Guild Wars 2!

[mucco]

It's coming out, finally. 28 august. The PvE and WvW looks really gorgeous, and no pay-to-win. Yet. :smallamused:

Who's going to play?

[Toastkart]

I am. I've already been playing in the beta weekends and having a lot of fun.

I honestly wasn't expecting quite so early a release. I still have a couple minor issues with it, but overall I'm really looking forward to being able to play.

[mucco]

I was surprised as well, I think it's due to marketing. PAX is on the same day, and they want to have some distance with world of panda.

I actually don't expect the game to be completely ready as it ships, but I'm confident it will kick ass all over.

I'm hearing D3 is dying already, is that true?

[AlterForm]

Pretty surprised here at the release date; I was expecting more like late September at the earliest.

Guess that means I only have 2 months to crank out 2 more HoM points to hit 40 in time. (No way I can devote enough time to hit 50...)

[Dublock]

I'm hearing D3 is dying already, is that true?

public game wise yea it is, and by xfire's population. But I think more people are limiting their games to private and I don't know much about xfire's population to know if its accurate to D3's overall population, it might not be a good game for the majority of xfire. I know I have not played D3 this week because of a new guild in WoW but thats the only reason so far.

I am curious how the release dates for the fall's release is going to be, GW2 is one of the first to my knowledge.

[Treayn]

^...Sorry, I thought the thread needed a snappy tagline, and thus, I chose to use the worst one :s


But yeah, I've immensely enjoyed the previous beta weekends and stress tests. Tried the PvE and WvW, really want to try sPvP, but I'm a bit sheepish in joining those games, in the case that I fail spectacularly.

So, class preferences? I'm torn between Thief, Mesmer, and Warrior, pretty much due to each of those classes having a decently huge measure of mobility.

Also, in-game names and servers? I'm on Jade Quarry myself.

[Shadow]

I'm in, and I'm super excited.
Some friends from another game have a guild comprised of us, some friends of thiers, some former guildmates from other games, etc etc etc. Everyone in the guild (so far) knows at least two or three other people.
I've had a blast in the BWEs so far. I'll probably main a Thief, Mesmer, Ele or Guardian to start, and it will probably be a Sylvari.
We're No Quarter on Deldrimor, and my account name is Calebrus (.3802 if there end up being more than one).

[mucco]

Just be reminded that armor levels mean next to nothing and you'll be fine. Don't play a warrior to be tanky. :)

I am definitely going Sylvari Necro.

[toasty]

Games that cost $60 on release make me sad. Even if they are nonsubscription. I've regretted every $60 purchase I've made, to some degree (except SCII, and even then, I didn't play that as much as I could have) and never bought a subscription game.

[mucco]

Games that cost $60 on release make me sad. Even if they are nonsubscription. I've regretted every $60 purchase I've made, to some degree (except SCII, and even then, I didn't play that as much as I could have) and never bought a subscription game.

I would usually agree. However, if a game like Portal 2 is tagged at 30$, and offers less than 10 hours of play time, paying 55$ for a (pre-release) game that promises hundreds of hours at the very least is, well, a nice bargain. Because there is a LOT of content. And by a lot, I mean a lot. I'm sure you will be finding that you played for 400 hours and yet you still haven't entered some areas.

If you go by gameplay quality, you probably won't be disappointed. I have yet to see such fluid, fun and difficult gameplay in an online game as I saw in GW2. If you look at the graphics, yeah. 55$ might be a lot for a game that sports nice but not over-the-top graphics. However, the art is top quality and what is lacking in polygon count is made up by the sheer beauty of the world.

But yes, 55$ is a lot for any videogame, these days. I think it's justified (I haven't spent more than 20 on any videogame other than GW2 for ages), but you will have to see for yourself.

[toasty]

But yes, 55$ is a lot for any videogame, these days. I think it's justified (I haven't spent more than 20 on any videogame other than GW2 for ages), but you will have to see for yourself.

The problem is I basically have to KNOW I will spend a large portion of my life on this game (40+ hours)... there are only a handful of games in the last 3 years I've done that too. And all of them had very low initial costs. :smalltongue:

If my friends pick up Guild Wars II, I'll probably buy it. I might buy it anyways. But right now I'm likely to gonna stick to Crusader Kings II and LoL, and then get Torchlight II when that comes out.

[Emmerask]

Games that cost $60 on release make me sad. Even if they are nonsubscription. I've regretted every $60 purchase I've made, to some degree (except SCII, and even then, I didn't play that as much as I could have) and never bought a subscription game.

Well the thing is, mmos (at least the AAA titles) are among the most expensive thing to produce together with other more open world titles (gta etc).

Together with the no subscription and no pay to win this is pretty much the cheapest mmo there is on the market (atleast from those I know off)and well worth the $.

For example daoc if you put all the money I payed them together it had a
1100 € (= 1 393,37 US$) pricetag for me(without addons!), yeah 55€ its nothing ^^

Anyway as I said its prob the cheapest mmo on the market ^^

[Treayn]

I know GreenManGaming was selling the game for $47 during the first 2 beta weekends, but sadly that deal's passed.


So the next best thing, if anyone's still looking to get the game, Newegg has the game for $49.99.
Just put the game into your cart (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832784011) and use the following promo code:

EMCNDHA44

- Offer goes until early Sunday.
- I don't know if it's a Pre-Order or Pre-Purchase, you'll have to check with Newegg or ArenaNet.

[Togath]

Nice, I had been hoping guildwars 2 would come out this summer, I've been following it's progress since december and have been really looking forward to it.

[Emmerask]

well atleast one month of semester break remaining when it comes out :smallsmile:

[IonDragon]

Together with the no subscription and no pay to win this is pretty much the cheapest mmo there is on the market (atleast from those I know off)and well worth the $.
That's not entirely true. There are plenty of foreign games, and DDO that are theoretically not pay to win. Of course, they do have the option of buying gear, but in most cases, they give you time where you can only get the gear from drops before releasing it to the cash store. DDO is pretty bad in the pay to win aspect, but some of the obscure foreign ones are not.

So the next best thing, if anyone's still looking to get the game, Newegg has the game for $49.99.
I wish I had known about that earlier! Although I don't know that I would have taken it. I rarely pre order games, so I decided to spend a little extra for the DCE to get the combat and non combat pets. I don't know what they /are/ but it's bragging rights that won't be available to people who join later.

I, and some others from the GitP Facebook group are considering making a <In The Playground> guild, I'll try to remember and post back after release if we do.

[Togath]

Have they released information on how compatable with older systems guildwars 2 is?, One thing i've been somewhat worried about is whether or not my computer will be able to run it, it can run a few other mmos fine(ddo, wow(on lowish graphic settings anyway], eq2, wakfu, and warhammer online, it can also run minecraft, for all other then WoW it can do so on max graphics and still get a decent framerate)

[Treayn]

I, and some others from the GitP Facebook group are considering making a <In The Playground> guild, I'll try to remember and post back after release if we do.

Any preference on server? And gah, Facebook.



Have they released information on how compatable with older systems guildwars 2 is?, One thing i've been somewhat worried about is whether or not my computer will be able to run it, it can run a few other mmos fine(ddo, wow(on lowish graphic settings anyway], eq2, wakfu, and warhammer online, it can also run minecraft, for all other then WoW it can do so on max graphics and still get a decent framerate)

Can't really make a recommendation until the next beta weekend rolls around, as that's when they'll start optimizing their game.

[mucco]

Minimum System Requirements (http://support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1119/session/L3RpbWUvMTM0MTcyMDAwOC9zaWQvcUoyUDZCKms%3D)

However, I would strongly encourage a very large and semi-empty hard disk, or possibly SSD, and a solid video card and CPU. The graphics settings will make a difference and this is one of those games where you want the graphics.

[IonDragon]

Any preference on server? And gah, Facebook.

Have they posted anything like a server list? I was hoping to play on whatever server Lore (a live steamer I like, previously from tank spot) ends up on.

[Treayn]

Actually, here's a server list, with all the various communities on them (http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/32389-world-choice-guilds-and-communities/).

As I said a few posts above, I'm on Jade Quarry, with a real life friend. Probably going to start a sPvP guild of our own on that server, but nothing's set in stone.

Luckily, GW2 allows you to be in multiple guilds, so yeah.

[IonDragon]

Actually, here's a server list, with all the various communities on them (http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/32389-world-choice-guilds-and-communities/).

As I said a few posts above, I'm on Jade Quarry, with a real life friend. Probably going to start a sPvP guild of our own on that server, but nothing's set in stone.

Luckily, GW2 allows you to be in multiple guilds, so yeah.

But are you certain that the beta servers will be the same as the live servers? They don't have nearly as many beta players as they are expecting at release, I'm sure at the very least they will add more, if not change the list entirely...

EDIT: I think he's on Isle of Janthir, but I'll have to re-watch the stream where he says to know for sure.

[Ogremindes]

Actually, here's a server list, with all the various communities on them (http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/32389-world-choice-guilds-and-communities/).

As I said a few posts above, I'm on Jade Quarry, with a real life friend. Probably going to start a sPvP guild of our own on that server, but nothing's set in stone.

Luckily, GW2 allows you to be in multiple guilds, so yeah.

It doesn't matter what server one's on now, but we should try to work out a server for a GiTP guild, maybe around the last beta weekend, assuming they have one.

[Togath]

Minimum System Requirements (http://support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1119/session/L3RpbWUvMTM0MTcyMDAwOC9zaWQvcUoyUDZCKms%3D)

However, I would strongly encourage a very large and semi-empty hard disk, or possibly SSD, and a solid video card and CPU. The graphics settings will make a difference and this is one of those games where you want the graphics.

for graphics, I usually dont like the high graphics setting in games(as least high, lighting, water, particle, and shadow effects)so even if I need low graphics to run it, I should be fine.
Also, do you know of any links that explain what a hard disk and SSd are?, I dont really understand computer terms.
Also, do you know of any way to find out if my computer has any of the things listed in the minimum system requirments?, I cant just look at my computer's shell thngy because it's just a shell, and it's insdies are form about 2-3 other computers I think(at least two computers, as i remember getting a freind to help attatch the thingy[hard drive?] that holds information from a computer I had which died to this newish one)

[Emmerask]

I think we had a thread about a website that tells you if you can run a game...

Ah found the link to the thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246587

Anyway a hard disk is a magnetic storage medium with a rotating disk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:HardDisk1.ogg

A ssd (solid state drive) on the other hand has no moving parts and stores data electronically not magnetically, they are a lot faster and far more expansive / gb

To put it bluntly both of those serve the same purpose, to store your data, operating system, games etc and nearly every (for the purpose of this thread every is enough^^) consumer computer has one.

[Treayn]

But are you certain that the beta servers will be the same as the live servers? They don't have nearly as many beta players as they are expecting at release, I'm sure at the very least they will add more, if not change the list entirely...

EDIT: I think he's on Isle of Janthir, but I'll have to re-watch the stream where he says to know for sure.

I'm sure the existing servers will stay as they are, I doubt ANet's going to make all these huge gaming communities scramble to find new servers at launch.

As for new servers, It'd be good to have a populated, but not full server. I think the new servers would end up being on the low end of the spectrum.


It doesn't matter what server one's on now, but we should try to work out a server for a GiTP guild, maybe around the last beta weekend, assuming they have one.

Next Beta weekend's on July 20-22nd.

[Shadow]

My crew is on Deldrimor. If Deldrimor still exists when the game launches I'm sure we'll probably stay there for simplicity's sake.


I think we had a thread about a website that tells you if you can run a game...

Ah found the link to the thread: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246587

That site says that I pass it's test with flying colors.
I guess it doesn't know that after playing in BWE1 I was anxiously anticipating BWE2 because my performance was mediocre in PvE and unplayable in WvW. After BWE2 I started shopping for a new MoBo and CPU (and ended up ordering what basically amounts to an entirely new system) which should be delivered early this week (and we have inventory at work all week, so I won't get a chance to build it until the weekend).

So take what Can You Run It? says with a grain of salt.


Have they released information on how compatable with older systems guildwars 2 is?, One thing i've been somewhat worried about is whether or not my computer will be able to run it, it can run a few other mmos fine(ddo, wow(on lowish graphic settings anyway], eq2, wakfu, and warhammer online, it can also run minecraft, for all other then WoW it can do so on max graphics and still get a decent framerate)


Also, do you know of any way to find out if my computer has any of the things listed in the minimum system requirments?,

How to find out my PC's specs (http://www.ehow.com/how_6119394_out-pc_s-specs.html)

Basically all you *really* need to check are the CPU (processor) and GPU (graphics card). If your system can handle those other things, then these are the only two that will really pose the question.
Just remember: never judge whether or not your system can handle a game based on the minimum requirements that they list. Always use the recommended requirements as the baseline. If you're below the recommended reqs you might be disappointed playing it. They only list the minimums as "Yes, the game will instal and load with this" but that doesn't mean that it will be playable in every situation. If you have the recommended reqs then it will be playable.
I'm the perfect example of this. That test site he linked says I'm golden. But in large world events with tons of players around, I was so lagged out (due to my lesser CPU) that I literally couldn't move. It met the minimum reqs, but was unplayable in certain situations.
Always use recommended reqs as the baseline.

[Toastkart]

I'm the perfect example of this. That test site he linked says I'm golden. But in large world events with tons of players around, I was so lagged out (due to my lesser CPU) that I literally couldn't move. It met the minimum reqs, but was unplayable in certain situations.
Always use recommended reqs as the baseline.

To be fair, the build used for the bwes is unoptimized and cpu heavy. There was also a lot of lag from the number of players, especially on the fridays of the bwes and in the low level zones where everyone was.

[IonDragon]

To be fair, the build used for the bwes is unoptimized and cpu heavy. There was also a lot of lag from the number of players, especially on the fridays of the bwes and in the low level zones where everyone was.

It's been commonly reported that it's unoptimized for multi core processors as well, causing severe lag when running anything else on the same core.

[Shadow]

To be fair, the build used for the bwes is unoptimized and cpu heavy. There was also a lot of lag from the number of players, especially on the fridays of the bwes and in the low level zones where everyone was.

The build for BWE1 was unoptimized. BWE2 was quite a bit better.
But even if it hadn't been, that doesn't explain why I was lagged out in the level 15-25 zones when there were only about twenty people fighting in a world event, nor why no one else in my party/guild was having these issues.
The more people that are around the worse it was. That's to be expected.

I'm merely pointing out that the wonderful tool linked to help determine if it will run said that I passed with flying colors, and that I was having many issues while others on better systems were not.
It won't be a problem for the final BWE as I'll have an i5 2500k and 12gb of RAM. Basically I'm building a system that was top of the line a year ago.

[IonDragon]

So, I'm leaning towards Darkhaven since that's where Gamebreaker is at. Lore said he wanted to get on there, but I'm not sure if he ever did.

[Treayn]

For anyone still looking to try out the game, there's a beta key giveaway here (http://www.curse.com/betas/guild-wars-2).

Also, Asura and Sylvari playable in the next beta event.

[Dragor]

On the subject of performance issues, I went from the game being unplayable in the first BWE to running at a solid 60 FPS on all max settings in the last stress test. My machine is almost exactly a year old now, so make of that what you will.

[IonDragon]

So I hear beta weekend starts Friday at noon! I'm going to be on Darkhaven until I can confirm where Lore will be. Hope to see some peeps online!

[Cute_Riolu]

So hey, I've got this error that's been popping up since last night when I launch the client -- I know the beta's not up yet, and that might be the issue, but it's saying there's no serial (ie, beta key) registered to my account, and I know I got one with the mmorpg.com giveaway. Is anyone else having that issue?

[Ogremindes]

My crew is on Deldrimor. If Deldrimor still exists when the game launches I'm sure we'll probably stay there for simplicity's sake.


So, I'm leaning towards Darkhaven since that's where Gamebreaker is at. Lore said he wanted to get on there, but I'm not sure if he ever did.

I can't see a Deldrimor on the list. Anyways, any other opinions on where GiTP should set up once the game goes live? As far as I understand the server choice only matters for WvWvW. Also, Darkhaven has been full a lot today, so bear that in mind.

As an aside, the Sylvari are awesome. It's always nice to see a well-done fantasy race that isn't part of the standard set (standard names optional).

[IonDragon]

Darkhaven has been full a lot today, so bear that in mind.

I haven't had any trouble with it so far, though I suppose I do like a more 'full' feel to my mmos. It's going to wind down quite a bit over the first month or two after release.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Minimum System Requirements (http://support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1119/session/L3RpbWUvMTM0MTcyMDAwOC9zaWQvcUoyUDZCKms%3D)

However, I would strongly encourage a very large and semi-empty hard disk, or possibly SSD, and a solid video card and CPU. The graphics settings will make a difference and this is one of those games where you want the graphics.

Eh, I watched Towelliee's vids of his Child's play marathon run on YouTube. He had the graphics on the lowest possible settings, and when people kept begging him, he just turned them up to ultra. He said he could barely notice the difference, and while I definitely could, I still think that it's fine no matter what settings they're on.

Also, the game miiiight change my opinion, but personally, I hate the Sylvari. They seem to be basically elves that are more tree-huggy, less arrogant (read: lack the one actual elf flaw), and have a few token evil members thrown in (if the "shadow in the dream" isn't just external forces).

Anyway, my first character is probably going to be a Norn Warrior. Then a Human Elementalist girl. Then I'm going to try to get at least one Charr character, and Asura looks interesting. For Professions, I want to play a Rogue in addition to the two I mentioned, and probably a Mesmer (create clones and shoot laser beams!). Guardian also looks cool (lots of nice control on top of a warrior chassis). The other classes were... Ranger, Necromancer, and Engineer, correct? Not really interested in those, but if fate somehow grants me a sixth slot, I'll probably go with an Asura Engineer.

And I can't find Deldrimor on the server list.

[mucco]

Sylvari, yes. They are similar to elves. However, they feel a lot like plants, and sound british. Which is quite good considering they're the only race that doesn't have the american accent. They also are often clueless, which I find funny. That's a better flaw than being arrogant, in my opinion, and a bit more original. Their dream feels quite exotic too. It's not a bad race.

My worst race is probably the Norn... I can't stop thinking about them as plain Large size vikings. So cliché. On the other side, Charr win everything.

On professions, if you play enough you might be able to buy a sixth slot with in-game money, I hear. I've played around with most professions and talked to some devs, so I can say I'm quite experienced. The only class with a tanky feeling is Guardian - if you pick Warrior, prepare to dodge and switch to ranged from time to time. Melee is hard, and the armor doesn't do a whole lot. However, Warrior is crazy fun. As is the Ele, which I found very hard to master but with nigh infinite utility at just two button presses. Engineer is on the same boat. Thief gameplay is pretty unique in comparison with the other classes (a bit similar to GW1), and worth a try. The pet classes (N, M, R) are currently suffering a bit from the lackluster pet AI, but generally work fine and feel quite unique.

[Hiro Protagonest]

My worst race is probably the Norn... I can't stop thinking about them as plain Large size vikings. So cliché. On the other side, Charr win everything.
Norn are like WoW Orcs. Except they can actually look good. They have the whole hunting, fighting, and nature magic thing.

Also, they react the same way to one of their kind being a Necromancer, Engineer, or Elementalist as they do to them being a Warrior or Ranger. :smallwink: But that's unfortunately just generic MMO responses not taking into account class choice.

On professions, if you play enough you might be able to buy a sixth slot with in-game money, I hear. I've played around with most professions and talked to some devs, so I can say I'm quite experienced. The only class with a tanky feeling is Guardian - if you pick Warrior, prepare to dodge and switch to ranged from time to time. Melee is hard, and the armor doesn't do a whole lot. However, Warrior is crazy fun. As is the Ele, which I found very hard to master but with nigh infinite utility at just two button presses. Engineer is on the same boat. Thief gameplay is pretty unique in comparison with the other classes (a bit similar to GW1), and worth a try. The pet classes (N, M, R) are currently suffering a bit from the lackluster pet AI, but generally work fine and feel quite unique.

Yeah, I'm going to play my Warrior with longbow default, and either axe/shield or greatsword for when facing off against a Guardian or needing to get a monster from reaching the party's Elementalist when we don't have a Guardian to do that.

Also, at one point during PVP on one of Towelliee's vids, one of the opponents was a Charr Mesmer. There were so many clones, they never even hit him. I look forward to being on the other side of that. :smallamused:

[Emmerask]

I have one question concerning the races and wvw,

the humans seem to have an extremely powerful aoe root with Binding Roots from the Avatar of Melandru elite skill which seems by far the most powerful racial skill and quite a powerful elite skill for pvp combat.

Yes you can destroy the roots, but the problem is that during that timeframe the opposition in most cases has already won the upper hand (if the teams have roughly the same size). I witnessed multiple fights practically won by this skill alone ^^.

The thing is didn´t they say that racial abilities are turned off in pvp?
Do they not count wvw as pvp? (which would be silly).

The thing is that I´m quite hesitant to play anything other then human if this skill practically becomes mandatory if you want to have a good cc in wvw smaller scale engagements.

[Ogremindes]

Also, the game miiiight change my opinion, but personally, I hate the Sylvari. They seem to be basically elves that are more tree-huggy, less arrogant (read: lack the one actual elf flaw), and have a few token evil members thrown in (if the "shadow in the dream" isn't just external forces).

They aren't really especially tree-huggy. Honestly the Norns are much more into the communion with nature thing. Sylvari draw heavily from Arthurian (and to a lesser extent, Celtic) mythology, they have very much a knightly ideal. Rather than being arrogant they're clueless and naive, coming from the fact that the race has only existed for 25 years.

I think all the GW2 races have an antagonist faction, the Sylvari have the "Nightmare Court" (read "unseelie court"). The Dream is a collective memory of sorts to the Sylvari, and the nightmare court hope to extinguish the virtue that was forced upon the race by outside forces by creating as much negative thought and emotion as possible.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I have one question concerning the races and wvw,

the humans seem to have an extremely powerful aoe root with Binding Roots from the Avatar of Melandru elite skill which seems by far the most powerful racial skill and quite a powerful elite skill for pvp combat.

Yes you can destroy the roots, but the problem is that during that timeframe the opposition in most cases has already won the upper hand (if the teams have roughly the same size). I witnessed multiple fights practically won by this skill alone ^^.

The thing is didn´t they say that racial abilities are turned off in pvp?
Do they not count wvw as pvp? (which would be silly).

The thing is that I´m quite hesitant to play anything other then human if this skill practically becomes mandatory if you want to have a good cc in wvw smaller scale engagements.

Eh, meet elite with elite. Norn Bear Form's Roar and the Warrior's Elite Banner skill grant allies Might, reducing the time needed to take it down by quite a bit. Wolf Form's Howl ability grants Fury, but I'm not sure if that works on objects.

I believe ranged attacks would still be usable, and every class has ranged attacks. Although scepter/trident seems to be better than staff for Guardians wanting them. Can you use underwater weapons on land?

[Emmerask]

Nope no underwater weapons on land ^^

Yes you can cut down the roots faster but in a zergy environment it pretty much means 6+ aoe fields are already stacked on you(and the other poor souls cought in it) which leads to a pretty fast case of dying especially since you can´t dodge out of the way.

I don´t have anything against powerful cc in fact I think gw2 could use a bit more of it, the problem is when people are forced to play one race because of it ^^

[Ogremindes]

Can you use underwater weapons on land?

No. They can only go in the underwater weapon slot and that's only used once you dive.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Hm. I could've sworn the scepter was an aquatic weapon, but the wiki says it's land-based.

The staff is a mid-range weapon, which does give it the benefit of being ranged, but oddly enough, it only works horizontally, so it's useless against people shooting at you from above (a mistake Towelliee made. I kept thinking CAN'T YOU SEE THAT IT'S NOT WORKING!?, since he was trying that because he wasn't armed with a siege weapon when fighting a fort which enemy players were currently in). On the other hand, it dominates in pitched battles, so it's a great weapon to have after you break down the gate, where you can get up on the battlements and immediately lay down a Line of Warding, or a Ring of Warding if you have that and they're coming at you from both sides, then start spamming your basic AoE cone. It's also good for getting places, thanks to Symbol of Swiftness.

[Treayn]

Also, Darkhaven has been full a lot today, so bear that in mind.

Darkhaven is Reddit territory, and that community had problems getting everyone onto that server. So probably not there.



The thing is didn´t they say that racial abilities are turned off in pvp?
Do they not count wvw as pvp?

WvW's lumped in with PvE, as the traits, weapons/armour and skill balance carry over between the two.

sPvP and tPvP are separately balanced.
What irks me is that sPvP (Hot-Join, Random Arena) is 8v8, whilst tPvP (Tournament, Pre-arranged teams) are 5v5. It'd definitely be nice to have some consistency between these two modes.



On professions, if you play enough you might be able to buy a sixth slot with in-game money, I hear. I've played around with most professions and talked to some devs, so I can say I'm quite experienced. The only class with a tanky feeling is Guardian - if you pick Warrior, prepare to dodge and switch to ranged from time to time. Melee is hard, and the armor doesn't do a whole lot. However, Warrior is crazy fun. As is the Ele, which I found very hard to master but with nigh infinite utility at just two button presses. Engineer is on the same boat. Thief gameplay is pretty unique in comparison with the other classes (a bit similar to GW1), and worth a try. The pet classes (N, M, R) are currently suffering a bit from the lackluster pet AI, but generally work fine and feel quite unique.

From what I can tell:

Guardians are nigh-unstoppable, 4v1's without breaking a sweat.

Warriors are extremely powerful, but a bit predictable with any sort of Eviscerate/Hundred blades build. Rifle builds may be the real danger to look out for.

Elementalist and Engineer are well-balanced, very versatile, and will go well in any team combination.

Rangers still have slight issues with pet AI, but are in otherwise good shape.

Necros again have teething issues with minion AI, but it's not as impactful since they also have builds that don't use minions at all (High-bleed, high condition builds)

Mesmers have AI/Shatter issues, and there's also the gripe about clones doing no damage and illusions generally being too squishy. Overall the class is playable, and you might even see a few good ones in tournaments, but could use a lot of changes, as it is one of the less-developed classes.

Thieves have a few high-damage builds, and great mobility, but are otherwise lacking in other areas. It'll just be a matter of understanding the 2-3 most used thief builds, in order to lock them down (That is, unless ArenaNet has some changes in mind for it at release).

[Hiro Protagonest]

WvW's lumped in with PvE, as the traits, weapons/armour and skill balance carry over between the two.
I think WvW automatically levels you to +30 or something, since when I watched Towelliee, he definitely had all his skill slots unlocked in WvW (although I don't think he got any new skills) as well as more HP. But equipment, XP, and skills are all kept.

Guardians are nigh-unstoppable, 4v1's without breaking a sweat.
It might just be a matter of skill. A good thief or warrior could probably to take him down.

Warriors are extremely powerful, but a bit predictable with any sort of Eviscerate/Hundred blades build. Rifle builds may be the real danger to look out for.

I'm still not sure whether to go for bow or rifle. It's pretty much a matter of AoE vs Single Target. It might depend on my melee weapon setup, as a greatsword has some pretty good AoE power, and axe/shield is probably better against single opponent.

[mucco]

I have one question concerning the races and wvw,

the humans seem to have an extremely powerful aoe root with Binding Roots from the Avatar of Melandru elite skill which seems by far the most powerful racial skill and quite a powerful elite skill for pvp combat.

Yes you can destroy the roots, but the problem is that during that timeframe the opposition in most cases has already won the upper hand (if the teams have roughly the same size). I witnessed multiple fights practically won by this skill alone ^^.

The thing is didn´t they say that racial abilities are turned off in pvp?
Do they not count wvw as pvp? (which would be silly).

The thing is that I´m quite hesitant to play anything other then human if this skill practically becomes mandatory if you want to have a good cc in wvw smaller scale engagements.

First of all, AoE abilities have a target cap. I don't know what it is, but I saw there was on. Could be anywhere from 4 to 7. If there are more than that number of enemies in your AoE, some will not suffer the effects.

Second: skill matters a lot in WvW. I know of people beating forces 2x their size, with coordination.

Third: WvW is PvP but with your PvE character. This means your traits, your unlocked utilities, your equipment. Including racial stuff (which I believe will be balanced in the end). Your character is just sidekicked to max level, but is not given any ability that he wouldn't ordinarily have - if he was under level 30, he does not get an elite skill for example.


Guardians are nigh-unstoppable, 4v1's without breaking a sweat.

You saw in action a particularly good Guardian against four not-so-good players. Guardians are very strong, yes, but not that strong. Maybe the guardian player was an Alpha tester or Dev in disguise, I bet they have much more experience than the beta weekend players.

About the warrior, I loved how Axe/Mace allowed me to stack 8 vulnerabilities before Eviscerating for big domage. Mace also gives a nice control #5, I think.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I think that, if we do start crowding on one server and form a guild, then use this thread to discuss tactics like keeping Guardians to protect the squishy casters, we could be really good in WvW.

[Ogremindes]

Darkhaven is Reddit territory, and that community had problems getting everyone onto that server. So probably not there.


Yeah, that seems like a good reason to set up elsewhere.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Yeah, that seems like a good reason to set up elsewhere.

It's probably best to pick a world that has currently low population. Then we can all go there and invite our friends with not much chance of anything going wrong.

[mucco]

Well, I'm already going to WvW with [ZoS] (http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild:Zealots_Of_Shiverpeak). Can't remember what server they decided to stay on, but you can be sure it'll be a fairly strong WvW server.

[Treayn]

You saw in action a particularly good Guardian against four not-so-good players. Guardians are very strong, yes, but not that strong. Maybe the guardian player was an Alpha tester or Dev in disguise, I bet they have much more experience than the beta weekend players.

Well I meant it as a good thing, they can 1v4 and hold their ground for ages, not necessarily kill them all. Not saying they're overpowered, just that currently not running one in a team currently is rather short-sighted.

[elizasteave]

Hi Mucco, thanks for providing the link for minimum system requirements. This is the main thing which everyone wants desperately. I was also tired of playing the beta version, but its a sigh of relief that the game is going to be released next month.

[Hullabaloo]

just preordered :)

Do servers from those that did Beta carry over to live, or will they be cleared and reset?

[Emmerask]

Servers will be reset and everyone starts completely new, the server names from the beta remain though

[Hullabaloo]

Servers will be reset and everyone starts completely new, the server names from the beta remain though
I figured everyone would start new, but that means if I have a friend in beta on X and another on Y, they will still both be on different servers?

Is there a GitPG 'server'? We are by far the coolest kids playing the game, so if there was, it would be the cool server ;)

Is there a way to reserve in game names before launch? I did not see it on their web site, but its common in some games to allow that.


Thanks!

[Emmerask]

You also have to chose your server anew.

Yes there is a way to reserve a name beforehand, you can "connect" your gw1 account with the gw2 account and reserve a (maybe more?) of your gw1 character names for gw2.

The other option is the headstart, which starts at the 25th for certain preorders where you can reserve your name too and then play directly ^^

[Hiro Protagonest]

Is there a GitPG 'server'? We are by far the coolest kids playing the game, so if there was, it would be the cool server ;)

We really should pick a server. Probably the least populated beta server, because people will naturally go back to their old ones if they have guilds there.

[Treayn]

If you guys are going for a low population server, uhh.... Emery Bay. Yeah, that one.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Well, how much can each server hold? There's probably going to be about fifty playgrounders, max. Then if they get their friends to play, still only about two hundred at most. If servers can hold a thousand or more, I don't know how much it'll matter, as long as we get a server that currently has room for three or four hundred more people.

[Forbiddenwar]

Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."

[Hiro Protagonest]

Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."

I don't think so.

And I'm not sure if you need two copies, or can just download it onto two computers with the right password.

But as for the world, Renown Hearts and Skill Point challenges are sorta like WoW quests. They have a completion bar on the screen telling you how close you are to finishing. But your personal storyline isn't, and dynamic events can be, but are less so (assuming TB means TotalBiscuit, in one of his videos there's an event where he has to help defend a Charr mill from Flame Legion Charr). In addition, you can do WvW right off the bat, where even a couple people without any siege equipment can be worth something (just kill the NPC guards in the camps and claim them for your side I don't recommend trying to take on a fort or castle, though, even with siege equipment). PvP is also doable right off the bat, and while it is repetitive, you can mess around with skills to see which ones you want to buy in PvE/WvW.

Also, I watched all of TotalBiscuit's videos a couple months ago. The news of a recent one means I'm now going to see if there are any new ones. His GW2 videos are good, you should watch more of them.

Also, favorite line. "There are no mailboxes, everything is delivered by carrier pigeon. I of course will be mailing the heaviest thing possible in order to completely shatter my immersion."

[Ogremindes]

If you guys are going for a low population server, uhh.... Emery Bay. Yeah, that one.

Sounds fine to me. I didn't think to check what servers had low population on the weekend.

[mucco]

Saw the recent TB video and become VERY interested in this game. But before plopping down $130 for it (copy for me and my SO) we need to try it out. Is there a demo version or free weekends? Seeing gameplay online won't tell me how well it runs on my laptop, and I definitely wish to play with my SO. We played WOW for 2 months before turning it off over the "Every quest is collect 10 monkey butts" and "WOW, the world is completely empty and dull between quest locations."

If you pay attention to sales and what not, it won't be impossible to snag two copies for 80 bucks.

You will need a decent computer. A laptop bought for general use let's say two years ago will be running the game at the lowest settings, if even.

That said, get it. It's awesome.

[Emmerask]

Well it somewhat depends on what you want to do,

If you only want to do strcutured pvp and pve then a lowish end pc (gtx460, 4gb ram, AMD IIx2 250) is enough for medium details.

If you want to do wvw then you absolutely need a good processor (wvw is extremely demanding on your cpu),
For low details an AMD FX 4170 is enough
for medium details somewhere around the Intel i5 2500k
For max details you really need a current higher end cpu.

If you have a really good graphics card you may use a cpu slightly under the specs but not by much.

[Hullabaloo]

Personally I was thinking a higher population world. Might be rough for the first month or so, but I don't want a server that might die after the initial start.

Maybe "Tarnished Coast"?

[Elder Tsofu]

Well, how much can each server hold? There's probably going to be about fifty playgrounders, max. Then if they get their friends to play, still only about two hundred at most. If servers can hold a thousand or more, I don't know how much it'll matter, as long as we get a server that currently has room for three or four hundred more people.

If there is a limit on 1000 people it means that only 42.000 can register on their current servers. I think Anet plans to have a larger player-base than that. :smallwink:

[Hiro Protagonest]

If there is a limit on 1000 people it means that only 42.000 can register on their current servers. I think Anet plans to have a larger player-base than that. :smallwink:

In these days, I wouldn't be surprised if they can hold 100,000. That would total out at 4,200,000.

But Hullabaloo, even if there's plenty of room, there's still the problem of mid- and high-population servers having lag, and having times where you go to overflow and your party members don't. So low-population improves gameplay anyway. Maybe a server that has a good amount of people, but still less than half the max.

[Hullabaloo]

But Hullabaloo, even if there's plenty of room, there's still the problem of mid- and high-population servers having lag, and having times where you go to overflow and your party members don't. So low-population improves gameplay anyway. Maybe a server that has a good amount of people, but still less than half the max.
In my experience 90% of lag is player side. Playing on high population servers in WoW, DDO, Rift (short period) and Rappelz, I've only had server side lag issues in Rappelz, a very poorly managed MMO. If a game like GW2 cant handle the load then I wont be sticking around long anyways.

But being on a low-population server in no way improves game play. Shouting for PUGs takes longer, less quality players, weak AH, economic issues and weaker PvP are all huge detriments for low-population servers. I would rather have the possible issue of lag (which would just be a marker that GW2 is not ready for primetime) then deal with the issues of a low population server.

[Treayn]

Shouting for PUGs takes longer

You need 5 players for dungeons every so often, which won't be terribly hard to find.



weak AH, economic issues and weaker PvP

Auction houses and sPvP are globalised across all servers, so any economic problems that occur will hit all ~40 worlds.

WvW has a server matchmaking system, so that's not really a problem either.

[Shadow]

And I can't find Deldrimor on the server list.

That's where we were for the first two BWEs. In the last few days prior to the final beta they consolidated the servers to concurrently run it as a stress test as well. We ended up on Anvil Rock last weekend when Deldrimor got yanked.

[Shadow]

In my experience 90% of lag is player side. Playing on high population servers in WoW, DDO, Rift (short period) and Rappelz, I've only had server side lag issues in Rappelz, a very poorly managed MMO. If a game like GW2 cant handle the load then I wont be sticking around long anyways.

But being on a low-population server in no way improves game play. Shouting for PUGs takes longer, less quality players, weak AH, economic issues and weaker PvP are all huge detriments for low-population servers. I would rather have the possible issue of lag (which would just be a marker that GW2 is not ready for primetime) then deal with the issues of a low population server.

Neither of those are going to be issues as the economy is worldwide (meaning cross server AH, etc). So the economy and AH should even out overall without much effort by anyone.

[Ogremindes]

Yeah, choice of world only matters for PUGs and WvWvW. And some subset of PvP I guess, I wouldn't know.

[IonDragon]

It's probably best to pick a world that has currently low population. Then we can all go there and invite our friends with not much chance of anything going wrong.
I don't see why lower population would be a good thing on an MMO...

[Ogremindes]

I don't see why lower population would be a good thing on an MMO...

Because the highest pop worlds were maxed out in the beta weekend.

[Chromascope3D]

Anyone tried a grenadier engineer? I'm kinda interested in that, but I can't find any vids of them. Is it a sign? :o

[Decatus]

Anyone tried a grenadier engineer? I'm kinda interested in that, but I can't find any vids of them. Is it a sign? :o

I did in the last BWE - grenade kid was the first utility skill I bought. From what I could tell, the basic grenade attack did a bit more damage up front than my pistol shot, but it didn't inflict bleeding.

The Conditions that I could inflict (Chilled, Poison, Bleeding, something else) with the grenades were roughly comparable to what I could get out of my pistols, but because all grenade skills are manually ground targeted AoE effects, I was able to spread them around somewhat more efficiently.

I found that the best thing to do was swapping between my pistols and the grenades for maximum effect. In a group situation, where the mobs weren't running at me trying to eat my face, I'd say the grenades were better (at least, until I got the Flamethrower. Gods I love me some Flamethrower action :smallamused:).

The major question, though, is, "was it fun?" I can say that yes, yes it was. The grenades feel different enough for combat to still be interesting, and when you start throwing them around you'll be surrounded by explosions. I really felt like a mad scientist out in the field - it was fantastic.

[Sith_Happens]

Because the highest pop worlds were maxed out in the beta weekend.

Pretty sure you can expect much higher capacities at launch, though, given the higher populations that they know they'll need to be dealing with. Plus you need to think beyond the first few weeks; there are always going to be parts of the game that aren't cross-server, and all of those parts are going to be a lot worse the fewer players your server has.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Then are there any mid-pop servers?

[Chromascope3D]

Snipperoo!


I thank ye. I'll have to try it out then. :3

[JSSheridan]

I've pre-ordered this now as well. I actually played the first game for a couple years as well.

[Decatus]

Just in case anyone doesn't know:

ArenaNet is doing a final stress test tomorrow (August 2) from Noon to 4pm Pacific time (I wanna say that's GMT -7 right now). They will be working on the game throughout the testing, so things may be a little choppy.

Additionally, the ANet team has commented that, due to a bug, the game was slightly easier than intended during the most recent beta weekend event. Word is that the difficulty will be more on par with BWE2 for the stress test and when the game launches.

[IonDragon]

ArenaNet is doing a final stress test tomorrow (August 2) from Noon to 4pm Pacific time (I wanna say that's GMT -7 right now). They will be working on the game throughout the testing, so things may be a little choppy.

That's a HORRIBLE time to have a stress test! Everyone is going to be at work (I mean, not me I'll be at home playing GW2, but everyone else).

[Elder Tsofu]

That's a HORRIBLE time to have a stress test! Everyone is going to be at work (I mean, not me I'll be at home playing GW2, but everyone else).

Europe will just have come back from work allowing Arena-net to do it on their own work-time (since they'reactively working on it during the test you know). Seems quite an excellent way of doing it. :smallsmile:

[Hullabaloo]

Hi all!

A group of former guildies from DDO(and friends) of mind are setting up a guild to explore GW2 with, and we are looking for some like-minded people to join.

Basics of the Occasionally Excellent guild, server TBD

Pretty much age 25+, casual mature group, most CST and EST people. Some of us have significant others, and even a semblance of a life! We are committed players, but understand Life Happens. We are not going to force you grind out server first, but aim to play well, and enjoy it. Some of us play a few hours a few, some a few days a week. We have a mumble server that will be used a fair bit, and R rated language happens, although offensive language is not tolerated. Most importantly NO DRAMA and Treat others as you wish to be treated. We play games to have fun, leave the drama in RL.

If that sounds interesting to you, and want more information see our guild site at Occasionally Excellent. (http://occasionallyexcellent.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=458303&ForumID=2217872&PostCount=1&TabID=3944682&TopicID=10196022&Page=1#48660846) to apply or PM me here.

[Hullabaloo]

We will be conducting a stress test on Thursday, August 9 from 12:00 Noon PACIFIC Time to 4:00 PM PACIFIC Time. (3 - 7 pm EST, 2 -6 CST).

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!

Gonna try to get on for the first time, might duck out of work early to do it:). Gonna test out the Charr starting area I think with a few Occasionally Excellent peeps :)

[Aiani]

I need a new game since both D3 and SWTOR have disappointed me. I have a couple of questions for those of you who might have spent some time playing the GW2 beta.

Is there a sense of exploration to this game? One of the things that really killed SWTOR for me was the fact that every new character you make goes to the same planets (there aren't very many of them) so you see those same planets again and again. It gets very boring and there is no feeling of exploration.

Second question, is combat challenging? I'm kind of tired of games that are too easy. SWTOR was so easy and I'm a rather casual player so if it was easy for me I can't even imagine how easy it must have been to hardcore gamers. I just want a game where I feel like I have to try.
I have Skyrim and it fulfills those things but it is lacking the social aspect.

[Toastkart]

I need a new game since both D3 and SWTOR have disappointed me. I have a couple of questions for those of you who might have spent some time playing the GW2 beta.

Is there a sense of exploration to this game? One of the things that really killed SWTOR for me was the fact that every new character you make goes to the same planets (there aren't very many of them) so you see those same planets again and again. It gets very boring and there is no feeling of exploration.

There's a lot of exploration. Many dynamic events are off the beaten path, as are many skill challenges. There's also cinematic events that were added in the last beta, called vistas, that are sometimes difficult to get to. There are also a lot of jumping/exploration puzzles that sometimes lead to interesting areas and boss fights. Though you don't have to explore, you'll want to explore.

There are also a lot of zones for multiple levels. Each race has their own starter zone, and there are several zones for each range of levels. You don't have to go to each zone, but if you don't you'll be missing out on story, events, skill challenges, ranger pets, etc.




Second question, is combat challenging? I'm kind of tired of games that are too easy. SWTOR was so easy and I'm a rather casual player so if it was easy for me I can't even imagine how easy it must have been to hardcore gamers. I just want a game where I feel like I have to try.
I have Skyrim and it fulfills those things but it is lacking the social aspect.

Difficulty is something that is, as far as I'm aware, still being balanced. The first two beta weekend events were very hard, but the third was very easy due to a worldwide bug that has since been fixed.

There's also different kinds of difficulty. If you're good at dodging and avoiding damage, the game will probably seem very easy. Ranged characters also have a slight advantage over melee characters, but it's really only noticeable in large events or against large bosses that throw down one hit kill attacks with little warning (something they've said they're working on).

The highest lvl character I got during the bwe's was a lvl 18 guardian, and one thing I noticed was that lower levels (1-10) were pretty hard because you don't have access to all of your tools and there's often little margin for error in dodging big attacks. Around lvl 12-13 that started to change as I had access to utility skills, weapon swaps, etc. that allowed me to mount a more proactive defense.

Another thing, some events become ridiculously easy given enough people participating in them, even despite scaling. Others are challenging no matter how many people seem to be around. I think there's still a lot of fine tuning going on.

[Aiani]

There's a lot of exploration. Many dynamic events are off the beaten path, as are many skill challenges. There's also cinematic events that were added in the last beta, called vistas, that are sometimes difficult to get to. There are also a lot of jumping/exploration puzzles that sometimes lead to interesting areas and boss fights. Though you don't have to explore, you'll want to explore.

There are also a lot of zones for multiple levels. Each race has their own starter zone, and there are several zones for each range of levels. You don't have to go to each zone, but if you don't you'll be missing out on story, events, skill challenges, ranger pets, etc.





Difficulty is something that is, as far as I'm aware, still being balanced. The first two beta weekend events were very hard, but the third was very easy due to a worldwide bug that has since been fixed.

There's also different kinds of difficulty. If you're good at dodging and avoiding damage, the game will probably seem very easy. Ranged characters also have a slight advantage over melee characters, but it's really only noticeable in large events or against large bosses that throw down one hit kill attacks with little warning (something they've said they're working on).

The highest lvl character I got during the bwe's was a lvl 18 guardian, and one thing I noticed was that lower levels (1-10) were pretty hard because you don't have access to all of your tools and there's often little margin for error in dodging big attacks. Around lvl 12-13 that started to change as I had access to utility skills, weapon swaps, etc. that allowed me to mount a more proactive defense.

Another thing, some events become ridiculously easy given enough people participating in them, even despite scaling. Others are challenging no matter how many people seem to be around. I think there's still a lot of fine tuning going on.

Thank you for the info. The exploration sounds pretty promising especially since from what you say it seems like there will be plenty of zones. I love having different zones to check out.
Of course it's to be expected that they are still fine tuning the difficulty since the game is in beta. Still I'm cautiously optimistic. This sounds like it has the potential to be a lot of fun.

[Emmerask]

Another important thing in combat are the "combo attacks", for example an elementalist places a wall of fire on the ground, you then shoot through this wall and have burning arrows.
A very neat mechanic I think which adds to combat depth.

How good this will be and therefore how often used I don´t really know because I only played for a little while during the last beta^^

[ninja_penguin]

Combo fields happen a lot. Especially when everybody starts throwing everything everywhere.

It's basically a system of certain skills creating fields of a particular type, and then other skills have finishers to them. Line up A with B, and you get a various effect. I think the most common one you'll see is the various fields with the physical projectile finisher, which basically applies the effects of Field A onto projectile B, like when my poison cloud on my thief gives all the projectiles going through it poison, or how you can spam blind on somebody by using Pistol skill 5 on a thief, and then slowly bang away with skill 1 on a single target to make them near perma-blind for the skill 5 duration.

[Hullabaloo]

The stress test went pretty well for me. Got on with no issues, found 2 friends and testing foruming our guild (I assume this will be cleared out before the start so we will have to re do)

Ran around and tested out the 'tankish' spec for guardian and really liked it. Jumped in the PvP area and used a staff for the 'healerish' spec, and REALLY liked that. I got a Fricken magic bow that followed me around curing friends! So cool looking.

Graphics were really nice. Main issue? The Flow. There is no stopping point. Before I knew it I had played for 90 min. Champagne Problems.

[Hullabaloo]

Yes, ArenaNet is having another Stress test.

4-8 Pacific, 6-10 Central, 7-11 Eastern

From ArenaNet:
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!

From Massively:
In an ongoing effort to make the Guild Wars 2 servers fit for the teeming masses that will descend upon them at launch, ArenaNet has declared yet another stress test. For those of you who missed out on Thursday's test or just want more time in Tyria, your next chance is this Friday, August 10th, from 7:00 p.m. EDT until 11:00 p.m. EDT.

Characters will not be wiped before the stress test, and as always, the test is open only to those who have already pre-purchased Guild Wars 2.

In the announcement of the event, the ArenaNet team reminded fans that they "might experience connectivity problems" and that any such issues "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."

If anyone is going to be on Tarnished Coast let me know, Ill be playing the heck out of this :)

PS sorry for the double post

[Hullabaloo]

Triple post sorry guys, but you are just too quite!

Another stress test Sunday, 11-12 PDT, 1-2 CDT, & 2-3 EDT.

I'll be on Tarnished coast checking out the crafting town. Last one was pretty nice. Fair bit of lag and graphical issues (my guild mate was all sky blue) but that got fixed in the first hour. Bit of rubber banding for the first 3 hours, but the last hour was very smooth (besides getting killed by alligators that spit poison or something)

[Decatus]

(besides getting killed by alligators that spit poison or something)


Those would be Marsh Drakes, I believe. Drakes all have the ability to spit AoE breath effects, and can be tamed as Ranger pets. They're pretty nifty. :smalltongue:

[douglaswalkers]

Yeah !! Its simply great, I have played it many time love its choice of characters, I had also tried it before in its beta weekends and I was kind of impressed by it.

[Hullabaloo]

Yes, ArenaNet is having another Stress test.

12-4 Pacific, 2-6 Central, 3-7 Eastern

From ArenaNet:
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!

From Massively:
In an ongoing effort to make the Guild Wars 2 servers fit for the teeming masses that will descend upon them at launch, ArenaNet has declared yet another stress test.

Characters will not be wiped before the stress test, and as always, the test is open only to those who have already pre-purchased Guild Wars 2.

In the announcement of the event, the ArenaNet team reminded fans that they "might experience connectivity problems" and that any such issues "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."

Wont get on for this one myself. Being a good little husband and fixing the fridge before I emerse myself in the GW2 world on the 25th :).

OE still looking for some members to join us on launch, see Sig for details!

[Turalisj]

Alright, got GW2 pre-purchase! I will be joining you folks on the 25th when the game launches.... Not sure precisely what to play. I may end up going crazy on the alts.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Well, got my netbook back. Now to purchase a bigger memory chip and the game...

[Turalisj]

Is anyone interested in setting up a Guild together?

[Hiro Protagonest]

Is anyone interested in setting up a Guild together?

I want to make a guild. Do resource management of guild experience and stuff. Ideally, I'd optimize it for WvW, with the "Art of War" branch. So if you're not a dedicated WvWer who's willing, at bare minimum, to go defend a contested point when you're not doing an event or dungeon or something, so that I know my buff wasn't a waste or was worth less than it cost, it's probably not for you.

That guild would be rather serious, though, so as a general guild for the Playground, it wouldn't work.

I don't want to have Occasionally Excellent be the general Playground guild either, since I'm a lot younger than 25 and I think that at least a few other Playgrounders in the MMO are going to be younger.

[Ogremindes]

Is anyone interested in setting up a Guild together?

There's been some discussion further back in this thread, but no decisions.

[Turalisj]

Well, I might start up something. Legacy of Whispers. I need to see the game first though....

[Hullabaloo]

Re-posted details about Occasionally Excellent in the spoiler. We have picked the Tarnish Coast, and are selecting guild emblems now if anyone is interested. Been having some active threads on crafting, builds and the general dev direction of the game, as well as active on the betas lookin' around.

We do say 25+ and would welcome people 21+ that have the same gaming mind set (relaxed, friendly). Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any questions. Application is mainly "yes I read your summary and agree"


Hi all!

A group of former guildies from DDO(and friends) of mind are setting up a guild to explore GW2 with, and we are looking for some like-minded people to join.

Basics of the Occasionally Excellent guild, server TBD

Pretty much age 25+, casual mature group, most CST and EST people. Some of us have significant others, and even a semblance of a life! We are committed players, but understand Life Happens. We are not going to force you grind out server first, but aim to play well, and enjoy it. Some of us play a few hours a few, some a few days a week. We have a mumble server that will be used a fair bit, and R rated language happens, although offensive language is not tolerated. Most importantly NO DRAMA and Treat others as you wish to be treated. We play games to have fun, leave the drama in RL.

If that sounds interesting to you, and want more information see our guild site at Occasionally Excellent. (http://occasionallyexcellent.guildportal.com/Guild.aspx?GuildID=458303&ForumID=2217872&PostCount=1&TabID=3944682&TopicID=10196022&Page=1#48660846) to apply or PM me here.

[Shadow]

Well, got my netbook back. Now to purchase a bigger memory chip and the game...

Ummm.... I don't know what kind of netbook you have, but I'm going to hazard a guess that it probably doesn't have sufficient CPU/GPU to play the game in any actually *playable* fashion. I'm no expert by any means, but I can't think of a single netbook that would be able to handle Gw2.
I'd check that out before spending money on more memory and the game itself.

To put it simply: if it even had a *chance* of running Gw2 in any playable fashion, it would be called a laptop instead of a netbook.

[Turalisj]

Why 25+ for the age? That's going to, well, cut off a lot of interest. Why not make it 18+?


And I'm rocking a Lenovo Y570 with 8gig of RAM, an i7 processor, and a GT 555M video card. Should be plenty strong.

[Ogremindes]

Oh, as world transfers are going to be free at launch we can wait and see what the populations are like before deciding where to set up.


Well, I might start up something. Legacy of Whispers. I need to see the game first though....

I was thinking of starting up something with an OotS-themed name to serve as a general Playground guild. "Knights of the Green Hilt" or something.

[Sith_Happens]

Oh, as world transfers are going to be free at launch we can wait and see what the populations are like before deciding where to set up.

I was thinking of starting up something with an OotS-themed name to serve as a general Playground guild. "Knights of the Green Hilt" or something.

"The Sapphire Guard" would make a pretty cool guild name, though you might want to clear it with the Giant for politeness's sake.

[Turalisj]

Why not The Linear Guild? :smalltongue:

Nah, I may end up doing my own guild. Or seeing if people from one of the old guilds I was in are still around...

[Ogremindes]

Why not The Linear Guild? :smalltongue:

Nah, I may end up doing my own guild. Or seeing if people from one of the old guilds I was in are still around...

You can belong to multiple guilds (you can only use one at a time but you can switch freely), so it's not like you have to choose between your old guildmates and GiTP.

[Warreck]

I don't think I've noticed it being said here, and I apologize if it has and I missed it, but as I saw the name Tarnished Coast mentioned a couple times, I figured I'd stop by and say something!

Despite being amazingly well-suited for roleplaying and such, Guild Wars 2 doesn't currently have any officially-chosen and moderated RP server, like WoW or other MMOs do. But there are many roleplayers interested in it, and therefore we have gathered and decided to gather on two servers - Tarnished Coast for the US, and Piken Square for EU, to be the unofficial RP servers.

Now, of course people are welcome to roll wherever they want, and most of the RPers seem to know and understand there'll be plenty of non-RPers around us, but for any of you who is interested in RP, casual or serious or anything, feel free to come visit us there.

Furthermore, if you'd rather go for another server with friends, but still interested in RP, I'm sure you can find someone willing to guest you on TC / PS occasionally.

If there's any questions, curiosity, or an interest in Guild Wars 2 RP, there's an unofficial site right here. (http://www.guildwars2roleplayers.com/home)

Hoping to see you all at launch!

[Turalisj]

I'll probably make my character on Tarnished Coast, even if I won't roleplay a great deal on there.

[Ogremindes]

"The Sapphire Guard" would make a pretty cool guild name, though you might want to clear it with the Giant for politeness's sake.

It would be a cool name, but a google search for "sapphire guard" comes up with a WoW guild as the second result. So maybe not.

[Turalisj]

The Priests of Banjo.

[Chromascope3D]

"The Greysky Thieves' Guild Chapter's Fighter Outreach Program"

[Turalisj]

Does anyone still play Guild Wars 1? I need to get some more stuff for the Hall of Monuments!

http://hom.guildwars2.com/en/#page=main&details=hIAAAElCAMCAAAAAAgDAAAAAAAAAAAAADEEAAAAAAA A&todo=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[Hullabaloo]

Yes, ArenaNet is having another Stress test.

12-4 Pacific, 2-6 Central, 3-7 Eastern
Tuesday, Aug 21st 3-7 EDT

From ArenaNet:
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!

From Massively:
In an ongoing effort to make the Guild Wars 2 servers fit for the teeming masses that will descend upon them at launch, ArenaNet has declared yet another stress test.

Characters will not be wiped before the stress test, and as always, the test is open only to those who have already pre-purchased Guild Wars 2.

In the announcement of the event, the ArenaNet team reminded fans that they "might experience connectivity problems" and that any such issues "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."
Another one!

[Turalisj]

I'll be joining this one!

Hopefully on Tarnished Coast with a brand new Human Thief. Look for Jungle Nin III.

[Shadow]

Now that we've decided, I thought I'd post here and let you guys know. There will be at least one Playgrounder on Dragonbrand. That's where my (first) guild has decided to call home.
http://nqtr.guildportal.com

[Mattarias, King.]

:smallsmile: Thought I'd pop in to say that I'll be burninating things on Fort Aspenwood on the 25th! Seems that's where my RL friends are going to be. Might hop on TC on occasion though.

:smallbiggrin: Can't wait! I picked up GW1/EotN as well, hoping to maybe get that Flameseeker title someday.

Did I mention I like fire? I like fire. :smalltongue:

[Treayn]

Woo 1 more day until release!

A queston that's slipped my mind all this time: What'll be your personal focus in the game? PvE, PvP, WvW, or something else perhaps?

[Turalisj]

I'm not going to focus entirely on one thing.

[Ogremindes]

Woo 1 more day until release!

A queston that's slipped my mind all this time: What'll be your personal focus in the game? PvE, PvP, WvW, or something else perhaps?

Probably PvE, as I tend to panic in PvP. That said, WvWvW does look interesting.

[Shadow]

Have a few character names picked out ready for launch?
Here's something to pass a little time this evening. Go to the Hall of Monuments Reward Calculator (http://hom.guildwars2.com/en/#page=welcome) and check your characters' [planned] names to see if they've been taken by someone from Gw1 or not. Single word names could not be reserved as no single word names were allowed in Gw1, and just because a name is listed there does not necessarily mean that it has been reserved for Gw2 [but it probably has been].
All of mine were still available :smallsmile:

[Hullabaloo]

Very cool, thanks! I was looking around for one of those a ways back and could not find it. Most of my names are not taken, although one is.

I know they are doing a second release, if someone does not claim their GW1 name in the first X amount of hours or days. Anyone know what that cut off is?

Wooot! Only 14 or so hours!

[Pie Guy]

Erg. Can't decide whether to upgrade to digital deluxe or not.

[Mattarias, King.]

:smallbiggrin: Ohhh, so excited! Still can't decide what setup I want on my fire ele. Twin daggers is nice, but scepters give you phoenix, and staves are long range, and aaagh.. ...Screw it, I'll wield everything! :smalltongue: Beware my Fostafftagger!! :smallbiggrin:

Glad my names aren't reserved, but I tend to stick with only a few original ones anyways. Heh.

...And, wait, you can upgrade? :smallconfused: How do? I wouldn't mind having a badass fire wolf...

OH! Question- Anyone have any good guides/advice on filling up your Hall of Monuments?

[Pie Guy]

Huh. I thought you could, but I guess not right now.

http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9048/kw/deluxe

[Mattarias, King.]

Huh. I thought you could, but I guess not right now.

http://en.support.guildwars2.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9048/kw/deluxe

Aah. Good to know. Thanks. :smallsmile:

[Toastkart]

Unfortunately, I'll be working first thing tomorrow morning and won't have a chance to play until midafternoon sometime. Blarg.



A queston that's slipped my mind all this time: What'll be your personal focus in the game? PvE, PvP, WvW, or something else perhaps?

I'm a primarily pve player, but I might check out spvp and wvw from time to time.


:smallbiggrin: Ohhh, so excited! Still can't decide what setup I want on my fire ele. Twin daggers is nice, but scepters give you phoenix, and staves are long range, and aaagh.. ...Screw it, I'll wield everything! :smalltongue: Beware my Fostafftagger!! :smallbiggrin:


I have the same problem with most of the classes I plan to play. For the guardian especially, I really enjoy great sword, staff, and sword/offhand play, and I like all the off-hands. I'll probably spend a lot of time switching things up.

[Ogremindes]

I was thinking of starting up something with an OotS-themed name to serve as a general Playground guild. "Knights of the Green Hilt" or something.

Going back through the thread the only particular concentration of playgrounders seems to be on Tarnished Coast. So I guess I'll set up there.

EDIT

BTW, game's totally up.

[Togath]

I'll probably try it out some time in the next week or so(cant decide whether to aim for a virtual copy, or to wait and get a disk copy, like i usually do with world of warcraft)

[DwarvenExodus]

I know that nobody is going to read this for months, due to the sudden inactivity on this thread starting in roughly 17 minutes, but less than 18 minutes to go! Wooo! :smallbiggrin:

[Ogremindes]

I was thinking of starting up something with an OotS-themed name to serve as a general Playground guild. "Knights of the Green Hilt" or something.

I've set up the guild "The Order Of The Green Hilt" with the tag [GitP] to serve as a general Playground guild. Post here or send me or TheLightWraith.1846 a message in-game if you want to join, and let me know if you want to be an officer (see below for ranks). Remember that you can join cross-server, and you can belong to multiple guilds.

EDIT

There is now more granularity in ranks, in no small part because I wanted to follow a theme with the names. The available ranks are as follows, with higher ranks having all the privileges of the lower ones:


Seneschal -Build Guild Upgrades
Commander -Claim/unclaim WvWvW forts, Trove
Marshal -Activate Guild Upgrades
Knight -Recruit
Squire -Use Stash, New Members Here

Some of these privileges refer to upgrades we don't have yet.

[JSSheridan]

How did the early access launch go?

[Pie Guy]

How did the early access launch go?

All the servers are down.

[Ogremindes]

How did the early access launch go?

It was going fine for a while and then the account server went down.

[Tono]

But strickly speaking, 6~8 hours up (forget exact time) for MMO launch is pretty damn good. Especially for how well they were running last night.

[Shadow]

I know that nobody is going to read this for months, due to the sudden inactivity on this thread starting in roughly 17 minutes, but less than 18 minutes to go! Wooo! :smallbiggrin:

When you posted that I had already been creating characters and playing for almost three hours.
The servers went up around 11pm central.

[Hullabaloo]

Ya I got on right at midnight EST, saved my 4/5 names (Professor Chaos was taken from GW1, but got Prof Chaos) and played for about 2 hours. Checked around 7AM and it was down, went back to bed, and it was up and running when I got up. Gonna put in some serious time this after noon :)

[LightWraith]

I've set up the guild "The Order Of The Green Hilt" with the tag [GitP] to serve as a general Playground guild. Post here or send me a message in-game if you want to join, and let me know if you want to be an officer.

Hey, you can count me in, I'm TheLightWraith.1846 in game. I probably won't have time to be all officer-like though, so just regular member works for me.


This game is a lot of fun! :smallcool:

[Hullabaloo]

I've set up the guild "The Order Of The Green Hilt" with the tag [GitP] to serve as a general Playground guild. Post here or send me a message in-game if you want to join, and let me know if you want to be an officer.

My current understanding of the set up, please correct me if im wrong.

-I have my main guild I want to be in and represent.
-I can join a second guild, not 'represent' them, but still be in the guild, sort of like a friend list?

If so, I'd love to join :).

There is a very real risk of me becoming a fanboi of the game.

[Ogremindes]

Hey, you can count me in, I'm TheLightWraith.1846 in game. I probably won't have time to be all officer-like though, so just regular member works for me.

Invited.


My current understanding of the set up, please correct me if im wrong.

-I have my main guild I want to be in and represent.
-I can join a second guild, not 'represent' them, but still be in the guild, sort of like a friend list?

If so, I'd love to join :).

That's how it works. Let me know your username and I'll invite you.


There is a very real risk of me becoming a fanboi of the game.
Way ahead of you.

[Shadow]

-I have my main guild I want to be in and represent.
-I can join a second guild, not 'represent' them, but still be in the guild, sort of like a friend list?
Only it isn't limited to two, and you can also change which guild you're representing at any time you like.

I'm actually in three guilds. Mine [because I wanted the tag reserved in case I ever decide I want a guild of my own], some guildies from a different game [which I represent as an officer and usually run with], and some high school friends from a different server [that I will guest to once in a while for dungeon runs once that option exists].

[Ogremindes]

I probably won't have time to be all officer-like though, so just regular member works for me.

I added more granularity to the ranks. So there's now a recruiter rank ("Knight") and such.

[Neftren]

I'm probably going to pick this game up soon. I heard all the RP'ers and such are joining Tarnished Coast, so I'll probably end up heading there.

Anyone else ending up on Tarnished Coast?



Also, what's the deal with all the "Full" servers? Is that a hardcap (seems a bit strange if it operates that way)?

[Hullabaloo]

That's how it works. Let me know your username and I'll invite you.

DrChaos.1469


I'm on tarnished coast and there was not any RPing in /map or /shout. I think there are 2-3 guilds, at various levels of RP seriousness, that have a decent following already on Tarnished Coast.

I think the Full servers was a light cap, to disperse people over the first week, then they will lift that. Free server transfers for a short amount of time.

[Ogremindes]

DrChaos.1469

Invite sent.

[Ogremindes]

Just got my Collectors Edition. Wow, I did not realize just how huge that thing is.

[Legoshrimp]

Alright pre ordered the game. I am on Tarnished coast

LegoShrimp.1264

Add me to the guild when you get a chance!

So far have been playing an elementilist(only level 5).

[Ogremindes]

Alright pre ordered the game. I am on Tarnished coast

LegoShrimp.1264

Add me to the guild when you get a chance!

So far have been playing an elementilist(only level 5).

Invite sent.

[Hullabaloo]

There have been some issues with guilds. I sent out 5-6 invites to people I met in game, and they were not in the guild upto 8 hours later. I had the same issue joining the GitPG guild (I'm in now!).

Also when I was trying to buy guild perks, I could not make a queue. And now that we have economy and architecture I, I cant buy the second Architecture step (while we do have enough points). Meh just the prerelease, and not a major issue.

I played way to much this weekend, but it is a very nice game. Lots of great exploring, and not grindy yet. Messed with crafting a bit, but mostly just ran around doing stuff. Double thumbs up.

[OracleofSilence]

Username: OracleofSilence.2741

currently a Ranger lvl 11

[LightWraith]

There have been some issues with guilds. I sent out 5-6 invites to people I met in game, and they were not in the guild upto 8 hours later. I had the same issue joining the GitPG guild.

I think this issue is caused by the overflow system. I couldn't accept the invite while I was in overflow but once I made it onto the server proper it went through pretty quickly. Could just be some system hiccups going on though.

I too played more than I should have (or not as much as I should have... one of those) this weekend. I'm really enjoying it. I've got my elementalist to 14. The Asura dodging is fun to watch. I flip off ledges pretty frequently just for the heck of it.

[Legoshrimp]

Invite sent.

Thanks :) in the guild now but I switched servers because. Everyone on the mumble server I go to is in piken square.

[Delusion]

Damn jumpng Puzzles are time sink. Spend an hour doing Morgan's leap + Dark Reverie, and another hour yesterday doing Goam's Lab.

Really fun though.

[Turalisj]

JungleNin.8379

Send an invite to the guild plz.

[Ogremindes]

JungleNin.8379

Send an invite to the guild plz.
Invite sent.

[Legoshrimp]

Also I am streaming my leveling in GW2 if anyone is interested http://www.twitch.tv/legoshrimp
Streaming right now and probably will be most of today. Also playing a human elementalist.

[Mattarias, King.]

:smallbiggrin: Human Ellies ftw!

Mattarias.7915 if anyone wants to shoot me an invite. Apparently you can be in a guild from a different world..? :smallconfused:

[Ogremindes]

:smallbiggrin: Human Ellies ftw!

Mattarias.7915 if anyone wants to shoot me an invite. Apparently you can be in a guild from a different world..? :smallconfused:

Sure can. I'll send you one once I'm at my computer. Done.

[Neftren]

So apparently this game is all sold out on Green Man Gaming. :smallfurious:

[Hiro Protagonest]

You could always just buy here (https://buy.guildwars2.com/en/).

[Neftren]

You could always just buy here (https://buy.guildwars2.com/en/).

Yes, but why pay an unnecessary extra $12?

[Legoshrimp]

Yes, but why pay an unnecessary extra $12?

How is it an extra 12? looking at it they are both 60.

[Togath]

A quick question about guildwars 2; how inaccurate are some of the older videos on it? Such as the ones yogcast did when it first entered public beta, are there still enough things remaining from that period that those videos are still somewhat useful?(I largely ask as I'll be able to get a copy of guildwars 2 either tomorrow[if I go with a disk] or on the 31st[if I go with a digital copy])
edit: also, acording to the wiki I could give a human or asura an afro, how do they look in game?, I sort of like the idea of having a character with one.

[Xefas]

The leveling pace seems to be a bit off, as far as I've been able to gather so far. I have a Charr who has already done all the Charr-Area Hearts up to level 18 (that is, even going into Diessa), 100%'d Ashford and the Black Citadel, done all of his My Story stuff up to level ~18, participated in every passing event that he was ever notified of, utilized a +50% xp boost, and done some crafting.

He's still only level 15.

I refuse to grind for three levels, so I went and made an Asura. Same problem, but he's level 13, having burned out everything up to level ~16.

I thought World vs World (vs World) might be the solution, but I spent ~40 minutes, solely running to where fights were being indicated to me (via the map, and by the chat), without ever getting into a fight.

I'm sad, because the game is otherwise very entertaining. It's just killing my enthusiasm with this wall where I either have to grind a ridiculous amount, or go to another race's starting zone and do content that I've already done, or am planning to do with a different character.

[Ogremindes]

The leveling pace seems to be a bit off, as far as I've been able to gather so far. I have a Charr who has already done all the Charr-Area Hearts up to level 18 (that is, even going into Diessa), 100%'d Ashford and the Black Citadel, done all of his My Story stuff up to level ~18, participated in every passing event that he was ever notified of, utilized a +50% xp boost, and done some crafting.

He's still only level 15.

I refuse to grind for three levels, so I went and made an Asura. Same problem, but he's level 13, having burned out everything up to level ~16.

I thought World vs World (vs World) might be the solution, but I spent ~40 minutes, solely running to where fights were being indicated to me (via the map, and by the chat), without ever getting into a fight.

I'm sad, because the game is otherwise very entertaining. It's just killing my enthusiasm with this wall where I either have to grind a ridiculous amount, or go to another race's starting zone and do content that I've already done, or am planning to do with a different character.

Odd. I haven't had any trouble levelling my Sylvari, and the Charr zones should be better tuned. I feel like you must be missing something, but what I couldn't say. Actually, shouldn't you be moving on to the next zone at 15 anyway?

[Astrella]

Exploring, doing a bit of crafting, making sure you fully complete your capital (That's worth about a level and a half.) and I think the game encourages you to check out the other starting areas a bit. Then again I've been doing that so much helping other people that I'm now 27 in a 15-25 zone, so... :smalltongue:

Edit: In your specific case, have you checked out crafting? Discovering new recipes gives you huge amounts of experience. And just wait with the story bits until you catch up in level again.

[Shadow]

There are four things which will help immensely that people aren't doing.
1. Explore, and kill things along the way. The longer a mob has been alive in the game world, the more bonus XP it's worth. Finding nooks and crannies off of the beaten path will sometimes be worth more XP than the Heart you were hoping to find.
2. Talk to NPCs. There are TONS of NPCs which have names, and most people run right by them because they don't have an icon over their heads. Many of these NPCs will start an event if you talk to them. If he has a name, talk to him.
3. After an event, DO NOT run off. That's what most people do. Hang out for a minute if nothing happens. If the NPC runs off, follow them. Often these will chain into something else, but most players have run off after finishing the last one and miss the follow up.
4. Crafting. Harvesting resources is worth XP. Crafting is worth both crafting XP *and* character XP. Do it.

Then you could do as Astrella mentions and travel to another starter zone.
The easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to do that is to go to your Hero screen, click the crossed swords on the left side to enter PvP, go to the Heart of the Mists, travel through the portal directly ahead of you to Lion's Arch, and go north over the bridge. There you'll find a hub of Asura gates which will lead you to the hub city of every starter zone in the game. You can tell which zone the gate leads to by the NPCs standing around it.

[Tono]

Make sure you're doing events. My Asura hung out a lot around the Reactor until I was ~16 ish just doing the events and stuff. Make sure you're getting the daily Achievement exp aswall. That thing is huge and the gold is nice. Also, if you can get in on the Fire Elemental, even if its only at the tail end of things, the exp is nice, and the drops are good too. not to mention the events leading up to it gives you what, 1.5k exp? and take not much time at all.
And if you get too tired there head north and do those events. For me events and random exploration are the brute of my exp, with hearts and story line quest coming behind. And crafting, but not so much.

[Shadow]

You also need to take into account the fact that most games are designed to lead you around by the nose. Gw2 is designed to be explored. If you play it as if it should be leading you, you'll probably be disappointed or under leveled.

[Neftren]

How is it an extra 12? looking at it they are both 60.

Green Man Gaming has 20% off coupon.

[Yuki Akuma]

You can't keep up with the areas you're leveling in if you do nothing but hearts and events. You should be crafting, exploring, doing jumping puzzles, etc. etc.

World versus World can help you earn XP, too. Don't just run around following the zerg - protect supply caravans, take keeps, defend keeps, etc. You earn a ton of XP and karma from actually fulfilling the objectives.

Oh, also: gathering item materials earns XP, as does reviving people, both PCs and NPCs. It may not seem like a lot but it'll add up. And if you're going to be crafting, don't craft a ton of the same thing - use the discovery system to make new things, it grants a ton of bonus xp. Also, try following NPCs - you'd be surprised how often they'll leave one event and lead you to another!

There's nothing wrong with the leveling in this game. What's wrong is that people seem to be treating it like WoW and just doing hearts. :smallwink:

Also, in the game as YukiAkuma.8639.

[Neftren]

Okay I'm in the game as Polytonic.4836!

[Xefas]

I've already been doing everything that has been suggested here. Like I said, I got 100% of the little map collectable things, did all the events that I could, have been gathering/crafting - I'm doing all of that stuff. I'm exploring, talking to people, and so on.

My Charr is still level 16 doing level 20-21 stuff.

At least, when fighting stuff 4 levels higher than yourself, you actually have to use the dodge mechanic. It sort of disappointed me that dodging is largely unnecessary against level appropriate enemies.

[Cikomyr]

Is there a demo i can try out? Shamus Young's review kind of tempted me.

Looking forward to recreate WoW's Warrior. Blademaster Rifleman :smallbiggrin:

[Emmerask]

Sadly currently no demo or trial version afaik.

[mucco]

At least, when fighting stuff 4 levels higher than yourself, you actually have to use the dodge mechanic. It sort of disappointed me that dodging is largely unnecessary against level appropriate enemies.

This is by design. This way, casual players can play their level's content while better ones can tackle areas where they're underleveled.

[Togath]

So I've gotten a disk copy, how do i download it?, I run disk one and then it loads for two screens, then closes, and ntohing else happens.
The problem also isn't listed in the support area

[MeatShield#236]

Mind adding me? I'm Meatshield.1945. Just making my character now.

[Morty]

Is there some sort of demo or trial version? I had some fun with Guild Wars 1 before I grew bored with it, and Guild Wars 2 looks pretty interesting, especially the way professions are handled. But I'd rather try it out before diving in.

[Cikomyr]

Is there some sort of demo or trial version? I had some fun with Guild Wars 1 before I grew bored with it, and Guild Wars 2 looks pretty interesting, especially the way professions are handled. But I'd rather try it out before diving in.

3 posts above yours

[Togath]

So, anyone know why i can't instal the game?, it can't even open the installer

[Morty]

3 posts above yours

Ah. I guess I should have read the whole thread. Oh well. Guess I'll have to rely on others' impressions.

[Cikomyr]

Ah. I guess I should have read the whole thread. Oh well. Guess I'll have to rely on others' impressions.

Me too..

Which started with Shamus's!! (http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=17077) :smallfurious:

[Emmerask]

So I've gotten a disk copy, how do i download it?, I run disk one and then it loads for two screens, then closes, and ntohing else happens.
The problem also isn't listed in the support area

I´m not entirely sure how the disk version works since I had a preorder version.

If everything else fails just go to the official guildwars site, add the serial number which should be inside your box to your account, then download the launcher/installer.
Just launch and it downloads all files required (this will take while ~15gb ^^)

[Togath]

I did use the installer from teh site, same problem happened
edit: do i select load or run from the site?
when i select save and run it it goes to one screen that loads about 10kb of something, then oen screen that loads 0 of something, and then it just fails to function.
I've tried googling the problem, but this error doesn't seem to exist for anyoen else who has tried guildwars 2.
edit: oddly the disk works fine on my latop
Could me having done a full wipe of my desktop removed soemthing that allowed things like the installer to run?
if all else fails, maybe I can send the installed version from my laptop to my desktop

[Emmerask]

The screen that loads the 0kb, is that the splash screen with the guildwars2 logo does it look like this:

http://www.pcgames.de/screenshots/667x375/2012/07/GW2_Launcher.JPG

?

/edit okay if it works fine with your laptop, could it be that you don´t have enough diskspace available on your pc ?

(maybe it checks that before downloading)

[Togath]

my disk space is nearly all empty, also, the screen does look like that one, with with only the picture, the words "guildwars 2" and a really big icon showing 0kb/at 0kb loaded, before vanishing.
edit: could an older computer have trouble?, my desktop is a fairly low-end computer from 2005 that I got as a used computer

[Cikomyr]

Stupid

stupid

stupid..

Remi, you are going to leave for the UK in 3 weeks. You will be starting a Master's degree, for god's sake!!

You will need to focus your entire time to read and study international politics. Also, you cannot afford to pay for a 60$ game.


So tell me, why did you just shelved out the money? Is it because Diablo III proved to be rather underwhelming after the initial weeks? Is that it?! You know what is your problem? You are a gamerholic. May you have the self-control to see you through your life projects.

[Emmerask]

my disk space is nearly all empty, also, the screen does look like that one, with with only the picture, the words "guildwars 2" and a really big icon showing 0kb/at 0kb loaded, before vanishing.
edit: could an older computer have trouble?, my desktop is a fairly low-end computer from 2005 that I got as a used computer

Well it shouldn´t have trouble downloading the files, in Game is another matter though outside of the open pvp (wvw) I had no problems with my older pc.

Are you the administrator (windows account?) maybe try right klicking the gw2.exe icon then select run as administrator

/edit with disk space empty I assume you mean you have more then enough diskspace (its a little unclear :smallbiggrin:)



Stupid

stupid

stupid..

Remi, you are going to leave for the UK in 3 weeks. You will be starting a Master's degree, for god's sake!!

You will need to focus your entire time to read and study international politics. Also, you cannot afford to pay for a 60$ game.


So tell me, why did you just shelved out the money? Is it because Diablo III proved to be rather underwhelming after the initial weeks? Is that it?! You know what is your problem? You are a gamerholic. May you have the self-control to see you through your life projects.

If you don´t overdo it its fine, one can´t just learn every single moment and having something relaxing (and cheap!) to do after you finished studying for the day is always nice :smallwink:

[Cikomyr]

If you don´t overdo it its fine, one can´t just learn every single moment and having something relaxing (and cheap!) to do after you finished studying for the day is always nice :smallwink:

That might be my saving grace. I plan to approach this degree like a full time job: 9 to 5 work and study, relax most evenings.

[Cikomyr]

Damn it. I try to confirm my email address, and the link they send me always ends in failure! Is that normal? :smallfrown:

[Ogremindes]

Damn it. I try to confirm my email address, and the link they send me always ends in failure! Is that normal? :smallfrown:

Yeah, it's a known issue. (http://support.guildwars2.com)

[TedEBearNC]

I'd like an invite as well, please. TedEBear.7150 :smallsmile:

[Cikomyr]

If someone can throw me an invite, I'd like to game with fella playgrounders..

FrankBill.9853

edit: nevermind, let me first actually join Tarnished Coast :smallbiggrin:

[Togath]

A quick question; can I have 5 characters per server, or 5 character, but soemtimes switch them ebtween servers?

[Foeofthelance]

Togath, did you resolve your earlier issue? My girlfriend is running into the same problem, and I wanted to know if you figured out how to fix it.

[Togath]

I wasn't able too, but i did get it to load(but run at only about 10 frames per second) on my laptop

[Foeofthelance]

Tis what I was afraid of.

[Ogremindes]

A quick question; can I have 5 characters per server, or 5 character, but soemtimes switch them ebtween servers?

5 characters total (can buy more slots from cash shop), all on the same server. You can presently switch server for free, but that will also become a cash purchase.

[Xefas]

5 characters total (can buy more slots from cash shop), all on the same server. You can presently switch server for free, but that will also become a cash purchase.

Are you sure? I seem to recall a lot of "We want you to be able to play with your friends, which is why you can join multiple guilds and switch servers for free any time you want, even though you're always bound by your own server's WvW rating to prevent griefing." being thrown around in interviews and such before the game's release.



Looking forward to recreate WoW's Warrior. Blademaster Rifleman :smallbiggrin:

I was pleasantly surprised by how awesome GW2 Warriors are with a rifle. I'm thinking of playing mine as a ranged support character once I can start doing dungeons.

I hope that talent that makes your shouts heal is still in the game. It was in the beta, but I haven't checked if it survived.

[Shadow]

Are you sure? I seem to recall a lot of "We want you to be able to play with your friends, which is why you can join multiple guilds and switch servers for free any time you want, even though you're always bound by your own server's WvW rating to prevent griefing." being thrown around in interviews and such before the game's release.

There will be a "Guesting" system added. Your home server is just that: your home. Once Guesting is introduced you will be able to log into any server that you wish, which means that you will be able to play on any server that you like, and be in guilds from multiple servers.
This will come with a few restrictions, such as WvW being unavailable while Guesting, etc.
But your "home" server cannot be changed unless you pay gems to do so [after the temporarily free transfer period ends].

[Xefas]

There will be a "Guesting" system added. Your home server is just that: your home. Once Guesting is introduced you will be able to log into any server that you wish, which means that you will be able to play on any server that you like, and be in guilds from multiple servers.
This will come with a few restrictions, such as WvW being unavailable while Guesting, etc.
But your "home" server cannot be changed unless you pay gems to do so [after the temporarily free transfer period ends].

Ah, okay. That makes sense. Thank you for elaborating.

[Cikomyr]

That game is quite fun for now. The event system is chaotic as hell. I should be offered the option to turn down an event so I am not distracted by it as it happens.

(you have my name/code, invite me at your convenience ;)

[Yuki Akuma]

That game is quite fun for now. The event system is chaotic as hell. I should be offered the option to turn down an event so I am not distracted by it as it happens.

(you have my name/code, invite me at your convenience ;)

You can just ignore them.

[Turalisj]

No one is forcing you to run towards an event.... I ignore them if they are one I have done before or if I'm doing something more important (like getting map completion)

[Ogremindes]

If someone can throw me an invite, I'd like to game with fella playgrounders..

FrankBill.9853


That game is quite fun for now. The event system is chaotic as hell. I should be offered the option to turn down an event so I am not distracted by it as it happens.

(you have my name/code, invite me at your convenience ;)

You sure on that username? 'cause the game says no one has that name.

Nevermind, works now.

[Togath]

How is warrior for soloing?, currently I'm using sword+horn(for increased mobility) with longbow as my alt weapon.

[Cikomyr]

I solo somewhat fine with my Warrior at the moment. My Maul of Vitality kinda helps me survive long. With the Maul, I can easily smash through 3-4 mobs at once.

Btw, I tried the Sword/Horn, but haven't seen the difference. What does the Horn do?

2 swords is... Fine, but underwhelming at the moment. I think I so use to the Maul gameplay I suck with the swords for now. Still switch over them when
I feel I can afford it. This is something I like about te game so far: varying gameplay style based on weapons. It aint only a cosmetic change.


And u know I can just not join event, but their presence on the map kind of distracts me. I'd like to right-click and say "ignore this event".

[Togath]

Sword+horn grants a speed boost/snare removing and an ability which slightly reduces damage dealt by enemies, though I have been ponderign switching to something like the maul(slow, but very fun and very powerful), or perhaps a greatsword(much faster then a maul, but i think it deals less damage, it does have a charge ability though).

Longbow is pretty good as well, and deals good AoE damage(it's also fun with the bolas ability)

[Shadow]

I ignore them if they are one I have done before or if I'm doing something more important (like getting map completion)

You ignore acquiring XP/karma/cash in favor of getting map completion a little bit faster?
I *never* ignore events. I will stop doing whatever I'm in the middle of if/when one triggers near me.

[Togath]

That does remind me, does every zone have the parkour/jumping puzzle vistas?, They're a pretty fun variant on normal exploration

[Shadow]

Every zone that I've been in through three BWEs and after launch has had them, but I can't speak for zones that I haven't been in. All signs point to "yes."

[Cikomyr]

I like the xp gained for every actions you take; fighting, rezzing, mining, picking flowers, parkour...

Now if only i had an inkling of what to do with all tha copper ore. Or on what exactly I should use the salvage packs.

Edit: ohh! Quick fun moment i had. I was fighting Ice Elementals (yhea I'm a Norr, sue me), and was having quite a lot of trouble defeating them.

Until it dawned on me to actually DODGE the top-down ice attack when I see a red circle on the floor...

*facepalm* Remi, this ain't WoW, remember. You actually have to be careful of your positioning. Reach/ranged attacks will merely miss if you are out of range. CHECK YOUR POSITIONNING

This is fun!!! :smallbiggrin:

[Astrella]

Copper Ore is used in several of the crafting professions; I'm sure of Jewelcrafting, Armorcrafting and Weaponcrafting, not if it's used in any others. (Best check the wiki for that.)

Salvage packs can be used on any equipment and on items that have the Salvageable tag on them. The quality of your salvage kit determines if you retrieve special resources such as sigils and rare materials.

And yeah, that's a really awesome thing the dodging. A friend of mine and I were fighting this huge elemental in the Human starting area which rained down projectiles all the time which you had to dodge.

Crafting's been really fun so far (been doing Chef and Jewelcrafting), the only downside seems to be that some crafting professions like Weaponcrafting don't really have enough recipes to discover between 25 and 75 which makes leveling up rather grindy. Luckily we've been trading a lot of materials inside our guild which makes things easier but still...

[Xefas]

I've decided to just suck it up and do the Norn starting zone. The level disparity was getting too stupid.


How is warrior for soloing?, currently I'm using sword+horn(for increased mobility) with longbow as my alt weapon.

(Continuing the Warrior discussion above.) I've tried all of the warrior weapons, except Axe/Axe, and my favorite is Rifle + Axe/Mace. Single targets (even 5 levels higher than you, I can attest) are trivially kited and destroyed with the rifle. Heck, even fighting knockback immune enemies like the Earth Elementals in Diessa (who were 20 when I was 15), so you can't use the rifle butt skill, you can still just strafe and use crippling shot on cooldown and they won't touch you.

Axe/Mace I'm actually liking more for taking out groups of enemies than the Greatsword because I find Hundred Blades to be really frustrating that it can't be used on the move. Axe/Mace gives you two AoE abilities (one of which hits behind you), and has a wide arc on the auto-attack, similar to the Greatsword. It has much less mobility than the Greatsword, without its two movement skills, but I don't find that a huge loss in PvE.

[Mynxae]

Many people on this thread who've tried the Mesmer? A WoW friend of mine bought GW2 for me (couldn't afford it for a month, love him forever!) only an hour or so ago, I'm downloading it now (12%!), and that's the profession I want to try first, because they look the coolest and the most fun. But also the most tricky :3

[Yuki Akuma]

Mesmers are pretty fun. Remember your shatter skills, though! A lot of your burst damage comes from exploding your illusions in people's faces.

If you're going to go Mesmer, though, I have a request: if you're fighting a boss that doesn't have any adds, and you see an ally who's downed or defeated... don't use Illusion of Life, for the love of God.

[Mynxae]

Illusion of Life? O.o What's that do, like a rez or something?

I also think Mesmers would be outrageously fun in PvP *evil giggle*

[Yuki Akuma]

Illusion of Life is an AoE skill that immediately rallies downed allies within its area of effect... for a few seconds. If they don't kill anything within the time limit, they're immediately defeated, bypassing the downed state entirely.

You can see why this would be a bad thing in a battle with a single high-HP boss, yes?

It happened to me earlier today. :smallannoyed:

[Mynxae]

Bahahahaha.. That would be quite amusing mid-boss-battle, wouldn't it? The Ultimate trolling ability for my WoW friends on GW2 xD

On another note: 17% downloaded! -_- Been downloading it for three hours too.. But my roommate (also future bro-in-law) is downloading it too. xD Damnit!

[Delusion]

I have a mesmer alt though she is only level 8. She is pretty fun though using mantras gets annoying rather fast. There is only so many times you can listen to "Heal, Vital, Recovery!" before you want to scream.

Though there is bug that if you use MoR underwater your character says "Healhealhealhealhealhealheal, Vital, Recovery!"

[Mynxae]

xDDD That would be so funny that I would probably fall over laughing.. At least the first time it happened!

[Cikomyr]

Well need to recreate the Order of the Sticl, I hope you are aware of that?

- Big Black Bald fighter, 2-h sword
- Redhead thief
- Small-sized ranger
- small and stout Guardian
- Androgyn Purple-haired elementalist
- ...... Sorry Élan. You are screwed here

Edit: fail all around apparently. we'd need a blond human Mesmer.

Woah. I'm stupid today

[Delusion]

Well need to recreate the Order of the Sticl, I hope you are aware of that?

- Big Black Bald fighter, 2-h sword
- Redhead thief
- Small-sized ranger
- small and stout Guardian
- Androgyn Purple-haired elementalist
- ...... Sorry Élan. You are screwed here

Edit: fail all around apparently. we'd need a blond human Mesmer.

Woah. I'm stupid today

Elan is a mesmer with a sword.

[Cikomyr]

Hence my edit :smallbiggrin:

Who's with me for a common group of OotS Alts?

I want :Belkar:

[Neftren]

Okay I'm in the game as Polytonic.4836!

Still waiting on an invite, if anyone could provide... :smallconfused:

[Yuki Akuma]

So.

The Asura emotes are adorable.

Who agrees?

[Morty]

I have to say I'm really tempted to try out Guild Wars 2. The skill design seems a lot more elegant than in Guild Wars 1. I remember playing Mesmer in GW1... it was a strong profession, potentially, but good luck figuring out how to use it properly. Also, they got rid of the Monk profession. Guess they figure out the healbot role is as boring as watching paint dry. :smalltongue:

[Penguinizer]

So.

The Asura emotes are adorable.

Who agrees?

The Asura are pretty much universally adorable.

As for Mesmers, I'm liking Sword+Pistol and Greatsword. Greatsword has good long range damage with some Aoe and the Sword+Pistol gives you plenty of single target damage. Both also have some crowd control for defense. Staff is also good.

Playing a Mesmer after having played GW1 is weird, the mesmers in GW2 seem to be more of a damage focused class with some slows and DoTs. Still, they're fun.

[Ogremindes]

Still waiting on an invite, if anyone could provide... :smallconfused:

Done.

On a related note, anyone willing to volunteer for the recruiter rank?

[Penguinizer]

I'm curious, who here here has done Caudacu's Manor? It felt easier than Ascalon Catacombs for me, I was surprised as was the rest of my party. It was a really fun dungeon though.

[Turalisj]

Can I get an invite to the guild again? I accidentally left when trying to figure out why it wouldn't let me represent....

[Nadevoc]

I'm XenonAtom.8429

Though I'm still not really sure what I'm doing or even which profession I want to stick with

[MeatShield#236]

Mind adding me? I'm Meatshield.1945. Just making my character now.

Would also like an invite. Playing an Asura Guardian; punting things twice my size with a war hammer NEVER gets old.

[Togath]

How common are abilities like the engineer/rifle rocket jump thing?, or like the 1 handed sword/warrior jumping charge?, I've found them useful for jumping puzzles, and for traveling in general, but have eebn thinking of trying out another class, but wanted to pick oen with mobility

[Ogremindes]

How common are abilities like the engineer/rifle rocket jump thing?, or like the 1 handed sword/warrior jumping charge?, I've found them useful for jumping puzzles, and for traveling in general, but have eebn thinking of trying out another class, but wanted to pick oen with mobility

I don't think ground-targeted movement is all that common, but it's not something I've been looking for. Many melee weapons have an enemy-targeted lunge, though.

[Xefas]

So, I got 101% critical hit chance.

http://i.imgur.com/LqLZA.jpg
Dunno how long that'll last, or how useful it really is, but still cool.

[Turalisj]

Oh god it's the surfer boy Charr.

[Togath]

an I gain xp for doing zones lower in level then me?, or can I only gain achievements and skill points?
I also wasn't sure which kit abilities would be useful while leveling an engineer, the grenade kit turned out to be good, but the medi-kit is pretty much useless.
Also, could i get a guild invite?, my name+number thingy is; Doffen.4726
Though I'll probably mostly only be online for about 2-6 hours a day currently, and at most 2-3 hours in a row(then again, from my experience so far, quest chains and dungeons and those sorts of things can both be stopped easily, and don't take 3-6 hours to finish a single mid level quest/dungeon, which is a nice change from something such as ddo)

[milleris]

So through playing GW1 for 6 years andafter waiting for what....3 years for this to come out? I still can't get it yet because I'm poor and my laptop practically runs on coal :smallfurious: Anybody have experience with the Necro? From the early videos I saw they look to be condition and DoT based? I'm not so interested in minions, unless they're more interesting than straight damage. With the Mesmer taking a more burst damage direction, Iwant to play a character similiar to the GW1 mesmer.

[Togath]

I think the ranger and warrior have a lot of DoTs and condition effects, especially if they use bows.
Necro is more based on minion(though the minions do have many different types of abilities, one is even used as one of your heals) zergs though, I think.
Engineer also has a lot of condidtion effects.

[Yuki Akuma]

I don't think ground-targeted movement is all that common, but it's not something I've been looking for. Many melee weapons have an enemy-targeted lunge, though.

Thieves and Mesmers have a ground-targeted teleport... but I don't think it lets you cross gaps. :(

[Togath]

Aye, I've tried out the thief one, it would be good in pvp though(though it doesn't help any with getting vistas)

[Toastkart]

So through playing GW1 for 6 years andafter waiting for what....3 years for this to come out? I still can't get it yet because I'm poor and my laptop practically runs on coal :smallfurious: Anybody have experience with the Necro? From the early videos I saw they look to be condition and DoT based? I'm not so interested in minions, unless they're more interesting than straight damage. With the Mesmer taking a more burst damage direction, Iwant to play a character similiar to the GW1 mesmer.

The closest thing to the GW1 mesmer is the GW2 mesmer. Many of the mesmer changes between games was to make them viable in the new trinity-less dynamic. I'd give them a try.

The necromancer is a very attrition based profession. Your stopping power isn't necessarily that high, but your staying power is. Minions are really only good if you go for the whole minion army. Individually they die too fast. Condition based builds are very powerful.

Don't get too attached to a build before you start playing the game, though. You'll want to try different combinations of weapons/skills out and may find you enjoy something more than you thought you would.

[Shadow]

have eebn thinking of trying out another class, but wanted to pick oen with mobility

Thieves and Mesmers have a ground-targeted teleport... but I don't think it lets you cross gaps. :(
Some of them do, some of them don't. Most of them don't, but it depends on the skill.

Thieves with almost any weapon set are inherently extremely mobile. They're all about stick & move fighting.
Engineers can be built for a lot of mobility.
Elementalists with an off hand dagger [and especially double dagger] are very mobile as well.
Every profession that I can think of has gap closers or retreats on at least one weapon set. But if you're looking for the most mobile profession with the least amount of work to get it, Thief is the answer.