Filed under: Guild Wars 2

PAX 2010: ArenaNet announces Guild Wars 2 app for smartphones and iPad

by Rubi Bayer Sep 3rd 2010 at 6:35PM

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

The latest news on Guild Wars 2 comes from a direction that most of us were not considering. Part of Guild Wars 2's development is being done by the Extended Experience Team, a group working on game experience that's not strictly limited to your computer.

Today the Guild Wars 2 developers unveiled that team's current project: Guild Wars 2 for smartphones and the iPad. The project isn't completed, but it's already very extensive. Players will have the ability to check their friends lists, follow their friends on the map, message their friends, and move around the world on their characters.

Game Designer Colin Johanson says that the Extended Experience Team doesn't plan to stop with that, however. The team is planning to take the application much further before release, so expect to see even more in the way of Guild Wars 2-on-the-go.

ArenaNet plans "PAX to the MAX"

by Rubi Bayer Sep 1st 2010 at 5:00PM

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

PAX Prime is nearly upon us -- attendees (and Massively staffers) from all over are packing their suitcases and confirming hotel reservations, and a large part of them have Guild Wars 2 at the top of their must-see list.

The newest entry on the ArenaNet blog is what those fans have been waiting for: the PAX schedule. The list shows three busy days for ANet staffers, and plenty to do for those attending. A book signing, panel, and party at the Hard Rock Cafe combine with a series of demos and prize giveaways to fill the schedule. An important note here is that both the panel and the party require passes which can be acquired at the ArenaNet booth or through quiz show giveaways. Check out the entire list and we'll see you at PAX!

Flameseeker Chronicles: Back to (the other) basics

by Rubi Bayer Aug 30th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles

I had originally planned this week's Flameseeker Chronicles to be a detailed overview of Gamescom and the necromancer. By Friday afternoon, I decided that the subject had been done to death and that more words on it would just be repetitive clutter. There's enough of that on the net already, thanks.

Instead, I took my thoughts in another direction: the extreme hype of Guild Wars 2. Guild Wars 2-interest is at an all-time high, thanks in large part to Gamescom and PAX, and more people are beginning to take notice every day. The majority of those people are unfamiliar with Guild Wars and ArenaNet, and they've got a lot of questions.

Most of them are the same questions that veteran fans feel like they've answered a hundred times, and since I covered the basics of Guild Wars a few weeks ago, it seemed only fair to give the same kind of attention to Guild Wars 2. I love my fellow crazed-fans, and I promise that next week's column will contain all sorts of treats from PAX, but this week is for the newbies.

If you are new to ArenaNet's world and wondering what the deal is with Guild Wars 2, welcome -- I'm so glad you're checking this game out. If you've been around for a while, pass this on the next time you see someone asking what the deal is. There are several good -- and very detailed -- informational sites for the game in existence, and I'll wrap up with a bit of info on those. This one is intended as a starting point to cover the basics, complete with links for proof where needed, because the really extensive ones can get a bit overwhelming.

Follow along after the jump and let's get you started.

Guild Wars 2 necromancer revealed

by Rubi Bayer Aug 25th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Video, Classes, Wallpapers, Guild Wars 2

This is not your ancestor's necromancer. Much like the ranger, the necromancer in Guild Wars 2 is bigger, badder, and deadlier than her Guild Wars counterpart.

The Guild Wars 2 necro was officially revealed today, and though we've pretty much known it was coming since Killeen made fallen soldiers dance in the sewers of Ebonhawke, it's still nice to see descriptions, videos, and screenshots straight from ArenaNet.

Follow along after the jump as we take a look at the necro and all of her glowy green skills and abilities.

Flameseeker Chronicles: The view from the cheap seats is pretty darn great

by Rubi Bayer Aug 23rd 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Video, Classes, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2

I did not go to Gamescom. I was kind of not anticipating last week at all, because I envisioned it as a week of me looking at all the wonderful things I couldn't have, much like a starving orphan outside a bakery (or maybe a homeless orphan in some player's home instance). I figured it would be very un-fun.

In fact, the opposite was true. Sure, I couldn't play hands-on, but I enjoyed all the Guild Wars 2 news flooding out of Gamescom just the same. I imagine being there would have made it impossible to take in all of these details from every direction -- it just would have been too overwhelming.

Don't get me wrong, it's not sour grapes. I would have loved to be there! But since I couldn't, I'm really enjoying my bird's-eye view, so to speak. Even from this point of view, the amount of new information we have is nearly impossible to keep track of, so for Flameseeker Chronicles this week, I thought I'd take all that we've heard this week and try to distill it into a guide on where you can find information.

It's felt a bit like trying to take an octopus and 15 of his closest friends and convince them all to fit comfortably in one small sandwich baggie, but I've done my best. Follow along after the jump to see where you can find the latest and greatest from Guild Wars 2 at Gamescom.

Guild Wars 2 wins best online game at Gamescom

by Rubi Bayer Aug 20th 2010 at 10:00AM

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

The ArenaNet staffers have been working pretty hard this week -- both at Gamescom and at home in Seattle -- to make the world premiere of Guild Wars 2 gameplay an event to remember.

Their hard work paid off this morning when Guild Wars 2 was presented with the award for Best Online Game of Gamescom 2010. "We're honored and delighted to receive this award," says ArenaNet, and credit was given to quite a few others who helped make it happen at Gamescom as well. "We'd like to thank our Gamescom collaborators, Razer, Alienware, nVidia, Flashpoint and Intel, and to send a special thanks to our fans in Cologne and all over the world!"

We at Massively join all the fans in congratulating everyone at ArenaNet!

Behind the scenes with Guild Wars 2 cinematics and demo

by Rubi Bayer Aug 18th 2010 at 1:30PM

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

ArenaNet scheduled quite a few hands-on sessions for Guild Wars 2 at Gamescom this week, and the first reports are beginning to show up from those lucky enough to get playtime on the first day.

IGN has an overview posted with plenty of exciting new details on character creation, events, weapons, and much more. The demo included quite a few events that the writer stumbled across and a battle with an "enormous, purple, glowing dragon," presumably an unrecognized Shatterer. If you've not seen the write-up yet, it's definitely worth your time.

While you're at it, pay a visit to the ArenaNet blog as well. The crew back in Seattle is keeping busy, and there is a new blog entry with a video entitled "Creating Guild Wars 2 cinematics."

Finally, don't forget to watch for Massively's recap of the Gamescom events on Monday!

Gamescom 2010: Guild Wars 2 demo video available, dev confirms necro class

by Rubi Bayer Aug 18th 2010 at 10:00AM

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

Yesterday's footage of Guild Wars 2 being shown at Gamescom caused a huge stir in the GW2 community, but it was a little different than the one-on-one demos we've been waiting on. The first video was attendee footage of a developer player in godmode, who was invisible to the enemies for the sake of showing off some details of the game.

Today, we get the real thing. 1UP has footage of their demo available, and it's a human vs. earth elemental battle on a pretty grand scale.

That's not the only news coming out of Cologne this morning, though. Spong.com is reporting in a brief blurb that Colin Johanson told them that the necromancer is indeed the next class to be revealed. While ArenaNet has not announced this anywhere, in the demo video you are able to hear the necro class and a few of its abilities mentioned.

Follow along after the jump to see the demo firsthand, and don't forget to keep an eye on NCsoft's live feed from Gamescom!

First video of Guild Wars 2 gameplay released [Updated]

by Rubi Bayer Aug 17th 2010 at 6:00PM

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

It's what every Guild Wars fan has been waiting to see for what feels like forever: gameplay.

We've seen the videos of in-game footage, and while they are beautiful, the first live demo is a completely different story for most fans. It's a chance to see Guild Wars 2 in action, and Italian gaming site Multiplayer.it won the race with an uploaded video of the public demo.

The video is of the charr territory, presumably near the Dragonbrand given the corrupted charr below, and we get our first look at map travel as well as a few other things. With no further delay, let's get to the good stuff: follow along after the jump to see the Guild Wars 2 live demo.

~~[Editor's Note: The Multiplayer.it stream is being hammered right now. If your video has trouble loading, please be patient, or perhaps try again later!]~~

[Editor's Note 2: Flipped the video over to the YouTube version, as the prior stream was failing to launch.]

[via Multiplayer.it]

ArenaNet preparing for gamescom and PAX

by Rubi Bayer Aug 14th 2010 at 1:00PM

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

As gamescom and PAX approach, a fair amount of attention is on ArenaNet -- specifically Guild Wars 2. The prospect of being able to play GW2 for the first time is an exciting one for fans.

ArenaNet has released a few details of what we'll see during gameplay over the past week, including the information that we'll be playing with some staff back at the ArenaNet offices. In the most recent blog post, we hear directly from four of those staffers. Bob Green, Joe Belousek, Anthony Ordon, and Joe Longworth are members of the Guild Wars 2 QA team, the group working to make sure the demo runs smoothly. Check out the latest ArenaNet blog entry to see what they're most looking forward to in the demo.

While the demo is easily the main focus of ArenaNet's presence at these events, there is more to check out while you're there. The event schedule for PAX Prime was finally released yesterday, and it includes a Saturday morning presentation entitled "Guild Wars 2: Designing Dynamic Events." Eric Flannum and Colin Johanson will give insight into how the dynamic event system in GW2 was created -- it's a talk that fans won't want to miss.

It's a ticketed event, so be sure to check the schedule for details on how to attend.

Four ArenaNet team members joining Undead Labs

by Rubi Bayer Aug 11th 2010 at 6:15PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Guild Wars, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2

In all the excitement over the Guild Wars 2 MMO manifesto, a quiet announcement on the Guild Wars wiki was very nearly lost in the shuffle, but it gained the attention of some sharp-eyed fans.

ArenaNet founder Mike O'Brien put a post on his wiki talk page entitled "Departures," and bid farewell to four members of the ArenaNet team. Design Director James Phinney is leaving ArenaNet to join his former colleague Jeff Strain over at Undead Labs, and he's not going alone.

Joining him are designer Richard Foge, as well as artists Scott Albaugh and Doug Williams. It's been very quiet on the Undead Labs front for a while now, so this may signal the beginning of some progress on the zombie front.

As for ArenaNet? "Of course we're disappointed to see them go, but I also know these guys are each individually huge zombie fans and are going to work on a zombie game, so I'm excited for their opportunity and wish them all the best," says Mike.

We at Massively join him in wishing the group the best of luck in their new venture.

This game will care that you're there: Our look at the Guild Wars 2 manifesto

by Rubi Bayer Aug 11th 2010 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Guild Wars 2

Earlier this week, ArenaNet promised a new Guild Wars 2 video. That announcement came with a warning: no, it's not a new class reveal, and many fans were pretty disappointed. What could possibly serve as an adequate substitute for a class reveal? It's safe to say that the disappointment was blown out of the water yesterday with the unveiling of the MMO Manifesto and the Walking the Walk blog post.

Merriam-Webster defines the word manifesto as a "a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer," but when the word is used in context, there are usually strong feelings behind those intentions. Revolutionary, groundbreaking, and change are words associated with such a thing, and it was a word well-chosen by ArenaNet with this newest reveal.

Follow along after the jump as we take a closer look at what ArenaNet showed us yesterday.

Guild Wars 2 video features developers and new gameplay footage

by Rubi Bayer Aug 10th 2010 at 1:45PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Guild Wars 2

You know all those quotes and images ArenaNet has been teasing us with the past few days? Well, we finally found out what that was all about -- the promised Guild Wars 2 video was finally released.

We've known for a long time that the design goals for Guild Wars 2 were to make something bigger and better than what we've come to expect from an MMO. A truly immersive story in which the world around you isn't made up of blocks of quest text, oblivious NPCs, and enemies who loiter in a field waiting for you to come attack.

In the new video from ArenaNet, we hear more on this plan straight from the developers: Mike O'Brien, Daniel Dociu, Colin Johanson, and Ree Soesbee. Follow along after the jump to hear what they have to say, and check out the beautiful new gameplay footage in the video.

New ArenaNet blog post details dialogue in Guild Wars 2

by Rubi Bayer Aug 6th 2010 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, News items, Guild Wars 2

Just yesterday, we talked a bit about the fact that Guild Wars 2 fans love the small details just as much as the large ones. As we learn more and more about Guild Wars 2, so much of what is exceptional about the game is found in those little details. Attention to the little things, right down to the stitching on a ranger's armor piece, adds up to create an overall sense of immersion and depth that helps make a good game a great one.

That attention to detail comes heavily into play when the GW2 team looks at how the story is presented. Way back in May, Lead Designer Colin Johanson spoke at length about the traditional system of quests and quest text. We know that ArenaNet is actively rejecting the traditional -- and immersion breaking -- system, but what will take its place?

We got some exciting news on that very thing last night, and as always, it's all in the details. Follow along after the jump to see for yourself.

Latest Guild Wars 2 interview reveals new gameplay details

by Rubi Bayer Aug 5th 2010 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2

Those anticipating Guild Wars 2 love big news such as class reveals, but they're just as happy to have small details about how things will work in the Tyria of the future.

Fans got plenty of the latter yesterday, thanks to an interview with several of the Guild Wars 2 devs over at Univers Virtuels. It's a great interview full of tantalizing small details about skills, weapons, gameplay, and more. Jotun, for example, can throw their sword and create a "Jotun Sword" environmental effect. The sword becomes fair game, meaning that if you can get to it first, you can attack with it.

That was just one of the many new details. The complete interview is full of little pieces of information like this, and while none of it is quite on the scale of a class reveal or beta date, it's an exciting read for the Guild Wars 2 community.

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Dragon*Con	Sep 3-6, 2010
PAX Prime	Sep 3-5, 2010
Clone Wars Adventures Launch	Sep 15, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV Launch	Sep 30, 2010
GDC Online	Oct 5-8, 2010
LEGO Universe Launch	Oct 26, 2010
DCUO Launch	Nov 2, 2010

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Seraphina Brennan	Senior Editor
Brianna Royce	West Coast Editor
Dan O'Halloran	Features Coordinator
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Rubi Bayer	Contributing Editor
Tateru Nino	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Larry Everett	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist