[Retro]

Interesting as a concept, but I can't see that working that well outside of PvE, especially if the choice between 'pets or not' were to be made during character creation, and couldn't be changed in-game for something else - I can hardly imagine 'packs' of people with the same profession (or race and profession, to add even more variety) in WvWvW, and it would be pretty useless in sPvP, IMO, when facing more than one enemy.

It wouldn't be a choice; that's the new Ranger mechanic. You wouldn't pick whether to use this or pets.

As far as PVP and WvW go, rather than have your Insight abilities changing based on the target (which would break the system since you're always switching), it could just be based on game-type. For example, your insight skills in Conquest would always be the same, but oriented towards that specific game type. If they introduce something like Capture the Flag, you might get more snare-oriented skills, for example.

It does paint you into a corner strategy-wise though.

Meh, never said it was a perfect idea.

For instance: with the last hit on the last Skale around I gather enough insight for an F3 attack, and now closing on me there is one angry Ettin looking about ready to pound me with his Power attack. Should I be able to stop him? Rationally, my ranger should have forgotten everything about him, being only able to focus on one kind of enemy at the time, methinks. What's your take?

Well, if you've switched targets from the Skale to the Ettin, your insight would be reset. I imagine there would be traits that let you retain some degree of it, but for the most part you'd be having to start from scratch. Another downside to the concept and all the more reason it wouldn't work out that well.

HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeJ5HvqSFNE&feature=plcp

Hahaha, his nethandle is "Retro"... Promise it's not me, I have better facial hair, a cooler voice (even without the accent) and I'm not out of my mind.

[Vigilant Walrus]

100000 x 50 = "oooh where's my calculator?" basically says everything about that guy.

his other videos are hilarious too.

Bells Palsy Wars 2? come on son.

[RepairmanJack]

"Never have I seen a company say you can't gain access to a beta without purchasing the game." ANet didn't even say that...

Also I read that blog about saving the names but didn't notice it say you had to prepurchase? Thought you just had to have an active account on GW1?

[Complistic]

HAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeJ5HvqSFNE&feature=plcp

funny. I'm not going to watch all of it but his biggest problem is you need to prepurchase to get your name reserved. And that's not even true I don't think, since your names are reserved all the way until the end of launch day. lol.

[Retro]

Also I read that blog about saving the names but didn't notice it say you had to prepurchase? Thought you just had to have an active account on GW1?

The way I understand it, having an active GW1 account ensures your names on that account cannot be taken for the headstart and a small period after launch (based on how busy they are), and after that if your names aren't taken in GW2, they're up for grabs from everybody. But I don't think they're going to flip a switch at launch so you should have at least some time to do it. Besides, who here is NOT at least going to get into the headstart?

One-word names are up for grabs from the start.

[Bufbaf]

Also I read that blog about saving the names but didn't notice it say you had to prepurchase?

That's because you don't. The guy even says that in his stupid video. You have like 3 days, starting from release, to claim your name.

[gunbo13]

I want to do a rant.

• Downed State
• Mesmer
• Framerate
• AI
• PvE
• Cap Points
• sPvP 5v5
• etc...

This guy doesn't even know how to whine right.

[Duuke]

Is there a GAF Guild Wars 1 guild that I can join right now? I need help with my HoM.

[Cromat]

I don't know if I should buy Diablo 3 or wait for this game. I only have the time and money for one. Help me GAF!

[kayos90]

I want to do a rant. Downed State Mesmer Framerate AI PvE Cap Points sPvP 5v5 etc... This guy doesn't even know how to whine right.

Wait, who's ranting? Also, what's wrong with mesmers?

I don't know if I should buy Diablo 3 or wait for this game. I only have the time and money for one. Help me GAF!

I have D3. It's a good timewaster no doubt.

[SteveWD40]

I would wait for GW2 if you want exploration / an MMO.

If you want a well crafted loot hamster-wheel (and that isn't a criticism) then go for D3.

I would bet we will see GW2 in August.

[Complistic]

I've waited so long for the game I really don't care if it's june or december. Just knowing it's coming out sometime between then has made the wait totally worth it.

[Hawkian]

I've waited so long for the game I really don't care if it's june or december. Just knowing it's coming out sometime between then has made the wait totally worth it.

Uh oh, they just announced it will be released in a month that only exists in the fifth dimension!

Edit: uhhh what is ArchAge?

[FutureZombie]

Even though I've spent a few hours in WvW, I'm still very confused by the whole set up of the maps. How do the three colored maps and the eternal battlegrounds differ from on another?

How do you know which map is the best map to enter?

Is there a list of how points are accumulated and what objectives are worth what? Does this differ on certain maps?

Can a colored map (or team map, home map, what are we calling them?) be completely taken over by another server?

Is there a way to generate supply outside of Dolyak transports?

[etiolate]

Mesmer's class mechanic has some inherit issues. I would expect to see a revamp before launch of the shatter/illusion system. It's just not reliable as is.

[Complistic]

Mesmer's class mechanic has some inherit issues. I would expect to see a revamp before launch of the shatter/illusion system. It's just not reliable as is.

I didn't play mesmer. How is it currently broken?

[etiolate]

The problem is the combination of character based minions on a control class and the need for assured delivery of the Mesmer’s counter-acting abilities. When a Mesmer reaches for that Diversion shatter, it is doing so to interrupt and disable a foe for specific reasons at a certain time. While in the past, this sort of counter-move happened within a second, the current Mesmer must wait for its illusions to stop what they’re doing, acquire their target and then run towards it and blow up in their face. There is no consistent time elapsed between the button press and the diversion happening. It all boils down to the variables of where your illusions are in relation to the target, if there is any aoe along the way to gobble the illusions up and whether or not your foe is moving away from you at the time. It is perfectly easy for a foe to just outrun the to-be-shattered clones until they reach their range limit and stop moving completely. I know this is possible, because it happened to me many times during the beta weekend. I began to wonder if someone at ArenaNet had got hooked on Angry Birds and decided to turn their most iconic class into a janky game of topple-the-pigs. And while you’re flinging your illusions at your targets, you’re losing the beneficial aspects of your phantasms.

A quick list of probs:

• Pathfinding issues causes delivery problems with your shatters
• Illusions do not attack keep walls and will not shatter on walls, making them severely limited in WvWvW
• Phantasms have 45 sec CDs against mobs that die in 5 seconds. They're kind of useless in many PVE situations.
• Clones overwrite far more useful and powerful phantasms when summoned.
• Clones die in a single aoe.
• Clones don't even fool pve mobs. They don't work as a distraction unless you vanish. Otherwise, players and mobs stick to the Mesmer player.
• Clones can easily be told apart from the Mesmer because the clones don't have the class icon showing on their healthbar.
• Illusions are a class mechanic resource that can be depleted by others. No warrior can have their adrenaline drained and no Necro can have their lifeforce drained. A mesmer can have all of its shatter resource killed off in a single aoe.
• You also lose all of this resource when your target dies.
• The system forces every Mesmer into a minion dependent playstyle.

[Thanasis Deitus]

Even though I've spent a few hours in WvW, I'm still very confused by the whole set up of the maps. How do the three colored maps and the eternal battlegrounds differ from on another? How do you know which map is the best map to enter? Is there a list of how points are accumulated and what objectives are worth what? Does this differ on certain maps? Can a colored map (or team map, home map, what are we calling them?) be completely taken over by another server? Is there a way to generate supply outside of Dolyak transports?

I spent quite a bit of time in WvW, but probably not as much as some. In any case, I think I can answer most of your questions, but someone more knowledgeable can feel free to correct me if I make an error.

WvW consists of 3 Borderlands (1 for each team), and the Eternal Battleground. The 3 Borderlands are essentially identical to each other, but each one starts out fully owned by its respective team. Eternal Battleground is a completely different map from the Borderlands, it has quite a few more points to capture, and starts out neutral.

Which map to enter ends up being a tactical choice. Generally where you want to go is where the battles are happening. But if you have an organized group, you might be able to take out a base that is lightly defended. If your own Borderlands is fully owned and not being attacked there is no reason to go there, but otherwise just take whatever points you can, or try to hold on to points that are in risk of being taken.

I believe the map screen shows you a list of how many points are owned by which team, and you can mouse over each point to see what its worth, but I can't quite remember so I could be mistaken. Supply camps are worth 5 points, Towers are worth 10 points, Keeps are worth 25 points, and Stonemist Castle (the big castle in the center of Eternal Battlegrounds) is 50. The point values are the same no matter which map, but Eternal Battlegrounds has more towers and Stonemist Castle.

Yes, a Borderland can be fully taken over by an opposing team. I actually saw this happen in the BWE.

The only way to resupply a Tower/Keep/Castle is with the supply caravan. If your point is besieged by an enemy team over an extended period, preventing a resupply, and you have to keep expending supply to repair the gate and build defenses, you will eventually run out of supply. This is by design.

However, if you just need to get a single load of supply to help build a siege weapon, you can grab them from the supply camps (where the caravan originates from), even if you have to take over an enemy supply camp to do so. This is very helpful when you don't have any towers/keeps in a map, and you need to build siege weapons to gain a foothold in the area. These camps have a limited amount of supply, and it takes awhile to regenerate, so if a lot of people have the same idea, you might be unable to get supply for a while.

[XeroSauce]

I use the thief heal that lets you heal whenever you attack. If you activate it, you get a heal and it goes on cooldown. While it's on cooldown the on-hit heal doesn't work... so saving it vital.

More damage-into-heal options would be cool.

[Keasar]

That's because you don't. The guy even says that in his stupid video. You have like 3 days, starting from release, to claim your name.

From what I understand, in Guild Wars 2 you will have single names, like "Keasar". In Guild Wars 1 you could only have double names, like "Keasar Keasar". Will I have to claim one of my double names or?

[Retro]

From what I understand, in Guild Wars 2 you will have single names, like "Keasar". In Guild Wars 1 you could only have double names, like "Keasar Keasar". Will I have to claim one of my double names or?

Double names are still in GW2, and yes you can claim one. You don't HAVE to, but if you want to guarantee you get it, you probably should.

[Keasar]

Double names are still in GW2, and yes you can claim one. You don't HAVE to, but if you want to guarantee you get it, you probably should.

So I probably wont be able to claim a single name? Kinda just wanted to roll with Keasar.

[Retro]

So I probably wont be able to claim a single name? Kinda just wanted to roll with Keasar.

Then you're gonna have to get on when the servers go live for the Headstart and claim it before someone else. Can't claim any single-word names since GW1 doesn't allow them.

[Hawkian]

You can do it Keasar! I believe in you.

[Complistic]

I know which name I'm going to take now.

[Ferny]

I'm picking the name 'Keasar' my self. Not sure about you guys. The name just fits!

[gunbo13]

You guys should check out my new GW1 ele named "Keasar Namesteal."

[Hawkian]

Actually, I have to agree. Really great and unique choice Ferny!

[Wes]

New Patch Notes (Image)

[FutureZombie]

New Patch Notes (Image)

Good, they fixed the chat problem. And added skill point challenges to WvW. Sounds like they are listening to player feedback.

[Retro]

Wife found this on Reddit this morning.

Charr cubs are adorable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPjwHqc2ZII

New Patch Notes (Image)

Hmm.... hopefully this means we're getting closer to a BWE soon.

Interesting notes in there;
"Legendary Weapon replacement skill effects" - What? Does this mean Legendary weapons will potentially give you entirely new skills?
"WvW travel is now free" - If they mean travel within WvW and not just to WvW is free... awesome. Waypoint travel was getting expensive.
"Added Account bound items" - I wonder if this means dyes are now working as advertised.
"Spawn scaling for low level events has been adjusted" - Very good.
"Missiles now fire in the direction of the camera" - So... basically you can aim your ranged shots anywhere you want now? Isn't that the reticule thing people were huffed up about for Tera?

I wonder what the hell a Mystic Forge is used for. It's in Lion's Arch (video of it here), but it doesn't say what it does.
Maybe something like the Mystic Keys, like a gem-based item for salvaging? Because it allows you to add consumables... huh.

[RepairmanJack]

New Patch Notes (Image)

Sounds like they fixed jump sitting. :(

Interesting it seemed like no balancing type stuff for the classes. More of that later?

[FutureZombie]

Sounds like they fixed jump sitting. :( Interesting it seemed like no balancing type stuff for the classes. More of that later?

I feel like it's too soon to balance classes. No one really knows what they're doing yet so it's difficult to tell what is or is not OP.

[Orayn]

"Mouse-looking no longer drives a character's movement unless they're executing an upper body skill."

What's that supposed to mean?

[Vinci]

I feel like it's too soon to balance classes. No one really knows what they're doing yet so it's difficult to tell what is or is not OP.

Yeah. We'll need several more BWE's, IMO, before anything can be really noticeable. Some classes are easier to figure out than others, but that doesn't make them overpowered.

[Mulligan]

Sure sign of a beta weekend next weekend hopefully. Skillpoints in WvW is gonna be fun.

[nataku]

No real notes on performance or GPU usage improvements. Disappointing.

The longer the betas go on with the terrible performance of the last one the more worried I'll be getting that performance won't see major improvements for live. I've been through way too many MMOs from beta to live with promises of performance improvements that never came.

[Rad-]

I didn't play mesmer. How is it currently broken?

My problem with it is that it forces to go towards one build style (shreadding illusions). With the other classes, the class mechanic is more universal.

[RepairmanJack]

I feel like it's too soon to balance classes. No one really knows what they're doing yet so it's difficult to tell what is or is not OP.

True, guess it would be least of their priorities right now.

Bring on the next weekend!

[Mulligan]

I feel like it's too soon to balance classes. No one really knows what they're doing yet so it's difficult to tell what is or is not OP.

I'd argue this will be the case until the game is released. 3 days isn't really enough time to get in depth with the classes, but only to spot the obvious balance issues. I've played PvP 90% of the time in every beta with my ele and have been trying various builds but feel i am only just scratching the surface.

[gunbo13]

No real notes on performance or GPU usage improvements. Disappointing.

Very much this. Game runs poorly.

[Hawkian]

Quite a lot of Patch Notes to sort through there, damn! I lament the loss of sleepjumping.

Here are some additional goodies to chew on from Welltall Zero while we wait:

Some very nice crazy high-res images:

http://i.minus.com/iba1uanPReeLeo.jpg http://i.minus.com/iNoxRbEV90t5A.jpg http://i.minus.com/iZCvJOWFmMzxv.jpg http://i.minus.com/ibw9Hd2pmVWfYb.jpg

Rest of the gallery:
http://minus.com/mUAgitBom/

Next he gave me his gamepad configuration, which goes in a different direction than mine in a few ways:

Movement (Forward / Backward / Strafe) : Left Stick Camera (Rotate / Tilt) : Right Stick Camera Zoom : RB + Right Stick Up/Down Fast Camera Rotate : LB + Right Stick Left/Right Swim Up / Down : LB + Right Stick Up/Down Class Mechanics (F1-F4) : D-Pad Up/Left/Right/Down Jump : A Interact : B Weapon Skill 1 : X Weapon Skill 2 : Y Weapon Skill 3 : RB + X Weapon Skill 4 : RB + Y Weapon Skill 5 : RB + B Healing Skill : RB + A Utility Skill 1 : LB + X Utility Skill 2 : LB + Y Utility Skill 3 : LB + B Elite Skill : LB + A Weapon Switch / Drop Bundle : RB + LB (works by either holding RB and pressing LB, or viceversa) Dodge : RT Cycle Targets : LT Autorun : RB + LT Toggle Run / Walk : RB + Back Sheathe Weapons : RB + Start Menu / Close Dialog : Start Map : Back Map - Switch Layer : RB + Right Stick Up/Down Map - Zoom : RB + D-Pad Up/Down Toggle Pointer Mode : Click Right Stick (R3) Move Pointer in Pointer Mode : Right Stick Mouse Click (for menus) : Click Left Stick (L3)

Definitely seems viable. He's using XPadder, so if anyone is interested in trying this out with that particular app, his profile is up for grabs so you won't have to do the dirty work.

Finally, he spent some time with the Mesmer class and had some thoughts on the issues raised here a bit ago. He thinks somebody should stand up for the poor class :P I'm just going to use quotation marks so I can quote the criticisms he's responding to.

- Pathfinding issues causes delivery problems with your shatters

"Apparently, pathing in general needs to be improved quite a bit, both for NPCs and players. I guess that right now, if you expect this to be an issue in a given situation, you can always use Distortion. I forgot if Diversion affects targets at a distance; if so, that'd be another option. This of course leaves out all the offensive shatter options..."

- Illusions do not attack keep walls and will not shatter on walls, making them severely limited in WvWvW

"Attacking walls with class abilities (as opposed to siege weapons) is supposedly inefficient and not something you should be doing anyway, right?"

- Phantasms have 45 sec CDs against mobs that die in 5 seconds. They're kind of useless in many PVE situations.

"I wonder if ArenaNet will reconsider making at least Phantasms change targets and be time-limited instead, but one probably should not use single-target 45s CD abilities against mobs that die in 5 seconds, in general."

- Clones overwrite far more useful and powerful phantasms when summoned.

"This could be remedied by not letting clones overwrite phantasms, as you always have the option to shatter the phantasm if you want the clone. This is more of an issue with weapons that summon clones automatically, like the scepter. In any case, I'm getting the feeling that you're not supposed to hold on to your illusions for long, even phantasms, for the simple reason that this means breaking your shatter cycles entirely."

- Clones die in a single aoe.

"That is only true if they all are in the same area, which, it is dawning to me, a Mesmer should avoid precisely for this reason. I dueled a Mesmer in WvW, and, while I will admit that I'm quite bad as a PvP player (more so at this point), he steamrolled me. What he did was to move laterally a lot so that each clone was summoned several meters from each other, making it impossible to ever hit more than one with an AOE; these were ranged clones summoned by the scepter that kept their distance from me. At that point I was pretty much screwed; I could not kill them much faster than he could make them (and even if I could, I would not be damaging the mesmer while he AND the remaining clones would be damaging me), and focusing on the Mesmer himself meant being DPSed to death by the clones while he just had to use his many defensive options."

- Clones don't even fool pve mobs. They don't work as a distraction unless you vanish. Otherwise, players and mobs stick to the Mesmer player.

"I'm not sure they're supposed to fool mobs, though that'd be nice. Making other players detarget the mesmer each time he summons a clone sounds way too unbalanced to ever be implemented. However, in the fight above, as I mentioned, ignoring the clones meant a major disadvantage, so killing them meant that you would have to detarget the mesmer. Not only that; since he was circling me as well from a distance, focusing on each clone meant he went off-camera often. I'm sure he could have play "spot the mesmer" but really, he didn't need to."

- Clones can easily be told apart from the Mesmer because the clones don't have the class icon showing on their healthbar.

"I didn't realize that; it's in any case an easily fixable bug."

- Illusions are a class mechanic resource that can be depleted by others. No warrior can have their adrenaline drained and no Necro can have their lifeforce drained. A mesmer can have all of its shatter resource killed off in a single aoe.

"See above for the AOE thing. Also, in my experience, mesmers generate illusions at a faster rate than a necro generates lifeforce, or a warrior does adrenaline. Phantasms are also more resilient than clones, so a single AOE probably won't off them."

- You also lose all of this resource when your target dies.

"Yep, Mesmers seem much more powerful against sturdy enemies bound to last longer, be it veteran mobs, bosses or other players, because if I'm correct, illusions last forever unless killed, shattered, or the target dies. I'm guessing that's one reason they don't attack walls; you could summon three of them against the wall and pretty much AFK."

- The system forces every Mesmer into a minion dependent playstyle.

"Indeed, that's the core mechanic of the mesmer, much like the pet is to the ranger. If you don't like minion gameplay, you're probably going to dislike both (and to a lesser extent, the necro). Mesmer is not the same class than in GW1, so I can really see people that loved them back them hating them now, but that's a separate (if perhaps unfortunate) issue that the class design itself is not at fault for. "

[Vigilant Walrus]

amazing armor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1s8cO...eature=g-all-u

[Hawkian]

Whoa, that's awesome. It's light armor?

[Vigilant Walrus]

Whoa, that's awesome. It's light armor?

yeah! And craftable too aparently. So Necro, Mesmer and Ele can all use it. With this cool armor there is totally incentive to craft:)

could easily see myself using a transmutation stone to color it. But I would want it green.. perhaps Oregano or Jalepeno.

[RepairmanJack]

That armor is awesome. Can't wait to see more of the high end armor.

[Bufbaf]

So, what are the infos so far we got about guilds themselves? You can join more than one guild, even if it originated on another server, right? If so, how does this work, and which guild name would be displayed on my character?
Also, will I suffer many drawbacks if I'm just guilding up with a few friends early in the game? What cool stuff would I gain from being in a guild anyway? Is a guilds "level" measured by size or by time?

[Kos Luftar]

Looking at the leaked patch notes it looks like they made quite a lot of fixes.

Hope we get a chance to play this coming weekend!

[Complistic]

liking the changes. Would have liked to see optimization so it would run better but that stuff's coming so I'm not worried.

[Thanasis Deitus]

So, what are the infos so far we got about guilds themselves? You can join more than one guild, even if it originated on another server, right? If so, how does this work, and which guild name would be displayed on my character? Also, will I suffer many drawbacks if I'm just guilding up with a few friends early in the game? What cool stuff would I gain from being in a guild anyway? Is a guilds "level" measured by size or by time?

You can join multiple guilds, and even guilds that are on a different server. You can still chat with everyone in the guild no matter which server they are in.

When you are in multiple guilds, you can only "represent" one at a time. Which guild you are currently representing determines what Guild Tag displays next to your name, which guild you can talk to with Guild Chat, and which guild bonuses you receive. There is no real drawback to being in multiple guilds, except that you only get the bonuses for the guild you are currently representing, and likewise you only earn influence for the guild you are representing.

There isn't a guild "level" per say, but there is Guild Influence. Influence is accrued by the actions of all guild members, such as participating in Dynamic events, doing PvP matches, or taking points in WvW. So a larger guild would gain influence faster, but so would a more active guild. This influence can be spent to provide bonuses to all guild members, such as Exp boots, or buffs in WvW when fighting around a captured point.