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The Daily Grind: Have media impressions affected your excitement level for Guild Wars 2?

Jef Reahard — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, The Daily Grind

So our first official Guild Wars 2 impression pieces are in the books, and boy was there a lot to digest after ArenaNet's press preview weekend.

Whether you're anxious to discover more about the game's combat, intrigued by an MMO that lacks dedicated healers, or looking forward to a transformed Tyria some 250 years after the original Guild Wars, there is plenty to chew on.

Even those of us on the periphery of a game's fan community can get caught up in the pre-release groundswell, and though I've barely played the original game, I find myself quite intrigued by the reports coming from my colleagues. What about you, Massively readers? If you weren't already on board the fan train (or even if you were), has the recent media coverage upped your excitement level for Guild Wars 2?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Have media impressions affected your excitement level for Guild Wars 2? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, Flameseeker Chronicles

To say last week was exciting for Guild Wars 2 fans is a bit of an understatement. Mike O'Brien gave the community the news it's been dying to hear, Ree Soesbee told us all about the Jotun (no, seriously, I hate those guys and their stupid KDs), and... well, some other things happened too.

We've got lots to talk about, so hit the jump and let's dive right in.

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead

Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: We don't need no stinkin' endgame

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Endgame, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles

We talked a lot about the concepts of endgame and raiding on last week's Guildcast, but since not everyone has had time to watch it (and because the subject is still knocking around in my head), I want to address it a little more in this week's Flameseeker Chronicles.

There are so many assumptions and so much speculation and so much talk about the concept as a whole and how it applies to Guild Wars 2, so let's dive on in.

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: We don't need no stinkin' endgame

Flameseeker Chronicles: We don't need no stinkin' endgame originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars 2 confirmed for 2012, public beta coming [Updated]

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Launches, News items, Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet founder and president Mike O'Brien rocked the Guild Wars 2 community very early this morning with a blog post celebrating 2012 as the year of the dragon and the official launch year for Guild Wars 2.

Guild Wars 2 recently finished up a very small closed beta test, and now ArenaNet is planning to start opening the testing doors wider very quickly: "In February we'll invite select press to participate in beta testing, and in March and April we'll aggressively ramp up the size of our beta test events so that many of you will have a chance to participate."

This all leads up to the event fans have been eagerly awaiting on the edge of their seats: a 2012 launch for Guild Wars 2, according to O'Brien. He wrapped up the blog post with words guaranteed to put a big smile on the face of every fan: "So welcome to the Year of the Dragon - the year of Guild Wars 2."

[Update: Martin Kerstein has further clarified ANet's plans on the GW2 Guru forums, reminding players that "public beta events" does not mean "unlimited open beta." He does say that at least some of these events will be in the form of weekend testing events.]

Guild Wars 2 confirmed for 2012, public beta coming [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: Efficient Hall of Monuments progress

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles, Guides

Guild Wars 2 is drawing ever closer. It may not feel like it sometimes, but it's getting nearer each day. A lot of fans are easing the pain of the wait by playing through Guild Wars 1 in an effort to beef up their Hall of Monuments scores for the day GW2 arrives.

The Hall of Monuments in GW might only award titles and cosmetic goodies, but we gamers do love our shinies, so lots of people are diving into present-day Tyria to make some HoM progress while they wait for GW2. I posted a series of Hall of Monuments guides almost a year and a half ago, and while most of it has stood the test of time very well, I want to revisit it.

The reason I want to do this is to smooth the path a little more. So many people are still coming into Guild Wars for this reason, and starting from scratch with such an enormous goal can make a lot of them throw in the towel. Thankfully, ArenaNet has added some features into the game in the past few years that can make your Hall of Monuments progress more "hare" and less "tortoise," with the same prizes at the end. They all work together so you can get the most of your travels through Tyria in a much shorter time.

This one's for the min-maxers, so follow along to read about three simple things you can keep an eye on to speed up your HoM progress!

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Efficient Hall of Monuments progress

Flameseeker Chronicles: Efficient Hall of Monuments progress originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MMO impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2011

Brendan Drain — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Galleries, Culture, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, New titles, PvE, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Hands-on, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Some of the industry's biggest names were at Eurogamer Expo last week, including BioWare, NCsoft and Trion Worlds. I was on the floor at the expo to get some hands-on experience with several upcoming MMOs and countless singleplayer games. Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic stole the show, with hands-on gameplay sessions and in-depth developer talks. BioWare also made the bold move of announcing SWTOR's official release date during its talk at the convention. In addition to promoting the heck out of RIFT, Trion showed off upcoming MMORTS End of Nations with a hands-on demo and encouraged attendees to sign up to the End of Nations newsletter.

RIFT and World of Tanks were both playable on the show floor for the entire weekend, but nothing new was being shown. Hack-and-slash adventure RPG Dark Souls and the beautifully zen Journey both demonstrated incredibly innovative multiplayer aspects that I'll likely cover in my weekly Not So Massively column, but neither falls neatly into the MMO box. OnLive had a spectacular showing at the expo, giving away free home consoles to every attendee and demonstrating the system's surprisingly lag-free gameplay on the floor. We discovered that although there are no MMOs in OnLive's current lineup, this isn't due to technical infeasibility, so we may yet see MMOs launched on the service.

Skip past the cut for my in-depth hands-on impressions of Guild Wars 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic and End of Nations from Eurogamer Expo 2011.

Continue reading MMO impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2011

MMO impressions from Eurogamer Expo 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Oct 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ArenaNet blog focuses on the Krait

Matt Daniel — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, News items, Guild Wars 2, Races

Arenanet has updated its blog with a new post featuring the serpentine Krait race. Guild Wars players will be familiar with the shape-shifting creatures, but the blog post delves into detail beyond what most players would likely know (that is, how to make them dead).

The piece details how the Krait are fond of keeping humans trapped inside great obelisks in the middle of the sea until they are ready to be sacrificed in one of the Krait's dark religious ceremonies (how messed up is that?) and more, including specifics on their society, religion, and dwellings. Also included is behind-the-scenes information from the team regarding why it has chosen to further develop the lore of this "unapologetically evil" race for Guild Wars 2.

ArenaNet blog focuses on the Krait originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 May 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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J. Robert King talks about the second Guild Wars 2 novel, Edge of Destiny

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Lore, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play

As ArenaNet has been unveiling more and more racial lore about Guild Wars 2, there have been plenty of other sources for the upcoming game's backstory. Chief among those sources are the novels that have been mapping out the two centuries between the original Guild Wars and the sequel. Edge of Destiny is the second novel, written by J. Robert King, and it continues the story of the awakening Elder Dragons that shake the face of Tyria.

We know that we've got more than a few regular readers interested in Guild Wars 2, and so we jumped at the opportunity to ask Mr. King a few questions about the storycrafting that went into writing Edge of Destiny. Click on past the break for more details on crafting the story and lore of Tyria's struggles and on how he worked in characters that are both iconic of the playable races while keeping them distinct and memorable.

Continue reading J. Robert King talks about the second Guild Wars 2 novel, Edge of Destiny

J. Robert King talks about the second Guild Wars 2 novel, Edge of Destiny originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars 2 blog updates with Norn lore entry

Jef Reahard — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2

The world of Tyria has long been possessed of deep and engaging lore, and the official ArenaNet blog has just updated with a bit more of the backstory that fans will be soaking up with the eventual release of Guild Wars 2. ANet's Ree Soesbee has penned a Norn-centric piece that offers a revealing look at the warrior race's affinity for the Spirits of the Wild.

Soesbee's update focuses on four of the more important Spirits -- bear, snow leopard, raven, and wolf -- and features three story vignettes to go along with a bit of intro exposition in each case. Head to the official ANet blog for the latest update as Norn week comes to a close.

Guild Wars 2 blog updates with Norn lore entry originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: 'Meh' to MMOs?

Kyle Horner — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum

While the MMO genre appears to be growing at a decent pace (at least for Blizzard) there's still plenty of room for growth. World of Warcraft clones can attract only so many interested players and turning to classic niche designs such as the sandbox MMO ala Fallen Earth won't do anything to pique the interest of people who otherwise have no interest in the genre.

So what will appeal to someone who has never felt a desire to play a game both massively and multiplayer?

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: 'Meh' to MMOs?

The Digital Continuum: 'Meh' to MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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