First we have learned about the release of GW2. Now, to tide us over, the release of GW2 original soundtrack has been announced over at Directsong.com. For a limited time, the original sound track (OST) can be ordered there for $29.99. The soundtrack comes with four CDs and is signed by Jeremy Soule the creator of all the music in GW2. Note that this is a physical version of the soundtrack and that delivery may take between 4-6 weeks.
The question for the community is: Who is planning on buying the soundtrack?
In the previous weekend, I finally also got to peek inside the matrix that is GW2. Many of my colleagues have published or will publish various aspects of the beta. But as a mesmer fan, I thought I would focus on one particular aspect by asking: What has changed for the mesmer between the two CBTs?
The most obvious changes probably are the skill changes. So let’s review them!
In the last Press CBT, the one-handed main-hand sword had three skills: Mind Slash, Leap and Illusionary Leap. In this CBT, Illusionary Leap got replaced with Blurred Frenzy which is a skill that strikes foes several times dealing out more damage than the standard 1-slot skill would while distorting the space around the mesmer and allowing him/her to evade attacks. Leap also got reworked. The skill now optionally allows the caster to switch his location with that of his or her clone a short while after Leap was cast. In essence, Leap and Illusionary Leap got merged into one skill.
Previously, I wrote up an initial synthesis of what was known about the mesmer profession then. With the closed beta weekend, a lot of new information has emerged giving the community a much deeper inside look into the workings of the illusionist. Another round of synthesis is necessary.
Now before we start, I just wanted to say that this article is not meant to be an all authoritative source of truth. It is merely an article written out of passion for the profession, meant to start a discussion among the many arm-chair mesmers (for this is all we can be at this time) out there in the community. With that in mind, let us dig deep into the details and just focus on the different land-based weapon sets!
As with other professions, each weapon wielded by the mesmer contains a certain theme. Recognizing these themes can help putting together a build that will ultimately match a player’s preferred play-style.
Angel Leigh McCoy is one of the writers and game designers at Arenanet currently working on GW2. She recently gave an interview at Nevermetpress about her work, and her writing. The interview covers her early career as a writer for table-top RPG but also includes a discussion about how she ended up at Arenanet as well as a discussion about the difference between writing for a table-top RPGs as opposed to writing for a computer game.
With respect to GW2, readers of this news site will find an interesting tid-bit: Apparently, planning for a GW2 open beta has recently started. But anyone gets too excited, it is important to emphasize that there is no set date mentioned. Head over to Nevermetpress and read the full interview!
The developers over at ArenaNet have just released an update for the end of the year. Topics of discussion include the achievement system, promised information about tweaks to the thief profession, and finally enhancements to the fighting skill animation system. Head on over to the blog article and get the details!
The release of the 8th and final profession – the Mesmer – was accompanied by a deluge of interviews. Through these interviews and the profession page, we have learned that the Mesmer is a magical-duelist who uses his or her illusions, and mental trickery to confuse a foe and setup situations beneficial only to the Mesmer.
Although each interview in itself has given us only a brief glimpse into the Mesmer profession, the combination of different interviews gives us a more complete picture than meets the eye at first. So what have we learned about this profession? This article attempts to make sense of all the information.
A Behind-The-Scenes on German voice acting in GW2 was just posted on the official Anet.
If you don’t know German, the video is structured in a similar way as the original video on voice acting in GW2 “Giving Tyria a Voice”. I have posted that video here for comparison. It’s interesting to see how voice acting is ported to the different languages – in this case German.
Necrophiliacs rejoice! The Necromancer specialist site has just released an article discussing in detail the necromancer elite skill “Lich Form”. One of Sardu’s conclusions:
It amazes me just how much a single elite can open up a whole new layer of depth in combat, but ArenaNet definitely proved just how powerful elites in Guild Wars 2 will be. Think of it this way – Lich Form offers necros the equivalent of a third weapon set to use in combat, albeit on a longer recharge than normal weapon swaps.
For those who were following Gamescom 2011, you know that the guild Boon Control was chosen to play demonstration PvP matches against the developers. An interview has surfaced over at Team Legacy that deeply probes how they prepared for these matches, and their impression of what the state of GW2 PvP is. It’s deep and full of great insights! What particularly caught my eye was this question:
Having experience this structured PvP, how excited for WvW are you guys? Do you see it being very different?
Aspira:
“I see it being very similar in terms of how competitive it is going to get. Both types are going to reward skill in their own way, and both are going to be fun and also competitive in their own way. The two scenes (5v5 and WvWvW) are completely different and you will probably see completely different names rise to the top in each format. The 5v5 is going to be the tournament play format for sure and if GW2 follows any other MMO, then the 5v5 will require more player skill than the open world PvP. However, I personally am very excited about WvWvW as having played GW2 PvP in small scale 5v5, I can see how it will scale to WvWvW level. Guilds who go into this game with the sole intention of building a massive zerg of players with no tactics and low skill and just relying on numbers to win the fight, are going to get destroyed. The WvWvW is going to be as tactical as the 5v5 but on a much larger scale, and I think medium sized, highly organized guilds are going to love what GW2 are offering in WvWvW and I think that there will indeed be a “competitive scene” of sorts between the big open world PvP guilds and indeed server rivalry!”
Just in time for PAX Prime, ArenaNet has announced more detailed plans for the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo 2011 in their newest blog. The article contains a Q and A. Also note the schedule for the panel discussion sessions throughout the weekend posted below. To get all the details of PAX Prime 2011, go directly to the source to read it here.
Panel Schedule:
Friday
2:30 PM – The Guild Wars Live Game: From Inception to Live Update (Room 2B)
5:30 PM – The ArenaNet Community Team (Room 2B)
Saturday
10:00 AM – ArenaNet Artists Review Your Portfolio (Room 2B)
Now that gamescom 2011 is over, the media outlets are starting to gather their thoughts and release the information gained over the last couple of days. One of the sites, I am keeping an eye on (MMORPG) has just released an interview with Colin Johanson. It discusses different features of the gamescom demo including character creation, cross-profession combo and other miscellaneous items. I found this very interesting:
MMORPG.com: Tell us about an interesting boss fight which we haven’t heard about before.
Colin Johanson: In the starting area in Guild Wars 2 which we are showing here at Gamescom there’s a chain of events that lead up to a boss fight which no one has seen so far. In this dynamic event chain (four different parts), if you successfully manage to complete all these parts, a huge Ice Elemental is summoned by the leader of a tribe that worships a dragon totem you’ve destroyed which shoots ice shards all over, this event and fight actually changes the weather of the map. It causes a giant blizzard to cover this part of the map while the boss is there. The ice shards also turns into smaller ice elementals. If you defeat the encounter the ice storm will dissipate. This fight requires a minimum of five players, might be possible with a bit less if you’re really good. It also scales dynamically up to 100 players.
Just a quick announcement I found on my morning browsing: According to Massively, the name of the third GW2 novel has been announced to be “Sea of Sorrows”. The information was released within a panel discussion that took place at gamescom 2011. Apart from the name of the novel no other information about the third novel has been released including release date.
