Guild Wars 2

quick recap of what to expect from gamescom




ArenaNet revealed some exciting news this week -- well, technically it revealed exciting news about upcoming news. Gamescom is just a few short weeks away, and Community Team Lead Martin Kerstein penned a blog post telling what fans can expect to see at the event.

Fasten your seatbelts, Guild Wars 2 fans, because whatever you've been waiting to see is probably on the to-be-unveiled list for Gamescom this year. Sylvari, Asura, PvP, mid-level play, character customization -- you name it and it's there.

While exciting, all of this upcoming news has the potential to be really confusing, particularly if you haven't been following Guild Wars 2 news closely for the past year or two. This week I've put together a little primer to help explain the history and basics of each of the big reveals coming to Gamescom. Follow along after the jump to make sure you're up to speed!

Charr Starting area

Most people know that the Charr race is a huge part of the Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 world. I talked pretty extensively about the race during Charr week, so if you want a thorough overview of the Charr past, present, and future before Gamescom, I definitely suggest you take a look.

Gamescom will feature our first look at the Charr starting area, a village called Smokestead in the Plains of Ashford. This is exciting because it's the first time anyone's ever seen it, but it holds further interest for anyone who played Guild Wars 1 as well. This area was human territory in the game, the place where players started their journey. It's a huge part of the game lore and it will be interesting to see exactly how the Charr have changed things in the past 250 years.

While beginning Humans had a city block with houses and shops, and Norn had the upper level of an enormous hunting lodge, a Charr character's home instance will be barracks, well-suited to the Charr race's militaristic lifestyle. How can you have anything resembling privacy in barracks? What sort of NPCs and furnishings will be there? How can you personalize it to make it your own? We'll be able to look for those answers in just a few more weeks.

Mid-level demo

That doesn't sound like such a big deal until you know about the foes mentioned. As with so much of Guild Wars 2 gameplay, the Orrian undead have a history that goes all the way back to Guild Wars 1. The very short version is that the Orrian undead were once inhabitants of the prosperous kingdom of Orr, which sank into the ocean as part of an enormous magical explosion known as The Cataclysm. (No, not that one.)

The victims now serve as the army of the Zhaitan, the big baddie of Guild Wars 2. There are multiple elder dragons, but Zhaitan is the only one players will encounter directly. We know the Orrian undead are a formidable group of foes, thanks to some unsettling battle scenes in Edge of Destiny, but this will be the first look at them in game.

Martin teased a "new boss" coming in this part of the Gamescom demo, and while it would be pretty cool to get a first look at Zhaitan, I seriously doubt it would appear as part of a mid-level experience. Gamescom 2010 introduced The Shatterer, a lieutenant of another elder dragon, so maybe we'll bump into one of Zhaitan's high-ranking underlings.

New foes, a new boss, and a new zone to see -- the mid-level demo is going to hold a lot of interest and new details for fans.

Character customization

Character customization in Guild Wars 2 has been a heavily guarded secret, with the exception of a single screenshot nabbed during the recent media open house at ArenaNet. Anyone playing the demo was given a character with a randomized appearance. We know the other aspects of character creation: answering questions regarding your character's race, class, and personal background, but this will be the first time we've been able to see how we will create our character's appearance. Until now, we've only known that appearance customization will be more extensive than that of Guild Wars 1 -- which, granted, isn't very difficult to do.

Big questions remain, though. How extensive will this get? Will there be things like sliders, or just a bigger selection of multiple-choice options? We know that there are race-specific choices; there has to be, since the races are so vastly different. Choosing fur patterns isn't exactly applicable to a Human or an Asura, so what will they have instead? Is there a basic feature list for every race plus racial add-ons, or is each race's customization completely unique?

There's a lot to see here, all for the first time.
asura-rb-731.jpg
PvP

The vast majority of Guild Wars 2 news over the past two years has been PvE-oriented. Lore, zone information, NPCs, armor and clothing, lesser races, all with a focus on PvE. It wasn't a slight to PvP players, it's just that PvP information wasn't ready.

The developers have been hard at work behind the scenes though, and in the past few months, we've received PvP details bit by bit. It might not seem like much at a glance, but what we've learned sets us up nicely to dive in at Gamescom.
In short, there are two flavors of Guild Wars 2 PvP: Structured and WvWvW. Structured PvP will have a familiar feel to FPS players in that there's a hot joinable system in place, player rankings, tournament play, and so on.

WvWvW is an all-out battle between the three Guild Wars 2 servers, on a much larger scale. Although bigger, it's more casual, with a setup that allows players of any PvP experience to join. Each server fights to dominate the battlefield and earn server-wide rewards.

Which version will be shown at Gamescom? It's anyone's guess, but both are a possibility. In either case, this is the first time players will be getting their hands on Guild Wars 2 PvP, so the competition won't be lacking in enthusiasm!

Playable Sylvari and Asura

Finally, playable Sylvari and Asura. These are familiar races to those who know Guild Wars 1, particularly the Asura. These diminutive, highly-intelligent, arrogant creatures were introduced in the Eye of the North expansion, and they've always been known for their technical prowess. We know from Ghosts of Ascalon and Edge of Destiny that they've come a long way since EotN, but how will it incorporate into gameplay? We'll find out soon enough.

The Sylvari are a bigger mystery -- everything from what they look like to how they'll play has been kept under wraps. The Sylvari were pulled from the shelves, so to speak, last year for a complete visual redesign. (A good thing, in my opinion, since the previous iteration reminded me of some knockoff Strawberry Shortcake dolls I had when I was a kid.) Gamescom will be the first appearance of the new look.

Looks aside, playable Sylvari will be just as interesting. Will we be playing in some of the Sylvari lands? If so, it's our first peek at this area as well. The Sylvari are the first truly new race in Guild Wars 2 -- the other four were introduced in Guild Wars 1 and we're pretty familiar with them, but the Sylvari were only hinted at. The race's origins were barely beginning at the time, so there's a wealth of information to be had there, especially for lore fanatics.

There you have it: A (very brief) recap of why the impending information avalanche is so exciting to the Guild Wars 2 fanbase. Gamescom is just over two weeks away, and hopefully this provides a foundation for you to make the most of what we're about to see!
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http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/01/flameseeker-chronicles-and-this-is-a-big-deal-why/
 
Actually quite keen to hear about the pvp side of things, ended up playing that alot more in the end with gws1.
Sounds like going to do the same jump in and play arena like the alliance battles which should be epic.

I haven't really been following much with the gws2 news anymore cause can't stand the suspense. Fook it's frustrating!
 
I'm drooling over the chance at seeing the Sylvari in action - I've long ago more-or-less decided that I'll be creating my primary as a Sylvari, and what they reveal over the course of that week may or may not cement that decision.

But ANet need to hurry the hell up now - they've been stringing us along with little bits of information for the past two years - and they're walking a very fine line between keeping people interested or just pissing them the hell off.
 
hang on to your hats folks! Sylvari week inbound!

http://www.arena.net/blog/next-week-is-sylvari-week

Gamers in Europe will get a chance to play the sylvari for the first time at gamescom this year. To properly unveil the new look for Guild Wars 2‘s enigmatic, inquisitive plant race, we’re declaring next week Sylvari Week here on the ArenaNet Blog and on GuildWars2.com. We’ve got a lot to show you and so much we want to talk about, so we’re packing Sylvari Week full of plant-y goodness – read on for details!
Here’s what we’ve got planned next week:
  • Monday – Artist extraordinaire Kristen Perry explains how the look of the sylvari has grown and evolved in a blog post full of cool art and character designs.
  • Tuesday – Writer Angel McCoy describes how the writing team brings the sylvari to life through dialogue in a blog post that features a load of audio clips from Guild Wars 2.
  • Wednesday - Lore & Continuity Designer Ree Soesbee and Kristen Perry discuss the roots and growth of this unique race in a video overview of the sylvari right here on the blog.
  • Thursday – We’re updating the sylvari page on GuildWars2.com with new lore, screenshots, wallpapers, and an atmospheric new sylvari video!
  • Friday - Ree Soesbee returns with a lore-filled narrative blog post that explores the mysterious sylvari even further.
As you can see, we’ve got a lot planned for Sylvari Week. We’ll see you back here on Monday!
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That was a spec read :)

The more I look at it, the more I think GW2 is going to turn into a role-player's dream. But more I also worry about people's inability to leave real-life behind when they hop into a game.

Given the fact that we have effectively reserved our character names using the Hall of Monuments, I'm already looking at this Sylvari info and deciding how I'm going to mold my character from the word go. I'm even working on a little side-story to explain why my Sylvari Elementalist will end up having the same name as a human character who lived 250 years before. It's exciting for me - I can feel the little bit of writer I have in me drooling like a mouse next to a pizza oven.

I'm wondering whether I should make my guild one that actively encourages role-play ....
 
I also can't wait. I will drop WOW for a while when this comes out. And since Diablo 3 will be online only and Blizzard will probably want you to buy subscription for online playing it will just be much easier on the pocket :-) Well I hope it will be free to play???
 
CyberDemon said:
I also can't wait. I will drop WOW for a while when this comes out. And since Diablo 3 will be online only and Blizzard will probably want you to buy subscription for online playing it will just be much easier on the pocket :-) Well I hope it will be free to play???
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That happens to be one of it's main selling points.
 
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