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Guild Wars 2 public Beta is here for pre-purchases! [Stress Test June 27th]

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Yeah, Anet is smart enough to realize that a successful MMO is built around the idea that everyone can play it, and not that the first question people ask is "can I run it??"

And, I saw you in WvWvW a bunch! :) Had I known about those Squads things, it would be fun to all run together.

Yeah, I'm honestly up for playing with you or any other of you guys as a Squad in WvW next BWE, just send me a PM ;)

Not too surprised you saw me in WvW when I spent the last day practically living there.
 

Jira

Member
In response to that little beep noise when you send a message in guild chat:

Thanks everyone, we’re very aware of the annoyance of this sound, and are looking at ways to make it useful instead of annoying.
 

Jira

Member
.

We’re starting to see more siege and waypoints in use, but WvW is a bit too cost prohibitive right now for the pacing of these events. I’ll more than likely drop prices on blueprints and upgrades for the next event just to get them in play a little more often, but we’ll probably do another big pass on the economy of the game after we analyze all the data we get from this weekend, so I’d be willing to bet you can expect some changes in the next event.

This is something that I agree 110% with, the costs at the start of WvW are really high with blueprints/upgrades/repairs and the xp/coin/karma if you're a defender is tiny compared to large groups going around attacking and getting xp/coin/karma.
 

squidyj

Member
Originally my brother who couldn't make it into the beta wanted to find out just how well it ran on his 2008 PC that he's been contemplating to upgrade. Originally before the first patch it ran absolutely terrible medium and low, so I didn't want to try out high.

Specifications:
Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.2Ghz
2GB DDR2 RAM
1680x1050 Monitor

However, afterwards...

It runs max above usually at around 40FPS but drops down pretty low in heavy combat in World v World, I'm pretty amazed at how well this runs. It's pretty similar to the performance of the PC that I built recently! Sure, the beta isn't exactly optimized but it surprises me that even at this state it runs well on this PC.

And just so people know, I was Kotipelto on the GAF Guild.

.....Geralt, that you?
 
.....Geralt, that you?

Haha, he's pretty much based on Geralt entirely. I'm not going to lie, I saw that hair and thought instantly that I should create Geralt.

gw014.jpg
 

inky

Member
So, I was mainly skipping all conversations as to not to spoil them for my final run. My question is for those who did pay attention... Did you find the storylines good/boring, with memorable lines, scenes and characters or just typical MMO filler? I ask because I've read a lot of complaints in the official forums about some characters and parts of the story, especially the Norn. I also read that it feels like you are pretty much dropped into the middle of things and characters just come in and you are expected to already know a lot about them etc. and the game offers few explanations of who they are...

I must admit that I rarely pay attention to story in these kinds of games, but even when I do I seem to have a really poor memory for characters and names (which is really frustrating considering my line of work irl) so just wondering how you guys felt about it and the world of GW2 in general.
 

Achtius

Member
So, I was mainly skipping all conversations as to not to spoil them for my final run. My question is for those who did pay attention... Did you find the storylines good/boring, with memorable lines, scenes and characters or just typical MMO filler? I ask because I've read a lot of complaints in the official forums about some characters and parts of the story, especially the Norn. I also read that it feels like you are pretty much dropped into the middle of things and characters just come in and you are expected to already know a lot about them etc. and the game offers few explanations of who they are...

I must admit that I rarely pay attention to story in these kinds of games, but even when I do I seem to have a really poor memory for characters and names (which is really frustrating considering my line of work irl) so just wondering how you guys felt about it and the world of GW2 in general.

I particularly like the missing parents personal storyline for human since
it is about the white mantle
, ofc this will do nothing to people that are new to the series.
 

Guesong

Member
So, I was mainly skipping all conversations as to not to spoil them for my final run. My question is for those who did pay attention... Did you find the storylines good/boring, with memorable lines, scenes and characters or just typical MMO filler? I ask because I've read a lot of complaints in the official forums about some characters and parts of the story, especially the Norn. I also read that it feels like you are pretty much dropped into the middle of things and characters just come in and you are expected to already know a lot about them etc. and the game offers few explanations of who they are...

I must admit that I rarely pay attention to story in these kinds of games, but even when I do I seem to have a really poor memory for characters and names (which is really frustrating considering my line of work irl) so just wondering how you guys felt about it and the world of GW2 in general.

Norn was atrocious but I was getting intrigued at what I did so far on my Human. T'was good.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
The writing is filled with cheesy dialog and cliched situations but it's serviceable.

It's just not going to win any awards for storytelling in a game.
 

Retro

Member
The writing is filled with cheesy dialog and cliched situations but it's serviceable.

It's just not going to win any awards for storytelling in a game.

It's also the first few hours of a much larger game in which players will get to dictate the direction their story advances. It doesn't start off terribly strong (especially for the Norn) but I can see it going to interesting places.
 

ShaneB

Member
Yeah, I'm honestly up for playing with you or any other of you guys as a Squad in WvW next BWE, just send me a PM ;)

Not too surprised you saw me in WvW when I spent the last day practically living there.

It was a blast in WvWvW just running together, not worrying about gear, and feeling capable, and defending and kicking butt together. I was worried it was limited to just 5 player parties, but the squad thing made me quite happy in the future when we have a bunch of folks playing.
 

Vano

Member
he's annoying tho. Keep saying he will 'kill' them (enemy) if they ruin his shirt...but he is doing that already!

haha :D for me is annoyingly funny.

So, I was mainly skipping all conversations as to not to spoil them for my final run. My question is for those who did pay attention... Did you find the storylines good/boring, with memorable lines, scenes and characters or just typical MMO filler? I ask because I've read a lot of complaints in the official forums about some characters and parts of the story, especially the Norn. I also read that it feels like you are pretty much dropped into the middle of things and characters just come in and you are expected to already know a lot about them etc. and the game offers few explanations of who they are...

I must admit that I rarely pay attention to story in these kinds of games, but even when I do I seem to have a really poor memory for characters and names (which is really frustrating considering my line of work irl) so just wondering how you guys felt about it and the world of GW2 in general.

I did Human Noble/Body dead Sister and the history was fun and interesting. Some of the events were buggy but i liked the history and the characters. Can't say about the scale of the difficulty of the enemies because i did the last events (lv14 to lv19) at lv12 with my Necro and i brute forced it so to speak with the pets and doing tricks with NPC tanking and dying and respawning.
There are some events that made me remember single player rpg games which is something fresh for me in a MMO, like:
The event where you go to a party and talk with people to see if you can get information about a Minister
, was really cool and the event after that was a nice culmination. The choices that the events makes you take are cool. Most of the events were varied, kill enemies, escort, ask questions, talk, kill bosses but each with some variety that made them fun, there were some simple events but well.

The characters are interesting and intriguing, some of them are cool and others are the typical normal character.

Also did the Commoner/Dead parents PS (until the middle of the chain) and was cool too, very interesting, as i am new to the GW world
i didn't know who the White Mantle was
so i had to investigate and really liked the lore that i read.
I liked too that each Personal story choice is different, its a different side of the same big story i think, which i found awesome.

Did the Norn Lost heirloom/Cunning and was cool, not so interesting as the Human one but is enjoyable, it have more cheesy lines than the Human one tho.

Really liked what i played and it got me super hyped and with big anticipation of playing the complete Personal History, which is the first thing i will complete when the game releases. Its fun and interesting, and the way they are presented is really cool and enjoyable.

and about:

I also read that it feels like you are pretty much dropped into the middle of things and characters just come in and you are expected to already know a lot about them etc. and the game offers few explanations of who they are...

Well, in the Human one you are introduced to the characters and some stuff about the lore is explained too, so isn't that you are throw in the middle of an political uprising and war where you don't know what is happening and some random dudes are talking to you like they know you since 10 years ago and they never say who they are apart from the name. That there is background story that the game doesn't talk about some characters (Logan), its normal and expected and doesn't leave you confused.
 

Jira

Member

DarkSloth

Member
Like most of you, I can't get guild wars off my mind, so I looked up an old podcast about gw1 called GuildCast. Apparently the freaking thing is still going!

Which is weird because he stopped and made the "final" episode 4 years ago. Its not exactly the same as it was before, as there is a new host and it is part of a bigger site.

Still, freaked me out seeing how much time has passed. But at least now I have something to listen to while grinding z-keys.

Any of you folks listen to it back in the day? I don't know how big it was.
 

zulfate

Member
Like most of you, I can't get guild wars off my mind, so I looked up an old podcast about gw1 called GuildCast. Apparently the freaking thing is still going!

Which is weird because he stopped and made the "final" episode 4 years ago. Its not exactly the same as it was before, as there is a new host and it is part of a bigger site.

Still, freaked me out seeing how much time has passed. But at least now I have something to listen to while grinding z-keys.

Any of you folks listen to it back in the day? I don't know how big it was.

I use to always listen to it, then he stopped and cameback on with rubi....now its part of gamebreaker.tv's site and rubi went to work of
To arenanet
 

Jira

Member
Am I that transparent? haha

Well it is the only MMO that was just announced. I find it odd that here they are 5 years into development (mind you that's more time than ANet has put into fullscale development of GW2) and they're only just now showing it as well as not one single video to be seen. The only MMO I have any future interest in is Copernicus.
 

Nyx

Member
Originally my brother who couldn't make it into the beta wanted to find out just how well it ran on his 2008 PC that he's been contemplating to upgrade. Originally before the first patch it ran absolutely terrible medium and low, so I didn't want to try out high.

Specifications:
Nvidia Geforce 9600 GT
Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 2.2Ghz
2GB DDR2 RAM
1680x1050 Monitor

However, afterwards...

It runs max above usually at around 40FPS but drops down pretty low in heavy combat in World v World, I'm pretty amazed at how well this runs. It's pretty similar to the performance of the PC that I built recently! Sure, the beta isn't exactly optimized but it surprises me that even at this state it runs well on this PC.

And just so people know, I was Kotipelto on the GAF Guild.

This is good news, I have a slightly better PC than that and was afraid I HAD to upgrade to even be able to play the game.
 

Ashodin

Member
Well it is the only MMO that was just announced. I find it odd that here they are 5 years into development (mind you that's more time than ANet has put into fullscale development of GW2) and they're only just now showing it as well as not one single video to be seen. The only MMO I have any future interest in is Copernicus.

What is Copernicus?
 

M.D

Member
I feel like playing an MMO at the moment... don't really know why

I don't know a whole lot about this game... it's basically just buy it and free from there? Does it have a release date? Is the beta open for everyone?
 

Jira

Member
I feel like playing an MMO at the moment... don't really know why

I don't know a whole lot about this game... it's basically just buy it and free from there? Does it have a release date? Is the beta open for everyone?

Read my thread:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1058358-Guild-Wars-2-Mass-info-for-the-uninitiated

If the beta were going right now, no one would be posting in here. I'm laying in bed longing to play the damn thing. No release date yet, but likely July.
 
So would I be right in saying that on the whole, the Beta has been largely positively received?

By that I mean it seems to have built and improved massively on the foundations of the original, making for a much deeper experience in every area (crafting, more races, bigger areas, less use of instances etc etc)?

The only issue I've seen mentioned a lot is poor performance in the Beta, but unless the final game is like that this is academic. Any other main gripes?
 

Mulligan

Banned
Read my thread:

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1058358-Guild-Wars-2-Mass-info-for-the-uninitiated

If the beta were going right now, no one would be posting in here. I'm laying in bed longing to play the damn thing. No release date yet, but likely July.

How likely would you say a July release date is and based on what?

I'm asking because if it is as soon as July then i'll cancel my Diablo 3 pre-order as i'm only buying it to fill the void but no point if i'll be abandoning my monk as soon as July. I won't be playing any other games for a looong time come release. :)
 
So would I be right in saying that on the whole, the Beta has been largely positively received?

By that I mean it seems to have built and improved massively on the foundations of the original, making for a much deeper experience in every area (crafting, more races, bigger areas, less use of instances etc etc)?

The only issue I've seen mentioned a lot is poor performance in the Beta, but unless the final game is like that this is academic. Any other main gripes?

Some balance issues and definitely the amount of times the dynamic events happen. But both of these will be helped out a lot by the beta. Other than that I haven't seen too many huge complaints other than performance, but the game isn't fully optimized yet so that will change.
 

Jira

Member
So would I be right in saying that on the whole, the Beta has been largely positively received?

By that I mean it seems to have built and improved massively on the foundations of the original, making for a much deeper experience in every area (crafting, more races, bigger areas, less use of instances etc etc)?

The only issue I've seen mentioned a lot is poor performance in the Beta, but unless the final game is like that this is academic. Any other main gripes?

They've actually addressed my own personal gripes in the beta over on the forums. The only thing that needs to be worked on as a whole is possibly lowering the rate in which Dynamic Events start over(if they're the ones that do) by about 10% or so. I do full well understand that it's not just one person going through the world, but some need to give a bit more time before starting over so it's a matter of tweaking on a case by case basis. As a whole the beta has been overwhelmingly positive. Friends of mine are now anticipating it more than D3 after having played both.

My issues were the following:

- Overflow servers didn't take into account who was in your party so meeting up with friends was very difficult. (This has been addressed and said that it will be sorted out for launch)

- Pets not being entirely responsive to commands. (This had a partial fix for this beta, but will be fixed)

- WvW costs are a bit too high starting out (WvW costs are being looked at and lowered in a lot of cases along with a gamewide economy passover)

Those were my three big issues.

As for performance, they outright said the game was CPU bound and people who had 5ghz Sandybridge CPUs proved that with over solid 60FPS. Generally your high end GPU is currently not doing much of anything and mostly the game is running on the CPU.

The big 3 things they're now working on are:

Performance
Balancing
Teaching the game to new players


How likely would you say a July release date is and based on what?

I'm asking because if it is as soon as July then i'll cancel my Diablo 3 pre-order as i'm only buying it to fill the void but no point if i'll be abandoning my monk as soon as July. I won't be playing any other games for a looong time come release. :)

Well, they had over 200k people for sure in this BWE. Given the now increased popularity due to this beta, they'll have even more in the next and so on. All of the game systems are in and working, nothing is horribly broken or anything of the sort, it's all a matter of bug fixes and balance changes. I just don't see them running what is essentially mini-launches more than 3 times before releasing. They'll likely eclipse 500k people in the last BWE with relative ease if not more because by then there will be a release date and more people will purchase. This is all merely my own hunch based on what I've played and so I think there will be another BWE in late May, one in late June, and maybe one more in the 3rd week of July with release in late July OR the last one in late June with release in the 2nd week of July.
 
:lol this game has invaded my thought process too much. I was just watching a Diablo 3 video and I caught myself wondering why the player didn't dodge.
 

bjb

Banned
Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but after playing the beta weekend - I wasn't completely blown away by the game.

Granted it was fun, but I'm surely not salivating or stroking myself in anticipation. I'm aware the genre is the same, but for me it was a mix of a few games with slightly different facets.

Truthfully - the thing I'm most excited about is seeing my guild stick together, and attempt to transition into other games.
 

gunbo13

Member
Another awesome WvW of a small group wrecking 2:1-3:1 odds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbRYEE1k-xk&feature=plcp
Keep these videos coming. They are great and enough for me to figure out most of the state of PvP. I'd like to see more 5v5 with decent play from the BWE.

Unfortunately, these videos only back the same concerns that I have had for months. Due to the chaotic nature of WvW, strats are now map/positioning based rather then on the opponent level. Yes) Go for the high ground and block their path with X No) Take out this mesmer since it is stopping my support casts. It makes sense since there could be a ton of mesmers on the other side and you can't tell what is what. But for me, that is a problem. The mode is also not an excuse. It's the graphics/pace that remove the ability to bring it to player strats, even a wee bit.

PvP, again going back months in concern, is paint drying boring to the above. I have my beef with the lack of player strats in WvW but that is still 100x more exciting then the bullshit cap points. I hate the justification for e-sport, simplicity, one mode is enough, etc... It's just shitty. And unlike WvW, the running around looks like running around. WvW being positioning/terrain based makes running around "make sense." You are adventuring, like the videos, and the large scale removes a lot of map memorization (at least early on). Dynamic terrain would be boss. Or at least dynamic events like avalanches , quicksand, and mudslides. Running around in PvP on a fucking clock-tower map just looks tedious. There is no tension, adventuring, or sense to it. It's just really arena like similar to RA in GW1. GvG/HoH maps had a sense of scale and adventure to them. The maps felt substantial unlike sit on white circle and then run around the boring confined city PvP crap.

Then you have downed state which still makes perfect sense in WvW and zero sense in PvP. 5v5 is still too low and 1v1 is chaotic enough to damage player level strats. There will be even less of a % of PvP players who will be able to manage positioning and player-level strats. So it will mostly be the chaos of WvW on a smaller, more boring scale. And cap points! Cap points! Guh. Do I have to repeat that they were unanimously the most loathed things in GW1? Go ask any GW1 vet what game type sucked in GW1 PvP.

So yea, if I am going to be sold it will be on WvW. And unless I am convinced that there will be realistic scenarios for player-levels strats, I might just throw my hands up.
 
PvP, again going back months in concern, is paint drying boring to the above. I have my beef with the lack of player strats in WvW but that is still 100x more exciting then the bullshit cap points. I hate the justification for e-sport, simplicity, one mode is enough, etc... It's just shitty. And unlike WvW, the running around looks like running around. WvW being positioning/terrain based makes running around "make sense." You are adventuring, like the videos, and the large scale removes a lot of map memorization (at least early on). Dynamic terrain would be boss. Or at least dynamic events like avalanches , quicksand, and mudslides. Running around in PvP on a fucking clock-tower map just looks tedious. There is no tension, adventuring, or sense to it. It's just really arena like similar to RA in GW1. GvG/HoH maps had a sense of scale and adventure to them. The maps felt substantial unlike sit on white circle and then run around the boring confined city PvP crap.

Then you have downed state which still makes perfect sense in WvW and zero sense in PvP. 5v5 is still too low and 1v1 is chaotic enough to damage player level strats. There will be even less of a % of PvP players who will be able to manage positioning and player-level strats. So it will mostly be the chaos of WvW on a smaller, more boring scale. And cap points! Cap points! Guh. Do I have to repeat that they were unanimously the most loathed things in GW1? Go ask any GW1 vet what game type sucked in GW1 PvP.

So yea, if I am going to be sold it will be on WvW. And unless I am convinced that there will be realistic scenarios for player-levels strats, I might just throw my hands up.

Completely agree on the only one gametype justification. I just don't like it, and I think it's worse that now it seems like they aren't even talking about future possibilities. The capture points was OK as it somewhat force encounters, but it almost felt like too many on the map for only 5v5, also if a team is close to the cap there is just no way to come back from it as you can't stop all the capture points on the map. I can't remember the name of the two maps in the beta, but I thought the farm house map was better than the temple looking map. It was just more condensed and had better gameplay options with line of sight coming into play more.

Downed state I have talked about no stop I'm sure most in this thread are tired of me bringing it up. Most of the video's of decent players in the BWE had them completely ignoring downed state unless they were 1v1 and no one was around. Most did exactly what I said it would turn into, if it was a group fight and someone was downed they would just throw AOE down after a few seconds to interrupt their heal.

Here is a Youtube channel of a team that seemed to mainly focus on PvP all BWE. I posted some of their video's in here, but there are some others in there too. Also they were a lot of times facing each other because of the beta's even matchmaking system so they weren't just facing bad people.
 

Jira

Member
Gunbo, do you play any FPS, RTS, or MOBAs?

Also, they have said there will be more game modes as they've tested tons, just not at launch as they want to focus on one. They don't want the community split right off the bat like GW1 due to so many game modes.
 
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