Guild Wars 2: Pre-Release Discussion

[GoggleHead]

Maybe I'm missing something but since you can buy gems with gold isn't the item being in the 'cash shop' and being available in-game pretty much the same thing?

Via grinding for gold, sure. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but ANet has mentioned that they want to avoid grinding as much as possible in GW2. Depending on the gold flow in-game this could mean getting gems for gold is trivially easy or unrealistic without spending money or grinding for hours on end farming gold. If it's trivially easy, then no one purchases from the cash shop, so from a business standpoint it would probably make more sense to make them possible to get with in-game gold, but just far enough out of reach that people will say "fuck it, I'll just buy the gems with cash".

It's all speculation at this point, but the whole thing makes me rather uncomfortable to the point where I'm reconsidering whether or not to pre-purchase.


again, it's blatantly obvious that he doesn't care a whit about understanding the system and just wants to complain about microtransactions
I'm not allowed to dislike microtransactions? I wish people would tell me these things.
:nekosulk:

[Qalbert]

You're allowed to, but you're being completely irrational.

[Tonka]

Look. Microtransactions will be in the game. There's no monthly fee. That's how it is, and how it will be. So decide if you want to play a game with microtransactions or one with a monthly fee. That's it. And if you MUST complain about how a top hat is only available in the cash shop for gems you can buy with gold anyway, that's what Guru is for.

[Draygon]

Look. Microtransactions will be in the game. There's no monthly fee. That's how it is, and how it will be. So decide if you want to play a game with microtransactions or one with a monthly fee. That's it. And if you MUST complain about how a top hat is only available in the cash shop for gems you can buy with gold anyway, that's what Guru is for.

https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSwHmUNph-mGvGMRrPtsyzt47HgoIuvxBIZDFjgXCw5p5IdokGN

[Tonka]

This thread is delightful...
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/gems-in-game-economy-and-t31943.html?p=1252827

[Takiwaki]

Invites have been going out today also from what I am hearing! /hope

[Cat]

Yeh, there have certainly been invites going out today, but they don't seem to be for the one this weekend. Perhaps they are doing another one next weekend too?

[Tonka]

Invites have been going out today also from what I am hearing! /hope

I did not need to hear that. I don't want hope!

[Solace]

:nekohappy:

[Dantrag]

:nekohappy:

Is that the same as :) ?

[Solace]

Maybe....

[Aevis]

I heard from a friend that he got an invite this (friday) early morning gmt. apparently no further info regarding beta so it probably won't be for this weekend. given the context that arenanet twittered yesterday, that you won't be in for this weekend if you haven't received an invite yet.

[Dantrag]

Maybe....

I'll take that as a yes.

[Takiwaki]

oh snap!



Guild Wars 2 @GuildWars2
Reminder to all closed beta players:you're under NDA.Don't risk breaking the NDA, you could permanently lose access to all ArenaNet games.

[Dantrag]

oh snap!

For some reason I doubt they're going to say, "you broke NDA, no games EVER for you." Would be as simple as registering under someone elses name.

[Takiwaki]

For some reason I doubt they're going to say, "you broke NDA, no games EVER for you." Would be as simple as registering under someone elses name.

no It means you can lose your GW1 account and say good bye to all ur hard earned HOM rewards

[Tonka]

Really curious when the next beta will be then if more are going out now.

[Dantrag]

no It means you can lose your GW1 account and say good bye to all ur hard earned HOM rewards

True. I don't have GW1 nor a single HOM :(

[Tonka]

I hate missing out on exclusive gear. Wish I coulda bought GW1 and done some HOM action for the first few points.

[Dantrag]

One of my friends is about 25/30 or so iirc

[Fairy-Killer]

I'm not sure how they could link account names together. Can they request email/name info from websites that have people spouting off?

EDIT: This was meant towards NDA and banning people permanently.

[Eanae]

HoM isn't hard. You can get to 30 in maybe 200 hours with some idea of what you're doing.

Also HoM is linked through account email, not ncsoft master account.

[Fairy-Killer]

Sorry, didn't see Tonka and Dantrag posted. I was talking about for NDA and such.

[Eanae]

Yes. Your accounts are linked by email. So whatever email you used for your gw2 account will also get your corresponding gw1 account on the same email banned. Therefor killing your HoM progress.

[Aevis]

so it turns out the late invites are still for this weekend beta. at least that's what I heard.

[Fairy-Killer]

A friend just got the beta client email.

And no Eanae, I meant like... If I say on here, HEY I GOT IN BETA (which I didn't), how are they going to ban me from GW2? Can they request info from BG and hope that my email is the same here as the one I submitted so they can ban me?

[vrumpt]

So based on what GW2 twitter is saying now it appears that a lot of people who got invited have no idea what an NDA actually means. This amuses me somewhat.

[niwaar]

The answer to that is yes... whether TPTB would give that info or not is another question. I am sure though that there would be some sort of ramification if they or BG's service provider didn't provide it.

However, I am quite sure that Arena.net is not going to troll a ton of forums looking for people who are saying "woohoo look at me, I got in the beta!" and are more interesting to those that say that AND post a picture/stream/video/etc of it.

[Fairy-Killer]

Possibly why they sent out more invites this morning? Banned the idiots and brought in more people to fill the gaps?

[Dantrag]

So based on what GW2 twitter is saying now it appears that a lot of people who got invited have no idea what an NDA actually means. This amuses me somewhat.

I def wouldn't be one of those people that would just flat out stream... I mean, look at what happened to the dude that streamed FFXIV beta, he got banned. F that shiz.

[vrumpt]

What the shit at the giant ass ugly TERAble image thats ruining the top of BG's page. WTF is this shit.

[Tonka]

What the shit at the giant ass ugly TERAble image thats ruining the top of BG's page. WTF is this shit.

LOL! BG loves Tera so much. I'm looking forward to GW2 dwarfing it. *shades*

[Dantrag]

What the shit at the giant ass ugly TERAble image thats ruining the top of BG's page. WTF is this shit.

Yeah... I was wondering that myself. Man, people have a bigger hardon for that game than anything I've ever seen. And that includes this game lol.

[Eanae]

Bad news folks: https://twitter.com/#!/GuildWars2/status/183254418060357632

[Kuishen]

EDIT: -.-

[Takiwaki]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1cobqCrlJ1rqiukzo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1332615796&Signature=okJt7ldveqCTpijbtFAF61b%2FTdA%3D

[Tonka]

Beta has begun. WHERE MY LEAKS?

[Cichy]

ok got it, dont even talk about your ability to play with kittens

[Kuishen]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1cobqCrlJ1rqiukzo1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId =AKIAJ6IHWSU3BX3X7X3Q&Expires=1332615796&Signature=okJt7ldveqCTpijbtFAF61b%2FTdA%3D

Calmed down, went ahead and edited my post. Mind editing your quote to save Eanae the trouble?

[Arelian]

Don't look forward to leaks too much. Anet seems pretty on the ball about shutting them down. Inevitably we'll get a few, but I imagine there really won't be a ton.

[Eanae]

So turn out I'm gonna be playing with lots of kittens this weekend

Please don't or I'll just take it to an admin. I want info as much as everyone else but ragns and sono don't deserve any legal headaches.

[Kuya]

I'm more upset about the image of vandole up there.

[Kuya]

Is it safe to discuss leaks in PMs?

edit: oops, forgot i already posted

[Eanae]

I don't think anyone can access your private messages at all, nor do I think they'd bother. I'm not super familiar with this boards admin features.

Also I guarantee reddit will have tons of info.

[Dantrag]

Can we get rid of that shitty thing at the top of the forums? Holy fuck.

[Bwelch]

Hit the x in the corner of it.

[Dantrag]

Hit the x in the corner of it.

Sweet. Thanks. Didn't even see that there D;

[Aevis]

well we could have a pm going with some who have a magic ball 8 to give some answers to some who don't.

[Katlan]

Is it safe to discuss leaks in PMs?

edit: oops, forgot i already posted

PMs are 100% fine because it's private and unsearchable. I remember sono said this a while ago for XIV beta stuff

[Dantrag]

PM for if you're bored and just want to chat D;

[Fereydoon]

PMs are 100% fine because it's private and unsearchable. I remember sono said this a while ago for XIV beta stuff

Anyway to make, like, a group PM or something? Wondering any peoples impressions if they got in or not.

[Qalbert]

I would certainly neither suggest nor condone going to the community tab, clicking groups, and then create new group, invite only. That would be irresponsible of me.

[Guitarman]

You rebel.

[Katlan]

Anyway to make, like, a group PM or something? Wondering any peoples impressions if they got in or not.

I mean BRP never did anything like this for XIV.. and it's not like that private group is still there (not that anybody uses it)

[Aevis]

you guys should get an invite during the next few minutes. it's 5 am here so I try to get a few in and make leaders, then head to bed.

[Arelian]

I'll take an invite to the group.

[Aevis]

how do I turn someone into a group leader?

[Katlan]

how do I turn someone into a group leader?

anybody can post anything once they are invited. don't really think a leader is needed outside of being able to invite others

[Aevis]

would've been nice to have a NA guy with invitation permission too. ah well, I invited everyone who posted during last 4 pages and wasn't a new account (think there wasn't any). zzz now, pm me if you need an invite.

[Ambrosia]

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/4910/logwu.jpg

http://img259.imageshack.us/img259/1378/innf.jpg

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9976/timepces.jpg

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/9959/funs.jpg

:nekohi:

[Aristio]

If anyone can toss me an invite, I would love to join the chat.

[blindSharingan]

invite me D:

[supercoco]

me too

[Kuya]

I also wish to be invited

[Arcana]

I Wish this game was out already ;_;

[Bwelch]

I want an invite o_o

[Aevis]

invites are out but pm for invite guys. don't need to clutter this up with invite requests and I'll notice it faster too.

[altwight]

Invite me if can. : ) <- if you know what I mean.

[altwight]

Did someone else get a beta invite?

[Purrrfect]

I'd love to get on that group list as well.

[Katlan]

invites are out but pm for invite guys. don't need to clutter this up with invite requests and I'll notice it faster too.
Repeating this since some ppl have issues reading lol

[Ambrosia]

How To Guild Wars 2: The Economy (Charr Edition)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kx7o7CRoDXc&feature=g-u-u&context=G29364ddFUAAAAAAAAAA


And the flow chart:


http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/1717/gw2flowchart.jpg


Don't be a kerfuffle.

[niwaar]

While I agree with him and that the whole pay2win "controversy" with the Gem system is total BS and is highly inefficient to really do so. He only discussing the inefficiency and the impact of changing Gems to Gold to Guild Influence. This is an extremely minor use for Gems as the real "pay2win" argument is actually in the buffs for sale in the Gem Store and the fact that Gems convert to Gold and Gold converts to BoE items and actually paying cash for items is the definition of pay2win.

Its not a bad video in explaining how things go in and out of the economy but he red herring's you into not paying attention to the real issues of the Gem system.

Namely, how sickeningly cute I will look in a Pirate outfit and how mad I am that its only town clothes and not like Aion where you can transmog your plate armor into a white angel dress and run around fighting monsters in it!

[Qalbert]

Except that GW isn't gear based so even if you turn gems into gold to buy gear it doesn't give any major advantages. Pay2win means actual statistical advantages, beyond just "reduced time investment". Unless you play the game 24/7 from launch someone could always have the advantage over you in terms of time invested, this is no different.

[Qalbert]

don't know if there's much new info in it as I haven't read yet but kotaku put up a lengthy piece. http://kotaku.com/5896330/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-guild-wars-2

[Lordender]

be very afraid Bioware, be very very afraid, thats all I gotta say after this weekend.

[Takiwaki]

be very afraid Bioware, be very very afraid, thats all I gotta say after this weekend.

I already new this since Swtor beta :P

[niwaar]

be very afraid Bioware, be very very afraid, thats all I gotta say after this weekend.

Bioware has a lot of things to be afraid of these days. I do not think its possible for them to be anymore afraid than they already are.


Except that GW isn't gear based so even if you turn gems into gold to buy gear it doesn't give any major advantages. Pay2win means actual statistical advantages, beyond just "reduced time investment". Unless you play the game 24/7 from launch someone could always have the advantage over you in terms of time invested, this is no different.

Absolutely correct about the definition of P2W. I was making a point that the video was using a red herring argument to focus on only one aspect of how the Gem Store was effecting the game from an "advantage for money" standpoint.

The Gem Store does provide "advantage" it does not however give you a big enough advantage to be considered P2W. One would have to pay an enormous amount of cash in the multiple 100s of dollars to gain and keep that advantage over time.

As for "gear" not mattering at endgame, I would say it does and it does not. I have not seen or heard of the endgame rune type system that will or will not be in place. However, if its like GW1s system that is where the P2W argument will come, not the gear you can buy, but the runes you can buy to put on that gear.

[bluefan]

You'd think after watching some explorable dungeon videos, the naysayers would shut up. Even if you're decked out with the stuff in the shop, it'll do jack shit if you're a shitty player and can't work with your group.

[Takiwaki]

Rune system is in place for sure. there are upgrade slots on gear you can attach many different things to. Also gear with rune set bonuses also are there where if you have the same rune on multiple pieces gear you get additive bonuses.
I have to say that gear stats matters greatly, what does not matter is the min max game of those stats compared to other players. You will definitely have multiple sets for different things or builds for sure.

[Zzsark]

Has anyone looked into spirit weapon builds for Guardians much and/or does anyone know what the cool down on Command is if you trait Eternal Spirit?

[Zerocool]

GW2wiki interview with Colin Johanson
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/March_2012:_State_of_the_Game

[Arelian]

That is one of the meanest goddamn April Fool's jokes ever.

[Takiwaki]

lol u guys fell for it?

[Zzsark]

Gotta love the icon change to the minstrel on wiki

[bluefan]

Not as good as last years commandos IMO.

But I think that was just the wiki guys having fun. Might see ArenaNets official prank tomorrow.

[Zerocool]

Yeah I figured it was the April Fools joke as soon as I read the part about them having Zhaitan constantly controlled by in house people rather than AI and them pushing release back to 2013.

[Tonka]

So, no April Fools joke this year. With such an elaborate one last year, is it silly to read into that too much? I'm thinking it's because they don't have any free time at the moment as they are doing some last minute overtime. :o

[Katlan]

So, no April Fools joke this year. With such an elaborate one last year, is it silly to read into that too much? I'm thinking it's because they don't have any free time at the moment as they are doing some last minute overtime. :o

I wouldn't read into it all. There is nothing mandatory about April 1st jokes from big companies, it's just that most do

[Tonka]

I think it is because they are putting pretty ribbons on all the boxes to be sent out to their adoring fans.

[Purrrfect]

I'd imagine since preorder is so close they don't want to cause any unwanted confusion. Shame, the commando one was really great.

[Arcana]

The Guild Wars fool's patch notes were a decent laugh.

[Eanae]

Poor poor paragons lol

[Arelian]

So, uh... Celeras. Should we be checking our emails? I'm hearing some rumors and I'd rather not get my hopes up if they're just wind blowing through some asses.

[Celeras]

No reason to check for anything. There aren't any more events before pre-purchases, in which case anybody who does so will have access.

Whether theres not going to be anymore CBTs with NDAs, i can't be sure. But its not now.

[Arelian]

Excellent! Thanks for the confirmation.

[Imitarate]

My searchfu is failing me or I'm just not being patient enough, so forgive me -- have we had a real confirmation on the price of gems? I'm pondering putting in an approximation of a monthly fee in gems, and I'm curious to know what that would get me.

[Takiwaki]

My searchfu is failing me or I'm just not being patient enough, so forgive me -- have we had a real confirmation on the price of gems? I'm pondering putting in an approximation of a monthly fee in gems, and I'm curious to know what that would get me.

Nope nothing, everything cash shop based was NDAed. Even Press were not even allowed to talk about it.

[Imitarate]

I do appreciate it. I'll probably do something like that, skip months if things are tight or I run out of things I want -- like I said somewhere, I don't care for xp/fame/etc buffs, but if I could add a character or storage slot every month or two, that would be splendid.

[Takiwaki]

you guys do realise you do not need real money to buy stuff from the gem shop right?

[notorious bum]

It just becomes a choice between farming gold or spending Jeffersons, I guess lol Whichever is easier to come by or the most time-efficient in your life.

If I'm already putting in major hours/week, I'm 99% sure I'll be farming gold. As long as currency isn't a bitch to come by like it was in FFXI circa '04, then it's a no-brainer for me.

[Zerocool]

At the end of the "Future of Online Games" panel, Jon Peters stuck around to show off and talk about GW2 a bit. One of the things he said was

"We made the game a little harder too, so get ready. It's not as easy as you think it is. I know people have said it's a little easy, but just get ready, you'll see soon enough."

Here he elaborates a bit on what he meant:
http://www.guildwars2hub.com/features/interviews/traits-and-builds-interview-jon-peters#.T4Jiqg1UOaM.twitter

[niwaar]

Really good stuff about the Necro profression some of the issues that many people saw are being addressed there. I would have really liked to have heard some response on how the pet and minion system was going to be improved over the previous beta tests though. At least with prepurchase now upon us, we should get word on the April OBE.

I have to laugh though. At this point no matter the weekend they choose they are bitchslapping Tera a bit. Do it on Tera's OBT on the 20th and people have to choose. Put it on GW1 Anniversary weekend and now they have to choose between Tera Headstart and GW2 OBE.

[Celeras]

That's not exactly a difficult choice lol

[Fairy-Killer]

That's not exactly a difficult choice lol

Yeah, TERA all the way.

[Ragnell]

We preorder now!

[Dragir]

{ed: I like to post articles that agree with the way I'm currently feeling or the last thing to pique my interest, if you haven't noticed. lol}

Guild Wars 2: Are you ready? (http://www.examiner.com/canada-girl-gamer-in-canada/guild-wars-2-are-you-ready)
by Tanya Huffman, Canada Girl Gamer Examiner on April 11, 2012

On March 27th, 2007, ArenaNet announced the development of Guild Wars 2.

http://i43.tinypic.com/2eeg8x2.jpg

Two years later, they gave us the first teaser trailer. With the fan base excited, it was then announced that the game would be released in 2011. In 2010, we saw a playable demo at a few gaming conventions and also learned that the release date of this game would be pushed back. Full of jitters and eagerness, the fans waited. A small closed alpha/beta test ran in 2011, leaving the rest chomping at the collective bit for new information.

Now, 5 years later, we are ready for release {ed: pun intended?}. Beta began in February of 2012 with random players being granted weekend access. Finally, ArenaNet had begun to lift the veil of secrecy.

ArenaNet have been the masters of anticipation. They have left the Guild Wars fanbase (myself included!) drooling over these past years, giving only tidbits of information to keep us wanting more. They have changed the entire design of what an MMO used to be. The old ways are gone! Don’t expect to jump into GW2 and play it like a regular MMO. Tanks, Healers, DPS… these traditional roles are out the window. And all I can say is THANK GOODNESS! It’s time we changed this gaming mold that we have been stuck in for so long.

Are you ready for the change?

With pre-purchase and pre-orders going on sale, you can probably expect to see release before July. If you know you want in on this game, a pre-purchase definitely offers some perks. No matter what version you go with, all pre-purchases will include:

· All beta weekend events from now until release
· 3-day head-start access
· Hero’s Band

There are other perks depending on which edition you buy. There is a grandiose Collector’s Edition for those who want some extra goodies. You can check out all the details of the different editions at http://buy.guildwars2.com (buy.guildwars2.com).

If you haven't been following all the hype, check out the website and get on board {ed: or just read the OP}. It's going to be a game changer... literally.

[Takiwaki]

Inc stress test, get ready.

[Takiwaki]

Oh yea . . . this weekend

[Senji]

I'm glad she let us know she's a girl gamer before posting nothing of value.

[Solace]

Canadian too eh'

[vrumpt]

Oh yea . . . this weekend

I'll assume you aren't joking since that would be a really stupid thing to do 'round these parts.

[Takiwaki]

lol why would I lie!!?

but yea people have been getting invites to a stress test this weekend. Seems to be still NDAed and well I am not sure if this would be accessible by the prepurchase. Would be nice though, wouldn't make sense to have a stress test and not have a buttload of people.

plus if pre-purchasers didn't have access you wouldn't hear the end of it.

[Zzsark]

One can only hope, anxiously awaiting an e-mail. Slightly confused at the "stress test" label at this point though.

[niwaar]

If it was going to be open to those that Prepurchased it would have been highly publicized by now. They have been tweeting and retweeting up a storm recently. They made it completely public that there was a CBT at the end of March. If this was the prepurchase test for April, it would have been publicized. From the sounds of it, we can assume...

It is a stress test to prepare for the massive amounts of prepurchase players in the OBT that we all know is coming in the next 2 weeks. This is something that I remember Tera doing before their initial "preorder" CBT. Tera obviously did not have nearly as many preorder/prepurchasers as GW2 did. Hell, Tera had a stress test similar to this last week. It lasted for several hours and they placed most players in a given small area in order to test high Monster/Player density and server/client stability. Anet has reportedly tried mini tests of this sort with their "end of beta" events where they have gotten 100s of players to crowd in a single small area of a zone. These are the type of tests most Aion players had wished they had done before Aion's launch. Any Aion player who has ever done a large fortress siege knows exactly what happens when there are more than 50 players at a fortress. Any server/client tweaking as well as graphical settings they can come up with that makes it so we can actually play in WvW without wanting to stab ourselves is a good thing.

This is also something that many people had hoped to see for the current MoP beta. Blizzard has seen fit to continue to use only 4 beta servers where this is not feasible with GW2 with their stated intention of the OBTs to help them tweak, balance, and change the WvW system which requires a minimum of 3 servers, but more than likely we will see at least 6-9 beta servers in the April OBT.

Edit: From what I am reading on other forums, the people receiving this Stress Test access this Friday are new applicants and not the same players that participated in the last CBT in March.

[Celeras]

They said from the beginning that closed beta/under NDA tests would continue independently of BWEs.

And your assumption on it being for new applicants is incorrect, though I obviously can't confirm whether new people were invited or not.

[Ambrosia]

Last one was NDA. This one is also NDA! It's like I want to kick NDA's ass seriously. If he where to show up right now I would...

NDA: Ah what a glorious day! What seems to be all the ruckus? Is there something you wanted to say? I was just passing by and wanted to buy a new monocle. I heard this part of town sells quite an exquisite collection.

No I was about to make you a sandmich.

[Dantrag]

Oh yea . . . this weekend

Is it? If so, time to pre-order.

[Tonka]

Reading through their Twitter feed, it is definitely not linked to Pre-Purchase and is still NDA.

https://twitter.com/#!/GuildWars2/status/190413220790550528

[Qalbert]

I imagine a lot of people are going to be mad not realizing that access to all beta weekend events doesn't mean access to all beta tests

[Tonka]

Yes. The Guru ilk have been whining about it for quite some time this morning. I can't stay on that site for long before I just want to destroy humanity.

I enjoyed this post from someone complaining that ANet is responding to people on Twitter.

what for ppl who dont use twitter?

they miss al that info fun fun.

it looks kinda inprofessional to find the info yourself via an other site or other ppl....

[Ambrosia]

Yeah so many folks are IMAD'ing right now at the Guru forums.

Folks need to learn to read and understand what they are reading.


How do I get into the beta?

Guild Wars 2 is currently in closed beta testing, which is by invitation only and under NDA. We plan to have our first non-NDA Beta Weekend Event in late April.

What is Pre-Purchase?

Customers who pre-purchase the game pay for the game in full and will enjoy guaranteed access to our Beta Weekend Events.

When do Beta Weekend Events (BWEs) start, and how many will there be?

The first BWE is currently planned for late April, and we expect to have one every month or so.

So lets say that BWE's are once a month. They still have 3 other weekends they can place "Closed Beta Events" to test whatever it is they want to test. They might close up some areas and open up others as an example. They never said that closed beta testing was going to end once BWE's started. They can actually have both running. Gasp! This is impossible!

[LidenbokValour]

Thats fucking hard to swallow! :( It sucks now but I know the wait will be worth it! fuck I need something to occupy me.

[Dantrag]

Well: :)

<_<;

[Takiwaki]

I read the stress test is 6 hrs tomorrow only. not gonna miss anything =/

[Kuishen]

Edit: From what I am reading on other forums, the people receiving this Stress Test access this Friday are new applicants and not the same players that participated in the last CBT in March.

It's not /only/ new applicants.

[Solace]

Edit: From what I am reading on other forums, the people receiving this Stress Test access this Friday are new applicants and not the same players that participated in the last CBT in March.

;) This is not the case ;)

[niwaar]

It's not /only/ new applicants.

This is the case...

[Celeras]

Glad it could be confirmed 6 times on this page.

[Palin]

I read the stress test is 6 hrs tomorrow only. not gonna miss anything =/

I heard from a friend's dog this is correct. Not a full weekend.

[Dantrag]

Did they wipe characters?

[Meresgi]

So when does this stress test actually start? Still says no event is going on and its 30mins past the recorded start time.

[Kuishen]

An hour late and servers still aren't up, went back and had my friend check the email, everything is legit. The beta forums are down as well. SOMEBODY SPILLED POP ON THE SERVERS!

[Meresgi]

yeah buddy of mine kept going "What are you talking about, what stress test?" so I thought it might have not been legit..nope went back, checked, /vg/ has a huge thread on it and other places too. Kind of bummed on this whole thing as it was only 6hrs to begin with...now its 5 and dropping.

[Kuishen]

It's actually a stress test for their Customer Service call center.

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/096/044/trollface.jpg?1296494117

j/k I don't know lol Would be an epic troll though.

[Meresgi]

I have to say I am getting really stressed out. So it's working.

[Kuishen]

Well here's the thing.

On one hand, my friend's login message is saying "No Beta Event running", but periodically he gets "Unable to complete action" and the beta forums are down. So this leads me to believe that the servers just aren't up yet.

However ANet's silence on twitter leads me to believe that nothing is wrong and that part of the stress test is trying to get into the fucking game.

But you'd think they could code a different message if the servers were full.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK ANYMORE.

[tol]

why not just relax and have a drink.. it's friday. if you manage to get in some stress testing great, but don't yourself all stressed out over it.

[Dantrag]

Lol, someone didn't hit the ON switch.

[Ambrosia]

Twitter:

The NDA is there for a reason. As we said a hundred times: This is NOT a beta. ^MK

[Zerocool]

Lol, epic troll. They're just gonna let people try to log in continuously for 6 hours and not say anything.

[Dantrag]

I heard the switch was turned on.

[Ambrosia]

Test Your Stress:


http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/9044/testyourstress.png

[Zzsark]

A little birdy told me its been working for the past 4 hours

[Kuishen]

A little birdy told me its been working for the past 4 hours

For some. For others not so much.

[Dantrag]

Friend of mine logged in then logged out, they didn't really feel like doing much since it was just a stress test.

[Meresgi]

http://www.baxterboo.com/images/products/large/kitty-crusader-puss-boots-cat-costume-savvy-tabby-1.jpg

[Alderaan]

There a link somewhere for the client? Not that it matters now i suppose.

[Arelian]

No official links, and you should edit your post Meresgi. Anything that has to do with the current builds is still under NDA.

Edit: And the twitter team has said that you'll need a different client for the BWE's, which nobody currently has afaik. So downloading the client that is available out there might end up being pointless.

[Celeras]

1) BWE client will be the same as the stress client, which was the same as the latest press beta client. The previous client before that was different, so if thats what artards are downloading in advance before they even have any access: it won't work.

2) Stress test was up the entire time. If you couldn't get in, then thanks for being the stress. And people wonder why this had to be specifically separate from BWEs.. even when its labelled as a frickin stress test people still try to bitch about uptime.

[Arelian]

Man, Celeras, you're great. Thanks for being a line to correct info for us!

Someone on the twitter said you'd need a separate client from the CBT for the BWE, but I guess that's kinda wrong. Glad to hear the stress testing went well. Looking forward to the BWEs and the hopefully quick release!

And might I add, you know you have a fun game when 4chan of all places is depressed because they couldn't keep playing.

[Celeras]

I try ^^ So long as it's something meaningful, that won't get me in trouble for saying. Wasting 15GB patching the wrong client is both. You really shouldn't bother either way, you have plenty of time and it's a super fast patcher.

[Zzsark]

What was the difference between this last short test (6hrs) and the previous CBT (3 days) that made it more of a stress test though? Just curious. Seems to me like the end of weekend events where they had everyone in the city with tons of mobs would stress the servers more. Unless they had change some setting/configs they wanted to see how they handled extra traffic idk. Are you just psychic or are you someone who knows someone of is it something if you tell me you have to kill me? haha

[Arcana]

The stress test yesterday will have had a higher volume of players per server/area to see how it holds up compared to CBT3 and there will need to be adjustments made to server configuration before they allow everyone who pre ordered and pre purchased to get in for the BWE's coming soon.

[Zzsark]

higher volume of players per server/area

That's what I would suspect too, but I heard nothing to support that. Sounded just like CBT3, go wherever you want do whatever you want. # of people logging in 12-6 (1-7) PST couldn't have been more than they saw peak on actual weekend days (sat/sun).

Edit: Can't seem to find the info I was looking for. Status on the Crystal Desert was not on release ya? Probably an expansion or what?

[Zerocool]

"The Crystal Desert will not be explorable in the initial release of Guild Wars 2, but will be viewable from a distance."

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Crystal_Desert

[Zzsark]

Anyone care to speculate on the order we'll encounter the Elder Dragons, aside from Zhaitan we know is first. And have they mentioned how many lesser dragons, The Shatterer/Tequatl types, will be in-game on release?

[Dantrag]

It's because when people were trying to login they got "no beta event".

[Arcana]

Has there been any word about when the BWE's are starting yet?

[Gokulo]

Nope

[bluefan]

@GuildWars2 Close
@fanaticdamen Yes, you're free to do that starting with the first Beta Weekend Event at the end of this month. Enjoy! ~RB2 #GuildWars2


From their twitter. They said end specifically so I'm guessing the 27-30 dates.

[niwaar]

They said there will be no stress test this weekend (April 20th). I would like to say that there could be a BWE this weekend, but I would have to say that they will probably drop the weekend on the 27-29th. For two reasons, 1) Because it is GW Anniversary weekend and 2) Because it fucks with Tera's Headstart (28-30). Not that Tera headstart is all that interesting because you could easily cap your 1 character to 32 this weekend and get to 38 in no time on Monday after the GW2 BWE is over (if you plan on buying Tera to keep you until GW2's launch.)

[Fairy-Killer]

Killashu.9104 has been registered. I am prepared for beta weekends.

[Qalbert]

from twitter

‏ ‏ @GuildWars2
Good news!First Beta Weekend Event will be from April 27-29. We will let you know once the client is ready for download. ^MK
@GuildWars2
We'll have a blog post with details about what you can play later today or tomorrow.If you haven't already: pre-purchase to participate! ^MK

[Takiwaki]

I think we need a general News and Info section lol, I posted it in another thread :P

[Dantrag]

Still haven't per-purchased. Waiting for a release date. Since I don't see that big a deal about the beta.

[Senji]

Because if you're not in beta, your epeen is stunted from day one.

[Dantrag]

Psshhh having to pre-order to get into beta is for noobs :P

[Ragnell]

This weekend's beta isn't under NDA, So niggas can STREAM THE FUCK UP if they want

[Eanae]

Still haven't prepurchased yet either. Also waiting for a release date. :/

[Takiwaki]

Still haven't prepurchased yet either. Also waiting for a release date. :/

You guys need to just suck it up and buy it!, so we can all play. =o

[Eanae]

I'll probably just get it before the BWE.

[Dantrag]

I'll spend the money when there is a release date.

[Rhyis.]

Yeah I'm kind of tired of betas. Play a few days, only to have to wait another month or two to play again. Shits like having blue balls.

[Dantrag]

^ I got my few hours in. I'm good. Same with D3. Got a few hours across a few classes. I'm good.

[Kuishen]

This weekend's beta isn't under NDA, So niggas can STREAM THE FUCK UP if they want

This weekend?

[Purrrfect]

There isn't anything you can do yet about making some sort of game account is there? I have only received the invoice for the preorder from amazon so far.

[Arelian]

US Amazon isn't doing pre-purchase. Preorder gets you a 1 day headstart.

[GoggleHead]

I feel the whole pre-purchase thing was handled very poorly. As a result I'm going to be waiting until we get a release date before I throw down any money and even then it'll probably be on a pre-order since retailers seem to be able to handle those.

[Arelian]

How do you feel it was handled poorly?

[Kuishen]

Pre-purchasing from the official site was fine. The page hung at the end and I wasn't sure if it actually made the purchase but I was charged, got the confirmation email and the register for beta/headstart access email as well. So everything worked out. How are people having issues?

[GoggleHead]

I'm old fashioned and want something in a box, which means I have to go through retailers who don't know what the fuck's going on. More trouble than it's worth, so I'm going back to waiting on a release date.

[Dranio]

I haven't pre-purchased yet either, but plan to here soon. I do like to have physical copies of things, but I don't really care either way because the game box usually ends up in another box in a storage unit. So a digital purchase might be good for a change.

[Kuishen]

As long as they give me a week to download the fucking thing before the 3 day headstart. My internet is so fucking shit and I can't do a damn thing about it. My house is in a black hole where only one ISP can reach and I pay $40/month for 750kb/s (in actuality my average download speed is 150-200kb/s but have downloaded shit off of steam for sub 50kb/s before for no apparent reason.) and they can't even upgrade us to 1.5 mb/s.

[Dranio]

heh, sounds like where I live, or what it was like until YESTERDAY. basically I'd top out at 100kBps from when I moved here till 1 day ago, now that's max, it was usually a constant 50 or less. out of nowhere they must've done something, either an upgrade or fixed something because I was downloading something at 1.9MBps yesterday (as well as being able to stream netflix in HD for the first time since I subscribed) while running 2 instances of Aion. I was baffled but that speed persists today so I'm assuming the got their shit together and fixed it and/or upgraded something in this part of town. pay about what you pay (49.95 to be exact) for an 'advertised' up to 15mb connection.

[niwaar]

The game is definitely worth pre-purchasing. I am glad to see the BWE finally get a set date. I think we will see some real movement towards launch now. I know some people have issues dropping money 2-3 months ahead of time. That being said, a lot of people did it with Tera.

[Takiwaki]

That being said, a lot of people did it with Tera.

Yes I regretted I ever did lol

[Kuishen]

heh, sounds like where I live, or what it was like until YESTERDAY. basically I'd top out at 100kBps from when I moved here till 1 day ago, now that's max, it was usually a constant 50 or less. out of nowhere they must've done something, either an upgrade or fixed something because I was downloading something at 1.9MBps yesterday (as well as being able to stream netflix in HD for the first time since I subscribed) while running 2 instances of Aion. I was baffled but that speed persists today so I'm assuming the got their shit together and fixed it and/or upgraded something in this part of town. pay about what you pay (49.95 to be exact) for an 'advertised' up to 15mb connection.

Yeah it's bullshit. Paying for 750kb/s I /expect/ shit to take forever to download and at full speed hit 200kb/s tops but when I can't even play a fucking game of l4d2 or tf2 without my ping shooting to 200ish every now and again, or shooting to 700+ if somebody else is even thinking about using the internet, it's fucking retarded. And the fact that we wanted to upgrade to their higher plan (double what we have now) and they said we /couldn't/ because /their equipment/ couldn't handle it? Holy fucking shit I flipped a shit.

If they literally were not the only fucking option for an ISP at my address I would tell them to go fuck themselves.

[notorious bum]

I likely won't pre-purchase either, mostly because a head-start isn't that important due to this game's awesome balancing. Also, it won't be like FFXI where you'd get the game after launch due to availability in some places or slow ass super-saver shipping lol

[Celeras]

I'm old fashioned and want something in a box, which means I have to go through retailers who don't know what the fuck's going on. More trouble than it's worth, so I'm going back to waiting on a release date.

I walked into a gamestop on day 1, and walked out 5 minutes later with a physical prepurchase and BWE key on my receipt. Not sure how you would like it to be any easier.

[Ragnell]

This weekend?
I mean the next Weekend

[Takiwaki]

woo playable lions arch! No asura or sylvari still =/

http://www.arena.net/blog/the-beta-weekend-event-is-coming

[Tonka]

I can't read it yet. Keep getting maint error message. XD

[Appie]

Managed to paste the text before I got pwned again

We’re counting the days until the first public Guild Wars 2 Beta Weekend Event, which begins on Friday, April 27, at noon PDT (GMT-8 ) and ends on Sunday, April 29, at 11:59 p.m. PDT (GMT-8 ). Hundreds of thousands of players from around the world will get their first taste of Guild Wars 2—and rest assured, we’ll be playing alongside them!

There are a couple important things you need to know about this Beta Weekend Event:

The only way to absolutely guarantee your access to this or any future Beta Weekend Events is to pre-purchase any edition of Guild Wars 2.
Customers who have pre-purchased the game will receive an e-mail next week with instructions on how to download the client and participate in the Beta.
This is a public event, which means that you’re not bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). So go ahead, feel free to take screenshots, shoot video, blog, tweet, write, or compose a rock opera to share your Guild Wars 2 experience with the world.

Let’s take a look at all the cool stuff you’ll be doing during the Beta Weekend Event.

Choices, Choices – You’ll create your own personalized charr, human, or norn character and pick from our eight powerful professions. Your choice of race is vital to your personal story, and it determines in which of the huge starting areas you begin as well. A noble human mesmer will have a radically different game experience than a charr engineer in the service of the Iron Legion. Fortunately, you can roll more than one character and sample each starting area for yourself!

Worlds Collide – If you want your PvP on an epic scale, look no further than World vs. World, where three teams comprising hundreds of players wage open war across four vast maps. You’ll lay siege to castles, raid supply camps, build devastating weaponry, ambush your foes, and leap into truly massive PvP battles—all for the glory of the server. We’re warning you: WvW is so addictive that you may spend the entire Beta Weekend Event there!

PvP For You and Me – After you’ve gotten your feet wet, put your newfound skills to the test in Guild Wars 2 PvP, where small teams battle for points on a variety of challenging, compact maps. We adjust the level of PvP combatants so that all players are on equal footing. If you’ve got a competitive streak or you like playing first-person shooters online, you owe it to yourself to try out Guild Wars 2 PvP!

I Love L.A. – For the first time ever, we’re opening the metropolis of Lion’s Arch to beta players. Wander the streets of this cosmopolitan trade hub, chat with traders and travelers from every corner of Tyria, hop through one of the many asura gates to points beyond, or discover the famed diving platform at Diverse Ledges. Lion’s Arch is a city like no other!

As you can see, there’s a ton of stuff to do in the upcoming Beta Weekend Event on April 27-29. It’s honestly way more content than one person can experience in 60 hours of playing—and we haven’t even included the asura and sylvari in this beta! Fortunately, this will not be the last Beta Weekend Event before launch—stay tuned for more news regarding the next event.

We’ll see you in-game!

[niwaar]

Lol, looks like all of NCsoft has been beaten down today.

Gotta love that we will be seeing new Lion's Arch. I am definitely looking forward to it. I would have loved to have seen them give us a hint at what level of content we will be seeing. According to the Yogscast guys, the content above level 30 was really non existent/unfinished during the press beta's. With the addition of LA, are we looking at level 35? 40? Or simply just another city to enjoy?

[vrumpt]

Gonna be a long week. Having a hard time deciding how much time I want to spend in WvW. At least its only a week away. Very pumped to finally get to play this game.

[Arcana]

I'm excited to finally get around to playing this game finally, however i don't think i'm gonna spoil my personal story as a norn though. might just play a human guardian for the giggles and i'm certain that i wont be sleeping next weekend.

[Imitarate]

Exactly why I'm not too concerned about no sylvari or asura; I'm planning on playing a character of each race as my primary two, so I'll mess around with the charr and norn (and maybe human if I get to it) storylines.

[Kuishen]

A little birdy told me that the Norn starting area tasks/dynamic events were by far way more entertaining than the Charr or Human starting areas. Also for those that love Easter Eggs, they are in the game. A little birdy told me they saw a statue of Jora from GW1 in an instance in the Norn area. It was smallish and tucked away in a corner.

[Dantrag]

A little birdy called BS and said Norn was probably the most boring. :D

[Kuishen]

A little birdy called BS and said Norn was probably the most boring. :D

Nah man.

[Dantrag]

Nah man.

Yeah dude. Almost fell asleep doing their stuff lol...

[Takiwaki]

Nah norn has one of the coolest events in their area

[Zzsark]

Charr are the clear winners. At least until I get my hands on some Asura

[Solace]

A little birdy told me that the Norn starting area tasks/dynamic events were by far way more entertaining than the Charr or Human starting areas.

I completely agree. Norn personal story made the other look silly.

[Arcana]

Why is it whenever i read a topic on GW2G i immediately want to blow my brains out? it always comes down to bitching about gem & gold trading or the game not being exactly like wow and having no instant gratification for retards.

[Alderaan]

Why is it whenever i read a topic on GW2G i immediately want to blow my brains out? it always comes down to bitching about gem & gold trading or the game not being exactly like wow and having no instant gratification for retards.

The TERA vs. GW2 threads make me want to punch puppies.

[Imitarate]

Seriously, if you want to play the same MMO you've been playing since EQ came out, there are plenty of them to cater to you. The rest of us will happily take something that bucks the formula.

[notorious bum]

Yeah, honestly, for awhile I wanted to play TERA more than GW2 just because the art/visuals looked great and it also had the action-style gameplay like GW2. But, the ambition of this game is so great it was hard for me to ignore and NOT be excited about its potential. It made me want to be apart of it, just like when I first saw FFXI's japanese beta videos and learned about the job system and how fresh that sounded.

The only thing I'm worried about is not getting around to playing GW1 before GW2 is released. I'm a sucker for good storytelling; that and "adventuring" with people.

[Isiolia]

The only thing I'm worried about is not getting around to playing GW1 before GW2 is released. I'm a sucker for good storytelling; that and "adventuring" with people.

Should have plenty of time to knock out basic story content in GW1. Probably 25-30 hours per campaign if you don't get sidetracked (or fail) much. Not sure how much all of Beyond takes, as I haven't finished it, but I was around 130-some hours (according to Steam) when I wrapped up EoTN.

Actually doing title tracks n' such will take far longer, but isn't needed purely to see the story.

[tol]

If you're looking for good storytelling just skip gw1, it only started getting decent after Nightfall and beyond. Anything you need to know about existing lore is covered in various wiki & youtube videos. Thankfully, although it appeared a bit cliched at points, the early GW2 story was miles ahead.

[Takiwaki]

Also to add If you are gonna play this weekend, going back to play GW1 will be very very hard to do lol.

[Kuishen]

Also to add If you are gonna play this weekend, going back to play GW1 will be very very hard to do lol.


This man speaks truth. It's so fucking unbearable and me and my friend haven't even completed one campaign yet.

[Day]

i been fucking up noobs with shockwave in RA in GW1, talk about some hilarious shit, so broken. I really wish I knew if GW2 is gonna run on my laptop, I'd go ahead and pre-order.

[niwaar]

For anyone who "grew up" in FFXI will not have too difficult of a time. It would take roughly 10-14 days of "decent" playtime to complete Prophecies, Factions and Nightfall AND Eye of the North. If you are interested in seeing the original storylines of the Guild Wars, you definitely have the time. (If you are not playing Tera.)

I will say this though. Prophecies DRAGS.... and without heroes or friends it will DRAG a heck of a lot more. Do not be afraid to jump into the first 2-3 EOTN and Nightfall missions as you will get 3 heroes for just getting to the Hall of Monuments and another 3 for starting Nightfall.

If you need help let me know, just do not get discouraged by many deaths. I think my friend has something like 450 deaths at this point and he's played for 2 weeks.


i been fucking up noobs with shockwave in RA in GW1, talk about some hilarious shit, so broken. I really wish I knew if GW2 is gonna run on my laptop, I'd go ahead and pre-order.
If its a fairly new laptop it will. Unlike most other newer MMOs out there (Tera/Aion/etc) Anet has made a point to do exactly what WoW did with its graphics engine. ie Make it so older pcs will always be able to play it at some graphics setting. The "nonFPS" gaming community still runs on 3-5+ year old hardware for a reason.

[Day]

Ah man that's good news, It's pretty new but nothing fancy, i3 core and integrated graphics. GW1 and WOW run fine... so I might go ahead and drop the $. I've played GW1 pvp off and on since GW1 was released, so I'm p. excited for this.

[Isiolia]

I will say this though. Prophecies DRAGS.... and without heroes or friends it will DRAG a heck of a lot more. Do not be afraid to jump into the first 2-3 EOTN and Nightfall missions as you will get 3 heroes for just getting to the Hall of Monuments and another 3 for starting Nightfall.


See, I started GW1 with a friend and his friend from work who already had played. We started in Factions at his suggestion, and he helped us get a few Heroes relatively quickly (this was after me trying to play the game solo for a night or so - by which I mean no NPCs either ._.; ).

Only attraction with starting in Prophecies would be to see pre-Searing. Otherwise, going into it with an already-leveled character and Heroes from another campaign makes it go a lot faster - I thought the mid/end of it were half decent, if still fairly generic.

Most of the personality of the game that's going into GW2 is from Prophecies/EoTN though.

[Tonka]

Why is it whenever i read a topic on GW2G i immediately want to blow my brains out? it always comes down to bitching about gem & gold trading or the game not being exactly like wow and having no instant gratification for retards.

So much truthiness.

[Fairy-Killer]

forum.guildwars2.com > log in > account > download clients > NOT AVAILABLE. Trooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooll

[Arcana]

Theres alot you can skip out on in prophecies, most of the maguuma story if your just interested in getting through the meatier parts of the story, just run all the way to sanctum cay and continue the missions from there.

[niwaar]

Theres alot you can skip out on in prophecies, most of the maguuma story if your just interested in getting through the meatier parts of the story, just run all the way to sanctum cay and continue the missions from there.

This is absolutely true, but if you want money and story, completing the entire book is still a great help, and there is a HoM statue for completing all the missions AND their bonuses. Which in Prophecies can be done without completing the mission itself (most of the time). I am no expert (just completed my first Elite mission tonight in Urgoz's Warren), but there is a lot to be said about the game. I would definitely suggest playing it to all those that are bored with WoW and getting ready for GW2.

Like Isiola said though, most of the areas covered by GW2 will be those found in Prophecies and Eye of the North. You will recognize towns such as Beetletun and Shaemoor (as well as Lion's Arch) as you play, but other than a few old names of places, the bulk of Prophecies has no hint at what is to come in GW2. I really do not even include Ascalon much as even though I did them, unless you are a prophecies character you are not liable to see the area unless you run (or be run) to it. I will say that if you do finish EotN the biggest "hint" at what is to come in terms of visuals is in the far east of one of the Charr zones. See if you can spot it. Its pretty awesome.

I am psyched to see Lion's Arch this week. Even if it is not the same city as it was, it is still the focal point of GW2 in so many ways.

As for Anet trolling people with the download not available button, at least they have real account pages up. It does look like a ghetto version of bnet's account page, but it has one thing Blizzard never thought to do... the "logged in" IP list. Now we as users can see the ips logging into our accounts. Hopefully they will add whitelisting capabilities. Account security for GW2 is something they have yet to even speak on. I hope we get some sort of news about security tokens, coin lock, smart phone apps, etc sometime soon after this BWE.

[bluefan]

I played most of GW. Didn't finish Factions or Nightfall, but got through Proph and EoTN.

I just read the wiki for a few nights to make up for the rest lol. I really only played for a few HoM points and story, but figured from a pure lore and story perspective, the wiki and youtube vids were good enough.

[Lucavi]

Hurry up, GW2. Between dicking around with this game and the head start for TERA this weekend... ugh, so much for my workout plans.

[Dragir]

BWE client download links are going out, but the links target forums-en.guildwars2.com and are giving a 500 error message. I wonder why... :P

[Jakson]

So I know all professions more or less have self healing abilities, but is there any profession more geared towards being the healer than others?

Also, are servers going to be separated by Pve/PvP/RP? If so, is there a list indicating which servers are which?

[Arelian]

Elementalist/Ranger/Guardian are three of the more "support" oriented professions. Or at least they can be! You can check out gw2builds.org To look at every profession's abilities and such.

Servers will not be broken down, especially since there aren't any factions and they are not doing open PVP. Every server can compete in WvWvW, which is as close to a PVP server as you'll get.

[Imitarate]

Nobody really has sustainable healing abilities. A couple of classes can focus on healing more than others (guardian, elementalist) but my understanding is that they don't need to focus on that.

[Jakson]

Yeah, I figured as much. Started and favorite XI job was WHM and start every MMO I try with the closest I can get.

[Arelian]

Sadly none of the professions in GW2 are pure-support, so you'll probably have to try a bunch of them out to see what fits. My best advice is to give it until level 5-6 at the earliest. Some classes don't really get all of their baseline tools until then.

[Takiwaki]

Yeah, I figured as much. Started and favorite XI job was WHM and start every MMO I try with the closest I can get.

I would say try, elementalist, guardian or mesmer. Just so you know no matter what profession you pick you will be up in the mix in every encounter. There is no backline class per say, but you can play at range and trait yourself to support your playstyle. Many support abilities has an offensive capability also, the multi nature of skills takes some getting used to.

Every profession can help support, buff in some form or another. You can even play a warrior in a supportive role if you wanted.

[Imitarate]

It looks like the traits you pick and the optional passives you slot can have a big impact on how your class plays; your ability to fill a role depending quite a bit on that. Just from what I've seen! And, of course, which weapon you're wielding. A guardian, for instance, is going to play quite a bit differently with a staff than with a hammer.

[Takiwaki]

It looks like the traits you pick and the optional passives you slot can have a big impact on how your class plays; your ability to fill a role depending quite a bit on that. Just from what I've seen! And, of course, which weapon you're wielding. A guardian, for instance, is going to play quite a bit differently with a staff than with a hammer.

Yes exactly and this is why weapon swapping is so cool. Also the major traits can be swapped around at any point to totally change your role, The way I see it is that trait lines help define your playstyle while major traits help you fulfill multiple roles within that. Two Hammer guardians can play totally different to each other also, and be traited very differently, which is pretty awesome. One might like to use symbols and be more defensive in how they play, while another likes to play more offensive with crits and burning all with the same hammer.

[bluefan]

When I played GW2 at PAX, well waiting to while in line, 90% of the players didn't weapon swap. At all. It frustrated me to no end. Default it's the tilde key, it's not hard people! Combat just becomes so much more engaging when you can switch your role and what you want to do on the fly. Playing a warrior, I used a sword and shield to get into the mix, pop my heal when I got low and when I got low again but heal wasn't up yet, I'd dodge backwards, tilde, switch to crossbow and shoot off my skills while backing away, heal up, switch to sword and shield again use the sword leaping skill to get back into the fray, throw the shield stun, use another skill, dodge etc...

[Isiolia]

When I played GW2 at PAX, well waiting to while in line, 90% of the players didn't weapon swap. At all. It frustrated me to no end. Default it's the tilde key, it's not hard people! Combat just becomes so much more engaging when you can switch your role and what you want to do on the fly. Playing a warrior, I used a sword and shield to get into the mix, pop my heal when I got low and when I got low again but heal wasn't up yet, I'd dodge backwards, tilde, switch to crossbow and shoot off my skills while backing away, heal up, switch to sword and shield again use the sword leaping skill to get back into the fray, throw the shield stun, use another skill, dodge etc...

Were they given a leveled character? Can't weapon swap until like, level 7 right?

[bluefan]

Were they given a leveled character? Can't weapon swap until like, level 7 right?

You had a choice to start from the beginning or play a level 40 character. Talking specifically about the latter people. Most didn't even dodge. You could tell some were, but timing was still rough. But that's just lack of experience.

It's going to take quite awhile for people to adjust to GW2 IMO. Especially if they're heavily ingrained with standard tank and spank MMORPGS.

[Day]

Elementalist/Ranger/Guardian are three of the more "support" oriented professions. Or at least they can be! You can check out gw2builds.org To look at every profession's abilities and such.

Servers will not be broken down, especially since there aren't any factions and they are not doing open PVP. Every server can compete in WvWvW, which is as close to a PVP server as you'll get.
Ah... so there are seperate servers in GW2? Sorry I know i should have read up more on this... but it's not like GW1 where you are all together? Kinda...

[Day]

Also is there a RA equivalent? sorry if been answered already

[Qalbert]

Ah... so there are seperate servers in GW2? Sorry I know i should have read up more on this... but it's not like GW1 where you are all together? Kinda...

well there's a guest system, I don't know the specifics of it but basically "oh my friend is on server x, ill temporarily join it and play with him" with your "homeworld" only restricting a few things like WvW

[Day]

well there's a guest system, I don't know the specifics of it but basically "oh my friend is on server x, ill temporarily join it and play with him" with your "homeworld" only restricting a few things like WvW

well tbh that's not much different than the districts and such in GW1, i can hang w/ that... p. cool.

[Djohn]

Also is there a RA equivalent? sorry if been answered already
You can hot-join Conquest matches - it's the same as joining an FPS server, no waiting around in a queue like RA. Instead, there's a server list, and you pick one to enter. Teams are auto-balanced and whatnot.

I haven't actually played yet, so I'm a little fuzzy on whether this is entirely separate from organized team play.

[Arelian]

well tbh that's not much different than the districts and such in GW1, i can hang w/ that... p. cool.

Yeah, its kinda similar. The biggest difference is outside areas are not instanced.

[XalienLevi]

Game sold out digitally. see for yourself >_>

https://buy.guildwars2.com/

[vrumpt]

I'm curious as to what they set their initial threshold to. They have like 30 servers for this weekend too, if all of them are filled then I think thats very exciting.

[warbandit]

I'm curious as to what they set their initial threshold to. They have like 30 servers for this weekend too, if all of them are filled then I think thats very exciting.

I wonder how many Pre-purchase they actualy sold since for initial beta was 1milion applications

[Ambrosia]

How is digital able to go sold out? How is ArenaNet limiting the 0's and the 1's!?!?

Next thing I know I will boot my computer and it will tell me it's sold out.

:(

[Takiwaki]

LOL well they already did say depending on how many pre-purchases they got they may stop sales for a bit.

[Arelian]

It's more likely they don't want someone prepurchasing at 11:30 AM PST tomorrow and whining when they can't play at 12:00 PST because the system hasn't processed it yet.

[Takiwaki]

omg ambrosia who did your sig on the right?

[Ambrosia]

I did boo. O:

I am trying to make an ArcheAge one next, but I've been sort of lazy!

[Kiehl]

After finally reading the GW2 website (boo me I know), I think warrior will suit me best. The ability to do everything and be a badass about it appeals greatly. I'm super excited for this weekend. If it goes well this will be the filler for D3 rage quits.