Guild Wars 2

[Draegan]

Fordel, while not an emoticon, I find *squee* fulfills that purpose nicely.

Oh Joy!

[Fordel]

What blew my mind, was when they were showing off each races city/zones or whatever, when they got to the Plant People, It really looked just like the opening StoryArt, except they had players running around in it and crap. 

[Soln]

any ideas on how this will be actually different from GW1?  it also didn't grab me (too much instancing)

why the sequel, in other words (?)

[schild]

any ideas on how this will be actually different from GW1?  it also didn't grab me (too much instancing)

why the sequel, in other words (?)

They've said that GW2 will be a true persistent World with casual but open PvP (battlegrounds, zones, etc I assume). That is was the major thing missing from Guild Wars 1. Also, crafting and other meta systems. In other words, it's an MMOG. Without a monthly fee. Whee.

[Soln]

any ideas on how this will be actually different from GW1?  it also didn't grab me (too much instancing)

why the sequel, in other words (?)

They've said that GW2 will be a true persistent World with casual but open PvP (battlegrounds, zones, etc I assume). That is was the major thing missing from Guild Wars 1. Also, crafting and other meta systems. In other words, it's an MMOG. Without a monthly fee. Whee.

Ok so THATS cool, yes

[tazelbain]

I wonder about that no sub thing, have they reconfirmed that recently?  It's a shrewd move to focus on box sells rather than subs.  But I don't know how a greedy corp can resist sticking their hands in player's wallet.

[schild]

But I don't how a greedy corp can resist sticking their hands in player's wallet.

The same way they did last time?

[tazelbain]

I got the impression that the reason GW1 was able to be non-sub is they went very cheap on the back-end which is why there was very little persistence, no real z-axis, and was very instancy.  Now if they going a more traditional MMO back-end in GW2 are they really going to keep the no-sub?  If no-sub was such a great move, why isn't Aion no-sub?

[sidereal]

are they really going to keep the no-sub? 

Will there be a subscription fee for Guild Wars 2?
Nope. Like the original Guild Wars, there will be no subscription fee for Guild Wars 2. You just buy the game and play it online without paying a monthly fee.

Enjoy.

[Lucas]

The art direction, the whole architecture, is very promising. In GW1 they managed to give you a certain sense of wonder when you looked at the various structures. I distinctly remember, for example, the ice tower in Pre-Searing Ascalon (Wizard's Folly), thinking "whoa, who built that? How is  the inside?". You know, in a way a child-like sense of wonder, but inspired by how they represented their art.

[jakonovski]

This thread inspires me: is it possible to play through the story of Nightfall solo? Are the hero henchmen thingies enough for the tough fights?

[Fordel]

There are superior Henchmen called Heros now, that you'll get as you progress. The Primary difference is you can gear/skill them up as you please, their AI is slightly better and you can give them limited commands.


You should be able to finish any of the campaigns using only Hench/Hero's.

[jakonovski]

I am now installing Nightfall.  

I was also reading the Eurogamer preview and there was a developer quote that promptly describes why Guild Wars is awesome:

Guild Wars was a very unique game. It takes a different approach to role-playing. Looking at our competitors, it has its genesis in the Magic the Gathering tradition rather than a straight Dungeons and Dragons tradition[.]

[Modern Angel]

Yes, exactly. I'm not a MtG guy but the people who turned their noses up at only eight powers active at a time missed the entire point. That allowed for some awesome synergy between powers that everyone in more traditional MMOs is always bitching about missing.

[jakonovski]

Yes, exactly. I'm not a MtG guy but the people who turned their noses up at only eight powers active at a time missed the entire point. That allowed for some awesome synergy between powers that everyone in more traditional MMOs is always bitching about missing.

What's funny that it's also true art wise. MtG was always ultra-high fantasy with improable creatures, structures and magical things. Just like Guild Wars!

[Modern Angel]

I could see that. Jesus I am geeked for this fucking game.

[Yegolev]

I need an emoticon to express the fact that I did, in fact, climax, at the confirmed jumping news and am thoroughly satisfied.

[Ratman_tf]

They've said that GW2 will be a true persistent World with casual but open PvP (battlegrounds, zones, etc I assume). That is was the major thing missing from Guild Wars 1. Also, crafting and other meta systems. In other words, it's an MMOG. Without a monthly fee. Whee.

So did GW make enough money without a monthly sub to keep the lolservers running? I know Blizz managed it with battle.net, but I was under the impression that a 'real' MMOG would require more $$$ to pay da billz.

[Lantyssa]

Six million sold, two campaigns and an expansion, and funding for a GW2.  I don't know if they're driving Ferrari's while wearing their money hats, but it seems to have at least paid the bills.

This thread inspires me: is it possible to play through the story of Nightfall solo? Are the hero henchmen thingies enough for the tough fights?

It is enough.  You'll have to figure out the best party composition and skills to give your heroes, but I have done most of the game 'solo' this way.

Hero skills - Any skill you unlock for any of the characters on your account, or by spending Balthazar faction for, becomes available to your heroes.  So no matter which character you play, learning skills benefits all of your heroes in the future.  From a mechanics standpoint, GW has one of the best companion systems out there.

Your heroes with Ranger as a class can also have pets if you are so inclined.  I like running around with a Black, White, and regular brown Moa.

[schild]

They've said that GW2 will be a true persistent World with casual but open PvP (battlegrounds, zones, etc I assume). That is was the major thing missing from Guild Wars 1. Also, crafting and other meta systems. In other words, it's an MMOG. Without a monthly fee. Whee.

So did GW make enough money without a monthly sub to keep the lolservers running? I know Blizz managed it with battle.net, but I was under the impression that a 'real' MMOG would require more $$$ to pay da billz.

Considering they have what is probably the best network engineering team in the gaming industry, I'd wager their backend costs a good deal less to keep up in terms of hardware. Not to mention, of course they did. Considering you didn't pick a server. I'd be impressed if they pulled off the one cluster thing this time around, but hey, maybe they can do it.

[jakonovski]

It is enough.  You'll have to figure out the best party composition and skills to give your heroes, but I have done most of the game 'solo' this way.

Hero skills - Any skill you unlock for any of the characters on your account, or by spending Balthazar faction for, becomes available to your heroes.  So no matter which character you play, learning skills benefits all of your heroes in the future.  From a mechanics standpoint, GW has one of the best companion systems out there.

Your heroes with Ranger as a class can also have pets if you are so inclined.  I like running around with a Black, White, and regular brown Moa.

Ohh, hero skills. I suddenly remembered that when I played Factions, I gathered quite a few of those for my Elementalist/something (necromancer?).

Edit for GW2 content: I'm so hyped for this game now, it's ridiculous. 

[Sophismata]

The only bad thing about GW mechanics was how unforgiving it was to players with bad pings (super-spammable abilities, extremely short cast times, etc). But then, my mistake was probably choosing a mesmer as my original character. 

I don't know how it was immediately after release, but playing the alpha and beta builds I never noticed any problem with latency. I played a Mesmer, as well. I only note this because I live in Australia (and my WoW pings would exceed 4 or 5 hundred), but there were other players (some on dial-up) who seemed to perform fine.

[Fordel]

Six million sold, two campaigns and an expansion, and funding for a GW2.  I don't know if they're driving Ferrari's while wearing their money hats, but it seems to have at least paid the bills.

This thread inspires me: is it possible to play through the story of Nightfall solo? Are the hero henchmen thingies enough for the tough fights?

It is enough.  You'll have to figure out the best party composition and skills to give your heroes, but I have done most of the game 'solo' this way.

Hero skills - Any skill you unlock for any of the characters on your account, or by spending Balthazar faction for, becomes available to your heroes.  So no matter which character you play, learning skills benefits all of your heroes in the future.  From a mechanics standpoint, GW has one of the best companion systems out there.

Your heroes with Ranger as a class can also have pets if you are so inclined.  I like running around with a Black, White, and regular brown Moa.

Ingmar runs around with like 2-3 Necormancer Hero's, so whenever I play with him, it's like a zombie movie. 

[Gunzwei]

Saw the trailer on their site and it looked awesome. Will definitely be picking it up. The art as always was amazing.

In case anyone hasn't seen or was curious about the concept art from the GW artists on the expansions. It's pretty amazing how close the illustrations look to the ingame environment.

GW Factions Concept Art - http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=74118

GW Nightfall Concept Art - http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=83394

[Shatter]

In anticipation of the launch of this year's biggest massively multiplayer online (MMO) release, Aion, NCsoft announced an exclusive cross promotion today giving players the ability to call upon the Aion wings emote within the Guild Wars family of games. For more information on the Guild Wars Aion Wings promotion, please visit www.guildwars.com/aion.

Wings for Guild Wars® characters? Yes! You may not be able to fly, but you'll look awesome on the ground with these flashy wings from NCsoft's upcoming MMORPG Aion™. For a limited time, when you purchase either the Aion SteelBook edition or the Aion Limited Collector's Edition, you will receive an exclusive emote that allows you to summon a pair of Aion wings for your Guild Wars character!

Will the Aion wing emote transfer to Guild Wars 2?
A: No, this promotion is exclusive to Guild Wars.

Oh well, only for GW1

[Ingmar]

Six million sold, two campaigns and an expansion, and funding for a GW2.  I don't know if they're driving Ferrari's while wearing their money hats, but it seems to have at least paid the bills.

This thread inspires me: is it possible to play through the story of Nightfall solo? Are the hero henchmen thingies enough for the tough fights?

It is enough.  You'll have to figure out the best party composition and skills to give your heroes, but I have done most of the game 'solo' this way.

Hero skills - Any skill you unlock for any of the characters on your account, or by spending Balthazar faction for, becomes available to your heroes.  So no matter which character you play, learning skills benefits all of your heroes in the future.  From a mechanics standpoint, GW has one of the best companion systems out there.

Your heroes with Ranger as a class can also have pets if you are so inclined.  I like running around with a Black, White, and regular brown Moa.

Ingmar runs around with like 2-3 Necormancer Hero's, so whenever I play with him, it's like a zombie movie. 

BRAINS.

Anyway, it is possible to solo all the campaigns. Prophecies and Factions are rougher without heroes, but once you hit Lion's Arch or Kaineng City respectively, you can go pick up heroes from Nightfall if you own it, and it makes things significantly easier.

[Lantyssa]

Dammit.  Pre-ordered through Steam.  We should be entitled to a code.  We're missing out on the figurine, too. 

[sidereal]

Was going to buy GW1 off steam last night because I'm fellowship-quest-blocked in LOTRO.  Little more expensive than I thought it was going to be.  $20 for the main game and each expansion.  Guess they can't discount it too much since I'm leeching servers and bandwidth.  I suspect it will get cheaper as GW2 gets closer.

[Falconeer]

Preordered? When is this supposed to come out?

[Lantyssa]

Was going to buy GW1 off steam last night because I'm fellowship-quest-blocked in LOTRO.  Little more expensive than I thought it was going to be.  $20 for the main game and each expansion.  Guess they can't discount it too much since I'm leeching servers and bandwidth.  I suspect it will get cheaper as GW2 gets closer.

Look for a Platinum box somewhere.  Then you would only need GWEN.  You can also find good deals in some stores.

Preordered? When is this supposed to come out?

September 9th.  It's Aion that is pre-ordered, not GW2.

[Fordel]

Keep in mind there are 3 'main games'. Factions, Nightfall and Prophecies are all able to stand alone.

[sidereal]

But I assume you miss content if you don't get all of them?

[Ard]

Yes and no.  Don't treat them like expansions.  They're all more or less stand alone games that you can port your characters between.  The 1-20 grind is just the starting point for all three, they all have stories that go way beyond that.  Prophecies is honestly the slowest and weakest of them all, with the longest grind to 20, and Nightfall is the one I recommend people start with nowadays due to the heroes. 

edit:  I'm a tard, I forgot something important, if memory serves, you don't get all the classes unless you have the game the originated in.
Prophecies:  warrior, ranger, mesmer, elementalist, necromancer, monk
Factions: assassin, ritualist
Nightfall:  dervish, paragon

edit edit:  my memory didn't serve, and apparently I'm just a tard, just so we're all clear here.

[Fordel]

you get warrior, ranger, mesmer, elementalist, necromancer, monk in all 3.


Factions and Nightfall are the ones with specific classes.

[Ingmar]

You always get the Prophecies core classes with any game, its just the extra Factions and Nightfall ones you can't get without owning those.

The main restriction is actually skill access. Skills come in four categories, "Core" which is the skills that are common to all 3 campaigns, and then a set of skills specific to each campaign. Some of these are duplicates with different names.