Massively

Flameseeker Chronicles: The great nerfbat of '10 (or why ArenaNet didn't fail)

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Game mechanics, Patches, Flameseeker Chronicles

Last week's Guild Wars skill update sparked discussion among players that shows no sign of slowing any time soon. Player reactions ran the full spectrum, from delight to the infamous (and ineffective, since the player in question never intended to stop playing and the box didn't burn very well anyway) box burning. Whatever your feelings on it, there's no doubt that this huge skill update had a pretty big impact on the community over the past few days. Follow along after the jump for a closer look at the aftermath.

Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: The great nerfbat of '10 (or why ArenaNet didn't fail)

Flameseeker Chronicles: The great nerfbat of '10 (or why ArenaNet didn't fail) originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars releases long-awaited skill update

Rubi Bayer — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Patches, News items

We were told last week it was coming, but the huge Guild Wars skill balance that has been long promised finally arrived last night.

The Guild Wars Live Team and Test Krewe have been working on this one for quite a while, in part because of the size and significance of the update. The unusual length of time was also partially because they were striving to address some underlying issues rather than just swinging the nerfbat at a few choice skills, only to create a new flavor of the month build to take over.

While the changes to Shadow Form and the entire concept of invulnerability are creating the loudest buzz at the moment, they weren't the only things to get a look over by any means. This is one of the largest skill updates ever to come to Guild Wars, and the update notes were released at the same time as a developer update elaborating on the thought processes behind many of the changes.

Watch for this Monday's Flameseeker Chronicles, when we'll take a more in depth look at the update.

Guild Wars releases long-awaited skill update originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars skill update planned for next week

Rubi Bayer — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Patches, News items

Earlier this evening a skill update preview landed on the Guild Wars wiki for an update expected to go into effect next Thursday the 25th. From the look of the notes, it's the big one we've all been waiting on.

The notes begin by asserting that Shadow Form, Obsidian Flesh, and a few 600/Smite skills will be getting some changes. However, this won't be a general nerf that causes players to simply move on to the next overpowered flavor of the month build. The team has taken a long look at the underlying issue of overpowered builds in general, so it will be very interesting to see what comes of it.

Moving beyond that, the notes gave much more specific information on other skills and builds that will be getting updates. Many of the things we've come to accept as a cliche -- Spirit Spamming Rits, weak Hammer Warriors, and more -- will be getting shaken up next week.

The notes are of course preliminary and subject to change, but for now they serve as a good indication of what will happen next week, so take a look here, and gather ye DTSC groups while ye may.

Guild Wars skill update planned for next week originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars releases preliminary skill update notes

Rubi Bayer — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Patches, PvP

No, they are not nerfing Shadow Form. Yet. But Guild Wars community manager Regina Buenaobra released a preview of some skill updates and updated GvG restrictions that are coming. Since they'll be released shortly before a Monthly Automated Tournament, and affect PvP heavily, the preview is being offered to give players a chance to plan for the changes. Regina does note, however, that these are preliminary notes, and subject to change.

So what about the rest of the promised skill update? Regina says "While we continue a larger playbalance project that includes drastic changes to Shadow Form, we believe it is important to release a small skill balance to address a few other pressing issues" So the project is still underway, and Shadow Form is still in the crosshairs. (You can either be glad of that, or farm even faster while you still can, depending on your point of view on the entire issue.)

We'll continue watching for further information on the update.

Guild Wars releases preliminary skill update notes originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars updates Halloween quest, bringing permanant changes

Rubi Bayer — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Free-to-play

We can all stop making "Waiting for Godot" (Godhuum?) jokes. Thursday evening ArenaNet quietly updated "The Waiting Game", the Guild Wars quest we all picked up back around Halloween. Dhuum is awake, he's not happy, and the Shadow Form debate rages on.

The update to The Waiting Game revealed that Dhuum will appear once all of the Underworld quests have been completed, and defeating him is now required to "complete" the Underworld. With a skill set including things like "Judgement of Dhuum", this new addition to the Underworld is most likely the challenge that bored Guild Wars players have been looking for.

Shadow Form continues to be a hot topic, however. Many players expected this to be the thing that put an end to Shadow Form Underworld farming, but one of the earliest reported successes proved that wrong very quickly. Players responded quickly with one commenter summing up many people's thoughts: "It's...disappointing that even a God of Unholy Death can't bypass shadowform...". (Community Manager Regina Buenaobra stepped in to mention that the goal was new content, not a nerf of SF farming.)

In the meantime, Dhuum seems to be the biggest challenge around in Guild Wars -- kudos to ArenaNet for the new content!

Guild Wars updates Halloween quest, bringing permanant changes originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars skill update: The nerfing of Shadow Form

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Forums, Game mechanics, Professions, PvE

The ups and downs of the Assassin skill Shadow Form has been quite the topic of debate lately in Guild Wars. Back in May, the skill had its duration increased which made it the perfect skill for ecto farming builds in the Underworld. The inevitable progression from there evolved into ecto and shard prices dropping dramatically from the over-farming of all the big farm spots. However, in the June 2nd skill update, Shadow Form had quite a change. Now, the caster does 50% less damage while Shadow Form is active on them. Not only that, but the Mindblade Spectres in the Underworld have received Hex Breaker to help combat the hex-based farming builds that have always been so popular in this area.

Now the question is, do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing? Of course, if you're one of the people who farmed ecto with your A/E Chaos Planes farmer, you might not be very excited by this update. We've found that generally, most players do welcome this change though. Not only for the projected rise in ecto prices (making them worth obtaining the old way, and selling on the market again), but also to give a bit of credibility back to the Assassins who enjoyed their class for what it was before they became easy money-makers.

Guild Wars skill update: The nerfing of Shadow Form originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments