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

ANet is the people's developer. I've never seen someone listen and deliver as much as these guys have during the past few beta events. This is going to be an awesome ride.

On the Sylvari racials - I had to watch it on my phone so couldn't get a good look at the skill description, but am I right in saying that the skills mimic what the Veteran Oakhart in Queensdale does by planting seedlings that heal you until destroyed? If so, Sylvari will be, hands down, the best race for a Guardian.
 
Thanks. Could use the Honeycomb is you dont want it. Just need it and the Juneberries now. After the Bog Scale and Skree Wing farming, I dont ever wanna farm again but know that I will most likely need to.

Speaking of Sorrows Furnace, does it take long? Is it hard to do with heroes? I finally after a couple of hours of trekking around the whole world got something close to that 7 Hero Skill build (missing a Mesmer and Ritualist hero) and wonder if it will be enough or if I am gonna be in there forever.

I have both the berries and the honeycombs if you want them. Send me a pm and we can meet up ingame to trade.
 
Very nice to see the item previewer. I also noticed the clock was in the bottom left corner of the minimap and not next to the menu so either they changed the placement of it or we have choices as to where we can place it.
 
Forgive me if I sound rude to you and everyone else considering playing with a controller... what, other than comfort, is the upside? I see quite a few posts regarding efficiency of timing using a controller with dodge... are there not other buttons which require just as much attention to timing? Or how about turn speed... sometimes a dodge isn't all you will need in a sticky situation and a 180 can put you in an even stickier situation.

With all of the concern with timing and the ability to perform maneuvers "right now" - why not just stick with kb/m? Quick turning, easy targeting, non-modifier dodge and other abilities, etc? It would seem just from the concern that many will be short-changing themselves for serious competitive gameplay using a controller. I know many can play it "fine" but it seems that "fine" isnt good enough if people are raising concern.

I'm honestly just curious as I've read tests about kb/m vs controller games where the best of the best controller gamers were put up against average kb/m players in an fps and the controller users got stomped around every turn. Or is my memory not serving me right?

Again, I'm just curious and don't want to offend anyone who is using a controller for this game due to dexterity issues - which is the main reason I can't use a standard keyboard for pc games.

Don't worry at all about asking this; you've been the epitome of courteousness, especially since I'm used to being called n00b and more colorful stuff for even suggesting gamepad as a viable alternative. :) You're curious, and that's a good thing; you also raise a few very good points. I'll try to answer to the best of my capacity.

First of all, as you say, confort is the main upside. Playing an MMO is supposed to be a leisure activity, not a job; therefore, for me, within reasonable boundaries, confort will always trump performance. I'm also not a competitive PvP'er; if anything, I'll play quite a bit of WvW, most surely. Therefore, again, performance is a relatively secondary concern to me.

Secondly, the thing is that I'm not at all sure that the classic mantra of Kb+M trumping a controller is true here, or at least, not for me. I played all the beta events and stress test save for BWE1 using a controller entirely, and aside for being an experience so much gratifying that going back is no longer an option for me, I'd say that my game was even improved! A joypad and the dodge button allowed me degrees of mobility that I can't imagine replicating with a Kb+M; I was able to hold my own against two other players in WvW, and by the end of the latest stress test, I was soloing Champions (elites) + adds.

Really, most of the disadvantages you can think of are quite less serious in practice with a good configuration. Turning, for example, is bound to the right analog stick; this allows you to turn as slowly or fast as you want by tilting it more or less. In fact, I originally made it so that holding a shift and turning would turn much faster; I removed it in later configurations as it turned out (no pun intended) utterly unnecessary. FPS are a completelly different ball game; aiming perfectly in a split second is a MUCH more important skill on those games, so using a mouse will always give you a huge advantage (to the point that playing console shooters with a mouse, to me, feels like easy mode). This is not needed at all in MMOs, so it's not an issue.

There is also an additional reason that is relevant for me alone, and that is that I injured my right arm last January and I'm still kind of recovering. I can do pretty much anything, but heavy keyboarding and mousing for long stretches with my left arm are uncomfortable and even painful to me. At work (software engineer) I use a trackball with my left hand, but after trying using it for GW2, it's more trouble than it's worth (the game is meant to be played with a mouse on your right hand).

To address your point about "is 'fine' not 'good enough' if people are raising concerns", it comes simply from the fact that there is no need to sacrifice utility for confort; if you can be efficient as well as play in a way that feels better, why would you settle with less?

Seems that the FT got a damage buff. Guess they decided to take out some utility because of that :(

Well, I guess we do still technically have a pull since we can always chuck a mine beyond the person and make them blow up towards us.

I may be in the minoroty here, but I'm all for sacrificing some utility in order to increase its DPS, which was honestly really subpar, even taking into account it's kind of a DPS weapon. I ended up not using it at all in serious situations; it takes a utility bar slot (those being much better used on turrets), it forces you into melee (more danger), and it DECREASES your damage? No thanks. The rifle already has two abilities for keeping my enemies where I want them. Seriously, the flamethrower needs a HUGE damage buff to even approach viability.
It seems they replace it with something that blinds enemies but can also be used while knocked down, anyone has any mor edetails? I also want to see the new mine as well. Did everybody else notice that mines used underwater became classic round, underwater mines mines? That was an awesome touch. :)

Well, my thinking is that having it bound to the two trigger buttons will pretty much zero to very little delay in reaction considering that your fingers are resting there to begin with. I definitely would not bind dodge to a shoulder button and like the X button or, like you said, simply the x button since the delay would be too great.

Im going to test it out and see though, and if there is a delay, I will switch back, but right now, I like the overall set up since it just seems cleaner to me

OK, be sure to tell us how it goes. I noticed almost everything ends up working either much better or much worse than one anticipates. :D

Just hope they make ir possible to make the itens in the bank usable through the crafting, this is the only thing I really hated on the Betas.

While I kind of share the feeling, banks are almost always right next to crafting stations, and at that point, you might as well remove the collection from the bank and have it on the character permanently. Which could actually work quite well, I think. Probably not game breaking, either way,

Right, but to move the camera, you need to use your right thumb. And you need that thumb to hit AXBY. So you cannot circle strafe while using abilities. I don't know if this is a legitimate option for melee classes at least.

There's several reasons why that is not really an issue in practice:
1) You are not continually strafing. Even for melee classes, the attack swings are wide enough that you can afford to steer in smal chunks rather than continuously hold the analog.
2) Conversely, you're not using skills all the time. This could be a concern if the 1 ability didn't have an autoattack and you had to mash it, but that's not the case. The second shortest cooldown is usually 6 seconds at least, plus you don't always want to use all skills as soon as they're available; you can afford to let go of the right analog for a fraction of second every six.
3) Even if that would become an issue, it can be solved as easily as switching the button mappings around. Take my second configuration, then punt 2 and 3 on LB and LT, 4 and 5 on RB+LB and RB+LT. You now have access to 2-5 without letting go of either analog (1 is usually not needed as you'll use it once at the beginning of combat and each time you switch mobs). With other people's combinations, you could VERY easily map all ten skills to the shoulder buttons.
Still, this is supposing that the entire combat is based about circle-strafing constantly; in my experience, it doesn't. For instance, I find that dodging through the enemy, then turning 180 to hit them, works quite well.

Of course, note that this all is referring to PvE and WvW; in high-level PvP I expect to be destroyed. But the thing is that I'd be destroyed gamepad or no, so... :D


Whoa, not only is this a fantastic recap of the mantras we'be been repeating to other people all the time (and therefore is really valuable resource in future lecturing), this also officially confirms (if it wasn't obvious already) that as new events are introduced, older ones' frequencies will drastically decrease, for more variety. :)


Equipment preview is a really welcome addition. In classic GW2 tradition, it is already more usable than WoW's; I can't count the number of times I've wished for a "reset view" button. Also awesome that it displays a paperdoll to see what is differently equipped in the preview. Really, more thought went into GW2's user interface than in most games' entire design.

Sylvari racials are cool. The seed turret is much more beautiful than I expected; I didn't think it'd be a beautiful, slowly growing flower! The entangle animation is kind of weird, especially against large targets; I hope is still buggy/temporary. Love that you have to actively break them, though!

Going to see the grove next. Expecting to be blown away. :)

Edit: OK, this seriously rocks:

http://medias.jeuxonline.info/guildwars2/equipe/136830/preset.jpg
 
Has there been any new news on whether this game is coming to Steam? I'm willing to start after launch if need be.

It won't be due Valve's microtransaction policy. Really though with an MMO all you're doing is clicking a game name in Steam to open the MMO launcher...the same exact thing you can do by just adding it manually. Obviously your time won't be tracked but eh.

awesome! both races?

Yes.
 
It won't be due Valve's microtransaction policy. Really though with an MMO all you're doing is clicking a game name in Steam to open the MMO launcher...the same exact thing you can do by just adding it manually. Obviously your time won't be tracked but eh.

Ah. Before they implied that it was possible it might show up after release, just no preorders. Oh well. Still getting the game regardless.

Wait, do different races look different in the same armor?
 
Wow @ the class/race combos. The detail they put into the armor for each race is awesome.

Hmm, not a fan of making male/female outfits exactly the same on Charr and Asura though. Seems a bit cheap, compared to the other races.
 
Hmm, not a fan of making male/female outfits exactly the same on Charr and Asura though. Seems a bit cheap, compared to the other races.
Not surprised about it on the Charr, though I am a little sad they're so similar on all the Asura classes. I also don't like the starting armor for the Asura Thief at all, so replacing that's gonna be a priority
KuGsj.gif
 
Wow @ the class/race combos. The detail they put into the armor for each race is awesome.

It really is. I was consistently amazed at the ludicrous level of detail of armor even dropping during low levels in the BWE. In fact, this may all be low level armor, because the one the female human ranger is wearing, dropped for my engineer (or was a low level personal story reward); I wore it for a few levels.
Of course, dyes make it even more amazing. How many of you noticed that the female Sylvari elementalist is wearing the exact same skirt, leggings and boots as the human female necro, just dyed red/orange/brown? :)

awesome! both races?

Yes sir. As if we didn't have enough problem coping with all the stuff to do in a single weekend, they just dropped a truckload more. Bad ArenaNet! ;_;

Wait, do different races look different in the same armor?

Not necessarily; different races get different sets as a preview. See above for how the human and sylvari female were wearing the same item for different professions.

Hmm, not a fan of making male/female outfits exactly the same on Charr and Asura though. Seems a bit cheap, compared to the other races.

However, to compensate for it, they seem to get unique models for them, while Human, Norn and Sylvari share the same model among all three.

Not surprised about it on the Charr, though I am a little sad they're so similar on all the Asura classes. I also don't like the starting armor for the Asura Thief at all, so replacing that's gonna be a priority
KuGsj.gif

Remember this is the preview armor when selecting the class, not the actual starter armor you get. The Asura armor does seem plainer in general among most classes: the mesmer is positively bland compared to how, well, mesmerizing the other races are.
However, this is a design choice I like, weirdly enough. Too much detail would look bad in such a tiny model; it would lead to pixel jumbling and such. Also, it simply goes well with the cute, slightly cartoony Asura look. The more I look at them, the more I love them, precisely because they're so different than the others.
 
I actually think that the Asura Mesmer creation armor is a placeholder and it'll be different when we play for BWE3.
 
I just can't find the motivation to fill up 30 in HoM... have 25 right now and have been grinding The Shadow Nexus for a 5th Mysterious Armor Piece but its just not dropping. Must have spent 10+ hours on this alone. Demoralizing.
 
I just can't find the motivation to fill up 30 in HoM... have 25 right now and have been grinding The Shadow Nexus for a 5th Mysterious Armor Piece but its just not dropping. Must have spent 10+ hours on this alone. Demoralizing.
What more do you need?

I might be able to help with something.
 
What more do you need?

I might be able to help with something.

Here is my HoM calculator. I can do fine with grinding but I have been attempting this 5th piece for quite a while now. I don't know if its bugged or limits 4 Mysterious armor per character??? I have stopped progress in the campaign just to get an armor piece for Goren.

If you can give me some pointers to a quicker method to reach 30 that'd be appreciated.
 
Here is my HoM calculator. I can do fine with grinding but I have been attempting this 5th piece for quite a while now. I don't know if its bugged or limits 4 Mysterious armor per character??? I have stopped progress in the campaign just to get an armor piece for Goren.

If you can give me some pointers to a quicker method to reach 30 that'd be appreciated.

Go with Norn, Asura, Ancient, Monument armors and get your Oppressor weapon from War in Kryta.

Get your Norn and Asura title track to 5 if you haven't already. Quickest way to do so is this:

Get a Hero's Handbook

A very efficient way to get from Rank 1-8 and 8-10, in any title track, is to have the number of books you need in your inventory (4 for NM and 2 or 3 HM (see below)) and move the empty ones to the lead in order to fill them. Then run each mission again and again until each book has the completed mission. Finally, turn in all of completed books for each title track. In total you will need to fill 16 in normal mode and 10 in hard mode for all 4 titles to Max (see below). This also makes a net profit of 120,000 gold plus drops. This takes into account rewards for completing the quests once each on both normal and hard mode, however repeat rewards, sidequests, and bounties have been omitted for simplicity.
It is more efficient to get to rank 8 before vanquishing Eye of the North areas. After all of the faction-specific areas are vanquished, turn to hard mode books to max it.

For the Oppressor weapon, just finishing War in Kryta (not very long) will allow you to turn in Medals of Honor for any one you want. So at this point you need money for your armors and a bit of time.
 
I thought that was shopped, lol.

Jesus, why will people play Asura is beyond me...

Because playing as a tiny elf creature is awesome. I'm totally going to be playing an Asura Warrior/Guardian.
 
My buddy is under the impression that he missed the date for getting in on this final beta, that's not true, right? He should be able to pre-order or buy up till Thursday I'm guessing and still get in?
 
While we are on HoM, here is mine:

http://hom.guildwars2.com/en/#page=details&details=ITBAAAg%2F%2F%2FCAAAAAAgHAAAABAgIAAAAACAEIQAAAAAA&todo=AAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I have one more mission in Factions to complete with the Master's Reward (or whatever its called...its that damn protecting the trees mission. I have been putting this off for like 2 weeks) to get the Protector of Cantha title which will put me at 27/30. I have about 180 War Supplies and 4 of the Badges of Honor, which means I could spend 150 of those War Supplies to get myself a 4th weapon....or grind up to a full 250 war supplies and sell them for 100k and use the funds to buy minipets. I'd need 16 more to get +2 points which would sit me tauntingly at 29/30. At that point I am not sure where I could get the next point. Either two more armors, or two more weapons I guess. Any suggestions?
 
While we are on HoM, here is mine:

http://hom.guildwars2.com/en/#page=details&details=ITBAAAg%2F%2F%2FCAAAAAAgHAAAABAgIAAAAACAEIQAAAAAA&todo=AAAAAAAAAAAAAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

I have one more mission in Factions to complete with the Master's Reward (or whatever its called...its that damn protecting the trees mission. I have been putting this off for like 2 weeks) to get the Protector of Cantha title which will put me at 27/30. I have about 180 War Supplies and 4 of the Badges of Honor, which means I could spend 150 of those War Supplies to get myself a 4th weapon....or grind up to a full 250 war supplies and sell them for 100k and use the funds to buy minipets. I'd need 16 more to get +2 points which would sit me tauntingly at 29/30. At that point I am not sure where I could get the next point. Either two more armors, or two more weapons I guess. Any suggestions?

Sitting in Kamadan/EOTN buying minis is a lot less stressful than that damn tree mission is.
 
Think there's much of a chance of scoring a beta key at this point? I played GW1 for years and finally realized that of course I am going to play 2. I've almost made my money from Diablo 3 back by selling off my gear. Going to have no need for that game come launch.
 
My roommate has decided he's going to be playing an Asura as well. I might play a Charr so that we can be a hilarious fantasy buddy cop team.
 
!! Might will now not only add 35 power but also 35 condition damage making might useful for condition builds !!

Jira FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

my build just got super buffed.
 
For the Oppressor weapon, just finishing War in Kryta (not very long) will allow you to turn in Medals of Honor for any one you want. So at this point you need money for your armors and a bit of time.

Hey I really appreciated it... turns out I had War in Kryta picked up in my Journal. Haven't started it though, so Ill try to do that first.
 
holy god so much stuff.

also, noted this for you gem fiends:
As we mentioned earlier, we’re wiping all our beta data before launch—including items purchased this weekend—but we’ll keep a record of how many gems you’ve purchased during beta events. When Guild Wars 2 launches on August 28, you’ll receive those gems back on your account.
 
Oh very nice stuff. Interesting they didn't touch on the small stuff like the clock or item previewer so who knows what else is in there.
 
In Keg Brawl, two teams attempt to score points by toting a full keg of ale across an icy lake and turning it in to the Ale Collector that belongs to their team. Participants are free to tackle, pummel, kick, and otherwise rough up competing players in order to seize control of the keg.

Fucking football in Guild Wars 2. GLORIOUS.

This beta weekend we’re introducing objectives for solo players called sentries. As you can imagine from the name, sentries are solitary NPC guards located on a capture point that are worth points if you can take them out. But be warned—sentries are no pushovers!

YESSSS

GW2 DELIVERS. HANDS DOWN AMAZING AWESOME
 
Just a reminder:

Even though characters are being wiped for this BWE and even if you can choose a new server, everyone still roll on Henge of Denravi (NA) and Jade Sea (EU) just so there's no confusion.
 
Just a reminder:

Even though characters are being wiped for this BWE and even if you can choose a new server, everyone still roll on Henge of Denravi (NA) and Jade Sea (EU) just so there's no confusion.

Reminder: This is NOT for launch. This is just for THIS BWE.

LAUNCH SERVER IS GATES OF MADNESS..
 
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