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.
Part 1: Discussion of previous news
- This week’s anniversary sale item at the Guild Wars in-game store is Guild Wars: Eye of the North.
- If you listen to podcasts, you might want to subscribe to the Guildcast weekly podcast.
- Reminder: the official Guild Wars 2 wiki is still growing, so it’s worth checking it out now and again for new information.
Part 2: Guild Wars news
- Reminder: If you’d like to keep track of the upcoming Winds of Change and other Guild Wars Beyond material, keep this page bookmarked.
- Game update for 23 May. The Developer Notes indicate that this is a small update to nerf a few Dervish skills which “allow players to output more pressure than is reasonable for the skill required”.
Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Analyzing the Engineer. “After watching the skill videos… well, an embarrassing number of times, I’ve come up with three or four distinct styles of weaponry. First there are the steampunk-style items: the Glue Shot pistols, the rifle carried by the human female Engineer, the turrets, and the flamethrower. Second, one item has a real-world modern feel — the now-infamous landmine. Third, there are very primitive items that I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see in Guild Wars 1, like the bomb pack, the health pack, and the exploding barrel. In fact, we do have exploding barrels in Eye of the North. Finally, there are brief glimpses here and there of rifles with a colonial feel to them, which seems to fit some of the early concept art. It all has a very inconsistent and slightly confusing feeling, and it leaves me both wondering what exactly this class is supposed to be and dying to know more. I need lore and history and design background — I need context, because I feel like there’s a method to the madness.”
- Exclusive Massively interview with Eric Flannum. “Unless you’ve been spelunking near the center of the earth for the past few days, you’re likely aware that ArenaNet recently unveiled Guild Wars 2‘s seventh class. Chances are high that you’re also aware of said class’s affinity for turrets, guns, and various contraptions meant to rain death down upon any unfortunate enemies that cross its path. Today, Massively presents a new interview with Guild Wars 2 lead designer Eric Flannum. Naturally, the guest of honor at this Tyrian banquet of exclusivity is the Engineer, and Flannum (along with several other ANet dignitaries) provides us with a few tasty mechanical appetizers before getting down to the lore-centric main course.”
- GuildMag Issue 7 is now available in HTML so you don’t need to download the PDF file. Interview with Eric Flannum is here.
- Winners of the Guild Wars 2 Ambassador contest.
- PC Gamer reviews the Engineer profession. “Like the Elementalist, the Engineer can completely swap out the set of weapon skills on their bar on the fly by activiting different kits, instead of by switching weapon sets mid-combat. It’s unconfirmed, but it certainly sounds like the Engineer’s Backpacks will function similarly to the Elementalists’ different “attunements” — which allow Elementalists to swap out their entire weapon skill set mid-combat — since the blog describes Backpacks as completely replacing the Engineer’s current weapon skills with skills from the Backpack kit.”
- Frequently Asked Questions about the Engineer. “Last week we rolled out the engineer, the multi-purpose, mechanically minded Guild Wars 2 profession. The engineer’s use of hardware like mines and turrets represents a departure from classic fantasy tropes and a whole new style of gameplay, so many of you had questions. Fortunately, we have answers! Read on for answers to common engineer questions!”
- Arenanet’s Tradeshow Summer. “What are you doing this summer? ArenaNet is making big plans for this year’s tradeshow season and we want you to join us. Read on for a breakdown of what we’re up to this year! Just like last year, we won’t be attending E3 this year. Instead, we’ll continue to focus on shows that allow us to share Guild Wars 2 directly with gamers.”
