Guild Wars 2 and GWJ: Launch Date And Final Beta Weekend

Toddland wrote:

Got my response minutes after submission. Hopefully you all get yours.

I didn't get mine (also a Gmail user). I saw on their Twitter feed that they have a Resend option at this URL : https://beta.guildwars2.com/resend

As soon as I went there and resubmitted (no need to DxDiag or fill out the form again) I immediately got a confirmation email in Gmail.

Signed up, just to take a chance. Maybe the super low specs of my laptop put me in the running to see how well the game runs on a piece of crap.

GW 1 runs perfectly so it would be nice if the sequel does too.

when i signed up i got my response back instantly and i'm a gmail user.

Phil Kollar likes it very much.

Guild Wars 2 Is The Real MMO Revolution

In the lead-up to the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare and EA increased the hype by pushing the idea that their game was revolutionary. I always cringed when I heard it. The Old Republic wrapped together a lot of things I already loved about MMOs and proved that adding a real story to that formula is a meaningful change. It was enough to draw me in and keep me hooked for a few months, but calling it "revolutionary" is an exaggeration.

ArenaNet is no BioWare. It is a relatively small Seattle-area company that many non-PC gamers haven’t even heard of, and it’s is preparing to release what appears to be the slickest, most smartly developed MMO I’ve ever seen. Oh, and there’s no subscription fee. ArenaNet has been quietly working away for years now and hasn’t used the weighty words that EA threw around so freely, so allow me to do so for them: Guild Wars 2 does everything The Old Republic promised and then some. This is the actual MMO revolution we’ve been waiting for.

I think hype like that really could be a double edged sword for GW2. On one hand it does highlight that it's more than another "kill ten rats" MMO and why it's different, but also dials up expectations quite a bit. Heck, all games are like that though.

I think there's also the factor that despite everyone using WoW and the like as their whipping boy, a fair amount of people actually like that. Over on reddit, every so often you see a "how the hell will this work without the trinity/raids/etc", and that's the people who are inquisitive and open minded.

I still hope that GW2 can kick things around a bit and cause a few other companies to change things, or cause the MMO audience to look beyond the 'generic clones'.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Phil Kollar likes it very much.

In the lead-up to the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare and EA increased the hype by pushing the idea that their game was revolutionary. I always cringed when I heard it.

I cringe when reporters get their facts wrong. Bioware never said their game was revolutionary. They always hyped that it was different because the focus was on story. That's hardly revolutionary. Guys like him assumed it would be different and gave them that label.

From everyone I've spoken to that has played it, I think they're in a good position. Hype is a two-edge sword, to be sure, but from everything I'm hearing they've delivered on what they've promised.

If that's the case, the only people that will be disappointed are the ones that conflated "trying something new with the MMO genre" with "the second coming of Jeebus".

Michael Zenke wrote:

From everyone I've spoken to that has played it, I think they're in a good position. Hype is a two-edge sword, to be sure, but from everything I'm hearing they've delivered on what they've promised.

If that's the case, the only people that will be disappointed are the ones that conflated "trying something new with the MMO genre" with "the second coming of Jeebus".

I'm sure there are people who are already Female Doggoing about all the stuff that's "broken" or "imbalanced" after the very limited beta's. MMO's are the kingdom of raging nerds.

I'd love to hear how the dynamic world portion of the game is working out. That was the one thing In Horizons that I really enjoyed.

ranalin wrote:

when i signed up i got my response back instantly and i'm a gmail user.

Me too.

One of the cool things about dodging is you can get traits that will add abilities when you dodge.

Necromancers can spawn bone minions when they dodge. Mesmers can spawn clones, elementalists can remove conditions etc. Seems like a neat mechanic.

From someone who played priest healer in vanilla WoW, and hated raiding, I'm somewhat encouraged by the videos I've seen, especially Totalbiscuit's long class vids

There's a new extensive video of Guardian, GW2's premiere support class, wielding a staff, which is supposed to be aoe support. Sounds boring right, but watching it, it looks pretty good. You end up doing this short range aoe shockwave most of the time, you also put down area abilities in battle that both hurt enemies and benefit your allies. Even the debuff skill Matyr, transfer conditions from allies to you, but also gives you some sweet battle buffs in return. Also none of them appear to have slow cast animations, it's all fairly short/instant.

The guardian was in the thick of the action the whole time, and was no way sitting in the back looking for heal bars to heal, and conditions to cleanse.

Also, dodging appears really important. The devs couldn't stress this enough to TB. You don't have to eat a firebolt or arrow anymore if the animation is already out.

Just got my response back. When the beta starts I'll probably get my invite after it's over. lol

Mooo mentioned it above, but TotalBiscuit's started posting GW2 content in earnest. I particularly enjoyed his UI video.

Where are you guys seeing stuff about wep combos etc.?

If I play, I'll definitely go Engineer.

karmajay wrote:

Where are you guys seeing stuff about wep combos etc.?

If I play, I'll definitely go Engineer.

The wiki is full of information. Also the links MZ put in the original post have some godd videos. Check out Guild Wars 2 Guru's Big List of Coveragesome of the videos there show a mouse over of every skill for each of the classes.

karmajay wrote:

Where are you guys seeing stuff about wep combos etc.?

Old article about it
http://pc.ign.com/articles/121/12168...

I think some skills also hint at being combo-able, some of them have Combo: Air or something next to it. I'm sure there will be lots of opportunity for discovery.

Guardian is actually looking cooler and cooler, while I'm not entirely sure about the Necro - death shroud yet. Maybe I'll change my mind once there's a comprehensive video on it.

Edit:Speaking of which I found a high def beta video on necro

Signed up! I'm really hoping one of three things happens regarding the beta:

1. Eventually they let everyone in who signed up for an all-access beta weekend (similar to what Swtor did)
2. They give beta access if you pre-order.
3. They give out beta keys at PAX.

I guess I can always look forward to playing the game at PAX if it's not out by September.

Double post.

AmA on reddit with the Dev in charge of WvW.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...

Arovin wrote:

AmA on reddit with the Dev in charge of WvW.

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...

I'd really like to read that but the format is insanely annoying.

Bear wrote:

I'd really like to read that but the format is insanely annoying.

Here is a compilation of all the Q&A's in an easier to swallow format.

http://www.guildwars2journal.com/top...

Wow, it looks like they're going to hit a million beta applications in just 48 hours. This bodes well indeed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arenanet/6926243899/in/photostream

I wonder how many active GW1 players there are right now.

Scratched wrote:

I wonder how many active GW1 players there are right now.

I re-installed it last week just to check out a few changes. Does that count?

Scratched wrote:

I wonder how many active GW1 players there are right now.

There are probably more than you would think. Many are there collecting Hall of Monuments trophies to get the unlocks for GW2.

I also see a fair amount of players on the PvP island. The major city hubs seem to have large groups in them but some of the small town hubs have few to no players.

The issue I was worried about - looks like they're aware of it already-

Question #42:
Will particles animations be reduced as mass skill usage in massive fights would be a maelstrom of confusion!
Answer:
Our graphics programmers and tech art team are working on that issue right now! We're well aware of the effect soup that can happen in large fights and it's something we're going to do our best to address.

___

I'm also having trouble finding out if you get the choice of choosing your server when you create your character. They've mentioned you can freely move to other servers for PvE, but in WvW, you're playing for your home server.

Yes, apparently they tone down the effects that don't apply to you.