I actually think I'm going to do some Beta videos too for those on GAF. If I get in, of course.

Commentated and everything!
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Well, don't make videos of the next closed beta, because it has a pretty strict NDA, you can't even tell people that you're in ;)
 
Maxrpg said:
Of course I'll be doing intense experimentation when beta comes.

I actually think I'm going to do some Beta videos too for those on GAF. If I get in, of course.

Commentated and everything!
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Dont get caught or anet will come down on u with the hammer of thor and smite your ass lol
 
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