Archive for 30 March 2012

What’s Up With All The Top 10s Today?

Posted 30/03/12 by

The keen observer will have noticed an unusual amount of “Top 10″ content from Guild Wars 2 fansites today. And she or he would be right, because it is no accident! Thinking it would be fun to do a co-ordinated Guild Wars 2 Fansite Flash Content Spike we asked around among our friends who would be interested in such a thing. And did we got some takers!

Demajen presented an absolutely beautiful compilation of his Top 10 picks for Guild Wars 2 concept art. SageLikeOne made a hilarious video about why the Commando should be in Guild Wars 2. And freshly baked Elementalist fansite Elemental Attunement gave us a list of his picks for Elementalist skills. And of course we here at GWOnline had a couple of Top 10 lists of our own. So without further delay, let’s all follow after the jump for a presentation of the brave participants in our very first FANtastic Friends Friday!

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NCSoft Explain Pricing Discrepancy with CE in US and Europe

Posted 30/03/12 by
Guild Wars 2 Collector Edition Contents

Guild Wars 2 Collector Edition Contents. Pricing $149.99.

As many of you wil have noiticed, it’s more expensive to get your hands on a CE of Guild Wars 2 if you are in Europe. So why is that? NCSoft has commented on this because the CE costs $149.99 in the US and €149.99/ÂŁ129.99 in Europe. With the with the excahnge rate you can see it’s a lot cheaper to buy in the US.  So why is this? Well it’s all down to distribution and local taxes according to NCSoft.

“Currency fluctuations, distribution costs, taxes and market conditions in addition to the cost of goods are all contributing factors when setting pricing. These vary dramatically between NA and EU and our pricing is competitive and adjusted accordingly.”

Sadly it looks like EU gamers are being shortchanged again but NCSoft does have a point, it is generally more expensive this side of the pond.

Source: PCGamer

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Top 10 Meta-Reasons Guild Wars 2 is a 10

Posted 30/03/12 by

Dreams of a Sylvari Mesmer

Dreams of a Sylvari Mesmer

A lot of the same reasons come up when you see people’s top 10: no subscription fee, low grind, high replay value, AAA, dynamic events, WvW, visceral combat… however, Guild Wars 2 isn’t a grocery list of gimmicks, rather, those features are the tip of the iceberg that is ArenaNet’s design philosophy. That philosophy permeates the whole construction of Guild Wars 2, from the broad strokes (pun intended) to the little details.

Here, I review what I think are the top 10 meta-reasons why Guild Wars 2 is interesting, and give some representative examples of how each meta-reason permeates itself into a wide range of design decisions. It is not an exhaustive list, because I hope to finish writing this article before Guild Wars 2 is released.

Guild Wars 2 isn’t a collection of gimmicks… but rather a powerful vision that will change the very course of MMORPGs for years to come.

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Crafting, Pets and a Jackalope

Posted 30/03/12 by

My next pet!
The last time I played Guild Wars 2 was 2 years ago, in Köln during the GamesCom. That was an hour only, standing, in a very crowded and noisy area.
This time, I was sitting behind my own (elderly) PC, with only my cats to bother me (told my husband I wouldn’t be available for the entire weekend). I also didn’t really follow any news about Guild Wars 2, about skills, weapons, armour, and such. Only basic gameplay. So, I’m writing this as a person who has a lot of Guild Wars 1 experience and hardly any knowledge of Guild Wars 2.

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Top 10 Guild Wars 2 Skills with a Guild Wars Predecessor

Posted 30/03/12 by

Guild Wars 2 is still in beta, so skills are constantly changing. But, just for fun, I took a look through the skill list as it stands after the March beta weekend and pulled out some skills that were in Guild Wars. (Sorry, engineer – womp womp.) This list is based entirely on my on whimsy (What I think looks cool – though, spoiler alert, I resisted putting Shield of Absorption on the list), especially since I have yet to play the game. Let’s get into it:


  10 – Shield of Judgment

This is one of the spells you know because monsters in Guild Wars used it, not because you would have ever equipped an elite smiting prayer that was not Ray of Judgment. For 15 energy, this would give an ally an enchantment that caused damage and knocked down foes who attacked that ally. Now part of the Guardian shield line, Shield of Judgment sends out a wave that damages foes and reduces damage by 33% for up to five allies. Not too shabby!

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