Well, if the June/July release date speculation is in fact true, then we should be expecting a release date soon. Probably soon after the next BWE, maybe before.
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Guild Wars 2 public Beta is here for pre-purchases! [Stress Test June 27th]
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Well, if the June/July release date speculation is in fact true, then we should be expecting a release date soon. Probably soon after the next BWE, maybe before.
I still can't get myself to complete prophecies. The voice acting and story is just so horrible. I tried again this weekend and STILL managed to get distracted and play pvp for like 8 hours instead.
Voice acting in Factions was great because they decided to roll with the whole "our voice acting sucks" and make it bad on purpose, on the level of a kungfu film. I still cringe whenever I see the Shiro flashbacks.
Nightfall is awkward because it exists somewhere in between awful and average.
Eye of The North - everything is better because they got the guy who voice The Brain from Pinky & The Brain to play Vekk.
Very little of it was memorable. Of over 100 hours of gameplay pumped into the campaigns, I took away this:
- You fight your doppelganger in Prophecies
- The Charr burn things up.
- Gwen's whereabouts was a mystery.
- Something something White Mantle.
- Shiro is a dick.
- Luxons like tuhrtles.
- Nightfall features the greatest failed raid on a city ever.
- The Hunger got killed pretty quickly.
- I think I fought a god?
- Destroyers are bigger dicks.
- The Norn tournament was a giant nod to Mortal Kombat and Streetfighter.
- I met a nice Charr.
- Blood washes blood.
- We took down a giant destroyer.
I'm worried that Guild Wars 2 is headed in that same direction. Every quest/storyline mission I finished would result in me getting a survey and marking "1" down for "Were the characters memorable?"
RepairmanJack
Member
Thought you meant just the release of info after the beta event. I'm still thinking we won't get any info on release until at least after the next beta.
The characters were definitely not memorable that's for sure. I think they commented on this a few times on the official forums, but I can't look right now to get what they said. Hoping maybe later on they become more memorable or bigger, but those early parts the characters changed out pretty frequently and really did nothing.
Gameplay was definitely fun in the first few zones, but I am really hoping they raise the cap in the upcoming betas. I want to see some of the game mechanics used in later DE's and personal story.
Warrior_Keoni
Member
The big problem I saw in beta was that people immediately abandoned NPC "quests" when there was clearly an indication of what's going to happen next.
Hey we captured this tower, awesome. *people leave*
But we need help defending it...they're coming back!
Seriously, you can get some huge exp, karma, and coin just for following up fully on a quest chain.
Hey we captured this tower, awesome. *people leave*
But we need help defending it...they're coming back!
Seriously, you can get some huge exp, karma, and coin just for following up fully on a quest chain.
I still remember those guys that jumped me in the bar. Though I don't quite remember their names, they were fabulously cheesy. Also Petra. It's the pigtails.
Probably will forget all of them once I get my teeth into the full game.
All they need to do is claim that your character is the offspring of a dragon + their race. And you are on a journey to find your father who is whatever the damn boss dragon is in GW2. Then do something with the dragon blood you got...like some buff/nerf depending on territory. It's not hard.
RepairmanJack
Member
I wish they would just embrace the somewhat cheesy dialogue and go full out and have over the top characters in the personal story. At least they would be memorable then.
I don't know. The wealthy human line is pretty memorable for the douche best friend, whatever his name is.
RepairmanJack
Member
Imagine how memorable he would be if they just made him over the top deuchey? I just think the story writers are trying to take theirselves too seriously and it comes off a little cheesey.
Agreed. This worked out amazingly for Saints Row 3. Which coincidentally had a story line about saving a big bear looking guy from getting cloned for a clone army by the villain.
Though that mission did benefit from him being naked. I don't think GW2 will be rated M for Mature.
Guild Wars 1 is very memorable. Maybe the game just didn't click right with you, that does not make the game horrible or bad, or even the story bad. The GW 1 story is a billion times better than other MMO stories out there.
And to really enjoy the game, I think you needed to have played it during its inception. That was when people were not saying "group LF some specialized build that we will make you butcher your playstyle to accommodate", instead it was just "GLF more 6/8".
I got to play Hero's Accent for the first time a few months ago, because it was one of the Zaishen Combat missions. I go in, every single group was looking for people rank 6 or higher, and as someone who never played it before, that was obviously impossible for me. Then this guy comes and says "Randomway Group need more" and I joined. We were something stupid like 4 warriors, 2 eles and 2 monks, but dammit did we have a fun time doing it!
Then a bit later in the week the ZC mission was Random Arenas. Since RA is kind of not that serious and people couldn't reject me, I decided to make a Paragon RA build. It was basically a condition spreading build that helped the party with a little bit of protection and IMS to get around faster. The moment I got into a fight, people would whine that I was a Paragon and resign.
A lot of GW1 players do not know how to have fun anymore. The game is all about efficiency and getting the most money and prestige, and many people are willing to walk over anyone and be as rude to as many people as they can to get it.
Fun-fact: Me and my buddy, me a Paragon with a "junk" build and him a Dervish with a "junk" build and 3 heroes each which we pretty much just threw skills on, managed to vanquish every single area in Elona and we completed and got the Protector titles for all 3 games. All without the help of SoS Rits or ST Rits or IV Resto Necromancers. Was it efficient? Hell no. Was it fun as hell? Yes it was. I had one of my Dervish heroes set up as D/A where she'd teleport around like an idiot spamming scythe skills. The build probably sucked ass, but seeing my hero teleport around like a jackass was fun and is what games like this should be all about.
And to really enjoy the game, I think you needed to have played it during its inception. That was when people were not saying "group LF some specialized build that we will make you butcher your playstyle to accommodate", instead it was just "GLF more 6/8".
I got to play Hero's Accent for the first time a few months ago, because it was one of the Zaishen Combat missions. I go in, every single group was looking for people rank 6 or higher, and as someone who never played it before, that was obviously impossible for me. Then this guy comes and says "Randomway Group need more" and I joined. We were something stupid like 4 warriors, 2 eles and 2 monks, but dammit did we have a fun time doing it!
Then a bit later in the week the ZC mission was Random Arenas. Since RA is kind of not that serious and people couldn't reject me, I decided to make a Paragon RA build. It was basically a condition spreading build that helped the party with a little bit of protection and IMS to get around faster. The moment I got into a fight, people would whine that I was a Paragon and resign.
A lot of GW1 players do not know how to have fun anymore. The game is all about efficiency and getting the most money and prestige, and many people are willing to walk over anyone and be as rude to as many people as they can to get it.
Fun-fact: Me and my buddy, me a Paragon with a "junk" build and him a Dervish with a "junk" build and 3 heroes each which we pretty much just threw skills on, managed to vanquish every single area in Elona and we completed and got the Protector titles for all 3 games. All without the help of SoS Rits or ST Rits or IV Resto Necromancers. Was it efficient? Hell no. Was it fun as hell? Yes it was. I had one of my Dervish heroes set up as D/A where she'd teleport around like an idiot spamming scythe skills. The build probably sucked ass, but seeing my hero teleport around like a jackass was fun and is what games like this should be all about.
Guild Wars 2 was built from square one for people like you.
GW1 turned to garbage though after the RAWR days. ANET decided to become a complete band of idiots with balancing their PvP. Poor GvG changes, misplaced nerfs, loss of skill control, encouragement for sameness, etc... By far the worst result with ANET's poor handling was battles of attrition. Due to all the listed mis-steps, any good GvG team could not be killed. Good monks would hold it down and mid-line support was ridiculously effective. Spikes died due to lack of DPS and so did off-target monk shutdown. There were always split options, turtling, and cheap ganks. But most meta like NPC/runner ganks were killed off becoming useless time sinks as a result of balancing.
I would be in GvG matches that pretty much always ran to the counter unless we got a shitty opponent. It would come down to a last minute strat or a guild lord damage smash before timeout. It sucked and was horrible. Monthly tourneys played out the same way as well did all high level play. Only HA provided some wiggle for originality and actual team rolls. Godlike PvP until ANET listened to every whining fan to mess their game up. I'm not surprised how stubborn they are now aside from their e-sports garbage. They should honestly ignore a lot of player feedback which does not "corrupt" the game. OMG Thieves are overpowered. Then deal with it and run a counter build. If it reaches a limit of tolerance, ANET will tweak it. The constant patch nerfs change meta every week until all the fun it dead. Players need to understand that the whining and pandering ruined GW1. So I'm with ANET on ignoring a lot of complaints and the entire GW1 community was aware of the pandering issue.
Oops, a little rant there. But it should provide some insight that people might not be aware of.
I would be in GvG matches that pretty much always ran to the counter unless we got a shitty opponent. It would come down to a last minute strat or a guild lord damage smash before timeout. It sucked and was horrible. Monthly tourneys played out the same way as well did all high level play. Only HA provided some wiggle for originality and actual team rolls. Godlike PvP until ANET listened to every whining fan to mess their game up. I'm not surprised how stubborn they are now aside from their e-sports garbage. They should honestly ignore a lot of player feedback which does not "corrupt" the game. OMG Thieves are overpowered. Then deal with it and run a counter build. If it reaches a limit of tolerance, ANET will tweak it. The constant patch nerfs change meta every week until all the fun it dead. Players need to understand that the whining and pandering ruined GW1. So I'm with ANET on ignoring a lot of complaints and the entire GW1 community was aware of the pandering issue.
Oops, a little rant there. But it should provide some insight that people might not be aware of.
These truths are not lost on me:
However, I think your distaste of Anet's eSports aspirations are misguided. In order to have a successful competitive game, solid game design is of course a requirement. Them focusing on tuning a game toward that end can only be a good thing, because it forces them to account for the longevity of the meta.
Amazing Guild Wars 1 voice acting.
Been playing since beta. Still play to this day. I have never been about the grind or the best possible team to accomplish anything. Heck, I have only 5 points in HoM after years of playing.
I love the game. Lots of fun. But the story and dialogue is a mess.
First of all, that's awful.
Secondly, that's not the only thing that counts towards story - though it would be rather distracting.
It's at the sacrifice of better PvP modes. And the sad thing is, I believe one of the reasons that other modes are not implemented is because most PvP players will gravitate away from conquest. If they had a GvG alternate, I can guarantee conquest would be a bastard sibling.
Esports aspirations are fine but at this cost, they are damaging.
RepairmanJack
Member
A behind the scenes at ArenaNet article up on Forbes. Haven't went through it all yet, but it has a couple behind the scenes videos there.
Edit:I really want one of those white ANet shirts with the red 2.
Edit:I really want one of those white ANet shirts with the red 2.
I can understand you better. Still, I think some of the hate for Conquest comes down to how it was handled in GW1, and the left over mindset it caused. Can't say that playing it in GW2 would change your opinion on it.
I do think that your description of a speedy build type of meta is what ANET is aiming for and is the primary way I see Conquest (and to a lesser extent the downed state) being fun to play.
RepairmanJack
Member
Spoilers! Hidden area in Lion's Arch. 
I did not try hard enough in the last BWE. I will now be jumping on everything!
michaelscottnoooooo.gif
I did not try hard enough in the last BWE. I will now be jumping on everything!michaelscottnoooooo.gif
RepairmanJack
Member
They are personality traits that effect your interactions with NPC. They are originally set by how you answer questions at the character creation and then they change from there. They are the Heart, Fist, and Crown symbols, I am not sure how we see our standing in them in the game though. Not sure if it was in the beta or not.
Complistic
Member
a while back they said it impacts how people greet you. it might do other stuff too.
RepairmanJack
Member
A nice Staff Elementalist PvP video. This one is a lot more focused on control rather than damage and he does a great job of commentating on his play style and how the skills work.
Edit:Anyone interested in PvP should definitely check out this video. It's not just another spike build built around high quick damage with no survivability.
Edit:Anyone interested in PvP should definitely check out this video. It's not just another spike build built around high quick damage with no survivability.
Warrior_Keoni
Member
When I made a charr, it seems charm would allow me to avoid some duels with other charr versus ferocity. Maybe later down the road, the choices would alter story in some way?
GW1 was a shit game. Not a lot else to say about it. It controlled like crap to appeal to the asian market, the idea of skill builds is interesting in theory but in practice it's just irksome and traps new players easily. The UI seemed designed by randomly placing things around the screen... but mostly just the controls were awful.
I believe they do affect your personal story and choices available in there in some way.
shysaursoft
Member
I liked it. WASD, C to target closest, Spacebar to start attacking, V to target stuff on floor, Spacebar to pick it up. Ctrl-click to announce spellcasts and call targets. I found it very efficient.
Quadrophenic
Member
You can see your levels of Charm/Ferocity/whatever the third one was in the Hero sheet. Its located in the upper right corner IIRC, near your other stats.
RepairmanJack
Member
Oh, nice to know. I had seen screens of it, but guess I missed it in the game.
fluffydelusions
Member
So any news on a release date? Even an announcement of an announcement?
So you figure their eSports aspirations are making Anet ignore a bevy of modes in order to hammer out one you find lacking?
Is this, in your mind, because of inherent incompatibility between those other modes and watchable esports, or just a bad decision on Anet's part?
Granted, any answer you give would be premature and I wouldn't necessarily hold it against you down the road. You're just like the only critically constructive poster in this thread on PvP (other than "drive by" Tekno) and the views are interesting.
Could be but GW2 is pretty much the same thing. There is a map in HA of GW1 where the only difference is the map style, open vs. congested.
Maybe but less gimmicky. They don't want cat and mouse as much as I would run. Downed state will never be fun. The charr should burn it.
I am implying that but it is a bit of a tin-foil hat theory. My older theory was that they prioritized WvW and just pushed out PvP to cover the bases. However, you can still go by history where many modes in GW1 were looked down upon. Only a few were populated by the better players and the rest sort of faded. GW2 is much tighter now where the options are more on the level of fleshing out the modes available. So maybe it is one of those theories or maybe they ran out of time. Who knows. But it isn't unthinkable that ANET would fear their possible esports mode would lose thunder just like their less likable modes in GW1. If conquest became something like the dumb 1v1 in GW1 and a new GvG type mode became the place to be, their entire esports plan would shift.
It's not a bad decision if it works out for ANET. It's just an unfortunate one, especially to fans of PvP in GW1. A mode like GvG, as someone mentioned, would be difficult to track. It's not like Starcraft where it is two players multi-tasking (though Starcraft is still ridiculously involved, it just has better visual indicators). It would be say, 8 players and each have their own really intricate roles. I wouldn't know where to start if I was showing somebody a GW1 GvG match in observer mode if they had never seen the game before. Conquest is very digestible. It shares similarities with popular FPS games and the new GW2 battle system has connections with that. It's familiar and easy to commentate. He rolls there but watch his meter, he is using a hammer because, the trebuchet does this, points are earned this way, etc... and newbie is following along.
GvG would be a damn mess.
Example: So players 5-8 have been designated as the split. This is unique for this guild since they haven't been using their 8 runner in previous builds. The ranger in 7 is using burning arrow with fire degen to take out the NPCs. But it was nerfed recently so the opposing team runner is healing them up running a Rt/E. The main team runs a rainbow spike with the second melee on opposing monk KD. They have stance removal so the off-monk can't use his dark escape as Mo/A...
It goes on and on. What does the flag do, morale boosts, DP, guild lord NPCs, guild lord health degradation over time, VOD...again, it goes on even when you are just talking about the rules.
So yea, it is a combination of the above that I believe lead to this single PvP mode lock-down.
I admit the voice overs generally suck (which is why after I beat the games I re-read the plot through the Wiki), but the overarching story is fantastic.
Kos Luftar
Member
These guys decided when something is ready and they have been working on the game for 5 years now, I am sure they can easily estimate when the game will be "ready" and they probably would be very close to that estimated date.
ANET just being scumbags right now!
The GW2 withdrawal is slowly turning into hatred for ANET, and it will stay like that until the next BWE and then it will be unconditional love for ANET.
After the BWE which was basically a stress test there's no way they don't have, at the very least, a quatre nailed down in which to release. I don't see any reason why they won't just come out and say something like 'it won't be as late as Q4' or 'we won't be releasing in Q2'.
Desperation is getting the better of me.
Kos Luftar
Member
After the BWE which was basically a stress test there's no way they don't have, at the very least, a quatre nailed down in which to release. I don't see any reason why they won't just come out and say something like 'it won't be as late as Q4' or 'we won't be releasing in Q2'.
Desperation is getting the better of me.
Exactly!
It is only 2pm in Seattle so there is still hope that they might update something today...
They did a Link Roundup for the BWE1 and posted that today so I am kinda loosing hope that they will say anything today.
Well, atleast we can suffer together.. this thread has turned into therapy for me at this point. :/
Complistic
Member
seems like their blog post is usually updated on wednesdays. Though that might have changed recently as I haven't been on top of it.
New Blog post about the Beta:
http://www.arena.net/blog/link-roundup-beta-weekend-event
Edit: God damn you Mulligan.
http://www.arena.net/blog/link-roundup-beta-weekend-event
Edit: God damn you Mulligan.
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