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[inky]

Really tempted to buy this but never played the first and the only MMO I played was WoW.

Would someone be able to answer these for me?

1. What if you don't have many friends that play these types of games, can you still "solo" play your way through? Is the community much more forgiving than WoW in things like raids etc?

2. If I went to say Gamestop to go buy it, would I then be able to install and play? (I'm in US) is there some kind of preview going on right now? I happen to be off this week so that would be nice!

Thanks!

1. Solo play is perfectly fine, you'll only need a group for dungeons (5 man instances) and these are few and far between. Not required to progress either, just an extra challenge. Community is alright, but it's too early to tell. The good thing about what you are asking is that there are no raids in the game like you know them. There are grand scale events that happen throughout the world since the early levels and everyone can join in the fun without being left out. You just have to be there when they occur.

The way the game is set up makes it so people won't bitch about you not being the required anything for any content (other than the dungeons maybe) so have no worries on that regard.

2. If you buy the game right now you'll be able to play fully in 10 days. There's no preview going on, but rather some small testing windows that can last a few hours. I doubt you'd be able to play this weekend too, but the game is almost out anyway.

 

[Ferrio]

I gave up, second area has some lighting bs that kills me on 1 hit.

It slows you too. Lightning part was the hardest. The cold section after it wasn't so bad.

 

[foladar]

Went to Queensdale to try and help with the stress test but it broke my game. Can't log back into that character, LOL

 

[chris-013]

Ye I only played 1hour too much crashs/disconnects. :/

 

[pyrandes]

Went to Queensdale to try and help with the stress test but it broke my game. Can't log back into that character, LOL

Something similar happened to my asuran thief during the last stress test (said she was in Queensdale and couldnt log into her).

Its weird 'cause i dont remember logging out in Queensdale the last I played her (on BWE 3)

 

[Nemesis121]

I ran into the same damn glitch twice, loading in divinity the game gets stuck on a continuous loading cycle, and when I try to force quit the game through task manager it locks my system up...

 

[Piecake]

Well, tried out a female human mesmer for like 5 seconds to see if they actually got rid of that hugely annoying jingle sound when you walk. thank god that they did. Still, think ill go male for the human since I norn, slyvari, and asura will be female for me

 

[Jack_AG]

There are grand scale events that happen throughout the world since the early levels and everyone can join in the fun without being left out. You just have to be there when they occur.

Lots of events don't just happen, either. Many are triggered by speaking with an NPC. To find the NPC you just simply talk to the dude yelling "Hey! I need help over here!" or some other form of verbal queue. So you don't have to just run around waiting for one to happen - engage with the environment/NPCs and events spring forth.

 

[XeroSauce]

So much lag. I spent the majority of my time in character creation.

 

[Quadrophenic]

How was the disappearing world/occlusion bug during this stress test?

The stress test on Sunday in Metrica Provence was horrible because of it.

edit: Disappearing not disappointing lol.

 

[Desaan]

Keep seeing weird issues with the grass with supersampling on but it's not consistent (6970) and never ending load screens on area change. Server load problem?

 

[Complistic]

Played guardian pvp the whole time. Don't know if I ever rubber banded once. It was glorious.

Guardians are such a wall if spec'd right.

Keep seeing weird issues with the grass with supersampling on but it's not consistent (6970) and never ending load screens on area change. Server load problem?

Yeah I had a few never ending load screens as well. Had to alt tab out. Happened 3 times I think.

 

[zulfate]

Lots of events don't just happen, either. Many are triggered by speaking with an NPC. To find the NPC you just simply talk to the dude yelling "Hey! I need help over here!" or some other form of verbal queue. So you don't have to just run around waiting for one to happen - engage with the environment/NPCs and events spring forth.

i remember an event that just randomly started, my friend went afk so i waited and the npc next to me started talking to himself lol. something tells me if i talked to him it would have started sooner maybe?

 

[Emitan]

Let me back in!

 

[Weltall Zero]

How was the disappointing world/occlusion bug during this stress test?

The stress test on Sunday in Metrica Provence was horrible because of it.

Fixed. At least, I spent over two hours in Metrica this test and didn't encounter it once (while before, you couldn't take two steps without the world disappearing under you ).

Also managed to finish two personal story stretches (Sylvary/Moon shield + Asura/Statics), one of them (the latter one) at level 8

 

[SalomonA]

Didn't really had the time to test my Charr Mesmer. Instead I tried my Charr Thief, which I now regret. Oh well, guess there'll be some more testing this weekend. :/

Only one disc for me tho, so it was all playable, except for the enormous lag @ Queensdale. They really need to work on the optimization in some parts.

 

[Coolwhip]

Those 4 hours really flew past.

My imba warrior at level 8! Still not sure what class to play. When you see those classes with magic setting everything on fire I do get a bit jealous.

 

[FutureZombie]

Played a game against a Gaffer in PVP, I think. Name was NTE; had the [GAF] tag. Asura thief. Anyone here?

 

[Llyranor]

I only played some sPvP this time around.

Tried out the elementalist. Good fun. Love switching between the various elements to pick the proper skills in the situation.

Tried out the engineer as well. Tried some explosive build, some turret build, some weapon kit build, some survivalist build. Overall, it didn't wow me as much as the other classes I've tried (mesmer, thief, ele), even though it was my first pick on paper. I'll have to tinker with it a bit more, perhaps.

Thief and mesmer are great to play action-wise. Dodging around, staying alive, flanking and confusing the enemy, narrow escapes. Good fun.

Ele is great for the vast breadth of options you have at any time at your disposal. The right skill for the right situation.

Engineer on paper sounds like it offers a lot of breadth to, and it's true that it does for creating the build itself, once in the game I kept feeling as though my options weren't that interesting, nor as fun as the other classes. Turrets are very 'fire and forget', kits take up utility slots and just replace weapons (unless you go for lots of kits - but then that limits your build in a different way), and utility skills seem very limited, too. I don't know.

-------

Guys! Guys! We need to wipe out guild [YOLO]! Just seeing the name pop up filled me with rage! RAGE!

------

Also, while the music isn't anything bad, it just sounds like typical Soule/any of his other RPG soundtracks. I'm a bit tired of his sound samples.

 

[theMrCravens]

Had crashes while loading a zone.
Sound and music took a while to load.
Still had graphcal glitches where my character (and sometimes others) would turn slightly all blue/purple.

Never had these happen in each BWEs, but since it was a stress test, I'll hope for the best come retail.

 

[timkunedo]

Definitely confirmed i'm playing a Char Warrior and Sylvari Ranger to start off. Also probably going to cancel (freeze) the ole wow subscription yet again.

 

[Emitan]

Those 4 hours really flew past.

My imba warrior at level 8! Still not sure what class to play. When you see those classes with magic setting everything on fire I do get a bit jealous.

If you like warrior and fire play guardian~

 

[inky]

Also, while the music isn't anything bad, it just sounds like typical Soule/any of his other RPG soundtracks. I'm a bit tired of his sound samples.

Most of it is alright. A couple sound taken straight out of Oblivion.

If you like warrior and fire play guardian~

Stop telling everyone to play guardian guys (and gals) =(

 

[mik83kuu]

Apart from one stuck in a loading screen and one crash this stress test was a perfect show of how the game hopefully works on launch day. I mean sure there'll be more people, but at least the client works pretty much as I'd imagine a launch MMO to work.

Found an option to change camera moving speed (yay!) and disable the camera rubber banding behind the character while moving so right now I think I'm all out of things to hate. Sure the camera movement acceleration should be disabled altogether but fuck it's so close to perfect right now I don't care

Best and worst thing about this stress test though was the fact that I tried sPvP. Worst because it was a fucking mess for me having played this game for total of one hour prior to today and jumping in with a full level 80 character. No clue what was happening half the time regarding my actions and spells. Good because now I know the basics of sPvP and also know there are places to practice skills on dummies. Also I think I'll mostly just level up and focus on WvWvW anyways so it's no biggie.

Three questions though:

- If a Warrior or Guardian character chooses the option with a helmet or spaulders, can those items ever be changed or is the character stuck with that item look for the rest of his life?

- Is WvWvW going to be enabled on day 1 or will they give people time to actually level up instead of everyone running around without proper gear and spells?

- Does the game keep track of what events you complete? Example: A norn must complete one of three events (boar, gryphon, minotaur) to advance, but you can actually complete all three. Is there a reason for completionists to run around completing everything or could you get the same benefit if you just complete same events over and over again etc.

 

[alazz]

^I believe the character creation helmet/spaulders option is just an additional item given to your character when you first create it. Nothing permanent.

When I finally got in I had less than 1FPS and it wouldn't go up.

Great looking character! I think I'm going to roll an Asuran, too, and I'm enamored with Guardian. Whatafreakin fun class. Had a level 19 in the first BWE and it was a blast with Greatsword. And, honestly, I've been dying to play as an Asuran with a big-ass sword since EotN, and my time has come (soon).

 

[Emitan]

Most of it is alright. A couple sound taken straight out of Oblivion.

Well he did the Oblivion and Guild Wars soundtracks at around the same time this game has some GW1 music in it.

 

[thetrin]

Guys! Guys! We need to wipe out guild [YOLO]! Just seeing the name pop up filled me with rage! RAGE!

I feel like an old man asking this, but what does YOLO mean? I see it all over the internet, and still have no idea what it's about.

EDIT: Oh it means you only live once. Why is there an abbrevation for that? It takes 5 seconds to type. Also, why does YOLO exist at all, when a far better phrase (carpe diem) already exists?

 

[Emitan]

- If a Warrior or Guardian character chooses the option with a helmet or spaulders, can those items ever be changed or is the character stuck with that item look for the rest of his life?

You can disable those items and get replacements for them too.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Tried out the engineer as well. Tried some explosive build, some turret build, some weapon kit build, some survivalist build. Overall, it didn't wow me as much as the other classes I've tried (mesmer, thief, ele), even though it was my first pick on paper. I'll have to tinker with it a bit more, perhaps.

I see what you did there.

Also, while the music isn't anything bad, it just sounds like typical Soule/any of his other RPG soundtracks. I'm a bit tired of his sound samples.

I guess that's where my playlist generator comes in handy. No, guys, I haven't forgotten about it; I've just not had time to finish tidying it up. It's coming.

Only one disc for me tho, so it was all playable, except for the enormous lag @ Queensdale. They really need to work on the optimization in some parts.

Queensdale was the target of some stress test, as in, they sent a popup to everyone at some point to go there and break it. Then they did the same with Divinity's reach, but I don't think that one broke.

 

[ComputerMKII]

Well, that was fun. Explored the shit out of Divinity's Reach and Hoelbrak, then did some WvWvW. Here's my character!

 

[DarkSloth]

Good session. Really liking my mesmer for pve. Finally leveled up high enough to use the greatsword I got a few stress tests ago. I got a couple minipets, and I'm really liking the new look of the skree. Hopefully this little, but looks big in the pic, gal will be flying with me when the game launches.

 

[Rizific]

is there a place i can go where i can see a list of all the classes+weapons and what abilities they have?

 

[Trey]

Also, why does YOLO exist at all...?

 

[inky]

is there a place i can go where i can see a list of all the classes+weapons and what abilities they have?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

 

[Shanlei91]

The xp gain from actually winning in WvWvW is amazing. Last 10 minutes we were steamrolling after trying to take a keep for 50 minutes. In those 10 minutes I went from level 17 to 18 plus half a bar.

 

[Rizific]

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Main_Page

Awesome! Thanks.

 

[kayos90]

If yall are bored feel free to check out my stream in about an hour. Will be playing Ghost Recon and then I will play Darksiders 2. After that is LoL.

www.twitch.tv/kayos90

 

[Songbird]

So in Mumble tonight someone suggested starting a blog documenting the best parts of GW2 (I forgot who you were, sorry!); dynamic events played that day, fun community interaction, things like that.

Would people be interested in contributing if I started a Tumblr for this?

 

[Trey]

Would people be interested in contributing if I started a Tumblr for this?

I would.

 

[Jira]

Apart from one stuck in a loading screen and one crash this stress test was a perfect show of how the game hopefully works on launch day. I mean sure there'll be more people, but at least the client works pretty much as I'd imagine a launch MMO to work.

Found an option to change camera moving speed (yay!) and disable the camera rubber banding behind the character while moving so right now I think I'm all out of things to hate. Sure the camera movement acceleration should be disabled altogether but fuck it's so close to perfect right now I don't care

Best and worst thing about this stress test though was the fact that I tried sPvP. Worst because it was a fucking mess for me having played this game for total of one hour prior to today and jumping in with a full level 80 character. No clue what was happening half the time regarding my actions and spells. Good because now I know the basics of sPvP and also know there are places to practice skills on dummies. Also I think I'll mostly just level up and focus on WvWvW anyways so it's no biggie.

Three questions though:

- If a Warrior or Guardian character chooses the option with a helmet or spaulders, can those items ever be changed or is the character stuck with that item look for the rest of his life?

- Is WvWvW going to be enabled on day 1 or will they give people time to actually level up instead of everyone running around without proper gear and spells?

- Does the game keep track of what events you complete? Example: A norn must complete one of three events (boar, gryphon, minotaur) to advance, but you can actually complete all three. Is there a reason for completionists to run around completing everything or could you get the same benefit if you just complete same events over and over again etc.

1. You can create 3 guardians with each one and throw the others in the bank for your one guardian and delete the 2 guardians.

2. Yes it will be enabled day 1. You're meant to play it at any level.

3. You could complete the same events for say daily or monthly achievements if you really wanted to, but that's entirely up to you.

 

[BrettWeir]

So, I bought 4000 gems today. I bought them pretty much with character slots and storage in mind......so, after I buy the gems, I went browsing the BLTC, and .... there is no longer an option to expand your bank/storage????? On the last tab, it only had Character Slot.

WTF?!

 

[Piecake]

So, I bought 4000 gems today. I bought them pretty much with character slots and storage in mind......so, after I buy the gems, I went browsing the BLTC, and .... there is no longer an option to expand your bank/storage????? On the last tab, it only had Character Slot.

WTF?!

I wouldnt worry about it. That will definitely be included since that is arenanet basically giving away free money if its not

 

[Jaleel]

Hey guys, today while I was playing my Human Guardian I discovered all the explorable areas (POI, Vistas, Skills, etc.) in Queensdale and doing so I got a pretty awesome reward. A bad ass two hand sword and staff (both were green). This got me thinking if these rewards are profession based, because if I were say a Thief or Engineer those rewards would be totally useless to me. So does anyone know if these rewards are profession based or not?

 

[aramanKain]

Those 4 hours really flew past.

My imba warrior at level 8! Still not sure what class to play. When you see those classes with magic setting everything on fire I do get a bit jealous.

Sounds like Guardian is for you then! Melee AND setting things on blue fire... win win.

 

[Proven]

So in Mumble tonight someone suggested starting a blog documenting the best parts of GW2 (I forgot who you were, sorry!); dynamic events played that day, fun community interaction, things like that.

Would people be interested in contributing if I started a Tumblr for this?

I'd contribute stories.

 

[Piecake]

Hey guys, today while I was playing my Human Guardian I discovered all the explorable areas (POI, Vistas, Skills, etc.) in Queensdale and doing so I got a pretty awesome reward. A bad ass two hand sword and staff (both were green). This got me thinking if these rewards are profession based, because if I were say a Thief or Engineer those rewards would be totally useless to me. So does anyone know if these rewards are profession based or not?

I dont think they are profession based. You'd still get use out of them by salvaging or chucking them into the mystic forge

 

[Violet_0]

probably has been mentioned already, but the Hunter got some new skills

apparently tooltips don't show up in screenshots, but they all give your pet various bonuses. One transfers all damage for the next 6 seconds to your pet and is awesome (a slight worse version of the Warrior's Ignore Pain)

also, this was slightly amusing

 

[Jack_AG]

Fixed. At least, I spent over two hours in Metrica this test and didn't encounter it once (while before, you couldn't take two steps without the world disappearing under you ).

Not quite. In a random cave I had a huge portion of the game world pop out - it can be seen in the video I linked in the gafguild Ele thread. Its a split second because I was fighting a few baddies and was moving the camera about.

Today is the first day I have seen it myself.

 

[Emitan]

Ranger!

 

[Piecake]

probably has been mentioned already, but the Hunter got some new skills

apparently tooltips don't show up in screenshots, but they all give your pet various bonuses. One transfers all damage for the next 6 seconds to your pet and is awesome (a slight worse version of the Warrior's Ignore Pain)

also, this was slightly amusing

I need ranger details!