My new love…

I created my elementalist months ago… probably on the day of the headstart launch.

I never got around to playing this profession, but I really love my Gromff – or as I call him, my “Streifenhörnchen” which would be “chipmunk” in English. Those stripes are adorable! I don’t like most of the asura hairstyles for males, so I chose this instead.

It took me a long time to try out the elementalist and give him a real chance. Instead of getting used to two weapon combinations with 10 skills, you choose one weapon set with the four elemental attunements which means 20 skills. Playing him just once every few weeks meant that I’d always forgotten his skills again. I’m currently playing with dagger/dagger, but I’m not sure it’s really what I like the most. The staff was nice but I preferred daggers. I should give the scepter another try as that was really fun to play as well. If only daggers had a tiiiiny bit more range.

5 days with Guild Wars 2

I’ve been wanting to write about my impressions of the headstart and the game itself but decided to hold off for a little while longer. Part of that was because I rather wanted to play the game and not spend my time writing blog entries that surely, nobody else will read as we’re all playing the game currently. But it was also because I wanted to give ArenaNet some more time to fix things before judging them for it.

On Saturday, the day of the headstart, we got up at 5.30am. When the servers went live at exactly 6am, we could log in without any issues and managed to grab all the names we wanted – well, I guess most of them wouldn’t have been claimed by others anyway (or did anybody want Grola Hazelfur or Huldra Yeodottir? ^^), but I was very happy to have Paeroka and Flummi. The latter is my main, an asura mesmer, which you can see on the left where she’s proudly wearing the t-shirt we got at GamesCom. The hat is available for free from the gem store, by the way. The hat can be dyed, the shirt can’t.

Before I continue writing about my experiences in the game, what Flummi has seen and done and why I really love the game experience, I want to focus on the negative aspects.

The following tweet is from Sunday and sums up the issues that the game has been facing and, as of this writing, some of these issues are still present.

Gilden-, Handelsposten-, Post-, Gruppen-, Instanz-, Überlaufs-, HoM-, und naheliegende Probleme sind bekannt und werden bearbeitet. #GW2 ^RD—
Guild Wars 2 DE (@GuildWars2_DE) August 26, 2012

Issues with guilds, the trading post, parties, instances, overflow shards, Hall of Monument and other related things are known and being worked on. #GW2 ^RD

The login servers did cause problems on Saturday which led to us not being able to login. I decided to hop onto my crosstrainer in the meantime. The problem still wasn’t solved afterwards, so I started playing Dirt Showdown – a game I love a lot more than I probably should. So much fun! But that’s not the point of this article. It is, however, what I did during my Saturday afternoon. We could login later that day and apart from login issues right after patches, it seems that the login servers are doing fine now. That is to be expected after launching a new MMO as I’ve seen several MMOs with issues like that after launching or after releasing an expansion.

The guild functions had been buggy, too, and switching between guilds had not been possible at times. I could either not leave at all, or I could leave but then couldn’t represent another guild – or the same one – anymore. It seems that this was fixed now, though.

Also on Saturday, the trading post was put offline for maintenance. We have yet to see it return. That’s surely a long time for maintenance and it is one thing that really bugs me. I had been looking forward to having a game with an active economy and an ingame auction house again (which Guild Wars 1 is definitely lacking) and now it isn’t there. Of course, I can still play the game per se, but that trading post is a vital part of my gameplay fun and not having it means that I am lacking some fun that I could be having otherwise. On top of that, ArenaNet discourages trading in other ways anyway. You cannot directly trade with another player. The only way to give somebody an item is via mail. Mail is lacking a “cash on delivery” option which means that if you want to trade, you send the item or the money in one mail and the other player will then hopefully send the item or gold as well. You need to trust them because there is no way to know they will actually send their stuff to you. So be careful when trading with strangers! Instead, I have salvaged all items, sold them to merchants or given them away to guild members or friends for free.

So all in all, there have been hiccups and some are still there. I am mostly disappointed in how long it’s taking them to fix the trading post and how they are calling it “maintenance” without any further information. Of course, I understand that they’re not deliberately keeping it from us just for the fun of it. On the contrary. It must really suck to not be able to give us that part of the game. But with the limitations in trading, I feel very isolated and that’s not what this game is about. So I can’t help but feel disappointed that this part of the game was not ready when the game launched.

After complaining about all of that, I can only really dislike the game, right? Thankfully, that’s not true. The game itself, apart from the issues, obviously, is great. I haven’t had this much fun in a game in years! What usually annoys me in MMOs does not exist in Guild Wars 2. There is no “queuing” to kill a named quest mob. There is no kill stealing in general. And no stealing of resource nodes either! I do not feel that I have to go from quest hub to quest hub and check off the available quests in each of them. In fact, most of my time in the game was spent just strolling along to see where I would end up. On my way, I often run into an event or two and end up with a few more levels at the end of my gaming session. Yeas there are moments where I have “nothing to do”, but that’s okay and I like just walking along, spotting things in the distance that I want to have a look at and running into an event on my way.

One time, I wanted to see what a wall and the gate in between were all about (who’s with me that tengu will be the next playable race, by the way? ^^) and I saw a player fight against a tengu. I decided to help – because, well, why shouldn’t I? – and as it was a skill challenge, I looked forward to getting another skill point. But that mob wasn’t that easy. The other player got downed and I got downed a bit later as well. Fortunately, the mob decided to concentrate on the other downed player at that point and I managed to rally myself. I hurt the tengu quite a bit and then… I got downed again. It was his 10 hitpoints against mine (roughly estimating here) and I won! That rallied me back up, I resurrected the other player and we both went on our ways. But this is what I call an adventure!

I do not feel like I have to play a certain way or do certain things. Instead, I can do whatever I want in the game and at the end of the day, I will have gained experience. But it’s a side effect rather than the reason for playing the game. I am amazed how ArenaNet accomplished this.

I don’t know much about the issues with grouping because so far, grouping has not been necessary at all for me and yet, the game has not felt like a single-player game at all. It’s true that until now, I have never had to talk about a strategy or tactics with other players that were around for an event, but I’m still not high in level (21 is my highest at the moment) and I assume this will come later on. Yet, it has always felt like a group effort. No need to ask for help, cry for a resurrection or anything like that. Players that are around just naturally come up and help you. There’s no more “well, I have to do my own quests now, I don’t want to go out of my way and do something else to help this player”. On top of that, players are rewarded for helping because resurrecting somebody gives you experience points and helping others kill a mob gives full experience and loot for everybody who contributed.

During my time playing through the low level areas of the sylvari and asura, I found one bug. One single bug: An event didn’t start. That’s it. One. Also, my client crashed to desktop two or three times since headstart.

One thing that shouldn’t go unmentioned is that so far, what I have seen from the support team was really great. I got replies within 24 hours in the first few days. I haven’t heard from them again in the last two days, but my issues aren’t a priority and I can wait (it’s nothing that is keeping me from playing comfortably). But support has been polite and helpful.

And then there are Aidan and Ramon who operate the international and the German twitter accounts during the day (well, European time, of course). In the last few days, I have been observing both accounts to spot news about the trading post immediately and I have seen them trying to help whenever people had questions or problems. I know it’s their job to care for the community, but I guess we all know that “it’s our job” and yet, we do not always work with 100% motivation, especially when it’s on a weekend or overtime. ;) But they have really impressed me with the amount of help they have offered!

So all in all, I still feel very positive about the game and I hope they can get those issues fixed fast because it casts a cloud on an otherwise perfect-for-me game.

Since pictures say more than a thousand words and because I think the game world looks gorgeous, I am ending my entry with some screenshots from my adventures.

The Glorious Rata Sum in Pictures

Guild Wars 2 really is coming. This is the last piece of my screenshot collection showing off the different races’ cities – and Lion’s Arch.

Rata Sum was exactly like I had imagined it just with more vibrant colors and a whole lot more awesome than I would have thought.

Enjoy the pictures! In case you have been counting, there are more than I had for the previous cities. I am not saying it’s the best city of them all – because they really all do have their own style and it’s hard to compare that – but asura are grandiose. They simply need more.

Looking Forward to the Sylvari and Asura

Only a few more days until we can finally get our hands on the sylvari and the asura! Last year, they have been playable at gaming conventions like GamesCom. Have a look at our sPvP videos from GamesCom 2011 to see sylvari and asura in action. However, they were not playable in their respective starter areas and we haven’t been able to play them during any of the beta weekend events.

If you’re wondering what to do until next weekend, here’s a selection of links that will give you plenty to read and listen to. I wrote two posts at Talk Tyria about the sylvari and the asura. I had looked at the asura from a more roleplaying point-of-view: Are they cute and cuddly or heartless and selfish? How much will we be able to identify with our asura characters? And then we have the sylvari. I have a friend who always makes an elf character when that race exists. Will players like him be happy with the sylvari? How much “elf” is in a sylvari? Okay, I am mostly focusing on their looks and not their character. But you’ll see that if you read the entry.

The reason I even remembered those postings in the first place and thought about putting them here was that AJ Wolf on The Tyrian Order recently wrote about sylvari and asura as well. They’re much broader than my postings as she gives a general overview of the races, their history, important characters (careful: those parts contain spoilers for the novels if you haven’t read them yet and don’t want to know what happens), and so on. She also lists her sources (as did I on Talk Tyria), so there’s plenty of further reading if you can’t get enough of those two races.

If you don’t feel like reading, you can listen to the two TowerTalk interviews for the sylvari and the asura instead: The one about asura is a bit older by now, but the lore shouldn’t have changed that much in the meantime. Don’t let the German website scare you. The interviews are in English! “Englische Transkription” is – probably easy to guess – the English transcription of the interview. The sylvari interview was released not too long ago. Both are really great interviews with lots of information and insight about the two races.

Last but not least, as you know, I have taken lots of screenshots so far and while I do not have any from the sylvari and asura cities yet (you will get to see those galleries here after next BWE, of course), I did take a couple that show those two races and I thought it’s the perfect way to end this short article.

Guild Wars 2: A FAQ for new players

You may already know the first version of this FAQ. I decided to rewrite it, update it and put newer screenshots in. So here is the new version. A very special thank you goes to Tasha Darke for reading through it all. I was hoping for a few bits of corrected grammar but she gave me very valuable feedback on top of that!

This FAQ is mostly for those who have just recently heard of Guild Wars 2 and now want to know more. If you have been following the game for years or even just months, if you have pre-purchased the game and if you have already played it, you are welcome to read it as well, but you will find a lot of information that you already know.

Since the game is still in development a lot of things are subject to change (yes, believe it or not, ArenaNet is handling the Beta Weekend Events like a real beta and is still changing things around). Also, new information comes out every now and then which might outdate what you can read here. If you notice any of that – or just errors that I’ve made – please comment (with sources if possible).

I am going to use the same categories that I have used for my “Rift vs. Lotro vs. WoW” posting already.

If you only want a very short overview, the following will hopefully be enough. There are lots of links leading you further down my posting if you want more information!

Before we start, we need to get two questions out of the way (as suggested by Pyzlnar on Reddit):
“Yes, you can jump!” – and no, this game is not an Asian-grinder and it is not made by an Asian company. It’s made by ArenaNet who is located in Seattle, Washington, USA (though they do belong to NCSoft but they only work as a publisher here while ArenaNet is the developer and thus, actually makes the game). Guild Wars 2 will also feature an open world and will not be heavily instanced like Guild Wars 1 is. Again, thank you, Pyzlnar, for these suggestions. You were right, they’re clearly missing and should be the first two points in any GW2 FAQ. ;)

OMG! When’s the beta? How do I get in?
If you have pre-purchased the game, you are automatically invited to all beta weekend events planned to take place roughly once a month until release. Do not confuse it with a preorder, though. Pre-purchasing means you pay the game in full! Beta keys are also available through giveaways and competitions from a variety of fan and gaming websites.
Wait, what?

How much does the game cost? Which extra security against hacked accounts do they offer?
You will have to buy the game itself but there will be no monthly fees. Without monthly fees, the follow-up costs are basically voluntary as there will be a real money shop (called “gem store”), but stuff you buy there will not give you more power and thus, won’t be required for the gameplay. Gems, the shop’s currency, can be bought in the game’s auction house (here called the Trading Post) for in game gold. Nothing is known yet about security like authenticators. There will very likely be system for account restorations in case you were hacked.
More on costs and security

What can I play and how do I play? – Races, professions and combat mechanics
You will be able to choose from 5 races: Norn, human, asura, charr and sylvari. Each race can be each of the 8 professions (often also called “classes”) in the game: Engineer, Thief, Guardian, Warrior, Elementalist, Necromancer, Ranger and Mesmer.

There is no holy trinity anymore! “Holy trinity” refers to characters that tank (the foes focus on the tank and leave the other players alone), characters that heal and characters that deal damage. In Guild Wars 2, every profession is self-sufficient up to a certain point and you will be able to play with any combination of professions without having to wait for “another healer” or “a tank”. Professions can interact with each other through their skills and support others.
More about races and professions

What does the game look like?
In short: Gorgeous, artsy, picturesque if you ask me. As with all games’ graphics, this is very subjective. Have a look at the various screenshots you can find online and decide for yourself if you like it.
Pictures and videos outsourced to below in order to keep the part up here short.

What’s there to fight against (PvE)?
First things first, there will be no regular raids in this game as you may know them from WoW or SWTOR! Instead, dynamic events in the open world that scale for up to 100 players. There will be several dungeons to play which will each have a story mode and the more difficult explorable mode. There will be no standard quests for playing either. The closest you will get to regular quests will be your personal storyline.
More about PvE

Who’s there to fight (PvP)?
There are 2 modes of PvP – Structured and World vs World.
Structured PvP, also known as Conquest, is somewhat similar to battlegrounds (WoW) or warzones (SWTOR) except everybody will be max level and have all weaponry and armor available to them straight out of character creation. So no gear advantages. 2 Teams (hot join or premade) fight it out on different maps for Glory, a currency which can be spent on better looking equipment and other (as yet unannounced) rewards.
World vs. world vs. world (frequently abbreviated to WvW) is the second mode. Three worlds (servers) will fight against each other for guild recognition and bonuses which affect the entire world. Players cannot fight players from the same server,as there are no factions, and while characters are buffed to have the basic stats as a level 80 character, gear and traits are not levelled (but you do earn experience in WvW which means that you can level your character in WvW). Servers will rotate every two weeks.
More about PvP

Grouping and socialization
In Guild Wars 2, you will be able to join more than one guild with one single character (I assume you will be able to create more than one character. So don’t misunderstand this sentence ^^). If you want to read our opinion about it, go here. If you don’t, well that’s just as well. ;)
Grouping will be in the game but it will not be forced on you like it is in other games. For example, you can attack a mob that another player is currently fighting. As you both contribute to the kill, you will both get the same amount of experience points and loot that you would have gotten if you had fought the mob on your own! In other words: Kill-stealing will not be possible!
More about Grouping and Socialization

I want to be on my own sometimes (- or: What can do I solo?)
The first thing that comes to my mind is the personal storyline. When creating your character, you get asked a few questions and can choose between different answers. That determines the starting point of your personal story. Other choices later on will further determine how your story evolves. You can bring a friend along to your storyline. But it will essentially be your story.

Guild Wars 2 will also have achievements. So that’s something you can do. You can also roam the world on your own or play a lone wolf in WvW – though I’m not sure how viable the latter is, apart from escorting the odd caravan. ;)
More about stuff to do solo

Crafting
There are 8 crafting skills to choose from and you can have two at a time: Weaponsmith, Huntsman, Artificer, Armorsmith, Leatherworker, Tailor, Jeweler and Cook.
Every character can gather all resources provided you have the correct gathering tool equipped which can be bought from merchants for gold or karma. A resource node can be used by several players, so it is not possible to steal such a node from under another player’s nose.
More about crafting

Fluff
There will be mini-pets just as in Guild Wars 1. Activities have also been announced but there haven’t been any recent details on them. “Bar brawl” was one of the activities mentioned, for example.

You will also have a home instance which is an entire district in the capital city of your character’s race. The home instance automatically changes with your personal story but you can’t change anything yourself (like putting furniture in).

Also, you will be able to change the way your armor looks. And there will be 400 different dyes in the game. Each piece of armor has 1 to 3 areas that can be dyed.
More about fluff

That was the short version. Its bigger brother will follow now, which also includes links for further reading. Most of the information can be found on ArenaNet’s blog or in the official wiki for Guild Wars 2.