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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[Flameseeker Chronicles: A look back at 2010]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars/" rel="tag">Guild Wars</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars-2/" rel="tag">Guild Wars 2</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/flameseeker-chronicles/" rel="tag">Flameseeker Chronicles</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/flameseeker-chronicles"><img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/12/omgpretty1-rb-821.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
Welcome to the last <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/flameseeker-chronicles">Flameseeker Chronicles</a> of 2010, in which I wax sentimental over this year and salivate over what the next one promises.<br />
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It's been a huge year for both <a href="http://www.guildwars.com"><em>Guild Wars</em></a> and <a href="http://www.guildwars2.com"><em>Guild Wars 2</em></a> -- probably one of the biggest since <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars"><em>Guild Wars 1</em></a> launched. There was civil war in Tyria, with consequences more far-reaching than any of us as players could imagine at the outset. Profession reveals came fast and furious for a while, and when the dust settled, we had extensive information on half of the <em>Guild Wars 2 </em>professions.<br />
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<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/gamescom-2010/">Gamescom</a> and <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/pax-prime-2010/">PAX</a> brought us actual <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars-2"><em>Guild Wars 2</em></a> gameplay, the War in Kryta seemed to go on and on, and there were even some shakeups behind the scenes, with <a href="http://www.massively.joystiq.com/tag/arenanet">ArenaNet</a> swinging a banhammer of massive proportions and dismantling the Xunlai tournament house. Follow along and let's take a look at what 2010 brought to Tyria.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Flameseeker Chronicles: A look back at 2010</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/">Flameseeker Chronicles: A look back at 2010</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19777048/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/27/flameseeker-chronicles-a-look-back-at-2010/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>2010</category><category>anet</category><category>arenanet</category><category>end-of-the-year-2010</category><category>featured</category><category>flameseeker-chronicles</category><category>gamescom-2010</category><category>guild-wars</category><category>guild-wars-2</category><category>gw</category><category>gw2</category><category>hall-of-monuments</category><category>massively-overpowered</category><category>mvop</category><category>ncsoft</category><category>pax-prime-2010</category><category>professions</category><category>xth</category><category>xunlai-tournament-house</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Rubi Bayer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 27 Dec 2010 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Flameseeker Chronicles: It's all Kun Shao's fault]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars/" rel="tag">Guild Wars</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/game-mechanics/" rel="tag">Game Mechanics</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/flameseeker-chronicles/" rel="tag">Flameseeker Chronicles</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/flameseeker-chronicles"><img hspace="4" border="1" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/02/ks-rb-221.jpg" alt="" /></a></div>
The <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/XTH">Xunlai Tournament House</a> in <a href="http://www.guildwars.com"><em>Guild Wars</em></a> was a great idea in theory. Once favor was no longer tied to PvP, it served as an excellent incentive to keep PvE only players involved in the other half of the game. All players -- whether actively participating in the tournament or not -- could make predictions on the outcomes of the monthly 1 vs. 1 and <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Gvg">Guild vs. Guild</a> matches. Points were distributed based on the accuracy of the predictions, then traded to <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Tolkano">Tolkano</a> for prizes, usually <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Zaishen_Key">Zaishen Keys</a>. <br />
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Players responded very well to the concept, with many purchasing second, third, and even fourth accounts to snap up more Tournament Reward Points each month. The Zaishen title helped fuel the enthusiasm, and ZKeys soon rivaled <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ecto">Globs of Ectoplasm</a> in value, even briefly becoming another alternate currency in game.<br />
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All good things must come to an end, though.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>Flameseeker Chronicles: It's all Kun Shao's fault</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/">Flameseeker Chronicles: It's all Kun Shao's fault</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19367383/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/22/flameseeker-chronicles-its-all-kun-shaos-fault/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>arenanet</category><category>arenanet-guild-wars</category><category>featured</category><category>flameseeker-chronicles</category><category>guild-wars</category><category>guildwars</category><category>gw</category><category>high-priest-zhang</category><category>kun-shao</category><category>XTH</category><category>xunlai-tournament-house</category><category>zaishen-keys</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Rubi Bayer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Guild Wars Xunlai Tournament House permanently retired]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/guild-wars/" rel="tag">Guild Wars</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/pvp/" rel="tag">PvP</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News Items</a></p><a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:Regina_Buenaobra/Journal/Archive_Apr-Jun_2009#Xunlai_Tournament_House_-_23_June_2009"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/02/tolkano-rb-211.jpg" />Seven months ago</a>, the <a href="http://www.guildwars.com"><em>Guild Wars</em></a> <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Xunlai_Tournament_House">Xunlai Tournament House</a> was pulled offline so <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/arenanet">ArenaNet</a> could investigate the increasingly frequent glitches in point distribution. Yesterday they finally made the decision: <em>"After much analysis and discussion, we've decided to permanently retire the Xunlai Tournament House."</em><br />
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<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/regina-buenaobra">Regina Buenaobra</a>'s <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:Regina_Buenaobra/Journal#New_Xunlai_Tournament_House_Information_-_10_February_2010">wiki journal page</a> went on to explain that <a href="http://www.arena.net">ArenaNet</a> had done an "exhaustive investigation" into the problems and in the end concluded that the XTH would need to be rebuilt from scratch. To do that, resources would have to be pulled away from <a href="http://www.guildwars2.com"><em>Guild Wars 2</em></a>, and in the end it became a question of where the focus needed to be.<br />
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It was a tough call for the <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/guild-wars"><em>Guild Wars</em></a> team to make, and undoubtedly will be a disappointing decision for many fans. But with only so much time, money, and manpower to go around, they made the call to keep the focus where it currently was. You can check out Regina's full journal post <a href="http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/User:Regina_Buenaobra/Journal#New_Xunlai_Tournament_House_Information_-_10_February_2010">here</a>. R.I.P., free Zaishen Keys.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/">Guild Wars Xunlai Tournament House permanently retired</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://legal.aol.com/terms-of-service/full-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19353809/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/11/guild-wars-xunlai-tournament-house-permanantly-retired/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>guild-wars</category><category>pvp</category><category>regina-buenaobra</category><category>XTH</category><category>xunlai-tournament-house</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Rubi Bayer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>