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The Game Archaeologist looks at Guild Wars Utopia

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Classes, Expansions, Guild Wars 2, The Game Archaeologist

Aztecs. Chronomancers. Mounts. Halberds. Golems. Dual wielding.

These are all but a hint of what a fourth Guild Wars campaign could have been, a campaign that was under development in the mid-2000s but was scrapped by 2007. Replacing it was the expansion Guild Wars Eye of the North and the workings of a super-secret sequel to the game (which you've probably never heard of). It was the forgotten campaign, swept under a rug while it was still under the rug.

But what if, in some alternative timeline, ArenaNet had gone ahead with this campaign? What if it became an established part of the Guild Wars legacy, as familiar to us today as Nightfall and Factions?

What if Guild Wars Utopia had lived?

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist looks at Guild Wars Utopia

The Game Archaeologist looks at Guild Wars Utopia originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: Life in the legions

Elisabeth Cardy — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, PvE, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Races, Flameseeker Chronicles

Last week, Leif Chapelle, a content designer, took some time to update the ArenaNet blog with a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at personal story in Guild Wars 2. He sketched out the structure of how players' biography choices affect their storyline: "To experience every potential storyline being told from level one to 10, you'd need to play the game 30 times (five races times three initial storylines times two internal branches in each storyline)... We have 80 levels of progression for your character, and every 10 levels or so, you'll begin a new chapter in your story."

To someone who has rolled a seemingly endless string of alts in virtually every game I've played and is extraordinarily trigger-happy when it comes to remaking characters, this shows a great deal of promise. I'm sure it's quite an angstilicious idea for people who want to savor ALL THE STORY, but I hope that such types might admit (however grudgingly) that too much story is a better option than too little.

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Life in the legions

Flameseeker Chronicles: Life in the legions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Mar 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: Let's dance!

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Guild Wars, One Shots

We're kicking off unusual foe week here on One Shots with a Guild Wars baddie courtesy of Zara:

The god Abaddon is the final boss in Guild Wars Nightfall, but players who pause before engaging him can find an Easter egg. If all the human players in the party stop on the bridge and do the /dance emote, he'll dance with you for a few minutes. Here you can see his giant head and hands rocking out.

Next he'll kill everyone in your party and your screen will flash the message "You got served," but at least you had some fun before you died.

We've started this week's theme with a bang, and now it's your turn! Send a pic of the funniest, most strangely designed, or scariest enemy you've taken on in an MMO to oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. Tell us a little about the foe and we'll share it here on One Shots!

Gallery: One Shots: 2011

One Shots: Let's dance! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Perfect Ten: Sequelitis

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 19 May 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: EverQuest II, Lineage 2, Neocron 2, Sword of the New World, Guild Wars 2, Everquest Online Adventures, Humor, Final Fantasy XIV, DUST 514, Vindictus, EverQuest Next, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous

As a long-time movie buff, I've always been fascinated by sequels. I know, they have a terrible reputation and everyone gets this face like he's digesting a porcupine when discussing them, but there's something fun about them as well. I think we always want a good story to continue, to see what happens next, and to answer the question, "What would the first film be like if it were put in the hands of a complete boob?" It would be an entertaining trainwreck, that's what.

Even though the MMORPG genre is in its toddler stage, it's seen a number of sequels, prequels and spin-offs, just the same as other types of entertainment. Video game sequels for hit titles are safer financial investments than striking out into new territory, so it makes sense that MMO studios would follow this pattern as well.

Right now there are loads of MMO sequels and spin-offs in the works -- including EverQuest Next, PlanetSide Next, Guild Wars 2, Mabinogi 2, MapleStory 2, Phantasy Star Online 2, Dust 514, and even a possible Ultima Online sequel -- so it's safe to say that the trend won't be dying down anytime soon. However, today I want to look at 10 sequels that already made it to release and briefly examine how they stacked up to their predecessors. Oh yes, there will be blood after the jump -- and I will drink your milkshake!

Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Sequelitis

The Perfect Ten: Sequelitis originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 May 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design

Beau Hindman — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Interviews, MMO industry, PvE, Free-to-play, Mobile, Casual, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

Spacetime Studios, the developer of the popular mobile MMO Pocket Legends, was started back in 2005 to create large-scale MMOs. Its founders decided to make a mobile platform MMO upon seeing the obvious marketing opportunity that the iPhone provided. After all, the players would already be connected and would be accustomed to microtransactions through exposure to iTunes and the app store.

Of course, development could prove disastrous if the wrong game plan were followed, so Spacetime decided to keep it simple. How simple? Cinco Barnes of Spacetime was on hand at GDC Online to explain how his team members did it. What they found was a chance to do more than they'd initially planned on -- and an audience ready to gobble up everything the studio could create.

Continue reading GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design

GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flameseeker Chronicles: Heroes ruined Guild Wars

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Culture, Flameseeker Chronicles

Oh, settle down. I'm not stating that as a fact, I'm just repeating what others have said. It's an old argument, but one that's recently come to my attention several times over the past week, so I want to take a look at the argument today.

Heroes came to Guild Wars near the end of 2006 with the introduction of Nightfall. They were a huge upgrade from the much-maligned Alesia and her companions. Sure, you had to level them up, but you had as much control over their runes and insignias, skill bars, and weapons as you did your own.

The addition gave players the option to add three of these customized companions, making it much easier to continue adventuring even if you couldn't get a group at the moment. It sounds perfect, right? Not everyone agrees, and it's a debate that flared back up in the past months when the possibility was raised of companions in Guild Wars 2.

Hit the handy "read more" button to check out both sides of the argument.

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Heroes ruined Guild Wars

Flameseeker Chronicles: Heroes ruined Guild Wars originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy offers Guild Wars Trilogy for $14.99 -- why you need to buy it

Rubi Bayer — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, News items, Free-to-play

In case you haven't heard, Best Buy is offering the Guild Wars Trilogy at a serious discount this week. $14.99 for Guild Wars: Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall. Since the game is free-to-play, a one-time price of $15 for all three games is a powerful incentive to check out the game as a new player. But what if you're a longtime player who loves a bargain? Are you staring at the offer, thinking "Oh man, $14.99. I really don't NEED another account, but..." Never fear, for we are here to help justify your purchase with our "ten things to do with an extra Guild Wars account."

1. PvP against yourself.
2. Hide all your stuff until the hacking issue is sorted out.
3. Pick up more presents from Nicholas the Traveler.
4. More Xunlai tournament points...wait, never mind.
5. Lots of extra storage at a fraction of the price.
6. Got friends in two different guilds and torn on which one to stick with? Put an account in both!
7. Lend yourself three more heroes if you're feeling particularly antisocial.
8. Run your alts places.
9. Use up all of those great character names that you thought up but didn't have the character slots for.
10. Do Tihark Orchard and Chahbek Village on even MORE characters.

We're sure you can think up even more reasons to make the purchase -- if it helps, they even offer a "Great Financing Offer" if you need to spread your payments over 18 months. So pick up a little Christmas gift for yourself. Enjoy!

Best Buy offers Guild Wars Trilogy for $14.99 -- why you need to buy it originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's interview with Guild Wars CM Regina Buenaobra part 2

Lesley Smith — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Interviews, Guild Wars 2

You have a much more segregated view of PvE and PVP content, do you think this makes the game more enjoyable for players? Will it influence gameplay in future titles, such as Guild Wars 2?
We have different forms of PvP for different player types. We have more easily accessible formats like Alliance Battles as well as more competitive formats like GvG. The various different PvP formats give players multiple options to play and enjoy the challenge of PvP.

This will have an influence in Guild Wars 2 in the sense that we want there to be a similar kind of accessible PvP format, like World PvP, that players can get into easily, as well as more competitive forms of PvP. We want to be able to give players different options, because we know that players will want to play and enjoy different forms of PvP.

What do you think you have learned from Guild Wars?
With the Guild Wars experience under our belts, we've learned that it's worth taking some risks to provide an innovative new gaming experience. We think we've succeeded in delivering a unique online RPG to players. We've learned that players enjoy deep PvE gameplay experiences, and this is shown in Guild Wars: Eye of the North, where we emphasized that deeper style of play rather than a more broad design emphasis where content is spread more thinly.

Of course, forging a new path and doing something different from everyone else wasn't totally smooth, and we've had learning experiences that are relevant for development on Guild Wars 2. One of the things we would have reconsidered in hindsight is the fact that adding a large number of skills to the game increases the complexity of the system, and increases the amount of information that a player feels she has to absorb. This is potentially overwhelming, especially for new players. One of the strongest design decisions the team made was the use of instancing, which gives players a personal experience and the feeling that they have an impact and a stake in the destiny of the world. In games where there's more persistence, players don't feel that same kind of power. Having said that, persistent worlds give players a stronger sense of a world that's alive with the excitement and activity of other players. Guild Wars is unique from other games in a similar genre, both in the design sense and in terms of its business model, and we continue to be successful, so the lesson there is that it was worth taking those risks.

Is there anything in particular you are looking to improve upon in terms of gameplay or storyline in future?
Our Guild Wars Live Team is continuing to work on improving the game through smaller monthly tweaks as well as more substantial content updates. We don't have specific details on what's in store for the immediate future.

In terms of Guild Wars 2, we've got a lot of great ideas, but you'll just have to wait and see when we're ready to start talking about them in more detail.

Guild Wars 2 is on the horizon, are you preparing players for the transition or do you hope both games will be played side-by-side?
We're really excited about Guild Wars 2, and we hope that our longstanding players will check out Guild Wars 2 when it comes out. In Guild Wars, we have the Hall of Monuments, which records and displays players' achievements. This will help transition players over to Guild Wars 2 by giving existing characters some unique rewards in Guild Wars 2. We'll continue to support Guild Wars for as long as players are playing it.

Over the last four years, has your method of delivering new content changed? Do you think players prefer mini updates or the WoW-style of three or four huge patches per year/expansion?
Yes. We went from releasing large content updates in the form of brand new games, such as Factions and Nightfall, and our expansion Eye of the North, to shifting our focus on Guild Wars 2 while continuing to support Guild Wars with smaller updates. We currently release both mini updates as well as larger patches. These come in the form of our monthly maintenance updates where we do skill balances and monthly tournament updates, and also our less frequent content updates, such as the Fourth Anniversary update, which are larger in scope. Less frequent, larger updates give the Live Team more time for planning and development for larger projects.

Do you think the player community has been an important part of the Guild Wars experience?
Absolutely. Our players have a strong voice at ArenaNet through our community managers, me and Martin Kerstein, as well as other members of the studio who take an interest in community matters. Some of the features being released in the Fourth Anniversary Update are very popular requests in the community-in particular, the expanded options for item storage and the Zaishen Menagerie. We have a few surprises up our collective sleeves, and the community has definitely asked for them.

Guild Wars wouldn't be what it is today without our player community. Our community is passionate and they continue to show their enthusiasm and excitement, whether it's through holding in-game community events, helping new players in and out of the game, showing up to support us at gaming conventions, or contributing articles on our Wiki.

Anything you can tell us about Guild Wars 2? How is development progressing?
Guild Wars 2 is going to be a much bigger game than the original Guild Wars. Our development team is twice as large as the dev team for Guild Wars, so we're putting a lot of development resources into it. We have regular company-wide play sessions in Guild Wars 2, and it's a blast to play with everyone. The development team also does regular playtesting every day. I can say that it's an absolutely gorgeous game and I'm always astounded at how great our artists are at bringing a world to life.

We're not ready to share more just now, but stay tuned for more information later this year. Keep in mind that unlike most development teams, we've been very open about our decision to start development on Guild Wars 2 right from the very beginning. We've also been building almost everything in Guild Wars 2 from the ground up. A lot of games start development in total secrecy before fans even hear a whisper about it. Our fans have been clamouring for news and updates, and we know it feels like a long time for them. When Guild Wars 2 is released, they'll see that it was worth the wait.

Do you think players will find it easy to move so far in to the game's future?
While we are going to have a fresh start with Guild Wars 2, we're also going to ensure that players still feel a close connection with the lore and mythology of the world. For existing player characters, they'll feel connected to the past of Tyria through the Hall of Monuments, which is where their current Guild Wars characters record their achievements.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Be sure to check out all the details of the Guild Wars Fourth Anniversary celebrations on our official website!

<< Regina Buenaobra interview part one

Massively's interview with Guild Wars CM Regina Buenaobra part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's interview with Guild Wars CM Regina Buenaobra

Lesley Smith — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Interviews

ArenaNet and NCSoft are celebrating the fourth anniversary of free-to-play MMO Guild Wars this month so we decided to sit down an chat with Community Manager Regina Buenaobra about the games success and it's beginnings.

How did Guild Wars come about?
When the ArenaNet founders (Jeff Strain, Mike O'Brien, and Pat Wyatt) were still working at Blizzard, they had a lot of discussions about the design underpinnings of World of Warcraft, which Jeff Strain was working on, and Warcraft III, which Mike O'Brien was working on. They thought that it might be cool to mix the two genres, since there was already a lot of overlap between them. Strategy games are more fun when you've got an emotional connection to not just your character but also the game world, and when roleplaying games are infused with a bit of a competitive dimension, that's exciting for players.

What were you looking to achieve when you first launched the game?
Even before Guild Wars was launched, the team aimed to do something different from what other online roleplaying games were doing. This uniqueness is at the very core of many of the design decisions-for example, the focus on player skill rather than time spent playing. The team wanted Guild Wars to deliver something different from what was already out there on the market, and have it be a success. At the time, it was a risk to diverge from the route that other online games were taking, both in terms of game design and business model. And of course, the goal was to give players a really fun and enjoyable game.

Why do you think gamers have been so attracted to the game?
I think there are a lot of reasons for the enduring draw of Guild Wars. Guild Wars provides a skill-based gameplay experience that includes a brilliant solo campaign. Here, a player feels immersed in a game world through fantastic storytelling and questing. The player feels powerful, in control of their destiny and their ability to influence events. Guild Wars also includes a deep profession and skill system which is really compelling from a strategic sense. The business model-buy the box and play online without subscription fees-presents great value for the money, especially in the current economic climate. These are all reasons for why Guild Wars is still really popular.

Continue reading Massively's interview with Guild Wars CM Regina Buenaobra

Massively's interview with Guild Wars CM Regina Buenaobra originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A World of Warcraft player's guide to Guild Wars

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Guild Wars, Business models, Game mechanics, Guides, Guilds, MMO industry, Crafting, Professions, PvP, PvE, Education

Guild Wars and World of Warcraft have been peacefully co-existing for several years now. Considering the fact that the Guild Wars development team over at ArenaNet is made up of ex-Blizzard folks, you're bound to see some similarities between the games. Or, as is more accurately the case, you'll see some vast differences between the games, as ArenaNet's Jeff Strain and Mike O'Brien set out to make an experience that is unlike any they've worked on at Blizzard.

So in this guide, we're going to break down several gameplay elements between the two games, and compare them for those who may only be familiar with World of Warcraft. We'll go through the differences and similarities between questing, combat, graphics and much more.

Follow along to the comparison of Questing in an instanced world>>

A World of Warcraft player's guide to Guild Wars originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars Wintersday in July event

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, in-game

If you've ever experienced the joy of Wintersday in Guild Wars throughout the years, you may be excited by the news that ArenaNet is bringing Wintersday back for a brief time this coming weekend. It's part of their Wintersday in July event beginning at noon PDT on Friday, July 18th and running until 11:59 PM PDT on Sunday, July 20th.

This event will not be the full Wintersday festivities, but there will still be access the the Snowball Arena in Lion's Arch, Droknar's Forge, Ascalon City, Kamadan and the Great Temple of Balthazar. There will also be Wintersday-themed drops from all monsters throughout Tyria. You could probably consider this Wintersday-lite, since there will be no battle between Grenth and Dwayna, and no special headgear given away.

Guild Wars Wintersday in July event originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars: A guide to Heroes

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 09 May 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Guild Wars, Classes, Game mechanics, Guides, PvE, Academic, Education

Guild Wars has been an innovator in so many different aspects of the MMO genre, but none more than the introduction of ally NPCs to fill out a party and make soloing easier.

This was nothing new to online gaming though. Diablo did it way before Guild Wars, but GW refined the process with Henchmen. They made it simple to hire a few NPCs standing around near the city gate and get them to join your party for their share of the loot. It started out simple enough, but it eventually evolved into something much more advanced (and exciting) with Heroes.

Gallery: Guild Wars Heroes Gallery

Continue reading Guild Wars: A guide to Heroes

Guild Wars: A guide to Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 May 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It's never too late to start playing Guild Wars

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Tips and tricks, Hands-on, Academic

Haven't had a chance to play Guild Wars yet? You're thinking maybe three years after launch is a bit late? Nah, you're just in time! Guild Wars has so many enticements for people who are just getting into this new-fangled MMO scene, but also for people looking for a change from their regular game. We're here now to explain a bit about ArenaNet's masterpiece, targeted at someone who has only heard of Guild Wars, but never actually played it.

Guild Wars is different from many of the larger, more popular MMOs we have to choose from today. The main reasons include the fact that it has no monthly fee, it centers around instanced worlds and it is one of the few games that successfully combines PvE with PvP.

So let's start from the beginning and explain a bit about the history of the game and why it came into existence. No, this will not be on the test later, but it is an important piece of back story when considering why it is the game that it is.

Continue reading It's never too late to start playing Guild Wars

It's never too late to start playing Guild Wars originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: A hidden mural

Elizabeth Harper — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, Guild Wars, One Shots

Today we're featuring another shot of Guild Wars (in this case, Nightfall) sent in by reader Paul, who says:

I found this mural in the northern part of Tyria's Ascalon area. It was hidden in a valley and I was very shocked that something so beautiful was hiding this far off the beaten path.

Yes, even in your favorite MMOs, it's important to spend some time exploring off the beaten path -- your adventuring is often rewarded with unique encounters like this one.

Have a gorgeous screenshots from your favorite MMO that you'd like to share with us? Whatever your story is, send it (and a blurb about it, if you would) to us at oneshots@massively.com. Your image and story could be featured next!

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: A hidden mural originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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