Filed under: Guild Wars 2

Fan documents visual changes between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2

by Justin Olivetti May 21st 2012 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars, Culture, Guild Wars 2

As many Guild Wars players know, Guild Wars 2 takes place in the same world and often in the same areas -- just 250 years after its predecessor. Because of this, ArenaNet elected not to wipe the slate clean and start over with 100% new environments but instead to incorporate old locales and landmarks into its upcoming game.

Guild Wars fan Claire became fascinated with this concept and has dedicated a new blog to documenting all of the visual changes in the world between the first and second game. It's called Project Tyria, and each post consists of several Guild Wars locales contrasted with screenshots of the same areas from the sequel.

Claire writes, "I've always loved the graphics of the Guild Wars games and have grown to love the world of Tyria. We were there in the before times, and now we arrive again in the after."

It's fascinating to see how ArenaNet has envisioned 250 years taking its toll on the monuments, cities, and vales of the original game; realizing the importance of keeping the world accurate for the hardcore fans seems to be a noted priority for the team. Head over to Project Tyria to see more on the comparison screenshots.

ArenaNet: Guild Wars 2 a 'reaction' to sluggish MMO design

by Justin Olivetti May 21st 2012 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2

Do you believe that the MMO genre has been stuck in a rut over the past few years? So does Christopher Lye, the global brand director for ArenaNet, who publicly denounced the post-World of Warcraft trend in the industry as stagnant.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Lye stated that Guild Wars 2 is walking the walk when it comes to genuinely challenging the status quo in the industry. "Honestly, I think the problem is that there's been a lack of change in MMO design and that Guild Wars 2 is a reaction to that," he said. "People will call this risky, but we think it's riskier just to churn out the same MMO that everyone has played before."

Lye pointed to Guild Wars 2's scaling dynamic event system and its action combat as examples of how ArenaNet is forging its own path. Observing that player consumption of content is "virtually insatiable," Lye said that the team has developed tools to allow it to implement changes and additions to dynamic events in hours, not weeks.

Is this industry stagnation coming to an end? Lye says yes: "We're finally seeing a point where companies realize that they're not going to create the next great MMO by just copying what's come before."

GameStop earnings call adds to Guild Wars 2 release date speculation

by Elisabeth Cardy May 17th 2012 at 4:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, News items, Guild Wars 2, Rumors

Since players aren't tremendously happy with ArenaNet's answer of "when it's ready" every time the question of the Guild Wars 2 release date comes up, any hint of further clarification is something to be prized. As a game retailer, dates are the sort of thing that come up in GameStop's earnings calls. Covering the Q1 conference call released today, Gamespot has CFO Robert Lloyd stating that Guild Wars 2 has been bumped out of the current quarter, putting its release sometime after July. It's worth noting that as of this posting, GameStop's online listing still had the Guild Wars 2 release date as June 26th.

As has been repeated countless times by ArenaNet devs, no information should be treated as official unless it's directly from them. Don't let that stop you from pulling out your favorite tinfoil hat and cooking up some speculations, though.

Reserve your Guild Wars 2 character name today

by Justin Olivetti May 17th 2012 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars, Launches, Guild Wars 2

Everyone seems to freak out about grabbing his or her special character name at the launch of a new MMO, and we imagine Guild Wars 2 will invoke the same emotions. Instead of leaving this oh-so-important action to Day One, ArenaNet is giving players a chance to reserve their Guild Wars 2 names... starting today.

The way it works is that ArenaNet will be reserving all current Guild Wars names for the launch, and players attached to those names can then swoop in and collect them from the start. Three caveats are attached to this process, however: You have to log into Guild Wars sometime in 2012, you have to claim your names in Guild Wars 2 by launch day, and you can't secure Guild Wars 2's single names (as Guild Wars forces you to make two-word names).

The studio says that there are 20 million two-word names in use at this point, and we suspect that list will grow much longer after today. These names can be reserved at any point from now until whenever ArenaNet decides to compile its master list. After launch, ArenaNet promises to free up the unclaimed names for others to take.

Player's real-life journey honored in Guild Wars 2

by Justin Olivetti May 16th 2012 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars player Kelly Wells became inspired to go on a real-life adventure due to her explorations of Tyria and an encouraging TED talk -- and so she did it. Starting from Maine, Wells and her faithful dog crossed America to California by foot, ending the trip with a visit to ArenaNet in Seattle. The developers were so impressed by Wells' journey that they decided to make her part of Guild Wars 2.

In a new ArenaNet blog post, Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson shares how bowled over the devs were when they met Wells and why her epic journey had to become part of Guild Wars 2. "If we all took that perspective on life, deciding to make positive changes and refusing to let anything get in our way, it'd be amazing to see how much we'd all be able to accomplish," Johanson said. The team then collaborated to come up with a similar figure for its upcoming title.

Thus was born Ameranth, a Sylvari explorer who traverses the width of Tyria with her trusty dog, Anna. When players encounter her, Ameranth is known to say, "Ever since emerging from the Pale Tree, I've had the itch to see what the world has to offer. And what better way than with my own two feet?"

Guild Wars 2 writers talk (at length) about MMO story

by Jef Reahard May 16th 2012 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2

What's it like to pen the narrative for one of the most anticipated MMORPGs, well, ever? It's quite different from writing a novel or a screenplay, according to ArenaNet's Angel McCoy. She joins Guild Wars 2 lead writer Bobby Stein and Peter "The Explorer" Fries for an MMO story-flavored sit-down with fan site Under the Pale Tree.

The interview is a lengthy one (who knew that writers could be so wordy?), and it covers a bunch of ground including the megalithic sprawl of GW2's narrative, the challenges inherent in writing particular races, and the differences between in-game dialogue and cutscene exposition. There's more to it, of course, but honestly the thing is so huge that we're going to go finish reading it after we've jotted down this here news post.

Massively Speaking Episode 201: No more secrets

by Justin Olivetti May 15th 2012 at 4:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Podcasts, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, The Secret World, Earthrise, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous

Massively Speaking Episode 201 gets into all of your dirty little secrets -- not to mention Funcom's, as well! We're joined by Jef, who gives us the full scoop on The Secret World now that the NDA's come tumbling down. Will this be another Failcom or possibly a Fabulouscom? Only Jef knows, and he's highly resistant to torture and bribery.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
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Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Flameseeker Chronicles: Dynomatic

by Elisabeth Cardy May 15th 2012 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles

Guild Wars 2 concept art: Centaurs from hell

After the first mostly-open beta weekend event, reaction to the dynamic event system of Guild Wars 2 is mixed. Some people see it as the revolution of gameplay that was promised, others think it's a refreshing and solid system, and others feel that it falls short. All of those are fair, although it mightn't be hard to guess that I don't share all of those opinions.

Some people expecting the dynamic event system to be the trumpet that would herald the arrival of the salvation of the MMO world were rather let down. There've been a couple of bits of confusion about the nature and scope of dynamic events, so let's look into them.

Guild Wars 2 nets 500K Facebook likes, releases Destiny's Edge art to celebrate

by Justin Olivetti May 14th 2012 at 8:30AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Screenshots, Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet continues to roll out the rewards for being well-liked this week. Guild Wars 2 crossed the half-million Facebook like barrier, and as a result, the studio released a new epic piece of art for its fans.

The picture is of Destiny's Edge, the adventuring group that features so prominently in Guild Wars 2, facing a rather fearsome foe: The Shatterer. According to the Facebook page, this is actually an in-game screenshot that's been "embellished" by ArenaNet artist Daniel Dociu. As with the other pictures that it has released, ArenaNet has made this image available as a high-resolution version as well.

This art release comes at an auspicious time, as Guild Wars 2 is diving into a seven-hour beta stress test starting today at 2:00 p.m. EDT.

Brace yourself: The Guild Wars 2 stress test is coming

by Elisabeth Cardy May 11th 2012 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2

The ArenaNet team is rallying the troops for a Guild Wars 2 stress test this coming Monday. While the existence and details of the test were already known, Rubi Bayer has added a note to participants to the game's Facebook page. The goal of the stress test is to see how the servers handle concentrated activity, so she gave a few tips on how best players can help the company during the short test. No simulation or prediction can ferret out as many problems as letting thousands of players loose on a game, so Rubi encouraged players to pile on the servers, find bugs, and be patient as they, well, find bugs.

The test will run on Monday, May 14th, from 2:00 p.m. EDT to 9:00 p.m. EDT, and will be available to pre-purchasers only. One nice treat is that although the company has mentioned character wipes between beta weekend events, players will still have their darling creations from BWE1 to run around with. Get ready to flood the servers on Monday. Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war. Fly, my pretties!

Mike O'Brien: Guild Wars 2's beta weekend 'overwhelming'

by Justin Olivetti May 10th 2012 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Dev Diaries

Mike O'Brien said that the result of Guild Wars 2's initial public beta weekend was "overwhelming in more ways than one." ArenaNet's president took the time to write up a short blog post reflecting on the outcome of the past beta weekend and the reasoning behind this coming Monday's surprise stress test.

According to O'Brien, while the feedback from the event was quite positive, the team had to struggle with unexpected demand for the game. Even after the management temporarily turned off the ability for players' ability to pre-purchase the title through ArenaNet, the game's 48 servers couldn't contain the influx of testers and beta tourists.

It wasn't just a PR stunt, however. "This was definitely a real beta, designed to find problems, gather player input, and learn what work still needs to be done before we ship the game," O'Brien stated.

The team is anticipating a bigger crowd with the next beta weekend, which is why it's running a seven-hour stress test on May 14th to test new changes.

Guild Wars 2 hosting a surprise stress test next Monday

by Eliot Lefebvre May 10th 2012 at 12:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Previews, News items, Guild Wars 2

IThat monster does not represent performance issues. Probably.

Are you in withdrawal after the last Guild Wars 2 testing weekend? Feeling the need to get back in the game, even if it's just for one night? If so, you're in luck, as the team has just recently announced that the game will be performing a surprise stress test on Monday, May 14th between 2:00 p.m. EDT until 9:00 p.m. EDT. It's a chance to log back in, play for a bit, and get more of a taste for the game over those seven hours.

Worth noting is that the stress test is only for pre-purchasers, but beyond that there are no specific test requirements -- you can continue using the characters you created during the beta weekend. Players may experience some slight performance issues, since the purpose is to try and alleviate issues before the next beta weekend rolls around. So if you've pre-purchased the game, get ready to head back to Tyria in less than a week's time.

Guild Wars 2 wants you to play with your friends no matter what

by Justin Olivetti May 8th 2012 at 8:30PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, Guild Wars 2

"Whenever we design a new feature we always ask ourselves how it impacts our players' ability to play with their friends," ArenaNet's Eric Flannum stated about Guild Wars 2. In an interview focused on connecting players together, Flannum made it clear that the team was looking for every possible opportunity to pave the way for social hookups.

Flannum addressed the specifics of how Guild Wars 2's servers work in relation to transfers. While there is a traditional paid transfer service (which can be used only every seven days), all players will have the ability to hop over to friends' servers as a guest. Player team-ups are further made possible by the dynamic level-adjusting system that scales players down to the zone they're occupying.

This process is made easier by ArenaNet's decision to make friend lists and guilds account-wide instead of specific to a server. So while each guild has a home server, other chapters can exist elsewhere. Flannum also said that the team is carefully structuring its PvP system so that it will be free from potential abuse by server guesting.

Flameseeker Chronicles: Five things to love about Lion's Arch

by Elisabeth Cardy May 8th 2012 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Video, Previews, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles, Family, Guides, Livestream

Lion's Arch, the quintessential Tyrian player hub, has undergone quite the extensive renovation for Guild Wars 2. As a special treat for the last beta weekend, the city was made explorable to players for the first time -- and what a treat it was! After the Rise of Orr and the accompanying land shift, Lion's Arch as we knew and loved it in the original Guild Wars was flooded. It has been raised anew, very near the first city, and stands as a monument to piracy, desperation, and inter-species cooperation (not, perhaps, in that order).

So what makes Lion's Arch awesome? It's one of six huge cities that are the thriving populatiion centers of Tyria as we find it in Guild Wars 2, and since it doesn't have one single race to lend it culture and purpose, you can bet it had better be pretty special.

The Game Archaeologist looks at Guild Wars Utopia

by Justin Olivetti May 8th 2012 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Classes, Expansions, Guild Wars 2, The Game Archaeologist

Aztecs. Chronomancers. Mounts. Halberds. Golems. Dual wielding.

These are all but a hint of what a fourth Guild Wars campaign could have been, a campaign that was under development in the mid-2000s but was scrapped by 2007. Replacing it was the expansion Guild Wars Eye of the North and the workings of a super-secret sequel to the game (which you've probably never heard of). It was the forgotten campaign, swept under a rug while it was still under the rug.

But what if, in some alternative timeline, ArenaNet had gone ahead with this campaign? What if it became an established part of the Guild Wars legacy, as familiar to us today as Nightfall and Factions?

What if Guild Wars Utopia had lived?

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Cataclysm Launch	Dec 7, 2010
DCUO Launch	Early 2011

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Brianna Royce	Senior Editor
Rubi Bayer	Community Manager
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Larry Everett	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Karen Bryan	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist