My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week has a lot of coverage on the new Tequatl Rising event — with lots of complaints from the cheap seats that the newly revamped dragon event is too hard. In addition, we’ve also got the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
September 20, 2013
September 13, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s collection of links seems to indicate that every single video-maker in the community did at least one covering the Super Adventure Box. In addition, we’re starting to get information about next week’s content release (Tequatl Rising, featuring a major revamp to the dragon event) and the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
September 6, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s over-stuffed collection of links covers the return of the Super Adventure Box (which is thrilling and exasperating players in approximately equal numbers) and the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
August 30, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s collection of links covers the Guild Wars 2 first anniversary, the current event (Clockwork Chaos), the return of the Super Adventure Box and the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
August 25, 2013
Guild Wars 2 at the one-year mark
Early in 2012, I started doing some short posts using my nom-de-gaming identity “Raphia Naon” at GuildMag for the first beta weekend event of the unreleased game Guild Wars 2. I continued doing a daily entry for almost all the beta events and stress tests (I missed a few because they were scheduled at times I couldn’t take part). It’s now the first anniversary of the “headstart” period and I’ve posted a short piece on what I take the liberty to call the Tyrian Firstborn: the players who pre-purchased the game and took part in the beta and stress test events leading up to launch.
August 23, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s collection of links is packed with posts about the current event (Clockwork Chaos) and the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
ArenaNet is offering a free trial weekend for anyone who’d like to try the game before purchasing. If you’re interested, you can sign up here – https://register.guildwars2.com/trial. The trial weekend runs from today through to Sunday at midnight PST. (The game file is pretty big, so allow for a relatively long download if you’re not on a fast internet connection.) If you happen to be on the server Darkhaven, you can contact me using my in-game name “Raphia Naon”.
August 16, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s collection of links is packed with posts about the current event (the Queen’s Jubilee) and some information about next week’s content release, The Queen’s Speech. There’s also the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
Update: As part of their upcoming first anniversary, ArenaNet will be offering a free trial weekend for anyone who’d like to try the game before purchasing. If you’re interested, you can sign up here – https://register.guildwars2.com/trial. The trial weekend runs from August 23 – 25, 2013. (Oh, and the game file has gotten pretty big, so allow for a relatively long download if you’re not on a fast internet connection.)
August 9, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s collection of links is almost all about the Queen’s Jubilee — which is the best content update we’ve had so far (I’m really enjoying playing it). There’s also the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
August 7, 2013
What happens when you add MMO features to a classic turn-based game?
The answer, according to Jake Song and 2K Games, is Civilization Online:
You might have heard about a little project called Civilization Online, a new MMO in development based on the popular Civilization series of turn-based strategy games. You also might have heard that XL Games CEO Jake Song, of ArcheAge and Lineage fame, is overseeing the project as Executive Producer. But chances are, that’s really all you have heard. Until now, that is.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Song, XL Games Senior VP Jung Hwan Kim, and Producer Garrett Bittner from 2K Games to get the scoop on the project. Follow along for all the juicy details about building up civilizations in a new open world environment, including crafting, PvP, and more!
With Civilization Online being such a departure from his previous projects, I had to ask Song why the switch in genres? His answer came easily: He’s a big fan of the Civilization series. Actually, Song’s first response was: “Because there are too many fantasy games!” Then after a chuckle he talked about how he enjoyed the franchise. According to Bittner, from 2K Games’ perspective, Song was an obvious choice to ask to participate due to his high quality work as well as being a fan.
But even though the MMO is based on the series of strategy games, CO is not to be mistaken as simply an online version of turn-based warfare or a continuation of the canceled Facebook game. In fact, Civilization Online will definitely be a MMORPG, where players are a single character within the civilization — as opposed to, say, a unit of armies — and will influence a persistent and dynamic world by helping to advance their civilization through the ages.
August 2, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s edition includes our first look at what will be coming in next week’s content update — the Queen’s Jubilee. There’s also the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
July 26, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s round-up was seriously delayed by the issue I talked about yesterday — the major meltdown at The Old Reader‘s server farm. Due to the time it took to get the site back up and running — and the fact that they were still restoring feed items — today’s collection may have a few gaps.
The election campaign is in full swing in Lion’s Arch, and GuildMag also has up-to-the-minute reporting from the front lines.
July 25, 2013
GuildMag issue 9 now available
The new issue of GuildMag is now online (that is, GuildMag the Guild Wars 2 online magazine, as opposed to the regular website where my weekly column appears). Go to the website to get the details or click the image below to go directly to the front page of the new issue:
July 19, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s edition is packed full of information and opinion on what is coming to GW2 during the rest of 2013, based on ArenaNet’s Colin Johanson’s livestream, interview, and long, detailed blog post. There’s also the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.
The election campaign is in full swing in Lion’s Arch, and GuildMag also has up-to-the-minute reporting from the front lines.
July 18, 2013
Firefly Online game announcement
Firefly Online (FFO) is a multi-user, social online role-playing game that will initially be available for smartphones and tablets, including those based on iOS and Android operating systems.
Check out updates and pre-register at www.keepflying.com
From the official site:
Firefly Online is a social role playing game (RPG) based on Firefly, Joss Whedon’s cult-hit television series. Firefly Online (FFO) is currently in development for iOS and Android, and may expand to include additional platforms.
In Firefly Online, players assume the role of a ship captain as they hire a crew and seek out adventures, all the while trading with and competing against the millions of other players to try to survive in the Verse: find a crew, find a job, keep flying.
FFO provides a variety of gameplay activities and systems so that players can fully experience life in the Verse.
- Assume the role of a ship captain — create a crew and customize a ship
- Aim to misbehave in space and planet-side adventures
- Cross-platform player experience across devices (pick-up and play from anywhere)
- Unique social features connecting Firefly fans
- Create a shiny ship and explore the Verse
July 12, 2013
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly Guild Wars 2 community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s release — the Bazaar of the Four Winds — has been greeted with much praise and thanks (except for stick-in-the-mud types like me who don’t like jumping puzzles). There’s also the usual assortment of blog posts, videos, podcasts, and fan fiction from around the GW2 community.