I’ve been accumulating news snippets about the as-yet-to-be-formally-scheduled release of Guild Wars 2 for an email newsletter I send out to my friends and acquaintances in the Guild Wars community.
A very quiet week compared with the last couple of information-dense weeks.
Part 1: Discussion of previous news
- Melmoth registers strong disagreement with the Guild Wars 2 design team philosophy on armour styles.
- Eliot Lefebvre: “Talking about the representation of women in video games is usually an exercise in depression. [. . .] Comparatively speaking, MMOs deserve a medal for being remarkably open to both players and characters of both genders. And yet that’s damning with faint praise in the worst way. MMOs still leave a lot to be desired when it comes to how they handle women, in ways both subtle and searingly obvious. Female characters are generally expected to be in a state of perpetual undress, more often than not without a significant role in the storyline — and precisely because the genre is so far ahead of its contemporaries, complaints are often met with eye-rolling and derision.”
Part 2: Guild Wars news
- The game update announced last week was implemented on Tuesday. I didn’t check to see if there were any changes from the pre-announcement.
- An interview with Adam Trzonkowski, author of the Guild Leader’s Companion.
“When I started the book, there wasn’t much in print, and I felt like the whole concept was underrepresented. There weren’t a lot of outlets for people seeking advice on the internet, and few people thought to pick up a book on management to help them run their guild. You could find some good blogs, but in general, guild leaders didn’t have a lot of tools. There was also a lot of disinformation and what I call bad role models. People looked at Furor and said, “Now there is a good guild leader,” but was he really? If you modeled yourself after him, you might not necessarily succeed. I just didn’t see the right tools for the job and some of those tools felt pretty demanding. I wanted to include more general ideas and advice — general concepts that anyone can use.”
Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news
- “FUTUREPOLY, a digital arts training studio founded by ArenaNet artist Jason Stokes, is launching an eight-week long online master class on April 2 to help aspiring artists hone their craft with the help of seasoned professional artists.”
- Article about the Hylek. “Prolific and belligerent, hylek are froglike creatures that thrive in all types of water, but prefer to live in swampy areas. No matter where they claim their territory, hylek spawn in alarming quantities. Once reclusive and xenophobic, hylek can now be found farther and farther away from their spawning grounds. From the moment they’re born, hylek find themselves in a fierce competition with their brethren for food and shelter. Those who survive grow more aggressive as their bodies develop the toxins that they use to hunt their prey, protect their villages, and strike down their rivals. They are resourceful survivors, fierce warriors, and masters of poison. They are the hylek.”
- Eurogamer posts an extensive article about the Guild Wars 2 hands-on experience. “‘We don’t intend to be number two this time. We certainly have our sights set on number one.'”
“Can ArenaNet really deliver a mature MMO from day one, made to a higher standard than the market leader and not missing a single component? It’s hard not to be sceptical, but it’s also hard not to be impressed by the team’s ambition and execution. Guild Wars 2 is already polished, innovative and fun to play.”
