guild-wars posts

GDC10: ArenaNet's Daniel Dociu discusses the art of Guild Wars 2

by Rubi Bayer Mar 16th 2010 at 11:00PM

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

Daniel Dociu, Senior Art Director for Guild Wars 2, was one of the panelists at last week's GDC, and Massively was fortunate enough to sit down and chat with him about the art coming up in Guild Wars 2. The information on this highly-anticipated game is starting to increase bit by bit, and Daniel had some interesting things to say about designing art for Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. As a bonus feature, we've got a video slideshow of some of the gorgeous concept art featured at his panel at GDC. Keep your eyes peeled -- you might just see something you've not seen before. (Check Youtube for the HD version as well.) Follow along after the jump, and enjoy!

Tags: arenanet, concept-art, daniel-dociu, daniel-dociu-gdc, gdc-2010, guild-wars, Guild-Wars-2, guild-wars-2-art

Flameseeker Chronicles: The consequences of an aging economy

by Rubi Bayer Mar 15th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Culture, Economy, Flameseeker Chronicles

About two weeks ago, I decided I wanted Obsidian armor for my Elementalist. Those who know me laughed (and are probably laughing as they read this), because it's been a bit of a joke that she's not had it until now. She is without a doubt my most favored character in any game, sporting a wardrobe that borders on ridiculous, a minipet for every occasion, and heroes bearing Tormented weapons. She's spoiled rotten, but the Elementalist version of Obsidian armor has always reminded me of those little cups you take camping. I just never cared for it.

Eventually I thought "she's got everything else, so why not that?" The fact that it was a snap decision set me thinking about the economy of Guild Wars today. Sure, it'll take me a bit to earn the armor, and I'll be spending a fair amount of time in UW and FoW, but it's not out of reach by any means. It's not an epic goal, it's just something to keep me amused for a few weeks, and that speaks much more to the game than it does to any sort of virtual wealth I've accumulated. Follow along after the jump, and let's take a look at the implications of that.

Tags: arenanet, economy, featured, flameseeker-chronicles, guild-wars, gw, miniatures, Minipets

GDC10: First look at Divine Souls

by Justin Olivetti Mar 14th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Events, real-world, Casual, First Impressions, Divine Soul

What, you've never heard of Divine Souls? You Philistine! Actually, it's not the public school system that has failed you here -- Divine Souls is only now crossing the waters of the Pacific (and Atlantic) in its worldwide debut. Created by Korean development studio Game Prix under the title of St. Soul, the renamed Divine Souls is being brought over to North America and Europe through an agreement with publisher Outspark.

Divine Souls's makeup is part steampunk, part brawler, part co-op, and part traditional MMORPG, so don't expect the normal routine in this one -- it actually feels more of a hybrid of several MMOs. Massively sat down with the game at last week's GDC to put this title through its paces.

Channel your inner Karate Kid, and hit the jump for the full scoop!

Tags: allods-online, brawler, combos, divine-soul, divine-souls, dungeon, featured, fighter, gatheryn, gdc, gdc-2010, gdc2010, guild-wars, steampunk, world-of-warcraft

The Daily Grind: How do you like to play?

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 11th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, PvP, PvE, Opinion, The Daily Grind

We complain that MMOs are getting narrower and smaller as time goes by, with terms like "themeparks" being thrown around without much affection. But there are still a lot of ways to enjoy yourself in pretty much every game under the sun and games that cater to a wide variety of playstyles on top of that. There are games focused on a strong PvP game (Warhammer Online, EVE Online), games with a focus on PvE content (City of Heroes, Lord of the Rings Online), and others with a split between both (World of Warcraft, Guild Wars).

Even within that wide spectrum, however, there's a fair variety of options. You could focus on the PvE game in EVE Online if you wanted, or even just head off into another direction like roleplaying if you so desired. With all the different ways to enjoy yourself, we ask you today: how do you like to play? Do you prefer PvP, PvE, a mix of both? Or do you prefer alternate progression like crafting or exploration, eschewing the rails that are set down for you by the development team?

Tags: city-of-heroes, coh, content, eve, eve-online, guild-wars, gw, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, play-focus, playstyle, pve, pvp, roleplaying, tdg, the-daily-grind, war, warhammer-online, world-of-warcraft, wow

Flameseeker Chronicles: The great nerfbat of '10 (or why ArenaNet didn't fail)

by Rubi Bayer Mar 1st 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Game mechanics, Patches, Flameseeker Chronicles

Last week's Guild Wars skill update sparked discussion among players that shows no sign of slowing any time soon. Player reactions ran the full spectrum, from delight to the infamous (and ineffective, since the player in question never intended to stop playing and the box didn't burn very well anyway) box burning. Whatever your feelings on it, there's no doubt that this huge skill update had a pretty big impact on the community over the past few days. Follow along after the jump for a closer look at the aftermath.

Tags: 600smite, anet, arenanet, featured, guild-wars, invulnerability, nerfed, shadow-form, skill-balance, skill-update

Guild Wars releases long-awaited skill update

by Rubi Bayer Feb 26th 2010 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Patches, News items

We were told last week it was coming, but the huge Guild Wars skill balance that has been long promised finally arrived last night.

The Guild Wars Live Team and Test Krewe have been working on this one for quite a while, in part because of the size and significance of the update. The unusual length of time was also partially because they were striving to address some underlying issues rather than just swinging the nerfbat at a few choice skills, only to create a new flavor of the month build to take over.

While the changes to Shadow Form and the entire concept of invulnerability are creating the loudest buzz at the moment, they weren't the only things to get a look over by any means. This is one of the largest skill updates ever to come to Guild Wars, and the update notes were released at the same time as a developer update elaborating on the thought processes behind many of the changes.

Watch for this Monday's Flameseeker Chronicles, when we'll take a more in depth look at the update.

Tags: arenanet-guild-wars, guild-wars, invulnerability, shadow-form, skill-balance, skill-update

Flameseeker Chronicles: It's all Kun Shao's fault

by Rubi Bayer Feb 22nd 2010 at 1:00PM

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

The Xunlai Tournament House in Guild Wars was a great idea in theory. Once favor was no longer tied to PvP, it served as an excellent incentive to keep PvE only players involved in the other half of the game. All players -- whether actively participating in the tournament or not -- could make predictions on the outcomes of the monthly 1 vs. 1 and Guild vs. Guild matches. Points were distributed based on the accuracy of the predictions, then traded to Tolkano for prizes, usually Zaishen Keys.

Players responded very well to the concept, with many purchasing second, third, and even fourth accounts to snap up more Tournament Reward Points each month. The Zaishen title helped fuel the enthusiasm, and ZKeys soon rivaled Globs of Ectoplasm in value, even briefly becoming another alternate currency in game.

All good things must come to an end, though.

Tags: arenanet, arenanet-guild-wars, featured, flameseeker-chronicles, guild-wars, guildwars, gw, high-priest-zhang, kun-shao, XTH, xunlai-tournament-house, zaishen-keys

Guild Wars skill update planned for next week

by Rubi Bayer Feb 19th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Patches, News items

Earlier this evening a skill update preview landed on the Guild Wars wiki for an update expected to go into effect next Thursday the 25th. From the look of the notes, it's the big one we've all been waiting on.

The notes begin by asserting that Shadow Form, Obsidian Flesh, and a few 600/Smite skills will be getting some changes. However, this won't be a general nerf that causes players to simply move on to the next overpowered flavor of the month build. The team has taken a long look at the underlying issue of overpowered builds in general, so it will be very interesting to see what comes of it.

Moving beyond that, the notes gave much more specific information on other skills and builds that will be getting updates. Many of the things we've come to accept as a cliche -- Spirit Spamming Rits, weak Hammer Warriors, and more -- will be getting shaken up next week.

The notes are of course preliminary and subject to change, but for now they serve as a good indication of what will happen next week, so take a look here, and gather ye DTSC groups while ye may.

Tags: 600-smite, arenanet, guild-wars, guild-wars-wiki, obsidian-flesh, shadow-form, skill-update

The Digital Continuum: 'Meh' to MMOs?

by Kyle Horner Feb 16th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum

While the MMO genre appears to be growing at a decent pace (at least for Blizzard) there's still plenty of room for growth. World of Warcraft clones can attract only so many interested players and turning to classic niche designs such as the sandbox MMO ala Fallen Earth won't do anything to pique the interest of people who otherwise have no interest in the genre.

So what will appeal to someone who has never felt a desire to play a game both massively and multiplayer?

Tags: all-points-bulletin, all-points-bulletin-game, apb-ea, apb-game, arenanet, arenanet-guild-wars, arenanet-guild-wars2, bioware, bioware-mmo, bioware-mmorpg, bioware-star-wars, bioware-swtor, call-of-duty, ea, ea-all-points-bulletin, ea-apb, ea-games, electronic-arts, electronic-arts-all-points-bulletin, featured, funcom, guild-wars, guild-wars2, guildwars, guildwars2, gw, gw2, lucas-arts, lucas-arts-mmo, lucas-arts-mmorpg, mass-effect, modern-warefare, opinion, star-wars-game, star-wars-mmo, star-wars-mmorpg, star-wars-the-old-republic, star-wars-tor, starwars, starwars-the-old-republic, sw-tor, swtor, the-digital-continuum, the-old-republic, the-secret-world, tsw, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Flameseeker Chronicles: putting the guild in Guild Wars

by Rubi Bayer Feb 15th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Culture, Guilds, Flameseeker Chronicles

Last week we talked about keeping Guild Wars fresh after four years. While much of it centers around your attitude, the "multiplayer" part of MMO makes a big difference. A heavily instanced world like Guild Wars can get pretty lonely if you don't make the effort to play with people, particularly since it has such easily accessed heroes and henchmen. Fortunately, Guild Wars again has the advantage of age, in that there are many, many established and active guilds out there accepting new members. The downside of this is that there are many, many established and active guilds out there accepting new members. Choosing one can be a bit overwhelming, so let's take a look at how best to put the guild in Guild Wars.

Tags: flameseeker-chronicles, guild-wars, guilds, how-to-find-a-guild

Guild Wars Xunlai Tournament House permanently retired

by Rubi Bayer Feb 11th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, PvP, News items

Seven months ago, the Guild Wars Xunlai Tournament House was pulled offline so ArenaNet could investigate the increasingly frequent glitches in point distribution. Yesterday they finally made the decision: "After much analysis and discussion, we've decided to permanently retire the Xunlai Tournament House."

Regina Buenaobra's wiki journal page went on to explain that ArenaNet had done an "exhaustive investigation" into the problems and in the end concluded that the XTH would need to be rebuilt from scratch. To do that, resources would have to be pulled away from Guild Wars 2, and in the end it became a question of where the focus needed to be.

It was a tough call for the Guild Wars team to make, and undoubtedly will be a disappointing decision for many fans. But with only so much time, money, and manpower to go around, they made the call to keep the focus where it currently was. You can check out Regina's full journal post here. R.I.P., free Zaishen Keys.

Tags: guild-wars, pvp, regina-buenaobra, XTH, xunlai-tournament-house

Flameseeker Chronicles: Keeping an old game new

by Rubi Bayer Feb 8th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Opinion, Flameseeker Chronicles

"Guild Wars is an old game." As the game approaches its fifth birthday and Guild Wars 2 continues production, that's a phrase you'll hear more and more. While it's true that the game has been around for a while now, age doesn't necessarily equal stale or boring. On the contrary, it means you've got an established game with an experienced development team behind it, and they've had time to work out all those bugs, kinks, and emergency patches that are so common in new games. Even better, you've got a strong player base that knows their way around.

The largest factor in what makes a game fun for you is your attitude and outlook, so let's take a look at some ways to keep from falling into the trap of assuming there's nothing left for you to do in Guild Wars.

Tags: arenanet, arenanet-guild-wars, featured, flameseeker-chronicles, guild-wars, Guild-Wars-2, guildwars, gw

Guild Wars fans to raise money for Haiti

by Rubi Bayer Feb 6th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, in-game, News items

Gaming World Events, a fan-created organization, will be holding their first ever Guild Wars in-game event tomorrow: Gamers Giving Back to Haiti.

The fans behind Gaming Gamers Giving Back to Haiti will happen in Lion's Arch International District 1, from 10AM - 4PM PST. The six hour event will offer quite a few in-game prizes of items and gold for participants.

The group has set a fundraising goal of (of course) $1,337.00, but a look at their Red Cross donation page shows that they are already approaching the $700.00 mark. Gamers are known to be a generous bunch, so maybe Gaming World Events can reach their goal twice: once before the event and once after. You can donate via the donation page, and read more about the event on their Facebook page or the forum announcement.

We at Massively join the community in thanking Gaming World Events for organizing the event, and all of the players for their support.

Tags: arenanet, gamers-giving-back-to-haiti, gaming-world-events, guild-wars, gw

How consistency softens the grind

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 3rd 2010 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion

"Grind" is on the verge of becoming what "nerf" already is -- a word thrown around so frequently and with such broad possible meaning that it's essentially meaningless. After all, the word now gets used for any part of a game the player finds boring and repetitive, rather than the process of repeating something over and over. It's the latter meaning that Kill Ten Rats discusses with an intersting thesis -- we don't mind a grind so much as we mind one we can't advance without breaks.

Using the Guild Wars Wintersday redux as an example, the point is made that the holiday events are a straight-up grind -- but they're a constant one that you can pick up and start with no downtime, then stop whenever you want. Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft have both taken the same approach with Skirmishes and the Dungeon Finder, taking the slow march to being ready for an instance out of the equation.

It's an interesting idea, that what we really dislike aren't the grinds but being stuck unable to make much progress in them. If you tend to think that grinds are the worst thing in MMOs today, it might be an opportunity to re-examine that stance.

Tags: downtime, dungeon-finder, grind, guild-wars, gw, kill-ten-rats, lord-of-the-rings-onlne, lotro, nerf, progress, skirmish, wintersday, wintersday-redux, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Flameseeker Chronicles: A guide to the Canthan New Year festival

by Rubi Bayer Feb 1st 2010 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, in-game, Flameseeker Chronicles

Token farming, Rollerbeetle racing, and AFK-ing the rings. Hot on the heels of Wintersday Redux comes Canthan New Year 2010. Guild Wars players joke about the AFK-fest, and while it's a great opportunity to work on those lucky and unlucky titles, there is much more going on. ArenaNet puts together a great festival every year, with old favorite quests and NPCs returning to dole out Lunar tokens and Fortunes as well as a heap of other treats. There is a lot going on, and it can be a bit overwhelming if this is your first Canthan New Year, so let's take a peek at the festivities.

Tags: arenanet, canthan-new-year, celestial-tiger, featured, flameseeker-chronicles, guild-wars, shing-jea-boardwalk