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.
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.
- A Re-return to Guild Wars. “How long have we been together, Guild Wars? 73 months now? Maybe more, if we count the beta weeks (and we are!). It started out great. You took me to a wonderful and beautiful world rich with lore and secrets all while keeping me on my toes around every turn. You kept challenging me, just as I had thought I understood it all, and even after mastering, I kept going on, playing in unnatural and unique ways. Eventually, the shine you once held began to wear and fade, and at times it felt like you were taking advantage of my rose-tinted spectacles. I hate to bring it up again (no I don’t), but do you remember Aura of the Lich? Ah, the fun times I had using that skill on my necromancer who wielded it with an axe and laughed watching waves fell upon his shield only to die seconds later. This was the first major argument we had, Guild Wars, and it sure wasn’t the last.”
Part 3: Guild Wars 2 news
- Confirmed that the Guild Wars 2 closed Alpha is currently underway. No new information about closed or open Beta program, which are still expected later this year.
- SDCC ’11 Engineer walkthrough video.
- Guild Wars 2 panel at ComicCon video.
- Guild Wars 2 Story Preview video (new gameplay footage intercut with an interview with Jeff Grubb from the media open house a few weeks back).
- Talk Tyria: Caithe of the Firstborn. “It’s tough to talk about the sylvari because there’s still so much we don’t know about them. The newest of the playable races, they’re the only ones we haven’t encountered in Guild Wars and so we lack any hindsight for their existence or basis to really compare to. The state of their design also adds to the enigma; due to their nature as “plant-people”, their physical appearance is very important to understanding how they work in general. Do they use the sun for energy? What effects does seasonal “birth” have, if any? Etc. We won’t know for a while, and until then our primary source of information comes from the sylvari characters we encounter in the two companion novels. Which brings us to Caithe, the most well-known sylvari of them all.”
- NCSoft Purchases Seoul-Based Mobile Dev Hotdog Studio. “NCsoft also intends to include a strong mobile component with its upcoming subscription-free MMO Guild Wars 2, offering an app for iOS/Android devices and browsers that enables users to chat with others, view real-time maps, and more. The ArenaNet-developed game does not yet have a release date.”
- Necrobator: Exclusive SDCC Interview with Colin Johanson. “Over the course of the weekend during SDCC, we had the opportunity to sit down with Guild Wars 2 Lead Content Designer Colin Johanson to talk about the necro, combat roles and much, much more. Today we’ve got the first part of the interview, including a look at combat roles in GW2, necro tanking, and traits.”
- Get Ready for gamescom! “With San Diego Comic Con now behind us, we shift our focus across the Atlantic to gamescom, Europe’s largest game expo. This annual celebration of games and entertainment takes over Cologne once again from August 17-21, and we’re going to be there in full force — and we’re bringing a shiny new GW2 demo with us! The new demo will feature a ton of cool new content that we haven’t showcased before. “What exactly is in the gamescom demo, Martin?” I hear you say. Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me give you a high level overview of what you will be able to play at the NCsoft Booth (A11/B10, Hall 9.1).”
- ArenaNet revealing Guild Wars 2 PvP and customization at Gamescom. “Europe’s largest game expo is getting ready for plenty of Guild Wars 2 goodness, as ArenaNet will be bringing its highly anticipated fantasy MMO to the Cologne convention that runs from August 17th to August 21st.”
