Guild Wars 2 Articles

[Morreion]

A great tribute indeed!

[Morreion]

WvW Rewards (Keen & Graev)

So bottom line, the integrity of WvW can easily be destroyed if manipulated poorly to rewards players (See: Warhammer Online), but players will ultimately need motivation. I hope ArenaNet takes their time and does it right. If I was at the helm, I would go with cosmetic rewards and a dungeon 2-3 months after launch.

Video: The Pillars of Guild Wars 2 Gameplay (ArenaNet)

Earlier in the development of Guild Wars 2 we released our MMO Manifesto video, a high-level look at the philosophy behind the design of the game. As we approach the launch date, now is the perfect time to talk about the outcome of that design philosophy with a look at the core ideas that the game is built on: personal story, dynamic events, combat, and PvP.

Guild Wars 2 Final Beta Weekend: General Thoughts (PC World)

The game also gives you mystic chests with regularity. These chests contain impressive upgrades and often have some fun appearance altering items as well but can only be opened by mystic keys. The easiest way to get mystic keys (of course) is to buy them from the gem store.

...Mostly I’m suspicious of micro-transaction economies in MMOs on principle and the fact that Guild Wars 2 has one, even one that seems well thought out and relatively harmless, makes me uneasy.

Tales of BWE3 (Kill Ten Rats)

My favorite part of the weekend was when I was taking on the challenging jumping puzzle starting on the east southeast side of Metric Province. There is a hidden cave amidst a bunch of jaguars with a small jumping puzzle leading up to a warpgate. That is only the beginning.

Tired of Trinity Whining. Or: As if! (Raging Monkeys)

Now, this post is no attempt to discourage any well-founded critique in favor of the holy trinity (ya rly); in fact, there are a few very interesting questions one could ask about GW2 in this context. For example how different group mechanics will truly be in a well-organized party, during a difficult run that requires a lot of communication. Once players assign roles/tasks in order to succeed and hence end up specializing, would we have to admit to a "soft trinity" in GW2? And where are the differences then to let's say WoW or Rift? I can see a few but it's definitely a valid overall question. So would be the question about how well control mechanics are realized in the game and if they make for enough encounter variety, in lieu of things like classic threat and mitigation mechanics.

What to expect in Guild Wars 2 (GWOnline.net)

Tank becomes control and shutdown. Gone is the day of having 20 foes beating on you as you laugh at them. Good riddance, I say. Instead of absorbing damage, you want to make your foes waste their damage. This you do mainly by getting their attention, and when they shoot projectiles at you or put AoEs under you, you get out of the way. Or if they go towards you to attack with melee attacks, you snare them or blind them or just move out of the way. You can also use protective skills, but while useful, you cannot exclusively rely on them. Likewise, you can use shutdown skills that make enemies less able to deal damage. Mesmers and necros can also produce distractions.

This is an excellent article- worth reading the whole thing.

I've updated the GW2 Links thread with lots of new stuff, including a series of very useful guides from GW2Hub:

Attributes Guide
Boons Guide
Intro to Builds
Conditions Guide
Guide to Earning Exp
Intro to Karma & Renown

[Morreion]

Jeff Grubb and Ree Soesbee on Creating the Emotional Connection in MMOs (ArenaNet)

Jeff: Identification with your avatar is a key to emotional investment. To create that bond, a player has to evolve from “this is my character” to “this is me.” Some of that is done graphically, with customized appearance and equipment. But a big part of it is to create options that allow the player to engage and identify with his creation. While we work from the basic assumption of “I am a hero,” we provide enough variance to allow a variety of playing styles. In addition, those choices will have effects, ranging from how the story progresses to unique items within your home instance and even to conversations and scenes that reinforce your choices.

Guild Wars 2: The Ultima Online of 2012 (AltTabMe)

Guild Wars 2 has the ability to be that love for some of us, it has found the fundamental piece of the puzzle that Ultima Online had: The greater purpose. Making those around you special and exciting to see. (It may not be the spectacle of your first MMO, but like your virginity, new things can always spice it up.) When you run into another player, through their dynamic event system you are no longer upset or angry with them for kill stealing or ruining your event. You are excited because you know if they participate as well they are helping you to reach your goal faster. This was very much like Ultima Online, other than those who decided to be PKs (Player killers) when a monster spawned everyone in the area got a shot at kicking its ass. And even when the PKs showed up it was the Blues(notable people) vs the PKs, so unity again. I know I keep referring to this as UO, but it isn’t UO and I want to make that clear. It is a game going in a new direction, one that emphasizes group play and reward for it. It is a modernization of an old “ideal” rather than a rehash of an old “idea”. To me that is what makes it as exciting as UO was to me 15 years ago.

GW2 Character Naming Resources (GW2Guru forums)

Immersion... Are We There Yet? (GW2Guru)

Arena net has pushed the traditional level 1 - Cap Level content scale to the left a bit. At least initially. Players are treated to a large boss fight early in the game, but not without the help of one of Tyria’s current generation of great heroes. Once players move on into the world without the aid of heroes, content is scaled back to a level appropriate to their current place in the world. This gives players an initial sweet surge of what it feels like to take part in deeds worthy of a hero, but in the context that they still have a ways to go before they can be the hero leading the charge. It remains to be seen whether character and content progression will parallel each other well throughout the game, but I am optimistic based on released media like the Ascalonian Catacombs cutscenes.

Guild Wars 2 Lead Producer Chris Whiteside Believes Subscription MMO Model Offers Huge Barrier To Entry (Forbes)

We worked from the understanding that the business model is going to open the doors to a lot more players, and you’ll have potentially a more diverse audience with arguably more casual than the hardcore niche. Then you have to think about the core mechanics and the core design of the product, and how you really bring the player into the game. These mechanics lead to more in-depth mechanics that are more typical of an MMO because we don’t want to alienate people that love the core complex mechanics of MMOs. I’m certainly one of those players. I think that that’s fantastic. As an industry, we could all do a better job of teaching the player how to get to the point where these more complex systems are in the game. And then have more enjoyment by understanding what they are, rather than feeling like an outsider. Having a more diverse community and listening to that feedback gives us metrics, and the information required, to really understand how to build a big, great accessible game.

Flameseeker Chronicles: A brief history of Guild Wars 2's Tyria (Massively)

Way back in the dusty memory of time, there were giants in Tyria. Real, true, massive giants -- not the kind you see stomping around the Diessa Plateau nowadays. They died off or vanished about 11,000 (give or take a couple hundred) years before the present day of Guild Wars 2. A little more than eight thousand years after that, the True Gods (as recognized by the humans) brought in a race of serpent creatures to guard the world while they tinkered with it. The gods, like the serpent people, lived in the world at this time, but that doesn't mean that the gods originated in Tyria.

Flameseeker Chronicles Extra: A brief history of Guild Wars 2's Tyria, part two (Massively)

Players find the sapling that will one day grow into the Pale Tree, the mother of the Sylvari. This tree is nestled deep in the jungle and protected by a very wise, very old centaur by the name of Ventari. Ventari carves a tablet of tenets that describe his ethics and morals, and he leaves the tablet with the tree when he dies. When the Firstborn of the Sylvari eventually awaken years later, they will embrace this as their most sacred artifact and (with the exception of the Nightmare Court) attempt to understand and follow its teachings.

Guild Wars 2: Not a revolution, but a renovation (Examiner)

There is a level of character customization in Guild Wars 2 that is arguably unprecedented. The staggering number of permutations that players are allowed in both appearance and personal back story really help each character look and feel unique, rather than pick and choose off of preset templates. It's certainly nothing new (Star Wars: The Old Republic gave players a back story, for example) but the degree in which Guild Wars 2 takes it is definitely beyond the norm.

Experiencing Guild Wars 2 in 3D (GW2Guru)

All told I’ve spent about 30 hours playing with 3D Vision enabled across the last few beta weekend events and stress tests. If you thought stepping into The Grove as a new sylvari for the first time in BWE3 was impressive, it was absolutely jaw-dropping in 3D. In particular, the area between the middle and bottommost levels with all of the floating particle effects is simply stunning.

[Regolyth]

Aug 16, 2012 11:02:22 GMT -5 Morreion said:

Guild Wars 2 has the ability to be that love for some of us, it has found the fundamental piece of the puzzle that Ultima Online had: The greater purpose.

That is a very, very bold statement. I really don't see it, yet...

[Morreion]

That was a big claim, wasn't it? If it's even partially true, I'll be very happy. If not, I won't be surprised.

[Morreion]

Guild Wars 2 makes its first soundtrack single available on iTunes (Massively)

Fans of Jeremy Soule's work on Guild Wars 2 can now head to iTunes to purchase Fear Not This Night, an anthem of the Sylvari people as sung by the mystical Pale Tree.

Guild Wars 2 starts up the final countdown to launch [Updated] (Massively)

Pre-purchasers with access to the headstart will be able to start playing on August 25th at 3:00 a.m. EDT, with the caveat that servers may be brought up three hours early to check stability one last time. Those who pre-ordered the game but didn't fully purchase a copy will have access to a one-day headstart beginning on August 27th at 3:00 a.m. EDT. If you're in either camp and want to get patched up ahead of time, you can download the client now and ensure that your computer is ready to catch every moment of the last two weeks before launch.

Guild Wars 2 clarifies guesting, world transfers, and regions (Massively)

Home worlds are automatically displayed by region, but players can opt to join the servers of another region. Once a home world has been chosen, all characters on an account belong to that server, and a gem transaction has to be made to switch to a new home world. That won't be implemented at launch, however, in order to facilitate the spread of a stable and healthy population across all servers. At launch, transfers between worlds will be free. After the populations have settled, world transfers will be restricted to a once per week and cost gems. At the same time, the guesting feature that allows players to visit their friends' worlds will be implemented.

GW2′s potentially harmful eSport aspirations (Keen & Graev)

If sPvP becomes more popular than WvW, which could EASILY happen, what will happen to WvW? Balancing for a 5v5 game -will- impact balance for the 100 vs. 100 vs. 100 gameplay in World vs. World. The same goes for WvW impacting sPvP balance; I don’t want to be one-sided here. But if sPvP has the interest of millions, and WvW interests thousands, which do you think will influence design?

I’d Rather Be Playing Guild Wars 2 - 25 Reasons Why You'll Love It, Too (Ten Ton Hammer)

No more kill stealing, loot whoring, and random rolling. If you fight it, you’re getting experience for it--it’s as simple as that. And if you kill it, and it has stuff in its pockets, you’re getting loot. It doesn’t matter whether you adventure solo or in a group, it works the same way--kill stuff, get experience, get loot, end story. Your experience gain will never suffer because you’re hanging out with other players. Nor will your loot stash suffer because you’re rolling solo.

Guild Wars 2: Our Questions and Concerns (IGN)

Now that it's so close, we see some potential cracks.

2. Can the Endgame Keep Players Happy for More Than a Couple of Months?

It's long been known that Guild Wars 2 isn't designed as a raider's game, but I worry that it'll suffer something of the same backlash as Star Wars: The Old Republic after a good chunk of its players reached the level cap in a matter of days, cleared all the content, and then started complaining that there wasn't enough content to keep them interested. We already have a good idea of what Guild Wars 2's end game is supposed to be: you can either PvP, run challenging "exploration" mode dungeons, or go back and experience questing content you missed (and because of the level scaling, it won't be stupidly easy, either). In some ways, this is where Guild Wars 2's buy-to-play model shines the brightest -- since there's no subscription, you won't feel like you're wasting your money if you don't play for a few days. Yet that still won't be enough to counter inevitable claims of boredom once a large number of players reach the level cap, and Guild Wars 2's future thus hinges on how well ArenaNet handles these complaints a month or two after launch.

[Morreion]

GW2 Head Start Tonight!

John Smith on the Guild Wars 2 Virtual Economy (GW2 Official Site)

Check out the link for a cool infographic!

Choosing the Best Profession for your Playstyle (GW2 Hub)

Adventurer Professions

Professions: Ranger, Engineer, and Thief
Armor: Medium

If being a heavy hitting heavy armor wearing close combat specialist isn’t your thing or casting magical spells with the flick of a wrist, then the adventurer is probably for you. These professions are designed around the use of weapons and general “midline combat.” These are the unique and fun professions that don’t lock themselves into either “melee specialist” or “magic specialist” and instead focus on their unique profession mechanic. Adventurers fall in line with rogues and hunters from other MMOs.

If you want to wear medium armor and focus on things like bows and firearms, then the adventurer is right for you. They focus on both close combat and ranged combat and use a variety of weapons, with a heavy focus on ranged weaponry and are in general, more “modern” or “steampunk.”

Finding Fault (GW2 Hub)

Ranger Pet Woes

In over 12 months I’ve seen only incremental improvements to the pet AI. It has gotten better in recent weeks but is still far, far below where it should be. If a profession is entirely reliant on AI to function it has to be absolutely perfect (or not far from) and yet despite ArenaNet’s polish in so many other areas and as a relatively old profession in terms of development it’s disappointing to be one day away from launch and it still have issues.

Guild Wars 2 posts online manual, talks economy and art (Massively)

Keeping up with the information reveals, ArenaNet has released the online manual for Guild Wars 2 that covers everything from "getting started" to "competitive play."

Welcome to the Guild Wars 2 Online Manual (GW2 Official Site)

This guide will provide you with the basic information you’ll need to begin your adventure in Tyria, the massive online world of Guild Wars 2. Here you’ll find enough basic information to cover the first hour of gameplay.

The Daily Grind: How will you spend this GW2 pre-purchase headstart weekend? (Massively)

velvetsword

I'm throwing my cellphone in a box and stuffing it in the closet, garaging the car, locking the front door, filling the auto feeder with cat food, and turning off all messaging programs.

Don't try to contact me until September.

[Morreion]

GW2 has released!

Massively's launch guide to Guild Wars 2

Oh, 2007: Those heady days when Guild Wars 2 was set to feature a beta in... 2008! It took a few more years than initially expected, but the wait was worth it because now, it's ready -- Guild Wars 2 officially launches tonight at midnight PDT!

But how ready are you? Jump past the break (jumping joke!), where we've organized Massively's many years of GW2 coverage to help catch you up on the game, its systems and features, its races and classes, and its lore.

One Shots: Tyrian field trip (Massively)

Guild Wars 2's headstart kicked off this weekend, and the official launch is this week, so you know what that means! Yep, One Shots is going to feature the most visually appealing game of all time: Ultima Online! Just kidding. It's Guild Wars 2 day, and we've got an extra-long eyecandy edition of One Shots to celebrate.

The Daily Grind: Was Guild Wars 2 worth the wait? (Massively)

5 years of following GW2 and yes, it was worth the wait. I've been playing a minimum of 12 hrs a day since the 25th and i will continue to do so until i have to go back to work on sept. 4th.

Guild Wars 2 hits 400k concurrent users before launch (Massively)

If you were enjoying Guild Wars 2 during the headstart weekend, you weren't alone. In fact, chances are 400,000 others were doing the same thing at the same time. Although Guild Wars 2 only officially launched in the wee hours of this morning, the game has already hosted 400,000 users online concurrently. At the same time. Yes.

ArenaNet and NCsoft have also announced that over one million copies of the game were pre-sold, not counting the one-day pre-orders. Of course, that number will rise as folks purchase the game now that it has launched.

Guild Wars 2 accounts already prey to phishing, hack attempts (Massively)

With a game as large as Guild Wars 2, it's inevitable that the unscrupulous would try to compromise accounts. Perhaps the only unexpected part was how quickly the hacking attempts started -- even before launch players were receiving notifications of these attempts. And the problem appears to be escalating as more players are affected.

ArenaNet offers clarification on Guild Wars 2 bans (Massively)

With so many players descending on Guild Wars 2, it is understandable that ArenaNet has taken a few swings with the banhammer over things like offensive names and inappropriate behavior. In order to clarify what names and behavior are specifically targeted for action, ArenaNet has posted an explanation of what's unacceptable. The post also includes the consequences for breaking the rules.

How to Love Guild Wars 2 (Even If You Don't) (Ten Ton Hammer)

...And despite what some say, I think Guild Wars 2 actually does a decent job of pointing you in the exploration direction. That same NPC who shows you the renown hearts (those NPCs who need your assistance) will also point out other things on your map including:

Points of interest
Vistas
Waypoints
Skill challenges

On that map, you’ll also find harvesting nodes and crafting hubs. Letting your map be your guide, go out and find these things, young adventurer! And, lest you wander into dangerous territory before you’re ready, kill stuff along the way. It’s all part of the fun.

Guild Wars 2 First Impressions From a Real Newbie (Game By Night)

The game is large. Everything about it is big… well, except for bag space which is pretty gimped, honestly, but the world itself is vast and that’s a fact that gets impressed upon you quickly. The zone you’re thrown into following the tutorial (which is awesome, by the way) is huge and it’s filled with events. And to these newcomers eyes, they really do feel dynamic; not in the “that was totally unscripted!” da-hurr-da-hoo way, mind you, but the “I was wandering here and these things just sort of happened” way. Like RIFTs rift/invasion system except isolated to a WAR like public-quest. It’s pretty cool and keeps things fresh.

Postcards from GW2′s head start (Bio Break)

Syp, Asura Engineer. She’s a bit of a pyro.

Adventure Log: First Day in Guild Wars 2 (Keen & Graev)

My name is Glumshanks, and I am an Asura Ranger. I don’t know what kind of Ranger, yet, but I know I like pets so I’ll probably start by boosting Beastmastery. I’m still figuring out which pet I want to use. I like bears because they tank, but I know from beta that the lynx can do a lot of damage. For now, I’m just using what I can find.

Leveling through the Asura area has been a real pleasure. Everything seems to flow so naturally. I didn’t try to go from one heart to the next. I just went around killing monsters and seeing if the area I’m in wanted an objective completed. I found events, followed them around, and allowed myself to be easily distracted. I don’t know if that’s the most efficient way to level, but I got to level 15 quickly and never once felt like I was grinding or having to work for it. GW2 lacks that ‘hub to hub’ sensation — I love it.

Day 2 of GW2: Crafting and Scaling (Keen & Graev)

When scaling down in GW2 you can also get loot your level. I was finding level 18 blues off of level 5 mobs. Sometimes lowbie items would drop too. Then there’s the skill points. I picked up another 8 skill points to use which will help me a ton when I go back to the Asura area.

Guild Wars 2 crafter reaches level 80 first [Updated] (Massively)

Although folks talk about how much there is to do and how many places there are to explore in Guild Wars 2, the first confirmed level 80 character goes to *drum roll* a crafter! That's right: Surfeuz, a member of the French guild War Legend, has hit the level cap by simply crafting with guild-donated materials...

[Update: ArenaNet's Mike O'Brien spoke on Reddit to say that this person's level 80 achievement was done by "unusual ways to level very fast" and that the team is "fixing these issues as [he] type."]

Max Level Before Launch (Keen & Graev)

Guild Wars 2 officially launches today, yet many players are already max level. The first player to reach level 80 did so by crafting the last 20 levels with all of his guild’s materials. Some players in GW2 used cash shop exp boosts and stacked them with the fresh kill exp boosts on zones that were untouched, and then likely added on to that another exp boost. Fat stacking these exp boosts probably gave an inordinate bonus to their leveling ability, but the fact still remains that this was a legitimate form of leveling in every case, and players have reached the end before the game even launched.

What does that say about the game? What does that say about the player

A critical look at Guild Wars 2 (Massively)

In the hopes of lowering the deluge of angry emails I'm about to get, let me preface everything by saying this: Guild Wars 2 is a good game -- a great game, even. In fact, I love it. But every time I've had the audacity to mention anything even remotely critical about the title in in-game chat (my first mistake), I've been immediately pounced upon by rabid fans who seem to think that anyone who feels that the game could be better in some regard is a heretic who should just quit the game. So I'm going to do what any rational gamer with a death wish would: take a critical look at Guild Wars 2...

I know; no one likes being dragged by the hand down a completely preset path, and that's the issue dynamic events are meant to alleviate. On the flipside, though, it's not very much fun to run around aimlessly because you've done all of the "immediately available" content and still aren't able to move on to the next. Some people will say that part of the fun is in the exploration, and for many people, that may be the case, but I don't think I'm the only one who laments not having anything to "fall back on" if I end up coming up short in the experience department. And really, this is easily fixed: Either boost renown heart XP slightly or allow players to continue completing a Renown Heart's objectives even after they've maxed it out. Sure, they won't get the big XP bonus that comes with completing a Renown Heart, but maybe throw in a bit of extra karma for completing extra objectives. That would be more compelling than running around scrounging for something to do.

Guild Wars 2 launch events coming September 1st (Massively)

ArenaNet has just posted a list of launch events across the US for Guild Wars 2. The events will take place on Saturday, September 1st, in Seattle, Austin, Orlando, New York, and Los Angeles. Devs will be on hand to sign Guild Wars paraphernalia, stage quiz contests, hold raffles, and give away T-shirts, posters, Guild Wars 2 collector's editions, and exclusive in-game items to the first takers.

Player memorial scheduled for Guild Wars 2's Sanctum of Rall server on September 5th (Massively)

The event is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. EDT and will be held on the Sanctum of Rall server at the Shaemoor Garrison in Queensdale. The Gaiscioch Family also says that anyone is welcome to attend via RaidCall. Further details are available at the guild's official website.

Guild Wars 2 Review (Ten Ton Hammer)

The MMO gaming community has seen some disappointing MMOG launches in the past. Many games have taken the tried and true route, following in the footsteps of their predecessors, only to find that familiarity really does breed contempt. Others have tried to stretch their wings and embrace innovation in an attempt to spark a revolution, only to find that revolution seems to breed smaller, niche communities rather than genre-bending success stories.

When ArenaNet first released its MMO Manifesto we knew they were aiming for something revolutionary with Guild Wars 2. What we got is the first worthy successor to World of Warcraft.

Overall Rating: 94/100 Outstanding

[Morreion]

Guild Wars 2 fan site compromised, 11,000 game accounts affected (Massively)

Ars Technica is reporting that 11,000 Guild Wars 2 accounts have been compromised after an attack on an unknown fan site.

Guild Wars 2 dominates European sales (Massively)

Guild Wars 2 is on a goodwill tour through Europe, and it appears that the crowds love ArenaNet's latest release. The fantasy title has topped the charts in not one, not two, but 10 countries in the region.

Guild Wars 2 boots up support and help forums (Massively)

Those seeking help from the Guild Wars 2 pantheon of gods (and developers) now have an official source of help and information. ArenaNet brought online a portion of its forums for the game to deliver news and support from a centralized location.

Guild Wars 2 brings trading post online, handles hacked accounts (Massively)

It's a good day for Tyria's Wall Street and its many denizens, as ArenaNet has brought Guild Wars 2's trading post fully online. The trading post, which works as an advanced version of an auction house for the game's players, has only been sporadically available since launch.

ArenaNet's Regina Buenaobra on Guild Wars 2, Reddit, and community (Massively)

Demand for Guild Wars 2 has been well beyond our expectations, and in order to maintain a playable and enjoyable game experience for all of our fans we made the decision to temporarily halt first-party sales while we scale up our capacity and customer support to meet this demand. From the very beginning, we have intended Guild Wars 2 to be a successful game in the long run. Slamming our servers with new players in the name of sales, adversely affecting the entirety of our playerbase, does not fit into that plan. Guild Wars 2 needs to always be an enjoyable, accessible game, and we will do everything within our means to do so.

Blogger details adventures in Guild Wars 2 customer service (Massively)

Case in point is blogger Saylah over at Mystic Worlds. Her latest post outlines how she's following ArenaNet's suggested customer service escalation path to the letter but is still unable to play a game she purchased some time ago.

Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's launch week in review (Massively)

It's been quite the week in the world of Guild Wars 2. Launch, issues, near-daily server updates, fixes, and launch parties have likely kept the entire team high on adrenaline and low on sleep. If you're one of the folks in attendance at one of ArenaNet's launch parties, you likely saw a lot of very tired but very happy people. If you're not hounding the Guild Wars 2 Twitter account or subreddit, it's easy to miss a lot of communication, and even if you do, it's a lot to sort through. So what's been going on? A great deal.

Some Assembly Required: Guild Wars 2 goes back to the future (Massively)

Looking at some of GW2's mechanics, though, it's clear that someone on ANet's design team wanted to break the mold and make a real, honest-to-goodness MMORPG. They couldn't go all the way, of course. Market forces wouldn't allow it, but the game is nonetheless an enjoyable next-best-thing. This enjoyment stems largely from the fact that Guild Wars 2 is a baby step back toward what MMORPGs used to be.

Guild Wars 2 Servers: High, Medium or Low? (GW2Hub)

Server numbers have always been an issue in MMOGs. The dreaded tightrope that developers walk to ensure no one is left abandoned on a low population server or can’t gain access to those marked “Full” to be with their friends, is a difficult one. What has been interesting to watch during the launch of Guild Wars 2 is how server numbers have varied and what impact this has had on the player experience, including my own.

Karma Weapons Exploit (Reddit)

Today we banned a number of players for exploiting Guild Wars 2. We take our community and the integrity of the game very seriously, and want to be clear that intentionally exploiting the game is unacceptable. The players we banned were certainly intentionally and repeatedly exploiting a bug in the game. We intended to send a very clear message that exploiting the game in this way will not be tolerated, and we believe this message now has been well understood.

We also believe and respect that people make mistakes. This is in fact the first example of a widespread exploit in the game. With this in mind, we are offering the members of our community who exploited the game a second chance to repair the damage that has been done.

Thus, just this once, we will offer to convert permanent bans to 72-hour suspensions. Should those involved want to accept this offer of reinstatement, contact us on our support website--support.guildwars2.com—and submit a ticket through the "Ask a Question" tab. Please use the subject heading of "Karma Weapons Exploit Appeal", then confirm in the body of your ticket that you will delete any items/currency that you gained from the exploit. You should submit only one ticket. Once you have done so, we will lower your ban to 72 hours, and following your re-activation we will check your account to make sure that you have honored your commitment. If that commitment is not honored, we will re-terminate the account.

This is a first and final warning. Moving forward, please make sure you that when you see an exploitable part of the game, you report it and do not attempt to benefit from it.

We look forward to seeing you in game,

Yours Sincerely,

Chris Whiteside- Lead Producer ArenaNet

The Consequences of Exploiting in GW2 (Keen & Graev)

A rather cataclysmic exploit in Guild Wars 2 was publicized today, and the results aren’t pretty. I was only moderately aware that the exploit was out there. Apparently the costly 20,000 cultural weapons were being sold for 1/1000 (three zeroes) of their price — that’s like saying you got your weapon for 20 points instead of 20,000. I received a few “hey Keen go buy your weapons like nao” emails, but that’s just not my thing.

Guild Wars 2 email authentication, status updates, sales halt [Updated] (Massively)

Guild Wars 2 players have gotten absolutely slammed with phishing attempts following the game's launch. ArenaNet has accordingly beefed up security for the game, starting with the new email authentication system that's being rolled out today. The system is lightweight and works without players needing an extra code to enter at the login screen, instead relying upon the security of your designated email account. And all players need to do to activate the system is verify their email addresses (which can be done right on the login screen).

Guild Wars 2 is heading to China (Massively)

While talk is often about Eastern games migrating to Western audiences, today its about a Western game moving East: ArenaNet has formed a partnership with KongZhong Corporation to take Guild Wars 2 to China. This marks one of the largest licensing transactions ever for a Western game in the Chinese market.

Guild Wars 2 account phishing, outstanding issues [Updated] (Massively)

With a game as large as Guild Wars 2, it's inevitable that the unscrupulous would try to compromise accounts. Perhaps the only unexpected part was how quickly the hacking attempts started -- even before launch players were receiving notifications of these attempts. And the problem appears to be escalating as more players are affected.

Adventure Log: Reflections on a week in GW2 (Keen & Graev)

So Many Options

I’ve bounced back and forth around the map to different zones lower than my level and some higher. I’ve half-completed a zone and decided I’d rather not be there and move on to the next, or go WvW and craft to finish a level bracket. I think that’s one of GW2′s strengths: So many options to level. Players are not forced into any one path.

The GW2 Effect at PAX Prime 2012 (GW2Guru)

With a second full day of developer appointments under my belt, I made my way to Pink Ultra Lounge at 6pm sharp when the doors opened for the Guild Wars 2 party. Reaching the top floor of Pacific Place, I was floored to see a line that wrapped around the top level twice, with a solid wall of people still filtering in behind me. According to some of the devs I spoke to, some fans were already lined up in front of the club as early as 9am to make sure they could be among the first to get in.

The 11 Things I Like Least About Guild Wars 2 (Techland)

I wish I could stay in overflow without pop-ups. Guild Wars 2’s overflow servers let everyone play immediately, no waiting in line. It’s a wonderful pressure-release valve that gets everyone in pronto, no waiting, and when you’ve cleared the queue, all you need do to load into the main server is click “yes” when prompted.

Except that prompt pops up, then pops up again, often with terrible timing, say you’re playing a dynamic world event or an instance. You’ll usually want to stick around to finish what you started, since overflow and primary server events aren’t synced. And suddenly there’s this dialogue box popping up every couple minutes, reminding you the queue is clear. It’s a big box. It takes up a lot of screen space. And the last thing you want, in the middle of a tough battle, is to have to keep telling it to go away.

Very true!

Guild Wars 2 Producer: We'd Turn Off Sales to Preserve the Game Experience (Techland)

What’s it been like the past three or four days?

Obviously the whole team is on a high and exhausted at the same time. We poured five years of our lives into getting ready for this launch, so it’s fantastic to see all the players filling up the world. When we can, we’re playing with them and having a lot of fun just doing that. We’re reading all about the experiences players are having, and as you might imagine, it’s a dream come true to be able to ship a game like this and see the fantastic player reaction. That’s thrilling.

At the same time, there’s also a scramble of, “Oh my god, there’s so many players and they’re playing so many hours a day,” and making sure that we’re able to handle that kind of demand.

[Morreion]

I'm sorry, I like GW2 a lot, but this trailer is one of the worst for a major MMO that I've even seen!

'Guild Wars 2' Is an Excellent Game. So Why Is The New Promo So Terrible? (Forbes)

Guild Wars 2 breaks the two million sales mark (Massively)

NCsoft has just announced that the recently launched Guild Wars 2 has sold over two million copies.

ArenaNet resumes digital sales of Guild Wars 2 (Massively)

A little over a week ago, ArenaNet brought a temporary halt to first-party digital sales of Guild Wars 2. At the time, the message was this: "Ensuring the best possible play experience for our fans is our highest priority. We've said before that we would be willing to temporarily disable first-party digital sales if we felt our high player concurrency may compromise player experiences. We have now reached that point."

Flameseeker Chronicles: Your Guild Wars 2 mileage will vary (Massively)

If you do find yourself behind where you'd like to be in relation to zone content, ask yourself this: Have you been waypointing around to skip as much travel as possible? If so, you're likely missing out on the way that events were intended to be discovered. Have you been avoiding gathering and crafting? While you shouldn't feel the need to craft if you've no desire to, gathering tools can be got very cheaply (in fact, they're free as some personal story rewards) and can provide you with an easy way to get experience as you're running about your merry way. Are you just completing hearts, or are you going out of your way to find skill points, vistas, and points of interest, too? Have you considered moving to another zone (most low- and mid-level characters will find multiple zones that suit their level) to spice things up? The world is broad enough that even if circumstances do conspire to keep you from the level you like, there's not really a reason to feel as if you're "grinding" events to get to 15, or 20, or what have you.

ArenaNet on Guild Wars 2's reimagined endgame (Massively)

ArenaNet Lead Content Designer Mike Zadorojny has authored a blog post called The Endgame Reimagined, and in it he says that yes, Guild Wars 2 seeks to avoid making players grind "through chunks of boring, repetitive content to get to the occasional pockets of fun."

ArenaNet says 'responsible' MMO companies give away content 'for free' (Massively)

ArenaNet is launching an all-out assault on subscription MMOs, according to a forum post by game designer Colin Johanson. "Guild Wars 2 will feature consistent free content updates and in-game events going forward. Our goal is to make it so you get more from GW2 for free than you get from a game you pay a subscription for," he told fans.

Dungeon Defending (GW2Hub)

I will freely admit that the dungeons in Guild Wars 2 are very different to anything I’ve ever played in an MMOG, vastly different in fact and yet quite forgiving in many ways. While challenging, I don’t believe the dungeons venture into the impossible (like many have been stating) and I don’t believe they are unstructured; quite the opposite. Without composure and a high level of organisation I’ve no doubt they could be incredibly challenging, especially to pick-up groups, but with a modicum of control and a sensible approach to each scenario they’re relatively easy.

Four 'Guild Wars 2' Recipes You Can Craft in Your Kitchen (Forbes)

In this GW2 Reddit thread, “Cooking Has Ruined Me,” Redditor Acromir describes how excited he was to find the vendor who sold celery. “[T]here’s this voice in the back of my head saying ‘You could be fighting dragons… why are you spending so much time trying to figure out what goes with tomatoes, lemon, and onion?’”

Guild Wars 2 Review (Now Gamer)

Overall
9.0 / 10

Final Verdict
Perhaps more evolution than revolution, but Guild Wars 2 is still genre-changing nonetheless.

Guild Wars 2 review (Atomic)

There’s a mess of other great things to like about the game, from the way you can set your character’s colour palette from creation, and then have items drop in that scheme, to wide array of craftable items, to the sheer fun of taking part in huge PVP battles that, even at level 5, you can make a huge impact in. But all that really needs to be said is that ArenaNet have succeeded where a lot of MMO makers have failed, and delivered a fresh, compelling, and above all fun MMO, that is there to be played at your pace, not the pace of your subscription.