Archive for the General MMO News Category

Guild Wars 2 Gets Iran Ban

Posted 23/08/12 by

If you are in Iran and want to play Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, it looks like you are out of luck. The Iranian government has clamped down on numerous games blocking players from connecting to the services, including Guild Wars.

In a brochure released by the Iranian government, games such as Assassin’s Creed, Red Light Center, Call of Duty 4, World of Warcraft, Runescape, Second Life, Dofus, GuildWars, Evony and Entropia Universe have now been blocked as indicated by the brochure released by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance following a conference on the 14th. The reason for the blocking is:

  1. Promotion of superstition and mythology
  2. Promotion of violence due to too much violence.
  3. Abolishing the deformation in sin.
  4. Demonstration of inappropriate clothing and slutty outfits for female avatars.
Interestingly enough, at Gamescom last week, Iranians were busy promoting their developers and games at an Iranian booth. They are obviously keen to foster game development, but obviously with some very tight controls.

If anyone is in Iran and has been caught up in the banning, do let us know.

Thanks IncGamers and the Verge.

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GameSpy Compares GW2 and SWTOR

Posted 18/06/12 by

arenanet

Today, GameSpy’s Leif Johnson took a look at Guild Wars 2 (GW2) and Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR), and compared some of SWTOR’s faults with some of what he sees as GW2′s successes. The comparisons are easy to see; SWTOR was one of the most hyped games on last year, Bioware spent hundreds of millions of dollar, producing what everyone was sure would be a blockbuster hit, only to have it quickly fizzle (at least compared to pre-launch predictions) amongst fan frustration over seemingly basic gameplay issues.

After the second Beta Weekend event, some feared that Guild Wars 2 might be missing the boat as well, when fans took to the forums with, admittedly, some legitimate concerns. In his article, Leif brings up 5 good points that show why he believes GW2 and ArenaNet will succeed where SWTOR and Bioware failed:

1. Story Doesn’t Get in the Way of Gameplay
2. Guild Wars 2 Understands MMORPGs Should Be About Player Interaction
3. Guild Wars 2′s World Feels Much More Alive
4. Guild Wars 2 Doesn’t Have a Traditional Endgame
5. So Far, ArenaNet is Better at Addressing Player Concerns Than BioWare

So if you’re hesitant about certain aspects of Guild Wars 2, be sure to check out the full article at GameSpy.

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Telegraphing 101: A Lesson in Boss Design with Prof. Diablo

Posted 18/06/12 by

oo scarryyy

Warning: This article details the Act 1 boss encounter of Diablo 3. If you haven’t played the game yet and you’re spoilerphobic, you may not wish to read this.

So now that the second GW2 beta weekend is behind us and we’ve had a chance to process everything and settle down, most people have gone back to killing time in other, less exciting, games until the third beta starts. And since the majority of gamers are more or less done with Guild Wars 1 and/or World of Wacraft, that leaves us with the newest Blizzard behemoth to spend some time with: Diablo 3. After finishing off a few acts in Hell difficulty during my last play session, something stuck out in my mind with regards to how boss fights are played out. Diablo 3′s implementation of boss mechanics (and how it conveys the abilities which might one-shot you) are done exceptionally well, while on the other hand.. GW2 has somewhat dropped the ball so far. Or if you’re on the receiving end of a champion’s attention, it would be more accurate to say they’ve dropped the health globe. ..Instantly.

But wait, don’t roll your eyes, cry scrub, and scroll past just yet. Hear me out.

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Guild Wars 2 Is Appealing To Even Non-MMOers

Posted 29/05/12 by

Austin Regimbal from GAMEBREAKER TV is not really into MMOs.  Could Guild Wars 2 have persuaded a  turn around?  Check out the full article and read what aspects of Guild Wars 2 has Austin talking about possible MMO conversion.

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RPGReporter.com Most Anticipated MMORPG 2012 – Vote Now

Posted 05/02/12 by

RPGReporter.com has just wrapped up it’s poll for most anticipated RPG which was won convincingly by Diablo 3. Today the site has launched its “Most Antcipated MMORPG 2012 poll” and Guild Wars 2 is of course on the list. You can now cast your votes.

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Guild Wars 2 Nominated for Golden Joystick

Posted 05/08/11 by

The UK’s annual Golden Joystick Award nominations are now underway and gamers can now vote for their favourite games from the last year. Even though Guild Wars 2 is not yet out, it has been nominated in the ‘One to Watch’ category. The voting is open to the public so show your support for the game and ArenaNet by casting your vote.

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Fairness in MMOs

Posted 06/07/11 by

While not directly Guild Wars 2 related, this article is worth checking out on Gamasutra, The F-Words of MMORPGs: Fairness. In the article numerous MMO developers discuss the concept of ‘fairness’  which includes topics such as the economy of a game,  item functionality and how these can help keep a player convinced that the game is fair. Here’s a snip:

In order to better understand the dynamics of MMORPG economies, consider the far simpler example of single-player games. In a single-player game, everything about the game is within the domain of the developer’s control. The developer makes all the rules: whether or not monsters respawn, whether or not they drop coin, how much inventory space you have, what things drop and when and where. All of these details are determined by the developer. Indeed, all of these details are carefully crafted to produce a planned game experience.

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