August 28, 2012
August 25, 2012
Posting will be light for a few days
ArenaNet’s Guild Wars 2 will be released to the general public on Tuesday, but everyone who pre-purchased the game has early access to the servers today and for the next two days. I’ll be spending a lot of time in the virtual world of Tyria as a result.
If you happen to be in-game, my main character name is Raphia Naon and I’m on the Darkhaven server.
Update: My first day’s gaming report is now posted at GuildMag.
Update the second: The next day’s activity is rounded up here.
From wargaming to war-making
Wargames have been used to plan real wars for more than a century, but in at least one instance, a commercial wargame was a significant planning tool for a real war:
By the end of the Cold War, American military planners had contingencies and plans for just about every conceivable crisis – Latin American counterinsurgencies, confrontations on the Korean Peninsula, a full out Warsaw Pact onslaught against NATO. But on August 2, 1990, when Iraqi tanks surprised the world and rolled into the tiny Persian Gulf nation of Kuwait, decision makers in the Pentagon had virtually no plans on the shelf for the defeating the world’s fourth largest army. Out of desperation, someone in the American military nerve-centre reached for a copy of a hobby store military board game entitled Gulf Strike. Designed in the late 1980s by a subsidiary of the commercial war game company Avalon Hill, Gulf Strike allowed civilian hobbyists to battle through a series of hypothetical wars involving the U.S., Soviet Union, Iraq and Iran on a hexagonal-grid map of the Gulf region. According to a 1994 Military History article on war games by Peter Perla, before lunch on the day of the invasion, the Pentagon had the game’s designer, Mark Herman, on the phone. By mid afternoon, he was on the military’s payroll. And by day’s end, Herman and a group of senior officers had already successfully played out a shorthand version of what in five months would go down in history as Operation Desert Storm.
Of course, the results of wargames can’t predict with great accuracy: the level of abstraction is too high and the “fog of war” quickly introduces far more uncertainty than any simulation can dispell in advance. However, disregarding the data from wargaming a battle or campaign has resulted in disaster at least once: the Japanese navy wargamed the attack on Midway Island in 1942. the wargame showed that the Japanese would lose at least one aircraft carrier from the attacking forces. The admirals, suffering as a group from what was known as “victory disease”, disregarded the game result and ordered the sunken ship “refloated” and the exercise continued.
In the real world, of course, the IJN lost not one but four aircraft carriers and the majority of their combat-trained pilots and crew. It was the turning point of the war in the Pacific.
August 23, 2012
This week in Guild Wars 2
A day earlier than usual, my community round-up at GuildMag has been posted. With everyone waiting for the headstart period to begin in just over 24 hours, there’s lots of articles to read and videos to watch to while away the time.
August 17, 2012
This week in Guild Wars 2
We’re into the home stretch now, with just a week left to go before the headstart period for pre-purchasers begins. My usual community round-up at GuildMag is now online. This week’s post includes lots of getting started guides for first-time players plus the usual assortment of blog posts, podcasts, and videos from the Guild Wars 2 fan community.
You might also be interested in my brief wrap-up report from the most recent GW2 stress test here.
August 15, 2012
August 10, 2012
This week in Guild Wars 2
My usual community round-up at GuildMag has been posted. This week’s posts include more videos from BWE3, quick reactions to yesterday’s stress test plus the usual assortment of blog posts, podcasts, and videos from the Guild Wars 2 fan community.
There will be another stress test starting at 4pm Pacific time today. This is open to anyone who has pre-purchased a copy of Guild Wars 2.
August 7, 2012
JourneyQuest S2E5: Bravery Favors the Brave
August 4, 2012
This week in Guild Wars 2
My regular weekly community round-up at GuildMag has been posted. This week’s posts include a large number of videos from BWE3 plus the usual assortment of blog posts, podcasts, and videos from the Guild Wars 2 fan community.
You might also be interested in a brief summary I posted after Thursday’s GW2 stress test.
August 1, 2012
July 27, 2012
This week in Guild Wars 2
My weekly community round-up column at GuildMag is posted. This week’s collection is full of reports from the final beta weekend event and lots of official ArenaNet content plus the usual assortment of blog posts, podcasts, and videos from the Guild Wars 2 fan community.
July 24, 2012
July 23, 2012
Guild Wars 2 final beta weekend, day three
This is the final beta weekend for Guild Wars 2, and I posted a daily journal of my experiences at GuildMag over the weekend. This is my entry for Sunday.
July 22, 2012
Guild Wars 2 final beta weekend, day two
This is the final beta weekend for Guild Wars 2, and I’ll be posting a daily journal of my experiences at GuildMag over the weekend. This is my entry for Saturday.
July 21, 2012
Guild Wars 2 beta weekend
This is the final beta weekend for Guild Wars 2, and I’ll be posting a daily journal of my experiences at GuildMag over the weekend. This is my entry for Friday.
