The ultimate massively multiplayer online role-playing game news source
Posts tagged guildwars2
Guild Wars 2: Growing Away from the Standard
Aug 14th
In his latest column devoted to Guild Wars 2, MMORPG.com's David North takes a look at last week's revelations about the Sylvari race. See what David has to say before letting us know what you think in the comments!
Receiving a description to a race of beings that don’t exist can sometimes be a very exciting event. You may have some ideas in your head that you just have to get on paper before you forget them, so you do your best to sketch as many of those images in your head as you can before they get replaced with new ones. Then comes the research to integrate into your sketches to make sure you are being unique with your ideas. After that, revisions followed by several more revisions, sprinkled with a heavy coat of, you guessed it, more revisions. Yes, I have learned this the hard way. As a concept artist, dealing with revisions is a challenge, but the job is exciting and sure is a lot of fun.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Growing Away from the Standard.
Guild Wars 2: Writing the Sylvari
Aug 10th
The Guild Wars 2 site continues Sylvari Week with a look at "Writing the Sylvari". As with other races profiled on the official blog, the text comes complete with the sounds of Sylvari life as well. The post takes readers through the creative process of creating Sylvari society and the keystones of Sylvari culture.
Sylvari arrive in the world fully grown. They emerge from pods that grow on the Pale Tree: a magical, sentient tree with its roots deep in Tyria and its branches in the Dream. They leave the Dream—a mystical place where sylvari memories are collected—and incubate in their pods, then emerge into the world. They bring with them a spectator’s understanding of how the world works, having witnessed aspects of it while in the Dream. Their first few days in the world are critical, and they’re met by mentors and other newly awakened who help them find their way.
Read more about writing the Sylvari on the Guild Wars 2 blog.
Guild Wars 2: The Quest for Looking Good
Jul 31st
In this week's Guild Wars 2 column, resident cartoonist David North takes a look at the process of character creation and personalization in ArenaNet's upcoming blockbuster. See what he has to say and leave a comment or two if you agree or not.
The health bar now showed zero HP; we knew we had defeated the boss. We went to tell the tale of our great battle so that we might receive gifts of powerful items and praise. I received a great set of armor. It was both great in power, and had the look that would strike fear into my enemies. After putting the armor on, I began to strut around the capital city to show off my prize. But my spirits dropped, as everyone around me also had the same armor that I was wearing. I suddenly lost a huge connection with my character.
Read the rest of David North's Guild Wars 2: The Quest for Looking Good.
Guild Wars 2: Five Reasons to Crave Guild Wars 2
Jul 24th
MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller takes on The List this week with a few reasons why many of us are waiting on bated breath for the arrival of Guild Wars 2. Among the legion of exciting features that Guild Wars 2 brings to the table is the fact that Everyone Can Heal and this is one aspect that Garrett examines. Read on to see if Garrett picked your reason for craving Guild Wars 2.
That’s right clerics, priests, paladins, druids, shaman, and every other healing class that was ever created. Your door is to the left, please exit the auditorium! Every class in Guild Wars 2 can heal! This takes the theory of the holy trinity and turns it on its ear. Warriors, Engineers, Necromancers, Elementalists, all of the classes have some form of healing. This is great.
Read more of Garrett Fuller's The List: Five Reasons to Crave Guild Wars 2.
Guild Wars 2: Kicking Combat Up a Notch
Jul 16th
In this week's Guild Wars 2 column, David North takes a peek at the combat in one of gaming's most hotly anticipated titles. There a whole lot of different factors that make combat in an MMO either special or forgettable, and David thinks he has a grasp on which is which.
Guild Wars for me was a bit of a breath of fresh air when looking at the overall pace of combat. It wasn’t perfect but it was much faster than other games. There were enemies all over, and decisions during battle had to be made quickly as we faced large groups of enemies, not a group of 3 or 4 enemies at a time that just had a massive amount of health. This was nice as it added more action to the gameplay and kept me moving. For Guild Wars 2 this is pushed even further as we see elements of combat revisited and worked on in a new, fresh way for the genre.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Kicking Combat Up a Notch.
Guild Wars 2: More Than a Theme Park
Jul 2nd
Recently, Guild Wars 2 developers announced underwater combat and battle in a truly 3D environment. In a new column debuting today on MMORPG.com, David North talks about underwater combat as an example of how Arena.Net uses environments to tell the story, making it less a theme park and more something completely different. Read on!
Expanding environments into an underwater setting is a pretty big step up from the first game. Another very important step that ArenaNet has made in the past for the first game is still being used now only it has been brought to the next level. ArenaNet seems to have noticed that piecing together a good looking environment is like creating a piece of art. And that is exactly how they treat it; so much so, that the concept art literally becomes the environment.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: More Than a Theme Park.
Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet Studio Tour
Jun 24th
MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh attended a press open house day at ArenaNet earlier this week. One of the perks of that visit was a tour of the offices led by none other than ArenaNet's Founder and President Mike O'Brien. Carolyn's got a great report on what she saw and heard so keep reading!
According to Mike, Guild Wars 2 is what he calls a “straight up MMO” with persistent open worlds but still without any monthly fees. “We didn’t have any monthly fees for Guild Wars not because it was heavily instanced,” he said. “It was an innovative concept and a business model we believed would work.” ArenaNet continues to break out of the cookie cutter formula then, as they will ship Guild Wars 2 the same way. They will monetize through sales of the box set, not with monthly subscription fees.
Read more of Carolyn Koh's Guild Wars 2: ArenaNet Studio Tour .
Guild Wars 2: A Comprehensive Hands-On
Jun 24th
Arena.Net sponsored a press open house on Thursday and MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh was lucky enough to score the opportunity to not only visit and tour the studio but to get her hands on the newest demo build of Guild Wars 2. Carolyn's got a comprehensive look at Guild Wars 2 and the progress it's made since the last hands-on demo. Check it out and then add your comments.
One interesting feature is the “last chance” or survival mode which we all saw in the dungeon instance. As you lay dying, you receive a new “last chance” bar and four skills to use to try to take some of your enemies with you. If you succeed, with or without help, you are revived and get another chance.
Read more of Carolyn Koh's Guild Wars 2: A Comprehensive Hands-On.
Guild Wars 2: Engineer FAQ
May 27th
The Arena.Net blog has been updated with a new FAQ about the recently revealed Guild Wars 2 character class, the Engineer. The team answers questions including whether or not the Engineer is best suited to a healing role and how exactly a Sylvari fits as a tech-heavy boom master.
Q: It’s difficult for me to visualize a nature-oriented sylvari as a tech-heavy engineer. How does the engineer fit with concept of each of the playable races?
A: The first engineers came from the ranks of the charr Iron Legion, who were innovative weaponsmiths. Soon other races began to take notice of how effective this new technology was, engineers from all background began to appear all over Tyria. Players in general are exceptional and unusual figures, heroes who stand out among their people. Just as there are asura warriors and norn necromancers, it’s not unheard of for an inquisitive, mechanically-inclined sylvari to become an engineer.
Read more on the Guild Wars 2 blog.
Guild Wars 2: Eric Flannum Talks Engineers
May 24th
Last week's revelation of the Guild Wars 2 Engineer has been met with a lot of excitement. MMORPG.com Industry Relations Manager had the opportunity to talk with Guild Wars 2 Lead Game Designer Eric Flannum about the Engineer. Eric has a lot to say about the class that goes BOOM! Check it out and then let us know your thoughts about the Engineer.
What type of role do you see the Engineer playing in PvP?
Eric: In PvP the engineer is great at defending areas with turrets and mine fields. Because of this, they can be used to hold areas that have been captured. When the time comes to stop someone from running away, the engineer also has a lot of tools at their disposal with abilities like Net Shot, Jump Shot, and Slick Shoes.
Read more of Garrett Fuller's Guild Wars 2: Eric Flannum Talks Engineers.