[GrizzNKev]

I've been wondering if a laptop that can run The Old Republic on low-med settings will run this game at all? I'm hovering over the buy button right now but this is the only thing bothering me.

This game should perform much better than TOR. Or at least, we expect it to. It's hard to make accurate judgement right now.

[Retro]

I still like Retros idea he had that instead of paying for each respec you pay for a certain amount of respecs that way you can do it away from a city as well.

Holy crap, someone remembered an idea I suggested? And I'll get to play GW2 next week?

Brace yourselves, ladies and gents, I think that means the Apocalypse is coming.

or free and only at city/outpost. :P

Nah, if you can respec for free, as Hawkian says, it makes the decisions feel like they carry some weight. If you can just respec for free, then it's not really an important decision. Limiting it to a certain area does help though... but personally, I like my idea of buying "Respecs" at an NPC and only being able to do it 4 or 5 times before you need to return to a trainer and purchase more.

Maybe ArenaNet is still open to ideas, I might have to visit the NPC and leave feedback if given the option.

It is an absolutely baffling marketing strategy, that much is obvious.

Beyond the embarrassing parts ("REAL MEN", "MMO-fo", ), I have two big issues with it. First, it's trying to pass Tera off as a more mature, 'manly' MMO when in fact, it actually has more fantasy elements. Outside of FFXI's Tarutaru and Allods' Onlines Gibberlings, I can't think of any MMO with races as un-manly as the Popori or Elin. Very hypocritical.

Second, you have a musclebound guy beating people up over their choice in a videogame, using pretty uncalled for violence and laughing at MMO players. ATMMO players, not with them, with a wink and a nudge. It's in the same vein as all those not-so-thinly veiled "Nintendo games are for little kids" ads from the N64 days.

Maybe it's just me though... Anyone also posting in the TERA thread want to chime in with the response over there? I don't want to saunter in and ask about something that sounds like a thinly-veiled attack. I'd be willing to bet that most of them are uncomfortable with this ad campaign and probably feel it reflects badly on them as a whole. If this gains traction, people are going to mention they play TERA and everyone around them will have this nasty image of a musclebound bully mocking the entire genre spring to mind.

Also, pretty sure TERA isn't the first MMO with 'Action Combat'. DCUO and Vindictus for sure. Does Age of Conan count? Probably a lot of other F2P ones that just aren't on my radar.

I'm assuming those numbers aren't final because worse returns on bulk purchases kind of sucks. Unless I'm an idiot and reading it wrong. Which is probably what is going on. lol.

Technically, we shouldn't even have those numbers; they were leaked on 4chan before the last Press Event. Also, in our first podcast, it was mentioned that one of the big points in the Press NDA was that they absolutely cannot talk about the cash shop. Whether it was in or not (I assume it was since they were told not to mention it), we don't have any info at all that's official.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that the Megaphone and Bag slot were cut, not sure where. Anyone remember the source on this?

That is a strange marketing campaign. Especially the way he keeps saying "MMO" as a vast majority of 'gamers' that I know still don't understand the phrase, it's not as common as FPS, Action, or RPG. I won't say that is a terrible ad, but beating up the nerds when promoting a game that is most likely going to be populated by them seems odd. I think they are trying to say that MMO's aren't just for nerds but (weird to say this) a youtube comment actually had a great point of where "MMO's aren't really just for nerds" (not verbatim) anymore, let alone games.

It's cringe-worthy how it's not even trying to hide the "You're not a real man unless you play TERA" message. It almost feels like they're trying to market the game to Call of Duty players when the game itself is very... um... I don't want to say "Frilly", but it's the first word that comes to mind.

The commercial's message is basically 'You are embarrassing yourself, you sad, lonely individual. Get out of your Mom's basement and play this game so everyone thinks you are cool'. That kind of childish campaign tends to put a lot of people off and embarrass the community behind the game.

Just when it was becoming kinda cool to be a 'nerd' too.

Either way, I hope Guild Wars 2 gets Shaq and Hologram Tupac to do a rap in their commercial.

Personally, I'd like to see them take a serious route. Maybe boil the Manifesto down to the bullet points, steeped in some jaw-dropping visuals and combat footage, enriched with the bold strokes of Jeremy Soule's GW2 theme, and distill it down to a smooth, smoky, concept-art-come-to-life audiovisual experience that leaves you feeling intoxicated with hype. The kind of commercial where you have to rewatch it a couple times a week and quietly giggle to yourself as a gentle voice whispers "soon".

Also: New Concept art for hitting 460k Facebook Likes:

[alazz]

Thanks for linking to the skill calculator. I think starting the game without having seen that would have been confusing. This is the type of game that could use a hundred-page manual like old CRPGs.

Guardian and Ranger sound like a blast. I'll probably start with one of those. Guardian originally sounded pretty boring but looking at its skill tree it has some awesome combos. Ever weapon set makes me want to rethink my traits, and ever new trait makes me want to go back to a different weapon! I think I'll try 2H Sword or Hammer first. 2H Sword plus burn skills seems like it could be insanely powerful.

A question about traits, though: When one says at 75% health it'll automatically apply Sharpened Stones, a ranger utility skill, does that mean it'll apply it even if it's not one of your utility skills?

edit: that art is sweet. Wonder if that's supposed to be a boss.

[Hawkian]

I've been wondering if a laptop that can run The Old Republic on low-med settings will run this game at all? I'm hovering over the buy button right now but this is the only thing bothering me.

On low, it absolutely no question will. I know from experience that ANet is really good at turning off the right things when you turn the settings down; I was able to play GW on a system with integrated graphics (um, at work, actually, I was really into random PvP back then) on low.

[GrizzNKev]

Yesterday, someone was campaigning on /v/ to get the facebook page to 500k likes while speculating that the final image would be of the release date. Yeah, no. But you should still go like the facebook page, since that first image was pretty cool and I'd like to see more of it.

[demonkaze]

Thanks for the replies, going to buy it then.

[Arken2121]

Yesterday, someone was campaigning on /v/ to get the facebook page to 500k likes while speculating that the final image would be of the release date. Yeah, no. But you should still go like the facebook page, since that first image was pretty cool and I'd like to see more of it.

Maybe we'll get a nice video if they meet their quota.

[GrizzNKev]

Oh here's some more fun news from the world of GW2-4chan. As of a few days ago, the GW2 generals on /vg/ are being spammed with gay porn and My Little Pony images. I've never seen that happen on /vg/ before, so either some fans of another MMO are really upset and jealous, or ANet has truly made it in the world and their game is popular enough to be subject to pointless aggressive spam. Either way, it made the threads unreadable and I had to sit out for a while.

[Orayn]

Oh here's some more fun news from the world of GW2-4chan. As of a few days ago, the GW2 generals on /vg/ are being spammed with gay porn and My Little Pony images. I've never seen that happen on /vg/ before, so either some fans of another MMO are really upset and jealous, or ANet has truly made it in the world and their game is popular enough to be subject to aggressive spam. Either way, it made the threads unreadable and I had to sit out for a while.

My friend frequents /vg/'s TERA threads and claims that GW2 people disrupt those. I think at least part must be miscreants from /v/ playing the MMO communities against each other.

[DJIzana]

Ever since I watched that Lions Arch video... leaves me wonder what else is out there, in terms of amazing areas that we haven't even seen yet!

Even though the game isn't even out yet, I can't wait until they talk about their first content patch or expansion LoL. I'm going to go so full blown on exploration!

I can't stop listening to the Termina (Another World) - Chrono Cross song. Totally fits the mood for Lion's Arch. xD

[Retro]

Well, Smiley90, you asked for Megaposts, you've got em. This ones for you.

So I'm assuming the client will be made available sometime next week?

Yeah, I'm thinking it will probably be pushed out on Monday. They will want all hands on deck in case anything goes wrong and getting it out there before the weekend means two days with a skeleton crew. I want them to get this weekend off since next weekend is gonna be crazy.

Thanks for linking to the skill calculator. I think starting the game without having seen that would have been confusing. This is the type of game that could use a hundred-page manual like old CRPGs.

They've mentioned that one of the last things they will add before launch is a proper tutorial system to teach players the ropes. I imagine they're waiting until everything is finalized before trying to document it in a way that players can grasp without any errors. For example, the World of Warcraft physical manual had a TON of errors (most notably mentioning Battlegrounds, which wouldn't be in the game for another year or so).

Guardian originally sounded pretty boring but looking at its skill tree it has some awesome combos. . . . I think I'll try 2H Sword or Hammer first. 2H Sword plus burn skills seems like it could be insanely powerful.

Yeah, Hammer-wielding Guardians look insane, Banish is such a visually dramatic skill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPRmFQHjSpY&hd=1&t=2m1s

In all honesty, every profession has something about it I find appealing, even the Casters (and I hate casters in MMOs).

A question about traits, though: When one says at 75% health it'll automatically apply Sharpened Stones, a ranger utility skill, does that mean it'll apply it even if it's not one of your utility skills?

I'm thinking it just uses the ability automatically regardless of whether it's on your skill bar. I haven't seen it in action though, so I can't say for sure.

edit: that art is sweet. Wonder if that's supposed to be a boss.

The description reads "This piece by concept artist Jamie Ro shows the iconic norn heroine Eir Stegalkin making an underwater discovery." There's a link to a high res version, which is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenanet/7092056785/

Thanks for the replies, going to buy it then.

Yep, you should be fine. ArenaNet has been working hard to get GW2 running on older machines, to the point that they were purchasing videocards that are no longer manufactured off Ebay for testing purposes. I wouldn't expect to run it on a high-end Toaster, but the average PC in good working order should be fine at low settings. Anything older than 5 or 6 years is gonna be questionable unless it was top-of-the-line when you got it.

Maybe we'll get a nice video if they meet their quota.

I would be fine with Ree Soesbee just walking out onto a stage, fully clothed, just gushing about how awesome GW2 is. That "The most important thing in any MMO should be the player, we are build the game for them" line from the manifesto followed by the GW2 Theme revving up?

My friend frequents /vg/'s TERA threads and claims that GW2 people disrupt those. I think at least part must be miscreants from /v/ playing the MMO communities against each other.

I think we all need to step back and realize it's probably not any specific game, but 4chan just being the same old cesspool it usually is.

[GrizzNKev]

I would be fine with Ree Soesbee, fully clothed, just gushing about how awesome GW2 is. That "The most important thing in any MMO should be the player, we are build the game for them" line from the manifesto followed by the Norn Theme revving up? Ooooh, chills..

You messed up, man.

[Orayn]

I think we all need to step back and realize it's probably not any specific game, but 4chan just being the same old cesspool it usually is.

I would normally agree, but their new /vg/ board is actually quite constructive most of the time, sort of like a faster, more crass version of GAF. "Dueling games" like GW2 and TERA just happen to bring out the worst in some people, unfortunately.

[Hawkian]

GW2 and TERA aren't "dueling" anywhere but messageboards.

[DJIzana]

Yeah, Hammer-wielding Guardians look insane, Banish is such a visually dramatic skill. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPRmFQHjSpY&hd=1&t=2m1s

I actually looooove the sword / shield combo & the 2handed staff for the guardian, personally. That's what intend to use. :D

[Hawkian]

I actually looooove the sword / shield combo & the 2handed staff for the guardian, personally. That's what intend to use. :D

Yeah, the skills you get with a Staff Guardian blew me away.




So not what I expected them to have.

[Orayn]

GW2 and TERA aren't "dueling" anywhere but messageboards.

Internet arguments... Internet arguments find a way. (Just like they did for Dark Souls "vs." Skyrim.)

[Hawkian]

Internet arguments... Internet arguments find a way. (Just like they did for Dark Souls "vs." Skyrim.)

Wow, I missed out on that one. So little in common

[Retro]

You messed up, man.

Not only do I have an awesome wife, but I have an awesome wife who reads this thread. Also, I like to imagine somebody at ArenaNet considers us worth reading and saying "lol, a girl game developer? nudes plz" seems somewhat disrespectful.

Colin Johansen on the other hand? I'd like to swing his sword, swing his sword again, heyhey, swing his sword again. That's great.

I would normally agree, but their new /vg/ board is actually quite constructive most of the time, sort of like a faster, more crass version of GAF. "Dueling games" like GW2 and TERA just happen to bring out the worst in some people, unfortunately.

I'm thankful GAF has moderators around to put a stop to that kind of shit, even as someone who picked up a ban a few weeks back for a pretty tame comment. I crossed somebody's line and they put a stop to it. I can't imagine what this board would be like if it wasn't moder- oh wait, yes I can... exactly like 4chan .

I actually looooove the sword / shield combo & the 2handed staff for the guardian, personally. That's what intend to use. :D

Yeah, I was looking at a Blind-heavy build for Guardian and Sword + Focus gives you two options for it (though they're both kind of on long cooldowns). Blind, by the way, causes the enemy's next attack to miss completely, so it would be pretty useful for the front lines. Shield definitely has some nice defensive options, but I usually look to pair it with the Mace. It has a chain attack that heals, an AOE damage that grants Regeneration, and a Riposte-like shield ability that grants Protection if the enemy doesn't attack you. That looks to be the ideal Defense-heavy setup.

Oh, and the Zeal trait like has a Major Trait that heals you every time you use a Greatsword skill. Just puttin' that out there.

[kayos90]

GW2 and TERA aren't "dueling" anywhere but messageboards.

You misunderstood him. He was talking about them being dueling games. Not the games duelin themselves. I don't thin gw2 is a dueling game though.

[GrizzNKev]

You misunderstood him. He was talking about them being dueling games. Not the games duelin themselves. I don't thin gw2 is a dueling game though.

It's time to duel?

[Orayn]

I'm thankful GAF has moderators around to put a stop to that kind of shit, even as someone who picked up a ban a few weeks back for a pretty tame comment. I crossed somebody's line and they put a stop to it. I can't imagine what this board would be like if it wasn't moder- oh wait, yes I can... exactly like 4chan .

True, true. I still prefer 4chan to GAF for certain things like "Hey, recommend me a Dark Souls build." or commenting on E3/VGA events as they happen, but that's because of the speed and little else.

[Hawkian]

You misunderstood him. He was talking about them being dueling games. Not the games duelin themselves. I don't thin gw2 is a dueling game though.

mmm... he may correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't really make sense in context. :-/

[SDBurton]

Yeah, the skills you get with a Staff Guardian blew me away. So not what I expected them to have.

Staff users get Ring of Warding? Pretty sure that's a skill for hammers.

Edit: Yeah just checked, staff users don't have that.

Echoing what Brett said earlier (didn't read through the entire discussion yet) but I hope Engineers get some buffs soon.

[Orayn]

mmm... he may correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't really make sense in context. :-/

I was just referring to the TV Tropes article by that name, describing scenarios where games are pitted against each other in the minds of certain people.

[kayos90]

mmm... he may correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't really make sense in context. :-/

I stand corrected then. I apologize.

[Retro]

Staff users get Ring of Warding? Pretty sure that's a skill for hammers.

Yeah, Staff users get Line of Warding. Ring of Warding is on the Hammer. Because you can trap an enemy inside the Ring and then Banish him into it. I hope they get good use out of the Havok engine and the enemy just pinballs around inside the cylinder like a ragdoll. Bonus points if they take damage each time they bounce into the wall.

[SDBurton]

Yeah, Staff users get Line of Warding. Ring of Warding is on the Hammer. Because you can trap an enemy inside the Ring and then Banish him into it. I hope they get good use out of the Havok engine and the enemy just pinballs around inside the cylinder like a ragdoll. Bonus points if they take damage each time they bounce into the wall.

Yeah I figured it was a mix up, was going to be heated if they decided to mess with my hammer Guardian. Greatsword Guardians are just as boss. Hnnng.

[dygiT]

I've been wondering if a laptop that can run The Old Republic on low-med settings will run this game at all? I'm hovering over the buy button right now but this is the only thing bothering me.

If you can run TOR on med-low, you'll be set for the next 10 years of PC gaming.

[Retro]

Greatsword Guardians are just as boss. Hnnng.

Yeah, I want to see Blade of Binding in action before I make any decision, but if that Major Trait works like I hope it does, Greatsword Guardian is going to be a monster. They will cleave through foes like a scythe through wheat and shackle themselves to anything that tries to escape. And if by some chance they manage to get away, the Guardian can just leap at them, blinding them in the process, and just start hacking away again. While getting healed.

Monster.

[SDBurton]

Yeah, I want to see Blade of Binding in action before I make any decision, but if that Major Trait works like I hope it does, Greatsword Guardian is going to be a monster. They will cleave through foes like a scythe through wheat and shackle themselves to anything that tries to escape. And if by some chance they manage to get away, the Guardian can just leap at them, blinding them in the process, and just start hacking away again. While getting healed. Monster.

God I want to say so much! Fffffff-

[Retro]

God I want to say so much! Fffffff-

Soon™

[GrizzNKev]

http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-w...vent-is-coming

MEGATON! Lion's Arch will be open. No Asura or Sylvari though.

[Dinosaur Tamer]

If you can run TOR on med-low, you'll be set for the next 10 years of PC gaming.

I'd be careful with low blows like that. Optimism is fine and I personally expect Arenanet to fix their client, but for now Guild Wars 2 runs worse than SW:TOR did(or does) on a lot of machines.

[Retro]

New Blog Post is up:
http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-w...vent-is-coming

Edit: Curse you, Grizz!

There are a couple important things you need to know about this Beta Weekend Event: The only way to absolutely guarantee your access to this or any future Beta Weekend Events is to pre-purchase any edition of Guild Wars 2. Customers who have pre-purchased the game will receive an e-mail next week with instructions on how to download the client and participate in the Beta. This is a public event, which means that you’re not bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). So go ahead, feel free to take screenshots, shoot video, blog, tweet, write, or compose a rock opera to share your Guild Wars 2 experience with the world.

Hmm...

You’ll create your own personalized charr, human, or norn character and pick from our eight powerful professions.

No Asura or Sylvari. That's unfortunate but not unexpected.
In before Kayos' "I told you so"

[Hawkian]

Yeah, I was totally talking about Hammer Guardians and calling them Staff, my bad! Just got mixed up. I was surprised that hammers got those skills.

I was just referring to the TV Tropes article by that name, describing scenarios where games are pitted against each other in the minds of certain people.

That's what I figured. They're in the same genre, same platform, similar release windows.... add it all up = inevitable idiocy

I stand corrected then. I apologize.

No worries!

edit: sigh on the races. But, this will give me a chance to try something I won't be doing for the real game, so there's that.

edit again: Damn, can't wait to see my old hometown again (my first character was really from Kryta, I don't care what the intro says).

[Complistic]

amazing

[fluffydelusions]

This game should perform much better than TOR. Or at least, we expect it to. It's hard to make accurate judgement right now.

Yeah I think it's a common misconception that because TOR doesn't look that great it has low requirements which isn't really the case.

[razgriz417]

http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-w...vent-is-coming MEGATON! Lion's Arch will be open. No Asura or Sylvari though.

New Blog Post is up: http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-w...vent-is-coming Edit: Curse you, Grizz! Hmm... No Asura or Sylvari. That's unfortunate but not unexpected. In before Kayos' "I told you so"

Page is dead. I think GW2 fans DDOS it lol

[ProtoCents]

Can I upgrade to the digital deluxe version if I pre-purchased a physical copy?

SWTOR did this I think.

[Vano]

Oh my god :(

This site is temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Please check back again soon.

The servers are on fire.

Can I upgrade to the digital deluxe version if I pre-purchased a physical copy? SWTOR did this I think.

Digital you can, maybe the physical too, but better ask them for confirmation.

[Retro]

Page is dead. I think GW2 fans DDOS it lol

"This site is temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Please check back again soon."

[kayos90]

Page is dead. I think GW2 fans DDOS it lol

Too many people accessing it. Rofl.

Also, damn you Retro. It makes it pointless for me to say it now. Also, what time is the podcast happening and what time zone?

[Complistic]

"This site is temporarily unavailable due to scheduled maintenance. Please check back again soon."

It was going super slow for a while before that message popped up. Pretty sure they're over load.

[Vano]

Guild Wars 2 We're aware of the blog being down at the moment. Our asuran engineers are actively investigating the issue. Sorry about this! ^SL

Diligent Asuras to the rescue!

[razgriz417]

I got to it via FB

We’re counting the days until the first public Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event, which begins on Friday, April 27, at noon PDT (GMT-8) and ends on Sunday, April 29, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-8). Hundreds of thousands of players from around the world will get their first taste of Guild Wars 2—and rest assured, we’ll be playing alongside them! There are a couple important things you need to know about this Beta Weekend Event: The only way to absolutely guarantee your access to this or any future Beta Weekend Events is to pre-purchase any edition of Guild Wars 2. Customers who have pre-purchased the game will receive an e-mail next week with instructions on how to download the client and participate in the Beta. This is a public event, which means that you’re not bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). So go ahead, feel free to take screenshots, shoot video, blog, tweet, write, or compose a rock opera to share your Guild Wars 2 experience with the world. Let’s take a look at all the cool stuff you’ll be doing during the Beta Weekend Event. Choices, Choices – You’ll create your own personalized charr, human, or norn character and pick from our eight powerful professions. Your choice of race is vital to your personal story, and it determines in which of the huge starting areas you begin as well. A noble human mesmer will have a radically different game experience than a charr engineer in the service of the Iron Legion. Fortunately, you can roll more than one character and sample each starting area for yourself! Worlds Collide – If you want your PvP on an epic scale, look no further than World vs. World, where three teams comprising hundreds of players wage open war across four vast maps. You’ll lay siege to castles, raid supply camps, build devastating weaponry, ambush your foes, and leap into truly massive PvP battles—all for the glory of the server. We’re warning you: WvW is so addictive that you may spend the entire Beta Weekend Event there! PvP For You and Me – After you’ve gotten your feet wet, put your newfound skills to the test in Guild Wars 2 PvP, where small teams battle for points on a variety of challenging, compact maps. We adjust the level of PvP combatants so that all players are on equal footing. If you’ve got a competitive streak or you like playing first-person shooters online, you owe it to yourself to try out Guild Wars 2 PvP! I Love L.A. – For the first time ever, we’re opening the metropolis of Lion’s Arch to beta players. Wander the streets of this cosmopolitan trade hub, chat with traders and travelers from every corner of Tyria, hop through one of the many asura gates to points beyond, or discover the famed diving platform at Diverse Ledges. Lion’s Arch is a city like no other! As you can see, there’s a ton of stuff to do in the upcoming Beta Weekend Event on April 27-29. It’s honestly way more content than one person can experience in 60 hours of playing—and we haven’t even included the asura and sylvari in this beta! Fortunately, this will not be the last Beta Weekend Event before launch—stay tuned for more news regarding the next event. We’ll see you in-game!

[Hawkian]

I hit the site, it's just luck of the draw now.

God yes.

[Jira]

So, how will my laptop behave in GW2? Will it work? Wouldn't want to play the game with minimum graphics :|

You'll be able to handle a mix of med/high settings for sure. GW2 is not graphically intensive, it just has an amazing art team behind it.

[Retro]

Never let it be said I don't do anything nice for GW2 GAF:

Also, damn you Retro. It makes it pointless for me to say it now. Also, what time is the podcast happening and what time zone?

1. That's why I said it =p
2. I seem to recall it being at 10 PM tonight, but it may have changed.

[fluffydelusions]

I was always under the assumption that TOR was pretty system intensive, which is certainly backwards thinking when you want a pc mmo to reach massive numbers. Anet is doing everything they can to make sure it runs on everthing, so if you indeed can run TOR, I would not worry about GW2 at all.

Yeah that TOR engine really needs some optimizing. Go watch some warzone footage...it's sad really how little that engine can do. Why did they go with that engine for an MMO is beyond me.