Guild Wars Release Date and Final Beta Weekend Information

[schild]

News post.

The Juicy Bits:

ArenaNet™, creators of the highly anticipated online roleplaying game Guild Wars®, and NCsoft® Corporation, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, today announced that Guild Wars will be available at retail in North America and Europe on April 28, 2005. Players who preorder Guild Wars will be able to use their preorder access codes to start playing the full game on April 27, 2005.

...

Players who preorder Guild Wars also have access to exclusive monthly Beta Weekend Events that feature first looks at new gameplay elements, technological advancements and environments to explore. The schedule for the final three Beta Weekend Events follows:

• February 18–20, 2005
• March 18–20, 2005
• April 15–17, 2005

Start your plotting, powergamers.

[Stephen Zepp]

Players who preorder Guild Wars will be able to use their preorder access codes to start playing the full game on April 27, 2005.

Only one day, but hey, at least someone is thinking...

[schild]

City of Heroes did this as well. Oh and so did Lineage. It's an NCSoft thing methinks.

[Strazos]

If I reserved at GameStop, this does nothing for me, right?

[e_bortion]

If I reserved at GameStop, this does nothing for me, right?

If you got the preorder you get the beta weekends and the one day head start.  Oh and the nifty item. You did preorder right?

[Strazos]

I think "preorder" and "reserve" are two different things in this case...

No little box or anything...I just give them $5, and I get one put aside for me...

Beta'ing would be nice. 

[Sobelius]

I think "preorder" and "reserve" are two different things in this case...

No little box or anything...I just give them $5, and I get one put aside for me...

Beta'ing would be nice. 

Well, considering the pre-order box costs $10 and you get that off the purchase price at release, why not pre-order? I like this idea -- for me, I get to spend $10 to beta a game. If I don't like it I'm out $10. If I like it, I lose nothing and got to provide feedback during beta. Works for me. However, I wouldn't pay for a pre-order unless I felt pretty sure I was going to play the game at some point -- e.g. I knew I'd want to try Guild Wars so I bought the pre-order box last year; I did not know whether I would buy Horizons or AC2, so I took my chances with free Beta sign-ups (which in both cases were all I think were available; no preorder programs. But even if pre-ordere was available I wasn't interested enough in either of these to have pre-ordered.)

[Signe]

I pre-order everything.  Mostly for the free stuff and because I'm obsessive about MMOGs.  Anyway... game is up and kind of empty at the moment.  Again, I've forgotten everything.   

[Strazos]

When I reserved, there were no pre-order boxes.

[Rasix]

I pre-order everything.  Mostly for the free stuff and because I'm obsessive about MMOGs.  Anyway... game is up and kind of empty at the moment.  Again, I've forgotten everything.   

I just can't seem to get myself to care much about Guild Wars anymore.  I just don't know why. 

I still hope it does well, even if I'm considering cancelling my preorder.

[Signe]

I kind of know what you mean, Rasix.  I hardly played at all this weekend... I just had no motivation for it.  I can't pinpoint why either.  Maybe we're getting too old and should find another hobby?  You take up golf and I'll knit little hats for your clubs.  What fun!

[Dren]

I tried the Beta again last night.  Man, they are trying to make GW like WoW.  That's going to bite them in the ass.  I'm not going to play WoW on WoW and then play WoW on GW when I want something different.  That 2 hours session I put in took all the wind out of my sails for this game.

They need to go back to their previous slant of quick and furious PvP.  Then I'll buy.  They are heading down the path of "me too" quite nicely now.  They'll have a mediocre launch.

[Shockeye]

I tried the Beta again last night.  Man, they are trying to make GW like WoW.  That's going to bite them in the ass.  I'm not going to play WoW on WoW and then play WoW on GW when I want something different.  That 2 hours session I put in took all the wind out of my sails for this game.

They need to go back to their previous slant of quick and furious PvP.  Then I'll buy.  They are heading down the path of "me too" quite nicely now.  They'll have a mediocre launch.

Yep. It may be prettier than WoW, but the PVE SUCKS BALLS. I thought people learned something from Shadowbane. Less PVE so you can PVP sooner. I thought GW may be doing that, then I played the last beta weekend. Took me 90 minutes to get from level 1 to level 3. I really don't think I was doing anything wrong.

I hope they patch in fun before the next beta weekend.

[Rasix]

Yep. It may be prettier than WoW, but the PVE SUCKS BALLS. I thought people learned something from Shadowbane. Less PVE so you can PVP sooner. I thought GW may be doing that, then I played the last beta weekend. Took me 90 minutes to get from level 1 to level 3.

Yikes. I can go 1-6 in under an hour in WoW.

[schild]

Guild Wars only has 20 levels.

[Signe]

I thought the 20 level thing was for beta.  Is that really all it has?  I don't much care for the PvE, either, but I was intending to make GW my PvP game.  Build a character up and just log in to kill you lot.   Am I fooling myself into thinking this game could be treated as a once a week, get together with friends for a regularly scheduled sesh thingy?  Where is one of those NCSoft blokes to tell me I'm right?

[schild]

I'm going to get an interview for after the March beta weekend. If I don't I'll just make up a bunch of shit and frontpage it. Just for you.

[Signe]

Your kindness is exceeded only by... umm... your other stuff.

[Sobelius]

1. 20 level limit is the advertised max for the game.

2. There were 3 options for character creation during this Beta Weekend:
a - start at level 1 and try the new PvE content in pre-Charr Ascalon.
b - start at level 20 and play PvE and/or PvP starting in Lion's Gate
c - start at level 20 with a predefined template for PvP play

3. I don't know that any of these will be options when the game launches. My assumption is you will start at level 1 and can work on up to 20 via PvE -- though you can also choose to PvP or GvG whenever.

I solo'd up a single character with a single class all day Saturday, and didn't take my second class until I was level 5. I went with a warrior/necro. There were some pretty nice places to explore -- the Catacombs were cool and well done in terms of architecture and made great screenshots. Unlike previous events, adventuring solo in pre-Charr Ascalon was truly solo -- no NPCs to help out along the way, and no story/cut-scene missions (far more WoWish). I am *guessing* that in release this will be used strictly as a tutorial option to learn the basics of the system and to see some of the background of game world.

Once you "joined the academy" in Ascalon City, it transported you to the destroyed version, where trainers/NPCs, etc. were available. I didn't play beyond here since I spent so much of the day exploring pre-Charr Ascalon. I made it to level 8 (out of 20 levels) in about 8 hours of play. By the time I got to the ruined Ascalon, I had more than enough gold and salvaged components to afford full armor appropriate for my level. I was easily able to train up all the basic skill in both classes and jumping into PvP would have been possible.

I liked the Necromancer class quest in the catacombs -- almost all of the other quests were armor quests. And compared to the PvE in the previous weekend, I didn't find them as compelling because they weren't part of a strong storyline.

That leaves the PvP -- which still holds up well. GW bills itself as an action MMO -- and even though there are still elements of crafting and PvE questing, its the group vs group combat that will make or break it. As long as they can provide exciting/interesting PvP, it will have a place at the MMO table.

[Gong]

I really had a good bit of fun this weekend. My guild (though we've only got about 10 people total) has really been playing the hell out of this game every opportunity we get, and taking ample time to plan things out before these BWE events. We spent quite a bit of time tweaking our group build over the month or so between January and February BWEs.

Using the skill listing at www.gwonline.net and also the character building tools available there, we were able to plan out all of the characters in our group. The process really was remarkably similar to constructing a deck for Magic: the Gathering. A huge number of skills are available, the trick is in putting the right skills together to maximize synergy. As is the case with most games, it really is a completely different game if you take it to the level of competitive play (where you're taking the time to plan out every skill that every character in your group will have) compared to just running around with people picking up whatever skills they thought sounded leet.

The January BWE was the first event where we were really able to put our planned group into reality, and we had pretty spectacular results. We completely smashed an Alpha guild who happen to have a Developer as a member, and they were impressed by our coordination to the extent that my guild got invited to Alpha because of it. I realize this is starting to sound like me trying to toot my own horn, but that's not the point I was trying to get at. I just don't think there any other games out there where it would even possible to catch a developer's eye by sheer PvP ability and planning. GW really does have the skill-based PvP (though the rest of the game is far from perfect) that I've been waiting for for a very long time.

The game has its fair share of problems, perhaps most notably that it's pretty much impossible to experience the game in full glory unless you're playing with a group of 8 dedicated, coordinated players. Then again, I'm not really sure this can be avoided. It's the same difference as playing a FPS game on a public server where everybody is doing their own thing vs. playing in a competitive clan match where both teams have been planning their strategy well ahead of time and assigned roles for each character to fill, etc.

[e_bortion]

I really had a good bit of fun this weekend. My guild (though we've only got about 10 people total) has really been playing the hell out of this game every opportunity we get, and taking ample time to plan things out before these BWE events. We spent quite a bit of time tweaking our group build over the month or so between January and February BWEs.

Need another?

[Sobelius]

I'm also interested if you're recruiting. I'm assuming you use a voice server of some sort (TS or Ventrillo)?

[Gong]

yeah, you guys should try playing with us during the next BWE, see how it goes.

we are a rather eccentric group of players, but then again if you're f13 readers then it's probably nothing you haven't seen before.

[Signe]

Maybe I'll give it go, too, unless by eccentric you mean pervy.

[e_bortion]

yeah, you guys should try playing with us during the next BWE, see how it goes.

we are a rather eccentric group of players, but then again if you're f13 readers then it's probably nothing you haven't seen before.

How can we contact you? What's your in-game name?

[Numtini]

I haven't played since the first beta weekend. It's certainly changed a lot. And I can't think of a single change that's for the better.

[Trippy]

I haven't played since the first beta weekend. It's certainly changed a lot. And I can't think of a single change that's for the better.

Examples?

[schild]

I haven't played since the first beta weekend. It's certainly changed a lot. And I can't think of a single change that's for the better.

Examples?

Seconded.

[e_bortion]

I haven't seen too many differences on a PVP level other than juggling spell stats around (mana cost, recharge time etc). Some spells don't exist anymore, and some are new. Overall: Eles were nerfed a lot since the first beta weekend, warriors arent as strong as they once were. Rangers were made a bit stronger. Morale bonus's don't carry between rounds at the tomb (don't bother killing the rift wardens anymore).

They drastically inflated the economy. Spells used to cost 15 gold, now they cost more for each spell you buy, starting at 60g. Salvage kits used to cost 40g, now they cost 400g.

There was a bit of lag for everyone this last beta, and I am wondering how it is going to work live.

[Strazos]

I haven't seen too many differences on a PVP level other than juggling spell stats around (mana cost, recharge time etc). Some spells don't exist anymore, and some are new. Overall: Eles were nerfed a lot since the first beta weekend, warriors arent as strong as they once were. Rangers were made a bit stronger. Morale bonus's don't carry between rounds at the tomb (don't bother killing the rift wardens anymore).

They drastically inflated the economy. Spells used to cost 15 gold, now they cost more for each spell you buy, starting at 60g. Salvage kits used to cost 40g, now they cost 400g.

There was a bit of lag for everyone this last beta, and I am wondering how it is going to work live.

I still did a ton of damage with Elementalists, given the right situation, and while warriors may have been nerfed, they still seem pretty tough to me.

When I got to Post-Charr Ascalon this weekend, my new spell prices were low...But I was a Ranger.

And I don't know what lag you speak of. I got some odd movement lag for about 2 minutes at one point. Otherwise, the game ran flawlessly on the 2 systems I played on.

[e_bortion]

I still did a ton of damage with Elementalists, given the right situation, and while warriors may have been nerfed, they still seem pretty tough to me.

When I got to Post-Charr Ascalon this weekend, my new spell prices were low...But I was a Ranger.

And I don't know what lag you speak of. I got some odd movement lag for about 2 minutes at one point. Otherwise, the game ran flawlessly on the 2 systems I played on.

The lag wasnt a game-breaker, and it only happened to me 2 or 3 times during the whole beta weekend, it just happend at the wrong time for me.

The guild I was plying in got bumped from 12 to 25 in the last minute before the servers went down. So close!!

[AOFanboi]

There are a couple of threads on c.s.i.p.g.rpg about someone whose retailer let him buy GuildWars two days early and who complains that Cryptic don't let him play yet. World moron quota is never filled.

[Hoax]

What really sucks is if they want to they can fuck that retailer up for selling it before the ship date.

[Signe]

UPS tried to deliver my box on the 25th but I was feeling reclusive and wouldn't open the door.  I did yesterday, however.  Saturday  I noticed a charge on my bank statement from EB for an amount I didn't recognise.  I called them on Monday and found it was for GW, minus the amount of the pre-order, and it had already been shipped out the week before. I was a bit surprised as it was before the scheduled shipping date.  I think they may have done this with WoW also, due to a very large amount of pre-orders. 

I played today and, except for some mild lag in town and very minimal lag in instances, the game ran very smooth at the highest settings.  I haven't entered my retail key yet but, as they're having an event today, I could still log in using my beta account.  Thank god... I'm feeling too lazy to open the box!

[NiX]

What really sucks is if they want to they can fuck that retailer up for selling it before the ship date.

There was no street date for GW. We've (EB) been selling it since yesterday. Legally.

I picked up the Collectors because I fucking hate Jade Empire and got a trade in deal where I got extra trade in for GW. The art book is just beautiful. Some of the stuff they came up with is just awesome. If you want a taste of what it's like just look at the loading screen. That's an art piece from the book. The headset, well, I haven't gathered enough effort to install it, but oh well. It LOOKS nice at least :P