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Guild Wars 2 Launch Date announced: August 28th, 2012

I'm heavily leaning toward Asura Necro... I have yet to play a necro, but I have spent a few hours messing with specs and reading about them. Hopefully they are as fun as I'm imagining.
 
That's not quite what I said. What I said was that for people who are only concerned about level capped content, there will not be enough content to remain fun for several years time by merit of the content alone. No game has ever done this. The only way the content is worth playing over and over again for years is by providing a slow trickle of rewards to players, so they feel that it is worth their time to continue doing tasks that would otherwise not be worth doing that often. The tasks might be fun the first few times, but after that rewards are the only thing people come back for. This is the way that WoW works, and this is the way that Diablo 2 worked, and how COD works for that matter. It's all about rewards and feedback, not about content. That's not to say that content isn't there, or that it isn't important... just that the content alone doesn't keep people playing.

GW2 is using a different model. They won't necessarily have any more content than any other MMO, but the design philosophy is about making each task worthwhile on its own merit, rather than solely on the rewards. The obvious reality of this is that people will not be able to play this game 8 hours a day for 4 years on a single character and never run out of stuff to do. Even with frequent expansions, the content team cannot keep up with that pace. People who want to play this way will run out of content, especially if they decide to ignore content below the level cap, and will either need to use PVP modes to give them something fresh to play every day, find another game to supplement their GW2 playtime, or just move on to a new MMO.

It's inaccurate to say that GW2 doesn't focus on PVE. There is not a shortage of PVE content in this game. Its just that their content design doesn't cater to hardcore raid-style MMO players. This is not a game that will ever provide that experience.

Not sure about worthwhile when one event has me picking apples and another has me collecting grapes for wine. The rewards aren't tangibly great either.

I've been in the bigger and more involving events with big bosses, but they're just zerg of players attacking the same mob and reviving each other. It's not as interesting as a raid fight, and events are about the same kind of fun as questing.
 
I've done the math and for any real raiding in WoW (not the raid finder crap), it's only about 5-7% of the population and about 1-2% for the heroic raids. Designing content for the smallest portion of your playerbase is stupid.

It actually looks like it makes sense from a business standpoint. Since raiders consume content the fastest, under some logic it makes sense to provide more content for them to keep them in the game.
The catch for that is that your game will always be unbalanced content-wise. However, this is irrelevant while you're top dog; as you're still the best choice, non-raiders don't have any other place to go to.

The main problem with WoW at this point is that it has no competition; it has grown complacent and stagnant, which is logical as they can pump out the same kind of content over and over and people will keep buying it and paying their subscriptions. This is why GW2 may be the best thing to happen to WoW in the entirety of its history. Not like they're not poaching stuff from it already...

Colin Johanson Interview said:
For example, some of the crop sprinklers in the human lands are located in square crop fields, but the sprinklers only spray in a circular pattern. Ian Yonika, one of our insanely talented animators, pointed this out at one point. We were past the point where it was worth the amount of time it would take to change it, and it’s a pretty tiny detail, so rather than change the game, we added “Farmer Ian” to the game. If you talk to Farmer Ian, you’ll notice his conversation very closely resembles the post Ian left in our developer forums about why the sprinklers don’t make sense. Thanks, Ian!

... Just when I thought that I could no longer be surprised with the punctiliousness of any complaint on an MMO; made it all the more hilarious because of it coming from within ArenaNet. I now have to seek out this farmer Ian.

Uh, who says endgame content is boring?

Eh, no-one, including Thanasis. He said SOME people are bored at a perceived LACK of endgame content.
 
btw where do you input the beta code from the Curse giveaway?
register.guildwars2.com


*edit* beaten like a dead horse.

I do really hope that this game is what it promises to be. On the other hand, if it isnt that might be better for my studies, what with college starting again at the beginning of September. :lol
 
Not sure about worthwhile when one event has me picking apples and another has me collecting grapes for wine.

You mean the event where the young widow (that you overhear a conversation about earlier) on the spider-infested orchard wants to make an apple pie, and you collect them either from the ground, or kicking down trees, where either apples or spiders can drop down, the latter causing you to fight them, and loot the apples that for some reason they also were carrying? The one that is usually a friendly mad rush against other players to get as many apples as possible in the limited time it usually runs for (although a handful of apples is enough to get gold anyway)? The one that counts towards the widow's renown heart, which once completed yields apple pie, apples for making the pie, and the recipe for the pie itself (which as far as I know is the only place in the world you can get it) among others?

Yes, our impressions of the event may differ.
 
The main problem with WoW at this point is that it has no competition; it has grown complacent and stagnant, which is logical as they can pump out the same kind of content over and over and people will keep buying it and paying their subscriptions. This is why GW2 may be the best thing to happen to WoW in the entirety of its history. Not like they're not poaching stuff from it already...

The main problem with WoW is that there's only so much you can hack and graft onto an over three decade old genre. Hell they're trying to graft Pokémon onto it this time around.

Without a complete reboot of the combat to an action RPG style combat there's not much they can do to make it feel not-stale other than pump out the same style of game with mildly different locales, new stories, new models and a modicum of new abilities they've managed to think up.

Incidentally this is probably why Star Wars failed so hard. They duplicated the WoW combat system verbatim but since people didn't have the emotional and social investment in the game it failed to gain traction as you'd played it all before, there really wasn't much to do after you played it and it didn't have the same third-party support ecosystem that WoW enjoys. At least in WoW when you've got nothing else to do you can logon to just shoot the shit with your buddies while wasting time doing something else.
 
You mean the event where the young widow (that you overhear a conversation about earlier) on the spider-infested orchard wants to make an apple pie, and you collect them either from the ground, or kicking down trees, where either apples or spiders can drop down, the latter causing you to fight them, and loot the apples that for some reason they also were carrying? The one that is usually a friendly mad rush against other players to get as many apples as possible in the limited time it usually runs for (although a handful of apples is enough to get gold anyway)? The one that counts towards the widow's renown heart, which once completed yields apple pie, apples for making the pie, and the recipe for the pie itself (which as far as I know is the only place in the world you can get it) among others?

Yes, our impressions of the event may differ.

The one that, after all this, triggers a meta-event which consist in killing a huge Spider-boss?

Yeah, that is exactly the kind of quest we're used too. Nothing innovative in there (/sarcasm).
 
i won't pretend i completely understand this, but the build website really helps show me what you guys are talking about

thanks

I just saw this; I'll also try to help (puts on teacher cap).

The first five abilities are determined by your class and the weapons (or shield) you hold. Specifically, the first three are determined by what you are holding in your right hand, and the last two by what you're holding in your left one. You ALWAYS have five abilities. How so? Well, if you're using a two-handed weapon (say, a Greatsword), it will have five distinct abilities. This makes sense because you're holding it with both your right (abilities 1-3) and left (4-5) hands.

What if you would rather use a shield than dual-wield? Well, this is where it gets interesting. Shields in this game are just ANOTHER weapon. They grant two abilities (4-5) on account of them being held with your left hand. These are most usually defensive but proactive as well; a typical example is a counter that does something if you're attacked, but also gives you something if you aren't. The other example is a counter that you can press again to make a different thing.

For example, the Engineer has one where it charges the shield with electricity, stunning the first guy that hits you in melee (and negating the attack); but if nobody will hit you on that window, you can also hit the key again to throw the electrified shield like a boomerang (it will hit on the way AND back). The other engineer shield ability is a magnetic bubble that reflects all projectiles for about three seconds; hitting it again bursts the shield, knocking back enemies.

Eh, that was a disproportionate amount of time talking about shields, sorry; I just love my Engi's. :D

The main problem with WoW is that there's only so much you can hack and graft onto an over three decade old genre. Hell they're trying to graft Pokémon onto it this time around.

Without a complete reboot of the combat to an action RPG style combat there's not much they can do to make it feel not-stale other than pump out the same style of game with mildly different locales, new stories, new models and a modicum of new abilities they've managed to think up.

Funnily, I had a paragraph in my previous post (although I deleted it so as to not bang too much on WoW) saying pretty much exactly that; that WoW's system has been stretched for all it's worth and even with patching and adding on (like vehicular combat), I think not much else can be squeezed out of it. It simply has wildly outlived its original purpose, which I guess is understandable because I doubt even in their wildest dreams Blizzard could have guessed they would have 10M+ players 8 years down the road.
 
Anyone else made up their mind on what Sex you gonna play for race/class?

Female Human Warrior / Guardian (whichever I like the most in BWE3)
Female Sylvari Warrior / Guardian (whichever isn't my main)
Male Charr Engineer
Male Asura... something... possibly a ranger.
Female Human / Sylvari / Norn something. Maybe a thief or mesmer.

Of course, these may change on a whim.

Thoughts? I need to know if it is all readable, specifically the profession descriptions.

- Shift the background image to the left so the text is placed more symmetrical.
- Apply a faint white glow effect to the text to make it more legible over the dark image.
- Maybe change the font for "Professions", just to break things up a bit. Try the GW2 font they use in the logo (should be in the press kit, or just google it).

Thoughts for Races?

- Increase text size, the border is cool but has a lot of empty space, so you have room to grow.
- I would stick with the 'handwritten' typeface for the actual text but maybe, again, go with the logo font to break up the title from the text.
 
Thoughts? I need to know if it is all readable, specifically the profession descriptions.

The left side descriptions match up to the correct profession, but the right side descriptions do not match up to the correct profession.... it's bothering me. =p
 
I just saw this; I'll also try to help (puts on teacher cap).

The first five abilities are determined by your class and the weapons (or shield) you hold. Specifically, the first three are determined by what you are holding in your right hand, and the last two by what you're holding in your left one. You ALWAYS have five abilities. How so? Well, if you're using a two-handed weapon (say, a Greatsword), it will have five distinct abilities. This makes sense because you're holding it with both your right (abilities 1-3) and left (4-5) hands.

What if you would rather use a shield than dual-wield? Well, this is where it gets interesting. Shields in this game are just ANOTHER weapon. They grant two abilities (4-5) on account of them being held with your left hand. These are most usually defensive but proactive as well; a typical example is a counter that does something if you're attacked, but also gives you something if you aren't. The other example is a counter that you can press again to make a different thing.

For example, the Engineer has one where it charges the shield with electricity, stunning the first guy that hits you in melee (and negating the attack); but if nobody will hit you on that window, you can also hit the key again to throw the electrified shield like a boomerang (it will hit on the way AND back). The other engineer shield ability is a magnetic bubble that reflects all projectiles for about three seconds; hitting it again bursts the shield, knocking back enemies.

Eh, that was a disproportionate amount of time talking about shields, sorry; I just love my Engi's. :D

thanks alot for breaking it down for me, i was playing around with the builds and i saw it looked if i wanted to go two swords versus 1 sword with no left hand equiped

i like your bar becomes the talent trees in other MMOs
 
I just looked and they're correct, am I missing something?

I think he means that Engineer, Necro, Thief and Elementalist are listed as they appear left to right, but the Warrior, Guardian, Ranger and mesmer are not.

It should go Warrior, Ranger, Mesmer, Guardian.
 
thanks alot for breaking it down for me, i was playing around with the builds and i saw it looked if i wanted to go two swords versus 1 sword with no left hand equiped

Yep. And those skills will never change either; a sword at level 1 is the same as a sword at level 80. That means once you get a feel for the layout and cooldowns, you'll never have to watch an icon timer again and can play purely on instinct.


Whut?
 
Male nord warrior
male/female(on spot decision) asura necro
Gonna roll those 2 at start, see which one I like more and make it my main, can't wait, never been this hyped for game.
 
Yep. And those skills will never change either; a sword at level 1 is the same as a sword at level 80. That means once you get a feel for the layout and cooldowns, you'll never have to watch an icon timer again and can play purely on instinct.



Whut?

Just noting that you're so attentive. Hahaha.
 
You mean the event where the young widow (that you overhear a conversation about earlier) on the spider-infested orchard wants to make an apple pie, and you collect them either from the ground, or kicking down trees, where either apples or spiders can drop down, the latter causing you to fight them, and loot the apples that for some reason they also were carrying? The one that is usually a friendly mad rush against other players to get as many apples as possible in the limited time it usually runs for (although a handful of apples is enough to get gold anyway)? The one that counts towards the widow's renown heart, which once completed yields apple pie, apples for making the pie, and the recipe for the pie itself (which as far as I know is the only place in the world you can get it) among others?

Yes, our impressions of the event may differ.

If I remember, you don't even have to do anything for those rewards. Unless you're the only one there.

It's just a vendor.
 
I have decided, against my earlier declaration, to have a character from each race. Three boys, two girls. Now I just have to secure the names I want.
 
I came a bit late for the design stuff; sorry Jira. I will be sure to leave my two cents about the next iteration. Your work is amazing, though, and I thank you for all your selfless effort.

As for characters, I actually have a text file with my planned character composition; I made it last year and keep changing and changing it :D. I find it extremely hard to decide for combinations, as there are many possibilities that make a lot of sense. For example, Charr or Asura Engineer? Sylvari or Asura Elementalist? And so on...

My latest version would go something like this (sorted by race):

Male or Female Norn Warrior (probably female).
Male Charr Necro
Female Charr Engineer
Male Human Guardian
Female Human Thief
Male or Female Asura Mesmer (probably female as well).
Male Sylvari Elementalist
Female Sylvari Ranger

Of course, ask me in a couple of weeks and I would have an entirely different combo. The thing is, I played the BWE with the most absurd combinations I could think of, just so that my experience was different to retail and also, theoretically, so as to not miss my doomed characters. Some combos had exactly the intended effect; my female Norn Mesmer, male Norn Thief and Male Charr Guardian were quite surreal for different reasons.

However, it backfired horribly with my female human engineer (named Tesla Strong), which I grew to love quite a bit from early on. Those long brown leather coats and flintlock weaponry just looked awesome on her. It also happened with my male human elementalist, which looked rather bitching in his white and red regalia and trimmed goatee, but since I never leveled him past level 3 (since I knew an Ele was going to be one of my mains for sure), not so much emotional attachment.

Edit: Apparently I can't tell my selfless from my selfish. A miracle I didn't write "shellfish". :P
 
Details, details...

Male Norn Guardian
Male Charr Warrior
Male Human Thief
Female Sylvari Mesmer
Female Asura Engineer

All new characters, all new names.

[mileage may vary]

EDIT: I'm already changing it, damn it...

So yeah, ignore the above. In fact, ignore any such posts from me in the future - I'm not going to be able to decide till the game is here and I'm making toons.
 
I think he means that Engineer, Necro, Thief and Elementalist are listed as they appear left to right, but the Warrior, Guardian, Ranger and mesmer are not.

It should go Warrior, Ranger, Mesmer, Guardian.

Yeah, this is what I meant, my bad.
 
I came a bit late for the design stuff; sorry Jira. I will be sure to leave my two cents about the next iteration. Your work is amazing, though, and I thank you for all your selfish effort.

I think you mean selfless effort.

However, it backfired horribly with my female human engineer (named Tesla Strong), which I grew to love quite a bit from early on. Those long brown leather coats and flintlock weaponry just looked awesome on her.

Awesome name for an Engineer. I know what you mean though, I had a female thief with a brown leather coat and dual pistols, and it really makes me want to roll a human female engineer (Thief is not one of my favored classes, but Engineers can wear the same armor). But I have to stay the course on my Charr Engineer.

Anyway, so far my plan is:

1. Human Male Elementalist
2. Sylvari Female Warrior (probably)
3. Charr Male Engineer
4. Asura Male (probably) Mesmer
5. Norn Female something (haven't decided on my 5th class)
 
Well, I spent about 4 hours trying to register the code I got from Curse, but the site never loaded for me. Somehow, somebody else ended up registering it.
 
I have decided, against my earlier declaration, to have a character from each race. Three boys, two girls. Now I just have to secure the names I want.

Yep, I was originally on the fence about having a Sylvari and was pretty sure I wasn't going to roll an Asura (I'm not a fan of diminutive races). Now I think I'll probably have one of everything too.

I just wish the male Norn run animation didn't feel so lumbering and sluggish. They're so damn tall and built, in full armor they'd look like a tank. Maybe I'll role one and just force myself to deal with it.

But I have to stay the course on my Charr Engineer.

Here's my Charr Engineer from BWE;
SxGyw.jpg

I love that steampunk-monocle thing.
 
I feel the same way about the Norn, Retro. I detest feeling slow in games, any games, and they move like they're running through knee-high water all the time.

EDIT: Frankly even the Asura run animation bugs me. It makes them seem slower even though they're midgets.
 
Frankly even the Asura run animation bugs me. It makes them seem slower even though they're midgets.

That's odd, usually they have to speed up the run animations for smaller races.

As for the Norn... I think I'll just have to get used to it. I really like the idea of playing an armored giant.
 
Human Male Elementalist [Main]
Asura Female Mesmer
Norn Female Ranger
Charr Male Warrior
Sylvari Male Thief

Fuck yeah.
 
Hmm. I have no idea what my Main would be. Might just play around a while till I get a feeling about one of the classes. Would say Engineer but that's hard to do without knowing what they've changed.
 
I think you mean selfless effort.
Holy crap! Yes, of course, I meant that, sorry! Not 48 hours into my membership and I've already embarrassed myself, new record! :D

Awesome name for an Engineer.

Thanks! It may not be Alan Moore's best, but it's still a great read.

I know what you mean though, I had a female thief with a brown leather coat and dual pistols, and it really makes me want to roll a human female engineer (Thief is not one of my favored classes, but Engineers can wear the same armor). But I have to stay the course on my Charr Engineer.

Agh, same here. The outfit was complete with a Brotherhood of the Wolf-style hat and high collar (I'm sure there's a name for that); a head item that dropped during BWE1:
Oddly enough, it seems it was removed from BW2 onwards. And I don't mean it didn't drop anymore, I mean they TOOK IT FROM ME. >_> I'm guessing it looked too cool for such a low level item, and in fact head items became quite rare until after level ten.
 
Just wondering...I pre-ordered the game during greenmangaming's promotion, and I don't really want to try the beta out. Am I missing something by doing so? As in, titles, pets, etc.
 
I just wish the male Norn run animation didn't feel so lumbering and sluggish. They're so damn tall and built, in full armor they'd look like a tank. Maybe I'll role one and just force myself to deal with it.
I feel the same way and seeing as how race has no effect on health/defense, I'm avoiding going Norn simply because I will keep thinking I'm a juggernaut when in fact I have the same defense as the tiny Asura of same class.
 
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