Archive for the Guild Wars 2 Beta Category

Another Stress Test!

Posted 10/08/12 by

There will be another Stress Test tomorrow, Friday August 10, 2012 as detailed on the Guild Wars 2 Facebook page.

Thank you for all your help in today’s Stress Test!

We will be conducting a Stress Test on Friday, August 10 from 4:00 PM PACIFIC Time to 8:00 PM PACIFIC Time.

REMEMBER: We will be actively working on the game during the event, so you might experience connectivity problems or discover features that are not working as designed. Any issues you experience are a result of the rigorous conditions of the stress test, and are in no way representative of the state of the game at launch. By participating in this stress test, you’re helping us make Guild Wars 2 a better game. Thanks for your cooperation—we’ll see you in-game!

Additional notes:

* Stress Tests are open to those who have PRE-PURCHASED the game.

* Characters will not be wiped for tomorrow’s Stress Test.

-Rubi Bayer

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Guild Wars 2 Stress Test Today

Posted 09/08/12 by

In case you have not spotted this, as I know many of you don’t use Facebook, there is another stress test today. Ready your game clients!

We will be conducting a stress test on Thursday, August 9 from 12:00 Noon PACIFIC Time to 4:00 PM PACIFIC Time.

The stress test is open to anyone who has pre-purchased Guild Wars 2.

We will be actively working on the game during the event, so you might experience connectivity problems or discover features that are not working as designed. Any issues you experience are a result of the rigorous conditions of the stress test, and are in no way representative of the state of the game at launch. By participating in this stress test, you’re helping us make Guild Wars 2 a better game. Thanks for your cooperation—we’ll see you in-game! ~RB2

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Stress Test

Posted 01/08/12 by

Concept Art

ArenaNet have announced that there will be a stress test from Noon – 4pm PST on Thursday August 2nd. See their post on Facebook for all the details.

We will be conducting a stress test on Thursday, August 2 from 12:00 Noon PACIFIC Time to 4:00 PM PACIFIC Time.

Unlike previous stress tests, we will be actively working on the game during the event, so you might experience connectivity problems or discover features that are not working as designed. Any issues you experience are a result of the rigorous conditions of the stress test, and are in no way representative of the state of the game at launch. By participating in this stress test, you’re helping us make Guild Wars 2 a better game. Thanks for your cooperation—we’ll see you in-game!

-Rubi

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Server Changes in BWE3!

Posted 18/07/12 by

Anet

In a new ArenaNet blog post, Mike Ferguson talks about servers and WvW.

In previous BWEs, WvW has had some difficulty with various different bugs in the system. Rest assured these have been fixed for this latest BWE.

In addition to the bug fixes, we’ve also updated our WvW matchmaking formula to use additional factors, like score differential to make even more accurate adjustments in future ranking calculations. Our tests indicate that the system is working much better now, and we’re really looking forward to seeing it in action during the event.

He also revealed that initially at launch, WvW matches will restart every 24 hours to allow for populations to settle and the matchmaking system to accurate set matches.

The final way they are planning to make sure WvW matches are fun and fair is by reducing the number of servers. Mike explains:

As our esteemed Lead Server Programmer Dr. Stephen Clarke-Willson put it recently, “Quite frankly, we made too many worlds for BWE2 just because we could and not because we should, and thus we had a lot of low population worlds. This time around we’re focusing our new CPU horsepower into fewer, more populated worlds.”

With new technology in place, and more zones for players to spread out among, ArenaNet is confident that all servers will be able to hold even more players, allowing for more dynamic populations and more fun game play for everyone.

Don’t worry, we’ll be closely monitoring our world populations this weekend and can quickly launch new worlds as needed should problems arise with our new population limits. Our server tech is now able to raise or lower population caps with some very simple changes that don’t require us to take the game down. This lets us adjust world populations based on how the servers react and you won’t even have to leave the game!

For a full list of the available servers, and for more information about WvW, be sure to check out the blog post.

anet

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What’s New in BWE3?

Posted 16/07/12 by

Anet

Today ArenaNet posted a new blog detailing all the changes players can expect in the final beta weekend event (BWE). Make sure to read the whole article for all the details, but here are the main highlights:

-Sylvari and Asura races, cities, personal stories and starting zones will be playable
-A new level 17-20 map will be available called Brisban Wildlands
-The first Mini-game will be playable – Keg Brawl in Hoelbrak!
-A brand new feature called Vista’s will be active. Climb to new heights and see the sights!
-Brand new nostalgic PvP map – Legacy of the Foefire, be on the look out for Guild Lords!
-Solo-player objectives being added to WvW

All previous Beta progression and characters will be wiped for this final beta, so take advantage and try out some new races and professions. Also, the Gem store is open for business. Players who purchase gems in BWE will get them at launch (just make sure you take note of how many you bought, in case of any hiccups).

Can’t participate this weekend? ArenaNet will be streaming live from their TwitchTV channel all weekend long. The devs will be showing you combat strategies in PvP and giving helpful tips. Twitch even has an App, so you can take the action with you!

Be sure to read the blog for all the details, and let us know, what are you most excited about in BWE3?

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Win a Guild Wars 2 BWE3 Beta Key

Posted 13/07/12 by

If you are looking for a Beta key for  Guild Wars 2 BWE3 then you could be in luck. We have keys to give away and we’re m,aking it very simple to be in with a chance to win one. All you need to do is fire a comment into this forum thread and winners will then be randomly selected and sent their keys via PM. It’s that simple!

You have until 23:59 Saturday 14 July. Good luck everyone!

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Sylvari and Asura Will Be Playable Next BWE

Posted 09/07/12 by

ANet

The wait is over!

In yet another sign that the launch of Guild Wars 2 will soon be upon us, ArenaNet has revealed that the Asura and Sylvari will be playable during the next Beta Weekend Event (BWE). These two races are arguably the most unique races to the Guild Wars 2 universe, and have, as of yet, been unplayable. But, starting July 20th at Noon PDT, all fans of Guild Wars 2 who have Pre-purchased the game will have access to both races and starting zones.

Anet Grove

For asura players, this means beginning your tale in Metrica Province, a vivid, exotic jungle area full of high-tech laboratories, quirky golems, and competing krewes of mad scientists. Nearby, the massive monoliths of the asuran capital Rata Sum hum with technomagical power. These diminutive geniuses may seem cute at first glance, but never underestimate an asura…

Sylvari players begin their story in the Grove, a luminous living city nestled in the shade of the Pale Tree, the “mother” of every member of this young race of plant humanoids. The sylvari are an enigmatic race of chivalrous explorers who are driven by an insatiable curiosity and guided by a collective Dream.

As of this morning, there is no word yet if progress made during previous BWEs will be wiped. Stay Tuned for more updates.

Be sure to check out ArenaNet’s Blog for more information and to read the entire announcement.

Are you excited to play the Asura and Sylvari? Be sure to leave a comment or check out our forums to discuss which race is your favorite!

Anet Rata

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RPGamer Interviews Chris Whiteside and Eric Flannum

Posted 22/06/12 by

ArenaNet

In a new interview by RPGamer’s Becky Cunningham, ArenaNet’s Chris Whiteside and Eric Flannum talked about the feedback ArenaNet has been getting from the beta weekend events, and changes fans can expect to see in the future beta event(s) and at launch. The interview covers a large range of topics from combat, mini-games, to dyes.

Be sure to read the entire article for all the details. However, the biggest takeaway seems to be upcoming changes to both Melee combat and Telegraphing as detailed by Chris Whiteside.

Much of the feedback we are looking into now surrounds balancing, accessibility, tutorials, and a number of “nice to have” requests from the community.

Aside from the areas listed above, we are doing some work on melee vs. ranged balancing (across the game) as well as finishing off a handful of core systems and features, based on the feedback we received from the previous event. We also have a few new things to show off!

When asked about the difficulty of the Ascalonian Catacombs:

We felt that the difficulty shouldn’t be lowered, however, as we don’t believe this to be the issue.

Instead, we isolated two key areas that we will be working on to ensure that all players have more of an equal footing based on the diversity of their previous game experiences. First, we are going to do some work on melee combat to give players more time to react to enemy attacks and behaviors. Second, we will be putting in systems that telegraph changes in the game states and behaviors of enemies and bosses dependent on how the group is interacting with them. A good example of this is the lack of perceivable telegraphs when the Spider Queen spawns her spiders.

They also comment that the feedback between the two beta events has shift from what they call “macro” changes, to “micro” changes. They also thank fans for their continued feedback and support.

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Stress Test!

Posted 21/06/12 by

ArenaNet

ArenaNet has announced the next Beta Stress test!

All players who have pre-purchased Guild Wars 2 are invited to participate in our upcoming stress test. This four-hour test event will run on Wednesday, June 27th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PDT (GMT-7).

Characters from previous betas will not be wiped for this event, which is set to be the shortest beta to date.

The entire article can be seen on ArenaNet’s blog.

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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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Queensdale – Cry Havoc and Let Loose the Centaurs of War

Posted 18/06/12 by

Guild Wars 2 has  done away with traditional questing in favor of dynamic events. Even though the personal story lets players still experience a more familiar quest structure, when exploring the world outside of these tailored instances they will be hard pressed to find to now so well known exclamation marks. In stead hearing of a village being under attack  in a long winded text or dialog from ‘NPC village Joe’ you will actually experience the attack yourself and if you don’t hurry and get involved ‘village Joe’ might end up dead and you singing his long winded eulogy instead. Warhammer started it, Rift continued it – how is Guild Wars 2 faring with their radical implementation of dynamic events? Read some of my impressions from the beta weekends below.

The Cynical Part First

Dynamic events were supposed to make the world feel more alive in contrast to the static mobs standing around in other MMO’s but do they really? As much fun as I had in the BWE (both of them) I couldn’t shake the feeling I was playing themepark 2.0 with an invisible puppet master dev pushing the button every 20 minutes, releasing the centaurs to entertain gamers. The events didn’t flow from world occurrences but rather from underlying mechanics alien to the world itself. (Unless of course the centaurs set their invasions by the clock: “its been half an hour guys , lets stretch our legs and swing our swords – again”)

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So You Think You Want to be a Crafter?

Posted 12/06/12 by

This past weekend, thousands of players entered Tyria to experience glorious combat, grand adventures and maybe just a little crafting. Or in my case, a lot of crafting. It seems I was not alone. After the dust settled on the weekend, maybe players took to the Guild Wars 2 Beta Forums to discuss crafting, and a few expressed concern over the XP gains of crafting, some calling it the dreaded “Pay-to-Win”. In response, Linsey Murdock of ArenaNet replied to forums with this:

The way leveling XP gain works in crafting is this: For leveling a discipline from 0-400, you will gain 10 levels along the way. By maxing out all 8 disciplines, you will gain 80 levels. That means you could dedicate a character to crafting, feed it all the mats you get on other characters and level it all the way to 80 without ever needing to kill a thing. As hardcore crafters, we think that is pretty cool.

Linsey Murdock

While some fear this is a bad thing, many others point out that the amount of money, in-game and, if one chose to use gems, real world, would be substantial to accomplish this goal. Many also point out that this is not a game based on levels and gear, as much as it is experience. Crafting simply adds another dimension to the game, just as the trading post, jumping puzzles, dungeons and quaggan do.

So, breakout your pickaxes and find those nodes, because if you love crafting, this is the game for you. And if you’re not into crafting? Well, this game is for you too; just ignore those silver mines and keep on conquering.

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