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. Another relatively quiet week in news about Guild Wars 2.
I got a few comments from non-gaming folks that these posts can get too long to scroll past, so it’s now in the extended post below.
Part 1: Discussion of previous news
- 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 Guild Wars Beyond material, keep this page bookmarked.
- Reminder: Guild Wars official support forum. Here is the FAQ page for the forums.
Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news
- Unconfirmed rumour: the third Guild Wars 2 tie-in novel will be called Seas of Sorrow and will be published in March, 2012.
- ArenaNet is heading to Comic-Con. “It’s almost time for San Diego Comic-Con, that annual celebration of all the good things in life. We love Comic-Con, so this year we’re packing our bags and heading south to the San Diego sunshine — and we’re bringing some Guild Wars 2 action with us! Read on for a break down of ArenaNet’s plans for this year’s Comic-Con!”
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Come one, come all. Except you. “If you’re not familiar with the system, here’s how it works: Groups advertise for what parts of the team build they still need, and each party search entry has a little addendum, such as “150+” or “75+”. This means that you have to show the group leader that number of Ghastly Summoning Stones before being allowed into the group. Those particular stones can only be obtained from the Underworld end chest, so the groups are essentially advertising: Don’t even try to play with us unless you can prove that you cleared UW “X” number of times. My initial reaction was annoyance. I rolled my eyes at the elitists and organized a UWSC training group within my guild. You see, I’m not a fan of one person telling another that she or he is unwelcome in a group without the accepted build. I’m in a guild and alliance that favors a BYOB(uild) approach — within reason, of course. Everyone is pretty easygoing, and if the group build lacks some necessary element or another someone will volunteer to switch. The focus is on having fun, so there’s not a lot of “run this build or leave.””
- Seattle Times: Big owner plays well for Seattle’s ArenaNet. “ArenaNet and PopCap took different routes. PopCap was largely self-funded, making relatively inexpensive, downloadable PC games. It didn’t take outside funding until 2009. ArenaNet needed more funding sooner, to build a huge and costly online world that would take years of work before the first sale. It started with venture financing, then began looking for a large industry partner in 2002. It ended up being acquired by NCsoft, a large Korean game publisher that used ArenaNet to build its presence in the United States. NCsoft later expanded in Seattle, opening its U.S. and European headquarters here in 2008.”
- And the final profession is… “ … still not announced. Today’s blog is about surprises. Most of us anticipate Guild Wars 2, and want more information on it. We’ve had many forum threads about what information we want next. But I ask here a simple question… what information do you NOT want? What is it that you want to discover by doing it yourself?”
